AP
Much has been written in recent weeks about Terrelle Pryor, including by me. Following his game-winning heroics against Wisconsin, we're likely to hear even more. ESPN even named the quarterback its player of the game for Ohio State, which is fine, except ... DID YOU NOT WATCH BEANIE WELLS?
For most of Saturday night's showdown in Madison, the Badgers did an exceptional job containing the Buckeyes' freshman phenom. Every time you thought Pryor was about to break a big run, there was a Wisconsin defender to meet him at the line of scrimmage. (Pryor gained 20 yards on 15 attempts). And when he passed, the Badgers often forced him to go deep into his progressions, which, not surprisingly, proved difficult for the freshman.
But stopping Pryor is only half the battle for Ohio State's opponents. You've now got to deal with a healthy Wells. Somehow, the same guy whose toe once caused a week's worth of news coverage fell off the radar these past few weeks. But there he was Saturday night, rushing 22 times for 168 yards and a touchdown. It was his highest yardage total since last year's Michigan game.
Think Jim Tressel might be happy to have him back?
Even with Wells' performance, the Buckeyes found themselves down 17-13 with 6:31 remaining. That's when Pyror seemed to elevate his game. On a 14-play, 80-yard drive, Pryor made four huge plays. On third and 6, he stood tall in the pocket and found Brian Hartline for a 19-yard strike. Two plays later, he hit a wide-open Hartline over the middle for 27 yards. After losing 4 yards on a first down at Wisconsin's 24, he hit Roy Small for a 13-yard gain.
And then came the winning play, one that will undoubtedly strike fear in the hearts of future OSU opponents. Is there any scarier scenario than Pryor and Wells running the option? Wisconsin bit and headed straight for Wells, leaving Pryor to run nearly untouched for an 11-yard touchdown.
Pryor showed the necessary poise to win a tough game on the road. He made few glaring freshman mistakes. He managed the game well. But the reality is, Ohio State does not win that game -- and Pryor most likely doesn't score that touchdown - without the threat of Beanie in the backfield.
The Buckeyes' victory likely put an end to Wisconsin's Big Ten title hopes. The Badgers already have two losses. The best they can hope to do is play spoiler when Penn State comes to town next weekend.
There's a pretty good chance the Big Ten title will be decided Oct. 25 when the No. 6 Nittany Lions visit Columbus. We'll find out that night which is the more powerful weapon: The Spread HD or Beanie?
Hilary Rhoda
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Comments (115) Add A Comment
Ohio State is not good enough to beat PSU on the road, but luckily for the Buckeyes they won't have to accomplish that feat. PSU is 0-7 at the 'Shoe since joining the Big 10. I think OSU wins that game, and I think we will see two 11-1 Big Ten teams in the Rose bowl and the Fiesta Bowl this year.
BuckeyePride
New York , NY
Total Comments (138)
Who is Roy Small?
BuckDawg
Medina , OH
Total Comments (1)
Penn State is unbelieveably overrated. They have beat no one of relevance and if Purdue's kicker didnt miss 2 FGs and an XP they would have only beat lowly Purdue by 7.
zdiddy
Total Comments (17)
Yeah, they also said we wouldn't beat Pennsylvania State last year. I'm glad I traveled from Knoxville to watch that **** whooping... I love how everyone is up Pennsylvania State's **** this year.
HYPE
Knoxville, TN
Total Comments (10)
ziddy, uh, penn st beat oregon st handily, who took it to usc, and they schooled illinois, who was ranked....not that they shouldnt have won, but they won convincingly. that said, i think osu has the experience in wells and the receivers on offense and on defense to take down the nittany lions at home. but, the defense needs to wake up after what i saw tonight against wisconsin....
SECsuxNuts
Total Comments (29)
Beanie is a very good RB, and Pryor is an all-world freshman but is Ohio State very good? Probably good enough to stay in the top 20 but doubt they are top 10 team. SI and Mandel and other big media outlets give them more attention than they deserve.
rhymeister
Total Comments (1912)
Are the Buckeyes very good? There really isn't a definitive answer to that question yet. Beanie is playing again, and it appears that Pryor is giving the offense the wrinkle that it was so desperately seeking. On the surface, only Oklahoma has consistently looked the part of a National Championship contender, so I think to judge any team at this point is premature.
brianjgault
Petersburg , MI
Total Comments (65)
The new "pick your poison" offense that OSU now employs, along with a rejuvenated defense, is what will win the Big Ten ( again) this year!
State Penn will find a way to lose (again).
Illi, MSU, Northwestern, Purdue, Mich, and PSU are all dangerous. The Big ten is just stronger this year.
islandjoe
Las Vegas, NV
Total Comments (88)
That Penn State game cannot come soon enough to so that it can finally put Ohio State out of its misery and out of a BCS bowl FINALLY!!!
YeYo
Gridley , CA
Total Comments (5)
for brianjgault - You raised a question to me about Urban Meyer last week that I may be able to answer now. The simplest explanation is often the best and I think defenses are getting better at handling Florida's offense. There is the pendulum at work. Either Meyer has not made further adjustments to stay ahead of defenses, or the lack of a serious running threat other than Tebow has hampered him. Time will tell if Meyer can return Florida to the top of its game, but this year is doubtful.
