Our Honor Defend

The question isn’t if the Beanie will play against the Trojans this Saturday night.  Benching him for the Ohio game was basically a means to make sure that he had ample time to rest his toe and to not force him back against an Ohio team (that we were supposed to beat by 35, but evidently that gameplan was scrapped in favor of the sucktitude game plan) where he could’ve aggravated the injury.  Indeed, Tressel said today what we all kinda knew was coming: Beanie will play against USC.  However, there are bigger issues regarding Beanie.

First, how much will he play? Consistent with the staff’s policy, the midweek practice sessions will determine how much Beanie sees the field this Saturday night.  I think the most important practice is tomorrow, though.  It should paint a clearer picture of which of the two co-starters at tailback (Herron and Beanie) gets the start.  As for what his teammates felt: James Laurinaitis was impressed with how well he looked running on the sidelines.  As for what Beanie thinks: he swears he’s ready for 45 carries against USC.

Second, how well will he play?  I have lingering curiosities on whether or not Beanie will be up to game speed — let alone USC speed, stripping the last word of any connection to the dumb speed-by-region/conference argument.  I’m sure these things go by a case by case basis, and Beanie, by all accounts, is a competitor.  However, let’s be frank: getting injured in the beginning of the second half of the first game of the season against a 1-AA patsy and taking the next week off can’t help things.  This is the curiosity from Tressel and Bollman, as they seem to be prepared to give him 45 carries only so long as he’s going to be effective with them.  The skeptic in me then asks where was the emphasis on the running game was in Glendale and New Orleans, but alas.  Beanie was held out of full practice today, but will participate in it tomorrow.  If he experiences any kind of soreness from those workouts, it could spell trouble.

A bigger issue than all of this, however, is the offensive line.  I’m not bracing for the worst like Vic is, but if the offensive line puts on the same performance against USC that they did against Ohio, it won’t much matter that Beanie is back in the mix.  Of course, offensive line performance will dictate this game — as it does any game — and if the same lethargic offensive line shows up in Los Angeles, Beanie will have needed to install a Six Million Dollar Bionic Stiffarm to compensate.

Hearing Beanie’s name though, and hearing it in a positive note, is always good.