Football
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony GerdemanThat was a weird one.
For a while it looked as easy as it always does against Indiana. And then other times it seemed like the offense just couldn’t click like you know they can.
But in the end the scoreboard tells you the 33-14 story and you think to yourself, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Brandon Saine stepped in rather ably for Boom Herron, giving us the first 100-yard rushing game by a Buckeye running back this year.
Half a dozen receivers got into the mix this week and we got the fullbacks involved again.
If Terrelle Pryor could get the short passing game under control, you have to think this offense could have receivers running all over the field with Pryor just picking and choosing.
But it’s coming. You can see it.
And even if it doesn’t, this defense can win nine games on their own.
At least in the Big Ten, anyway.
4:58 I wonder if Big Ten Network analyst Chris Martin will acknowledge his foolishness after this game is over. How can anybody actually pick the Hoosiers to beat the Buckeyes in American football? It’s been interesting to watch him pick against the Buckeyes in the three years the BTN has been on the air. I think the only person who has ever hated Ohio State more than Martin is Bob Ufer--but at least Ufer respected the Buckeyes. I think.
6:24 There’s been a lot of good games today. Hopefully our game can be the flavorless cream in the middle of an otherwise delicious Oreo of games today.
6:29 I think Juice Williams is the Benjamin Button of college football. The older he gets, the younger he plays. By November, he’ll be passing at a fifth-grade level.
7:00 Hey, it’s Rascall Flats! I love my country music with frosted tips. I remember seeing Conway Twitty back in ‘84 when he had his big, bold beautiful black hair blonded a bit. ‘Course you couldn’t really see it that well underneath his big green John Deere cap, but there was no hiding his frosted swagger. And they don’t call Willie Nelson the “Frosted Tip Stranger” for nothing.
7:02 The Buckeyes are receiving the kick. I guess Indiana won the toss. The BTN ain’t wasting any time. Here we go. Faked reverse. Laamar Thomas takes it out to the 30-yard line.
7:03 I’m wondering what 20 carries for Saine will look like. Probably like 25 carries for Boom?
7:04 Saine gets the give, reverses field and Terrelle Pryor picks up a block while Saine picks up about 23 yards down the sideline. There’s a pancake for Pryor. Now he’s only 472 behind Orlando Pace’s school record.
7:07 Third down. Pryor goes deep to Posey, but it gets knocked away in the endzone. Posey had the position. He needs to catch those like Robo used to.
7:08 Pettrey sinks a 46-yarder with ease. Buckeyes lead 3-0. Pretty good start for the offense, though we need consistency from Saine, not 20 yards, then 2, 2, 0, and then 20 again. And it would be nice to see some receivers get open.
7:12 The give is to Darius Willis and Thaddeus Gibson drops him for a loss of one. Hey Indiana, see the guy with leg meat hanging from his jowls? You might want to block him!
7:13 Incomplete to Mitchell Evans and the ball goes off of Anderson Russell’s outstretched feet. (He probably has a better chance of catching it that way.) Indiana will have to punt.
7:17 Saine gets it and busts it out to the 48-yard line over the right side. Thank you Browning and Shugarts. Are we looking at 200 yards today? I guess I’m okay with these inconsistent runs--as long as they’re all around 20 yards or so.
7:18 Saine gets it left side, picks up one yard. Two more short gains and then it’s back to the big’uns.
7:19 Posey gets the quick pass, reverses field and gets 15 yards out of it. Make him a bigger part of this offense and then reap the rewards. The golden rewards of fleet wheat.
7:20 Saine gets it and picks up eleven more yards down to the ten-yard line. He may never give this job back.
7:21 Saine again, and he powers up the middle for five yards. There wasn’t much there, but he found what he could. Like a root looking for moisture. (What’s with all of the agrarian analogies this week? I don’t even own a pair of overalls and I have never skinned an animal with the same tool on my key chain that I use to pick my teeth.)
7:21 Slant to Duron Carter! Touchdown! That was a sweet outstretched grab just like Pops used to do! That was all hands. Buckeyes lead 10-0. You like apples, Chris Martin? Then why don’t you cram ‘em!
