Ohio State 34, Minnesota 21 (Sep. 27)

[3074326]

k much better thx

In all seriousness.. I hope to see some backups Saturday. We need another one of those games, and we need to show the Big 10 that we're still the best.

[UpNorthBuckeye]

OSU 41 - 16

everybody plays

TD receptions for Ballard, Saine and Sanzenbacher.

Beanie for 118.
Mo Wells for 75.
Bauserman throws his first OSU TD pass.

After the game, in his press conference, Tressel says of Minnesota, "they kept fighting.... they have some good players..." and "we were able to do some of the things we wanted to do...."

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by Taosman

Puts the opposing defense in a real quandary on how to play. Gives TP even more time to read secondary. More time for receivers to get open.
More points and effectiveness.

I think Taos just won sentence fragment bingo!

[bucknutt76]

Originally Posted by UpNorthBuckeye

OSU 41 - 16

everybody plays

TD receptions for Ballard, Saine and Sanzenbacher.

Beanie for 118.
Mo Wells for 75.
Bauserman throws his first OSU TD pass.

After the game, in his press conference, Tressel says of Minnesota, "they kept fighting.... they have some good players..." and "we were able to do some of the things we wanted to do...."

Sounds just like JT

[osugrad21]

BN Free--Buckeyes Open Big Ten With 4-0 Minnesota

BN Free--Coaches Quotebook: Doc On Beanie, Haynes On The Safeties

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Golden Gophers: Digging out of a hole

Thursday, September 25, 2008 3:17 AM

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Roof gets Gophers defense on track

Thursday, September 25, 2008 3:19 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
It was bad enough for Willie VanDeSteeg last season, trying to fend off blockers with one hand while a cast encased his other, protecting a broken wrist. "Not being able to use both hands is pretty tough," the Minnesota defensive end said.
Imagine what some of his teammates felt like, trying to play with no legs.
To say the Gophers defense was slow in 2007 is to say Jim Tressel plays close to the vest. Opponents rang up more than 500 yards per game. Their defensive coordinator left for another school, and coach Tim Brewster replaced him with veteran coordinator Ted Roof, who had been fired as Duke's coach.
"My fourth defensive coordinator at Minnesota. There's been a change every year," said VanDeSteeg, a fifth-year senior who was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2006, when he had two good hands and 10 sacks.
"I've kind of tried to teach everybody else that change is sometimes for the better."
The verdict on this latest change is still out after four nonconference victories over opponents -- one of them from the Football Championship Subdivision -- that are a combined 4-9.
Cont...

[osugrad21]

Link

Brewster ready to throw his young team into the deep end


Austin Cumblad 09/25/2008 Minnesota football head coach Tim Brewster hasn?t crunched the numbers, but he?s said several times since the season started that he believes the Gophers are the youngest team in college football.
It?s a nearly impossible claim to prove, but Brewster certainly believes that he has an inexperienced team.
According to this week?s depth chart, Minnesota will start three redshirt freshmen on the offensive line Saturday at Ohio State.
When Montana State visited the Metrodome two weeks ago, true freshman Shady Salamon got the start at tailback. Last week, fellow freshman DeLeon Eskridge was in the backfield for the first drive against Florida Atlantic.
And athough he?s hardly played like it this year, quarterback Adam Weber, a redshirt sophomore, is only in his second year at the offensive helm.
On the other side of the ball, the Gophers don?t field quite as much youth, but the defense is just as new.
Free safety Tramaine Brock, cornerback Traye Simmons, linebacker Simoni Lawrence and defensive end Cedric McKinley are all junior college transfers in their first year at Minnesota.
Cont...

[Dryden]

Brewster ready to throw his young team into the deep end

Maybe we should suit up Thump to help drown the gophers?

[buckeyes_rock]

Originally Posted by 3074326

k much better thx

In all seriousness.. I hope to see some backups Saturday. We need another one of those games, and we need to show the Big 10 that we're still the best.

I agree. I was over on the Big Ten Network page and they have a power rankings blog...with OSU at #3. Football Power Rankings - Big Ten Network

Earlier this week they had a fan poll for who will win the Big Ten...Penn St was the overwhelming favorite. I know this is just one website's example...but the rest of the Big Ten suddenly sees us as vulerable. Time to fix that fellas by blowing out Minny.

[Tlangs]

Originally Posted by buckeyes_rock

I agree. I was over on the Big Ten Network page and they have a power rankings blog...with OSU at #3. Football Power Rankings - Big Ten Network

Earlier this week they had a fan poll for who will win the Big Ten...Penn St was the overwhelming favorite. I know this is just one website's example...but the rest of the Big Ten suddenly sees us as vulerable. Time to fix that fellas by blowing out Minny.

If Beanie comes back and is productive, all those opinions will change immediately.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com$ (Marcus Hartman)

Five Questions: Minnesota at OSU.................fast start on offense and facing a spread attack.

[osugrad21]

Link

Big Willie Style - Senior leads Gophers to 4-0 start

September 25, 2008 - 9:24am ? Eric Kraushar


Wherever Willie VanDeSteeg has played football, success has followed him. Whether it was youth football or high school football at Glencoe-Silver Lake, he was a part of a winning team.
Even his first two seasons as an active member of the University of Minnesota team, the team managed winning seasons and trips to bowl games.
So when the Gophers squad went 1-11 last year, it was a different feeling for VanDeSteeg, who was in his first year as a captain.
?It is pretty much was the first year I wasn?t on a winning team or one that wasn?t successful. But that may have been a good thing for me personally. It only made me a stronger person and a stronger football player,? he said. ?Adversity is something that everyone needs to go through in their life. You can bounce back and get on a roll again.?
Things were only worse when VanDeSteeg suffered a bone in his wrist prior to the season opener.
After recording a sophomore team-record 10 sacks and earning All-Big Ten second team honors, he collected only 29 tackles and one sack wearing a cast on his hand.
?When you?re going against a 315-320 pound offensive lineman at the top level of college football, and you only have one good hand ? yeah, it was tough,? VanDeSteeg said. ?You want to be healthy so you can make an impact.?
Cont...

[craigblitz]

Pryor carrying out every fake in the I-formation will still freeze the backside every play.

That is something I noticed a lot in our first 3 games... The opponets were making a ton of plays from the backside. It was almost like teams had DE's and OLB's coming full blast off the backside to either get to Todd or make a play if it was not play action.

I did not see nearly as many backside plays vs Troy. Better O-Line Play, respect for Pryor and the potential of a big play if backside pressure does not get to him? Either way it was a comment and observation that stood out to me.

[Tlangs]

Originally Posted by craigblitz

That is something I noticed a lot in our first 3 games... The opponets were making a ton of plays from the backside. It was almost like teams had DE's and OLB's coming full blast off the backside to either get to Todd or make a play if it was not play action.

I did not see nearly as many backside plays vs Troy. Better O-Line Play, respect for Pryor and the potential of a big play if backside pressure does not get to him? Either way it was a comment and observation that stood out to me.

i hadn't thought of that before but now that i think about it...you are right. Sweet...now i have an excuse to watch the Troy game again. Tonight will be spent monitoring back side pressure (during the game, not in my bathroom)