QB Terrelle Pryor

For the second-straight week, Pryor has been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s “Best Damn Player of the Game” after rushing for 97 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns, and throwing for another 70 yards on 8-of-13 passing and another score.

Pryor made his second-consecutive start at quarterback for the Buckeyes. He scored Ohio State’s first touchdown of the game on a 32-yard run at the 12:47 mark of the first quarter – Ohio State’s quickest score to open a game this season. Pryor later added a 38-yard run in the second quarter, his longest of the season. His 38-yard run was the team’s second-longest rush of the year.

Pryor had two rushing touchdowns, becoming the first Buckeye quarterback to run for two TDs since Troy Smith vs. Iowa back on Sept. 24, 2005. In addition to his 32-yard run in the first quarter, he ran for a 1-yard score in the third quarter.

With his 97 yards on the ground, Pryor set a Buckeye record for rushing yards for a true freshman QB. Art Schlichter set the previous mark vs. SMU in 1978 with 77.

RB Beanie Wells	WR Brian Robiskie

Junior running back Beanie Wells saw his first action since the Youngstown State game after sitting out the last three games with a toe injury. On his second carry of the game, he ran left for 28 yards and totaled 80 yards on nine carries in the first half.

Wells finished the game with 106 yards on 14 carries. It was the 11th 100-yard game of Wells’ career.

Senior wide receiver Brian Robiskie has eight catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He has caught a pass in 29 consecutive regular-season games and recorded his 100th career reception with his third catch Saturday.

He hauled in an 8-yard pass from Pryor with 33 seconds left in the first half and had a 31-yard TD reception from Todd Boeckman in the fourth.

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Right: Coach Tressel demonstrates how he will drive the equipment truck to Madison.
Matt Barker Photo

It’s that time of the week when Lord James Patrick Tressel, also known as Senator Sweater Vest, gathers with the media at Bernie’s Bagels and Deli on North High Street across from Mershon Auditorium on campus.

After munching down a “Buckeye Buster” on rye, Coach Tressel talked about various topics including last Saturday’s Minnesota game, next Saturday’s Wisconsin game, and “The Dynamic Duo” of Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor.

One thing Coach Tressel does every week is list the coaching staff’s players of the game from the previous Saturday.

Etienne Sabino, a 6-foot-3, 232-pound freshman linebacker, was the Special Units Player of the Week. He had two tackles, both on the punt coverage team.

The Defensive Player of the Week was 6-foot, 205-pound free safety Anderson Russell, who had seven total tackles, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

Brian Robiskie, a 6-foot-3, 199-pound senior wide receiver was the Offensive Player of the Week after hauling in eight passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota.

The Attack Force Player of the Week was 6-foot-3, 240-pound middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. He led the team with 12 total tackles.

There were four nominees for the Jack Tatum Hit Award: Etienne Sabino, Cameron Heyward, Boom Herron, and Terrelle Pryor. (See the video of the Pryor hit below. It’s a beautiful thing.)

In Coach Tressel’s opening statements, he addresses Ohio State next opponent, who gave up 27 unanswered point to Michigan, last Saturday:

Wisconsin, obviously, is coming off a tough ball game last week, they had the game well in hand, and just like it can happen when momentum shifts, it’s hard to get it stopped and that’s just going to make a very good team a much better team as we go into their house. And we’re looking forward to that challenge. They’ve got a mature team. They’ve got six seniors starting on each side of the ball, so I’m sure those seniors are going to take charge of that group and make sure that those guys understand that they can’t allow momentum to happen as it did.”

Then Coach Tressel talks about what it’s like playing in Madison:

Well, the thing I remembered the most, I just was asked this on the Big Ten call, what did I remember most about the last time we were there, which was ’03, the thing I remember is the rain was going sideways, and it was a neat atmosphere, it was loud and it was full, and I don’t remember the Jump Around so much because it was in middle of the game and I was working, but it’s a great atmosphere and people are having fun and players are having fun and everyone’s up a notch.”

Following the Minnesota game, Pryor was quoted as saying this:

“People like Mark May, he said ‘let’s see how he plays on the big stage.’ And we’re going to see next week.”

Pryor later said this:

“The media, ESPN people, sit there and talk stuff on our team and say we’re dead. We’ll find out this week coming up who’s dead. We’re out to show the world something, and we’re going to.”

Now we all know that Mark May is a tool, and I still wonder how he draws a paycheck from ESPN. Personally, I would want no other quarterback than Terrelle.

Coach Tressel was asked about his freshman quarterback and his demeanor:

I know this much about Terrelle and maybe some of our guys that don’t get a chance to be interviewed as much, they’re anxious to compete, and Terrelle’s the kind of guy that, someone asked me on the Big Ten call, do you like that maybe he’s a calm guy out there and that’s all I’ve seen. Whether it was the first scrimmage, he was calm. He lined up against the first defense, he was calm. First game, Ohio Stadium, he was calm. Now, maybe inside he was dying, who knows, but outwardly and performance-wise, he was calm. I thought at the Coliseum, he had command. Has he been perfect? No. Has he executed everything exactly right? Absolutely not. Every experience is going to be a valuable one for him and this is up another notch.”

Shortly thereafter, Coach Tressel was asked about the play of Beanie and how he fared following the game:

Well, I think he came out of it pretty good. I’m sure he was sore. Everyone who was in the game was probably sore. It didn’t seem like I heard any different. But I think that was a hurdle we needed to get through. He felt good about getting in there and being banged around, now we do need to lean on him, but not necessarily in the last phrase you used, not necessarily more carries, he needs to be great with the ball, however many that is, and he needs to be great without the ball, pass protection, route running, faking, you know, all those things. So, yeah, we do — now it’s no longer is he going to play or isn’t he going to play, as of this moment, things, you never know, now we’ve got to make sure we take the next step from a progress standpoint.”

Columbus Dispatch reporters Ken Gordon and Tim May coined the phrase, “The Dynamic Duo” on Terrelle and Beanie. (They also stole my Corny Greene/Archie Griffin analogy, but I will save that for another day.) Coach Tressel was asked if there’s anything in terms of play-calling he can do offensively with Terrelle and Beanie in the backfield that he might not be able to do otherwise:

As far as dynamic duo-type thing, we don’t run different plays when there are different tailbacks or quarterbacks in the game. You might feature something a little bit more than another thing, but Danny Herron’s going to play. I think getting Mo Wells back will give us a little bit more steam there.”

