Thoughts heading down the homestretch

Chalk up another confidence building, dominating,  “feel good” win for the Buckeyes. Ohio State established the run, mixed in an effective and efficient passing attack, and made enough adjustments on defense to shut down Minnesota after some early bumps in the road.

Like last week, the quality of the opponent has to be taken into consideration when evaluating the performance and looking forward, but the Buckeyes did exactly what you wanted to see them do against Minnesota, and you can’t ask for more than that.

The defense did give up some big pass plays early, but that was almost expected given the injuries in the secondary and the experience of 4th year starter Adam Weber. Even with the big plays early (giving up a four play touchdown drive on the first series is, uh, less than ideal) the defense made adjustments, canceled out the play action pass with well timed CB blitzes, and turned a hot start for Weber into a very long and painful day (5 sacks, most of which were at the upper limit of the pain scale).

The other positive from the game was that it was by far the best performance  on the road this season. Once again, it was against a bad Minnesota team, but it was still nice to see the Buckeyes have some success away from Columbus. I am not sure if this performance means anything (it doesn’t) for the next big test at Iowa, but it can’t hurt to gain some confidence playing away from home.

Here are some thoughts on this game and for the final three games of the season.

• Boom Herron made some great cutbacks and plays that we haven’t seen much of all year. Could it be that we are finally giving enough carries to one back to let them get into a “groove” running the ball?
• Brandon Saine is terrible at making cuts. Great straight ahead speed, terrible juke moves. Running backs are supposed to plant and go, it takes Saine three or four steps to plant and by the time he is ready to go it is too late. At the same time, he is a weapon, you just have to be careful about the way you get him the ball.
• Reid Fragel got the start at tight end and played more than he has all season. At least some of the credit for the success running the ball has to go to Fragel’s run blocking, particularly the plays where he did an excellent job sealing the edge and allowing the back to bounce it outside. The Buckeyes usually make some late season adjustments that pay huge dividends, Fragel getting more time could be that adjustment this year.
• DeVier Posey had a good to great game, but he still seems to lack the consistency and focus that would take him into “great receiver” status. It will be interesting to see what his draft stock is, it seems to me like he could benefit greatly from another year in college to work on the little things that will take him to the next level.
• It is great to see Pryor shredding bad defenses through the air. He has done it all season now to the point where it is to be expected. However, we have yet to see him take the team on his back passing the ball in a high pressure road contest (even in the Rose Bowl, he only completed 23 of 37 passes, which is good, but not dominating). If he can put together a highly efficient performance at Iowa, we will be in great shape, if he struggles, it could be a long night.
• The secondary gave up some big pass plays early, but it seemed like the issue was failure to look back for the ball rather than blown coverages. That could be more nerves and lack of experience than any problems. It is clearly an issue and something that the coaches need to address, but nothing worth pushing the panic button over.

The bye week is a boring time for fans, but if the team can get healthy and continue to stay focused, it should be beneficial. Penn State and Michigan are not to be taken lightly, but they are far from elite this season. The Iowa game looms large.