Buckeyes defense rises to the challenge

It was supposed to be the best offense the Buckeyes have seen this season. Purdue came into the game ranked first in the Big Ten in total offense, and passing offense. It was also the first ranked opponent Ohio State has played this year. I’d say the Buckeyes passed this test. The defense pitched a shut-out with the exception of a garbage time TD in the last minute by the Boilermakers. Purdue put the ball in the air 60 times, completing only half of those. The outstanding player of the game wasn’t Lauriniatis for a change. Marcus Freeman roamed the field making tackle after tackle. Not that James had a bad game, but Freeman really stepped up and made some nice plays. Anderson Russell had 2 sacks and played tight coverage as well.

Ohio State dominates…Chris Wells injured

It was the kind of thing you hate to see happen in a blowout win. RB Chris Wells went limping to the sideline during the Buckeyes first possession of the second half, leading 45-7. He did not return to the game, but Tressel’s report after the game was that Chris could have returned to the game, but wasn’t needed. Whew.

As for the game, it was over long before Wells limped off the field. The Buckeyes came out of the tunnel and absolutely dismantled the under-powered Wildcats. In all fairness to Northwestern, their best player, Ohio native and star running back Tyrell Sutton was a pre-game scratch. The rest of the offense was a scratch too, they just didn’t know it. The Ohio State defense knocked them into next week. Already up 7-0 on touchdown pass from Boeckman to Robiskie, James Lauriniatis made his presence known with a sack on third and eight. The offense would score again in three plays on yet another TD pass to Robiskie.

Calm down people…calm down

While checking my blog stats tonight I noticed a trend in my search engine hits. People were searching for ‘Brandon Saine surgery’ or ‘Brandon Saine knee injury’. This of course led me to discussion boards that had Saine getting every conceivable knee operation possible. Timetables for his return were 3 weeks to out for the season. Again- these were message boards and not actual reports! So I searched for the real story.

The story as it has been reported by the Columbus Dispatch, is that Brandon is questionable for Northwestern with an undisclosed injury that he suffered last week. He was not injured at practice on Monday, like a rumor I saw.

This morning however, (Saturday) I found this article in the Dayton Daily News (thanks to Men of the Scarlett and Grey). It sounds like Brandon may be out a few weeks, this according to his mother. I’m a little surprised that Tressel wouldn’t have been a little more forthcoming on this matter. He had nothing to gain by being secretive. Of course, maybe he did it to protect the family from a media circus. Regardless, we shouldn’t need brandon to beat Northwestern. Get well soon though.

Buckeyes win ugly…but they win!

It won’t go down as the prettiest win in Ohio State history, but the Buckeyes shut down Akron en route to a 20-2 victory. Ohio State improved to 2-0 on the season, and extended its regular season win streak to 15 games, and their win streak against Ohio teams to 30 games. The game ball most certainly belongs to the defense for this one. They held the Zips to a meager 69 total yards for the game. The Zips managed only 3 first downs, being held to 3 and out an amazing 12 straight times. If only the Buckeye offense was as efficient.

The Buckeyes turned the ball over 5 times. Todd Boeckman threw 2 interceptions, and the Buckeyes fumbled 3 more times. Usually a team that turns the ball over that much does not win by 18 points. The Buckeyes would not be denied however. Leading 3-2 at the half (yeah, I know) Jim Tressel and the coaching staff made the necessary adjustments to get the team back on track. (In case you were wondering, Tressel’s ability to make changes to his game plan inspired the name of this blog.) Chris Wells decided to wake up in the second half and broke off long runs of 25 and 40 yards, the latter included a beautiful stiff arm pictured here. But the key pays of the game as I watched it were consecutive sacks on the Zips first drive of the second half. The first was by James Lauriniatis, and was more of a scheme blitz sack, as James wasn’t touched on his way to the QB. The second was by Vernon Gholston as he simply beat his man and pulled Jacquemain down. It was the first time the ‘big name’ players stepped up in this game and showed what the team leaders are supposed to do. The Zips were toast after that.

Weekend Recap…Buckeyes win, Tribe takes 2 of 3, michigan still sucks

Wow what a weekend! The Indians take 2 from the White Sox, and maintain their lead in the Central. A gem of a game pitched by Paul Byrd Saturday night. Complete Game shutout, and the offense wasn’t bad either scoring 7 runs on 11 hits, with homers from Shoppach and Gutierrez. I didn’t get to see much of the game, so I won’t pretend like I know what happened. It was good to see the Tribe not let up after consecutive late inning wins. The eight game winning streak came to end Sunday against the Sox. It was a good streak, hope they start another one tomorrow in Minnesota. As we’ve talked about all season, the Tribe needs to keep winning series. They won the series with Chicago, and now we go on the road for a series with the Twins, the Angels, and the White Sox. I’d like to see the Tribe go at least 6-4 on this trip, though 3 of 4 from the Angels would be sweet as well.

On Saturday the Buckeyes opened their season with a win over Youngstown State. In my Buckeye preview part 2, I questioned why play a Division 1AA school; saying simply that nothing good can come from it. Well, for the Buckeyes they get some tape to review, and some areas to concentrate on. (Like the short yardage running game.) But the stunner of all was what happened to michigan. That is exactly what I meant by nothing good could come of it. Had the ground hogs made that field goal to win the game, what would have been said about them? How much respect would they have lost in the polls? Surely not as much as they are destined to lose now. For the Buckeyes they also lost a key player. DL Lawrence Wilson fractured his leg in the second quarter, and his status for the remainder of the season is unclear.