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Ohio State Football: Illinois Revisited
David ThurmanOct 4, 2010
OSU escaped Champaign with a Big Ten Conference road victory but not without a costly injury to Tyler Moeller (pictured) and a big scare concerning Terrelle Pryor, which may impact the game plan against Indiana this Saturday.
Let's look back at the Five Things to Watch that we posted on Friday, and see how they impacted the game.
We mentioned that the team who wins the rushing battle usually comes out on top in this game. Sure enough Ohio State outgained Illinois 213-119 although the numbers were a little skewed by one long run by Pryor, and the final drive of the game when the Buckeyes featured Boom dive right and Boom dive left. Still, in a physical game that was played in nasty weather the fact is that OSU ran the ball better than the Fighting Illini. Give credit to the Silver Bullets for a solid effort against Illinois' big backs, Leshoure and Ford.
The turnover battle didn't have a major impact on this contest because there wasn't a great discrepancy between the two teams. Ohio State threw two interceptions, one by Pryor and the other by Joe Bauserman (the first two picks by the Illini in 2010). Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who looked shaky against Missouri, was only picked off once, by Jermale Hines. It could be argued that the Bucks would have finished off Illinois earlier if not for the miscues, but in the end the game was not decided by turnovers.
We wondered if DeVier Posey would have a big game, reckoning that with Stoneburner out and Sanzenbacher nursing a dislocated finger, it might be time for DeVier to play like he did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl. No dice. In truth, DeVier had a lousy game, dropping a couple passes and winding up with merely three catches for 19 yards. True, Ohio State didn't throw much in a return to Tresselball, but had Posey caught the passes he should have, it would have opened things up earlier in the game and caused a whole lot less popping of Rolaids in the fourth quarter.
We mentioned that the team who wins the rushing battle usually comes out on top in this game. Sure enough Ohio State outgained Illinois 213-119 although the numbers were a little skewed by one long run by Pryor, and the final drive of the game when the Buckeyes featured Boom dive right and Boom dive left. Still, in a physical game that was played in nasty weather the fact is that OSU ran the ball better than the Fighting Illini. Give credit to the Silver Bullets for a solid effort against Illinois' big backs, Leshoure and Ford.
The turnover battle didn't have a major impact on this contest because there wasn't a great discrepancy between the two teams. Ohio State threw two interceptions, one by Pryor and the other by Joe Bauserman (the first two picks by the Illini in 2010). Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who looked shaky against Missouri, was only picked off once, by Jermale Hines. It could be argued that the Bucks would have finished off Illinois earlier if not for the miscues, but in the end the game was not decided by turnovers.
We wondered if DeVier Posey would have a big game, reckoning that with Stoneburner out and Sanzenbacher nursing a dislocated finger, it might be time for DeVier to play like he did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl. No dice. In truth, DeVier had a lousy game, dropping a couple passes and winding up with merely three catches for 19 yards. True, Ohio State didn't throw much in a return to Tresselball, but had Posey caught the passes he should have, it would have opened things up earlier in the game and caused a whole lot less popping of Rolaids in the fourth quarter.
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Like most Buckeye fans, TSB was anxious to see if the banged up Buckeye secondary would hold up. The good news is that the defensive backs passed the test. The bad news is they took another hit as Tyler Moeller tore a muscle that may cost him the rest of 2010. While he is part linebacker, I consider the "Star" position to be about 70 percent safety, so a thin secondary just got skinnier. However, props to Jermale Hines for a great game, and overall the D-backs did a good job. Youngster Christian Bryant came in with a swagger and not only is he fast, this guy can tackle. Interestingly, corner Chimdi Chekwa wasn't involved much in this game, but Illinois stayed away from him so I guess he did his job. The only negative here was the fact the Orhian Johnson looked lost a couple of times, and isn't overly physical. But I do think he is getting better.
Finally, we wondered what effect the weather would have. The forecast showed light wind and a 50-percent chance of rain, but I have been to Champaign enough to know that the conditions are rarely favorable. Sure enough it was raw and windy, like an early November game, and the howling wind did make a difference. It impacted field position and made passing difficult. The Senator played it close to the "vest" early, and after a couple of interceptions and Pryor's injury, he completely took the air out of the ball and resorted to Woody Hayes-style smash-mouth football. It worked, as it usually does for JT, but it wasn't pretty. Still, a win is a win, and Tress won't apologize to anybody.
While this game gets no style points, it was a conference victory on the road over a determined team that had two weeks to prepare. While Ohio State needs to improve a few facets of play, they are still alive, and will prepare for Indiana while keeping a close eye on Pryor's strained quadricep muscle.
Finally, we wondered what effect the weather would have. The forecast showed light wind and a 50-percent chance of rain, but I have been to Champaign enough to know that the conditions are rarely favorable. Sure enough it was raw and windy, like an early November game, and the howling wind did make a difference. It impacted field position and made passing difficult. The Senator played it close to the "vest" early, and after a couple of interceptions and Pryor's injury, he completely took the air out of the ball and resorted to Woody Hayes-style smash-mouth football. It worked, as it usually does for JT, but it wasn't pretty. Still, a win is a win, and Tress won't apologize to anybody.
While this game gets no style points, it was a conference victory on the road over a determined team that had two weeks to prepare. While Ohio State needs to improve a few facets of play, they are still alive, and will prepare for Indiana while keeping a close eye on Pryor's strained quadricep muscle.
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