The Best Damn Players of the Game!
RB Beanie Wells	LB James Laurinaitis

Junior running back Beanie Wells and senior linebacker James Laurinaitis have been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s, “The Best Damn Players of the Game” vs. Michigan. For the first time this year, two players tied in the total number of votes.

Wells rushed for 134 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Laurinaitis had a team-high 12 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a sack against the Wolverines.

Helmet Stickers!
RB Boom Herron	LB Marcus Freeman
QB Todd Boeckman	S Kurt Coleman

Redshirt freshman running back Boom Herron had 80 yards rushing in eight attempts and two touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Marcus Freeman has seven tackles, two-and-a-half of those for loss, and a fumble recovery.

Sixth-year senior quarterback Todd Boeckman was 3-of-3 passing for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Junior strong safety Kurt Coleman had 10 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

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

Right: REJECTED! Ohio State’s freshman center B.J. Mullens swats the shot of Delaware State’s Kris Douse. (AP Photo)

Thanks to those singers Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson performing at Value City Arena, Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes played their season-opener down the street at St. John Arena.

Sure, everyone waxes nostalgic when the basketball team is forced to play games at their old home due to a scheduling conflict at the new one. But in reality, St. John was not that great of an arena, especially if you ever had to sit in the balcony.

I had the privilege to watch some tremendous players perform on the St. John’s hardwood from Allan Hornyak, Luke Witte, Kelvin Ransey and Herb Williams in the 70s, to Clark Kellogg, Tony Campbell, Dennis Hopson, and Jay Burson in the 80s. Plus you can’t forget some of the great teams Randy Ayers’ coached in the early 90s with Jim Jackson, Treg Lee, Lawrence Funderburke, Perry Carter, Chris Jent, Jamaal Brown and Mark Baker.

Of course, there are some aspects of today’s St. John Arena that I don’t remember from those days, like trying to figure out where the basketball court is in the middle of a volleyball one.

One cool thing that I remember vividly as a kid going to St. John’s was during the National Anthem, in which all of the arena lights were turned off while spotlights brigtly displayed the large American flag that hung over center court as the OSU band played.

More than 6,200 fans ventured down memory lane instead of jumping into a frigid Mirror Lake to watch Ohio State defeat Delaware State 70-42, Thursday night.

Three Buckeyes scored in double figures as junior David Lighty and freshman William Buford each added 13 points, while junior Jeremie Simmons chipped in an even 10.

Three sophomores were next on the scoring ledger as guard Jon Diebler had nine points, guard Evan Turner poured in eight, and forward Dallas Lauderdale had seven points to go along with seven blocked shots.

Ohio State shot 52.4 percent (22-of-42) from the field, and went 11-of-21 in each half, but fared better from beyond the arc in the second period. For the game, the Buckeyes were 8-of-19 from three-point range.

Defensively, Ohio State held Delaware State 37.2 percent shooting (16-of-43) from the floor, forced 20 turnovers and cashed them in for 18 points.

Surprisingly, the much smaller Hornets outrebounded the Buckeyes 26-25.

The Buckeyes claimed a 13-3 lead with 14:19 left in the first half after Simmons and Diebler drained three-pointers and the Hornets never threaten as Ohio State held a double-digit advantage the rest of the game.

The Buckeyes led 35-22 at the intermission break and scored 10 of the first 13 points to start the second half and opened up a 45-25 advantage after a trey by Simmons with 18:41 left to play.

Up next, the Buckeyes will host Bowling Green, Monday night. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
Comments Off

The Best Damn Player of the Game!

RB Beanie Wells

Junior running back Beanie Wells has been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s “The Best Damn Player of the Game” after rushing for 143 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown in Ohio State’s 30-20 win over Illinois.

For the season, Wells had played in eight games and is averaging 119.6 yards per contest with seven TDs.

Helmet Stickers!
QB Terrelle Pryor	SS Kurt Coleman

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor was 6-of-10 passing for 49 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 110 yards on 13 carries against the Illini. For the season, Pryor is 90-of-139-passing (64.7%) for 1,125 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, while gaining 560 yards on the ground and six more scores.

Junior strong safety Kurt Coleman lead the team with 11 total tackles and an interception. So far in 2008, Coleman has 57 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a team-leading four INTs.

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

Right: Beanie Wells rushed for 222 yards in Ohio State’s 14-3 win over Michigan last season.
(AP Photo)

From last year’s Ohio State-Michigan game:

A Michigan fan told me that the raindrops falling down at Michigan Stadium were actually tears from former head coach Bo Schembechler, who had to witness another loss to Ohio State from heaven.

Chris “Beanie” Wells rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten title as Ohio State defeated Michigan 14-3, Saturday afternoon.