After playing several teams that run a spread offense, Coach Tressel was asked what it will be like to play a team with a more traditional attack:

Our guys love the competition, they love the challenges, and they know full well that Wisconsin’s going to come right at them and do a great job with their play action game and it’s not like they don’t play well, they’ll get Beckum back and the other tight end back, we’re going to have to be ready for the whole package, but our guys will work hard to be prepared.”

Coach Tressel was then asked what it’s like to coach against a team that’s coming off a disappointing loss, and if he anticipates a different team than he might have faced if Wisconsin won:

Yeah, I think when you’re playing a good team that didn’t play as well as they could the week before, you’re going to get a better team than maybe you would have if everything was just wonderful. I think that’s the way life is. It’s our instincts to want to do better when we didn’t do as well, even though you’d think, well, our instincts ought to be I want to do better when I just did well, I’m not sure that’s as human as the former.”

Following that response, Coach Tressel was asked about P.J. Hill:

He’s a great running back. He’s a load. Every time you hit him, he wants to leave a little bit of, as we would call it, a cumulative effect. So, I mean, he’s a tough one, but whoever’s playing tailback for him, whether it’s John Clay or Zach Brown or P. J., you better be ready to tackle.”

Later, Coach Tressel was asked about playing on the road and momentum:

The thing you better not be doing is looking up at the scoreboard to see if that clock’s ending because that tells you a little bit about what’s going on in your mind. To me, momentum is a mindset. As Coach Bruce would say, you’re going down because I say you’re going down, or we’re keeping momentum because we decide we’re keeping the momentum or changing the momentum or whatever it happens to be. You see sometimes teams try to hold on, and that’s not the way to stop momentum. If that snowball’s rolling down the hill, you don’t hold on to it, you run around in front of it and you stop it. To me it’s a mental thing.”

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Right: Junior running back P.J. Hill carries the load offensively for the Badgers this season.
Athlon Sports Photo

While on paper Wisconsin may have been a Big Ten title contender in the preseason, once everything is settled at the end of the November, the Badgers will be looking up to a few teams ahead of them in the final conference standings.

The biggest reason is UW’s schedule. None of the other eight teams in the Big Ten since 1993 have drawn Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State on consecutive Saturday’s to begin conference play.

And the Badgers have already lost to the Wolverines.

Leading by a score of 19-0 fueled on four field goals by Philip Welch, Michigan scored 27 unaswered points to defeat Wisconsin 27-25, last Saturday.

The Wolverines, who turned the ball over five times and gained just one first down in the first half, were booed off the field as they made their way to the locker room in Michigan Stadium at intermission.

Look, I said this before the season began and I will say it again, Wisconsin is overrated.

Allan Evridge, a 6-foot-2, 212-pound senior quarterback, is Wisconsin’s third starting QB in as many years. And he’s not that good.

Evridge has completed just 57.7 percent of his passes for 752 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions through four games.

Can you say “eight-men-in-the-box?”

The Badgers are definitely more of a running team than a passing one. P.J. Hill, a 5-foot-11, 236-pound junior running back, gets the bulk of the carries. He has 449 yards on 92 carries with four touchdowns, but he may not even be the best back on the the team.

John Clay, a 6-foot-2, 237-pound freshman has just 29 rushing attempts for 191 yards, but that averages out to 6.6 yards per carry to go along with four touchdowns. Hill averages 4.9 yards per attempt.

Also getting into the mix at running back is 5-foot-11, 207-pound sophomore Zack Brown, who has 174 yards in 33 attempts with two touchdowns.

Wisconsin’s all-World tight end, 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior Travis Beckum, has just six receptions for 68 yards and no TDs, though he has been hampered with an injury.

Just two Badgers have more than 10 receptions. Garrett Graham, a 6-foot-4, 237-pound junior tight end, has 11 catches for 154 yards and three touchdowns. David Gilreath, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound sophomore wide receiver also has 11 receptions for 139 yards and a score.

So, in essence, Wisconsin is not going to spread the ball out, but they would rather pound you with their power running game. A strategy that plays right into the hands on the Ohio State defense.

The Badgers have played just one ranked opponent in four games, defeating Fresno State 13-10, but it’s the same Fresno team that needed an overtime session to beat Toledo.

Wisconsin’s other wins have come against Akron (38-17), and Marshall (51-14).

So far in 2008, Wisconsin is fourth in the Big Ten in total offense (413.5 ypg), fourth in scoring offense (31.8 ppg), but just ninth in passing offense (195.0 ypg).

In 2007, the Badgers were fifth in the Big Ten in total offense (408.8 ypg) and sixth in scoring offense (29.5 ppg).

On the other side of the ball, Wisconsin is fourth in total defense (305.5 ypg), and sixth on scoring defense (17.0 ppg).

Seems like more of the same from a team that went 9-4 last season.

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Right: Beanie Wells leaps over a defender in the Ohio State’s 34-21 win over Minnesota.
AP Photo

After spending the last three games on the bench due to a toe injury, Chris “Beanie” Wells announced his presence with authority in Ohio State’s first possession of the game.

That first scoring drive also showed how explosive the backfield can be with Wells and freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor both on the field at the same time.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Buckeyes’ marched 75 yards in five plays while taking just two minutes and 13 seconds off the clock to put the first touchdown on the scoreboard.

On the fourth play of the drive, Beanie raced around the left end for a gain of 28 yards down to the Gophers’ 33 yard line. On the very next snap, Pryor ran down the right side virtually untouched on a option play until he reached paydirt.

Before some fans were even in their seats the Buckeyes were up 7-0.

Minnesota scored its’ first points of the game following a fumble by Wells at the MINN 24. The Gophers only netted eight yards on three plays before a 33-yard field goal by Joel Monroe cut Ohio State’s lead down to 7-3 with 7:01 left in the first quarter.

Both teams traded puts before Ohio State mounted their next scoring drive.

Going 14 plays and 82 yards, the Buckeyes had to settle on a 22-yard Ryan Pretorius field goal.

Keys plays of that drive include a 38-yard run by Pryor on third-and-3 from the OSU 42. On third-and-18 on the MINN 28, Boom Herron gained 17. Then on the very next play, Boom got two yards and a first down to keep the drive alive. On third-and-goal at the MINN 3, Heron tripped over his own feet for a loss of one. Facing a fourth-and-goal at the 4, Tressel decided to kick the field goal. In bigger games against better competition, red zone field goals are not going to cut it.

The Buckeyes added another field goal with 4:10 left in the second quarter, a 44-yarder by Pretorius, that gave Ohio State a 13-3 advantage.

