Our Honor Defend

I’m fully aware the quality of this blog has deteriorated in the past few weeks as I continue to plot and scheme various things of professional and personal interest. I’m still nominally on top of things, though.  In this quasi-usual feature, I review some things going on in the world of Buckeye football as the Buckeyes prepare for their second conference road game (and second trip to the state of Indiana) this season.

Naturally, a lot of it follows from Tressel’s luncheon on Tuesday.

Herron and Larimore Out

I don’t think anyone is surprised that Dexter Larimore will miss his second straight game.  Though we were ecstatic to learn that Larimore was not going to need surgery, I think we all anticipated that his second quarter injury in the Hoosiers game meant that he would miss some games — as in the plural.  Dan Herron’s absence this week is new.  Herron missed the Indiana game as a result of an injury suffered against the Illini in the last week.  It’s precisely that same injury that seemed to be reaggravated in a hit suffered against Wisconsin.  The Buckeyes will go without his services this week again, giving Brandon Saine the start.

Naturally, Saine will need someone else to share carries with, leading us to suspect that true freshman AP-back Jordan Hall will be that guy.  This may mean that Jermil Martin, the converted fullback, will see some carries as well.  Jaamal Berry came up in conversation, but I think a redshirt for Berry will be best at this point.  There’s some reason to be optimistic about Berry, says Tressel.

“I’m the eternal optimist, I keep waiting for Jamaal Berry to be healthy because when he’s been healthy he’s been very, very good, but right now it’s Brandon and Jordan.”

…and with that in mind, I think I’d want to give Berry an extra year of eligibility.

Miller and Cordle In

Buckeyes expect Andy Miller to be back in action this week, which seems about right given the reason why he was on the downlow (flu).  The prospect of getting Jim Cordle back, who missed every game thus far after the USC game, is nice.

We Know Now the Atrocity that Ross Homan Committed

Jermale Hines pick-six in the third quarter against Wisconsin, the second of the game for the Buckeyes, was followed with a 15 yard penalty assessed after the play.  For the life of me, I had no idea what he did.  No one did.  In fact, what he did was so awful, and so inhumane, that ABC cut the broadcast during a crucial stretch of the post-TD fallout where we could’ve seen what horrible thing he did.  Privately, I wondered if, after Hines scored the TD (in order to make sure the TD stood and was not called back), Ross Homan brained a Wisconsin Badger player in the head with a pickaxe.

It turns out, Homan didn’t do anything.  He was falsely accused of committing the penalty.

“That wasn’t me that was Nate Williams. He blocked a lineman. It was kind of controversial. The lineman (didn’t) really have a chance to get to Jermale, but Nate was just trying to get the block but the ref saw it as unnecessary,” Homan said Tuesday.

“When they called 51, I looked back and said, ‘I didn’t touch anyone, how is this possible.’ I was right behind Jermale, sprinting toward the end zone, when I got off the field everyone was like, ‘Ross what did you do, what did you do?’ I was like ‘what are you talking about?’

“Nate was probably hiding on the bench.”

Knowing how bad of a man Nathan Williams is on the gridiron, I believe my hypothesis — that a Wisconsin Badger player was discreetly brained in the head¹ on the runback — gained greater support.  I still haven’t seen the actual incident itself to confirm or deny.  Nevertheless: J’accuse, Nathan Williams.

Oh, and immediately running and hiding on the bench is just funny.  Easily the best detail from that incident, and maybe even cooler than the Hines TD itself.

Ohio State Offense: A Thousand Years in the Making

I loved how Brandon Castel phrased this, so I’m just going to blockquote this.

No doubt the quote of the day, however, and the one Buckeye fans will be racking their brain over for days and weeks to come, came from Tressel’s opinion over what the main goal of the offense should be each week.

“I think the primary responsibility of an offense is to never put their defense in poor position.

“You know I’ve felt that for a thousand years,” said Tressel, who is well-known for his insistence on playing the field position game while limiting turnovers.

“And also to make sure that you take opportunities to score points.”

That fact that scoring points was an afterthought could have a lot to do with Ohio State’s struggles on offense this season.

I’ll also add that my favorite quote on offense comes from Bill Belichick (paraphrased): We don’t put you out there to punt.

Pryor Expressing Some Frustrations with Play Calling

Continuing from the above point: I only saw this referenced in TSB’s Family Feud post on the matter (the play calling v. Pryor debate).  Both indicated that there was some kind of issue Pryor raised with the play calling for this game, which obviously elicited an “Oh?” from me for the obvious reasons.  If Pryor’s unhappy with play calling and being vocal about it, that’d be a big deal for all the obvious reasons.  I think I found what exactly he said.

“I hope the defense doesn’t have to keep carrying us like this,” Pryor said after the game.

…

That’s not to say Pryor is the problem — the offensive line has been erratic, there have been dropped passes and bad routes by the receivers and the backs have been solid but not great. On top of that, many believe coach Jim Tressel — who runs the offense even though Jim Bollman has the title of coordinator — relies too heavily on conservative playcalling that stifles a gifted athlete such as Pryor.

Tressel said Tuesday that the offense has had difficulty “adjusting to the flow” of the game.

He said after the offense practices all week for an opposing defense, it seems unable to adapt when it faces a new wrinkle.

No one says, “I see what they’re doing, now here’s what we’ve got to do next,” Tressel said.