The win moved Ohio State up to No. 5 in all of the major polls including the BCS standings, which were released last night.

Also with the win over Michigan, the Buckeyes will, at the very least, play in the Rose Bowl against a yet-to-be determined opponent. Currently, No. 7 Arizona State tops the Pac-10 with a one-game lead over USC and Oregon, though the Sun Devils still have to play Southern Cal and Arizona.

And thanks to losses by Oregon and Oklahoma, the Buckeyes still have a slim chance to make it to the BCS title game.

LSU is first in the latest BCS standings, but the Tigers still have to play Arkansas and the SEC Championship game, which will either be Tennessee or Georgia. If Tennessee beats Kentucky next Saturday, the Volunteers are in the SEC title game, but if they lose, Georgia is in.

Coming in at Nos. 2 and 4 respectively, Kansas and Missouri play against each other at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, this Saturday. Then the winner will likely play Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship game.

Third in the BCS standings is West Virginia, who still has to play No. 20 Connecticut and Pittsburgh. The Big East does not have a championship game.

Granted, losing to Illinois hurt Ohio State’s chances, but what I think hurt more is how far they fell, going from first to seventh in the polls. Plus I think the Buckeyes are better than most of the teams that are ahead of them. Can you honestly say that West Virginia, Missouri, or Kansas are better than Ohio State?

The Buckeyes finished their season with a record of 11-1, 7-1 in the Big Ten after dominating the Wolverines.

The Ohio State defense held Michigan to just 91 yards of total offense, including 15 yards rushing and eight first downs for the entire game.

Michigan quarterback Chad Henne was just 11-of-34 passing for 68 yards, while tailback Mike Hart has 44 yards in 18 carries.

Think they are glad they came for their senior season now?

The best running back in the Big Ten, Beanie Wells, gained 222 yards on 39 carries. His longest gain was a 62-yard touchdown run through the left-side of the line in the third quarter than put Ohio state ahead 14-3.

Beanie’s other touchdown run came in the second quarter when the Buckeyes drove 44 yards in eight plays that was capped off on a one-yard run by Wells.

Due to the rain and the slippery field conditions, Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman was just 7-of-13 for 50 yards and an interception. Boeckman attempted just two passes the entire second half.

Earlier last week when I posted an article entitled, “Scouting the Wolverine defense,” this is what I predicted:

“Every time I predict what Ohio State will do offensively, Coach Tressel does the opposite. So with that, I will say that the Buckeyes must establish the run early. Beanie to the left, Beanie to the right, Beanie up the middle until Michigan can prove they can stop it.”

I guess I was finally right, and Michigan couldn’t stop Beanie.

On Sunday, Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement.

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

Right: Antonio Pittman heads into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against Michigan.
(Jim Davidson/The O-Zone)

From the 2005 Ohio State-Michigan game:

How do you quickly silence 111,591 people at a “Big House” party? Try going on a twelve-play, 88-yard scoring drive that is capped off by a three-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left in the game.

That worked really well for the ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, who came away with a 25-21 win over their hated rival, the 17th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, on Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The scarlet and gray clad Buckeyes made the “Big House” seem more like a big library.

Ohio State’s winning scoring drive began when Michigan head coach Lloyd Cooper, er, I mean Lloyd Carr, decided to pooch punt when faced with a fourth-and-4 on the OSU 34 yard line, instead of letting kicker Garrett Rivas try a field goal into the wind. That punt went out of bounds on the 12 yard line, setting up the Buckeyes’ march to victory.

It would take three minutes and 54 seconds to go the distance for the clinching touchdown as OSU quarterback Troy Smith passed for 77 yards, completing seven out of eight attempts during the drive. The Buckeyes methodically moved down the field on short passes in the middle of a soft Michigan zone, until Ohio State had the ball on the UM 30 yard line and a first down.

Following a timeout, Smith scrambled to his right, stepped back and lofted a pass to a leaping Anthony Gonzalez who hauled it in at the Michigan 4. After Smith could not find anyone open, Gonzalez sped down the far sideline to make himself open.

“Guys came off the edge, and I was just trying to stay alive,” Smith said. “I saw Gonzalez pop open down the sideline, and I just tried to get him the ball as fast as I could.”

Two plays later, tailback Antonio Pittman bolted in from three yards out for the winning score.

All this after Ohio State trailed 21-12 with 7:49 left to play in the game after Michigan’s Rivas connected on a 19-yard field goal.

But the Buckeyes struck quickly to get back into the game by going 67 yards on five plays in a minute and nine seconds as Smith would go 2-for-4 passing, one was a 27-yard pass play to Gonzalez to start the drive, and the other was a 26-yard connection to Santonio Holmes for a touchdown that finished the drive and narrowed the Michigan lead to 21-19 with 6:40 left.

