It was a cold and rainy day in Columbus and the talking heads will tell you how this was a classic Big 10 battle consisting of three yards and a (in this case) cloud of AstroTurf. I, on the other hand, wil tell you that this was just another example of timid play calling, poor quarterback play and in many ways, Tressel ball at both it's finest and dullest.
Should I be happy that the Bucks pitched a second straight shutout and followed up a 38-0 win with a 30-0 victory over the Fighting Lumbergh's and held a fairly dangerous quarterback in check? I suppose.
The silver lining in this win was the inept play calling of Tress and the poor execution of TP when he was called on to make the plays. I truly regret that I did not elect to DVR this game because it would have been the perfect cure for insomnia. It's sad that the most exciting part of the afternoon took place during the pre game warm ups when the Bucks nearly started a riot with the Fighting Lumbergh's at the 50 yard line on top of the block O.
You can defend Tress's timid play calling all you want saying that "well, it was a ugly and rainy day out there and you can't be airing it out like that." However, there is NO EXCUSE for ending the first half with ZERO yards through the air and electing to attempt the forward pass TWICE in the opening half. Honestly, this tells me something. Either Tress is doing his best to bring back the Nebraska playbook of the 80's and 90's or he just doesn't believe in Pryor.
Given the fact that JT had a very wide open playbook in 2005 and 2006 and coached a dynamic Heisman winning trophy quarterback in 2006 and the poor decision making TP has shown I think JT just simply doesn't trust Pryor at all. The thing that concerns me the most is that you really just don't see the improvement in Pryor from game to game. I certainly think he has actually taken a step BACK from last season and is truly a cause for concern. The fact that Ohio State already has a five star quarterback recruit in the mix for this year and is going after a second one may indicate Tress believes Pryor just isn't what he hoped for. Only time will tell.
As for the defense, this unit may by the best silver bullet defense since 2002. In just his third career start, Brian Rolle has begun to establish himself as the next "it" linebacker at OSU. Rolle is part of the recent recruits from Florida and he has that "Florida Speed" and showed it again today when he damn near out ran the entire Fighting Lumbergh's on his interception.
Really, outside of Chekwa, I don't see any holes in this defense now that ARuss is safely tucked away on the bench. It will be very interesting to see what happens the rest of the year. It's clear Penn State isn't what it was cracked up to be. Those three opening games against cupcakes masked many of the chinks in their armor. Ohio State has four tough games left. Two on the road, two at home and with Penn State's loss, the game of the year in the Big 10 could very well be that Iowa visit to the horseshoe in late November.
The Bucks have a championship caliber defense, there is no doubt about that. The real question is can Ohio State score enough to win?
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