As for Ohio St I am afraid that it is obvious that problems still exist. Wisc has not been impressive this year and Ohio St nearly lost to them. Penn St has played no one to measure themselves by, so for that reason I doubt that they will muster what it takes to defeat Ohio St. But with this season going the way it is there could be two Big 10 teams in BCS bowls, just not the NC. You know I was criticized late last season for stating that if OSU did not improve they could easily have three or four losses, but they are lucky at this poing not to have two losses already.
CharMit
Las Vegas , NM
Total Comments (1717)
I think T.P. is Outstanding! He's so light on his feet and did you notice his form?
Darth Vader
Miamisburg , OH
Total Comments (22)
this was the type of game pryor needed as well as the bucks...it is games like this that have been lacking in the big 10 for quite some time.Pryor did a good job of commanding the offense down the field on the final drive.This may be a game that haelps us in january if we face a good team that battles with us and we have to answer.I hope the game against psu is a close won down to the wire bcuz blowing teams out all year doesn't help in bcs games when the other team doesn't jus lay down and let you win..kudos to wisconsin for fightin when after the 1st osu drive they could've jus killed over....GO BUCKS AND CINCY!!!
imstevie
Cincinnati , OH
Total Comments (441)
Everyone cracks me up who is against OSU. They have no clue.
Is OSU top 10 material? Yes. Are they hitting on all cyclinders? No. Their defense is not playing very well at the moment but for folks to think that Wisconsin is not good, has never played there. What folks do not understand is playing against teams who you play every year is much tougher. Wisconsin had not lost at home in 16 games. 2nd longest streak in the nation.
If OSU can find that missing spark on defense(pressuring the QB), then they have a chance to get back into the NC race. If not, then winning the B10 title will be good enough.
91OSUAlum
West Chester, OH
Total Comments (2)
Wow, it took almost 7 posts for the OSU haters to come out.
When I look at who is currently ranked in from of them, yes I think OSU is a top 10 team, although not championship game caliber. Just look at Auburn, who was ranked ahead of the Bucks. They got beat by a Vanderbuilt team that had played against 4 low level teams, with the highest ranked one at 44th, yet 3 of those games were won by 7 points or less. So much for SEC superiority!
Pryor was indeed impressive in his first major test, and passed with flying colors, but he is far from being polished enough to succeed against a top 5 team. Granted, his bloody hand was obviously bothering him, which showed in the way he was throwing in the second half, but many times under pressure he got confused. The only way to cure that is with reps, and if Ohio State is going to salvage this season, he is going to have to be a quick learner.
An even bigger problem is OSU's problem at the tackle position on defense. It is a major weakness that Wisconsin exploited. That is a far bigger issue than Pryor's inexperience that Ohio State needs to solve, and quickly. That one problem has me tentative about hopes of OSU winning out the rest of the season.
Sparky57
Independence , OH
Total Comments (11)
Ye Yo .. huh?? Did you see Penn State at Purdue yesterday .. my God Purdue is HORRIBLE and should have or could have won that game! Ohio State will beat Penn State at home - at night and put this over-rated hype to rest! Sit back and grab a box of tear rags Ye Yo .. you'll need em that night!
vikings526
Total Comments (188)
It was laughable watchign College Gameday yesterday morning. When the Vanderbilt students started chanting that OSU was overrated..HA! Where is Vanderbilt anyway?
sme2thcwe
Total Comments (374)
Vanderbilt is in Tennessee. Nashville, to be exact. It is good to see Big 10 fans showing off their geography skills.
The fact is, Ohio State is not good enough to be a top 10 team. They don't have the speed and they make no changes within the game. Penn State can and probably will beat Ohio State at the shoe.
Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, are all pretenders.
Sure, Vandy hasn't played the powerhouses like Akron, Troy, and Ohio, but they beat South Carolina and Auburn. As pathetic as Auburn's offense is, I doubt that Ohio State could beat them either.
pharaoh
Kingsland , GA
Total Comments (536)
This 2008 team reminds me so much of the 2005 season when Justin Zwick was the chosen starter and during the Texas game, Troy Smith started to get into Ohio States flow. OSU lost that game but Troy became the starting QB. That Buckeye team went on to dominate the rest of their opponents and destroyed a ND team in the Fiesta. Not a national Champion team because there could figure it out in the beginning, but a Top 5 team because they did figure it out 3-4 games into the season.
Jaxcline5
Total Comments (2)
auburn's defense is legit as they come,but i think the bucks could handle them with a 7-10 point win.illinois is better than you give credit...2 losses to to top 10 teams aint bad..wisconsin played with a lot of heart and almost won..i think illinois and wisconsin both would take care of vandy..psu jus may beat osu this year but it will depend on a few things..1)penalties 2)turnovers 3)d-line play and 4)tressels has to open up the offense...other than that i think your post was pretty accurate...and i dont know why that guy didnt know where vandy was...
imstevie
Cincinnati , OH
Total Comments (441)
I'm pretty sure he was being facetious when he asked where Vanderbilt was. His point being that they aren't exactly a football powerhouse.
Like it or not, the Bucks move up 2 spots in the rankings with two teams just above them losing to unranked teams.
I cannot wait until the Penn State game and I will be there to see us win and then elevate ourselves into a top 10 ranking as a result of that win. And we will play much better than Georgia did at home against Bama. You must have taken everything out of them though because they barely squeaked by Kentucky yesterday.
And let's also bask in yet another Micheatgan loss...
Sulkaman
Total Comments (33)
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