Ohio State would have to overcome a slew of mistakes to reach that point of the game. Two fumbles, one by tailback Maurice Wells at the OSU 36-yard line, setup Michigan’s first touchdown on a two-yard pass play from Chad Henne to Jason Avant that cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 9-7 with 5:18 left in the first half.

The other fumble occurred when Smith was sacked and the ball came loose at the OSU 20. That turnover resulted in a Rivas 27-yard field goal that sliced into OSU’s lead to 12-10 with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter.

A shanked, 18-yard punt by A.J. Trapasso led to another score as Michigan would get great field position once again, needing just four plays to go 37 yards that was capped off on a two-yard touchdown run by Kevin Grady that put Michigan out in front for the first time in the game with 1:20 left in the third following a two-point conversion.

Ohio State’s other mistakes came on a missed extra point following the opening drive of the game as the Buckeyes’ went 80 yards in 13 plays as Smith would go the final four for paydirt on a touchdown run that gave OSU an early 6-0 lead with 8:44 to play in the first quarter.

Michigan would drive down the OSU 28-yard line on their first possession, only to be stopped by the Buckeye’ defense on a fourth-and-1 when Henne’s pass was incomplete.

The Buckeyes took a 9-0 lead after their next possession on a 47-yard field goal by Huston.

Out of Michigan’s four scoring drives, only one went for more than 40 yards, with three of those starting in OSU territory.

Of Ohio State’s five scoring drives, four of those went for 67 yards or more, with the only other one going 42 yards and it resulted in a field goal.

Statistically, Ohio State dominated in every aspect of the game, except for turnovers. Ohio State had 25 first downs to Michigan’s 17. Ohio State had 418 yards of total offense with 300 passing and 118 rushing, while Michigan was able to manage just 255 yards of total offense, and 223 of those yards coming from the passing game.

The biggest stat of the game was the fact that Ohio State held Michigan to just 32 yards rushing, with Mike Hart getting 15 yards on nine carries, and Kevin Grady netting nine yards on six attempts.

Smith finished the game going 27-of-37 passing for 300 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards and another score.

“There will be a lot of No. 10 jerseys and a lot of kids on Thanksgiving weekend trying to make those moves in a pile of leaves,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

“Troy is probably the best we’ve seen,” Wolverines defensive tackle Pat Massey said. “Troy was a difference maker out there.”

Pittman had 85 yards on 23 carries and the game-winning touchdown.

Ted Ginn Jr. had nine receptions for 89 yards, but muffed two punts that luckily were recovered both times by Holmes, who is also a deep-back in the punt return formation. Holmes finished with six catches for 72 yards an a TD.

“I just think we wanted it more than those guys,” said Holmes.

And how nice is it to see Coach Tressel and the boys sing “Carmen Ohio” at Michigan Stadium?

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

Right: Beanie Wells bullies his way past Dere Hicks in Ohio State’s 30-20 win over Illinois. (AP Photo)

I am having a hard time figuring out this game. On one hand, Terrelle Pryor and Beanie Wells combined to rush for 243 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns, but on the other hand, the Ohio State’s defense surrendered 455 yards of total offense to Illinois, which is a season-high.

Sure, after Malcolm Jenkins blocked Anthony Santella’s punt and the ball sailed through the end zone for a safety giving Ohio State a 9-7 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter, the Buckeyes never trailed.

Following a very short free kick, Ohio State needed just five plays to go 43 yards to take a 16-7 advantage after Beanie plowed in from the three yard line just 45 seconds into the second quarter. The Buckeyes held a two-score lead the rest of the way.

And Christmas did come early for Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored 14 first-half points off turnovers, which included OSU’s first touchdown after Illinois’ quarterback Juice Williams fumbled at the Illini 19 yard line and was recovered by Nader Abdallah. Five plays later Pryor hit paydirt on a QB keeper from the one yard line.

With the Buckeyes leading 16-7 in the second quarter, Kurt Coleman intercepted a Williams’ pass at the Illinois’ six yard line. That resulted in a six play, 76-yard scoring drive that was capped off on a 20-yard pass play from Pryor to Dane Sanzenbacher that put Ohio State ahead 23-7 with 6:30 left until halftime.

Illinois managed just two Matt Eller field goals the rest of the half and trailed Ohio State 23-13 at intermission.

The Buckeyes returned one of the gifts on their first possession of the second half when Beanie fumbled at the Illini 18 yard line, but neither team did much with the pigskin in the third quarter.

Ohio State put the game out of reach when Boom Herron scored on a 12-yard run 11:55 left to play in the game.

During that possession, the Buckeyes faced a third-and-4 at the Illini 49 and Pryor’s pass to Sanzenbacher fell incomplete, but Illini safety Donsay Hardeman was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet personal foul penalty that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, Herron’s touchdown made it 30-13.