The Buckeyes caught a break when Gophers’ Jack Simmons fumbled the ball in a scrum and it was recovered by OSU’s Anderson Russell at the MINN 35.

On the second play of the drive, Wells ran up the middle for a gain of 21, which included him leaping over a Minnesota defender. Three snaps later, Pryor connected with Brian Robiskie on an 8-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone that put Ohio State ahead 20-3 with 33 seconds before halftime.

Minnesota added three more points on the first possession of the second half before Ohio State went 74 yards in six snaps capped off on a 1-yard run by Pryor on a bootleg play around the right end.

The Buckeyes scored on the first play of the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Todd Boeckman threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Robiskie following a fumble by Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber that gave Ohio State great field position at the MINN 25 yard line.

Leading 34-6 in the fourth quarter, the Gophers scored two touchdowns against mostly second-teamers.

Somewhere up above, Woody Hayes is looking down and smiling. Ohio State rushed for 279 yards in the game, including 106 yards on 14 carries by Beanie, while Pryor added 97 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns. Pryor was also 8-of-13 passing for 70 yards and a TD.

Sort of reminds me of the Ohio State teams during the mid-70s with Cornelius Greene and Archie Griffin.

Boeckman was 5-of-9 passing for 65 yards and a score.

Overall, Ohio State’s offense gained 414 yards while holding Minnesota to 268.

Up next, Ohio State travels to Madison to take on an overrated Wisconsin team, Saturday night, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. Yesterday, the Badgers lost to Michigan in Ann Arbor, 27-25.

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No. 14 Ohio State (3-1) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0)

Date: Saturday, September 27
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Place: Ohio Stadium – capacity 101,568
TV: Big Ten Network will televise the game. Thom Brennaman will call the play-by-play with analysis from Charles Davis and Glen Mason. Charissa Thompson is the sideline reporter.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan in Columbus is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State Radio Network. The Jim Tressel Pregame Show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. “Big Daddy” Paul Keels will call the play-by-play and will be assisted by former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines.
Weather from 10 TV: Mostly cloudy skies and a game time temperature of 70 degrees.
Latest Line: Ohio State is an 18 1/2-point favorite. The Over & Under is 47 1/2.
Series History: This is the 48th meeting between the two schools. Ohio State owns a 40-7 record against Minnesota. The Buckeyes have won five-straight games, including a 30-7 decision at the Metrodome last year.

So, Coach Tressel has been riding the offensive line hard in practice and the usually subdued Senator Sweater Vest is yelling and screaming to light a fire under these guys.

With left guard Steve Rehring still out with an injury, center Jim Cordle will once again slide over to take his place, and true freshman Michael Brewster will make his second start snapping to another true freshman, Terrelle Pryor.

Oh, and some guy nicknamed Beanie is also back in the starting line-up after missing the last three games with a toe injury. Not sure how much he will play, but the over & under for the amount of carries he will get is 15. Redshirt freshman Boom Herron will also share the workload.

There has been a shake-up on the defensive line. Doug Worthington is back in the starting line-up at tackle and Cameron Heyward moves from end to take over the other tackle spot. Sophomore Thaddeus Gibson now gets the nod at one end position along with Lawrence Wilson.

With Minnesota liking to spread their offense out, Curtis Terry and Robert Rose will also see playing time on the defensive line.

Offensively, it will be interesting to see how the offense runs this week with Beanie in the line-up. I think it may be possible to see Beanie on first and second downs, with Herron or others coming in on third down, especially in long yardage situations.

One encouraging note form last week on designed pass plays is that Pryor moved around to buy more time, but never really had “happy feet.” His first option was to throw the ball, not run.

While Minnesota’s defense has improved from last season with 10 seniors or juniors in the starting line-up, the Gophers are more vulnerable to the pass.

In Minnesota’ season-opener, Northern Illinois’ Chandler Harnich passed for 326 yards and two touchdowns against the Gophers, who needed a touchdown with 22 seconds left in the game to defeat the Huskies 31-27.

One week later, Bowling Green quarterback Tyler Sheehan tossed for 261 yards and a score in the Falcons’ 42-17 loss to Minnesota.

Granted, Ohio State is going to establish the run first, but it will also be a good opportunity for Pryor to toss the ball around the field, especially with the Buckeyes traveling to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, next week. And with Beanie back, Pryor won’t have to run as much.

Minnesota will mix the run with the pass and has a mobile quarterback in sophomore Adam Weber, who threw for 235 yards and a score with one interception, last week. For the season, Weber has completed 71.8 percent of his passes for 967 yards with seven TDS and one INT.

Freshman running backs DeLeon Eskridge (47 att., 204 yards, 5 TDs) and Shady Salamon (22 att., 122 yards, 2 TDs) are the two that will get the bulk of the carries after Duane Bennett tore his ACL vs. Bowling Green.

Analysis and Prediction

On paper, Ohio State’s offense should not have much trouble moving the ball against the Gophers, but that remains to be seen. With Terrelle and Beanie, we also need to see more Ray Small.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Buckeyes have registered just six sacks in four games. In order for a defense to be effective, you have to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. Against USC, Mark Sanchez was to sit back in the pocket and pull out his Blackberry to text message his friends before finding an open receiver. Hopefully the changes in the defensive line will work.

Ohio State 31, Minnesota 10

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Right: OSU’s offensive coordinator and line coach, Jim Bollman, during his playing days at Ashtabula’s Harbor High School in 1973.
Star Beacon Photo

While we have no use for Frank Costanza, his metal pole, or his Festivus holiday, we do have this week’s installment of “Airing of Grievances.” This one has been submitted Foster Marshall of Chicago, Ill.

Please Note: I will do my best to edit this, but bear in mind, I have never spent one day as an English professor. – Matt

Yesterday, I was reading this article over on The O-Zone, and all I can think is, “Are you kidding me!?”

I am so glad I am not a beat reporter in the room asking these questions to the players. After hearing some of these answers, I can just see myself turning redder and redder in the face as I go along asking each follow-up question with an ever-rising tenor in my voice.

“So, this is the first time the O-Line has been yelled at during practice? So, Coach Bollman never yells at you? What does Bollman do?”

Shortly thereafter, gooey cranial fluid and spongy gray matter would be splattered all over the walls and the ceiling, while covering the reporters along with the surprised interviewees.

Being slightly calmer now, let me start by saying that on one hand, I could not be happier reading this article and hearing how Coach Tressel appointed himself as Coach Bollman’s assistant since the
USC disaster. John Porentas’ (editor of The O-Zone) article is superb in describing several of the steps that Tressel is personally taking to get the sum parts of this team fixed.

