Northwestern Game: Instant Analysis

Dave and Drew Thurman (3:45 pm)

Big win 45-10 for the Buckeyes, that had a lot of offense for a change. Here are some of the things we saw in this game...

Play Calling: The play calling was terrible early in this game. The team looked asleep, and it is hard to believe that Tressel and company didn't have anything better up their sleeves after two weeks to plan. The game plan has to be better next week against Illinois. We cannot just throw long and run up the middle against a much more athletic Illini team!

I-Formation: For whatever reason Tressel decided to come out in a single back formation. Beanie is an I-formation runner, and looked much better once Smith was brought in at fullback. We can't make Beanie something that he is not!

Protection:  The pass protection was better for most of this game. Given it was Northwestern and Pryor made some big plays scrambling, but he was given the time to throw long most of the day. 

Mr. Third and Long: Speaking of Pryor, it was awesome to see him have a big day. He has special gifts, and a few of those broken plays showed his true athleticism. Have you ever seen anyone so good on third and long? The only third down he didn't convert was on third and three, figure it out! Anyways, the fact that he had a solid game both through the air and on the ground could be huge for the rest of the year.

4 TD's: It was also good to see Beanie and Robiskie get back on track. These men had four touchdowns between them, and had the Buckeyes had that kind of production all year it would have been a different season!

Referees: What was up with the referees in this game? We have never seen such weak penalties in a game. The Boone head butt obviously deserved the flag, but these guys had no clue outside of that call. They called some pansy late hits on the sideline, and then chose to "just talk" to Peterman when he decided to throw a punch at the Buckeyes. The bad refereeing is getting old, and the Big Ten needs to take a serious look! 

Defensive Stars:  We would like to send a shout out to Nadar Abdallah, Jermale Hines, and Malcolm Jenkins for a solid game. These guys were on it all day, and had some huge hits. There are a few guys on the defense that really don't have a mean streak, but Hines and Jenkins both are out for blood every play. Also it was nice to see Abdallah's motor running all game. The defensive tackle position has been one where the Buckeyes have struggled the most, and Abdallah has been solid several weeks in a row. 

Andre Ware: We would like to say this as nicely as possible, SHUT UP ANDRE WARE! He ran Tressel into the ground, and acted like he was a classless coach because of the fake punt. There are Big 12 and SEC teams running up the score every week, and he chooses to chastise the Buckeyes for still playing offense when they were up 31-10 with lots of time on the clock. What a joke! This is coming from Andre Ware, whose Houston team ran up the score every chance they got with the run and shoot offense. Not only was he a terrible announcer all day, but this whole beat down Tressel thing got really old. Seriously did you see his face on that touchdown run from Boom Herron, Andre?  

The Boom: Speaking of Boom Herron; it was really nice to see him back in this game. He is a great change of pace from Beanie, and the Buckeyes really could use him next week against Illinois. He hits the hole faster than any back we have, and his future looks bright. 

Gibson?: Finally, we really hope Gibson didn't get hurt in this game. He disappeared, and Nathan Williams replaced him for the remainder of the game. The crack squad at ESPN2 obviously didn't give us any news about it, so let's hope Gibson is alright. With that said, Williams played great in Gibson's absense with two sacks. It sure shows how bad the defensive line is when an undersized freshman defensive end looks better than about anyone else the Buckeyes have.