Buckeye Blogger NetworkI’m pretty certain everyone was well entertained this week. Nothing like Illinois to cure what ails you!
Nothing was quite as entertaining as Corey Brown's sweet moves. Thanks to J. Winslow for the photos!
4 Quarters of Offense.We scored with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. I feel like this isn’t quite “early” enough, nor “often” enough for your taste.
Defense…more, please. It was a pretty solid effort from the defense, and probably would have been better if the offense hadn’t coughed the ball up twice. But you really can’t complain with 170 total yards for the Illini.
XBrax360. 223 yards passing, 73 yards running, and 3 total touchdowns. Pretty solid video gamey numbers.
Electricity in the ‘Shoe. Maybe it was electric in the first quarter, but I doubt it lasted much beyond halftime. Cold weather plus a blowout does not electricity make. Not having been there, someone will have to let me know if they felt differently.
No more Illini Dancing on the Block O. I very much doubt there was any Illini dancing going on after this one.
Throw It Over Top. There were certainly some nice throws over the top. The wheel-route to Rod Smith was a thing of beauty.
Silver Bullets. They made steps in the right direction, and they would have likely held Illinois to only 6 points all game if it wasn’t for those meddling backups and their fumbles.
Hyde and Smith. Hyde got over 100 (137) and was the primary rusher – so you were correct there. Rod Smith’s 32 yards on 5 carries, however, not so much. In fact, Bri’onte Dunn’s 73 yards on 13 carries and a score was a much better outing toting the rock. Rod Smith’s 55 receiving yards (51 on the wheel-route) makes his day overall better.
I Like Turtles!
Ohio State finally did to a bad opponent what it should.
The Buckeyes have seemed to play up or down to their level of competition this season, but not today as OSU downed Illinois, 52-22.
Illinois (2-7, 0-4) is a bad team. But, you still have to be encouraged by some things you saw today.
1. Ohio State’s defensive line is really, really special. Every player that is involved in the rotation can make plays against both the run and the pass.
2. Braxton Miller is the most exciting player in college football. He still has a ways to go as a passer, but the plays he makes with his feet. In the first half, Miller completed just five passes, but threw for 152 yards and one touchdown. His final numbers on the day were 12 for 20 passing for 226 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball 18 times for 73 yards and one touchdown.
Guapo!
3. Carlos Hyde is a touchdown machine. Hyde added three more touchdowns today, bringing his season total to 13. Hyde finished the day with 18 carries for 137 yards and the three touchdowns.
4. Ryan Shazier is playing himself into an All-Big Ten linebacker. Over the past three games, he’s been absolutely tremendous for the Buckeyes. Today, he finished the game with 14 tackles.
It’s hard to be picky in such a one-sided game, but my main concern with this OSU team as that it continues to get off to very slow starts. Today, they allowed Illinois to score first as it kicked a field goal on two of its first three drives. The Buckeyes led just 7-6 after the first quarter.
There also were too many penalties for Ohio State that extended Illinois drives. For the game, the Buckeyes had six penalties for 79 yards.
With the blowout victory, the Buckeyes will head into the bye week with a 10-0 record. OSU’s final two games (at Wisconsin and vs. Michigan) are all that stand between a perfect 12-0 record in Urban Meyer’s first season as head coach.
Not too shabby for a team that finished 6-7 a year ago.
Ohio State welcomes the Illinois Fighting Illini into Columbus today for the first of three games leading into the end of the season.
While you wait, check out the great members of the BBN: Our Honor Defend, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, Buckeye Empire, Silver Bullet, The Buckeye Blog, Unscripted Ohio, and Fox Sports Ohio.
Go Bucks!
The Horseshoe can put out some serious voltage.
4 Quarters of Offense.Last week was better, but still not good enough. I want to score early and often.
Defense…more, please. The defense played a pretty good game last week. Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we?
XBrax360. Illinois is awful. This should be a week for Braxton to put up some more big numbers.
Electricity in the ‘Shoe. No excuses. Kickoff is at 3:30 rather than noon so everyone should be fully awake and ready to go. This team is 9-0, and they just got a huge road win in Happy Valley last week. Let’s get it rocking in the ‘Shoe on Saturday.
