Ohi_ State: Where’s the O?
Right: Ohio State’s Etienne Sabino after he scored on a 20-yard blocked punt return for touchdown.
AP Photo
Hit and miss.
That’s how head coach Jim Tressel described his offense in Ohio State’s 16-3 win over Purdue, Saturday afternoon, in front 105,378 fans at Ohio Stadium.
Instead of looking more like a sleek sports car revving up on all cylinders, Ohio State’s offense looked more like a big ol’ Buick sputtering and backfiring down the road.
Newsflash to coach Tressel: The forward pass has been legal in NCAA football since 1906.
The Buckeyes’ had 56 offensive plays, but passed just 14 times. Starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor was 10-of-14 chucking the rock for 97 yards.
Ohio State ran the ball 42 times with Beanie Wells getting 22 carries for 94 yards, even though he missed some practice time during the week while battling flu-like symptoms.
Here’s what coach Tressel said following the game about his lackluster offense:
There was a moment where you looked good and there was a moment where you went backwards and we’re not consistent at all and it will be interesting to watch the film, but from where I was, we certainly didn’t control the line of scrimmage, that’s where it starts. “
Again, the offensive line didn’t perform as they should. Even with Tressel himself going down to yell and scream at the O-line during drills at practice, nothing has changed. Maybe it’s time to look at the depth chart and start weeding out the dead weight.
While Pryor didn’t look so freshman-like in previous starts, he clearly showed his age at times against Purdue. It just seems to me that he’s pressing to much to make a big play when he’s better off chucking the ball into the seats to avoid a sack.
Purdue did a good job of attacking, keeping their lanes and containing Pryor, not letting him outside where he’s more dangerous. But again, that’s goes back to the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage.
Purdue head coach Joe Tiller on his defense and playing against Pryor:
We knew that we had to contain him somehow. We didn’t want him to get on the perimeter. We tried to get him in a position and pull him up and hopefully tag him on the backside to try to make a good play and maybe get a fumble.”
Coach Tressel on the struggling O-line, the pressure put on by Purdue, and the play of Pryor:
I think it’s tough on the quarterback and we’ve got to have a little bit more experience to be able to ignore those things, but we couldn’t stand there all day today, that’s for sure.”
The Boilermakers came into the game dead-last in the Big Ten in total defense, giving up 435.8 yards per contest. The Buckeyes managed just 222 total yards of offense against the worst defensive team in the conference.
One glaring problem is Ohio State’s red zone offense. The Buckeyes were inside the Boilermakers’ 10 yard line twice, once in the first quarter and again in the third, but came away with two field goals.
In the first quarter after a face mask penalty on Purdue gave Ohio State a first-and-goal at the 9, Beanie was stuffed for no gain, Pryor rushed up the middle of two yards, then on third down, Pryor’s pass into the end zone was broken up by Brandon King. Ryan Pretorius came on and kicked a 24-yard field goal.
In the third quarter after Pryor hooked up with fellow freshman Lamaar Thomas for a 16-yard pitch and catch, the Buckeyes set up shop at the Boilermakers’ 8 yard line. Three running plays, one by Mo Wells and two by Pryor, netted OSU minus-3 yards and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Pretorius.
Six offensive plays inside the 10 yard line and just one pass attempt.
Coach Tressel when asked about his red zone offense and how it needs to be more productive:
Score touchdowns. I hate to say that. We had first and goal twice on the nine and didn’t get in, not that that’s the easiest place to get in from, but we have to be able to gain a little bit more on first down. We were getting two or we got one on second down and had some penetration that knocked us backwards when we were in there and you’ve got to know that the field has shrunk and they’re going to be coming harder and you’ve got to break some tackles and complete some tackles and we just didn’t get that done. “
But without a balanced offensive attack, Ohio State’s future opponents are going to stuff the box and put a spy on Pryor to keep him bottled up. It’s time to give Terrelle an opportunity the throw the ball more often.
Ohio State’s defense played well, holding Purdue 298 yards of total offense. While that number seems a little high for a Buckeye unit that was only giving up 251.8 yards per game, the Boilermakers didn’t cross the Buckeyes’ 30 yard line until there were just 39 seconds left in the game, and never once did they cross the 25. Purdue’s lone points came on a 53-yard field goal by Carson Wiggs in the third quarter.
Ohio State’s only touchdown came in the first quarter when Malcolm Jenkins blocked a Chris Summers’ punt and Etienne Sabino picked up the bouncing ball and returned it 20 yards for a score.
Up next, Ohio State travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State, Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised by ABC.
[...] Right: Ohio State’s Etienne Sabino after he scored on a 20-yard blocked punt return for touchdown. AP Photo Hit and miss. That’s how head coach Jim Tressel described his offense in Ohio State’s 16-3 win over Purdue, Saturday afternoon, in front 105,378 fans at Ohio Stadium. Instead of looking more like a sleek sports car revving up on all [...] Go to Source [...]
This article is exactly dead right on.
Penn State is coming Buckeye fans and OSU better come prepared to score touchdowns not field goals.
As a side, each week 1460thefan am radio keeps expanding (it seems like every week) the role of Craig Krenzel on air. He is rapidly becoming their #1 commentator on the OSU offense. Krenzel has been expanding every week his open public pressure on Tressel. If you listen carefully to Tressl now and what his comments publicly are and compare them to Krenzels roasting of him it sounds like Tressel is squirming under the open questioning by his former national champion QB.
Krenzel openly says Ohio State needs someone “in the booth calling the plays”. He says the “short passing game makes no sense to me”. He has said several times Ohio State should be using the tight ends more creativily and should “…lead the nation in the short passing game”.
His critiques do not stop there. He called for a shakeup of linemen and the use of younger players if the older players are just not getting the job done. The very next week we saw several changes and a hint of tight end use.
Matt is right. What happened to using Ohio States overall team speed and going deep? Krenzel says now is not the time to go ultra conservative. He encourages opening it up and letting Pryor learn by experience. If he throws some interceptions that is part of his learning curve. A potential national title game is gone and OSU should use the Big Ten games to let Pryor quickly expand his game.