At times, the attack appears to be unstoppable. It gobbled up 88 yards in just over a minute late in the half.

“We started being aggressive and it worked,” Pryor said later.

Small, frequently in Tressel’s doghouse for a variety of minor infractions, said the offense is loaded with explosive, talented players.

When the Buckeyes were bogged down and not moving the ball against Wisconsin, he said a frustrated Pryor tried to shake things up by making a big play.

“He wanted to go deep every play,” Small said with a grin. “He was hollering at the coaches, ‘Let’s go deep! Let’s go deep!’ Terrelle is an emotional guy.”

Read into that what you will².  I’m aware that dissatisfaction with the offensive performance — which is subpar this season at its sub-categorical best — has grown so vocal that the likes of Ken Gordon are saying “¡Ya basta!” with respect to the criticism.  Therefore, I will not add any criticism, or weigh one way or the other, except to say that I fervently hope that I don’t grow so accustomed to mediocre offense that I’m relieved when our offense scores 13 points in a game.  Vocal frustration from the fans is understandable since this defense we have is just fantastic.  They probably should be upset since its fair to reason that a competent offensive attack would’ve beaten USC by 2 TDs.  No one will remember our staunch defense that game, only that we lost.

In the meantime, I don’t have the time nor the patience to sift through the issues of play calling, offensive philosophy, Pryor’s competence, the guessing game of who actually controls the strings of the offense, Jim Bollman, Nick Siciliano and so on.  I’m not sure what good that’ll do now because, well, the 2009 Buckeye offense is here and now.  It’s now.  You’re looking at now, sir.  Everything that happens now is happening now. What happened to then? We passed then. When? Just now. We’re at now now.  Understanding that we can’t go back to then (When? Now. Now? Now.) because we just missed it (When? Just now.), the important questions to ask for the remainder of this season are: Is it getting better?  Can we isolate certain things that are holding us back (and correct them)? What can we do in such a short window to maximize output? What did we see in practices before a Saturday game that may have contributed to a lackluster performance (from an individual player and/or the whole)? and so on.

I just want it to work… and for our enemies to be crushed under the weight of our glory.

Big Ten Bowl Schedule for 2010-13 Released

These will be the bowl arrangements for the Big Ten, starting next season.

1. Rose/BCS vs. Pac-10/BCS, Jan. 1
2. Capital One vs. SEC, Jan. 1
3. Outback vs. SEC, Jan. 1
4/5. Gator vs. SEC, Jan. 1
4/5. Insight vs. Big 12, Dec. 31
6. Texas vs. Big 12, late December
7. Dallas Football Classic vs. Conference USA,* Jan. 1

I genuinely don’t like the Gator Bowl arrangement.  In all my Buckeye hubris, I don’t ever expect us to play in that game — and will be very cranky if we do — but at this stage in my life³, I’m totally fatigued from the Big Ten-SEC rivalry thing.  Do we really need a third installment of this?  We already have two such showdowns in their backyard on January 1st.  Is a third one absolutely necessary?  Brian of MGoBlog cites Doc Saturday when discussing what these matchups would’ve looked like through the years.

• 2008: Nerdwestern vs. Vanderbilt
• 2007: Penn State vs Mississippi State
• 2006: Purdue vs Kentucky
• 2005: Iowa vs South Carolina (2005)

Are these hypothetical bowl games absolutely necessary⁴?  2007 Penn State v. Mississippi State? 2006 Purdue v. Kentucky?  And on January 1st, no less?   Oooookay.

I guess I’ll soften that to note that the “Dallas Football Classic”, a bowl slated to start in 2011, is a January 1 bowl game pitting the Big Ten vs. the Conference USA.  In all likelihood, this game will seem to be something like Motor City Bowl South.  The only reason I’ll permit this — and perhaps even the prospect of a third tier Gator Bowl also being on January 1st — is because it builds towards something I actually like about the January 1st bowl games: there’s multiple games going on simultaneously.  With maximizing ratings all the rage now in bowl games, having something akin to the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament would be good.  Best part about that weekend is that there’s the real pressure to stackpile TVs and radios in hopes of not missing a single game.

Take A Look Inside My World

If ever I seem bitter, jaded, anti-social on this blog, it’s because I live in Alabama.  It brings out the worst in me.  It will do the same for you too.  Wanna see one example why?  Well, whenever I turn on my TV to try to submerge myself in a bricolage of national media in hopes of escaping Southern living, I’m still ultimately railroaded by the local commercials down here that remind me that I live in Alabama… and that all hope may be lost.

So, now you get to feel my pain⁵.  I see this commercial at least once every hour, and more than that during college football games.

Think that’s grim?  In terms of awful local commercials⁶, this one for Northport Auto Supply may be the 3rd or 4th worst offender.  However, I can’t find commercials for any of those worse offenders on YouTube.

1. Of course, where else are you going to get brained? [↩]
2. …though Pryor will have to know that trying to hit a home run through the air every time you throw the ball is not necessarily the best course of action, although the ends justify the means. [↩]
3. Only 25, but I think I’ve aged 20 years since I moved down here. [↩]
4. Okay, The 2008 Nerd School Classic is.  Our nerds are better than your nerds! [↩]
5. Those King Capital commercials don’t seem so dumb now, do they? [↩]
6. …and they’re awful everywhere. [↩]