Your Week 3 Ohio State Buckeye Football Update
Ohio State sits at 3-0, and #2 in the polls.
The Buckeyes have the explosiveness on offense to earn style points. It's becoming difficult for Senator Jim Tressel to hold back them back.
Teams are still loading the box to stop Ohio State's running game. The difference this time around, and since the Rose Bowl, is that they're using a bevy of weapons to open up the passing game. In the past, they would have seen your 8 men in the box, and raised you an off-tackle run play. 8-9 in the box, or blitzes from every which direction; it doesn't seem to matter against this football team. There are 7 or 8 guys on offense that can and will make you pay for your defensive aggression.
The team is entering a soft spot in the schedule, but don't expect this band of brothers to turn down the dial. This group is having too much fun right now, and so are the fans. Keep jammin' because it's time to see what this puppy can do.
This offense is dangerous, and let's not forget how Oregon is playing, or what this Ohio State defense did to that unstoppable Oregon offense in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State has had their Miami game, and despite the woes of the ACC, it was still an impressive victory against a good football team. We'll see how Alabama fares in a similar match-up this weekend against Arkansas.
Let's take a look at some of the other subplots surrounding this Ohio State football team.
Ross 'The Human Tick' Homan
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In case you missed Saturday's game - you missed Ross Homan showing all of us his 'I'm the best player on this defense' impression. Homans' quickness in space is undeniable. Â
Ross was a four-star recruit ranked as the 8th best player in the state of Ohio out of Coldwater High School. Coldwater isn't one of the bigger schools in the state, and Homan didn't get the same exposure as some players who were deemed bigger, faster, and from larger schools. Homan had over 600 tackles in High School. That was the only reason his recruiting started to gain steam late, and a good reason at that. One thing I did notice about Ross; he saw significant playing time as a freshman at Ohio State. That's something you don't see in Columbus;not at the linebacker position anyway.
Homan's second season was marred with injuries. Ross got back in to the swing of things in 2008 with 67 tackles and 6 tackles for loss, but stood in the shadows of James Laurinaitis.
Last season Homan came into his own and led Ohio State with 108 tackles. He added 2 fumble recoveries, 2 sacks, and 5 interceptions. He's at it again this year with a team leading 21 tackles(15 solo's), 1 interception, and a fumble recovery. Â
Heyward gets the love from the scouts, Rolle gets the love from the media, and as for Ross? Ross makes the tackles. Â
We've had some great linebackers through the years; especially of late with Wilhelm, Carpenter, Hawk, Reynolds, Freeman, Schlegel, Big Kat, and the Little Animal. It's easy to see why a quiet guy like Ross fell through the cracks in terms of National exposure(even though he finally got that SI cover this year / I'm sure he really cares). If you're a football guy, a real football guy who likes to watch a defensive player make plays, watch #51. Woh Nelly, he's a great one. He's not that big(6'1 235), he's not that strong(400 bench/huh), or that fast(4.55/huh#2), but he's that good. If the guy with the football is a 1970's house full of green shag carpet - then Ross Homan is the pesty neighbors kid, knocking on the door, in a Halloween costume made of Velcro. Trick-or-treat.Â
Jake and The Revamped Passing Attack
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I called it. I didn't just say that Jake Stoneburner would catch more balls than the average OSU tight-end - I said he'd catch about 35-40 balls. It's becoming obvious that Jake is our third-option as a receiver. He's a friend of Terrelle's, and a tough match-up for any linebacker because of his height(6'5"), and speed(4.6). Saturday he caught 5 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown(the first of his career), and he's on pace for 39 catches/477 yards.
Many of the prognosticators(including myself) were looking for more production from WR's Taurian Washington, Grant Swartz, Chris Fields, or Corey Brown, but Tressel seems pretty complacent about his top three receiving options. Sanzo and Posey will continue to work the edges, and Stoney will find the seams. Â
I think that OSU fans can also get excited about back-up TE Reid Fragel. He moves pretty good for a guy that's 6'8" 265, and he's an asset in double-tight formations. He reminds me of a younger Jake Ballard. Barring injury; Sanzenbacher, Stoneburner, and Posey will see the vast majority of targets this season.
If Stoneburner is the third receiving option - then Rb Brandon Saine is the fourth with 5 catches(2 td's). I'm sure that all of this spreading the ball around is like a foreign language to Buckeye fans, but the good thing is that it's the same for the opposition, and Terrelle is, obviously, bilingual.
From MLS To FBS
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Somebody has been practicing. And that somebody would be Devin Barclay. He tied an OSU record with 5 field goals against Miami, and he looks more accurate and consistent than he did last season. When the prognosticators talked about the inefficiencies of the special teams in the preseason - they were talking about the kickers. The coverage teams were an afterthought.
While the coverage teams have been awful - Kickers Devin Barclay and Drew Basil have been fantastic. Expect the coverage teams to improve as the problems have been with technique;specifically losing lane integrity and over-running the play. I think the coverage problem can be fixed quite easily. Now, having bad kickers; not a fixable problem.
Basil certainly passes the eye test. Big kid for a kicker, but he's not much of a tackler.
Injuries, Depth, Etc.
