Game Thread Ohio State 24, Michigan State 17 (final)

[fourteenandoh]

We won and let's all get that straight. Don't start throwing rubbies my way.

I haven't seen us play scared in a long time. Downing a kick off and running off tackle the entire fourth quarter was playing scared. With that said, I think it was the prudent thing to do. TB was a little shell shocked and I wouldn't have trusted him to throw us out of our troubles. JT is the opposite of Miles. That guy is an idiot. We did what we had to do to win and that's fine with me.

 

[Cicero]

The two turnovers aside our team played a good game today. The way they responded to the two big turnovers made this a great game. Their reponse to the adversity was to grab their lunch pails and go to work. That is what champions do.

 

[Zurp]

Do the 14 pts MSU scored on turnovers count against the defense?

It depends. The statistics are only as good as the one reporting them. A lot of times, they'll just report points-for and points-against. If they report the points-against, those 14 points will be reported. But if they specify the points against Ohio State's defense, they usually will not include those 2 touchdowns, or the touchdown given up to Northwestern (kickoff return), or the safety given up to Akron.

 

[notfadeaway]

Looking forward to reading the coverage that you guys post from the Ohio newspapers

 

[Ash]

We won and let's all get that straight. Don't start throwing rubbies my way.

I haven't seen us play scared in a long time. Downing a kick off and running off tackle the entire fourth quarter was playing scared. With that said, I think it was the prudent thing to do. TB was a little shell shocked and I wouldn't have trusted him to throw us out of our troubles. JT is the opposite of Miles. That guy is an idiot. We did what we had to do to win and that's fine with me.

Downing a kick off was due to the fact that Ohio State was set up for an onside kick. Would you rather have had Branden get killed by unblocked Michigan State players? Also, I'm sure we didn't run off tackle the entire 4th quarter. If you're talking about the final few minutes it is pretty standard operating procedure to use a strong running attack to kill the clock at the end of a game. This is especially true for Jim Tressel, it can be frustrating at times to see the same plays seemingly over and over towards the end of a game but you cannot argue with the results.

 

[Jaxbuck]

We won and let's all get that straight. Don't start throwing rubbies my way.

I haven't seen us play scared in a long time. Downing a kick off and running off tackle the entire fourth quarter was playing scared. With that said, I think it was the prudent thing to do. TB was a little shell shocked and I wouldn't have trusted him to throw us out of our troubles. JT is the opposite of Miles. That guy is an idiot. We did what we had to do to win and that's fine with me.

Running off tackle in the 4th quarter with a lead is not playing scared.

Its going for the throat and doing it in such a way that they know exactly what you are doing but can't do a damn thing to stop you from doing it.

I'll take JT's version of how to finish a game over a certain homouex's ever increasing levels of insanity on 4th down any day of the week.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Looking forward to reading the coverage that you guys post from the Ohio newspapers

 

[sandgk]

Dispatch - Quite a fright

Quite a fright
Wells' toughest runs come late, seal narrow win
Sunday, October 21, 2007 4:15 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A player's worth is not proved early in games, when the sun shines brightly and his team is way ahead. It's when the shadows are deepening and throats are tightening that true value is determined.
Yesterday in Ohio Stadium, that's when Ohio State running back Chris "Beanie" Wells finally rose up, shaking off a painful ankle and shouldering the load in a 24-17 victory over Michigan State.
Wells carried seven straight times, picking up three first downs, to allow the top-ranked Buckeyes to run the final 3:38 off the clock and preserve a win that came much harder than it appeared it would, or even should.
"I always want to be that guy to carry the football, every time the team needs me," said Wells, who has a bone chip in his ankle that likely will require arthroscopic surgery. "It has just been hard to do with nagging injuries."
That last effort gave the sophomore 31 carries for 221 yards, both career highs and the first 200-yard game for Ohio State since Maurice Clarett had 230 against Washington State in 2002.
"We knew for us to be a good team, we were going to need Beanie to be a warrior, a workhorse," coach Jim Tressel said.
What was most surprising was that Wells' final contribution was so sorely needed. The Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) appeared to have the game in hand midway through the third quarter. Two Todd Boeckman touchdown passes and a Wells score had staked the Buckeyes to a 24-0 lead, and the defense was its normal, smothering self.

