The game to watch may be in Atlanta, where we get to watch good friends of ours from our favorite conference — the greatest, besterest conference in whole world: the SEC — settle its conference championship. If Auburn prevails, we will very likely get 2-loss ArKansas as an at-large in New Orleans should we ourselves pick up the bid as well. This follows for several reasons. First, if given the opportunity, the Sugar Bowl will always try to offset losing its automatic tie-in to the BCS title game by grabbing an available at-large from the same conference. ArKansas’ victory over LSU in the finale puts them ahead of the in-state Tigers. Second, Ohio State is a huge draw and the Sugar Bowl could foster cheap, quick interest by stirring the Ohio State-SEC pot. Yet, if South Carolina prevails, they get the conference’s tie-in to the Sugar Bowl. We may see the Gamecocks ten years after their thumping of us in the 2001 Outback Bowl cemented the end of the Cooper era.

Further, the ACC Championship Game in North Carolina will be worth following. It seems unlikely the Sugar Bowl will pass on us — they might. If they do, the Orange Bowl, next in the pecking order, may scoop us up to take on the ACC champions. That will be either Florida State or Virginia Tech. Unaware of the potential turnout for the game in Charlotte, the conference is at least putting forward its best conference championship game since 2005. The same two teams met then, with the Seminoles prevailing. You can see the full slate of games here.

Enjoy your football. Also, say hello to Charles if you have not already. Charles is one of a few new people you will be seeing for basketball season. I’m very happy that he’s come on board and I have given him the green light to post at will about women’s basketball. He will also help out with the men’s game as well. Aware that most fans are not as interested in the sport as he and I are, it is nevertheless my blog and our passion to see the women’s game succeed. As you can already tell, he’s passionate about the sport and knows his stuff. More new people will follow and I believe you will like them as well.

And, yes, any time is the right time for The Donnie.

It did not end there.  The Big East had a total face-plant and could’ve put up a big donut in the win column if not for Villanova.  Villanova, the 2-seed in the South region, needed a collapse from Robert Morris down the stretch, and OT, in order to put away the 15-seed Colonials from the Northeast Conference.  Elsewhere?  Total face-plant.  6-seed Marquette lost to a very meek Washington Huskies from a nationally maligned Pac-10 conference and 6-seed Notre Dame was upended by Ol’ Dirty University.

There was great action all around on Thursday.  The first day alone had enough suspense to match last year’s entire tournament.  Half of the SEC schools vanished from the tournament in a four hour span.  Brigham Young, behind sure-to-be Stephon Curry incarnate Jimmer Fredette, felled the Florida Gators in double overtime.  The victory for Brigham Young was the first tournament victory in almost twenty years.  No doubt, BYU fans opened their Postum reserves on Thursday night and it was flowing like champagne in Provo while using Family Home Evening to discuss how much the 2-seed Kansas State Wildcats, their next opponent, hurt the soul.  Lastly, Vanderbilt, bounced in hilarious fashion in the past two tournaments, were again punked, this time by a buzzer beater from the Murray State Racers.  I don’t know where the state of Murray is, but I imagine its US Senators are already drafting legislation to proclaim Danero Thomas a statewide hero.

It is therefore with a sense of excitement, and anxiety, that we usher in day two with Ohio State playing in the nightcap against the UCSB Gauchos.  UC-Santa Barbara, the school responsible for Jim Rome (and, to my knowledge, has issued no apology or paid this country any indemnity as a result of him), is the tournament champion of the Big West conference.  You may remember; Cal State Northridge — the localest of local schools when I was growing up in Los Angeles — gave 2-seed Memphis everything they could handle in their opening round matchup.  The Gauchos (seriously) are not coming into the dance just to have their mom pick them up at 10pm.  To accomplish that objective, and Hampton the Buckeyes, UCSB wants to slow down the pace drastically.  A track meet does not favor them.  Meanwhile, they hope their perimeter defense will be enough to force the Buckeyes into jump shots.  Therein, UCSB is thinking that any team of good shooters (as Ohio State) can have a cold shooting day.  How Evan Turner is able to drive into the lane, how healthy Jon Diebler is, and how effective Dallas Lauderdale can be is worth watching.

I’ll be around, but mostly on Twitter.  Enjoy the madness.

1. Jim Groce was a former Matta assistant at Butler, Xavier and Ohio State

Last year, Ohio State was just making sure everyone got in since there was not many recruiting prizes left for them to collect.  This year, there is.  This year, we might get actually get one.  Do we perchance to dream?

There are two names to consider here.  Seantrel Henderson (pictured) is the big prize of the group and will be making a decision today.  Oddly enough, he’s not doing it in the conventional sense, in the high school gymnasium with everyone else (football and other sports) signing LOIs from the same high school.  Instead, Henderson is in New York City where he will sign his LOI on live television at a ceremony in CBS College Studios.  Normally these things get done at some kind of ceremony early in the morning before school or at lunch or something.  Those of you on the EST will probably be eating dinner when Henderson signs his LOI at 5:30.  Seems odd that it’s being handled in this manner, but I guess it does underscore the increased level of intrigue the sport and its subsidiary enterprise — recruiting — has assumed in recent years.

