Photo: Bucknuts.com

Sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor was all smiles after leading his Buckeyes to a resounding victory over the rival Nittany Lions of Penn State. Ohio State now holds an 8-2 (5-1) record on the year. The Buckeye defense proved itself as one of the best in the nation as they held the dangerous Penn State offense to just 201 total yards on the day. Though not necessarily reflected in the 17-point margin of victory, it was clear to anyone watching the game that the Buckeyes were the better team on both sides of the ball. Terrelle played one of his best games of the season and it seems as though the coaches may be finally figuring out what works best for this team. Here are my thoughts on the victory over Penn State:

Poised Pryor

For the first time all season, Terrelle Pryor finished a game without making any glaring mistakes or poor decisions. Pryor finished the game with 125 yards on 8 of 17 passing and 50 yards rushing on 5 carries. He accounted for three touchdowns on the day: two through the air and one on the ground. Though you may think 175 total yards is far from a stellar performance, I must emphasize the fact that Terrelle Pryor managed this game extremely well. He completed passes when we needed them. He scrambled for positive yardage when we needed it. And, most importantly, he refrained from throwing interceptions, fumbling the football, and allowing the defense to record a sack.

Photo: ESPN.com

On Halloween in the 'Shoe, Buckeyes fans were rewarded with a number of "treats" offensively and defensively thanks to a couple of "tricks" against the Aggies of New Mexico State. The Ohio State offense racked up 559 yards while the Buckeye defense held the Aggies to a measly 62 yards on the day. New Mexico State was no match for the talent of Ohio State as Jim Tressel pulled out many of the starters after halftime as the Buckeyes held a four-score lead. I had the pleasure of watching the game from the north stands of the stadium. Here are my thoughts on today's resounding victory:

No Candy for the First Quarter

The first quarter ended scoreless despite Ohio State gaining solid yardage on offense. Tressel tested Pryor's arm several times in the first quarter by letting the Buckeye quarterback throw deep passes to his receivers. These first quarter passes resulted in no "treats" for the Buckeyes as Pryor and his Crew were unable to punch the ball into the endzone.

(On a side note, the second quarter started off with a quick Buckeye rushing touchdown by Terrelle Pryor. Kirk spun the 'Roulette Wheel' and lost horribly as he chose to sit in the south endzone while conceding his ticket in the north stands to a friend. Pryor's rushing TD was the first of six Buckeye touchdowns on the day, all of which were accomplished in the north endzone of the stadium.)

Photo: AP/Jay LaPrete

Today's message was clear: Coach Tressel, Terrelle Pryor, and the offensive unit had to put the Purdue game behind them and make major strides to stay in contention for the Big Ten title. They did just that on a banner day for the offense, which was highlighted by over 500 total yards and five offensive touchdowns as the Buckeyes rolled over the Gophers with 31 second half points.

Replenishing the Line: Today, the Buckeyes got back their starting tackles in a larger capacity. Both Andy Miller and Jim Cordle got more reps this week as they return from the flu and injury respectively, but it seemed like they split their reps at left tackle for the most part. Cordle got the start at left tackle, displacing sophomore Mike Adams, but J.B. Shugarts remained the starter at right tackle. Getting both of these guys back made an immediate impact on the offensive line's performance.

TP Renaissance: Terrelle Pryor truly did make some positive strides today, and it was for multiple reasons. First, let's establish that Minnesota's pass defense is below-average at best. Next, Tressel and the offensive playcaller (probably still mostly Tressel) FINALLY put Pryor in formations and packages in which he can succeed. Third, Pryor simply looked like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. Pryor was 13-of-25 passing for 239 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. TP also ran for 104 yards on 15 carries plus a touchdown. With that rushing performance, Pryor joined Cornelius Green, Rex Kern, Art Schlichter, and Troy Smith as the only OSU 1,000 yard career rushers at QB.

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:

Photo: AP/Amy Sancetta

Against one of the top offensive attacks in the nation, the Buckeyes did what the Browns have not yet been able to do in Cleveland Browns Stadium, pitch a shutout. Terrelle Pryor rebounded with a strong effort, and the Buckeyes accumulated over 500 yards of total offense as they rolled over the Rockets in a pseudo-road game with a mostly pro-Buckeye crowd.