But still, Illinois outgained Ohio State 455-354, and had 25 first downs to the Buckeyes’ 16.

Numbers in Ohio State’s favor include 305 rushing yards to Illinois’ 214, and time of possession went the Buckeyes way. Overall, OSU had a 33:50-26:10 advantage, which includes having the ball for 19:47 in the second half.

With Ohio State running the ball so well, Pryor threw just 10 passes and completed six of them for 49 yards.

Beanie finished with 143 yards rushing on 24 carries and Terrelle added 110 in 13 attempts. It was the first time since Antonio Pittman had 171 and Troy Smith had 127 vs. Iowa on Sept. 24, 2005, that two backs had more than 100 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Coleman recorded a career-high 11 tackles while James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman both had eight.

Granted, Illinois had the top passing offense in the Big Ten going into the game, but Ohio State’s defense is going to have to tighten a few things up next week.

Speaking of next, Ohio State hosts Michigan at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., and it will be televised on ABC.

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

No. 10 Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) vs. Illinois (5-5, 3-3)

Date: Saturday, November 15
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Place: Memorial Stadium – capacity 62,870
TV: ESPN will televise the game. Dave Pasch will call the play-by-play and will be joined in the booth by Andre Ware.
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 AccuWeather.com: Cloudy, windy conditions with a good chance of a rain/snow mix and a game time temperature of 39 degrees.
Latest Line from The Sports Network: Ohio State is an 9.5-point favorite. The Over & Under is 46.
Series History: This is the 95th meeting between the two schools. Ohio State owns a 60-30-4 record against Illinois, and the Buckeyes are 32-12 in games played at Memorial Stadium.
Last Season: Illinois won 28-21 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
Analysis and Prediction: Which offense shows up for the Buckeyes this week?

Will it be the one that scored 34 points against Minnesota, 31 versus Michigan State, and posted 45 on Northwestern, or will be the offensive that failed to score a touchdown against Purdue and Penn State?

Last week against Western Michigan, Illinois was able to stuff the run only giving up 64 yards on the ground, but surrendered a whooping 301 yards through the air as the Broncos came away with a 23-17 win.

The weather looks like it may play a huge factor in this game and it could really effect the passing of both teams, but if Terrelle Pryor can make plays with his arm as well as his legs, the Buckeyes should win rather handily.

Ohio State 27, Illinois 10

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

Right: Ohio State freshman William Buford drives to the dish over Walsh’s Eric Love in the first half. (AP Photo)

Sophomore Evan Turner and freshman William Buford both scored 17 points as Ohio State defeated Walsh in the Buckeyes’ only exhibition game of the season, 90-63, at Value City Arena, Thursday night.

Three others scored in double figures for Ohio State as junior David Lighty and freshman B.J. Mullens both chipped in 12, while junior Kyle Madsen came off the bench to tally 11 points for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State shot a blistering 28-of-42 (66.7%) in two-point field goals, but was just 6-of-19 (31.6%) from three-point land, which is now 20-feet, 9-inches away from the basket, one foot farther that it was a year ago. Overall, the Buckeyes shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) from the field.

Defensively, Ohio State held Walsh to 41.2 percent (21-of-51) shooting from the floor and forced 19 turnovers, which led to 28 points for the Buckeyes while committing 10.

Turner led the Ohio State with nine rebounds and the Buckeyes had a 37-25 advantage off the glass.

In the battle for the starting point guard position, freshman Anthony Crater turned in a better performance, playing 17 minutes and scoring eight points while knocking down 2-of-3 three-pointers with three rebounds, six assists and no turnovers. Junior college transfer Jeremie Simmons played 21 minutes and had seven points to go along with two rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a turnover.

Madsen, a transfer from Vanderbilt who played sparingly last year, also turned in an impressive performance. Along with his 11 points, he also had eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 21 minutes of action.

Mullens, a seven-foot center who was two inches taller and 30 pounds heavier the Walsh’s biggest post player, was just 3-of-9 from the field and had only four rebounds. Half of his 12 points came from the charity stripe.

Dallas Lauderdale, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, did not play because of a left shoulder sprain he suffered during a scrimmage against Miami, but should be ready for Ohio State’s regular season opener next week. Nicola Kecman, a junior college transfer who has to sit out 12 games per NCAA rules due to playing on a club team in his native Serbia two years ago that included players the NCAA considers professionals, was able to play since it was an exhibition game, but did not dress.

Up next, Ohio State hosts Delaware State, next Thursday. Tip-off at St. John Arena is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
Comments Off

On Wednesday, senior linebacker James Laurinaitis was named as a one of four finalists for the Lombardi Award and the one of eight semifinalists for the Lott Trophy.

