TROY V. OHIO STATE
September 20, 2008
Ohio Stadium
AMUSE BOUCH
What the Interweb is saying: Previews abound for the Buckeyes’ (lesser) epic tilt with Troy. Here a few: 11W, Ozone, Bucknuts (I am sure there is one somewhere on that cluttered site), ESPN, Yahoo, yadda, yadda, yadda. Absorb the knowledge.
Whom I talked with: Earlier this summer we had the pleasure of corresponding with Barry McKnight, the award-winning play-by-play guy for the Trojans, and Drew Champlin, sports columnist covering the Trojans for the Dothan Eagle. There are not two more knowledgeable people about Troy football save for head coach Larry Blakeney. Find the interview here.
GAMEPLAN
OSU Run Offense v. Troy
I am going to start of with this: Ohio State will rush for at least 250 yards tomorrow, and I would not be surprised if they hit 200 by halftime.
Troy gets a lot of credit for facing major teams, and they should, but it should also be noted that they rarely prevent those teams for putting up astronomical offensive numbers.
The Trojans actually took out Oklahoma State at home last season (41-23), but in their three road contests against Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia, they gave up 149 points. Yikes! This is a chance for a new-look Ohio State offense to get some confidence.
In my opinion, Pryor is going to see the bulk of the action. If the coaches do not think Boeckman is good enough to play full-time and lead the team to victory what makes them think only playing half of the plays will turn out any better?
Tressel and Co. will cling to any glimmer of hope delivered by Pryor and leave him in. Those glimmers will come wrapped as 20 yards runs so smooth that Pryor appears to be in slow motion.
Last week, Herron and Pryor combined for 91 yards on 22 carries (4 ypc) against a stacked defense that knew Ohio State could not throw. I expect the ypc to increase by 50 percent tomorrow, at least while the first team is out there. If not, I think we all need to be worried.
Speaking of anxiety, it accompanies any mention of the offensive line these days. Now, LG Steve Rehring is out (with another undisclosed injury, no less!), and it sounds like Browning may move to his spot, with Shugarts stepping in at RT. Will this translate into new energy and focus or will the youth cause the timing to be (even) worse?
Most interesting will be Pryor’s scrambles and playmaking ability. Troy has sufficient talent at defensive end to get pressure and watching Pryor improvise will be informative.
OSU Pass Offense v. Troy
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