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Dave Thurman (7:24 pm)

One more time in 2010 Ohio State came out flat on offense, and for a quarter "The Game" wasn't pretty.  But then Terrelle Pryor took over, and Ohio State dominated what turned into a yawner in the end.  Here are some things that stood out to me:

1) Special teams domination - 2010 will be remembered as the worst special teams in Tressel's tenure, but on this day Ohio State flat dominated.  Michigan's kicking has been suspect all year, but their punting had been solid.  However, punter Will Hagerup didn't make the trip due to a violation of team policy and the job fell to kicker Seth Broekhuizen who was awful.  Meanwhile OSU kicker Devin Barclay was steady as usual, and punter Ben Buchanan had his best game to date.  However, the real special teams supremacy came courtesy of Jordan Hall's kick return touchdown.

2) Jordan Hall showed why he was the unsung hero of this year's team - Before the season began I predicted that either Jaamal Berry or Jordan Hall would take one to the house but I was beginning to think I struck out on that forecast.  However, Hall picked a perfect time to break one, right after UM scored to cut the Buckeye lead to 10-7.  What a year for number seven.  Consider all he did in 2010. On punt returns he averaged 10.1 per return, taking one back 70 yards. He averaged 30.0 on kick returns, with today's 85 yarder good for six.  Jordan rushed for 161 yards and 2 touchdows, and caught 8 passes for 83 yards and 1 td.  In addition Hall threw a touchdown on a halfback option pass, and made 4 tackles on special teams, including forcing one fumble.  Not bad for a guy some thought only received an offer because he was Pryor's high school teammate.
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Thanks again RichRod for pushing the Boren family our way!
Drew Thurman (2:13 pm)

1) OSU to land the Boren brother trifecta? Yes, it appears so. Ken Gordon announced via Twitter today that offensive lineman Jacoby Boren (Class of 2012) could commit as early as next week. Boren, the younger brother of Justin and Zach, apparently possesses the same attitude as the rest of the family. Despite only being 6-2 270 pounds, he's tough and destroys people. Would you expect any less? The best part is that we can celebrate this on Michigan week. Thanks Rich for turning a Wolverine family legacy to the Buckeyes!

2) Well Gordon Gee just put a bullseye on the back of the Buckeyes. In an interview with the Associated Press he decided to say that TCU and Boise State haven't played a tough enough schedule and don't deserve to play in the national championship game.

"Well, I don't know enough about the Xs and Os of college football," said Gee, formerly the president at West Virginia, Colorado, Brown and Vanderbilt universities. "I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it's like murderer's row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day."

Of course the media is eating this whole thing up, and Twitter has exploded with lots of harsh criticism. It's hard to blame them. While I do agree that Boise State and TCU would struggle making it through the Big Ten year in and year out, it's not exactly like OSU has played an overly tough schedule this year. Not only that but it just reflects poorly on the school, especially coming from someone who knows so little about college football (as he claimed himself). He later states in the interview that he favors the current BCS over a playoff system, which is completely contradictory. Gee, don't complain about Boise and TCU if you like the system, and please leave the football interviews to Tressel!
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From the first drive on, turnovers plagued Forcier // Photo via espn.com
Drew Thurman (3:22 pm)

Sorry it has taken me a few days to get out the recap, it was one crazy weekend for us here at TSB. Anyways, here are the things that really stuck out from the Buckeyes sixth straight win over Michigan...

Tresselball pulls out another victory. Let's be honest, the game was pretty ugly. The offense really only had two solid drives, and besides that were conservative and boring. You will not find me complaining though. After the Purdue loss if you would have told me the Buckeyes would sweep Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan I would have said you were dreaming. So now that the Buckeyes have actually completed that feat, I am not going to gripe about how it was done. The fact is, it was! Yes, the game plan took the ball out of Pryor's hands. Yes, Tressel counted on the defense to come through with big plays. Yes, Tressel made us all wonder if we had a stomach ulcer. Regardless, he and the team got the job done. It wasn't my favorite style, but sometimes it is hard to argue with the results. 

Turnovers were the name of the game. While watching the game I really thought the defense looked pretty average at times, especially in the secondary. It was frustrating to watch Michigan neutralize the Buckeye rush with the hurry up offense, and push so many drives into redzone. Though the "D" could have helped themselves out with some three and outs, in their defense, Michigan won the field position battle all afternoon long. Michigan had six drives that started on their own 35 yard line or better. So the defense had their backs against the wall all afternoon. While they let the Wolverine offense get into a groove between the 20's, they did come up with an interception almost every time they needed to. Those turnovers would define the game, and honestly have been something that have defined the entire season. Ever since Rolle's pick on Navy's 2-point conversion in the first game, the defense has forced turnovers when things mattered most.   
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Dave and Drew Thurman (11:45 am)

Mascot: Wolverine (AKA "Skunk Bear")
Stadium: Michigan Stadium (106,201)
Coach: Rich Rodriguez (2nd year at Michigan, 8-15; overall D-1, 68-41)
2008 Record: 3-9
2009 Record: 5-6
Base Offense: Spread
Base Defense: 3-4
Letterman: Returning - 50; Lost - 20
Returning Starters: Offense - 10, Defense - 5, Specialists - 1
Returning Stars: RB Brandon Minor, DE Brandon Graham (pictured)

Notable Alumni:

- Mike Wallace: Host of 60 Minutes
- Barry Larkin: former Cincinnati Red shortstop, 1995 NL MVP
- Branch Rickey: former owner of Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson
- Larry Paige: co-founder of Google
- Tom Brady: former QB and two-time Superbowl MVP
- Edward Wright: Astronaut; first American to walk in space
- Michael Phelps: Olympic swimmer with 14 career gold medals
- Gerald Ford: 38th President of the United States
- Theodore Kaczynski: The Unabomber

Cheerleading Scouting Report:

For the sake of all parties involved we will skip this section this week, because the sight is too gruesome! 