So where will Henderson head?  Three candidates, among several, are The Ohio State University, Southern California and Notre Dame.  Minnesota — the in-state school for Henderson — is nominally in this list, but I just don’t see the Gophers in this race.  Which of the three has the inside track for Henderson? Hell, I’ve read him going everywhere.  “Insiders” at Notre Dame think Kelly is in with him.  Doug Lesmerises, citing a hunch, thinks it will be USC over Ohio State.  Minnesota outlets agree.  Still, some have said Ohio State (here, here).  As for me, I’m not inclined to think this is anything other than a two horse race and I won’t speculate where he goes.  If not Ohio State, then USC.

On that note, we certainly know where Malcolm Jenkins thinks Seantrel Henderson should be.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=paNuANriLaE

Matt James is the other fella signing the dotted line today.  I have not dealt with Matt James a lot in the buildup to Signing Day, mostly because I just always assumed he was heading to Notre Dame following the hire of Brian Kelly.  In reports, James — an offensive lineman from Cincy’s Saint X program — has said that he’s genuinely torn between Ohio State and Notre Dame.  I believe him and I respect that.  Still, I think it’s Notre Dame for him today.

Other things to consider

• Latwan Anderson will not be signing his LOI with WVU today.  Instead, he will wait an additional week to — in all likelihood — make sure Ohio State has spot available and then sign with us.  There’s intrigue to this case.
• There’s conflicting information on Morgan Moses. Scout.com says he’s not signing, likely a result of his inability to make a visit to LSU.  He has visits he’d like to take and has some schoolwork left to do.  Kurelic says that his coach is encouraging him to sign, making it a decision between committing to Ohio State or honoring his earlier commitment to Virginia.  In this scenario, I really like our chances.
• Remember James Louis? He seems all set for Ohio State… except for this contingent of Minnesota fans who think otherwise.  I wouldn’t worry…

I’ll be a busy beaver all day today, working hard for the money, so hard for it honey.  But if you leave a comment or talk amongst yourselves, I’ll probably get around to reading it.

The Spring Game gets higher priority in my apartment (presuming I can get a connection on one of the websites streaming the game), but I’ll provide at least passing interest to the first round of the NFL Draft to see where our Buckeye alumni will be A) ending up and B) making millions of dollars.  I understand traffic is light around these parts over the weekend, so perhaps this thread will mostly be a running tally of my own observations.  It’ll be stuff that I’d otherwise twitter, but the traffic load on Twitter makes posting anything difficult sometimes (at least, from my experience).  I’m going to make Gabby comment too, because I know he has nothing else to do unless he didn’t weasel out of the company picnic like I did.

11W already offered their thoughts on important factors this game.  It basically covers anything and everything I would’ve said, so it would not be worthwhile to say what’s already been said.  However, I’ll go ahead and add a few more observations.

• I think the Gray team wins the scrimmage, if for no other reason than it’s the team with Terrelle Pryor and Justin Boren.
• …and still I have the worst case scenario of the offensive line looking clueless this whole game for both the Scarlet and Gray sides.
• Watch the recruiting wire after the game.  For the past two years, the Spring Game has been Christmas in April for Ohio State recruitniks.  The 2007 Spring Game gave us Michael Brewster and JB Shugarts and the 2008 Spring Game gave us Dorian Bell, among several, several others.  That said, I can’t think of any names off the top of my head in the 2010 class that may provide an immediate commitment.  Lamarcus Joyner is the most important name in attendance.  He’s certainly interested in the Buckeyes, but it’d be unreasonable to expect a Spring Game commitment from Joyner.  Nick Montana may or may not be in attendance.  BuckeyePlanet has a list of important visitors for this game.
• Jake Ballard and Jake Stoneburner are on the same team as Terrelle Pryor.  Both, especially Stoney, have had great springs so far.  Watch what happens accordingly.

Ken, loyal reader from western New York, will be posting Block O Table questions on Monday, so stay tuned.  Lastly, on the NFL Draft, here’s my ill-informed predictions (barring any draft day surprises):

• Jenkins and Beanie will go back-to-back to the Saints and Texans respectively.  A two tailback system for Beanie in Houston (w/ Steve Slaton) will be really helpful in his transition to the NFL.
• I don’t see Laurinaitis falling further than the first pick of the second round to the Lions.
• Ohio State: NFL Factory.  They are second only to the Hurricanes.  This will continue this year.
• The Cleveland Browns will likely take Orakpo or Raji.  Their defensive line needs help.  Mangini can always take Mark Sanchez or Michael Crabtree too, but only if he wants me to cry.
• Whatever the case, the Cleveland Browns finish 16-0 in the regular season in 2009.  The playoffs will be cancelled and the Lombardi Trophy presented to the Browns after beating Jacksonville 77-0 in the regular season finale.

This whole season of college football has been rather deflating, so I have not had too much interest in ESPN’s SportsNation bowl picks and bowl chatter.  That said, I’ve gathered what exactly the theme is entering this game.  Texas, from the big bad Big 12, is pissed off that it was denied the Big 12 title game, that the Big 12 title game featured two teams that it beat, and that its star quarterback was denied a Heisman Trophy in favor of a quarterback from aforementioned title game team who it beat.  Ohio State, from the meek and uninteresting Big Ten –whose teams are unathletic dinosaurs of football past — undeservingly limps back to Glendale — scene of the crime in January 2007 — for its run of the mill big game catastrophe.  Its players: slow, lethargic, fat and pathetic.  Its head coach: a laughing stock.  While my interest in nationwide speculation on this game remains wanting, I’ve gathered from ESPN’s news crawl about the 90.4% confidence for a Texas victory on what the expected outcome will be.