No more Illini Dancing on the Block O. It absolutely made me suck to my stomach for them to do it an I wouldn’t have blamed te Buckeyes for going to town more than they did. Take it to them quickly an leave little doubt.
Throw It Over Top. The best way to get Devin Smith back in the saddle is go deep and make him go after it. Challenge the talent and speed of the Illini from the get go.
Silver Bullets. I tweeted last week close to the end of the game that it was the first time all season I felt like I could use the hashtag #SilverBullets. It’s a fact for many and I want to see more consistency. Buckeyes lead the B1G in YPG given up and they should continue.
Hyde and Smith. Braxton’s passing game will get better and will allow the two beasts in the back field to go to town. First game Brax won’t be the primary runner this week and Hyde and Smith will get 100 a piece.
Well, that game was more than a little interesting. It’ll be hard to gauge this team over the next week, and I’m certain many are going to be expecting bad things in Coral Gables. Let’s see what the staff wanted to see again, and how much of it actually came to be.
Chris Fields gave the Buckeyes a boost when they needed it most.
- More of the same. I certainly don’t think we can qualify the entire game as “more of the same” as Akron. That first drive was a thing of beauty, but the rest of the game was a fight the whole way.
- New wrinkles. Nothing particularly new here, nope.
- Ebner Touchdown. Would it be too much to ask? For this game, apparently so.
- No False Starts. Shugarts took care of this one, and not in the good way.
- Continued QB play like the we saw this past Saturday. Miller never saw the field, and Bauserman didn’t have quite the same day he did against Akron. Though 16/30 for 189 yards and a touchdown isn’t bad.
- More speed from our team. We had our moments – such as Chris Fields’ punt return – but for the most part, I don’t think we saw a lot of speed anywhere.
- Big Plays. Outside of Fields’ return, the longest play was of 36 yards – one of which was Hyde’s first touchdown run.
- A three to four touchdown win. So much for that.
Read More
Eric and Mali at the BBC welcome Michael at Our Honor Defend back for another postgame show. The three breakdown the entire 27-22 battle between the Ohio State Buckeyes and their in-state brethren to the north, the Toledo Rockets. In particular, they talk about the excellence in the secondary for both teams, all of the good things to take from the game, and why exactly we didn’t see Braxton Miller enter the game.
Heading To The House
All this and more on this week’s Postgame Show!
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First Strike
The Buckeyes faced off with the Toledo Rockets in Ohio Stadium on a day with drastically more beautiful weather than last week. Ohio State found themselves in a huge fight with Toledo that was tight until the end. The Buckeyes were finally able to secure the 27-22 victory when Toledo QB Terrance Owens threw an incomplete pass on fourth down in a desperate attempt to regain the lead. Joe Bauserman ended the game 16/30 for 189 yards and a touchdown, while Hyde rushed 20 times for 76 yards and 2 scores.
Of course, the unfortunate news coming into the game were the continued suspensions of Jordan Hall, Travis Howard, and Corey “Pittsburgh” Brown. The NCAA official report stated that their penalties warrented a two game penalty at least, so it will remain a question if they will get a chance to travel to Coral Gables next week. It was also learned early that Nathan Williams was forced to sit for the game as well, though not due to NCAA violations. It is believed that Williams had a minor injury that the coaching staff prefered to rest.
However, the news coming into the game wasn’t all bad. Jamaal Berry, who was forced to sit against Akron due to a hamstring injury, was back to return the first kickoff of the game. His 30 yard return was a thing of beauty and demonstrated his claims during the week that the hamstring was one-hundred percent. With the continued uncertainty due to the NCAA investigations, having Berry back was very important for the runningback depth of the team. Read More
Welcome to today’s LiveBlog!
The Buckeyes take on former Buckeye DB coach Tim Beckman and his Toledo Rockets today. As usual, we will be here to chat about it with good friends Men of the Scarlet and Gray, Fox Sports Ohio.
In case you missed some of our coverage this week, you can find our game preview, game preview podcast, and our Toledo Blogger interview by following those links.
The Buckeyes will be without the services of Jordan Hall, Travis Howard, and Corey “Pittsburgh” Brown again today. Make sure you stop by the LiveBlog today so that we can all complain about the NCAA’s amateurism rules!
Enjoy the game, and Go Bucks!
