Football
10 Things We Learned From Boilering Down at Purdue
By Brandon CastelWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – It was the nightmare-come-to-life for Ohio State fans as they watched Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes crash and burn in West Lafayette Saturday.
While it was tough for anyone who bleeds Scarlet and Gray to stomach, there was plenty to be learned from OSU’s 26-18 loss to the Boilermakers.
10. Purdue is a dangerous team when they make fewer mistakes than their opponent. Yes, they were 1-5 coming into Saturday and yes, they lost to Northern Illinois earlier this season, but this really is a much better Purdue team than their record would indicate. During the week, some of the OSU players were calling them “the best 1-5 team ever,” but apparently they didn’t really believe it. I wouldn’t quite go that far, but we learned today that this team is dangerous when they aren’t shooting themselves in the foot. They came into the game ranked 115 th in the country in turnover margin, but won the battle +2 Saturday against the Buckeyes. They also committed only one penalty for five yards while the Buckeyes hurt themselves badly with nine penalties for 65 yards, including a 15-yard facemask at the end that sealed the victory for the Boilermakers.
9. The Ohio State defense was a little overconfident coming into this game. Give the OSU defensive players credit, they tried not to read their own press clippings. The players said all the right thing after last week about still needing to get better and not being as impressive on film. Unfortunately they could not completely shield themselves from the feeling that they have been pretty darn good, if not great, this season. Take nothing away from the effort level Saturday, but even defensive end Thad Gibson admitted they never anticipated the Purdue offensive line would put up as much of a fight as they did in this game. The Buckeyes thought they would be able to get pressure on quarterback Joey Elliot using a four-man rush, so they dropped seven, or sometimes even eight, guys into coverage on third down plays. While they did manage to get some pressure on Elliot, they lacked the kind of aggressiveness that has rattled nearly every quarterback they have faced this season.
8. This team was never going to finish 11-1 regardless of today’s outcome. Maybe this will come as news to you, but this team was not going to run the table this year. Not with the kind of youth and inexperience they have on offense, at least not without a Superman-like transformation from Pryor. Maybe this wasn’t the game they were expected to lose, but it was going to happen at some point. It was only a matter of time with the way this offense was playing, and you can’t expect to get two defensive touchdowns and another on special teams every week. Maybe this will be the wakeup call they need to finish out the year and win at least a share of a fifth straight Big Ten title, but there’s no doubt in my mind there was a loss coming at some point. Now the question is whether there will be more, and if so, how many?
7. Ohio State has lost the ability to play power football on offense. It has been a very strange transformation from the Beanie Wells era at Ohio State to that of Terrelle Pryor. Part of that is because Beanie was a once in a decade, or maybe once in a generation, type player, but another is because Pryor has been unable to seize the reigns of the offense this season. Whether you blame Pryor, the offensive line or the coaching staff, this team lacks any identity on offense. They try to be a spread team with power principles, but it just isn’t working for them. Brandon Saine is a physical enough back, but the offensive line doesn’t have what it takes to run between the tackles. This team has lost the ability to play smash-mouth football, and they are completely inept out of the I-formation. Need proof? Look no further than their first drive of the fourth quarter when they had first and goal at the Purdue three-yard line and couldn’t punch it in. They didn’t even try a run play for the tailback and ended up settling for a 27-yard field goal that made it 23-10.
6. Pryor is most comfortable working in the no-huddle offense. After watching Pryor run the normal offense and then the no-huddle offense over the past three weeks, I think it’s become clear that there is something about the no-huddle pace that appeals to Pryor’s style. Maybe it’s the inability of the defense to adjust, or bring different personnel on the field, but Pryor just looks more comfortable when he’s running the fast-paced offense, and it seems to be just about the only thing that’s working for the Buckeyes on offense.
