Photo: Bucknuts.com

Classifying today's loss to the Purdue Boilermakers as a "nightmare" gives this Ohio State team far too much credit. Ohio State played worse today than I have ever seen them play. There is absolutely no excuse for a team as talented as this Buckeye group to not only lose to, but to be completely embarrassed by, a "turnover happy," 1-5 Purdue team. If not for the fact that I am one of the most die hard Buckeye fans on the planet, I would have mimicked my roommates and stopped watching the game sometime during the third quarter. Here are my discouraged thoughts on today's disastrous debacle against the Boilermakers:

Terrible Terrelle

I have been strictly opposed to sidelining Pryor, but his performance today against one of the weakest defenses in the Big Ten has reversed my opinion. I want Joe Bauserman, and I want him now! TP tossed one touchdown and a pair of interceptions as he finished the day with 221 yards on 17 of 31 passing. To someone who did not watch the game, that stat line does not come close to explaining how pitiful Pryor and this offense looked today. The first of Pryor's two picks was on a deep pass to Duron Carter that was simply a stupid decision. His second interception was a result of one helluva play by the Purdue cornerback. TP also was credited with 34 yards rushing on 21 carries (including a long carry of 35 yards).

In addition to throwing two interceptions, he also committed two costly fumbles. The first fumble was on the second play of the game as Pryor refused to tuck the ball and take the sack. The second fumble came in the second quarter as Pryor retreated backwards in an attempt to avoid being sacked and (once again) refused to tuck the ball and go down. Decisions like these are inexcusable for a second-year starter like Terrelle. When Pryor committed to the Ohio State University as a high school senior, I was positive he would only stick around for three years and then bolt for the NFL. Now that there is no chance of that happening, I have realized we will have to endure another two seasons with TP as our quarterback unless someone steps up and takes the job from him.

Mo'-Joe!

In the post-game press conference, two reporters asked Jim Tressel if he considered replacing Pryor with Joe Bauserman at all during the game. Both times Tressel responded with a quick and simple "No." Though it certainly would have been an 'un-Tressel-like' decision, I honestly believe that Joe Bauserman could have provided a spark to this offense. Each week, Pryor seems to regress in his ability to read the defense, make smart decisions, and complete quick, intelligent passes. If we want to run an offense that throws the ball 31 times like we did today, we need a pocket passing quarterback (Joe) not a scrambling quarterback (Terrelle).

For those of you who don't know much about Joe Bauserman, let me enlighten you: As a captain of the football team in his junior and senior seasons at Lincoln High in Tallahassee, Florida, Joe threw for over 5,000 yards and tossed 55 touchdowns. As a standout in football and baseball, Joe made a verbal commitment to Ohio State but chose baseball (as a pitcher and center fielder) instead as he was drafted by Pittsburgh Pirates. He played three years in the Pirates' farm system before returning to the gridiron. The reason I am sharing all of this information is to try to convince you (and myself) that Mr. Bauserman is better suited to lead this football team. Joe just turned 24 years old, so his maturity is light-years beyond the maturity of Pryor. Joe is a typical pocket passer, but he is still athletic enough to move around in the pocket (4.7 in the 40-yard dash). Though he is certainly unproven at the collegiate level, I would argue the same about Pryor. Joe is a third-year player in the system (sophomore eligibility), and I really hope the coaches at least consider giving Joe some playing time next week when Minnesota travels to Columbus.

Headaches from the Offensive Line

The offensive line took a huge step backwards this week. Until this week's pathetic performance, they had been improving on a week-by-week basis. Purdue's average defensive line looked like one of the premier units in the country today as the Buckeye linemen allowed them to pressure Pryor all day long. The linemen looked lethargic and under-prepared for today's football game. Though I am putting much of the blame on Pryor's shoulders, I'm sure TP would have had a better afternoon if he had more time to make his reads in the pocket. The only consolation I can offer about our offensive line is their youth. We are starting three sophomores and two juniors, and we only have one senior in the two deep (excluding the injured Jim Cordle).

Blind Coaching

Choosing the proper adjective to describe the coaching I saw in today's game was not an easy task. I decided to go with 'blind' for a variety of reasons:

• First off (and this is something I have been struggling with all season so far), the coaches are 'blind' when it comes to watching the first half of football and making halftime adjustments. Though they only led by 2 points at halftime, Purdue was clearly in control of the game when the teams headed to the locker rooms. I figured the coaches might make some offensive and defensive adjustments and prevent Purdue from scoring many more points. Unfortunately, on Purdue's first drive of the third quarter, they quickly marched down the field and put the ball in the end zone (whilst, yes whilst, only being subjected to one third down on the drive). On Ohio State's first drive of the third quarter, Pryor and Co. promptly went three and out and gave the ball back to the Boilermakers. These two drives tell me that the coaches are not making the proper halftime adjustments.
• Secondly, it seems that 99% of the time Tressel 'blindly' follows his game-plan which we commonly call 'Tressel-ball.' Every once in a while, though, he does make an 'un-Tressel-like' decision. The one that stands out to me from today's game was his decision right before half to throw the ball on the final Buckeye drive rather than run the ball and drain some time off the clock. The defense was clearly getting tired and to only take 25 seconds off the clock is completely and entirely unacceptable! Purdue had just two timeouts remaining, so although we might have still had to give them the ball back, they would not have had enough time to move downfield and kick a field goal. Another 'un-Tressel-like' decision came in the fourth quarter when JT elected to kick a field goal with the offense on the 3-yard line. We needed a touchdown there, and everyone watching the game knew that. Our offense was not moving the ball effectively enough to be satisfied with three points on that drive.
• Third, and possibly most important, is the 'blind' faith the coaches seem to have in Terrelle Pryor. Pryor controlled the offense on 52 of 59 offensive plays today either with his legs or his arm. That means Brandon Saine got just SEVEN carries! I am a firm believer that Brandon is our most talented, explosive athlete on offense and to only let him run the ball seven times is an insult. With Pryor at the helm of this offense, we need to be a run-first-pass-second type of offense. The coaches are trying to force Terrelle into becoming a passing threat. That does not happen overnight! We need to set up the pass by establishing the run. If we can force the defense to load more men in the box, Pryor will be able to take advantage of man coverage rather than be forced to attempt to pick apart a zone defense. Along with getting the ball in the hands of Saine, we need to find a way to get the ball in the hands of our other athletes. We have a slew of talented players at wide receiver and Pryor's passing (which consists of staring down DeVier Posey and throwing him the ball as often as possible) is unable to get the ball in their hands. The coaches need to open up their creative minds and start getting the ball in the hands of our receivers on screen plays and reverses.

I could go on all day long criticizing the coaching staff, but nothing sums it up better than the realization that we need an offensive coordinator. Jim Tressel calls the plays from the sidelines and he is about as 'blind' as they come in terms of his offensive coordinating.

Penalties Hurt, Turnovers Kill

The Buckeyes committed nine penalties today and were penalized 65 yards for them. (Purdue committed one five-yard penalty in the game.) A team that commits penalties is typically a team who suffers from inadequate coaching. At the elite (are we elite anymore?) college level, teams should not be penalized for false starts, holding, or blocks in the back. The majority of our penalties today were from those categories. It seems like we most frequently commit penalties immediately following a first down, which sets us up 'nicely' at 1st and 15. Though the penalties hurt our chances today, the big stinger was the five turnovers committed by the offense (and special teams). Pryor threw two interceptions and fumbled twice (as discussed earlier). Ray Small presented his case for a return to Tressel's doghouse by botching a punt which led to a Purdue field goal. To be honest, I'm surprised the final point differential was just eight points considering the turnovers we committed today. With the way Purdue dominated on the field this afternoon, they should have won by several touchdowns with us handing them the ball 5 times!

Season Outlook

Following this shocking loss, it's time for me to comment on our chances of winning the Big Ten and earning a bid to a decent bowl game. The games remaining on the schedule are Minnesota, New Mexico State, @ Penn State, Iowa, and @ Michigan. I don't think this team will lose either of the next two games against Minnesota and New Mexico State. I do think there is a chance we lose all three of the final games on our schedule if this offense plays as it did today. In order of likelihood of defeat, I would rank the final three contests on the schedule as: Penn State, Iowa, Michigan. Playing at State College should make us the underdogs in that game, and Penn State's offense this year is truly explosive. If they catch our defense off guard (see Navy game) we might lose by several touchdowns. Iowa proved today that they are a beatable team as they narrowly defeated the Badgers in Madison. Michigan, to me, is the wild card of the bunch. They boast a high-powered offense and a susceptible defense. Playing in Ann Arbor will add to the difficulty of the game, but if there is one thing Tressel has done well his entire career, it's beating Michigan. My prediction is that we finish the season with a dismal 8-4 record (with losses to USC, Purdue, Penn State, and Iowa). I would love nothing more than to eat those words come season's end, but if this offense does not improve (and I'm not hopeful that it will) we are nothing more than an above-average Big Ten football team.

Players of the Game

Due to the wretched performance of the Buckeyes today, I have chosen to exercise my right to refrain from recognizing anyone as having performed well today. If there were an award for the 'Mediocre Unit of the Game' I would award it to the defensive line for holding Purdue to 80 yards rushing, but they were still not able to infiltrate the average Boilermaker offensive line. If there were an award for the 'Most Awful Performance of the Game', I would be torn between Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor, and the offensive linemen for the many reasons already discussed.

Commenting on this game was not an easy task. The Buckeyes played so poorly today I found myself ashamed to wear my Buckeye jersey (especially considering the fact that it has a giant #2 on it). In my heart of hearts, I believe this team is going to turn things around and play inspired football in its final five games of the year. Nothing brings a team together quite like losing to an extremely inferior opponent.

Next week, the Buckeyes host the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are 4-3 on the season.

Go Buckeyes!

ThunderBuck

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