7:28 Darius Willis goes in motion. Ben Chappell fumbles!! Anderson Russell recovers the Tandon Doss fumble. Not sure if he had it long enough…yep, looks like he did. He was moving with it. Devon Torrence gets the forced fumble and Russell gets the fumble recovery.
7:29 Jordan Hall gets the ball and moves the pile for six yards. Duron Carter looked like Spider-Man on his touchdown catch, but I’m not sure Hall isn’t a more apt Spider-Man comparison since the kid can apparently carry about 50 times his own weight.
7:30 Terrelle Pryor is getting pulled down, but he flips it out to Jake Ballard who picks up nine yards and the first down. It was a bit of a prayer and not quite as good as Tate Forcier, but I won’t quibble. Well, maybe I’ll quibble a little bit. Forcier would’ve come up limping in order to show how gritty he is. He’s got more grit than a banana cream pie cooling on a window sill during a sandstorm. (The Dust Bowl weren’t no joke!)
7:31 Big Ten network comes back to show an incomplete pass and now somehow we have a third and long. What just happened?
7:31:48 Third and seven. Pryor runs a quarterback draw and only picks up about two yards. I thought he had some room, but they pushed him wide. He couldn’t cut it up. Time for Pettrey…nope, we’re avoiding the 52-yard field goal and instead punting it. Thoma gets it to Fisher, who fair catches it at the 10-yard line. Flag. Illegal participation for Indiana. That should be a first down. There’s also an injured Buckeye at the five-yard line. Jonathan Newsome is the injured Buckeye. He’s getting up now and limping off. I’m not even going to mention the play-by-play guy calling Jonathan Newsome “Andy Miller”. I think along with the pronunciation guide in the media guide, there should also be a racial “profile” so that it may help distinguish players with identical numbers. Although with Dane Sanzenbacher, the profile would probably just read, “Seriously?”
7:34 Jordan Hall runs smack dab into the IU defense and gets six more. The offensive line is a getting a tremendous push and Hall is running into the line like he’s won a 1987 shopping spree at Toys R Us and he’s headed straight for the Cabbage Patch Kids!
7:35 Hall again, he runs into the void and falls forward for the first down. He gets the ball at top speed it seems and gets to the defense before they feel like dealing with him. “Awww, this guy again?!” You get the feeling that he’s going to break one tonight.
7:36 False start on Justin Boren. One down, four to go.
7:37 Quick pass to Ray Small and he makes the first man miss and gets it down to the 18-yard line. Nice to see some receivers emerging tonight. That was a nice reverse spin move after the catch. Terry Glennish.
7:38 Third and eight from the IU 18-yard line. TP seems unsure of the call. And the Buckeyes call their second timeout of the game. Weird. You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to call a quarterback draw.
7:39 Fade to an open Posey, but Posey was already out of bounds. Of course, that’s where the ball was headed anyway. Glen Mason seems giddy with the bad throw.
7:40 Field goal attempt. Pettrey from 35 yards out and doinks it off the right upright. Buckeyes still lead 10-0. He was obviously too close. It was hooking in, but couldn’t quite make it. From 37 yards, that’s good. Probably 57 too.
7:41 So now Indiana has some momentum. Too bad their offense has to get out on the field now. That’s like being excited about winning a spelling bee and then having to go and face Ken Jennings in Jeopardy as a reward.
7:42 Play-action and Indiana is going deep…and the pass was ten yards out of bounds. And Chappell doesn’t get chided for his poor passing by the impartial Glen Mason. Nice.
7:44 Mitchell Evans is back in at quarterback running the Wild Mitch. He keeps it and picks up a yard or two. That’s the end of the quarter. Indiana is fortunate to have the score where it is now.
7:45 The Ohio State passing game seems to be a bit off kilter right now. It’s time like this you wish they could maybe practice against Michigan’s secondary in order to gain some confidence.
7:49 Glen Mason is enjoying this game too much on IU’s behalf. Evans is in. Here comes the triple option to Doss. That same play got a touchdown against Michigan, but it only gets nine yards this time around. I hope Indiana wasn’t expecting the same success rate against the Buckeyes that they had against Michigan. Nobody could be that dumb.
