Pryor fumble gives the game away
What was most disappointing about the loss is the same litany of mistakes that keep occurring time after time when the Buckeyes play a top quality opponent. In this game, the Buckeyes struggled with open field tackling. The Nittany Lions were able to turn sure sacks into at least incompletion, TFLs into positive (if minimal) yardage, and minimal yardage into big gains. The Buckeyes struggled, often, in tackling Clark and Royster, which may not have mattered in the aggregate, but certainly changed the dynamic of the game circumstantially. Further, our offensive line, generally speaking, played about as bad a game as you can play. The Gators, Tigers, Trojans… even the Boilermakers… all split their rush ends wide to success every time on passing situations. Every time. The Buckeyes NEVER pick this up. The same mistakes. Over, and over… and over and over and over.
And still, in spite of the offensive line’s inability to move the ball forward on the ground and in spite of the problems with open field tackling, the Buckeyes were in a prime position to win the game in the 4th quarter. The usually reliable Kevin Kelly missed a tying field goal wide right with 12 minutes left in the 4th. Later, the Buckeyes were driving, 3rd and a short 1, approaching Penn State’s territory. The playcall was predictable: a QB sneak. All Pryor had to do was plow forward behind his offensive line for a first down. Instead, he bounced it outside. To be fair, I think he had the right idea. By bouncing it outside, he had one man to beat, who had a questionable angle on him, and could’ve picked up huge yardage and perhaps a backbreaking TD. That is, he had the right idea until the defender took a lunge at the ball and poked it out. A frantic scramble later, Penn State had the ball within the Ohio State 40 and cashed it in for 6 with 6 minutes left. Down 10-6, the Buckeyes picked up some yards, but were unable to get past their own 30 on a 3rd down play. The Buckeyes punted, forced a FG to make it a full touchdown deficit with a minute left and Ohio State out of timeouts. Eventually, Pryor found the Penn State secondary in the end zone to seal the game for the Nittany Lions.
Though not part of my frustrations, the Nittany Lions were another top notch opponent (the kind we usually lose to) who managed to play a conference road game and not turn the ball over. Hell, they didn’t even get penalized. In spite of the Buckeye defense holding firm and the Nittany Lion offense struggling to keep drives alive, Penn State played about as well as you can in this game and put themselves in a position to win in the 4th quarter. Unlike the Buckeyes, they capitalized on it.
Offense
Sadly, Terrelle Pryor showed that he is indeed a true freshman and that these type of errors we saw come with the territory. The big no-no was obviously the fumble, which put the Buckeyes in an enormous hole from which they weren’t able to recover. Again, I think he had the right idea, but has got to have a better grip on that football. After all, even if he bounces out but gets stopped at the line of scrimmage and doesn’t pick up the TD, the Buckeyes could still punt and flip field position on the Lions. The no-no was the fumble, not the decision to bounce it outside. Pryor, to his credit, did put up better passing numbers. On the game, Pryor went 16/24 for 226 yards. This itself is a step in the right direction. However, Pryor still needs a LOT of work in the passing department. He telegraphed more than a few of his passes, allowing Bowman to deflect one of them to break it up. He’s a little impatient with his reads and again holds the ball a little longer than he should in order to be absolutely certain of his decision. The most frustrating of Pryor’s passes were not the ones that he held for too long, but the ones he floated way too much. The consensus on Pryor coming out of high school was that his deep ball was fine and his short passes were good, but his intermediate passes were his weakness. More than a few Pryor passes had way too much air underneath them, which was probably most prominent in the Buckeye drive following Penn State’s TD where Robiskie was wide open for a huge gain to put the Buckeyes in Penn State territory and keep the drive alive. Sadly, because the pass fluttered, two Penn State defenders were able to make up ground and break it up. Regrettably, there’s no real reason to think this problem will disappear any time this season. This comes with having a freshman QB. I’m sure people will start clamoring for Todd Boeckman. But given our offensive line, Peyton Manning couldn’t do any better.
The receivers got a better workout today than they had in most games under the helm of Terrelle Pryor. Dane Sanzenbacher led all receivers with 6 grabs for 82 yards, going a long way to vindicate my hype in him. I’m aware I appear to be the only one who thinks Sanzenbacher is legit. Indeed, there’s much more interest in getting Posey and Thomas more snaps on offense. That said, he gets open more than anyone else in that receiver corp. Brian Robiskie had 4 grabs for 56 yards, playing a big role in the last minute drive to tie the game up at the half. Curious in his absence for most of the game, Hartline had one catch for 15 yards. That one catch came in the final minutes of the game.
