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Terrelle Pryor, Buckeyes’ Defense Shines in Sugar Bowl Victory over Arkansas

January 04, 2011   Peter Finney Jr.   No comments

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Terrelle PryorNEW ORLEANS – Consider “The Mess” cleaned up.

Two weeks ago, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor maneuvered himself squarely into the crosshairs of the NCAA SWAT team by admitting to having signed and sold team memorabilia — an offense that earned the embattled junior quarterback and four of his Buckeye teammates a five-game suspension at the beginning of the 2011 season.

But the quarterback who got into so much trouble for autographing items for cold cash placed his personal signature on the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tuesday night.

And Pryor did it in bold strokes.

Displaying the full array of an offensive arsenal that had people comparing him favorably to Cam Newton, Pryor passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 115 yards to power No. 6 Ohio State (12-1) to a 31-26 victory over No. 8 Arkansas (10-3).

The victory not only was a personal statement by Pryor but also a collective exorcism for both the Buckeyes and the beleaguered Big Ten.

It was Ohio State’s first bowl victory against an SEC team after nine consecutive losses, and it helped erase some of the sting of the Big Ten’s Black Saturday, when member schools went 0-5 in bowl action.

 

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Big Ten Harvest: Do It for Sparta!

October 20, 2010   John Walters   No comments

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Road Trip!

With a zero on the right side of its record, Michigan State stands in rare company in late October. The 7-0 Spartans are one of just 10 remaining schools, and there will be at most eight after this weekend, that are undefeated. Surprising Sparty, however, is all alone in one category: interstate commerce.

When Michigan State kicks off at Northwestern at 11 a.m. local time Saturday, it will mark the first time all season the East Lansing-based program will have left the confines of its home state. It will be the last school to have played a game outside its state’s borders this season. The Spartans have played five games at Spartan Stadium, one at Ford Field in Detroit (versus Florida Atlantic), and one at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

“We looked at the schedule in the summer,” Spartans quarterback Kirk Cousins said on Tuesday, “and knew that was going to be a great help if we were going to have a special season.”

Michigan State last started 7-0 in 1966, the year in which it finished 9-0-1. The Spartans will bus the 240 miles to Evanston for Saturday’s game. A victory would set up a terrific showdown the following weekend at Iowa, the last remaining ranked team on the schedule.

“I believe that football teams are measured over the course of 12 games,” said head coach Mark Dantonio. “Right now we’re a 7-0 football team. If we falter, we’re a 7-5 football team.”

True. But, for a team that has not had to travel much this season, Michigan State is in the Big Ten driver’s seat.

 

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Ohio State’s Statement Comes at Expense of Hurricanes

September 11, 2010   Pat McManamon   No comments

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jacory Harris was clad in a distinctive outfit as he stepped off the plane to this central Ohio city on Friday: the Miami Hurricanes quarterback wore a gray sweater vest, red tie and white shirt.

Yes, it sort of resembled what a certain coach in Ohio wears at each game.

Harris might want to keep the outfit on for a while. Because Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes pretty much owned him and his team Saturday at the Horseshoe.

“That was just something I wore,” Harris said after he had tried to explain how the Hurricanes had fallen short of proving they again belong among college football’s big boys. “I had it in the closet and just wore it.”

Sure.

Just a coincidence.

Whatever.

Tressel wore his gray sweater vest and red tie Saturday as Ohio State made its statement with a 36-24 win over the Hurricanes that didn’t feel 12-point close.

 

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Ohio State Has Its SEC Skeptics as Team to End SEC’s Title Run

September 09, 2010   Tom Krasovic   No comments

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Ohio State has never defeated a Southeastern Conference team in a bowl game. To hear some SEC folks, the day that changes, cows and other barnyard animals will fly from Gainesville to Baton Rouge, after stopping in Tuscaloosa for grits.

Saturday in the citadel of northern football — Columbus, Ohio — a longtime power from the New South will come calling on the Buckeyes. Although the Atlantic Coast Conference-dwelling Miami Hurricanes aren’t to be confused with SEC heavies such as Alabama or Florida, they are ranked 12th in the country and represent precious opportunity for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State‘s only national title in the last 40 years owed to an upset of Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Should the No. 2 Buckeyes tame the Hurricanes again, as surely as sheep say ‘baaah’ the national media will cast Jim Tressel’s team as prominent contenders to reach a third Bowl Championship Series title game in five years.

Expect the SECessionists to roll their eyes, whether Ohio State prevails or not. I know their skeptical look, for when I recently asked five SEC alums who play football whether any team could end the SEC’s run of four consecutive national titles, Ohio State drew zero recognition as a viable choice to raise the crystal in Glendale, Ariz. in January, 2011.