But the list is long. The Pryor-for-Boeckman exchange, a new face on the O-Line (albeit due to an injury to Steve Rehring), defensive end Cameron Heyward moving to tackle and Thaddeus Gibson now at end, and lots of freshman in the two-deep. (Herron, Sabino, etc.)

Tressel is currently working personally with the offensive line, and with his emotion and intensity on the sidelines during the Troy game, along with his one-on-one attention with players during game, it’s all a response to those fans demanding him do something. As they say, “In Tressel, we trust.”

But seriously, what does it all mean?

What kind of schoolgirl coaching are we getting from Bollman? To hear it from the likes of Jim Cordle and Alex Boone, the offensive line never gets yelled at and has been doing whatever they want.

Since the USC game, Coach Tressel has been joining Coach Bollman in conducting practices for the offensive line.

Boone had this to say:

He’s [Tressel] done it every day. We thought it was going to be a one-shot, one-time deal, but he’s down there all the time. He’s down there yelling at us to move, keep going, finish. It’s a lot better.”

…and Cordle added this nugget of wisdom:

We were kind of like, ‘This is our O-line and we’ve known each other, we can just play the way we want to play. Coach Tress is showing us that ‘No, you’re going to play the way I
want you to play,’ which is nice because that’s how I think a lot of us are. We need to get yelled at to play better.”

What!? Cordle is saying this is “our O-Line” and “we can just play the way we want to?” Are you kidding me? And what’s this about “needing” to get yelled at to play better?

Seriously? Screaming and yelling is going to create the motivation to make you play better? ‘

Personally, I would have thought that some of the “fire” would have been created when the Ohio Bobcats’ defensive line was pushing you guys around. I also thought that there should have been sufficient motivation from the manhandling they received from the USC defensive line and their linebackers.

Finally, where has Tressel been in all this? I know he’s the head coach and all, but this is astonishing.

Three words: Entitled. Soft. Coddled.

Three more words: Fire. Bollman. Now!

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On Tuesday following practice, several of Ohio State’s players were made available to answer questions from the media, and one of them was senior left tackle Alex Boone.

One thing is for sure, Boone is not shy and he will speak his mind when given the opportunity. An Outland Trophy candidate, Boone is projected as a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft next April.

Boone spoke about Ohio State fans booing quarterback Todd Boeckman, and this is what he had to say:

I think one of the most disappointing things, and a lot of guys didn’t want me to say this, but I think I’m going to have to, is the fact he went out there and he did what he could – a lot of the seniors were very upset when he got booed. I think that shows a lot of disrespect from the fans. I think a lot of guys – this kid took us to a championship last year. How could you boo him?”

He didn’t play so great against USC, but who did? None of us did. We all got smashed, and people started booing him and everybody kind of got mad about that. He made the read and he threw the ball and it was a little short and all of a sudden people are starting to scream. And the O line was like maybe we thought somebody hit him or something happened, and then I’m watching the film and people are like, ‘Man, can you believe they booed him?’ That’s not right and I don’t think that’s fair. People should give him another chance. And stand behind your team, you know.”

Personally, I was appalled that Boeckman was booed after he badly short-hopped his intended receiver, Brian Hartline, in the second quarter against Troy for his only passing attempt of the game.

On the next play, Terrelle Pryor came back in and threw a 33-yard pass to Brian Robiskie, only to be nullified on a penalty when Robiskie briefly went out of bounds before catching the ball. Ohio State was then forced to punt, leading 7-3.

But seriously, Ohio State’s offense has sputtered because Boone and the other four offensive linemen on any given play has performed less than favorably.

It’s really hard to pinpoint the problems in the O-line, whether it’s poor technique, not firing off the ball like they should, overall lazy play, or a combination of the three. If this were a test, I would checked the box, “All of the above.”

Yes, Beanie Wells can make a mediocre offensive line looked good because of his burst of speed through the line of scrimmage and his ability to break tackles. You are not going to being him down by arm-tackling, and it almost always take more than one defender to bring him down. That can’t be said for the other three backs.

One thing is for sure, and that’s if the offensive line was playing like they are capable of then Boeckman still might be the starting quarterback. Unfortunately, Boeckman is not real mobile and has a hard time sensing pressure when the pocket collapses. Of course when given time to throw the ball, he does well.

Another problem for Ohio State quarterbacks is that the Buckeyes two main receivers are not speed merchants. According to Rivals.com, Robiskie was clocked in the 40-yard dash at 4.52 seconds. Hartline, meanwhile, was timed at even slower 4.59 seconds when both were seniors in high school four years ago.

The offensive line needs to block, the quarterback must read the defense and react, and the receivers need to get open. Those three things have to happen in order to throw the ball downfield.

Surprisingly through four games, Ray Small leads the Buckeyes with 14 receptions, but averages just 6.6 yards per catch, which is not very good when you’re the offense’s main vertical threat. By the way, Small was timed running a 4.45-second 40-yard dash in high school. The problem is, Small has gone through Coach Tressel’s revolving door on the dog house one too many times this season.

Another option Tressel should consider is getting freshman Lamaar “Flash” Thomas more playing time at wide receiver, who’s a burner with 4.4 speed. He’s played in two games and has just one reception so far this season.

The old adage always applies, speed kills. Ohio State has it, but the coaching staff needs to utilize it better on the offensive side of the ball. What may work against Big Ten opponents doesn’t seem to against the big boys out of conference.

Oh, Pryor runs a 4.4 forty, too.

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While most Americans are pondering their choice between Barack Obama and John McCain for president come November, college football fans can vote their head coach for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

Unlike Obama and McCain, Tressel has no running mate that has hair plugs or is some rifle-toting woman from an Alaskan outpost, he’s his own man. And as they use to say in Chicago, “Vote early and vote often.”

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year is awarded to the college football coach who best demonstrates sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility, and excellence on and off the field.

In 2008, four head coaches will be named a Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year in each NCAA division: DI, DIAA, DII, and DIII. The award process will take place over the course of the college football season, and fan votes will influence the outcome.

Acts of responsibility take place all around us and deserve recognition. That’s why, three years ago, Liberty Mutual created the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award. It recognizes that academic standings mean as much as division standings, and that how you win is every bit as important as winning itself.

More than just a trophy, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award provides each winning coach with $50,000 to donate to one or more charitable organizations of his choice and a $20,000 grant to donate to his school’s alumni association to enhance student scholarships and activities. As of last year, $300,000 has been donated to charity, and $100,000 given to alumni associations.

