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

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