The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker in the nation, and is named after former head coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins which was established shortly after his death in 1970.

Since then, five Ohio State players have garnered six awards, the most of any other school.

Former Buckeyes who were recipients of the Lombardi Award include: Jim Stillwagon (1970), John Hicks (1973), Chris Spielman (1987), Orlando Pace (1995 & 1996), and A.J. Hawk (2005).

The three other finalists for this year’s Lombardi Award are: USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo, and Alabama offensive lineman Andre Smith.

The Lott Trophy is presented annually to the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year using IMPACT as an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity.

The other seven semifinalists are: Tennessee safety Eric Berry, Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry, Pittsburgh linebacker Scott McKillop, Illinois linebacker Brit Miller, Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo, Oregon defensive end Nick Reed, and Florida State safety Myron Rolle.

The Lott Trophy is named after former USC and San Francisco 49ers safety Ronnie Lott, and it was established in 2004. No Buckeyes have won the award, yet. Laurinaitis was a finalist last year.

On Tuesday, head coach Jim Tressel met with the media for his weekly press conference.

Part of Coach Tressel’s opening statements:

Every week you go on the road it’s a battle, so we’re excited to get a win at Northwestern and we know it gets tougher as we go and we’re looking forward to playing the Illini. Right now they are at 5-5. A year ago when we played them they were at 7-3 and the difference is a ball bouncing here and there and a play that doesn’t get made and I think as I watch them on film they look every bit as good or better today than they did a year ago.”

During the question and answer session, Coach Tressel was asked if Iowa’s win over Penn State stoked his players:

When we entered November, we talked about the same things that we always do no matter what the standings were that anything can happen in November and, yes, we were a game behind. That was a fact. But that we’ve got to take care of business in November and typically if you go through history, the team that takes care of business in November usually ends up feeling good about the result. So do I see a peak in any more interest? We were riding the bus home from the airport when the Iowa kicker kicked it through and you could see that peaked interest because all of a sudden you’re ostensibly back with a shot, if you do your work.”

One subject that I talked about after the Northwestern game was about some of the claims that Ohio State ran up the score. Coach Tressel stated in his postgame press conference that it wasn’t his intent, and was asked if he talked to Coach Fitzgerald since:

No, just immediately after the game. I feel bad that the ball went in and never dreamed it would. We were getting three yards a carry and getting some young guys a chance to play and that stuff happens, but, no, I haven’t talked with him. He’s got a game with Michigan and we’ve got a game with Illinois, we’ve got plenty to do.”

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

The Best Damn Player of the Game!

QB Terrelle Pryor

For the third time this season, freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s “The Best Damn Player of the Game” after throwing for 197 yards and three touchdowns in Ohio State’s 45-10 win over Northwestern.

Pryor was 9-of-14 passing and rushed for 33 yards on six carries against the Wildcats. For the season, Pryor is 84-of-129-passing (65.1%) for 1,076 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions, while gaining 450 yards on the ground and five more scores.

Helmet Stickers!
RB Beanie Wells	DT Nader Abdallah

Junior running back Beanie Wells rushed for 140 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns vs. the Wildcats. For the year, Wells had played in seven games and is averaging 116.3 yards per contest with six TDs.

Senior defensive tackle Nader Abdallah had eight total tackles, two pass breakups, and a quarterback hurry against Northwestern.

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

Right: Illinois quarterback Juice Williams has 3,346 yards of total offense while throwing for 20 touchdowns and running another five into the end zone this year.
AP Photo

After going 9-4 in 2007 and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl, Illinois has had a much more difficult time this season. Currently, the Fighting Illini have an overall record of 5-5, and are tied for fourth in the Big Ten with Minnesota and Northwestern with a record of 3-3.

Illinois began the season ranked 20th and took on then-No. 6 Missouri in both team’s season-opener at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, in a game that saw the Illini and the Tigers combining for 92 points and 1,081 yards of total offense. Unfortunately, Illinois lost 52-42.

The Illini rattled off two straight wins after the loss, defeating Eastern Illinois 47-21 and Louisiana-Lafayette 20-17. It’s been an up-and-down year for Ron Zook’s Illinois squad, because the Illlini have yet to put together back-to-back wins since.

Illinois lost at then-No. 12 Penn State 38-24 before traveling to Ann Arbor to defeat Michigan 45-20.

The Illini’s next two games were at home, dropping a 27-20 decision to Minnesota, then handed Indiana a 55-13 lopsided loss.

Three weeks ago, Illinois lost to Wisconsin 27-17 in Madison, but returned to Memorial Stadium to down Iowa 27-24.

Illinois’ most embarrasing loss came last Saturday in front of just 12,865 fans at Ford Field in Detroit as Mid-American Conference member, Western Michigan, came away with a 23-17 win.