Defense
The defensive line appeared to be streaky in this game. At times, they were a force from all sides. Then, on more than some occassions, they were being pushed around easily. In the first half, they were mostly brilliant. Herein, Thaddeus Gibson lead the way, finishing with 5 tackles (3 solo) and a sack. Still, in the first half, the Nittany Lions were able to toss to Evan Royster and plow ahead for eight yards. Where Ohio State was saved — even in spite of some curious 3-man rushes by the Nittany Lions — was the lack of a rhythm from the Daryll Clark-led Nittany Lions. Penn State would be able to drive the field before sputtering, sometimes in light of pressure from Thaddeus Gibson, eventually killing the drive. In doing so, however, they were able to flip field position often. In the second half, especially in the 4th quarter, the Nittany Lions offense overwhelmed the Buckeye front four. The TD following the Pryor fumble was mostly the byproduct of power running by Royster and excellent blocking Penn State’s offensive line. Royster finished with 77 yards on 22 carries, good for 3.5 yards per carry. Doug Worthington and Cam Heyward both finished with 6 tackles. For both, only one was solo.
To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of the performance of the linebackers. I’m inclined to think of their performance a little critically. Marcus Freeman stands out as a guy whose inability to wrap up and tackle on spot resulted in some saving grace for the Penn State offense. Further, he had a gift wrapped INT and probable pick six on Penn State’s first FG drive that sailed through his hands. As it was, he finished with 6 tackles, and only one of them solo. This is probably a proxy for Freeman’s aforementioned problems in tackling. Laurinaitis had 12 tackles, only two of them solo. This was good enough to lead all Buckeyes. I can’t remember offhand, but I think he was the one that came through on the blitz but overshot Clark, resulting in a first down scramble for Clark. Homan 3 tackles, one solo (seeing a pattern here?). One of his tackles was a nice one, though.
It seemed like the safeties Anderson Russell (9 tackles, 3 solo… second on the team) and Kurt Coleman (7 tackles, 1 solo… seeing a trend?) were the liabilities in the Buckeye secondary. On Penn State’s first field goal drive, one of the safeties (I think Russell) was caught looking in the backfield, opening up Graham Zug for 49 yards. Donald Washington also found himself flagged for interference on a few occassions as well. Of course, the unit as a whole appeared to perform really well when viewed in the aggregate. After all, Penn State’s receiver corp (typically 3 wide sets) is among the most potent in college football, and the Buckeye defense held the Butler-Norwood-Williams trio to a total of 23 yards. As a whole, Penn State only had 121 yards through the air.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
As it is, there’s two ways to look at this game. First, it’s a great win for Penn State in what’s becoming a very special season for them. They finally exorcised their Madison, Michigan and Columbus demons and probably won’t be seriously challenged until their January bowl game. I’m sure partying has already commenced in Happy Valley. Hell, they earned it.
Second, it’s a very disappointing loss for Ohio State. Yes, Penn State is a top quality opponent, but a loss at home (and on homecoming no less) is nothing to take pride in. Most importantly, though, it’s most troubling for me to see Ohio State continue to make the same mistakes against top tier opponents. In an era of interactive video game stimulation that allows us to play dynasty modes where our programs of choice win every game 98-0, we’re still reminded that we can’t win them all. However, I was holding out hope that the Buckeyes could learn from their mistakes and limitations as Nebraska did in the early-mid 1990s and become better for it. This Penn State game seems to be proof positive that, well, we didn’t. I’m not sure if and when we will, but it may not be this season (at least, the regular season). In the offseason, the program should take a very stern look at the direction of our offensive lines and our strength and conditioning program. Again: look at Alabama’s football team at the moment and look at ours and you’ll see the difference that conditioning and killer offensive lines can make.
Other thoughts during this game:
- Lamaar Thomas had 71 total yards on two kickoff returns.
- I don’t recall seeing Nathan Williams this game.
- Likewise, I don’t remember seeing the Buckeye Pistol this game either.
It’s hard enough to watch the Browns on Sundays. Now I gotta watch them on Saturdays, too.
Come on they are not as the bad as the Browns…
Seriously, we’ll be fine. We’re too spoiled on Troy. This is college football, nothing is for certain. And god forbid we become the patriots.
