Buckeyes 45, Aggies 0

OK, I'll just come out and say it. I never expected the Buckeyes to cover a 44-point spread. No one is more surprised than me that they did it.
The Good
Offense
Let's face it. The offense racked up more than 500 yards of offense. Even against a team as poor as New Mexico State, I didn't expect that. Speaking of things I didn't expect. I didn't expect Devier Posey to throw a TD pass. Furthermore, I didn't expect the best pass of the day to be thrown by a wide receiver. That's not merely throwing undue criticism at Terrelle Pryor. It's a fact. Just watch that throw by Posey. It is more fundamentally sound, and better placed than any throw by TP or Bauserman.
Jordan Hall looked really good running the ball. Any time you can get 9 yards a carry, you're doing something right. TP had an excellent day running the ball. Boom Herron had a pretty successful day as well. Sanzenbacher and Posey had some good catches and stats. All in all, it was a pretty good day for the offense (after the 1st quarter).
Defense
This was the 3rd shutout of the year for the Bucks defense. As if that weren't impressive enough, the D yielded only 62 total yards and 2 first downs. OK, so the competition was pretty lousy, but still, that is impressive. You'd think a team might be able to stumble into more than 2 first downs.
Special Teams
Well, the onside kick was good. And quite unexpected.
The Bad
Offense
The team sure got off to a slow start. Who would have guessed that the Buckeyes would face 3rd and 9 on 3 different occasions in the 1st quarter? The offensive gameplan at the outset was odd to say the least. It was either a 30-yard (incomplete) pass or a 1-yard run. Pryor still isn't impressing anyone with his arm. He was a very pedestrian 11 of 23 for less than 150 yards. And Bauserman really didn't look any better. But then, he looked like he was in there mostly to get some reps for Devin Barclay.
Defense
None.
Special teams
Ummmm, well the kickoffs had good distance. But four misses, when it is possible that the next couple games could be decided by a field goal? Yikes!
The Ugly
Offense
The first quarter was pretty wretched. And it didn't take long to see why Buckeyes fans are so maddened by the play of Pryor. His first pass: a 43-yard completion that was really well done. His second pass: a flutterball heaved off of his back foot and nearly intercepted, if not for the brilliant defense of Sanzenbacher. The receivers did have some drops but TP had some very poorly thrown balls.
Under the Radar player of the game
All right, loyal reader. You may think this is a cop-out, but hey, it's my blog. In a game like this, it's really difficult to find a UtR player of the game. I have a player in mind, but I will not reveal it. Rather, I am going to ask you to include your selection for the UtR player of the game in a comment.
Hey, anyone remember when scUM was 4-0 and in the top 25?

Poll for the game against NMSU

Through which half will the Buckeyes sleepwalk on Saturday?

First

Second

Both

Neither

Uncle Sal and the Foreboding Fairway (Episode 114)

Uncle Sal, Joe, Alice and Uncle Sal's niece Angie came to the 7th tee. Uncle Sal adjusted his argyle sweater vest and started to give Angie instructions on how to play the menacing Par 4. The fairway was narrow and difficult to hit in the best of circumstances. But the designer wasn't satisfied with that. He had called for a line of trees down one side of the fairway and a large bunker on the other. Making the hole nearly impossible was the fact that the narrow fairway funneled right into a creek.

"Now Angie, you see how impossible this hole is. Only the biggest hitters can get it over the creek. I know you're a pretty big hitter yourself, but you see all the trouble you can get into. It's real easy to take an eight on this hole. Most members will either lay up in front of the creek. Or another thing they'll try is to hit it over to the eighth fairway and then hit it toward the seventh green. The most important thing to do is to keep it straight. Straight and short is better than long and in trouble."

Angie nodded as Uncle Sal put his bright orange ball on the tee. He selected a 3-iron from his bag and hit it so it just ended up on the left edge of the fairway, leaving him a fairly open shot to the green.

Joe hit his shot into the bunker and cursed. Angie merely looked at the hole is if she were trying to stare it into submission. Joe stood next to Sal and said, "She plays pretty good. Big hitter. She outdrives most of the men that play here."