7:50 Quick screen to Doss and he fights for the endzone…and scores! That kid is good--and strong. Although he gained the endzone by landing on Anderson Russell’s back. If he hadn’t been there, Doss may have landed on the ground before breaking the plane. (I’m just trying to be like a lot of Buckeye fans who are always looking for something to blame Anderson Russell for.)
7:51 Remember all of those black and white clips of crowd shots with women going crazy while they’re at a Beatles concert? That’s how I picture Glen Mason watching Indiana’s drive. The open mouth. The scream. The hands over the eyes--but just briefly. And then the hands doing the “I need air” fan motion on either side of his face.
7:52 The touchdown was being reviewed, but the ruling on the field is confirmed. And there goes the shutout. Here comes the extra point. Got it. Buckeyes still lead it 10-7. Glen Mason will use the commercial break to pen a letter to Ringo Starr.
7:53 That’s the first time I’ve ever been angry to see a Doss in the endzone.
7:54 Time to reassert our dominance and force Indiana to lie on their back and expose their belly to us.
7:57 Down the middle to Posey for the touchdown on the skinny post! Take it and eat it, Mason! That was your pocket pass you were saying Pryor‘s not comfortable with. As an aside, I’m not sure Boom Herron needs to be jumping and celebrating with Posey given his ankle situation. Buckeyes lead 17-7. Better not let Worker’s Comp see Herron jumping around like that.
7:58 That’s how you answer somebody and reassert your dominance. IU has no idea what to do now. Bring too many to stop the run and you then have to deal with our rapidly emerging weapons outside. Focus on the rapidly emerging weapons, and we break out Old Faithful and run the ball into your face. We call it Faceball--and you ain’t gonna like it. Nobody likes Faceball.
8:02 Boom! Ross Homan stopped Willis for a loss of one. Homan looked an awful lot like A.J. Hawk right there. Save for the hippie hair and…well, mainly just the hippie hair.
8:03 Third and eleven. Rollout…Evans catches it at the 35-yard line and Anderson Russell ties him up very nicely. The defense looks a bit irked. And when this defense gets irked, nobody leaves happy. Indiana will punt.
8:07 The give is to Saine up the middle and he picks up six yards. A “short yardage” pick up per the play-by-play guy. Six yards and a cloud of dust. Keep blasting these jokers.
8:08 Give goes to Saine for three yards. Fumble! And Indiana has it. Are they saying he’s down? Yes. Let’s hope they’re right. By the way, that was a nice little Brett Favre fake after the hand off by Pryor. The replay clearly shows he was down. Actually both knees were down.
8:09 TP drops back. Going deep to Dane Sanzenbacher. Sanzo gets interfered on the post by safety Nick Polk. Any time we can get Polk one-on-one with Sanzo, we have to attack it. He gets the flag because he was pulling at Dane’s jersey like a See-and-Say.
8:11 Quarterback draw…Pryor kicks it out wide and picks up about two yards on a very nice tackle by Richard Council. I’d prefer to throw the ball on third and long, but I’m a rebel. I’m unorthodox in my desire to throw the ball in passing situations. It’s gotten me into lots of trouble over the years.
8:12 Pettrey lines up for a dangerous 29-yard field goal. Hooked it. He was just too close. Why settle for field goals inside 40 yards? You know, usually teams have a designated kicker to boot the long ones. I think the Buckeyes need a designated chip-shotter.
8:14 Dang. I just got a text reminding me that my kicker sucks. I don’t share the texter’s opinion, but that’s six points that Pettrey has cost me so far. If I lose this week, the Lantern can expect a stern letter from “Anonymous” regarding the kicking situation at Ohio State.
8:15 I’m tired of Indiana dodging bullets. We need to be riddling these guys like Bonnie and Clyde on a continuous loop.
8:16 Another Buckeye is down. This is getting a bit ridiculous. Dexter Larimore is on his back. Looks like his right leg. You know the injury is never good when there are teammates praying around him. Nobody ever prays to get relief from a cramp or to get rehydrated.
