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Ohio State's National Championship Hopes Disappear After Loss to Wisconsin
David ThurmanOct 16, 2010
Dave Thurman (10:06 pm)
On a cool autumn night in Madison, the Buckeyes' national championship hopes pretty much went up in smoke, as nothing seemed to work in the first half. Wisconsin looked hungry and well-prepared while Ohio State came out flat and played scared in the early minutes and dug too deep a hole to get out of. While we will have a more complete analysis later on, here are a few things that stood out to me.
1. Special teams let the Bucks down again and this time it was tragic. It has been noted many times this year that if this didn't get fixed it would bite the team in the butt in a big game, and that is exactly what happened. David Gilreath's kickoff return for touchdown in the opening seconds caused a jacked up crowd to get even louder and seemed to itimidate the Buckeyes who played with fear for most of the first half.
2. The offensive playcalling was abysmal in the first half. I didn't like the game Tress called from the get go, but it really got ridiculous in the red zone when OSU had first and goal from the three in the second quarter. Instead of rolling Pryor out, the first down call was a quarterback keeper up the gut.
Then, on second down the ball was taken out of Pryor's hands altogether as Herron lined up in the wildcat. To top it off, Tressel chose on third down to run the same play tried unsuccesfully on first down. Settling for a field goal was a big loss for a team trailing 21-0.
Then, after a nice interception by Andrew Sweat, the offense lined up in the pistol and ran some kind of cute reverse to Dane Sanzenbacher. The team looked confused with a formation that hasn't been used all year. It smelled like desperation and none of it worked. I have defended JT many times but it is difficult to support the play calling in the first half.
3. Neither line was ready for how physical this game proved to be. I think eventually both lines started to man up but early on the Badgers were clearly prepared for a war, and the Buckeyes were not. John Clay was able to run for over 100 yards, breaking a proud streak by the defense, and most of the damage was done early in the game.
4. Terrelle Pryor is not nearly 100 percent. The big guy was willing to run and did a pretty good job, but he was clearly slower than usual and in some pain as the strained quad isn't healed just yet, and may not be until after the Michigan game when it can be rested.
Although the O-line gave him time to throw, it was not Pryor's best passing game either. At times he looked nervous and wasn't as accurate as he has been most of the year. There will be no Heisman in 2010.
5. Boom Herron came to play. While many didn't show up on this night, Mr. Herron ran hard from the start and never backed down. I wish I could say the same for DeVier Posey, who has shown most of this year that he is afraid to go get the ball across the middle. Herron (and Sanzenbacher as well) showed no fear, and have my complete respect.
6. Andrew Sweat played a good game. Everyone knew he would play more this game, and with Ross Homan going down in the first half, he became the main man and responded by showing why the coaches have been high on him. However, this caused Jonathan Newsome to enter the fray and he didn't look ready for such an important, physical contest and was exploited.
7. The defense can't get a sack to save their lives. Cameron Heyward is the best at getting close but coming up just short. It is strange that the Silver Bullets just can't get to the quarterback,
8, Ohio State showed some toughness but it was too little, too late. When you play a good team on the road you have to play for 60 minutes. Hopefully the team can lick their wounds and bounce back quickly to get some revenge against Purdue.
On a cool autumn night in Madison, the Buckeyes' national championship hopes pretty much went up in smoke, as nothing seemed to work in the first half. Wisconsin looked hungry and well-prepared while Ohio State came out flat and played scared in the early minutes and dug too deep a hole to get out of. While we will have a more complete analysis later on, here are a few things that stood out to me.
1. Special teams let the Bucks down again and this time it was tragic. It has been noted many times this year that if this didn't get fixed it would bite the team in the butt in a big game, and that is exactly what happened. David Gilreath's kickoff return for touchdown in the opening seconds caused a jacked up crowd to get even louder and seemed to itimidate the Buckeyes who played with fear for most of the first half.
2. The offensive playcalling was abysmal in the first half. I didn't like the game Tress called from the get go, but it really got ridiculous in the red zone when OSU had first and goal from the three in the second quarter. Instead of rolling Pryor out, the first down call was a quarterback keeper up the gut.
Then, on second down the ball was taken out of Pryor's hands altogether as Herron lined up in the wildcat. To top it off, Tressel chose on third down to run the same play tried unsuccesfully on first down. Settling for a field goal was a big loss for a team trailing 21-0.
Then, after a nice interception by Andrew Sweat, the offense lined up in the pistol and ran some kind of cute reverse to Dane Sanzenbacher. The team looked confused with a formation that hasn't been used all year. It smelled like desperation and none of it worked. I have defended JT many times but it is difficult to support the play calling in the first half.
3. Neither line was ready for how physical this game proved to be. I think eventually both lines started to man up but early on the Badgers were clearly prepared for a war, and the Buckeyes were not. John Clay was able to run for over 100 yards, breaking a proud streak by the defense, and most of the damage was done early in the game.
4. Terrelle Pryor is not nearly 100 percent. The big guy was willing to run and did a pretty good job, but he was clearly slower than usual and in some pain as the strained quad isn't healed just yet, and may not be until after the Michigan game when it can be rested.
Although the O-line gave him time to throw, it was not Pryor's best passing game either. At times he looked nervous and wasn't as accurate as he has been most of the year. There will be no Heisman in 2010.
5. Boom Herron came to play. While many didn't show up on this night, Mr. Herron ran hard from the start and never backed down. I wish I could say the same for DeVier Posey, who has shown most of this year that he is afraid to go get the ball across the middle. Herron (and Sanzenbacher as well) showed no fear, and have my complete respect.
6. Andrew Sweat played a good game. Everyone knew he would play more this game, and with Ross Homan going down in the first half, he became the main man and responded by showing why the coaches have been high on him. However, this caused Jonathan Newsome to enter the fray and he didn't look ready for such an important, physical contest and was exploited.
7. The defense can't get a sack to save their lives. Cameron Heyward is the best at getting close but coming up just short. It is strange that the Silver Bullets just can't get to the quarterback,
8, Ohio State showed some toughness but it was too little, too late. When you play a good team on the road you have to play for 60 minutes. Hopefully the team can lick their wounds and bounce back quickly to get some revenge against Purdue.
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Ant Daps Up Spurs Mid-Game 💀
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