10 Things We Learned From Gopher Extermination
By Brandon Castel
As usual, Brandon is right on!
1. Regardless of venue, Gophers no match for Buckeyes. Indoors or out. Rain or shine. Icy or blistering. Columbus or Minneapolis. The Horseshoe or the Metrodome, or TFC Bank Stadium, or for that matter Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the “Smurf Turf” at Boise State or the middle of the Frozen Tundra. There wasn’t a setting on the planet where Minnesota could have beaten Ohio State on Saturday night, at least not the Ohio State team that showed up. While they played better than some had expected, the Gophers were overmatched in every facet of the game. Historically, it hasn’t been much better for Minnesota. They are just 7-43 all time against the Buckeyes and have only four wins in 25 tries in Minneapolis. Their new venue is certainly upgrade from the old one, but it didn’t make much of a difference in the outcome.
2. The 2010 Buckeyes feast on lesser opponents. Maybe more than any OSU team in recent history, this Buckeye squad loves to obliterate weaker opponents. That doesn’t make them the best Ohio State team by any means, but they don’t mess around when it comes to these second-tier programs. Not including their three toughest games of the year against Miami, Illinois and Wisconsin, the Buckeyes have outscored their six other opponents by a combined score of 300-54. That’s an average of 50-9 in those six games, but in the other three games, they have outscored their opponents just 78-68.
3. Boom can be a feature back. I wrote a feature story on Friday about how good Boom Herron has been this season, and really throughout his career at OSU when it comes to getting in the end zone. Saturday he proved he can be a feature back at Ohio State. That’s something we weren’t quite sure of before. He has had some good games during his career, including seven-straight games with a touchdown coming into Saturday, but never had he rushed for more than 100 yards in a game. Part of that is the fact he’s only carried the ball 20+ times in a games on three occasions, but he didn’t even 20 carries to top the century mark against Minnesota. In fact, he didn’t even need the second half.
Boom went for a career-high 114 yards on 17 carries in the first half and then called it a day. Had he continued running the ball the rest of the day, he likely would have topped 200 yards on the ground. He has always had the toughness and the burst, but this year Herron has added patience to his game. He is waiting for his blocks to develop and if there’s nothing there, he’s making the right cuts to find running room. The Buckeyes aren’t going to have him toting the rock 30 times a game, but it’s clear now that he could give them 20 carries a game and be one of the most productive backs in the Big Ten.
4. Pryor already among all-time bests. In the history of Ohio State football, there are three names with over 7,000 total yards: Art Schlichter, Bobby Hoying and now Terrelle Pryor. With his 277 total yards Saturday, Pryor passed Hoying for second place on the all-time list. He is also second all-time in total touchdowns with 69 and fourth all-time in touchdown passes with 50. He now has 20 touchdown passes this season and with eight more in the next four games, he will become the all-time career-leader in school history.
Sure, Pryor has started a lot of games in his OSU career. Not many players have started at quarterback as a true freshman, but Pryor needs one more 200-yard game to pass Troy Smith (19) for the most ever. He is obliterating the records of those who came before him and the scary thing is he just keeps getting better.
5. DeVier Posey can be a big-time playmaker. There were many ready to write Posey off as a potential No. 1 receiver after his lackluster performance at Wisconsin. Posey dropped a number of catchable balls in that game and didn’t seem to do much of anything that the Badgers would need to be scared of. However, Saturday, we were reminded of dangerous Posey can be when he brings his A-game. The junior out of Cincinnati caught six passes for 115 yards, including a spectacular grab in the end zone on a 38-yard touchdown just before halftime.
It was Posey’s third 100-yard receiving game of the season and fifth of his career. More importantly, the Buckeyes seemed to call routes that got him open down the field. When he is playing at the level, it makes everyone around him better. He becomes the focal point of the secondary, which leaves things open for guys like Dane Sanzenbacher, Brandon Saine, Philly Brown and Jake Stoneburner.
6. Stoneburner still not healthy. One problem with that is that Stoneburner still isn’t healthy enough to be a threat in the passing game. When he was healthy, the former wideout had nine catches in the first three games of the season, including a career-high five against Ohio University. He suffered a high ankle sprain the following week and has not been a factor ever since. He missed two games and has only tallied two catches in the last three games since coming back. He one grab for three yards against the Gophers and just doesn’t seem to be a factor in the Ohio State scheme, which tells us that he is still not healthy enough to create the kinds of mismatches he was early in the season.
