Ohio State 24, Michigan State 17 (final)

[Zem]

Regarding protecting Boeckman, did they usually let the defensive end come in on blitzes and leave it to TB to beat the blitz? Or were fullbacks used in protection. I haven't noticed the fullbacks being required to block very often this year. And I think pass protection would be a big concern against a defense like that at LSU because of Dorsey. (Fortunately, Indiana isn't on the schedule! )

[BengalsAndBucks]

I think that MSU scoring 14 points was the best thing that could have happened to us in this game. First, it made us focus. I am not sure if we lost focus before those 3 plays, if we got complacent, or what happened. But the moment that it happened everyone on the field understood that we couldn't just coast to another win.

But more importantly, did you hear Tressel and Barton after the game? They were [censored]ed off. They cant believe that they played that poorly, albeit for 3 plays, and they are not going to let it happen again. We didn't exactly get hit in the mouth, but we did let them spit in our face, and we responded with a vengeance in that fourth quarter. I was very impressed with the way we responded, and very happy that this happened in a game like Saturday's. If it happened in Happy Valley or Ann Arbor, we might have come out of there with a loss. Instead, we buckled down, finished the game, and realized that we are going to need to play MUCH better if we are to win the Big Ten, which has almost become a foregone conclusion in the media.

The attitudes of the players after the game were great, kinda like the D after Purdue. Sure we won, but its unacceptable that we allowed it to get that close and we are going to make sure that it never happens again.

[Yertle]

First of all, I agree completely that the [censored]ed off reaction by JT and the players is a good thing.

Second, as I mentioned in the Observations thread, our O outscored their O 38-3. We'll fix the wrong endzone part without any major trouble.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Rivals.com$ (Brandon Castel)

Breaking down the offense: Michigan State.............

QB: C
RB: B+
WR/TE: B
Offensive Line: C+

[NightmaresDad]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

Query for those more adept at analyzing the game:

After reading some criticism of Boeckman's decision-making on the interception, what really happened on that play? After watching it a couple times, it looks to me like he made the right read, just made a really poor throw. Thus far, he's made that same throw to Hartline under serious pressure on several other occasions this season. Is that valid, or am I missing something more on that play where he made a really poor decision?

He read the hot receiver correctly, but made a terrible throw because he was flinching from the oncoming hit. (Brett Favre has ruined a whole generation of QBs! j/k) TB said that it was a miscommunication and that he was expecting Hartline to curl rather than slant, but I don't buy that one at all.
I think the defensive pressure had a cumulative effect on TB. He was fine for a while, and the second half he started to be affected more and more by it. He will see a boatlaod of pressure Sat night, so I hope he stands in like he has all year and delivers. He has always had a great knack for finding the open guy, (or knowing who will be open based on the coverage) and that is what you need from your QB against a blitzing team.

I would look for quite a few swing passes and screens in the first half as a way to keep PSU from over-committing to the blitz.

[BB73]

Here are the team awards for the MSU game.

ozone.MSU/teamawards

OSU Team Awards for Michigan State

By John Porentas

The Ohio State coaching staff has announced their selections for team awards for the Michigan State game.

Running back Chris Wells was named the OSU Offensive Player of the week for his performance against the Spartans, while corner back Malcolm Jenkins was named the Defensive Player of the week. Picking up the special teams player of the week award was Shaun Lane for his work on coverage teams.

Offensive lineman Kirk Barton was named the Jim Parker Offensive Lineman of the Week, and defensive end Vernon Gholston was honored at the Attack Force Player of the Week.

On the scout team, Dan "Boom" Herron was the offensive player of the week as well as the special teams player of the week while Chris Rietschlin was the defensive honoree.
Cont'd ...

[BB73]

Jeff Amey's look at the MSU game.

ozone.bythenumbers

By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey

The Ohio State Buckeyes took on the Michigan State Spartans at home in the first game of five that will determine whether or not their current number one ranking belongs to a team that deserves it. Except for a six play stretch in the third quarter, the Buckeyes looked like a number one team, but those six plays and the 24-17 final score, put just enough doubt in some people's minds to have them still question how good this team really is.

This game was a good test for the Buckeyes for a variety of reasons. Mark Dantonio has the Spartans playing a much more physical brand of football than Michigan State teams did under old coach John L. Smith. Their defensive package for the Buckeyes was very aggressive, with the Spartans blitzing early and often to get to the quarterback and disrupt the run blocking. There were times in the game where the Buckeyes handled this pressure well, and other times, especially during that six play stretch in the third quarter, where the momentum was clearly on the Spartan side of the ball.

Let's take a look at the stats.

Cont'd ...