Football
Luncheon Day Notebook: Plenty to Talk About
By Brandon CastelOhio State Head Coach Jim Tressel met with the media Tuesday for his weekly luncheon press conference, and once again it was his team’s offense, or lack thereof, that came under attack.
After scoring just one offensive touchdown in a peculiar 31-13 win over previously unbeaten Wisconsin this past week, Tressel said he would like to see the offense do a better job of adjusting during the course of a game, particularly when the opposing defense is not doing the things the Buckeyes practiced against during the week.
“Where I really think we need to get better preparing from an offensive standpoint is understanding that what we study and prepare for all week long may not be what you're going to get and then adjusting in the midst of the flow,” said Tressel, who’s offense is currently ranked 86 th overall in the country.
With Pryor struggling to throw the football (5-of-13 with a touchdown and a pick), the Badgers loaded up the box with eight or nine guys and the Buckeyes struggled to counter.
“They played a lot more people up in the box and played us a little bit different in the secondary, which allowed them to shift their linebackers, when you drop a guy in the box, shift their linebackers and they did a good job,” Tressel said.
“You could see that their plan was, most people are going to have two people on the quarterback when you're doing some of the things we do. They had about two and a half. They were not going to allow the quarterback to get outside and hurt him and so forth. And they did a good job, I thought, of allowing their ends to freelance a little bit because they had an extra guy in the box if he would lose contain, there was always a guy behind him.”
Ohio State Offense: A Thousand Years in the Making
No doubt the quote of the day, however, and the one Buckeye fans will be racking their brain over for days and weeks to come, came from Tressel’s opinion over what the main goal of the offense should be each week.
“I think the primary responsibility of an offense is to never put their defense in poor position.
“You know I've felt that for a thousand years,” said Tressel, who is well-known for his insistence on playing the field position game while limiting turnovers.
“And also to make sure that you take opportunities to score points.”
That fact that scoring points was an afterthought could have a lot to do with Ohio State’s struggles on offense this season.
Expanding the Playbook
While they didn’t show many of them Saturday against Wisconsin, senior wideout Ray Small says the Buckeyes have significantly expanded the playbook for quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
“This year we have 100 or some plays (in the playbook), which is something I’ve never see since I’ve been here,” he said Tuesday.
“We’ve got Terrelle, we can do a lot of things.”
One thing they can’t do much of, apparently, is change plays at the line of scrimmage.
“I've never really seen Terrelle change the play unless it’s an option play. Like if they’re in cover three cover two, you check to a run. That’s probably the only time he would ever change (the play),” Small said.
Riding the Saine Train
As the Buckeyes prepare for their trip to West Lafayette this Saturday to play Purdue, they will do so without tailback Boom Herron. The sophomore, who leads Ohio State with five rushing touchdowns this season, returned to the lineup against Wisconsin after missing the Indiana game, but re-injured his ankle on just his third play of the game.
“I don't think we'll have Boom this week, I think we probably got set back a week or two,” Tressel said.
“He has to fight through it. It’s kind of hard for him right now. It’s hard for anyone who has that passion for the game and wants to play so bad. He keeps getting injured and wants to go out there, but everyone tells him he’s got to think about his future,” said Small, who knows a thing or two about wanting to play but having to watch.
With Herron out of the lineup, the Buckeyes will rely primarily on junior Brandon Saine, who was the only offensive player to grade out winning performance against Wisconsin, and freshman Jordan Hall, although Tressel is hoping to see one of the other backs step up to the fill the No. 3 spot until Herron returns.
“Jermil Martin is a guy that has to step up,” he said.
“I'm the eternal optimist, I keep waiting for Jamaal Berry to be healthy because when he's been healthy he's been very, very good, but right now it's Brandon and Jordan.”
With Herron in the mix, Martin spent most of last week playing the role of John Clay on the scout team offense, but that will change this week as Tressel would like to see him run more of Ohio State’s offense in practice now that they know for sure they will be without Herron.
“We have to get our defense ready, but we also have to have three tailbacks ready, so at least we know we're in that situation. The hard part about the course of the game is all of a sudden Boom was in like his third play and he was out and Jermil didn't have that many reps,” Tressel said.
Getting Guys Back
While Herron and nose tackle Dexter Larimore remain out of the lineup, the Buckeyes should get some reinforcements on the offensive line this week.
“Jimmy Cordle should be back a little bit this week. I don't know if we would get a full practice week out of him or a full game,” Tressel said.
“Andrew should practice today. He worked out Friday for about 20 minutes from a cardiovascular standpoint. He worked out Sunday, everything everyone else did, which wasn't a whole bunch, but he should be back.”
Double Jeopardy
The Buckeyes may have only gotten one offensive touchdown Saturday against Wisconsin, but Tressel could not stress enough the impact that defensive touchdowns can have on a game like the one against the Badgers.
“In our jersey scrimmage – which you all poke fun at me that you can't figure out the scoring – the scoring is 12 points if you take back a turnover the defense gets,” Tressel said.
“That's the kind of impact it has on a game, emotionally. Offense is not going and getting plus points and defense is going and getting points the other way, that's double jeopardy.”
Unnecessary Grief
On one of those defensive touchdowns, a 32-yard interception return by safety Jermale Hines, linebacker Ross Homan was flagged for unnecessary roughness after the play.
There was some confusion over exactly what Homan did to deserve the penalty, which cost the Buckeyes 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff, but as it turns out, it he wasn’t even involved in the play.
“That wasn’t me that was Nate Williams. He blocked a lineman. It was kind of controversial. The lineman (didn’t) really have a chance to get to Jermale, but Nate was just trying to get the block but the ref saw it as unnecessary,” Homan said Tuesday.
“When they called 51, I looked back and said, ‘I didn’t touch anyone, how is this possible.’ I was right behind Jermale, sprinting toward the end zone, when I got off the field everyone was like, ‘Ross what did you do, what did you do?’ I was like ‘what are you talking about?’
“Nate was probably hiding on the bench.”
As for the plays Homan was involved in Saturday, the junior linebacker said he has never felt sorer than after his 15-tackle, one-sack performance against the Badgers.
“Last year after the Wisconsin game I woke up and felt like someone took a baseball bat to my legs and my whole body. We knew it was going to be a Sunday morning, waking up and you can hardly walk to the bathroom. You feel like an 80 year old man,” he said.
“This year I slept in the cold tub after the game. It was more intense than the previous year, but that comes with playing 100 plays.”
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