Our Honor Defend

In front of a packed crowd of over 105,000 fans, the Buckeyes soundly did not screw things up royally.  Ohio State perfectly executed their game plan of not wanging it, beating the Youngstown State Penguins 43-0.  With the victory, the Buckeyes successfully avoided the Michigan precedent of the epic home-opener fail.

The game started as well as you could want it to for the Buckeyes.  Facing an unnecessary 4th and short on their 6th play of the drive on the Penguins’ 43yd line, the Buckeyes opted to go for it and were rewarded handsomely.  The Penguins crept up in the box, expecting a run from Beanie and Beanie blew right past everyone for the touchdown.  However, I found myself asking just what in the sam hell that Youngstown State defensive back was trying to accomplish by making a leap after Beanie’s feet well after the play was over.  First: Beanie doesn’t respond to arm tackles (see: Michigan).  Second: no really, what in the blue hell were you trying to do?  That play just didn’t look right, but fortunately nothing became of it.

The second series showed promise again, with the Buckeyes advancing well into the Penguins red zone.  However, severe miscalculations from Bryant Browning prohibited a touchdown.  The Buckeyes settled for a 10-0 lead.

Suddenly, all three of the people in the bar we were at (that is: us) joined the 105,000 faithful in Ohio Stadium in standing to attention when we saw #2 with a helmet on, joining #74 (Adams), #50 (Brewster), #76 (Shugarts), #8 (Posey) and #7 (Thomas), prepping in a huddle and taking the field.  Suffice to say, Terrelle Pryor looked really good in marching the Buckeyes 51 yards down the field.  He hooked up with Lamaar Thomas on his first snap for 9 yards and it really looked like the game had slowed down for him.  Anyone expecting him to freak out, thinking he would realize that AA Western Pennsylvania football is a lot slower than Division 1 college football were disappointed.  On this series and the others to follow, Pryor put on a performance that looked like it was borrowed from his high school highlight reel.  His first series stalled, though, as the Penguins starting blitzing in the red zone, culminating in a 3rd down sack.  Pryor will eventually learn much more of the details to successful quarterbacking, but he displayed enough to show that he’s well on his way.  Future Big Ten defenses: take note.

The Buckeye offense tacked on two more field goals, with the first of those two coming on what I’m certain was a Hartline touchdown catch from Joe Bauserman.  The second field goal went for 50 yards.  Throw in Aaron Pettrey’s 54 yard FG in the fourth quarter and I think I saw enough to be comfortable in the kicking game.

The festive atmosphere in the Shoe very quickly turned into a funeral procession when Beanie made a spill on the Buckeyes first drive in the third quarter.  The 52yd drive had developed nicely to that point, with Beanie leading the way for most of it.  However, the goalline wipeout for Beanie, and subsequent clutching of the plant foot, took the air out of everyone in the stadium.  The player we could least afford to have injured, well, got injured and carted off.  I think I saw our season flashing before our very eyes because Beanie is clearly Todd Boeckman’s safety valve.  Boeckman looked fine against the Penguins, but I still saw most of the problems Boeckman had during his first year of starting: holding on to the ball too long and relying on the deep toss to make a play.  Beanie is needed to ground the offense.  Yet, now, we have to wait and see what the deal is with Beanie.  MotSaG cites turf toe, which could either be a blessing or a curse.  Depending on the severity of the sprain, a turf toe could take Beanie out of action for anywhere from a day or two to a month or two.  I’ve also heard the rumor of a torn ligament in the toe, which would be catastrophic.  I’m guessing-wishing-hoping-praying-powerdrinking that the injury looks like what it was: a mild case of turf toe.  If it were a severe case of turf toe, or something worse, I’m not sure he would even be walking on it (albeit in a walking boot).  Further, I’m guessing the swelling would have already started and he would have been on crutches if it were anything worse.  Pretorius thinks he’s fine. Pryor thinks he’s fine and says he was even smiling about the injury.  I think it says alot that not only did Beanie come back to the sidelines, but was perfectly composed.  If it were serious, I think Beanie would have been in tears.  Further, if it were something serious, I would be self-immolating right now.  I guess we’ll wait and see.

Rather than elaborate on every drive and every play that followed (I was just kind of stunned quiet for the rest of the game anyways while Gabby was chatting it up with the bar patrons that showed up later), I thought I’d note what else came to mind.  You can find a more detailed breakdown of the stats here.

• First and foremost: Mike f’n Adams.  No really. Mike Adams.  This guy was supposed to be out until sometime in October.  Instead, he plays in the third series of the first game of his freshman year.  He isn’t human, and he is The Way, The Truth and The Light.  He, and Shugarts too, looked more than comfortable on the line.
• Michael Brewster, however, did struggle at the center position.  The most notable example was him giving the matador look to two Penguin linemen who eventually creamed Joe Bauserman on the play.  All is certainly not lost for Brewster, though.  I saw him adjusting. I saw him self-regulating, learning from what he saw on the last play.  I’m certain he’s going to be just fine.  It’s worth noting he was exclusively a tackle in high school.
• I don’t know much about Bryant Browning, but he cannot afford to be so jittery in future games.  Shugarts looked more than capable of doing his job for him.
• Posey looked awesome, as most expected.  Sanzenbacher looked a little hesitant and was eventually hung out to dry by Boeckman.  The bar lost the satellite feed for the play in question, so I didn’t get to see what exactly happened.
• Defense looked just fine, though it’s hard to read too much into a performance against Youngstown State.  I didn’t see the Buckeyes getting as much pressure through their front four as I would’ve liked.  Marcus Freeman looked great.  James Laurinaitis, noted pile-jumper for fans who hate the Buckeyes, had 5 assisted tackles.  Malcolm Jenkins got burned on press coverage early in the game, but was bailed out by the receiver not holding on to the catch.
• Only one forced turnover. Hmm.  Shaun Lane, you gotta catch that ball.
• This much ballyhooed pistol formation that I’ve been hearing so much about looked great with Pryor at the helm. I think Mo Wells could thrive in it too.
• Nothing really to note from Brandon Saine and Boom Herron.  With Herron, I think he needs more touches in order to get into a groove.  With Saine? Hmm.
• AJ Trapasso looked really good by not doing anything at all.  I hope that’s a recurring trend, but I won’t get my hopes up.
• Grant Schwartz was consistenly the first guy on the play on special teams.  Have we found a standout?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go back to continuously checking my Google Newsreader for any updates with the Beanie tag.