Open Thread: Buckeyes at Wisconsin Badgers
Time: 8 PM, EDT
TV/Radio: WEWS Ch. 5, WKNR AM/850.
Kickoff Weather: 50 degrees (at kickoff), Winds 5 MPH (SE)
Line: OSU (-1)
Well, here we are. Easily, our toughest battle since the debacle in Los Angeles. Terrell Pryor has made this Buckeye team one that is comparably different than it was when it was led by Todd Boeckman. But tonight, this team travels to Madison, Wisconsin – arguably one of the tougher places to play in the Big Ten. At home, the Buckeyes gave the Badgers a healthy dose of championship-calibur football. As discussed, the Scarlet and Gray have not ventured to Wisconsin since their loss in 2003; the year that bounced them out of the top five with an upset loss. This time, they’ll have their hands full with running back P.J. Hill as he missed last year’s game with a leg injury.
If there is anything to be somewhat comfortable about, it’s that Wisconsin does not run the dreaded spread offense; one which we have the occasional difficulty consistently defending. Will the Badgers have extra motivation after being upset by Michigan? Will Pryor be able to adjust to the prime time pressure on the road? Does the Pryor/Wells tandem provide Ohio State with a totally different look than the one that was embarrassed last time they were in this time slot? Only time will tell…
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Related posts from this week:
Worried About Camp Randall?
Another One Bites the Dust
I’m Not Superstitious…
Pretty cool stuff over at Eleven Warriors regarding some overseas sticker placement. Definitely worth checking out before game time.
As always, we’ll be back and forth in the comments. Feel free to follow along. And of course…Go Bucks!
October 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin marching band has been suspended while allegations of hazing, alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct are investigated.
The band won’t play Saturday during a nationally televised football game between the No. 18 Badgers and No. 14 Ohio State at Camp Randall Stadium.
The university made the announcement at a news conference Friday night, saying the behavior is consistent with conduct that put the band on probation in 2006.
Associated Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp is leading the investigation.
No details were immediately released about the behavior, only that it involved inappropriate alcohol use, hazing and sexualized behavior.
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One time, at band camp…
October 4th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
hah..that’s awesome.
October 4th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Well, the Wisconsin D has done a nice job of adjusting to Beanie and Terrelle running. The Bucks need to establish the short passing game.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Ken Shamrock won’t be fighting tonight – just a note for those that are switching back and forth
October 4th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Well our Defense still looks subpar. And our play calling on O consists of runs and qb draws. why not try a couple quick routes to try and open it up for us? We’re trying to run against 9 in the box.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
And just like that, it’s 7-7
October 4th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Dropping like flies…
October 4th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
That kid got hit so hard i don’t blame him for fumbling. Oh my god he got lit up
October 4th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
The Bucks need to re-establish something. Defense or offense. But something. Make this kid pass you to death. See if he can beat you through the air. I don’t think Everidge has it.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
You got to love Beanie Wells when he pulls of runs like that! I agree that there was no way Sanzenbacher could possibly hold on to the ball after getting smashed like that by three Wisconsin players. However, it seems like those two dropped balls by Wisconsin and this run by Beanie are starting to help bring some momentum back to the Buckeyes.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
This is such an aggravating team. They don’t do anything extremely well like in years past. It’s like we’re not sure what our identity is.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
JENKINS!!!
October 4th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
All that matters is the win, but sometimes I let myself forget just how conservative Tressell can be sometimes.
October 5th, 2008 at 12:25 am
We need to let pryor run the ball sometimes. He needs to realize when to take off at times also. I hope the film shows the young man the mistakes. He’s gonna be great tho once he gets experience
October 5th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Great to see the win. Pryor proved a lot today, even though he is still not perfect. The main thing that was resolved today, however, is that when Pryor is playing well as the starter, and when Beanie Wells is healthy, this team certainly has a chance at winning the Big Ten. Wisconsin is pretty much out of the picture but they host Penn State this coming week. Two weeks after that, Penn State travels to Ohio State. That is the one huge game remaining on the Big Ten schedule for the Buckeyes this season. Win that one, and the coast is pretty much clear (besides Michigan of course, and the usual somewhat decent teams) to the Rose Bowl.
October 5th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Don’t forget bout illinois. We always have trouble against the spread.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:31 am
A few thoughts:
With the ball on the 2, first and goal you gotta punch it in with Beanie. Pass attempt first down, Pryor doesn’t throw it away and loses two yards. Followed by a run that gained nothing, then a touch pass that was very nicely broken up by the Wisconsin corner (who had a hell of a night till Beanie put him on his ass).
Beanie looked great. Good to see him back and able to take big hits.
The hit on Herron looked pretty dirty to me, although it was in slow motion and it’s hard to say. Hopefully the guy is disciplined, but more importantly it sounded like Herron was OK.
This was one of the hardest hitting games I’ve seen in a long time.
Seems like Brewster is snapping the ball low a lot in the shotgun. That’ll probably get worked on a lot in the future but it seemed like there were a couple of quick pass plays that suffered because the ball wasn’t delivered just right and the timing was off.
TP needs to learn when to throw the ball away. I’m sure they’ll work on this a lot this week. 15 yard sacks because he’s spinning and running backwards are drive killers.
Trepasso is a man. Punted from our 15 and then got the ball back on our 40 or so. I know Tressell harps on the punt but it’s great to see when it works out well.
The play calling was rather conservative – things slowed up after the first drive. That’s what Tressell does on the road. They opened up a bit on the last drive when they had to.
October 5th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Well said, IRB. Don’t go stealing all of my bullet points for tomorrow!
October 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Thanks Scott – I can do more than come up with hilarious one-liners, thought I’d let the cat out of the bag.
Also, pretty pleased with my ability to call the game close. I said on the Camp Randall post it’d be within a TD, most likely 4. Winning by 3 is close.
I think I still left you plenty to work with for the bullet points. Really like those features BTW.