8:17 Dex is up and goes off without putting weight on the leg. Todd Denlinger comes in for him.
8:20 Interception by Denlinger!!! All those tight end reps have worked !! Chappell was dumping the ball and Denlinger dropped into the zone blitz!! What hands!! His dad must have great hands too, because that‘s the only logical way for a son to have acquired such a talent!
8:22 Speed option. Pryor keeps it, shoving Hoosiers down discriminately until he finally scoots out of bounds after picking up the first down. And Austin Thomas hits Pryor low and late out of bounds, getting flagged for it in the process. It’s bad enough when people go after TP’s knees when he’s in play, but it’s tiresome when they keep doing it three yards out of bounds. Get the conference involved--I’m sure the coaches have the number.
8:23 Play-action roll out. Touchdown pass to Zach Boren!! The fullback is a weapon again!! And the offensive linemen are happy, but I missed seeing if Justin Boren is pleased. Probably not. Buckeyes lead it 24-7 with 1:10 to play in the half. What a heartbreaker for the Hoosiers.
8:24 TP is picking and choosing receivers tonight. If you’re open, expect the ball.
8:26 Incomplete to Doss, who got mangled by Chekwa on the play. Looked like Doss stuck his head into the garbage disposal and Chimdi delighted in flipping the switch
8:27 Incomplete pass to Doss because he saw Jermale Hines coming to punch his lights out with his aunt’s knuckle sandwich because Doss was cruising for a bruising. Did everybody else have violent females in their extended family, or was it just me?
8:31 So apparently Brandon Saine is hurt now too? We’re gonna see a whole lot of Pryor and Jordan Hall running the ball tonight. We may get 200 yards between them tonight if Saine is done.
8:31 Here comes the Hoosier punt. Nobody back for the Buckeyes. The punt goes into the endzone. The Buckeyes will have the ball with 33 seconds to go. I’m okay with taking a knee. Although at this rate, we’ll probably dislocate a knee cap downing the ball.
8:32 Yep, taking a knee. Works for me. That’s Indiana’s first stop behind the line of scrimmage in a while. And the crowd gives the home team…whoops, I’m sorry…the crowd gives the Buckeyes a nice hand as they leave the field. The Buckeyes lead 24-7 after leaving two scores on the field.
8:34 Well if Saine is out, we’ll either go to an All-TP offense, or we’ll try to end this game as quickly as possible. Jim Tressel will probably give Pryor one drive to throw the ball around and “so forth”, but after that, we lock it up.
8:35 Although, JT seems more apt to throw the ball late in blowouts lately, so that’s always an option too. Of course, at the rate Buckeyes are leaving the game with injuries, I’m okay with a running clock this half.
8:40 LOL at Gerry DiNardo saying Indiana has played better than 24-7. Even though it should be 30-7?
8:42 I need to go back and see what Justin Boren did when Zach scored his touchdown, but as a little brother, I’ve got a pretty good idea what happened. Two words: Indian burn.
8:43 Ah, that was nice to see. Just rewound it and Justin was the last one there, but definitely gave the most helmet slaps. Although, I could have told you he’d give the most helmet slaps.
8:47 Wow, the Buckeyes have 279 yards of total offense. The 183 yards rushing is quite impressive given the lack of running backs the Buckeyes are working with now. They won’t even finish with 400, though. I’ve seen this show too many times to think the Buckeyes will double up their first half stats.
8:53 Sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow says Bill Lynch is a couple of plays away from a very different ball game. Yes, it could be 38-7. Good job, Rebecca.
8:54 The kickoff. Ray Fisher gets it at the five-yard line and returns it up to the 31-yard line. He’s been dangerous all night long. You almost wish the Buckeyes would stop scoring so we wouldn’t have to kick to him anymore.
8:55 Austin Spitler on the outside blitz gets Willis before he gets to the line of scrimmage and Brian Rolle was there to make sure he didn’t get any further. It’s nice to see this much of Spitler. Usually he gets short-shrift because of all of the nickel the Buckeyes play.
8:56 It’s third and ten and I thought I should mention that IU is 0-4 on third down conversions. Yes, I know what I just did. And DeMarlo Belcher picks up the first down on a 14-yard completion from stupid Ben Chappell.