Michigan Overview:

After a 4-0 start, including an upset of Notre Dame, everyone in Ann Arbor was drinking the Rich Rodriguez Kool-Aid. Things haven't been pretty since the early surge though, as the Wolverines have only one win against Delaware State (and no Big Ten victories since a win against IU 36-33 in week four). Their troubles haven't been because of a lack of offensive output though. They average 31.3 points per game to go along with 391 yards a game. When was the last you heard of a 5-6 team with those sorts of numbers? 
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The Buckeyes have already clinched the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. So what is there left to play for against Michigan? How about pride, tradition, glory, and for Ohio! Let the beatdowns continue...
Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/haymaw99
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Drew Thurman (9:16 am)

It feels like everyday some new dysfunctional situation manifests itself up in Ann Arbor. If there was a sports version of the National Enquirer, the Michigan football program would be on the cover ever week. In fact I am surprised no one has attempted to produce one, because Rodriguez and company are more entertaining than Michael Jackson, Lindsay Lohan, or Brad and Angelina. They have unhappy players transferring, coaches unable to keep practice logs, Rich Rodriguez crying in the media, and oh, they are 8-15 the last two years. Even this week, college football fans have gotten a slight glimpse into the inept leadership happening up north as players have been as outspoken as ever and Rich Rodriguez has been throwing his players under the bus. Not even Friday Night Lights could come up with this kind of stuff.

It will be interesting to see is how all of this impacts the most storied rivalry in all of college football, maybe even college sports. I am not a big fan of off the field issues, and I really believe they leave a huge weight on college athletes. So, I really wonder what kind of Michigan team we see take the field come Saturday. Most of the media has already written the Wolverines off this weekend, but anyone who the knows the history of "The Game," knows the unpredictability of this contest. Though the odds favor Michigan performing as they have all season long, know one truly knows how the Maize and Blue will react. I really believe there are three possible looks the Wolverines could give us come Saturday...      
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Drew Thurman (9:19 pm)

Going into halftime the Buckeyes had a slim 14-7 lead, but the second half brought a much different outcome. After a huge defensive stop and two big runs by Beanie and Boom, the Buckeyes took at 21-7 lead and never looked back. The victory was the fifth straight for the Buckeyes against the Wolverines, something they had never before. There are a lot of things I noticed in the game, but here are a few:

Wolverine Killer: Playing great against Michigan ensures that you will go down in Buckeye history forever, and Beanie played great against "the school up north" for a third straight season. His 59 yard touchdown run not only got the Buckeyes going, but showed yet again that Beanie is a "Wolverine killer." He seems to have a big run against them every year, and that has to put a smile on your face.

Pryor's Performance: Pryor came out and threw one of the worst interceptions you will ever see. I give him credit though because he never gave up on the play, and without his tackle this game could have had a much different feel. Outside of that play Pryor's game was very hit or miss. He had some ugly throws and took some bad sacks, but overall made some crucial plays. For his game to go to the next level he needs to develop a intermediate passing game, and not just throwing it long. With that said, Pryor came away with his first win against Michigan.

Coaches vs. Players: What in the world was going on between the Michigan players and coaches on the sideline. In the first quarter during a Wolverine timeout, ABC caught the players screaming and getting in their coaches faces. This to me showed a real issue with Rich Rodriguez's leadership, and why they went 3-8. I know there was a new system in Ann Arbor, but the Wolverines didn't look like they respected the leadership!  

Here comes "The Boom": After a big touchdown run last week against the Illini, Boom Herron came up huge again this week. He had eight carries for 80 yards with two touchdowns, and had his coming out party in the biggest game of his young career. Everyone is talking about Jamaal Berry and Carlos Hyde coming in next year, but as Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend!" Herron is a serious talent who hits the hole as fast as anyone I have seen. The one criticism of him is that he could not break the long run, but that does not seem to be an issue any longer!

Hartline and Small: I along with many Buckeye fans have been very hard on these two young men this season. Hartline had been rumored to be a cancer in the locker room, and of course we all know the many troubles surrounding Ray Small. Both had great games on Saturday, and I was glad to see both guys were a big part of the team again. Especially for Ray Small, who I still feel can get his act together. It was great to see Chris Carter coaching and encouraging Small on the sideline, and I think that had a big part to play in Small's 110 punt return yards!

Boeckman and the seniors: Tressel and the coaches could not have scripted this game any better for the seniors. A ton of them got game action, but the story of the day had to be Todd Boeckman. He had 64 yards on three throws, the best being his pass to Brian Hartline for a touchdown. Boeckman has been a class act all the way this season, and I was glad to see he got his moment on senior day. He embodies what you want from a Buckeye player, and we all know he bleeds scarlet and gray!

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