Yes yes yes yes… yes.  I know.  But while ESPN.com’s comments section lights up with the chestbumping and butchered English of the quasi-literate yokels who freely roam the southeastern portion of this silly country, we should remind ourselves that the outcome of the game is ultimately not reducible to them.

Still, in spite of all the hubris, most Buckeye fans should willingly admit to their role as the underdogs in this contest.  Texas’ one loss: a conference road loss to respectable Texas Tech, which featured an impressive rally by Texas quarterback and Heisman finalist Colt McCoy.  Ohio State’s two losses: kinda lame, and absent the offensive fireworks that the Longhorns offense provided all season.  McCoy, the aforementioned quarterback, is third nationally in QB efficiency and will likely set an NCAA record for completion percentage (currently 77.6%) by the end of this game.  Better yet, he’s also the Longhorns’ leading rusher, though I’m not sure that statistic is any praise for the tailback production in 2008.  His favorite targets, roommate Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby, both neared 1000 yards on the season (982 and 952 yards respectively).

This passing attack — something that appears to come as a result of the drinking water in the Big 12 — will certainly be taxing for Jim Heacock’s defense.  While the unit seemed to click by the end of the season, I — along with just about every other Buckeye fan — am not confident, given the caliber of offense the Buckeyes will encounter.  Production will need to come from the defensive line… naturally… and it will need to come from everyone, tackles and rush ends alike.  To be honest, I think every Buckeye fan would love for Beanie to tally up some ridiculous rushing total for this game (in an ideal scenario).  I think I’d be even more pleased if Nader Abadallah, academic overachiever and 5th year senior, could close out his Ohio State career with 5 or more sacks.  McCoy, though, is no lightweight.  He’s far from the shrimpy redshirt freshman we saw in 2006.  Indeed, a respectable part of McCoy’s rushing total comes from extending drives on 3rd down and and on busted pass plays.  He’s a powerful runner with arms that resemble cannons.  Spy jobs may be necessary, and Jermale Hines will need to be a factor from his “Star” position.

A lot is made of the Big 12′s supposed lack of defense, but I don’t think that label particularly applies to the Texas Longhorns.  The Longhorns’s defense is anchored within the hashmarks by sack artist Brian Orakpo and outside the hashmarks by, far and away, the most credible defensive coordinator in the Big 12 and whose famed sideline outburst I can’t link enough.  Buckeye fans who draw attention to Texas Tech’s performance against Ole Miss or Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator-less performance against the Ducks as credible means to inference about Texas’ predicted performance in the Fiesta Bowl are off base.

This is more apparent because our offense can look like the worst offense in college football at times, in spite of having the best player in college football line up in the tailback position (homer tendencies: not thwarted, but with merit).  It starts, sadly, with the offensive line.  I say “sadly” because we certainly know the story for the unit in 2008.  Senior and three year starter Alex Boone’s misfires against USC were probably the most embarrassing individual performance on the line.  Person and Rehring hit on traps with the best of them, but they are slow to pull and are often resorted to spectators as a play gets blown up in the backfield.  Bryant Browning and speed rushes off the perimeter, well… they just don’t get along.  This all plays right into the hands of Will Muschamp’s defense, where the strength is in the front 7.  As I type, I’m having flashbacks to the 2008 Homecoming game.  Better yet, to allay my anxieties about the unit, Jim Bollman has decided to mix things up a bit for this game.  Whereas Rehring and Person, injury-raddled for a good portion of 2008, typically start at left and right guard respectively, Bollman has decided to swap positions for the two.  Odd, considering that Rehring and Person are most comfortable at their usual positions, but perhaps not odd considering that they didn’t particularly look that great at their usual positions.  Oh boy.

So what do I see happening?

Ohio State wins if… I think it would be necessary to speak of the Buckeyes’ chances here in terms of necessity and sufficiency. Ohio State needs to be able to establish the running game because it’s the key to its offense.  This starts with the offensive line who cannot afford to look as awful as they did against Ohio, Purdue, USC and Penn State.  Conversely, they will need to contain the speed rush on passing plays, or the nightmares of big games past will return.  It’d help if Robiskie and the probably-not-going-to-start Brian Hartline created separation for themselves in the secondary.  While it’s not explored enough in game previews for the Fiesta Bowl, Pryor cannot afford to float his downfield heaves or they will end up in the waiting arms of an otherwise inexperienced Longhorn secondary.  There were more than a few passes by Pryor later in the season that could’ve been long touchdown passes, but were underthrown and wound up on the turf.  That’s just what’s necessary to make a Buckeye victory possible. Where Ohio State’s odds of winning increase exponentially is in staying out of 3rd and long.  After watching the Big 12 representatives in the bowl games this far, I think I’ve gathered stuff about their defenses in general.  While much maligned, the defenses I’ve seen so far seem to excel in their pass rushes, if mostly because it’s become routine for them in a pass-happy conference.  Nebraska and Texas Tech pass rushes were, I thought, the best elements to their defense, even with the latter coming in a losing effort.  Run stuffing may be an issue, and it may be a colossal issue should the offensive line show up.  Too many 3rd and longs, indicative of the first condition (offensive line play) not being met, will probably just be batting practice for a ferocious front seven.

Texas wins if… every one of those nameless faceless mouthbreathers who dominate college football discourse through this electronic medium are right and the football gods are truly mocking me.

GO BUCKS.