Voting began on September 17 and runs through December 6 with the fans making up 20 percent of the decision-making process, with 55 percent coming from College Football Hall of Fame panel, and another 25 percent coming from the national media.

Not only can you vote for Tressel, but for other Ohio coaches from the various levels of NCAA football competition like Jon Heacock (Youngstown State, DI-AA), Rick Chamberlain (Dayton, DI-AA), Al West (Central State, DII), John Snell (Baldwin-Wallace, DIII), Jim Bickel (Capital, DIII), Greg Debeljak (Case Western Reserve, DIII), Larry Kehres (Mount Union, DIII), among others.

Last year’s winners include Ron Zook (Illinois, DI-A), Jerry Kill (Southern Illinois, DI-AA), Bill O’Boyle (Chardon State, DII), and John Gagliardi (St. John’s, DIII).

Please note that you can vote daily until December 6, with the winners being announced on December 31.

To vote, click on the banner at the top of the article.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Oh no, it’s my wacky dentist thinking he’s Jim Tressel again. “Let’s go with a root canal on tooth nine, room three…”
Matt Barker Photo

It’s that time of the week where reporters from all over the great state of Ohio convene to the Jack Nicklaus Museum on Olentangy River Rd. to hear to legendary head coach Jim Tressel speak and answer questions during his weekly press conference.

Every Tuesday, “Jungle” Jack Hanna brings various aninals from the Columbus Zoo, and Jared “The Subway Guy” caters the event with his tasty sandwiches. It’s fun for the whole family!

Without further ado, Coach Tressel’s opening statements:

Welcome, everyone, to the Big Ten season. We had a good ball game this past weekend. As we talked about last Tuesday, Troy is a tough football team. They’ve traveled everywhere and played in every venue you can possibly play in and against every ranked opponent from Number 1 to Number 10 and we knew it would be a battle and it was a four-quarter battle. Nice, hot day. A little bit of a tester to everyone, and it was good to come away with a significant win.”

Then Coach Tressel announces the players of the game vs. Troy, though the main two should come as no surprise:

Defensively, Kurt Coleman was the defensive player of the game and Kurt came up with the big interceptions and played just a good, tough game out there. The ball was spread all over the field. There was a lot of running, a lot of hitting, a lot of coverage involved and Kurt did an excellent job from that standpoint.

The offensive player of the week was Terrelle Pryor for the first time going in and carrying the load and having to make decisions, change plays, make plays, decide not to throw it somewhere, which we always say is as important as where you decide to throw it and he was 10 for 16 and had another 66 yards rushing and I thought showed good poise out there in a tough ball game where Troy’s defense was an aggressive one and came after him and he obviously made some plays.”

Shortly after that, Coach Tressel talks about Minnesota, and one of the first things he mentions is their turnover margin, which I document in my preview of the Golden Gophers:

Obviously, Minnesota has done a great job first and foremost with the turnover margin. It’s 13-2 in their favor. So if you’re at a 13-2 turnover margin, you’re going to have a lot of wins. They’ve also done a nice job with their special teams. Their punter is excellent. He’s created great field position for them, he’s a senior, a veteran, good hang time. Their cover units have been good. Their return men are good. Their kickoff return, in particular, has been very, very good. They put a lot of pressure with the punt rush unit. And so the things that really sway games, which are turnovers and special teams, they’re doing very, very well. Offensively and defensively you can see that they are growing in their system. Coach Brewster but together a great staff. He’s got Phil Roof as his defensive coordinator who is an outstanding Coach. He’s got Mike Dunbar who many of us know from years when he was at Northwestern and did a great job coordinating their offensive as well and I remember when he was the head coach at Northern Iowa he had great teams. So they’ve got excellent plans, excellent staff. Offensively their quarterback is tough. He’s efficient. He took every snap in their season last year, which — that’s amazing when a guy can — he was a redshirt freshman and took every snap in their season and he continues to somehow find Number 7. Decker is a great player. He knows how to get open. He knows what you’re doing. They’ve done a good job on their offensive line. They did get someone banged up at tailback earlier but they didn’t lose a step. As they moved forward from that.

Defensively, they’ve brought in a system within their second year as a staff when Coach Roof came in that applies a little bit more pressure, I think has done a great job in being sound. They’ve faced a lot of different kinds of offenses. Northern Illinois was one whole different style and then they go to Bowling Green and it was all four wides, five wides and they handled that. Then Montana State was back at home and they were kind of a combination of both Northern Illinois and Minnesota. They had a little bit of both. And then Florida Atlantic, which was a team that beat them a year ago, they thrashed pretty good 37-3 this past Saturday evening, and they really stymied Florida Atlantic’s offense, which a year ago scored a bunch of points on them.”

The first question from a reporter was that it was little out of character for Coach Tressel to shift away from a sixth-year senior for a true freshman, and he was asked what Terrelle gives him offensively that maybe he wasn’t getting before?

I thought that as Terrelle came in and grew to learn the system and in large part, thanks to Todd because Todd embraced him from the moment they came on campus, he helped him all summer long, you know it’s a little different era now where the freshmen come in in June and they go to all those workouts that the seniors hold on their own, they have seven on seven and they learn terminology and all of a sudden we’re in preseason and he’s rooming with him and talking him through things and in between every snap, all preseason, all August and September long, and the fact that he, from a knowledge standpoint, was so far along, probably further along than I’ve ever seen a freshman quarterback, and then you add the dimension of what he can do with his feet maybe makes up a little bit for when you’re a little shorthanded at running back compared to what you thought you were going to be, so you add all the different things together and whether it’s in character or out of character, what’s most important is we do what we think is the best thing that can help us at the moment, and, you know, so that’s what we felt we needed to go with.

Boeckman, who took two snaps all game vs. Troy and attempted just one pass, which he badly short-hopped to his intended receiver, was booed after that play by the Buckeye faithful in attendance. While I have not made any statement regarding that incident until now, I think it was wrong on so many levels. Coach Tressel was asked if he heard the boos and what he thought about it:

Yeah, that’s disappointing. I know we’re allowed to do what we want to do, but Todd Boeckman is a first-class guy. You guys were all in the post-game. I mean, he’s first-class. He cares about his team. Would he rather than out there? Absolutely. Does he want to try to find a way to get out there more? Absolutely. Did he not throw a good ball one time Saturday? Absolutely. But he’s thrown some pretty good balls and he’s been a part of the fans having a lot of things to cheer about over the last five years, but that’s part of the deal and it’s disappointing, but we’re certainly not going to sit and scold anybody because we’ve got enough problems of our own.”