8:57 Interception by Anderson Russell! Anderson Russell catches a football by using his hands to catch the football!! Chappell felt the rush and overthrew his receiver. Aw, I see why Russell caught it--the ball was tipped and it was misdirected, thereby landing where Russell wasn‘t expecting it--right into his hands.
9:01 Pryor is changing the play with DeVier Posey on third down. He throws a slant--a very ugly slant--and it falls low and incomplete. Posey had no shot at that one. Ugly.
9:02 Thoma comes out to punt. We are officially in shutdown mode. Fisher faircatches it at the five-yard line and Russell was all up in his grill, yo! Thoma owns everything inside the 20-yard line. He’s automatic. Hey, if he’s so automatic inside the 20-yard line, maybe we should try him out on short field goals.
9:06 The third down pass is complete to Belcher, but he’s a yard short. And Indiana is going to have to punt. Homan was right there in coverage and wouldn’t let Belcher get any further than he already was. The glass ceiling strikes again.9:07 Bad snap! Rob Rose tackles the punter in the endzone for a safety!! I love the way he has played this year. Buckeyes lead it 26-7. He may have been blocking that punt anyway. I think Indiana just saved themselves five points.
9:09 And the “O-H-I-O” cheer can be heard on TV. Bloomington is like that second home that you keep your second family in and you never tell either family about the other, but you certainly love them both.
9:10 Free kick. Ray Small gets it and returns it to about the 47-yard line of Ohio State.
9:11 TP throws it low to Posey again. It’s okay to hit these guys in their numbers. You’re not Tate Forcier--you aren’t going to break their sternums.
9:12 The Buckeyes have to punt and Thoma forces a fair catch at the 15-yard line. The dude is an assassin. He’s like a no-nonsense customer service rep--no returns under any circumstance! “Do you have a receipt?” “Well…no, but the tag is still on it.” “I’m sorry, we can’t take anything back without a receipt.” “But what about store credit?” “You think I just became a customer service representative yesterday? I know how you people work. You steal stuff and then bring it back for store credit. I don’t play that. No receipt, no refund. Of any sort. Now get out of here--I’m on break!”
9:17 Spitler blitzes again, and it’s another play-action pass but this time Chappell has to eat the football. And it doesn’t look like it tastes too good. I believe that’s Spitler’s first sack of the season. But then he doesn’t really play too much on passing downs, so he doesn’t get too many cracks at the quarterbacks.
9:19 Another completion to Turner, but he’s a yard short again. Bill Lynch may want to go for this one…but he’s punting. Another bad punt. This one is downed at the 37-yard line of Ohio State.
9:20 Indiana having the largest weight room in the country is like Michigan State having the largest library. Sure, it’s nice to have, but who’s going to use it?
9:23 Third and four and Pryor throws it too high at a wide open Sanzo. (I‘d say “he threw it too high ‘to‘ a wide open Sanzo“, but that would be a generous description of the location of that pass.) The receivers are open on these short third downs, but Pryor is all over the place on these short throws.
9:24 Thoma time. Ray Fisher fair catches it at the nine-yard line. This dude probably pitches pennies like nobody’s business. (Do people still pitch pennies?)
9:25 That’s the end of third quarter. The Buckeyes still lead it 26-7 and tomorrow Chris Martin will act like he never picked Indiana to beat us. Just like he does every time he‘s wrong about us.
9:27 I bet Mason was holding up four fingers with the rest of the Hoosiers.
9:29 Third and ten for Indiana. Sack by Robert Rose!! That dude is having his best season ever, just like JT wants out of his seniors. Love it. Indiana is forced to punt again.
9:30 Saine gets the ball and moves three feet forward. Flag. Not too many of those tonight. Personal foul on Austin Thomas. That’s his second. And he’s being pulled by his coaches.
9:32 Saine gets three more. Might be right at 100 yards. Yep, 107 per BTN. Congrats.
9:33 First and goal from the one-yard line. Flag. Remember when I said there haven’t been many of those tonight, well I was right at the time. Greg Middleton lined up offside again. Can’t blame him, it’s hard to tell whether or not you’re lined up offside when you’re so far away from the ball.
