The bye week was good for the team but it sucked for me. It just didn't feel right not watching the Buckeyes on a Saturday afternoon in November. Luckily I had the Browns dismantling of the Patriots on Sunday (Peyton Hillis is a BEAST!!) to pass the weekend but it's time for Buckeye football again!
- After Tom Bradley and Galen Hall… I mean Joe Paterno secured the victory against Northwestern last weekend the coaching legend hit the unthinkable 400 win plateau. JoePa has had a long and illustrious career as the head man in Happy Valley indeed. However, it didn’t look good for the old man early on against the Wildcats as Northwestern built a 21-0 lead behind the solid play of Dan Persa. Once Penn St. remembered that they were playing NU, at home no less, PSU stormed back with 35 unanswered points and iced the game away in the fourth quarter. After a bunch of hugging, crying and a speech that was tough to decipher, Paterno declared that it was time to “go and beat Ohio St.”
OK, now I have solid proof that the guy is going senile. Pandering to the home crowd is always fun and gets the locals all hootin’ and hollerin’. In fact, I imagine there is a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’, moonshine stills and barn raisings in and around Happy Valley. However, he fell just short of guaranteeing a victory against the Buckeyes on the road. OSU has been a near lock in the Shoe all season and Penn St. hardly comes to town with the same caliber team as the 2008 squad. Good luck boys.
•Daniel “Sonic Boom” Herron has claimed the undisputed top spot on the depth chart in preparation for PSU on Saturday. Nobody was really all that surprised at the announcement but this was the first week that Herron and Saine weren’t listed as co-starters. That is big stuff! Tressel loves to go all “Mangenious” on us at times and keep the fan base guessing as to who will get the most carries. Herron has definitely proved that he is the guy to tote the rock for the Buckeyes on a regular basis. I could sit here all day and complain about how Hyde, Berry and Hall aren’t getting enough looks but it wouldn’t do any good. Tressel apparently doesn’t tune in to my mindless rants about the running back position very often.
Saine has found a home lining up in the slot and catching passes out of the backfield in recent weeks. Why it took this coaching staff so long to know how to best utilize the talent of Saine is anybody’s guess. I think the title of “Ohio Mr. Football” clouded their judgments for the better part of 2 seasons.
Finally, he is living up to some of the hype bestowed on him at the beginning of his Ohio St. career. Saine has 5 touchdown passes to his credit this season to go along with the 2 he gained on the ground in the opener. It’s not that the coaching staff didn’t know he would be effective in this role, it’s the fact that they aren’t running him up the middle for 1 yard gains anymore. Cheers to JT and co. for getting that one right.
- The legend of McLovin continues to grow in Happy Valley. This guy can buy beer underage with a Hawaiian ID and bag chicks that are way out of his league along with shooting gansta style at a cop car with the very police officers that drove the thing! How can this guy not be a lock at quarterback for PSU the next 3 seasons? Wait… that was a different guy? Ohhh, McGloin is his name. Never heard of him. Apparently this once walk-on QB has captured the hearts/minds of the PSU faithful with some solid play along with… wait for it… WINS too! Victories were hard to come by with Rob Bolden under center and the recent 3 game winning streak has the fans from that state out east feeling all warm and fuzzy.
So far this season, McGloin has some pretty good stats. He is 41 of 70 for 551 yards, 7 touchdowns and only 1 pick. Then after looking at the “competition” he has faced (Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern) you’re not so impressed. Although the defense he will face Saturday is far superior to anything witnessed thus far, I still have some concern as to how the Buckeyes will handle the passing game of Penn St. They have some decent receiving threats in Dereck Moye and Brent Brackett (1000 yds/8 td combined) and the OSU secondary has been decimated with losses of Moeller, Byant and Barnett for the season. The play of Torrence and Chekwa along with the safeties will be key in preventing the big play.
- Evan Royster figures to be a big part of the game plan for PSU this weekend. The Nittany Lions will need the good Royster to show up at the Horseshoe and take some of the defensive pressure off of their young quarterback. Nobody is ever sure which Royster will come to play but he does have 346 yards with 3 touchdowns in the last few weeks. So they have that going for them, which is nice. I don’t know about anybody else but this guy doesn’t scare me at all. I am baffled as to how he now holds any significant rushing records at the university. He kind of has the Craig Biggio feel to him. The dude has played forever which allowed him to put up some solid numbers but nobody really considers him a HOF’er. Whatever. I hope the “bad” Royster shows up yet I don’t think that the Buckeyes will have much trouble stopping the “good” one either.