5. It’s tough to have two sophomore offensive tackles with a quarterback like Pryor is. For as bad Pryor looked Saturday against Purdue, he didn’t get much help from his buddies on the offensive line. Center Michael Brewster was battling a sprained ankle, but he has struggled about as much as Pryor this season as a sophomore. The real problem was on the outside, where Mike Adams and J.B. Shugarts got beat like they stole an actual boilermaker right off the bar top. To their credit, playing offensive tackle week-in and week-out as true sophomores is tough, especially when they’re up against a monster like defensive end Ryan Kerrigan (9 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles). Shugarts had a better day than Adams, which is like saying Charlie Weis had a better day than Frank Beamer. Adams really struggled –although not nearly as poorly as senior Jim Cordle did in his lone series – but in reality it’s just tough to have two young kids playing those outside tackle positions when you have a young quarterback like Pryor who most dangerous when he’s able to escape to the outside.
4. Brandon Saine is the best player on the OSU offense. He didn’t get much of a chance to show it Saturday, but Saine is the best player on the Ohio State offense and it’s high time they start making him the focal point instead of Pryor. On the Buckeyes only scoring drive of the first half, Saine had a 20-yard rush and a 40-yard reception with about 35 of the yards coming after the catch. He nearly scored the second touchdown on a 14-yard run that was called back for holding on Bryant Browning. Outside of that, he only touched the ball one time in the second half. That’s right, ONE DAMN TIME. Since when did Jim Tressel abandon reason for madness? Because that’s exactly what that is. I repeat, Saine is the best player on the offense. How can you let him touch the ball once in a half? If the Buckeyes want to figure out what’s wrong with the offense, look no further than the lack of commitment to the run game. Saine can run between the tackles, he can run outside and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. I would even line him up in the Wildcat if that’s what it took to get him the ball. If the Buckeyes can get his feet to the line of scrimmage, he is a load to bring down.
3. Jim Tressel is going to let Pryor fight through this. More than anything, we learned that coach Tressel is not going to turn the offense over to backup Joe Bauserman. At least not as long as Pryor can still use his right arm and two legs. While Tressel has always praised Pryor as a quarterback who “values taking care of the football,” not even four turnovers was enough to make Tressel look down the bench for No. 14 in the fourth quarter. It is clear this team is going to live and die with Terrelle Pryor. Because of the shadow he casts, the Buckeyes have been forced to put all their eggs in his basket at quarterback, and they aren’t about to turn this thing over to a guy who hasn’t played football in a half-decade. There’s no question Pryor has struggled more than anyone could have imagined, but if the ultimate goal is to get him ready to be the player he is capable of being by the time he’s a junior or senior, then maybe it’s best to let him fight through this and come out stronger on the other side, even if that means another loss in 2009.
2. You cannot win a Big Ten title with a great defense and zero offense. Although the defense was not nearly as sharp Saturday as it has been in every game since the opener, those guys still played well enough to win the game. Twice the OSU offense handed the ball to Purdue inside their 20, and both times the OSU defense slammed the door and held them to three points. The Buckeyes forced three turnovers and should have had a fourth if not for a ridiculous “forward progress” call on a ball that was stripped by Kurt Coleman. (Since when do we not play to the whistle? If the progress is stopped, blow the whistle. It’s not that hard, just close your lips and exhale.) Unfortunately for those guys on defense, it takes more than a lights out defense to win a Big Ten title. Not much more with the way that defensive line has played this year, but they have to get something positive out of the offense if they’re going to have a chance to beat Penn State or Iowa.
1. Pryor may be progressing but he still can’t handle pressure. I stand by my comments from last week’s 10 Things that Pryor is progressing as a passer. He hasn’t shown much in the last two games, but his mechanics when he is not under duress are much better than they were at this time last season. Where that changes, however, is when Pryor is faced with pressure. There is something inside him that won’t allow him to stay calm when he isn’t getting the protection he needs. He tends to panic and either throws the ball deep and up for grabs down the sideline, or off his back foot falling away. Either way, teams have figured out that blitzing Pryor – or sometimes even just showing blitz – is the way to rattle him. Defensive coordinators will continue to bring the heat against Pryor until he proves he can make them pay for it, especially with the way the offensive line performed against Purdue.
Help us bring you more Buckeye coverage. Donate to the-Ozone.
Click here to email this the-Ozone feature to a friend...or even a foe.
Return to the-OZone Front Page
(c) 2009 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.