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Iowa Review: Bucks Steal One in Iowa City
David ThurmanNov 21, 2010
Dave Thurman (6:08 pm)
Someone needs to arrest and book Jim Tressel because he and the Ohio State Buckeyes were guilty of grand larceny Saturday night. How else do you explain winning a game on the road in which OSU lost the turnover margin 2-0, dropped a couple of passes that could have been touchdowns and got flagged for 73 yards? It was thievery, plain and simple, and the team got out of town without so much as being questioned by the authorities!
Seriously, this was a game that Ohio State could and should have won by a comfortable margin, but a combination of mistakes and questionable calls made it a true nail-bitter that wasn't settled until the final whistle. Here are a few things that stood out to me:
1) Terrelle Pryor showed excellent leadership. I have seen some people criticize TP for pouting and grumbling on the sideline. I disagree. True, he was clealry upset about kicking a field goal on fourth down from the one-yard line. So was I. In truth, Pryor's competitive spirit is what won this game. His receivers let him down big time on this day, but he kept fighting and came up with the play of the game on 4th-and-10 trailing 17-13 late in the contest. No, it wasn't a pretty day for Pryor, but he showed grit and leadership which are the most important qualities a quarterback can possess in my opinion.
2) Jim Tressel displayed fire in his belly. One week ago, the Senator surprised a lot of people with his halftime explosion. Then, on Saturday, Tressel's passion was front and center again, seen best in his clapping and fist pumping on the sidelines, and the fact that he came out onto the field no less than two times, vehemently protesting questionable calls. Never doubt the man's hunger to win. And, this year, I think he realizes that he has a talented team that doesn't always have the "go for the jugular" mentality, so we are seeing that passion on display more than normal.
Someone needs to arrest and book Jim Tressel because he and the Ohio State Buckeyes were guilty of grand larceny Saturday night. How else do you explain winning a game on the road in which OSU lost the turnover margin 2-0, dropped a couple of passes that could have been touchdowns and got flagged for 73 yards? It was thievery, plain and simple, and the team got out of town without so much as being questioned by the authorities!
Seriously, this was a game that Ohio State could and should have won by a comfortable margin, but a combination of mistakes and questionable calls made it a true nail-bitter that wasn't settled until the final whistle. Here are a few things that stood out to me:
1) Terrelle Pryor showed excellent leadership. I have seen some people criticize TP for pouting and grumbling on the sideline. I disagree. True, he was clealry upset about kicking a field goal on fourth down from the one-yard line. So was I. In truth, Pryor's competitive spirit is what won this game. His receivers let him down big time on this day, but he kept fighting and came up with the play of the game on 4th-and-10 trailing 17-13 late in the contest. No, it wasn't a pretty day for Pryor, but he showed grit and leadership which are the most important qualities a quarterback can possess in my opinion.
2) Jim Tressel displayed fire in his belly. One week ago, the Senator surprised a lot of people with his halftime explosion. Then, on Saturday, Tressel's passion was front and center again, seen best in his clapping and fist pumping on the sidelines, and the fact that he came out onto the field no less than two times, vehemently protesting questionable calls. Never doubt the man's hunger to win. And, this year, I think he realizes that he has a talented team that doesn't always have the "go for the jugular" mentality, so we are seeing that passion on display more than normal.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
3) The defense brought the heat—especially in the second half. Early on Saturday, the defense looked sluggish (big surprise), but after missing some tackles on the first couple of Iowa drives, they buckled down and dominated. The second half touchdown was the product of a Pryor interception, and that was the only time Iowa did anything after intermission. The Silver Bullets were flying to the ball, bringing constant pressure and tackling with bad intentions.
I was thrilled to see Cameron Heyward get the big sack late in the fourth quarter, after a season of coming so close so often but usually coming up just short. He declined the lure of the NFL to play his senior season, and it was nice to see him put the exclamation point on this big victory. Others that stood out to me were Brian Rolle, John Simon and Jermale Hines. However, the entire defense was stellar when it counted and closed the door on the Hawkeyes at crunch time.
4) The referees watched a different game than I did. Ohio State did enough damage to itself with a pair of costly turnovers, a number of dropped passes and some silly mistakes (I'm talking about you, J.B. Shugarts). However, they did not need the guys in stripes making things worse. In truth, I saw a number of questionable calls against Ohio State, but what irritated me even more were the things that weren't called. How many times did the Iowa offensive line hold Cameron Heyward? Ridiculous...and yet never once called. It amazed me how quickly the OSU defensive backs were flagged for playing good, physical defense, while Iowa's blatant holding was overlooked.
5) Special teams were rock solid. On a day when many things went wrong, one reason Ohio State won is because they had no gaffes on special teams. The punting was pretty good, the kicking was excellent and the coverage units did their job. Meanwhile Iowa missed a makeable field goal and sent one kickoff out of bounds. It sure is nice to win this area of the game for once...and it did make a difference.
So, the Buckeyes hopes of a sixth straight Big Ten title are still alive, thanks to some thievery in Iowa City!
4) The referees watched a different game than I did. Ohio State did enough damage to itself with a pair of costly turnovers, a number of dropped passes and some silly mistakes (I'm talking about you, J.B. Shugarts). However, they did not need the guys in stripes making things worse. In truth, I saw a number of questionable calls against Ohio State, but what irritated me even more were the things that weren't called. How many times did the Iowa offensive line hold Cameron Heyward? Ridiculous...and yet never once called. It amazed me how quickly the OSU defensive backs were flagged for playing good, physical defense, while Iowa's blatant holding was overlooked.
5) Special teams were rock solid. On a day when many things went wrong, one reason Ohio State won is because they had no gaffes on special teams. The punting was pretty good, the kicking was excellent and the coverage units did their job. Meanwhile Iowa missed a makeable field goal and sent one kickoff out of bounds. It sure is nice to win this area of the game for once...and it did make a difference.
So, the Buckeyes hopes of a sixth straight Big Ten title are still alive, thanks to some thievery in Iowa City!
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.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