One player from last season that’s sorely missed is running back Rashard Mendenhall, who was one of the top ball carriers in the nation last year, rushing for 1,681 yards and 17 touchdowns before he was selected in first round (23rd overall pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in April’s NFL Draft.

Taking over for Mendenhall is junior running back Daniel Dufrene, though he’s averaging just 63.9 yards in 11.4 attempts per ball game. Overall, he has rushed for 575 yards on 103 carries (5.6 ypa) but has yet to reach paydirt.

Ohio State fans will remember Dufrene from last year as he was the one who ran 80 yards down the far sideline in the first quarter against the Buckeyes and fumbled before going out-of-bounds, but the play was never reviewed.

Junior quarterback Juice Williams is the team’s top rusher with 577 yards while toting the rock 141 times in 10 games. He is averaging 57.7 yards per game and 4.1 yards per attempt.

After completing 57.3 percent of his throws and passing for 1,743 yards with 13 touchdowns to go along with 12 interceptions during his sophomore campaign, Williams has bettered most of those numbers from a year ago. So far this season his completion rate is slightly lower (57.1%), but he has thrown for 2,769 yards with 20 TDs and 14 INTs. Williams, though, has also thrown seven of his interceptions in the last three games.

2007’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year Arrelious Benn is Illinois’ top receiver and clearly Williams’ favorite target by hauling in 61 passes for 947 yards and three TDs. He also averages 10.1 yards per punt return.

Senior wide receiver Will Judson and junior tight end Michael Hoomanawanui both have 21 receptions and two touchdown catches.

Defensively, senior inside linebacker Brit Miller leads the team in total tackles (110) and tackles of loss (16.5), while sharing the team lead in sacks with senior defensive end Derek Walker (6.0).

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

Right: Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor escapes the pressure and throws a 6-yard TD pass to Rory Nicol in the third quarter during the Buckeyes’ 45-10 win over Northwestern.
AP Photo

Run up the score? Jim Tressel? Ohio State?

That’s what Northwestern’s student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, hinted in their recap of Ohio State’s 45-10 win over the Wildcats at Ohio Stadium West. Comments from irate NU fans in the Northwestern football blog, Lake The Posts, also shared that sentiment.

Leading 31-10 early in the third quarter, A.J. Trapasso gained nine yards and a first down running the ball on a fake punt when the Buckeyes were facing a fourth-and-2 at their own 42 yard line. Two plays later, Terrelle Pryor hit Brian Robiskie on a 34-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the fourth quarter, Northwestern’s Mike Kafka was sacked by Cameron Heyward and coughed up the football, which was recovered by Doug Worthington at the NU 42 yard line with 3:10 left to go in the game.

Six straight rushing plays by backups, the last one being a 16-yard touchdown run by Boom Herron, put Ohio State’s 44th point on the scoreboard with just seven seconds remaining.

Faking a punt when leading by 21 points seemed like the smart play, considering the weather and wind conditions. I also see nothing wrong with letting Pryor throw deep.

As for the touchdown run with seven seconds left, maybe taking a knee would of been the best option, but then again, Coach Tressel didn’t know at the time that Northwestern’s defense was going to be so porous at the end of the game.

Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey seems to concur with me.

After the game, Fitzgerald and his players refused to accuse Ohio State of running up the score, and they were right to do so. If you’re the Buckeyes, a fake punt in the fourth quarter is a smart move, not an insult. A three-touchdown lead is not insurmountable. End of story for a team hoping for a BCS bowl bid.”

The problem was, Northwestern had trouble stopping Ohio State not only at the end of the game, but for most of the contest, especially on third down.

Stat of the game: Ohio State was 8-of-13 in third down conversions, and six of those went for eight or more yards.

During the Buckeyes’ first possession of the game, Ohio State face two instances of needing eight or more yards on third down. On third-and-eight at the NU 49, Pryor threw a nine-yard completion to Robiskie. Three plays later on a third-and-16 play at the NU 46, Pryor connected with Brian Hartline on a 44-yard pitch and catch. One snap later, Beanie Wells scored on a 2-yard run.

On Ohio State’s second scoring drive, Pryor hit tight end Rory Nicol for a gain of 22 yards on third-and-10 at the NU 28. On the next play, Beanie looked like he was going to be stuffed for no gain, but sprung loose for a 55-yard TD run putting the Buckeyes up 14-7.

With Ohio State leading 17-7 in the second quarter, a third-and-8 play at the OSU 12 yard line resulted in a 14-yard completion to Dane Sanzenbacher. Three snaps later on a third-and 13 at the OSU 23, Pryor scampered up the middle of a gain of 15. Three plays after that, Pryor ran around the left end and down the near-sideline for a gain of 22 yards on a 3-and-17 at the OSU 31. That drive resulted in a 15-yard TD pass from Pryor to Robiskie.