OSU M.I.A.- Out of action today for the scarlet and gray were RT Jim Cordle and P Jon Thoma. Cordle, who was injured in the USC game, will miss the next 3-4 weeks due to a ankle injury. Sophomore J.B. Shugarts started in his place. Thoma missed the game with the flu, and redshirt freshman Ben Buchanan handled the punting duties.

419 deep threat - It is apparent that Ohio State's most capable deep target is not Devier Posey or Duron Carter as Chris and I had anticipated; it's Dane Sanzenbacher. Sanzenbacher caught two touchdown strikes from Pryor on the first two Buckeye drives, including a 76-yard bomb where he created some serious separation on the third play of the game. Dane racked up 125 yards in all on five receptions to go with the two scores. He has had a big play in each of the first three games factoring in a 38-yard reception against Navy and a 56-yard catch against USC. Dane is the team's leading receiver with 240 yards.

Grounding the air attack - After touching up the Colorado Buffaloes for 54 points last week, many expected the UT spread attack to give the Buckeyes some matchup issues. However, this defense has shown its VAST improvement over last season, especially on the defensive line. The upperclassmen are playing like they have received the message loud and clear. The OSU D forced Toledo to punt 11 times in their 13 possessions, including 6 three and outs. The other two possessions resulted in turnovers which I'll get to later. The Rockets were held to just 211 total yards and 30 yards rushing. Standouts from this game include Kurt Coleman (forced fumble, 6 tackles), Brian Rolle (8 tackles), and Cameron Heyward (3 tackles, sack). Rocket QB Aaron Opelt finished 22-of-45 for 197 yards with 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. In anyone's eyes, it was an astoundingly excellent effort for the Buckeye defensive unit.

That little guy can run! - The little guy I'm referring to is true freshman RB Jordan Hall. The 5'10 (yeah right!), 190 pounder was Terrelle Pryor's high school running back, and he saw his first game action today. In mostly mop-up duty, Hall sliced through what was most likely a tired Toledo defense with relative ease. He picked up multiple first downs and tallied 44 yards on his seven carries. With Boom Herron and Brando Saine not exactly lighting the world on fire, perhaps Hall can earn some meaningful carries in Big Ten action that kicks off starting next week.

In-Saine-ity - I don't want to overlook Brandon Saine's output too much though, considering it's much better than last year's virtual zero. Saine looked quite sharp on one drive in particular when he gained 31 yards on a run and 16 yards on a reception. At one point, Saine got the ball on five of six plays during that drive. I feel that Saine's development has been hindered somewhat by how he's been used. He is the type of back who needs to get the ball in space, to the outside, and on screen passes; he is not an up-the-middle, between-the-tackles runner. Brandon accumulated 63 yards on 11 touches today, and his big play potential and change of pace will be needed in the coming weeks.

Pryor's great throws - Quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been under a lot of scrutiny this week for his play against USC, and some of it is certainly fair criticism and well-deserved. However, people need to compliment the still-developing quarterback when he succeeds as well. Today was one of those largely positive days for TP as he threw for 262 yards, ran for 110 yards, and accounted for four touchdowns (3 passing). Pryor's highlight reel play other than the bomb to Dane was his 3rd-and-6 scramble out of the pocket for 43 yards as he made several Toledo tacklers miss.

Pryor's no-nos - There were, however, some horrific head-scratching decisions made by Pryor today as well. The first was after he broke a would-be sack and bombed an up-for-grabs toss that was picked by UT. The next one came from under-throwing his receiver in double coverage. In just his 13th start, Pryor is still VERY MUCH a work in progress, but he has such big play capability and incredible speed that the coaching staff must continue to help him make better decisions. That means taking an occasional sack instead of throwing a pick, and it sometimes means throwing the ball away instead of losing big yards on a scramble. I have faith that Pryor will continue to improve, and that by the time the Bucks' toughest remaining test, Penn State, comes around, he'll be vastly improved over where he is at this time.