1. The exception here is the 1999 Fiesta Bowl between Tennessee and Florida State, the BCS’s first title game.

It has not been an easy transition year for first year head coach Rich Rodriguez.  Ryan Mallett’s departure after he took the reins left him with a walk-on transfer from Georgia Tech and Nick Sheridan, who equals death.  Justin Boren left, and the offensive line has not been up to the task of blocking in Rodriguez’ schemes.  Stephen Schilling, probably Rodriguez’ best lineman this season… which isn’t saying much… injured his knee in practice and is questionable for the game.  Further, the woes for that team that shall not be further named aren’t just limited to on the field stuff.  Sam McYouTube has been a constant transfer rumor for the past two weeks or so (though he is scheduled to play tomorrow), Zion Babb among others has been kicked off the team and Rodriguez has also lost a few recruits along the way.

Brian Cook has two words for ya.

Of course, maybe I’m alone in being terrified about this game, but mostly because I fret over the Wolvereenies every day.  Indeed, the sole existence of the University of Michigan is an act of violence to my very essence and I will not sleep a quiet sleep until the ultimate demolition of said institution of evil and higher learning.  Still, on the matter at hand, the Wolvereenie defense poses some consternation for me tomorrow and, naturally, it’s because of our offensive line.  While there may not be a lot to boast about on the TTUN front four, it is probably their strength.  Moreover, our offensive line is certainly not our strength.  With an inconsistent, and sometimes outright awful, offensive line comes a variability of outcomes on offense.  Sometimes they’ve looked brilliant (Troy, Michigan State); other times they’ve made me hate life (Penn State, Purdue, USC, Ohio).  It’s no secret to anyone involved what the Buckeyes’ game plan will be when Ohio State has the ball.  But, if Beanie dives are going to work, our offensive line will have to handle the opposing front 4, 3 of whom are returning starters.  TTUN’s rush defense hasn’t been very good, allowing over 128ypg.  Further, they’ve been awful on defense, period (66th nationally on total defense, 80th nationally on point defense, 89th nationally on pass defense).  In fairness to the front four, much of that has been because of the TTUN offense’s inability to stay on the field.  If the running game works well enough to allow an air raid from Pryor, this game should effectively be over soon.

Sooo, this will be Heacock’s chance to shine on defense and show Buckeye fans that the very sight of a spread option offense won’t make his units explode like they did in January 2007².  To the frustration of the opposing fans, Nick Sheridan, the Harbinger of Doom himself, is the likely starter against Ohio State tomorrow.  Justin Feagin will be a change of pace QB.  This is a small victory by itself; while Threet and Sheridan aren’t very good, Threet is just so much better.  However, Threet will likely sit because of a separated shoulder.  McYouTube will be back from a family funeral in Texas and is slated to play, though it’s apparent to me that Brandon Minor is probably their best option at tailback.  Regardless of which of the Carr-era personnel that Rodriguez goes with, he still finds his offense at the bottom of the Big Ten and 105th nationally in offensive production (299ypg).  Sheridan looked not so bad in a victory against Minnesota, but was 8/29 against Nerdwestern last week in the loss.  The Wolvereenies have been unable to sustain drives and unable to score more than 30 points in a game with just one exception.  However, hanging 42 on Purdue isn’t a lot to write home about… though I wish we could’ve done it.  On paper, there doesn’t appear to be a lot to be threatened about by M*ch*g*n’s lack of thoroughbreds, but I keep running through worst-case scenarios in my brain.  The defensive line has to dominate in order to let That Team Up North know who is the 3 touchdown favorite.  Pressure up the interior will be really important.  With Nader Abdallah’s recent brilliance, I guess I should feel pretty good about it.

With mismatches that abound in this match-up, more than a few Buckeye fans are wanting to run up the score against Rodriguez.  Naturally, I would love to run up the score too, but just because of my unadulterated hatred for all things maize and blue.  Indeed, I would be more than fine with the opposing team and fans meeting the same fate as Achan, even down to slaughtering and burning worldly possessions, children and cattle ³.  Afterwards, we’ll bomb Ann Arbor (now!) and bring death to the whole state. More importantly, though, I’d be fine with the Buckeyes being in a position to run up the score, whether Tressel chooses to do so or to kill clock and take home a win.  First things first.

Also, for those of you lucky to be in attendance, don’t be that guy that doesn’t clap or even boos players like Maurice Wells or Todd Boeckman when they get their introduction.  In fact, make sure you let them know that their dedication to the cause isn’t lost on you.  Cheer louder, even.

Ohio State wins if… ceteris paribus.  If this game were played on paper, we’d take home our 3 touchdown victory and be grateful for it.  Offensive and defensive lines have to show up to this game, though.

That Team Up North wi*gag*… sorry.  Nevertheless, they could secure their first victory in Columbus under Tressel and first in 8 years if the Buckeye coaching staff has really learned nothing about this spread thingie that’s swept the college football landscape.  The LSU and USC games have underscored how we can’t safely presume learning from past mistakes and that our coverages on defense can be ripped to shreds.  Of course, That Team Up North doesn’t have the horses that LSU and USC has.  Missed tackles are also a no-no for the Buckeye defense this game, but they were an issue against Illinois.  This is Senior Day, though, and losing to Them on Senior Day is not an option, dammit.  Important for the Wolvereenies is winning each quarter and sewing the seeds of doubt in Ohio State’s mind.  The issue for them shouldn’t be how they probably don’t have the thoroughbreds to win a 4 quarter race, but rather focusing on winning each interval and making the Buckeyes’ second guess themselves.