Up 24-10 in the third quarter, Pryor threw a 46-yard bomb to Brian Hartline on a third-and-8 play from the OSU 32. Three downs later, Pryor found Rory Nicol in the end zone on a 6-yard TD pass.

In Ohio State’s lone fourth down attempt, Trapasso gained nine on a faked punt. That led to another TD for the Buckeyes.

Pryor threw just 14 passes, but completed nine of them of 197 yards and three touchdowns. Beanie Wells had 140 yards on 28 carries and two scores. Robiskie had three receptions for 58 yards and two TDs.

Ohio State had 441 yards of total offense, with 244 yards rushing and 197 yards passing.

Defensively, the Buckeyes held the Wildcats to 294 yards of total offense (117 rushing, 177 passing).

With the win, Ohio State moved up to 10th in both polls, but stayed at No. 11 in the BCS standings.

Up next, the Buckeyes travel to Chambana to take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois, Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., and the game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN 2.

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

Right: Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald looks up at the Ohio Stadium scoreboard high above the south end zone as the Buckeyes pasted the Wildcats 58-7, last season.
AP Photo

Its been just over two years now since the sudden passing of Randy Walker and the promotion of then-linebackers coach Pat Fitzgerald as head coach at Northwestern.

During the six years that Walker was in charge, the Wildcats were just 37-46 overall, but he did lead them to three postseason bowl games and Northwestern claimed a share of the Big Ten title in 2000.

Fitzgerald, who played for former head coach Gary Barnett at NU during the mid-90s, was a former Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy-winning linebacker as the Wildcats won two Big Ten championships (one outright) and participated in both the Rose and Citrus bowls during his playing days in Evanston.

So far, Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to a 7-2 overall mark, 3-2 in Big Ten Conference play, this season.

Northwestern began the season 5-0 with wins over Syracuse (30-10), Duke (24-20), Southern Illinois (33-7), Ohio (16-8), and Iowa (22-7) before losing to Michigan State (37-20).

The Wildcats have won two out fo their last three games, sandwiching a 21-19 loss to Indiana in between wins over Purdue (48-26) and Minnesota (24-17).

Fitzgerald had the benefit of 14 starters returning from last year, seven on each side of the ball, including senior quarterback C.J. Bacher, who has thrown for 1,700 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in eight games this season.

Last Saturday, junior quarterback Mike Kafka started in place of an injured Bachér against Minnesota and turned in a spectacular performance against the Golden Gophers by setting a Big Ten modern-era record for rushing yards by a quarterback (217 yards on 27 carries) and finish with 360 yards of total offense.

Kafka completed 12-of-16 passes for 143 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, while averaging 8.0 yards per carry, and was named the Big Ten Conference’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Senior running back Tyrell Sutton leads the team in rushing with 776 yards on 155 carries (5.0 ypc) and six touchdowns. He also has 30 receptions for 276 yards and three more scores.

Whether it’s Bacher or Kafka who gets the starting nod against the Buckeyes, both will have plenty of experienced receivers to chuck the ball to as three senior wideouts lead the team in receiving with 30 or more catches. Those are Ross Lane (38 rec., 397 yards), Rasheed Ward (35 rec., 329 yards, 2 TDs), and Eric Peterman (33 rec., 386 yards, 3 TDs).

Defensively, junior safety Brad Phillips leads the teams with 75 total tackles and is tied with two others with two interceptions, while junior defensive end Corey Wootten tops the roster with 6.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

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

Right: Coach Tressel spoke with reporters earlier this week.
AP Photo

I must say after having to pass a kidney stone last week, it’s a pain I wouldn’t wish on a Michigan fan. So after the bye and the absolutely perfect weather this week, it’s time to get back to work.

Each week, Coach Tressel holds a secret press conference at an undisclosed location in hopes that I don’t crash the party. Anyway, some of the questions get repetitive so I wll give you the condensed version.

Since there was no game last Saturday, Coach Tressel did not name any players of the week, but delved in Ohio State’s next opponent, Northwestern, just moments into his opening statements.

As usual, there’s a lot of fluff without much substance. It seems Ohio State plays the 1972 Miami Dolphins every week. But let’s get on to the press conference.

Coach Tressel’s Opening Statements:

We’re anxious to get ready to go play a good Northwestern team that had an excellent road win, an emotional victory for them happening in the last play of the game, and an opportunity to move to 7-2. And what I’ve been impressed with amongst many things with Northwestern is if you watch them in the first half of a ball game, they’re much better in the second half of a ball game, which means that they’re glued into what’s going on in the game. They understand their system. They grow to understand what you’re trying to do against them. They’ve outscored their opponents in the second half like 111-50 or something and played excellent football.