 

[sandgk]

Dispatch - Wells Surpasses 200 Yards

Wells surpasses 200 yards

Sunday, October 21, 2007 4:03 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Chris "Beanie" Wells had a game to remember yesterday, rushing for 221 yards -- the ninth most by an Ohio State back -- in a 24-17 win over Michigan State. Yet the play he probably will remember most is a 9-yard loss. It was the result of his jumping on his own fumble at the OSU 13-yard line and came after Michigan State had scored two straight touchdowns on turnovers by quarterback Todd Boeckman.
When the ball left Wells' hands, there was nothing complex about his thought process.
"Just get on the ball, get on the football," Wells said. "I lost control of it and that was my bad. I just had to get on the ball."
Antonio Jeremiah, a Hilliard Darby graduate, had poked the ball away from Wells. Two Michigan State players converged on it, but neither could collect it as it bounced back toward the sprawling Wells.
In a way, his recovery saved the day for the top-ranked Buckeyes. It definitely kept his game from falling out of the memorable category.
He carried a career-high 31 times even as he dealt with a nagging left ankle injury that looks like it will bother him all season.
But he carried the ball on the first seven plays of OSU's eight-play drive to end the game, and he was feeling great.
"That last drive, I could have taken the ball 20 times, I felt," Wells said. "I mean, I got real strong that last drive."

 

[sandgk]

Dispatch Scarlet and Gray Matter

The game at hand

Short-attention-span synopsis: Ohio State offense goes into unexpected labor, so Dr. "D" must again perform emergency delivery. Beanie in overdrive, but Boeckman pulls a U-turn. Michigan State Spartan in more ways than one.
Pregame buzz: The Buckeyes finally were going to face a legitimate team with a threatening running game that ranked ninth in the nation. Four quarters later, we're still waiting.
The $63 question: If only the Buckeyes offense was as perfect as the weather. Still, watching Beanie break a few was worth half the price of admission. The other half? Meeting up with old college friends to rehash the dumb stuff you did decades ago.
One-liner: Q: Why did Saine kneel on the late kickoff return? A: He was praying that 1998 would not happen again.
Just wondering: Who is in charge of what passes for "entertainment" on the big-screen scoreboard? A dancing apple? Huh? And "No soup for you" was funny 12 years ago when it first aired on Seinfeld.
Buckeyes branding: It's official. The vest has become as synonymous with Jim Tressel as the white short-sleeve shirt was to Woody Hayes, the red sweater is to Bobby Knight and the hound's-tooth fedora was to Bear Bryant. There's no other way to see it after ABC spent several minutes of its telecast talking about Tress' famous attire, including getting Thad Matta in on the act.



On tap

Roooaaarrrr. A trip to Happy Valley awaits the nation's alleged No. 1 team. Tough to know what the Buckeyes should fear more, the Nittany Lions' defense or JoePa stopping their bus on the way to the stadium in a fit of road rage.

 

[sandgk]

Dispatch - Defense gets no Satisfaction - That's why it's So Good

The question that has hung around like a mooching relative -- Is No. 1 Ohio State that good? -- received at least a partial answer yesterday. It's still hard to be sure whether the unbeaten Buckeyes have played an opponent strong enough to prove much, but their 24-17 win over Michigan State made a convincing point: Their defense is no impostor.
Two weeks ago, Ohio State faced a Purdue team that boasted the No. 1 offense in the Big Ten and shut it down in a 23-7 win. Yesterday the Spartans had that same designation, and the same thing happened. Purdue and Michigan State have distinctively different styles -- the Boilermakers spread it out and make a defense cover every inch of the field, and the Spartans attack like a hammer -- and neither team got anywhere against the Buckeyes.
As a whole, the Big Ten still has trouble mustering so much as a loud "boo" on a national scale, but the Buckeyes defense seems to have proved that at least its part of that No. 1 ranking is no fluke.