"Don't I know it. She puts me to shame. Y'know, I think if she really wanted to, she could try and become a pro. I never bet with her on the course, even with my handicap. Might as well flush yer money right down the toilet."

Angie stepped to her bag and removed the driver. After staring at the hole for a few more seconds, she took a few practice swings.

Joe nudged Sal and said, "She just took the driver, didn't she?"

Sal nodded.

"But that's crazy. That could wreck her whole round. She takes maybe a triple bogey here, then the next hole's no picnic. Do you really think she's going to..."

"It sure looks like it to me."

Angie addressed the ball and as she got set, Uncle Sal whispered, "Sure enough. She's flying the fairway to seven."

This episode featured:
Matt "Mashie" Niblick as Uncle Sal
Beauregard "Birdie" Fletzen as Joe
Sandy von Trapp as Angie
Hannah Bunker as Alice
and
Jellybean Merengue as the orange ball.

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "Send him back to his father and brothers, who are waiting for him with open arms in the penitentiary."

Vacation is over [sigh]. Back to it.

Loyal reader, it is true that I have been away for a couple weeks, relaxing in the French countryside. And yes, that meant 2 weeks without a weekly Buckeyes wrap-up and without a new episode of the Uncle Sal Chronicles. But hey, give a dude a break. This is the first time in 2+ years that I have taken such a sabbatical from the Uncle Sal Chronicles. But fear not, Salcoholics. You need only wait a few hours more before a new episode of the Chronicles is available for your reading pleasure.

It's official: I am on the Bauserman bandwagon.

OK, I don't normally like forum guy and suggest that I know better than a coach. Furthermore, I know I am just shouting into the wind with this one, I realize that this will not be a unique opinion, but I feel like I have to put in my two cents.

I know that the backup QB is always the most popular player on the team. Except at Texas. And Oklahoma. And Penn State. And Florida, where Tim Tebow is more popular than Jesus. OK, so I got a little sidetracked there. The thing is, Terrelle Pryor is not progressing as a QB. Granted, he doesn't get to throw the ball that frequently, but can you blame Coach Tressel for that? TP regularly throws fluttering passes and makes poor decisions such as throwing into double coverage and taking sacks when he could launch the ball into the fourth row. Let's face it, the weakest part of Pryor's game is passing. How many other programs (outside of the service academies) can say that the QB's weakness is passing?

So my question is this. What do the Buckeyes have to lose by bringing in Bauserman? Pryor's confidence? How can the guy possibly have any confidence when he has shown himself to be more like Stan Jackson than Vince Young? Now is the time to do it with two very winnable games (yeah, I know, we said that about Purdue also) coming up, and with no shot whatsoever of playing for the national championship (that was kissed goodbye after the USC game). Yeah, I know. What happens to Pryor if Bauserman is installed as QB? Use his athletic ability. The guy can run like nobody's business. Make him an H-back or something. And yes, I do realize that it s hard to just change the offense in the middle of the season. But just imagine the effect on opposing defenses of seeing q QB that can actually throw the ball. Think about it this way. If Boeckman can lose the job because he was ineffective, why can't TP? Just because all through high school he had college coaches telling him his farts don't stink? There is really nothing to lose. Why not give Bauserman a chance?

Upcoming OSU schedule

I will be unable to catch the next few Buckeyes games, and therefore will be unable to provide you with my weekly Buckeyes wrap-up. I will, however, refer you to four links in my links list: Rantings of a Beaten Down Buckeye, Slag's House of Stats, Bucks Insider, Buckeye Banter. You will be able to find excellent game analysis at any one of these sites.

Uncle Sal and the Blundering Baseballers (Episode 113)

Uncle Sal looked at the sports section, shook his head and said, "Hmmmmm."

Alice glanced across the table at him and said, "What seems to be the trouble, Sal."