Oh, and should the Buckeyes be icing the game away in the final seconds, make sure to storm the pitch as such in 1970 and 1994.

1. This is all meant as light-hearted ribbing.  There’s nothing mean-spirited in this observation and I’m not trying to ruffle any feathers or start a blogfight or anything like that.  I respect Brian immensely for what he does.
2. I think I remember reading a few months back after the Rodriguez hire that a few Buckeye assistants flew down to Tampa to meet with USF personnel and discuss how they contained Rodriguez while he was at WVU.  I can’t find that article, though.
3. ahhh, aren’t rivalries grand?

The game also pits two teams heading in vastly different directions, while still falling short of preseason expectations.  Ohio State, tagged to be a worldbeater preseason, was routed by USC and lost at home to Penn State.  Still, the Buckeyes have performed well throughout the rest of the season and are on the path to earning a share of a 4th consecutive Big Ten title.  Illinois, on the other hand, has had a season that I’m hoping has made Ron Zook begrudge him ever letting a reality TV show — The Journey — be constructed around it.  Their defense was blitzed by Chase Daniel for the second consecutive year, they lost at home to Minnesota, were bombarded by Penn State and beaten by lowly Wisconsin.  To make matters worse, they decided to become the Big Ten’s newest MAC casualty this season by losing to Western Michigan in Detroit the week before.  In short, they’re 5-5 and are finishing their season against a potential conference champion (Ohio State) and a potential January bowl team (Nerdwestern).  They could just as well be spending their holidays at home.  Illinois is certainly missing J Leman.

America

For the second straight week, the Buckeye defense will have to deal with a spread-ish offense run by a mobile quarterback.  For those of us who remember Kafka’s Tim Tebow impersonation early into the game last week and the defensive debacle last year against the Illini in Columbus, I’m sure we’ll all be watching with baited breath to see what will transpire when Illinois has the ball.  That said, there is definitely cause for optimism.  After Kafka ran wild on the 4-5 wide shotgun QB draws on the first drive of the game, he was stuffed for practically the rest of the game.  Further, Heacock’s defenses don’t exclusively feature the passive zone coverage that doomed them in important stretches last year.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Illinois’ offense just isn’t what it was last year.  Rashard Mendenhall’s departure for the NFL left a two-man tailback tandem in his wake.  Daniel Dufrene — who had the big gain fumble on Illinois’ first play from scrimmage — and freshman Jason Ford have done an admirable job in lieu of the explosive Mendenhall.  Yet, they just aren’t Rashard Mendenhall and it’s showing both in the stats and in the wins-losses column.  Accordingly, with Mendenhall’s departure mostly uncompensated for at the tailback position, Juice Williams has had an incredible burden in leading the offense.  He, and not Dufrene, is the Illini’s leading rusher this season, though it’s a slim margin (577 yards to 575 yards).  Further, it seems the Illini offense is struggling with the fact that lightning just may not strike twice.  After finally accruing the talent to run the zone-read option plays, Illinois’ offense barnstormed through most foes — including us — last season before being kicked in the jimmy by the Trojans in Pasadena.  But it seems like opposing defenses are catching up to the Illini’s schemes, which, in conjunction with Mendenhall’s absence, has forced Juice Williams into more passing situations.  While he has two games over 400 yards passing, Juice’s TD-INT ratio is not good (20-14).  His performance has also been cause for public criticism from Ron Zook.

There is no such thing as too much J Leman

As someone who’s new to blogging, I struggle with a format for these type of posts.  This is true especially for this year’s team as our offensive line — the only thing I really watch — has been frustrating.  Furthermore, I hate making predictions since predictions are glorified unscientific guessing.  Still, I’ll take a stab at it with some kind of keys to victory.  I’ll also try to shy away from something that centers around the truism for this year’s team that “as the offensive line goes, so goes the team”.

Ohio State wins if… Nader Abdallah has a repeat performance of his game last week against Northwestern.  Of course, this isn’t limited to just Abdallah, and if Cam Heyward and Doug Worthington want to dominate as well, they are more than welcome to.  But it seems that Abdallah has been the one to catch fire of late this season.  I don’t know if the stats he piled up (8 tackles, 3 solo, 1 TFL and a QB hit) were a function of the opposition or not, but a similar performance would create havoc for Illinois’ fragile offense.  Pressure up the middle is crucial for defending the option.  It would allow Laurinaitis to spy and it would certainly turn Good Juice into Bad Juice.  The latter is what I want to see this game.

Illinois wins if… they get sacks.  I know, I know.  I said I’d try to shy away from saying something about our offensive line.  That said, while Illinois’ defense has been grim at points this season, they are first in the conference and sixth nationally in sacks per game.  As we all know, our offensive line is the clear weakness of our football team and their performance this season hasn’t gotten any better.  Sadly, there’s just no hope that they will be anything other than a liability against Illinois and Michigan, with a faint hope that a month off could do them some good in preparation for a bowl game.  Remember, Ohio State found themselves behind down and distance often against Northwestern last week.  And still, in spite of the 3rd and 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16 holes our offense was in, they inexplicably got out through the grace of Terrelle Pryor.  That is not skill; that is luck.  Remember again: there was nothing good that our offensive line did on Beanie’s 55yd TD run against Northwestern.  That was not skill from the line that created that running lane; that was luck that Beanie wriggled his way out of that.  If Illinois is able to get to Pryor on these certain passing situations, as Northwestern was NOT able to, our offense gets off the field and Illinois is in a better position to win.