7. OSU safeties had not been tested. The Buckeyes may not have been able to use Stoneburner to stretch the field, but Minnesota was able to do it with their tight ends. Consider a week spot before the year began, Ohio State’s safeties had gone relatively untested before Saturday’s game. That’s when the Gophers went right at them, targeting Jermale Hines and Orhian Johnson the way other teams should have earlier in the year. Adam Weber completed three passes of 30 yards or more right in front of OSU defenders, burning each of OSU’s starting safeties on the opening touchdown drive. It will be interesting to see if anyone else can exploit this because the Buckeyes did settle in after that drive thanks to the pressure from their front four.
8. Rolle still a force on OSU defense. That pressure also came from linebacker Brian Rolle, who had a breakout game for the Buckeyes. With Ross Homan out, Rolle has become OSU’s leading tackler this season but that has as much to do with his position as his level of play. After posting a breakout season as a junior last season, Rolle has been non-existent in a number of big games this season, most notably the loss at Wisconsin. He showed up at Minnesota, however, tallying a team-high six tackles to go with 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
9. Ohio State has special teams too. The only thing that has drawn attention to OSU’s special teams this season is their horrendous play. For the first time in a while, the Buckeyes actually won the special teams battle against Minnesota. They were still far from flawless on kick coverage, and Devin Barclay somehow missed a 21-yard field goal (not even sure how that’s possible), but the Buckeyes had a number of big momentum swings thanks to their special teams. The first one came on the opening kickoff when Jordan Hall brought it back 34 yards to set up the first touchdown drive. Hall also had a 70-yard punt return that got stopped at the two-yard line, but it was the blocked punt that really made a difference.
After taking a 31-7 lead into halftime, the Buckeyes had actually been outscored 3-0 through most of the third quarter. That all changed when linebacker Jonathan Newsome blocked a punt by Dan Orseske that was recovered in the end zone by safety Zach Domicone. Orseske also shanked a 10-yard punt at the end of the first half that led to the long touchdown pass from Pryor to Posey.
10. Not to get stopped at the two-yard line on a 70-yard punt return. As good as their special teams were, there is no excuse for getting tackled at the two-yard line. It was a big play by Hall, who weaved in and out of traffic before he found a running lane, but the Buckeyes gave the momentum right back on the next play with an interception. That’s not Hall’s fault, but he can’t leave that up to the offense. The great ones finish those kinds of plays.
Heisman Watch
Tracking the CandidatesOct. 31, 2010
1 Cameron NewtonQB | AuburnNext Game: 11/6 vs. CHAT
So he catches TDs, too? Newton had himself a Heisman moment when he caught a TD pass in Auburn's 51-31 win over Ole Miss as the Tigers avoided the No. 1 curse that has been plaguing previous inhabitants of the top spot. He added two touchdown passes for the 9-0 Tigers, who are on a collision course with Alabama in a high-stakes Iron Bowl on Nov. 26.
WEEK 9 AT MISSISSIPPI
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
175.6 209 2 0 75.0
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
45 0 4.1
2010 SEASON
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
172.6 1573 15 5 66.7
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
1122 14 6.7
2 LaMichael JamesRB | OregonNext Game: 11/6 vs. WASH
James turned in his third 200-plus-yard rushing performance of the season, going for 239 yards and three touchdowns in the Ducks' 53-32 win over USC. He leads the nation in rushing yards per game by a healthy margin and appears to be Newton's stiffest competition heading into the final stretch of the season. Oregon hosts Washington on Saturday.
WEEK 9 AT USC
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
239 3 6.6
RECEIVING
REC YDS YPR TD
1 -2 0.0 0
2010 SEASON
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
1210 14 7.1
RECEIVING
REC YDS YPR TD
5 119 23.8 1
3 Kellen MooreQB | Boise StateNext Game: 11/6 vs. HAW
Moore caught a touchdown pass and threw for two more in Boise State's midweek win over Louisiana Tech. The Broncos host fellow WAC unbeaten Hawaii next.
