Ohio State Football: Teflon Jim Tressel Shows Resiliency in Win over PSU

The final box score of yesterday's game between the Ohio State University Buckeyes and the Penn State University Nittany Lions fails to tell the whole story of the game.  If you just looked at the stat sheets, you would conclude that Ohio State dominated on offense, racking up 314 yards rushing, and looked equally impressive on defense, holding Penn State to only 14 points and intercepting two Matt McGloin passes, both returned for touchdowns. 

But for at least one half, it looked as though Ohio State would be handed its second defeat of the season, this time to one of the few unranked Penn State teams Joe Paterno has coached in his 40-plus years in the business.

However, down 14-3 at halftime, both the Ohio State players and their head coach, "Senator" Jim Tressel, showed nerves of steel and the same type of resiliency yesterday in their eventual 38-14 victory that they had last season on the way to a fifth consecutive Big Ten Title and a Rose Bowl victory over Oregon.

The offense looked downright stagnant in the first half, gaining less than a handful of first downs.  Quarterback Terrelle Pryor's passes were erratic, either sailing well above his intended receivers' heads or spiraling to their feet.  He clearly still has some mechanical issues that as a junior shouldn't be there.

The Buckeyes' rushing attack did not help their cause, and to make matters worse, the offense's three-and-out series at the end of the half had Buckeyes fans across the nation, myself included, wondering why coach Tressel didn't just take a knee.

Defensively the Buckeyes didn't look much better in the first half.  There were dozens of missed tackles.  The linebackers were not filling the lanes as they should have.   OSU's banged-up secondary gave up multiple big passing plays to quarterback Matt McGloin, who was starting only the second game of his career.  And, if that wasn't enough, Cameron Heyward, last year's defensive stud, once again went MIA as he has many times this season.

All of this looked to be trouble for Ohio State and its much criticized coach, Jim Tressel.  The boo birds were already out, saying Tressel was out-coached again in a big game.  Ohio State, a preseason favorite to make the National Championship game, was now in danger of being knocked out of contention for even a possible BCS berth with a loss to Penn State.  Many people believed that with a loss Ohio State would be destined for the Outback Bowl in Tampa, where their opponent would be another SEC team willing to hand the Buckeyes a blowout defeat.

Coach Tressel and the Buckeyes never let the halftime deficit or their poor play in the first half faze them as they returned from the locker room.  Instead, the Buckeyes bounced back quite nicely.  Their comeback on offense was led by the rushing of Pryor and junior tailback Daniel "Boom" Herron, who gained over 100 of his team-high 190 yards rushing in the second half.  Pryor would add a couple of touchdown passes as well, one of which got a fortunate bounce from intended receiver DeVier Posey into the hands of a wide-open Dane Sanzenbacher.

Defensively the Buckeyes stepped it up, forcing Penn State to several three-and-outs in the second half, along with the aforementioned interceptions that would go for touchdowns.

This game was also a watershed mark for Coach Jim Tressel.  It pointed to the resiliency of a coach who has been consistently criticized for giving up games by coaching "not to lose" rather than coaching to win.  Yesterday showed how Jim Tressel was able to break down a first half in which his entire team played poorly, make the necessary adjustments at halftime, and rally in the second half for a decisive victory.

He proved that he too can learn from his mistakes, even within a game, and not make those same mistakes again.  And that has to be good news for Buckeye fans, at the very least.