Small sighting - Ray Small made a return from the doghouse to the offensive attack as he caught his first passes of the season, two of them for 47 yards. Small is now getting 3rd/4th wide receiver reps along with Duron Carter, and Taurian "Oops.. dropped it" Washington is seeing less and less action. Small also handled the punt return duties for the second straight game.

Offensive line trading places - With the injury to Cordle, J.B. Shugarts started at right tackle, but two other offensive linemen saw some extended time in the first half. Sophomore Mike Adams, who was suspended for the first two games reportedly, got some reps at left tackle in relief of Andy Miller. Also, Andrew Moses got some time at left guard when Justin Boren had to leave the game to get his ankles re-taped. That shifting on the line led to some blown protection and several penalties. In fact, the Buckeyes' coaching staff has got to be downright disgusted with the 12 penalties that cost them 70 yards.

Saving the Goose Egg - Just as the Rockets were knocking on the door of the endzone, OSU came up with a fantastic play to preserve the shutout. That big play came courtesy of safety Kurt Coleman, who stripped Toledo receiver Eric Page at the goal line as he was falling into the endzone. Ross Homan recovered, and the call was upheld on the review as the Buckeyes dodged the Rocket score. Coleman has shown time and again this year a knack for creating big turnovers, by way of both forced fumbles and interceptions.

The Buckeyes move to 2-1 on the season, and they open the Big Ten season at home against the Illinois Fighting Illini next Saturday afternoon.

O-H-I-O!

Kirk

Photo courtesy of EPSN

The underdog Buckeyes battled hard against a USC team many thought was vastly superior on all levels. Ohio State held a 15-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Trojan running game ultimately proved too much for the Buckeye defense, as USC punched what would become the game-winning touchdown with 1:05 remaining in the game. Despite, for the most part, controlling the momentum of the game, the Buckeyes only managed to put 5 points on the board in the second half and against a high-powered offense like that of USC, more points needed to be scored. Here are my post-game thoughts:

With Saturday night's showdown in the Horseshoe less than two days away, I feel it's time to try and infuse some optimism into the OSU fanbase. OSU is quite capable of handing the Trojans a loss, but I'd be beyond delusional to say it will be an easy task. Here's how the #7 team in the nation, a 7-point home underdog, can come out of Saturday's battle with National Championship hopes intact.

1. Win the turnover battle.

It's the reason Ohio State was able to hold off a spirited Navy squad, and it will be one of the determining factors in OSU coming out on top Saturday.  Last week, safety Kurt Coleman's interception and two forced fumbles made all the difference in the outcome, and that doesn't include Brian Rolle's game-changing pick-two that prevented Navy from tying the game at 29. The Buckeyes won the turnover battle 3-1, in effect 4-1. Meanwhile, USC fumbled the ball twice against San Jose State and forced two as well.

Make no mistake, OSU's defense isn't as highly touted as last year's with the losses of Laurinaitis, Jenkins, and Freeman, but they have just as much speed, if not more. With guys like Brian Rolle and Jermale Hines getting time at linebacker (Hines has become a starter at safety), Cameron Heyward and Thaddeus Gibson on the defensive line, and Kurt Coleman and Chimdi Chekwa in the secondary, the team has guys with that big-play potential.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that OSU needs to score a defensive touchdown, much like USC LB Rey Maualuga did in Los Angeles last season on a pick-six from Todd Boeckman in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 21-3.

2. Terrelle Pryor's coming out party

Is there a better game for Terrelle Pryor to show the nation he is more than just a high-profile recruit? Pryor has all the tools necessary; he just needs to put them together in one complete performance. Considering the OSU O-line's subpar performance, Pryor could be on the move outside the pocket for most of the game, and he'll have to make plays on the run. Not only will he almost assuredly run the ball more than the six times he did against Navy, but he'll have to make a few big completions downfield as well. There's a lot riding on #2's shoulders, but he is a big-time player capable of elevating his game on the highest stage.

To be victorious, Pryor must trust his head and his arm as well as his legs. If I were Coach Tressel, I would give Pryor some free reign to make the big plays that could win the game for the Bucks. Pryor may need three scores (whether in the air or the ground) to get the job done.