After a glance at his Gregarious Gnu watch, he said, "The trouble is that the playoffs start next week and the Wombats look like they're falling apart. I never seen a sorrier buncha saps than these guys. Take this story, for instance. It's in the police report part of the sports section. Seems like the Wombats power hitter, that's a guy called Stokes Benchley, got himself into trouble. He gets pulled over a couple nights ago. The cops, they say they was pulling him over because he had a tail light out. But when they get to his car, they find he's got a prostitute and a small amount of marijuana on the seat. Turns out, that was only the beginning. They asked him to pop the trunk and found a couple kilos of dope in there."

The waitress arrived with Alice's soft-boiled egg and toast, and Uncle Sal's corned beef hash with home fries. Sal immediately doused his fries with hot sauce and ketchup and continued.

"Then ya got Frankie Meyer, who flipped out when the Wombats were on the road. Meyer, he's an obsessive-compulsive neat freak. But when they were on the road, he roomed with the shortstop, who apparently is a total slob. Well, three days of rooming with this guy, and Meyer had a complete breakdown."

Uncle Sal shoveled some hash into his mouth and said, "You believe these guys?"

Alice was never sure what to say when Sal got to ranting about the Wombats. She merely shook her head. Although she didn't really need to say anything.

"I can't believe 'em, that's for sure. Two days away from the playoffs and you got Stokes on the blotter and Meyer in the sty."

This episode featured:
Deepak "Purple" Singh as Uncle Sal
Lizette Stoneman as Alice
and
Jellybean Merengue as the soft-boiled egg.

Tune in next week, when Uncle Sal says, "This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang."

Buckeyes 33, Hoosiers 14

This edition of the weekly Buckeyes wrap up is brought to you by beef jerky, the perfect snack for those warm days when you're out in the sun.

Well, that was an interesting game...in a way. What was interesting is that the Buckeyes looked at once dominating and fairly pedestrian.
The Good
Offense
Another game, another 30-point performance by the offense. Be honest. After the USC game, did you think this team was even capable of scoring 30 points a game, let alone scoring 30 points in 3 consecutive games? The Buckeyes ran the ball really well. It was nice to see Brandon Saine get loose like he did. He averaged more than 6.5 yards per carry. I'll take some more of that. Terrelle Pryor had a solid but certainly not spectacular game. He did a really good job of distributing the ball. When was the last time 7 different Buckeyes caught a pass in one game? Duron Carter's TD catch was awesome. Looks like he picked up some things from his old man.
Defense
The Hoosiers had only 11 first downs and 228 yards in the entire game. That means the defense is doing its job. Ross Homan had a good game. Robert Rose was pretty solid. Todd Denlinger's interception was very well done. It's pretty awesome for a defensive lineman to read the quarterback like that and then jump the route and get the interception. It was good to see Anderson Russell have a good game.
Here is another note that belongs to both the offense and defense: the Buckeyes were flagged for only 2 penalties in this game.
The Bad
Offense
The offense still settles for too many field goal attempts, made even worse in this game by the fact that Pettrey missed 2 field goal attempts. Even though Pryor had a pretty solid game passing the ball, it's not like he was racking up the yards.
Defense
The defense really only had one bad series when it allowed Tandon Doss to do more or less whatever he wanted. Still 9 quarters without surrendering a point is tremendous.
The Ugly
Offense
Some of Pryor's throws were just not very good. Luckily, he had his receivers bail him out on several occasions. Also, the kid needs to learn when to give up on a play and heave the ball out of bounds. Someone needs to teach him that 2nd and 10 is much more favorable than 2nd and 19.
Defense
None.
Special Teams
Missing 2 field goals is not a good thing, but Pettrey's second miss was awful. It wasn't anywhere near the uprights.
Under the Radar player of the game
It's always harder to pick this when a game is never in doubt. Robert Rose deserves some consideration for registering a safety and a sack. However, part of this award is praising those who have been the object of harsh criticism in the. With that in mind, I have to give it to Anderson Russell in this contest. Against Navy, he looked lost, but in this game he had both a fumble recovery and an interception. And for that, he is worthy of the UtR player of the game.