- Finally, my colleague Danny here at ITS caused quite the shit storm (JoePA pun totally intended) last week when his article on the immortal Joe Paterno was posted. Black Shoe Diaries ended up picking up the story and in turn sent their minions from PA over to defend the old man. Listen Penn St. fan, I get it. The guy is a revered figure in Pennsylvania. No Nittany Lion fan wants to read an Ohio St. opinion on a Penn St. legend. Especially when that opinion is coming from your so called “rival”. However, there were some good points made by Danny and some ridiculous arguments that ensued on the message board. Let’s just all agree that the Buckeye’s will destroy PSU on Saturday and we will see you next year back inside the 'Shoe. That’s right, a return trip is in order next year as the new Big Tweleven starts divisional play. JoePA must have drawn the short straw on that one.
- After Tom Bradley and Galen Hall… I mean Joe Paterno secured the victory against Northwestern last weekend the coaching legend hit the unthinkable 400 win plateau. JoePa has had a long and illustrious career as the head man in Happy Valley indeed. However, it didn’t look good for the old man early on against the Wildcats as Northwestern built a 21-0 lead behind the solid play of Dan Persa. Once Penn St. remembered that they were playing NU, at home no less, PSU stormed back with 35 unanswered points and iced the game away in the fourth quarter. After a bunch of hugging, crying and a speech that was tough to decipher, Paterno declared that it was time to “go and beat Ohio St.”
OK, now I have solid proof that the guy is going senile. Pandering to the home crowd is always fun and gets the locals all hootin’ and hollerin’. In fact, I imagine there is a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’, moonshine stills and barn raisings in and around Happy Valley. However, he fell just short of guaranteeing a victory against the Buckeyes on the road. OSU has been a near lock in the Shoe all season and Penn St. hardly comes to town with the same caliber team as the 2008 squad. Good luck boys.
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| BOOM |
Finally, he is living up to some of the hype bestowed on him at the beginning of his Ohio St. career. Saine has 5 touchdown passes to his credit this season to go along with the 2 he gained on the ground in the opener. It’s not that the coaching staff didn’t know he would be effective in this role, it’s the fact that they aren’t running him up the middle for 1 yard gains anymore. Cheers to JT and co. for getting that one right.
- The legend of McLovin continues to grow in Happy Valley. This guy can buy beer underage with a Hawaiian ID and bag chicks that are way out of his league along with shooting gansta style at a cop car with the very police officers that drove the thing! How can this guy not be a lock at quarterback for PSU the next 3 seasons? Wait… that was a different guy? Ohhh, McGloin is his name. Never heard of him. Apparently this once walk-on QB has captured the hearts/minds of the PSU faithful with some solid play along with… wait for it… WINS too! Victories were hard to come by with Rob Bolden under center and the recent 3 game winning streak has the fans from that state out east feeling all warm and fuzzy.
So far this season, McGloin has some pretty good stats. He is 41 of 70 for 551 yards, 7 touchdowns and only 1 pick. Then after looking at the “competition” he has faced (Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern) you’re not so impressed. Although the defense he will face Saturday is far superior to anything witnessed thus far, I still have some concern as to how the Buckeyes will handle the passing game of Penn St. They have some decent receiving threats in Dereck Moye and Brent Brackett (1000 yds/8 td combined) and the OSU secondary has been decimated with losses of Moeller, Byant and Barnett for the season. The play of Torrence and Chekwa along with the safeties will be key in preventing the big play.
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| One of the more underrated backs in the country. |
- Finally, my colleague Danny here at ITS caused quite the shit storm (JoePA pun totally intended) last week when his article on the immortal Joe Paterno was posted. Black Shoe Diaries ended up picking up the story and in turn sent their minions from PA over to defend the old man. Listen Penn St. fan, I get it. The guy is a revered figure in Pennsylvania. No Nittany Lion fan wants to read an Ohio St. opinion on a Penn St. legend. Especially when that opinion is coming from your so called “rival”. However, there were some good points made by Danny and some ridiculous arguments that ensued on the message board. Let’s just all agree that the Buckeye’s will destroy PSU on Saturday and we will see you next year back inside the 'Shoe. That’s right, a return trip is in order next year as the new Big Tweleven starts divisional play. JoePA must have drawn the short straw on that one.
