Well, how did we do? Let’s take a look at our pre-game thoughts….
Eric
Keep passing to the TE’s and RB’s – Success! We did throw it at least twice towards the TE, and Brandon Saine had a couple of nice catches for yardage (and a third that would have gone for 6 had it been thrown to his inside shoulder). This was a nice portion of our gameplan, if only it had been executed better.
Better blocking from the RB’s – Success! One major sack cost us, and it came from a blown block by a TE. the RBs did a good job of protecting Pryor while he was in the pocket. They also managed to elimiate a weak-side rush when Pryor left the pocket more than a couple of times.
The Defensive Line must slow – if not stop – the run – Success! All but one costly drive, the Buckeyes stopped the run. 118 rushing yards for USC….McKnight should have topped that on his own, but our strong D wouldn’t let him.
The secondary has to grow up and make plays – Success! The secondary shut down the big play for most of the game. The biggest pass plays came from RBs getting dump-offs for big yards after the catch.
Jim
We must make some big plays early – Success! Two passes totally 90 yards in the first quarter counts for something.
We must break Matt Barkley – We shook him, but didn’t break him. And the way he handed the ball off 10 times in that last drive….why he’s a Heisman winner for sure!
Pryor must roll out of the pocket – Success, with limited success. Pryor left the pocket plenty, but USC had good pursuit going.
We must stop pulling guards on short yardage plays – Fail. Dammit dammit dammit.
Jeff
A freshman quarterback on his back A LOT – Not good enough. We rung his bell a few times, but he got the protection when he needed it the most. Bruising his shoulder for the Washington game was not going to help us.
No mental mistakes – 5 penalties for 37 yards? No, that’s not good
Terrelle Pryor – leave the pocket – See above
Make Joe McKnight have more than half of USC’s total offense – He had less than half, but it was because we held him down for so long.
NOISE NOISE NOISE* – Thank you, fans! When Kirk Herbstreit says “it never got this loud when I played here”, that’s a huge compliment!
MaliBuckeye
Barkley flustered – Success, except for that last drive. We shut him down most of the night and he threw some pretty bad passes on a handful of downs.
No false starts or stupid offensive line penalties – Dammit dammit dammit
U$C’s defense out of position – We succeeded with that, but we didn’t execute when we had the openings. Again, see Pryor’s scramble and pass to Saine inside the ten.
Mark May with his foot in his mouth – Almost, Mark. Almost.
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