Vico,
You’ve got to lighten up. It was very disappointing, but not the end of civilization as we know it. Defensively, I thought they played quite well. I agree, they did need to do a better job wrapping up in the open field. The one defensive play (scheme) that did upset me was PSU’s pass play down the right sideline which set up their first field goal. Their receiver found te opening in our zone (gawddamn zone!) and made the play.
Offensively, I think you’ve nailed it. The lard-ass line continues to disappoint with their pillow-fighting. I agree with Adam’s and Shugart’s absense hurting us. At this point, what is the harm in playing time for Miller and Mitchum? The 1st half play calling baffled me (but evidently not Penn State) with sequences of run-run-pass, lather-rinse-repeat, etc.
I thought Terrelle played a good game. Yes, the fumble was the backbreaker, and yes, he does float his intermediate passes. I’ll take errors of commission with him while he is learning. Hey, the fans were all in heat to replace Todd with Terrelle, and we knew ( I assume) that he was going to make mistakes along the way. That’s the way it goes, until he grows into the roll.
Having said that, let’s roll through balance of season and kick some ass in a bowl game. Go Bucks!
1. I’m proud for TP. To be so young in that spotlight and not rollover and die like 99 percent of us is truly amazing.
2. However, I’m really disappointed in Tressel and Bollman. Its time! It is time for Bollman to move on because his lineman are not getting developed like they should. I haven’t even mentioned the playcalling. Their is way too much talent to run iso formation all game long against a stout defense. Its just flat out mind jarring that JT is this stubborn about his offensive philosophy.
In our two biggest games of the year, we have managed to score nine points and no offensive touchdowns. For once, I would like to see our offense score three or four touchdowns in a big game.
Bollman needs to go. I’m sure he’s a nice guy and all, but at the end of the day he’s not doing his job. The last time I checked, when I don’t do my job I get fired. We need a young, bright offensive coordinator that has complete play calling control.
Love the picture of Pryor. My new facebook picture. You must embrace the tough times to truly appreciate the good.
Go Buckeyes
Vico,
I have become quite a fan of your commentary and site as it aligns with my own thinking, geographical location, and sense of humor. Being a proud, permanently banned former member of the cheerleading site known as BuckeyePlanet, I fail to see how many members of that organization fail to see what we see. I have been on the dump Boeckmann, the whole-freakin’ O-line (especially Boone who is a drunken blowhard bad example), Bollman, and Heacock wagon since the Florida game. (I unfortunately predicted that one.) This group of coaches has not maintained the team’s competitive edge since ’02 (Cooper’s players) and has attained an ass-load of money and recognition beating up on weak conference and Div1AA opponents. Tressel is a great coach, but he is a friend protector when it comes to the nut cuttin’. We have some coaches (Fickell) who have never coached anywhere else. I’m tired of hearing comments about our team’s mental and physical weaknesses from other top-notch teams. Teams who play us, win or lose, should feel the pain for weeks and respect us either way. Instead, we’re the Sta-Puff team.
Living in SEC country lately will definitely humble you, and being a diehard Bucks fan can be a large cross to bear when Tressel and his boys fail to be progressive enough to win the tougher games.
In my opinion, prepare yourself for 10-2, and a bowl-game loss against USC again or the #2 SEC team. These kids have a quit mentality, and they will most likely never get out from under it.
Graduation can’t come fast enough.
Anyway, keep it up man! I anxiously await your next segment!
Buck in Louisiana.
I think the defense played a pretty good game, certainly when you consider some of the performances they’ve logged earlier in the year; even more so when you consider that PSU actively avoided our best player (on D) for nearly the entire game (I can only recall them throwing one ball in the direction of Mr. Jenkins, and it was for a 3 yard gain). Simply put, despite some sloppy tackling and sub-par coverage by D-Wash (actually you can say that about the rest of the secondary after Jenkins and Chekwa, but particularly about Washington), they gave the offense ample opportunity to win this game.
As for the O, I think (as has been repeated over and over again) that the blame rests with the O-line’s execution (or lack thereof) and the play-calling (though it was better than I expected, and there even seemed to be some second half adjustments–not nearly enough, but any adjustment is a step in the right direction). It’s unfortunate that Beanie had a shitty day, but when you force your running back to break a couple tackles to get back to the LOS, that will happen (I believe it was in the 3rd quarter when I saw Wells break 2 tackles, step past another kid, and deliver a stiff-arm-of-justice in the span of about 5 yards–and all of this was to gain 2 yards). Had anyone else been in his place they likely would have had negative yardage on the day.