9:34 Sneak! Touchdown Terrelle Pryor. Denlinger was in on that one. Too bad we didn‘t do a little play-action and reward him for his sweet, sweet hands. He looks pretty tired. Probably still getting his breath back from his interception. We might just have the interceptingest bunch of defensive linemen around!
9:35 And now Glen Mason is back to harping on Joe Bauserman not playing last week. Buckeyes lead 33-7, if he cares.
9:37 Kickoff. Ray Fisher is a rascal! He returns it all the way to the Indiana 49-yard line. The former Tarblooder is obviously wanting to show the home team that they missed the boat on him.
9:40 The Hoosiers go three and out for seemingly one of the few times tonight. The punt goes over Ray’s head at the ten-yard line and bounces straight up where it’s downed at the seven-yard line.
9:43 Duron Carter picks up eight yards on a reception and got his facemask ripped by Tyler Replogle. I figured it would be Austin Thomas. Wow, empty Hoosier side of the field tonight. I hope they didn’t buy their tickets based on Chris Martin’s recommendation.
9:45 Pryor gets pressure, rolls out, flips it to Brandon Saine who catches it falling away! Wow, what a grab. It picks up about 20 yards, but Saine is limping. He caught this one on his back! What a grab by Saine. His dad must have great hands too.
9:46 Glen Mason calls it lucky. But if it keeps happening, at what point does it stop being luck?
9:49 Was that LT in the backfield? Pryor hits Carter at the four-yard line. Yep, that was Laamar lined up next to TP. Interesting.
9:50 Now LT is in the slot. Ouch! Pryor went to Thomas, but LT got caught between two defenders and looked like he nearly got his arms broken. Ouch. He’s up and okay now. Mason gets after Pryor again for putting Thomas in that position. I’m guessing if Mason was coaching this team, he would have benched Pryor about three times already.
9:51 Fumble. TP got sacked and fumbled the ball again. Fortunately J.B. Shugarts landed on the ball. Maybe Mason isn‘t so crazy after all. That was ugly.
9:52 Interception. TP had an open Taurian Washington at the goal line, but it was underthrown. Oh well. Learning moment. Blah blah blah. How come touchdowns are never learning moments? I want my quarterbacks to learn how to throw touchdowns, dang it!
9:54 Illegal substitution by the cheating Hoosiers. You can take the Hoosiers out of Kelvin Sampson, but you can’t take the Kelvin Sampson out of the Hoosiers. Or something like that. The phrase may not quite fit, but you know how it goes.
9:56 Punt. DeVier Posey is back to return. I’m not sure if the coaches know that though. At the rate players are dropping, do we really want one of our two best receivers asking to be lit up?
9:59 Joe Bauserman is in and loses the snap. Indiana recovers the fumble. Lots of backups in there. Do you mind if we skip ahead to the end?
10:04 Unfortunately, Indiana won’t cooperate. Ben Chappell just hit Matt Ernest for about six yards, putting the Hoosiers at the five yard line. They called timeout with six seconds left and all of the fans in the stadium are booing (because there are only Buckeye fans left).
10:05 Touchdown to Ernest in the back of the endzone as the clock expires. Good for them. Give those kids some orange slices and then we’re all going to Pizza Hut! Buckeyes win 33-14.
10:08 Dang, I predicted 34-10.
10:10 I laugh at the experts that thought this was going to be a close game. I laugh even more at the Michigan fans who thought this would be a close game because they’re game with Indiana was close. And after all, Ohio State and Michigan are just about identical talent-wise.
10:13 I don’t have much else to say other than I’m glad of the 48 knees that were sprained tonight that none of them belonged to Terrelle Pryor. At least as far as I know. Although it did look like he had some ice on him when Bauserman came in.
10:15 Most teams only have to worry about containing the swine flu. The Buckeyes have to worry about spreading damaged ligaments. Welcome to conference play. Where there’s no time to bleed and nobody with the mind to listen to you whine. Walk it off until your feet fall off.
10:16 And then crawl it off.
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