Coach Tressel was then asked about the quarterback situation and whether or not Terrelle was his guy now or how will that will shake out?

Well, the thing we talked about yesterday is that many times in a conference race, a team that’s going to be the champion is probably going to end up with more than one quarterback making a difference and what that percentage will be, who knows. Terrelle took probably — I think we took 15 snaps yesterday, Terrelle took 10 of them with the group. Today we’ll probably have, I don’t know, 60, 70 snaps, and he’ll take 45 of them, that type of thing. But Todd’s going to work like crazy and keep getting better and if I knew for sure how it was going to unfold — but, you know, unless there’s just something unusual at practice this week or whatever, if the game were today, Terrelle would start it and we’d go with the flow.”

Later, Coach Tressel was asked about his offense and his assessment of it, which includes the status of Beanie Wells.

I think we’re trying to play with a little bit more velocity and quickness than I felt we were playing with earlier in the year. I think that we’re learning a little bit more about who we are. Now, it takes a little bit of a side-step. Yesterday Beanie ran every snap he was asked to run, looked to me better than I thought he might look, says he feels wonderful. So you don’t know exactly who the cast of characters will be, but I think we’ve got a pretty good indication of what we feel like each of our people can do and that’s helpful.”

So he’s still day-to-day?

No, I’m calling him probable. How about that?”

With that, the follow-up question to Coach Tressel was what does his return mean?

You know, I think it adds to our arsenal. He’s a good back. He can do some things so exactly how that will unfold, I don’t know that we’ve gotten into that predicting yet because it was Monday, and now he’s got to put the full pads on today and we’ve got to whack him a little bit and all those things, but I know this, I was encouraged at how he looked and how he said felt and so I guess that’s to be seen.”

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Sophomore quarterback Adam Weber has completed 71.8 percent of his passes and averages 241.8 yards per game.
AP Photo/Paul Battaglia

MINNESOTA, 4-0

Quickly, can you name the Big Ten school that has gone the longest without a Rose Bowl appearance?

That would Minnesota, who last played in Pasadena 47 years ago when the Golden Gophers defeated UCLA 21-3 back in 1962, led by the first African-American named All-American at the quarterback position, Sandy Stephens.

But that was the golden age of gridiron glory for Gopher football as Minnesota won a national championship in 1960, and made consecutive trips to the Rose Bowl in ’61 and ’62. The last time the Maroon & Gold laid claim to a Big Ten championship was in 1967.

While the 60s may have been the pinnacle of Minnesota football, last season was definitely a low point after the Gophers sustained the most losses for one season in school history by going 1-11 during the 2007 campaign.

Second-year head coach Tim Brewster has the Gophers moving in the right direction, quadrupling last year’s win output already with a record of 4-0. Granted, those wins were not against the big dogs of the BCS, in fact, none of them were, but victories against Northern Illinois (31-27), Bowling Green (42-17), Montana State (35-23), and Florida Atlantic (37-3) are positives.

Minnesota’s win over Florida Atlantic last Saturday was the most impressive to date. The Owls were the Sun Belt Conference champion a year ago and returned 17 starters. FAU defeated Minnesota in 2007 by the score of 42-29.

As the Gophers play their 29th and final year at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome before moving into TCF Bank Stadium, an on-campus facility seating 50,200 fans next season, it has been “Home Sweet Dome” for Minnesota so far in 2007, going 3-0 in a place more known for it’s Hefty bag in right field as the home of the Minnesota Twins.

Last Saturday at the Metrodome, 6-foot-3, 220-pound sophomore quarterback Adam Weber threw for 235 yards and a score on 19-of-24 passing with one interception while DeLeon Eskridge, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound backup running back, who was subbing for the injured Duane Bennett, rushed for 78 yards on 19 carries and two TDs to lead the Gophers past the Owls.

Minnesota’s 5-foot-10, 185-pound freshman running back, Shady Salamon, scored the game’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run before both teams traded field goals.

The Gophers took a 16-3 lead into halftime when Weber connected with Eric Decker on a 31-yard pass play with 4:58 left in the second quarter.

Eskridge had 1-yard touchdown runs in both the third and fourth quarters to give the Gophers a 30-3 lead, and 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior outside linebacker Simoni Lawrence closed out the scoring by returning an interception 50 yards for a TD with 9:47 remaining.

Weber, who threw 19 interceptions a year ago, has just one pick through four games this season. He’s 79-of-110 (71.8 percent) passing for 967 yards and seven TDs.

As a team last season, the Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in turnover margin (-15). So far in 2008, Minnesota is a plus-11.

Decker, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior wide receiver, who hauled in 67 passes for 909 yards and nine TDs last year, is by far Weber’s favorite target with 32 receptions for 464 yards and four touchdowns in 2008.

Bennett, who tore his ACL against Bowling Green and is out for the year, was at the top of the depth chart at running back when the season began. Now Eskridge (47 att., 204 yards, 5 TDs) and Salamon (22 att., 122 yards, 2 TDs) are the two backs who will get the bulk of the carries the rest of the way.

Defensively, the Gophers are led by 5-foot-10, 194-pound junior free safety Tramaine Brock with 28 total tackles. William VanDeSteeg, a 6-foot-4, 256-pound defensive end, leads the team with six TFLs and shares the top spot with Lawrence and Barrett Moen, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound defensive tackle, with 1.5 sacks. Traye Simmons, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound cornerback and Kyle Theret, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound free safety both have two interceptions.

Minnesota had four very winnable games to start the season before they travel to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes in both team’s Big Ten opener on Saturday. While the Gophers enter Ohio Stadium with a record of 4-0, they may not win another game the rest of the season.

One thing is for sure, if Minnesota wants to be competitive during conference play, the defense has to vastly improve. Last season, the Gophers finished dead-last in the Big Ten and near the bottom among all 119 Division I-A teams in all four major statistical categories. Minnesota ranked 109th in scoring defense (36.7 ppg), 114th in rushing defense (229.3 ypg), 115th in passing defense (289.3 ypg), and 119th in total defense (518.7 ypg).

So far in 2008, Minnesota is 35th in scoring defense (17.5 ppg), 42nd in rushing defense (109.75 ypg), 94th in passing defense (245.0 ypg), and 65th in total defense (354.75 ypg) against teams who have a combined record of 4-9.