WEEK 9 VS. LOUISIANA TECH
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
177.3 298 2 1 71.4
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
-13 0 -13.0
2010 SEASON
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
188.3 1865 18 2 69.8
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
-24 0 -2.7
4 Andrew LuckQB | StanfordNext Game: 11/6 vs. ARIZ
His numbers in a 41-0 rout of Washington weren't overwhelming but they didn't need to be. Luck's 51-yard touchdown run opened the scoring for the Cardinal and they never looked back. He added 192 yards passing and a touchdown as Stanford collected its third straight win.
WEEK 9 AT WASHINGTON
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
140.1 192 1 1 73.1
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
92 1 18.4
2010 SEASON
PASSING
RAT YDS TD INT CMP%
162.5 1920 20 6 67.3
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
345 3 8.6
5 Justin BlackmonWR | Oklahoma StateNext Game: 11/6 vs. BAY
Blackmon was suspended for Oklahoma State's win over Kansas State after being arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge. The Cowboys are back in action on Saturday with a visit from Baylor.
WEEK 8 VS. NEBRASKA
RECEIVING
REC YDS YPR TD
5 157 31.4 2
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
0 0 0.0
2010 SEASON
RECEIVING
REC YDS YPR TD
62 1112 17.9 14
RUSHING
YDS TD YPC
8 0 2.7
BCS Standings - October 31, 2010
1 Oregon .9777 2 1 2823 .9905 1 1464 .9925 2 2 3 7 2 2 2 .950
2 Auburn .9599 1 2 2683 .9414 2 1384 .9383 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.000
3 TCU .8911 4 4 2529 .8874 4 1292 .8759 3 6 2 2 3 5 3 .910
4 Boise State .8824 3 3 2635 .9246 3 1361 .9227 5 4 5 5 7 13 7 .800
5 Utah .7318 8 6 2171 .7618 6 1141 .7736 9 8 7 10 10 10 13 .660
6 Alabama .7185 7 5 2346 .8232 5 1213 .8224 15 9 4 13 16 17 15 .510
7 Nebraska .6869 14 11 1793 .6291 10 961 .6515 6 10 8 6 6 4 6 .780
8 Oklahoma .6849 9 9 1891 .6635 9 990 .6712 8 7 10 4 5 11 10 .720
9 Wisconsin .6740 10 7 2041 .7161 7 1100 .7458 11 16 9 16 14 6 9 .560
10 LSU .6540 12 12 1705 .5982 11 861 .5837 6 3 6 9 8 8 4 .780
11 Ohio State .6127 11 8 1986 .6968 8 1049 .7112 16 15 15 15 18 16 14 .430
12 Missouri .5940 6 15 1293 .4537 14 676 .4583 4 5 11 3 4 3 5 .870
13 Stanford .5780 13 10 1797 .6305 12 846 .5736 12 14 17 14 12 7 11 .530
14 Michigan State .5136 5 16 1279 .4488 15 652 .4420 10 11 13 8 11 9 8 .650
15 Arizona .4936 15 13 1378 .4835 13 704 .4773 13 12 16 12 9 12 16 .520
16 Iowa .4291 18 14 1307 .4586 16 647 .4386 17 18 12 17 15 15 18 .390
17 Oklahoma State .3868 17 18 925 .3246 18 466 .3159 13 13 14 11 13 14 12 .520
18 Arkansas .2944 19 17 971 .3407 19 446 .3024 19 19 23 18 21 21 19 .240
19 South Carolina .2725 20 19 903 .3168 17 517 .3505 21 20 20 22 24 0 23 .150
20 Mississippi State .2428 21 21 574 .2014 21 320 .2169 18 17 18 20 19 19 17 .310
21 Baylor .1792 25 22 422 .1481 22 250 .1695 20 22 25 19 20 20 20 .220
22 Virginia Tech .1595 23 20 631 .2214 20 379 .2569 28 0 21 0 0 0 0 .000
23 Nevada .0957 24 23 288 .1011 23 112 .0759 23 23 0 21 23 23 24 .110
24 Florida State .0737 16 24 252 .0884 24 107 .0725 24 25 24 25 0 24 22 .060
25 North Carolina State .0546 NR 25 139 .0488 25 96 .0651 25 24 22 24 0 0 25 .050
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