 

[sandgk]

Detroit Free Press - Lesson No.1 For MSU, Don't Let The Score Fool You

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- By the time this one ended, every Ohio State stomach was in knots; the block "O" at midfield turned into an "8."
Michigan State, employing the time-tested strategy of not letting any of its offensive players near the ball, pulled to within a touchdown before losing to the No. 1 team in the country.
But when it comes to Ohio State 24, Michigan State 17, I don't know if was as close as it appeared. It's as though somebody replaced the rearview mirror with a fun-house mirror.
Michigan State had two chances to cut the margin to 24-21: on a fumble that Ohio State ended up recovering, and on a late drive when the Spartans finally showed offensive life.
So in that sense, this game was tantalizingly close for the Spartans and dangerously close for the Buckeyes.
But Ohio State outgained MSU, 422-185. Never, even at the end, did the Spartans give the sense that they could move the ball consistently. Their offense scored three points.
Spartans coach Mark Dantonio acknowledged that "on the other side, they're probably saying it should have been 24 to 3." Actually, the Buckeyes probably feel like it should have been 31-0.
But you know what? Last year, it would have been 31-0. That is the mark of Dantonio: These Spartans have far fewer mental lapses than their predecessors.
"We didn't go in the tank," Dantonio said. "It didn't become a 41-0 game. When it was 24-zip, we battled back."

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Just skimmed this thread since the game ended. Kind of suprised at the negativity.

The first and foremost thing I was looking for coming in was how we handled a legit running team, not just stats wise but closely watching the LOS and see who controlled it. We did and it wasn't even close.

No one we face the rest of the way is as good as MSU on offense save for maybe tsun and their injury situation is a big wait and see.

The blocked FG and two TO's were just screw ups that are good coaching points, nothing more to me. I see no reason to get down about them, its not like they are the norm or a pattern.

Maybe its just me but I came away from today excited. Two big road games that we could very easily lose but we are better than I thought we were based on what I saw today.

I agree with everything you said. Our run D did a great job yesterday. Heck, our whole D was really great. But there's something to be said about almost surrendering a 24 point lead. That represents a huge mental lapse there. While we did come out with a win against a 5-2 MSU team (1-3 now in the B10), the extent of the mental error really did not inspire any confidence in me as we head to PSU next week. That being said, I would take any form of victory next week against the Nittany Lions.

 

[MaxBuck]

1. Not a good game at all for Todd Boeckman. His hot start was more a function of some ridiculous catches by our receivers (Jake Ballard's TD was entirely unreal) than sharp passing by Todd. And he showed a lack of poise when he was pressured for, really, the first time all season.

2. Beanie Wells is The Truth. Mo Wells is The Puzzle (as in, why is he in there instead of Brandon Saine?).

3. This Buckeye D is unbelievably good. How many times have we said essentially the same thing about Tressel teams? Chimdi Chekwa showed strength again, and are there three better CBs against the run anywhere in college football than Chekwa, Jenkins and Washington?

4. James Laurinaitis is a fine LB (much better than in 2006), but Marcus Freeman may be our best backer. He finally seems to be playing instinctively, whereas in past seasons he seemed to be thinking his way around the field. Larry Grant is also unreal; he covers as well as a safety (and better than most B11 cornerbacks).

5. Although overall MSU's defense isn't great (they are the only team we have been able to comfortably convert 3rd-and-1 against), they really have a terrific pass rush. Jonal Saint-Dic is terrific; he may be a round-one pick.

We cannot afford to make similar mistakes against Penn State, but frankly their D does not appear to me to have the same high-pressure threats that MSU's does. I think we win by 14 in Happy Valley.

 

[brutus2002]

We cannot hand any points to PSU. If we do that it will be anybodies game. I think we are much better than PSU but thats why they play the game. I see the score being 23-6 if we don't turn the ball over.