Those numbers are better, but the competition for the Gophers will be a lot tougher the rest of the way.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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QB Terrelle Pryor

Pryor, making his first collegiate start at quarterback Saturday, was 10-of-16 passing for 139 yards with four touchdowns, plus he gained 66 yards on 14 carries. It was the first time since 1978 that the Buckeyes started a true freshman at quarterback since Art Schlichter in 1978. Pryor also broke Schlichter’s freshman record for most touchdown passes in a game.

SS Kurt Coleman	RB Boom Herron

Junior safety Kurt Coleman intercepted the first pass of his career in the second quarter and later picked off the second pass of his career in the third quarter. He finished with seven tackles. Freshman running back Boom Herron had a career-high 94 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

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Right: Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor on the run against Troy in the first quarter.
AP Photo

First, let me point out that Troy is a very good football team. They get a lot of guys who had originally signed with SEC schools only to transfer to play for the Trojans. They should win the Sun Belt Conference and go to a bowl game.

Be that as it may, it was not an impressive performance by Ohio State, who went to defeat Troy 28-10.

I thought for the first three quarters the Buckeye defense played back on their heels. I have said this before and will say it again, OSU needs to attack, not react.

I also thought that the tackling was poor which was quite evident on Troy’s only touchdown of the game when Jamie Hampton passed to Jerrel Jernigan for a 45-yard TD. There were several missed tackles on that play and the players downfield also had a hard time shedding their blocks.

One thing that I did notice and thought it was a great move by defensive coordinator Jim Heacock and his staff was getting the likes of Todd Denlinger, Nader Abdallah, Dexter Larimore and the big tackles out of the game against the spread and bringing on a defensive line full of smaller, quicker ends with Robert Rose, Cameron Heyward, Lawrence Wilson, Thaddeus Gibson, and Curtis Terry.

I was also impressed with the play of strong safety Jermale Hines (7 tackles) who almost had a pick-six in the end zone, and free safety Kurt Coleman (7 tackles, 2 INTs).

Offensively, for his first collegiate start as a true freshman, Terrelle Pryor was very good. He was 10-of-16 passing for 139 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for another 66 yards on 14 carries.

For the most part, Pryor made some really good decisions. Granted, Coach Tressel just gave him the car keys so he’s not going to open up the play book, yet. But as each week passes by and the more Terrelle learns, the offensive game plan will be less conservative.

There are two plays that you can rip out of that play book right now. I have never been a big fan of the option since it’s easy to defend, and you can throw out the reverse play since that fooled no one the two times it was ran.

Of course, I would love to see Ohio State throw the ball downfield more, since you can see what happens when they do. All four of Terrelle’s touchdown passes were for 10 yards or more, including a 39-yarder to Brian Hartline in the second quarter, and a 38-yarder to Brian Robiskie in the fourth stanza.

I still find it hard to believe that there’s talk about Pryor and Todd Boeckman splitting time at quarterback. After seeing Pryor take just about every snap against Troy, why go back now? Just doesn’t make any sense. If he struggles then that’s fine, but otherwise, leave him in.

Justin Zwick struggled during the 2004 season and was replaced by Troy Smith. As they say, the rest was history.

I also though Boom Herron had a productive day, rushing for 94 yards on 20 carries. He has clearly taken over the starting job with Beanie Wells hobbled with an injury. Brandon Saine and Mo Wells combined for six rushing attempts for 18 yards.

More to come tomorrow!

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Right: Dude, aren’t you the lead singer of KoRn? Troy linebacker Bear “Insert Your Own Nickname Here” Woods.
Courtesy of troytrojans.com

On Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes will go through their second pack of Trojans as Sun Belt Conference member Troy ventures from the state of Alabama for a high-noon showdown in Ohio Stadium.

Troy University, located coincidentally enough in Troy, Alabama, is also the home of country music star Hank Williams Jr..

As for the Troy Trojans football team, they have been playing at the Division I-A (FBS) level since 2001, and are coached by Larry Blakeney, who’s in his 18th season. He has led the program to three Southland Football League titles and two Sun Belt Conference titles, as well as guided the Trojans to seven FCS playoff appearances and two FBS bowl games. Blakeney boasts an overall record of 136-68-1 as head coach at Troy.

In Troy’s press release, the letterhead on the front page states, “We’re About To Light It Up.” Well, you just might want to put down that hash pipe, Jethro.

Sure, Troy defeated Division I-AA member Alcorn State 65-0 last Saturday. It’s also the same Alcorn team that lost 29-0 to Grambling State a week before.

In Troy’s season-opener, the Trojans defeated Middle Tennessee State 31-17, though the Trojans had a 24-3 lead entering the fourth quarter.

These Trojans are led by 6-foot-2, 206-pound sophomore quarterback Jamie Hampton, who has thrown for 459 yards on 43-of-69 passing with five touchdowns and three interceptions. Hampton battled two other QBs during spring practice to win the job.

Hampton’s two favorite targets are 5-foot-9, 176-pound sophomore flanker Jerrel Jernigan (14 rec., 137 yards, TD), and 5-foot-7, 170-pound wide receiver Kennard Burton (10 rec., 111 yards).

While the Trojans have attempted 85 passes in two games, Troy will run the ball on occasion. DuJuan Harris, a 5-foot-7, 190-pound running back has toted the rock 28 times for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Three other backs have 10 or more carries, including Hampton, who has 86 yards in 17 attempts, so he can tuck the ball and run if needed.

The offensive line has three seniors who start and the trio tips the scales at over 300 pounds each.

Defensively, the Trojans are lead by 6-foot, 231-pound junior middle linebacker Boris Lee (28 total tackles, 3 TFLs, INT), 6-foot, 228-pound junior weakside linebacker Bear “Insert Your Own Nickname Here” Woods (24 tackles, 2 TFLs, 3 sacks), and 6-foot-1, 191-pound senior free safety Sherrod Martin (15 tackles, 3 INTs).

Bulletin Board Material?

While Ohio State was busy getting hammered by the USC Trojans, the Troy Trojans were playing at the same time against Alcorn State, so the players were unable to view the game live with the rest of the nation. But they did watch Ohio State struggle against Ohio a week before.

With that, Troy safety Tavares Williams had this to say to Drew Champlin of the Dothan Eagle:

We feel like we could beat Ohio. After that game, we were ready to see. If they don’t have Beanie, it’s going to be a long night. After that, they’ve got to try to outrun us with those small speedy backs. I think we’re faster than them. I think we can use our speed to our advantage. The last couple of years, they’ve gone against speed and they’ve lost.”

In the same interview, he was asked what Troy’s chances are if Ohio State running back Chris Wells plays or not:

With Beanie, I think we’ve got a good chance. Without Beanie, I think we’ve got a great chance to win. It takes away what they want to do and that’s come out and power it right at us.”