This will be the first Illibuck game of the post-J Leman era.  While he will not be on the field playing, his spirit will watch over us all.

The spirit of J Leman watches over Beaver Stadium earlier this season (HT: BSD, Illinois Loyalty)

On topic, Ohio State football returns from the bye week to go on the road to Evanston as 11pt favorites to play the nerd school of the Big Ten.  Further, it is only the Buckeyes’ second game in Evanston since the 2004 game that was kind of lame.  Before that point, the Wildcats were winless against Ohio State since 1971, an impressive 24 game streak where the closest margin between the two came in the fabled 1979 season (16-7, in Ohio Stadium).  It’s not Navy-Notre Dame, but it’s still one of the more one-sided series in college football.

Though that certainly doesn’t matter now.  Lake the Posts — the premiere Northwestern blog and whose dedication to the Wildcats makes the rest of us look bad — ventured over to 11W and tried to assure fans that the Buckeyes put the fear of God in Northwestern fans.  In general, the very thought of playing the Buckeyes has most Northwestern fans thinking that a 4 touchdown difference in the scoreboard would be a close game.  Yet, given our struggles this season, the Buckeyes are in no position for bravado entering this Saturday (in spite of the previous nerd references and the ones to follow).  For those Buckeye fans that love offense or remember most of the awesome elements of 2006, the run of play from the front five has been justifiable cause for seppuku.  The Buckeyes have had three games this season where they didn’t register a touchdown on offense.  Naturally, the Buckeyes lost two of those games.  The lead actor in this painful offense has been the offensive line.  Their struggles, especially on the perimeter, made the Ohio and Purdue games rather ugly.  Their total awfulness in the USC and Penn State games may be some of the worst performances of any team in the 2008 season.  Predictable playcalling and a gun-shy true freshman quarterback don’t help things either.  Against Penn State, we see how all these elements can blend together to create a fail smoothie of soul-crushing disappointment.  Going up against Northwestern’s defense won’t be much of an easier challenge for the Buckeyes front five either.  They’re second in the Big Ten in sacks, made possible by the infusion of Mike Hankwitz (formerly of Wisconsin, and player for Bo in the 1969 atrocity) and stellar play from the front four on defense, particularly Corey Wootton.  For those unfamiliar, Wootton is a 6’7 270lb defensive end (#99) and will probably be the guy you see torching Browning off the perimeter.

NEEEERDS!!

The Buckeyes have much better talent than Northwestern, an advantage afforded to them by the nature of recruiting these days.  While lingering execution and planning issues compromise the Buckeyes’ ability to make good on talent discrepancies, Buckeye fans across the board appear to be expecting a Buckeye victory on that merit alone.  This is a justifiable sentiment considering the Beanie.  Penn State game aside (11 Penn State defenders on one Beanie), there is no tackling the Beanie.  So how well does our offensive line create holes for him?  It decides every game and it’ll decide this one.  I’ll shy away from any further predictions on top of that considering the run of play recently and that conference road games are, ceteris paribus, the most difficult games to play.  The Buckeyes have had two weeks to prepare for this one, but bye weeks aren’t very good predictors for wins under Jim Tressel.  Weather should be a factor, which may drydock Terrelle Pryor if Beanie is able to carry the offense.  It may also be punitive if Northwestern’s improved defense is able to force Terrelle to throw.  However it pans out, I’ll be upset if we don’t see any Buckeye Pistol against Northwestern, the absence of which was one of the most puzzling elements of the Penn State game.  Kickoff is at noon on ESPN2, with Andre Ware and that other dude calling the game.

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Hey pal, did you get a load of the nerd?

Northwestern Wildcats team photo (courtesy: Northwestern Athletic Department)

Approximately 24 hours from now, the Nittany Lions will kickoff against the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium, hoping to kill two demons in the same season.  They beat Michigan last week for the first time in 10 years and now they’re looking for their first win in Ohio Stadium as a member of the Big Ten.  Since joining the Big Ten in 1993, the Nittany Lions have never won in Columbus.  Further, even though score lines can be deceiving, I’m not sure if they’ve ever covered.  However, this looks to be the Nittany Lions best chance yet.  Led by offensive guruwizardsupergenius Jay Paterno, the Nittany Lions seem poised to finally get it done in the Horseshoe in the first night game in Ohio Stadium since the 2005 Texas game.  So will it be two straight night game home losses for the Buckeyes?

Before addressing any of the on-field stuff, I’d like to address the issue of the crowd noise at the Horseshoe.  The only thing more embarrassing to watch on television than the offense the last home game (Purdue) was the attitudes of the people sitting in the stands.  Yes, sitting.  Listen, I’m a guy that’s as big a fan of macrame and crochet, and indeed all textile arts, as the next guy, but leave the needlework at home.  To be fair, I have no idea if the people in attendance that day were doing mass-knitting in the stands, but judging from the enthusiasm for game activities and the relative silence of all involved, I have no way of disproving that you weren’t all sitting down and doing needlework.  You don’t have the privilege of attending Ohio Stadium for the home game pageantry to sit down and be quiet, you have the privilege of attending Ohio Stadium to make some fucking noise.  You will have plenty of time to sit down and be quiet when you’re dead.  In the meantime, put down the crochet hooks and balls of twine, grab a flag or some other visible display of group association, and scream your bloody lungs out.  If the old people are you giving nasty leers for your support, don’t be intimidated.  Are you most-certainly-drunk young students/fans in attendance really scared by old people? You have a golden opportunity to represent the program on primetime national television with your support, now make good on it.  What are you… Michigan Stadium patrons?  Are you going to start jiggling your keys too?