I assume that we’ll see NU, Ill, and scUM stack the box (and move several more onto the LOS) like PSU did and dare us to throw…however, I don’t believe any of those teams have the personnel Penn State does and that Pryor should be able to continue his growth as a passer and Beanie should be able to chew up more yardage behind our slow, largely-ineffective O-line.
It is rather frightening that our best victories in terms of quality of opponent will be over MSU and Minnesota this year–who saw THAT coming? (not that we’d drop a couple games, but that Minnesota had a reasonable shot at going 11-1)
The defense tanked it when it counted most by committing two crucial penalties as they usually do in big games. The facemask on Worthington and the pass interference on Washington. Our defensive line got tired in the 2nd half as well. I do think that they played well for one half. We lead the nation in absolute mental breakdowns in pressure situations the last 4 years. Period.
We have lost the spirit to finish the play and the drive and the game. We play with the mentality of “Oh shit….here we go again…..we’ll lose this one and fight another day.”
The other day has not yet arrived, especially with this group of upperclassmen and certain coaches.
The problem for a long time has been the O-line and Bollman/ Daniels. I bet other spread style coaches in the NCAA look at our talent and laugh at how they are coached. Look how many Buckeyes from this team and perennially will play in the NFL. The numbers are staggering. So why do they consistently lose these big games? COACHING!!! I could win more games calling the shots on Offense – seriously. Hey, anyone who plays us next, want to know what we’re gonna do on the next play? 1: Beanie draw up the gut. 2: I-form Beanie hand-off up the gut 3: Quarterback keeper. Learn how to defend this and anyone can beat us. Seriously, think about it, Ted Ginn’s own father said that Ray Small had the talent to be better than his own son. On any team like Kansas, or Texas Tech, Small would be another Crabtree or Maclin. But who has he been on the Bucks? How do you think Robo and Hartline feel? Robo could have been a super-star to any team with a decent QB. Hell, he would have made any decent QB look great, and Harts consistently leaves it on the field every game he plays. Vico, you are not alone on the Sanzenbacher call, he has been the truth the whole season, but stop talking about him, because once other teams figure this out we’ll have no pass attack at all. Bring any Big 12 coach over from any of the successful teams this year and even with a shitty O-line, we’d still be hanging big numbers. The fact is that we have too much firepower for an O-line to matter that much, the problem is that we never use it. Look at the Michigan State game. It was the only time I’ve seen the trips set-up consistently this year and a bunch of quick, short, sure passes. This opens it up for Beans and Pryor, and keeps the ball moving, while eating up time. 4-5 yards on every down wins a hell of a lot of ball games. It also opens it up for attempts at the big ball. That was the only game we deviated from the norm and look what happened. It was the most complete game we’ve played in God knows how long. It was also the only game we have done anything decent in the red. Our D has been the truth for a few games now, and I feel they’d stand up to anybody. Any D, no matter how good, would have gotten tired last game late, so don’t fault them. Thank God for our D, they have really grown and learned how to click since the USC game. My question is are you faulting those of us who still want to see Boeckman occasionally? Why not? Mix it up. I’m not saying pull Pryor, but when you have 2 greats like that with different styles and so many weapons to use, it’s stupid not to use them. Let Pryor learn a little from the Senior, and show Boecks some respect for what he has done for us in the past. If we mixed it up like that, no D would be able to stop us, they’d never know what to expect. Then maybe Beanie would get those big runs and numbers we all remember. He is a beast, but if the opposing team knows it’s coming to him on every play then what do you expect? If we keep this offensive coordination nightmare up, we’re not only going to keep losing big games, but the big recruits. What QB or receiver wants to go play for a team who doesn’t throw the ball? Who wants to go play for a team whose idea of success is limited to us beating Michigan again, but nothing more. Tress has shown us he can beat Michigan. In that I believe in him, but there has to be more to a season than just the result of the Michigan game. We have to re-assess our goals this next off-season and say goodbye to Jim Bollman and maybe even Joe Daniels. We can’t play “3 yards in a cloud of dust” football anymore or these new-school teams will wax us every year, regardless of how good our D is, and it’s not gonna get much better than it is now.