Every film you watch, you can see that someone has maybe had something that works once or twice against them and they try it again in the second half and it’s snuffed. So they obviously know who they are and they learn who you are.”

Last Saturday, junior quarterback Mike Kafka, who started in place of the injured C.J.Bachér at Minnesota, turned in a spectacular performance against the Golden Gophers by setting a Big Ten modern-era record for rushing yards by a quarterback (217 yards on 27 carries) and finish with 360 yards of total offense.

Kafka completed 12-of-16 passes for 143 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, while averaging 8.0 yards per carry, and was named the Big Ten Conference’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Coach Tressel talks about Northwestern’s quarterbacks:

Their quarterback situation, you have to appreciate the fact that when the number two guy had to come in and win a big game on the road, he did it, he rushed for over 200 yards, and I would expect that we would see both guys in the course of the game. I would expect Bacher probably to return as the starter, maybe not, but I would expect that with all his experience and successes and so forth, but I would bet you that Kafka’s going to come in there and certainly be a part of what they do.”

Later when Coach Tressel opens the floor for questions, he was asked how Terrelle has handled the time off since the last game:

“I think we were all down after a hard fought battle and we came up short. That’s not the easiest thing in the world when you’ve invested a lot of time and effort. I’m sure some of the guys that have been here five years, it was just as deep or deeper. From a practice standpoint, all of them, Terrelle included, came out on Wednesday when we had our first practice and went to work and I thought really focused in on what we asked them to do, which was their fundamental work.”

Further along in the press conference, Tressel was asked if he cautioned Terrelle to not try to do too much or to not try to press to move past a loss:

I think we have to face that, every one of us, individually. You have to evaluate what could we have done better. You can’t kid yourself and think that it was one thing you did or didn’t do that was the difference because that makes the assumption that you think one thing you did in a win was everything.”

At one point, Coach Tressel was asked about Thaddeus Gibson and his development:

Thaddeus is an active guy. He plays both the end and one of those 30 front we call a viper, so there’s a lot of dropping a lot of blitzing, a lot of playing gaps and so forth. Going into the Penn State game, the question was, are you going to be able to hold up against a power-type group, and I thought he have very active and held his own from that standpoint. So the more he plays, the more he experiences and those kinds of things. I think Thaddeus is going to be a good player.”

And Brandon Saine…

Brandon’s been evolving more into playing the fullback positions and slot positions and some slot things. We think that he can do some of the things that a fullback needs to do. And so his evolution really is finding ways to get on field. He’s on some special teams and so what you hope is that he’s the kind of guy that can be on the field 25 plus plays a game because he can do a lot of different things and he is a threat as a pass receiver but yet I also think it’s not like you can say, well he’s in at fullback and they can’t run their “I” formation stuff, because I think we can.”

One of the final questions that was asked was has this season just been harder than Coach Tressel thought it would be:

Not at all. In fact, one of the things we talked a lot about beginning last March is that 2008 was going to be much more challenging than 2007. I mean, it wasn’t even going to be close, all the way from the schedule to the expectations to the individual expectations, all of those things, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

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

Below: Ray Small returning a punt vs. Youngstown State.
Photo courtesy of Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer

Junior wide receiver/returner Ray Small has been suspended by head coach Jim Tressel for at least one game, if not two, according to a report by Rusty Miller of the Associated Press.

Small, who seems to have been in Tressel’s doghouse for the last two seasons, had his jersey number changed from 4 to 82 and had a very little blurb in this year’s media guide, which was punishment handed out by Tressel before this season.

In the AP report, team spokeswoman Shelly Poe said the suspension was due to a “repeated violation of team rules.”

Not sure what those team rules are, but it’s assumed that it’s being late for team meetings and practices.

Hard to tell.

Of course Small’s father, Ken, had lots to say to the press.

They’re intentionally trying to blow his career. He had a couple of incidents, but he never got caught smoking marijuana before the national championship game. Or he never got a DUI, or picked up a prostitute. He was just late. And the punishment is you can’t even go into the (practice) facility? They act like he’s dangerous. These other kids … didn’t get banned from the facility. All they got was being sat down for the first few plays of a game.”

Tressel also had this to say about Small:

If a guy makes repetitive mistakes in football, he’s probably going to lose opportunities to play,” Tressel said. “The same would be with anything off the field, if a guy’s repetitive, it’s going to impact (his playing time).”

Small, who attended Glenville High School, is from Cleveland. His father now lives in Columbus. Maybe he should oversee that his son makes it to practices and meetings on time, instead of whining to the media.

So far this season, Small has 18 receptions for 149 yards and is averaging 13.2 yards per punt return on 18 chances with a touchdown.

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