Earle Bruce's Blog

Any loss is hard to take.  But when you lose to a 1 - 5 team that played like a 5 - 1 team and made you look like a 1 - 5 team instead of a 5 - 1 team, it is terrible!
Away from home you MUST be TURNOVER FREE!!!!  And OSU turned the ball over 5 times, 4 by the quarterback!
Penalties didn't help - 9 penalties for 65 yards by the Buckeyes and only 1 penalty for 5 yards by Purdue.
Holding and offsides penalties were costly, especially when you are then starting out 1st and 15 instead of 1st and 10.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE QUARTERBACK'S PLAY!, but, it seemed the protection and offensive line was sporatic.
When you win, everything is fine, but if you lose, everything is suspect;  Play-calling, execution, individual performance vs. team performance, leadership, discipline, etc.
IT WAS AN OLD FASHIONED ASS- KICKING! 28 - 16.
Obviously it was a BAD game for the Buckeyes and we need improvement in ALL areas - Offense, Special Teams & Defense.
REMEMBER - Players win, coaches lose!  But I think this might be a little of both.
Let's Rally The Troups for victory over the Gophers at Homecoming on Saturday.
We still are in the running for the Big Ten Championship - it is there for the taking.
It is time to dig deep and become the team everyone believes you can be.
If you think you can, You can....If you think you can't, You can't.

What a great defensive and special teams game for the Buckeyes!  Two pass interceptions, one for a return of 69 yards for a touchdown by Kurt Coleman & a 32 yard return by Jamale Hines.

The defense also had 6 sacks of Wisconsin's quarterback Scott Tolzein, four more than the Badgers had given up in a game before.

Special teams added a 96 yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Ray Small which showed his great speed and acceleration!

Wisconsin seemed slow and deliberate, hogging the ball for 80 plays, compared to only 40 for OSU.  This is a real Problem!

Our offense was miserable!  There was not enough passing and with the great speed we have at the receiver positions, we should be throwing the ball deep and often! We need to use all our guns to keep us in the games to come!

The win was a result of 4 BIG PLAYS, less turnovers than the Badgers, and good defense from OSU.

We absolutely must have more improvement in our offense with more consistency, especially at quarterback and offensive line!

When the OSU passing attack is ranked 108th nationally and 47th in rushing - we have a lot of improvement to do in the next 6 games.
Winning the next 6 games we need great defense, outstanding special teams and A RESURRECTION OF A GREAT BUCKEYE OFFENSE!!!!

I believe it will happen!
 

Well, here comes Wisconsin!  Always been a nemisis to OSU over the years and they come to the Shoe 5 - 0.  They are a big, strong, powerful team who likes to run it down your throat!
So, we must STOP THEIR RUNNING GAME to be successful.  And the best way to do that is to keep their offense off the field!  And while we have the ball - we need to score alot of points.

Wisconsin also can make some big plays and long passes, which we need to prevent.
We saw some improvement in the quarterback position, but that improvement needs to be consistent.  Pryor needs to become consistent in his approach to the game and make no mistakes.  He needs to continue to make big plays with NO TURNOVERS!

Hopefully,this week in practice there will be some emphasis on the "chip-shot" field goal.  You need to be able to make the 20 yarders as well as the 40's.
Our kick-offs need to be long and high - to the goal line to shut down the big returns.

This will be another important week for the Buckeyes - on the road to the Big Ten Championship!

Go Bucks!

A shut-out is a great defensive achievement!

The defensive line, actually the entire defense for OSU had an outstanding day!  They were exceptional at putting pressure on, and tackling, and making things happen!
The Linebackers played well, and Rolle's interception was great!
And the defensive secondary did a great job of shutting down the pass and helped on run defense.
I think the offensive line had their best game to date.
They blocked the linebackers and end to give the running backs good yardage which helped to up their averages.
We got the 5 - 7 yards consistently but we still need the BIG PLAY/BIG RUN!  It is a big factor in the big games!
I would say it wasn't Pryor's most outstanding performance.  I think he is thinking too much, not delivering the ball quick enough and is hesitant in some ways.
But when he gets in gear, we will be humming right along!
And the receivers were good, although we didn't do alot of passing.

Indiana - not your average Indiana Team!

Indiana truly outplayed Michigan this past weekend at Michigan!  They really beat themselves by having too many fieldgoals and not enough touchdowns!
They tackled well and played decent defense.  And they played on the fact that Michigan is susceptible to the pass - and Indiana did a great job!
Indiana out played and out fought Michigan ---- but they didn't win! 
And, with a questionable interception at the end - they beat themselves.

WE WILL HAVE OUR HANDS FULL ON SATURDAY!