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Andrew Sweat and Nathan Williams' injuries show us that Ohio State is not as deep as we thought.
Don't get me wrong. Back-ups Jonathon Newsome and Solomon Thomas are good players, but Sweat and Williams are great players. Â
We saw a lot of injuries in the defensive backfield last week, but that shouldn't really concern the Buckeye fans. It appears as if the Db's are so loaded with talent that the third stringers wouldn't be too much of a fall-off. If you ask me - our third string cornerback/2nd-string-star(Christian Bryant) is the next coming of Malcolm Jenkins, and our third string safety(Aaron Gant) is no slouch. We don't have much of a fall-off in terms of talent in the defensive backfield, but the D-line and Lb's have a noticeable drop-off at 2nd string. In a nutshell - Ross Homan and Nathan Williams may be the two most irreplaceable players on this roster. That includes our quarterback. Â
We saw a series of Db injuries on Saturday. Back-up corner Donnie Evege is likely out for most of the season with a dislocated elbow. CB Travis Howard will miss a week or two with a shoulder injury. Starting CB Devon Torrence suffered what appears to be a hip-pointer injury of sorts after he fell hard to the turf on the second play when Moeller got his interception. Torrence returned to the game, and should be ready to go this weekend, but could be limited as he's still sore from the injury.Â
Back-up nickle Christian Bryant has that 'it' factor, and he's a player we're going to be talking about for a long time. I know we're always paying attention to #2 on offense, but when you get a chance, look for #2 on defense and special teams. In particular, look for Bryant as the last man standing on Punt return. He sits right in front of Jordan Hall, and to this point he's totally destroyed the first man down-field on coverage.
On a good note: Andrew Sweat should be back at linebacker this weekend against Eastern Michigan, and back-up Center Corey Linsley should also be available. Sweat missed last week with a minor concussion, and Corey Linsley sat out with a knee injury.
The Handy Man Can
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Pryor is improved. We knew it, and he continues to improve.
Saturday he broke Jim Karsatos' record(12) for consecutive completions. Pryor completed 16 passes in-a-row against the Bobcats. Pryor has passed for 715 yards and rushed for another 165. Not bad considering he's only played about 9 quarters of football this season. He was accurate in the first and third games, but struggled a little through the air against Miami. Pryor is second in the BigTen in pass efficiency at 156.6. He still occasionally throws the ball into coverage when he's pressured, but he's vowed to try to correct that in the future. Pryor was not happy with himself for the two picks that he threw on Saturday because he knew both throws were unnecessary, and he knows that he's past the stage in his career where he should be doing that. It's just good to know that this kid is taking every mistake and trying to learn from it. Â
When he came in - he had bad footwork. He fixed it. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. He fixed it. He couldn't stand in the pocket, or feel pressure. He fixed it. He couldn't read coverages and go through his progressions. He fixed that too. The last thing on the list is throwing it away or eating it when necessary, and something tells me he's going to fix it. He may just fix this teams' big game reputation and hunger for another NC in the process.
His jersey should read 'TP - I fix things'.
The 4-Leaf Clover
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Tyler Moeller is more than just a feel good story. Speed. Experience. Consistency. Heart.
Tyler has gone from a guy who was told he would never play again, to a play-maker, and a very important part of this defense.
If there's one thing about the 2010 defense that stands out to this fan - it's the speed. Guys like Moeller, Homan, Rolle, and Hines can cover sideline to sideline as good as any defensive play-callers in the country. Don't give me that SEC speed junk - this defense is as fast as any defense in the country, all-conferences aside. They have some serious speed!
They don't give up big plays, and you simply cannot run outside on this football team. I think that is the reason Wisconsin is the biggest threat to this defense.  I know Ohio State has elite speed on defense, but I'd like to see what they can do to stop the power game of Wisconsin. They could face the same type of power in a NC game against a team like Alabama. Â
I look back to the 2002 NC team, and I think that this team is just as good. If you put Craig Krenzel's mistake-free play in Pryor's body, it would lethal, and I think that's what we're beginning to see with Terrelle, and with the team on the whole. Ohio State had 7 penalties in the opener. They had 2 against Miami. None Saturday. Consistency.
It's amazing when you look at the experience of this football team. 24 seniors. Half of those guys are fifth year seniors. - which means they were on the team that lost to Florida. It also means that there are 24 guys that have navigated their way through 5 years of media scrutiny. 24 guys with a chip on their shoulder. 24 leaders.
Let's look at some of the experience on offense:
QB Terrelle Pryor - 26 starts, FB Zach Boren - 16 starts, WR Dane Sanzenbacher - 18 starts, WR Devier Posey - 16 starts, C Mike Brewster - 26 starts, RG Bryant Browning - 29 starts, LG Justin Boren - 29 starts, RT JB Shugarts - 16 starts.
Back to Tyler.
Moeller has been through a lot. All of these starters have been through a lot. They've been told they're slower. They've been told they can't win the big one. They've been dismissed as the only possible 1-loss bCS team that wouldn't get consideration. To quote Tom Berenger from Major League,"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do. Win the whole *(^$#)%(* thing". This team has heart. If you bring a bunch of guys together that want to win for the coaches, the fans, themselves, but more than anything each other;you've got something special.
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