The five players are members of the San Diego Chargers. Two, Brandon Siler and Jacob Hester, were starters on SEC champions that soundly beat Ohio State in a recent BCS title match.

“I would never say Ohio State,” said the linebacker Siler (above), who also told FanHouse the SEC title streak “definitely” will reach five.

Hester bruised the Buckeyes as a tailback three Januarys ago in LSU‘s championship romp, the second of the SEC’s four consecutive wins. When asked to ponder threats to the SEC’s run, he never mentioned Ohio State. He chose Boise State, even before the No. 3 Broncos outpointed Virginia Tech on Monday. Told that the Buckeyes are ranked second, Hester shrugged. “They’re always ranked second,” he said.

“Put it this way,” said Chargers wide receiver Buster Davis, an LSU alum. “If you put Ohio State in the middle of the SEC, what would they do?”

 

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Buckeyes Much More Than Terrelle Pryor in Blowout Victory

September 02, 2010   Matt Snyder   No comments

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Brandon SaineFirst things first. Yes, Ohio State was playing a veritable preseason game in a 45-7 thrashing of Marshall. It wasn’t a real test at all for the No. 2 Buckeyes, especially as they look to host the Miami Hurricanes next week in the Horseshoe.

Still, when we see an actual football game played by one of the best teams in the country, it’s certainly worth drawing conclusions. And I’ll gladly throw this one out there: while Heisman hype machine Terrelle Pryor was good, he wasn’t nearly as good as the defense or running game of Ohio State.

There’s no need to jump to Pryor’s defense, as he was quite good. Great, in fact. The touted junior was a cool customer in the pocket, hitting on 17-of-25 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns — most impressive was a perfect strike on a 65-yard touchdown to Dane Sanzenbacher to quickly answer the Thundering Herd’s only score. Entering the season, the detractors of Pryor’s would point to his inability to be a pocket passer. So if this game is any indication, he’s made huge strides (he only carried the ball eight times for 17 yards).

But, again, Pryor was not the best thing about his team on Thursday night. And Buckeye faithful likely agree with this sentiment. This is one complete football team.

 

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Twelve Thoughts: Nolan Ryan, Giants Bargains, Mat Latos

August 26, 2010   Tom Krasovic   No comments

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West Coast Bias, classing the place up, gives you Dick Enberg‘s spirited ode to Nolan Ryan‘s 383-strikeout season.

The American League’s Cy Young award in 1973 went to Jim Palmer of the first-place Baltimore Orioles, in part, the former Angels broadcaster said, because Ryan’s feats with a weak California club were muted by geography.

“I’m still pissed off about that, it was such an injustice,” Enberg told me. “Because Palmer is on a good team and has a little flossier record, he gets enough votes to win it. It’s just an incredible injustice. Great praise Ryan, a Hall of Famer and all of the things he’s done. But he didn’t win a Cy Young award. What did he have to do? If he had pitched for the Orioles, he would’ve been 30-5. Yeah, Palmer had a great year, but when you sort it all out …”

o. As arm ailments stall Stephen Strasburg, I think of Ryan and his bionic right arm.

The Express threw as hard as Strasburg, notched 61 career shutouts and probably did one-arm chinups between innings.

“The games he pitched were the most dominating I’ve ever seen,” Enberg said. “Frightening fast, and his curveball, I swear, you could almost hear the ball sing. That may be an exaggeration, but time rewrites history.”

o. If Mat Latos were an equity fund, the stock market would be healthier.

“Wow, he’s the best young pitcher I’ve seen all year,” said a veteran scout who only recently saw the Padres right-hander for the first time, and will tune in Friday for Latos against the Cheatin’ Phils. “Had four plus pitches with command and a lot of poise. Sometimes we put too much into wanting the Harvard-type education; he’s a free spirit, and that’s beautiful.”

o. Western Civilization is blessed for another year, as Vin Scully will return to the Dodgers in 2011.

“He’s the best, the best,” said Enberg, who owns 13 Emmy awards. “He never makes a mistake. He has such great command of the language. He’s the poet laureate of our profession.”

 

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Pryor Still Not the Prettiest Passer, but Ohio State QB Is Having a Sturdy Preseason

August 22, 2010   Tom Krasovic   No comments

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Terrelle Pryor looked bored, and because of it yours truly wasn’t feeling so froggy himself on Saturday in muggy Flyover Land.

I felt like I was watching Michael Jordan try to play golf, or seeing Usain Bolt on a treadmill.

At Ohio State’s final football scrimmage of the preseason, Pryor was the only starter wearing a black jersey. Which meant that if any Buckeye defender slammed into the star quarterback, he’d be thrown into the nearby Olentangy River and possibly off the team. To balance the equation, Pryor was confined to either throwing the ball or handing it off. The junior was permitted to run with the cargo, but only to avert a touch “sack.”

 

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