Moving on, the “Spread HD” has been a smashing success for Penn State this year.  Though admitting/recognizing Jay Paterno as the architect of the most explosive offense in the Big Ten is a hard pill to swallow… a really hard pill to swallow, for that matter, he should get credit.  After all, he’s introduced the term “Spread HD” into college football vernacular and no one anymore is laughing at the name of the offense as a dumb gimmick to mask for the previous incompetence of the offense.  Penn State’s offense is trying to become a “pick your poison” type of offensive attack.  Play nickel and try to take away the receiving threat of Butler-Norwood-Williams and Evan Royster will run all over you.  Put 8 or 9 in the box to take away Royster, and Daryll Clark will most certainly find one of his home run options for a big gain.  But what’s the key that puts this offense together? The offensive line.  It’s a cliche to say that offensive lines decide everything in a game, but it’s true.  Further, Penn State will field tomorrow night what will probably be the best offensive line the Buckeyes see all season.  They’ll be the ones setting up the running lanes for Royster and keeping Clark safe in passing situations.  The defensive line needs to be a factor to control Penn State’s offense.  Otherwise, the offensive line can pull, meet Laurinaitis in the middle like they did early in the 2007 game in Happy Valley, and run wild.  We’ll probably be in for a long night accordingly.  Will our defensive line neutralize Penn State’s front five? I don’t know.  I think what will end up happening, if we are able to neutralize Penn State’s offense and win, is creating turnovers in the secondary.  It might be a product of collapsing the box and leaving the secondary players on an island to ballhawk on their lonesomes.  It might also be the necessary byproduct of Ohio State (hopefully) jumping out to an early advantage to make the running game an untenable option.  Whatever the case, I think our secondary is up to the task.

You don’t have to go out on a limb to guess what Penn State’s going to do on defense.  With an iffy passer and a run threat that averages 201 yards a game, Penn State will probably commit most everyone to the line of scrimmage to force Pryor (and playcalling in general) to beat them through the air.  Still, I like our prospects on the ground.  First, there is no tackling the Beanie, and all attempts at doing so are futile.  Realistically, though, the advantage of having a back like Beanie is that a TFL for most tailbacks in the country becomes a 3-4 yard gain for Beanie.  A 3-4 yard gain for most tailbacks on what would otherwise be an inefficient play from scrimmage becomes 8-9 yards and a potential first down.  Further, with Beanie as Mr. Inside, Pryor becomes Mr. Outside.  As good as Terrelle Pryor is as a runner, he’s just not a fullback-type runner like Tim Tebow.  Playcalling, and decision-making by Pryor, seems to have figured that out.  As (hopefully) Pryor’s reads on the zone-read progress, he’s going to become more of a threat even when opposing defenses sell out to stop the run.  That said, I should probably be weary of reading too much into the Michigan State game, though there was definitely a lot of improvement there.  The new physicality from Pryor that we saw against Michigan State, I’m guessing, was no fluke.  I’m hoping there’ll be ample justice served and crushed white helmets Saturday night.

Naturally, if USC-level offensive line play shows up against Penn State, we’re screwed.  Penn State is second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally in sacks.  Still, I like our chances to pull a lineman and take out their linebacker corp that, oddly enough, appears to be the weakness of the Penn State defense.  Penn State’s secondary is sharp, but a one-on-one battle between someone like Lydell Sargeant or Anthony Scirrotto and Beanie will be a losing battle for Penn State just about every time.  An early lead and early rhythm for the Buckeye offense should be pivotal, as Penn State might be the best conditioned team in the Big Ten.  They’ll go the full 3.5 hours/60 minutes of game time, and it’ll be up to the Buckeyes to match the intensity of the Nittany Lions.

Elsewhere, LeBron James will be in attendance, his first appearance at an Ohio State game since the 2006 Texas game.  The Buckeyes will also host lots of key recruits, including most of the 2009 class (Homan, Fields, Jackson, Fragel, Mewhort, Linsley, Longo, Fellows, Bellamy, Newsome, Bell, Klein, Boren, Whiting, Wood, Clarke, Barnett, Brown and Green).  It should be a valuable bonding experience for future Buckeyes, who will probably also be greasing the wheels of the two lone non-committed 2009 prospects in attendance (Corey Adams, from Scottsdale, Arizona and Marcus Hall from Glenville).

So who wins? Don’t know.  But I’ll be watching and pulling for the Buckeyes.  So should you, unless you’ll actually be in attendance.  In that case, make some damn noise.

O-H-I-O

Factions emerge among the Buckeye team.

What has not helped allay this anxiety is the growing hints of a civil war among the team.  Now perhaps I exaggerate the extent of the quarreling among the team because I think any secession of freshmen from the team would be more exciting than the current product on the field, but the bickering appears to be real.  Perhaps I’m not even exaggerating, as the Buckeyes have shown they are prone to open internal strife previously this year.  The jist of the conflict appears to be between pro-Boeckman and pro-Pryor factions, with the plot (and even wording by Adam Rittenberg) coming right from any historical account of republican or socialist civil upheavals in 18th-20th century Europe.  The wide receivers and tight ends, all upperclassmen, “remain loyal” to Todd Boeckman.  Though not specified by Rittenberg or anyone else, one can only imagine the sizeable contingent of freshmen “remain loyal” to Terrelle Pryor.