No. 13 Ohio State (2-1) vs. Troy Trojans (2-0)

Date: Saturday, September 20
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Place: Ohio Stadium – capacity 101,568
TV: Big Ten Network will televise the game. Thom Brennaman will call the play-by-play with analysis from Charles Davis. Charissa “I Am Hotter Than Erin Andrews” Thompson is the sideline reporter.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan in Columbus is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State Radio Network. The Jim Tressel Pregame Show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. “Big Daddy” Paul Keels will call the play-by-play and will be assisted by former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines.
Weather from 10 TV: Mostly sunny skies and a game time temperature of 73 degrees.
Latest Line: Ohio State is a 20 1/2-point favorite. The Over & Under is 46 1/2.
Series History: This is the first meeting between the two schools.

Analysis and Prediction

So we know Beanie Wells won’t play. Should it matter against Troy? No.

What matters most is who gets the majority of the snaps at quarterback. The future is now, and Terrelle Pryor needs to be the one getting the bulk of the action. With two very winnable games in the next two weeks before Ohio State travels to Madison to take on Wisconsin, Pryor needs all of the experience he can get.

I am no longer certain that Todd Boeckman can win you a Big Ten title, and with the national title likely down the toilet with that embarrassing performance against USC, it’s time to give what was suppose to be the future signal-caller the opportunity now.

It also time for one of the backup running backs to emerge from the pack. Boom Herron is assumed to get the starting nod.

It would also be a good time for the offensive line to get off their collective fat asses and start blocking someone. To take a line from one of my favorite movies, Major League, “What’s this ole bull$hit!?” The matador blocking scheme is not how it’s done.

On the defensive side of the football for the Buckeyes, it’s time to start attacking instead of reacting. And as a unit, they must improve very soon, or it may be time to look for a new coordinator after the season is over.

I still think Chris Spielman would be a great choice, and he could light a fire to get these guys going.

As for the game, Troy might be fast, but are rather small. They might to be able to move the ball at times and may rack up their fair share of yards, but I see the Buckeye defense bending, not breaking.

Offensively, Ohio State may not light up the scoreboard like they should against an inferior team, but with Pryor hopefully getting the bulk of the snaps at quarterback, they may finally looked like a (somewhat) well-oiled machine.

Ohio State 33, Troy 13

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Right: Coach Tressel in front of the firing, er, I mean media squad.
Courtesy of ohiostatebuckeyes.com

Well, it’s that time of the week (three days late due to the power outages) where Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel addresses the media at his press conference which is normally held at the the Jack Nicklaus Museum, but was moved to the Waffle House on Rome-Hilliard Rd. after last Saturday’s performance.

Look, I love Jimmy T. just like most Buckeye fans do, and he’s the father I never had, even though that given our ages that’s not quite possible unless he was sexually active early in high school. Be that as it may, there needs to be some changes.

Instead of letting Coach Tressel rehash the debacle in southern California, let’s skipped ahead to where he talks about Troy in his opening statements:

Troy has got excellent speed. They thrashed Middle Tennessee pretty good, and we all know what Middle Tennessee has done the last couple weeks, they beat Maryland and ended up on the half yard line or something and should have or could have or whatever beat Kentucky, and Troy had their way with them. And so we know Troy is an excellent football team. Great speed. Great tradition. Their whole personality is made up on the fact that 10 years ago they wanted to be Division I and they said their road to Division I is to go to every great stadium in America and introduce themselves to that team, they’ve been to Nebraska, LSU, Missouri, Florida State, Mississippi State, South Carolina, on and on and on. That’s the way they’re building their program, and they’ve been wanting to schedule us for a couple years and we finally found a spot to get them in and they can’t wait to stake claim to visiting a Big Ten stadium and letting people know who they are. So it will be a great challenge for our guys, one that we’re very capable of confronting and I’m anxious to get out on the practice field and go from there.”

As soon as Coach Tressel takes questions from the media, the first one is about quarterback Todd Boeckman and whether or not he’s has lost any confidence in him or was his performance based on poor line play?

You know, I think, like I told the team when we met on Sunday, or Monday, I guess it was, what we have to work on is what we are doing in the game of football that we need to do better. No one has changed any thinking about who they are. Now, is it disappointing that we had a couple turnovers? Absolutely. Is that a problem? Yes. Do I think he’s capable of not having those turnovers and doing what we need to do? Yes. Are some of those things in part because we weren’t as good as we could have been on the offensive line? Yes. We weren’t as good as we could have been out wide? Yes. And everything in between.”

Now on to the $64,000 question about who will be the starting quarterback and how many snaps each will get vs. Troy and whether or not they would alternate in the middle of drives:

I liked how it worked when we did things well. On the plays when we didn’t, I wish we would have done something else, but I don’t think it was a bad thing. You know, I don’t know how many plays like in the long drive we had, I don’t know how many of the plays Todd was in or how many Terrelle was in or that kind of thing:as we got done with the Tuesday game plan, what we’re going to work on on Tuesday, you divide it up into various situational things and so forth, at the end of the evening, getting it done, I asked the question, how should we go about practicing our quarterbacks and how do you envision how much of the time each is going to play throwing it out to the offensive staff. And everyone likes to have an opinion, and you craft your own opinion by the logic of others, and so with the things that we’re doing today, we came to the consensus that Terrelle was going to do about 65% of them and Todd was going to do about 35% of them in part because so many of them Todd has done so many times already and we know what he can do. That’s certainly affected by what Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday looks like and that’s certainly affected by what Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday looks like.”

Though I think Terrelle Pryor gives Ohio State a better chance to win and with the Buckeyes having two very winnable games coming up he should start and get most of the snaps, but coach Tressel was asked if both will spilt time 50/50:

We said if we had a game last night (Monday) with what we were planning to do, that we envisioned that it would be 50/50, but it will be affected by what we do in practice, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and obviously what occurs during the course of the game.”

Later in the press conference, Coach Tressel was asked about the fact that some of the USC players said they knew what Ohio State was going to do before you did it, and whether that concerned him:

That’s kind of a typical response when you win, is that, man, things went just the way we planned them and we knew they were going to do that blitz and this and that and we knew that Southern Cal was going to do what they were doing, we didn’t execute against it. So is that concerning? I don’t think you can blow it off and say, are we tipping someone off or this and that, or do we have a tendency to zone blitz at this time or whatever, but you’re really a good team when they know what you’re in and they can’t do anything about it. That’s when you become the best.”

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