The individual comments get even better:

When asked point-blank if Boeckman got a fair deal from the coaching staff, (Jake) Ballard said: “I don’t know. I think a two-quarterback system wouldn’t be a bad idea. I think Todd is a great leader and a great player and if he came into the game I think he could help out a lot. But I think Terrelle is a great quarterback too. They just bring different things to the table.”

Boone also thinks a two-QB system would be in the Buckeyes’ interest and that the Buckeyes would thrive under it.

Credit Todd Boeckman: he’s played along and has handled everything well.

Of course, there’s an obvious problem with everything that Rittenberg touches on lightly, but never goes into too deeply.  Basically, the seniors had their chance.  The offense was tailored for Todd Boeckman and the upperclassmen.  And yet, they blew it, and most of it isn’t necessarily Boeckman’s fault.  Robiskie and Hartline aren’t even a measurable fraction of their 2007 selves and any decreased roles for them should make the offense actually more productive accordingly.  They weren’t getting open against the lighter competition, creating coverage sacks for opposing defenses.  Now that Boeckman is on the bench, they haven’t done anything to improve their standing either.  Hartline likes dropping passes (and even fumbling too) and Robiskie likes half-hearted one-handed fondlings of a live ball and under-running deep routes.  Now convince me  that having Todd Boeckman in there would change this aspect of the receiving game even the slightest bit.  Further, whether Jake Ballard wants to admit it or not, having Terrelle Pryor in the game is the only way he gets the damn ball in his hands.

Secondly, anything the senior linemen, and their henchman Alex Boone, say shouldn’t be considered.  Their play is so offensive  that it even has Rory Nicol calling them girls.

“He said, ‘I didn’t get to play (the past two weeks because of an ankle sprain), but I’m still (mad). You guys, you look like a bunch of girls out there, and that’s the truth,’ ” senior left tackle Alex Boone recalled.

I won’t go so far as to say that the offensive linemen have denatured themselves and any claim to masculinity, but their performance has been underwhelming to say the least.  Why Alex Boone should have any say in what the offense should do is curious, if nothing else.  At least, it’s curious for those of us that remember the USC game.  You know, the one where Alex Boone thought the offensive line did “a great job… a wonderful job”, which may or may not be the case after you control for the litany of penalties on Boone’s end and Person and Rehring’s inability to block anyone.  Further, it’s not like that got any better in the following games.  It’s not like they started creating running lanes against Purdue.  It’s not like they could pass block either.  I still think the most consistent performer on that line this season has been Michael Brewster, and he’s a true freshmen with no experience at center.  So how does having Todd Boeckman in there change anything? Why should he be put in the game just to have his other seniors let him down? Receivers aren’t getting open and linemen aren’t blocking well.  What would be beneficial about a system that benches Pryor and erases any and all confidence he currently has going and puts in an immobile tree to get pulverized? What benefit is there for Boeckman to be given just enough time to underthrow an out route for a pick six or to underthrow a ‘throw away’ for an interception on the boundary?

It’s unfortunate that Pryor has become something of a headcase mid-season — constantly overthinking, overanalyzing and reticent to action — but with how poorly everyone else has played, he and Beanie are giving the Buckeyes’ the best chance to score points on offense…. few and far between as they are now.  Again: great line play covers a multitude of sins.  If not for that killer offensive line Alabama has, John Parker Wilson would be exposed as the knucklehead with a noodle arm he is.  Instead, he’s the most efficient passer in the SEC.

</tirade>. So what’s there to consider for Michigan State?

• Depth at the o-line took a huge hit this week with Mike Adams and JB Shugarts being sidelined for the season.  I take solace in knowing that Mike Adams isn’t getting healthier… he’s getting angrier.
• It seems like everyone is piling on Terrelle Pryor, but let’s be frank: Terrelle Pryor > Brian Hoyer… easy.  The Buckeyes should have the QB advantage.
• Javon Ringer should be featured prominently.  This prominence should be two-fold.  First, he should get about 40 carries to hide for Hoyer’s lunacy.  Second, we’re going to be reminded about how he really wanted to be a Buckeye, but the Buckeyes never offered.  The back story is here, if you’re interested, but long story short: Ringer was an excellent football player, but a lousy student.  The staff finally lost patience with Ringer’s inability to make the grade and told him they wouldn’t offer him.
• Michigan State, like the other Michigan school, is stacked with Ohio boys.  The depth chart lists Ohio locals as starting quarterback (Hoyer), tailback (Ringer), wide receiver (Cunningham), defensive tackle (Kershaw), defensive end (Long), strongside linebacker (Jones), cornerback (Rucker) and free safety (Fortener).  Kershaw is a former Reynoldsburg Raider… worth noting for old time’s sake.
• Mike Tressel, Jim Tressel’s nephew and Doc Tressel’s son, followed Dantonio from Ohio State to Cincinnati and, eventually, Cincinnati to Michigan State.  He is currently their linebackers/special teams coach.

Nothing to it but to do it, I suppose.  So let’s see if all the frustrations and anxieties among the team generates some magic.