Non-Conference Play Could Not Have Ended Sooner

Due to the higher ups at State College's "Hooters" being retarded, I was unable to watch the Ohio St-Troy showdown this past weekend. Although there were 5 zillion TVs throughout the establishment, I was declined after asking to put OSU on a single television. So I can't form too much of an opinion on this game.

Two things obviously stick out (after watching highlights and reading box scores - thanks Penn St) from this game:
1.) 14-10 in the 4th quarter? Really?? Against Troy? Are we honestly not good?
2.) Terrelle Pryor got 99% of the snaps?

Starting with the first point: this isn't good. What is the matter with this team? Why are we not putting up more points? Guys, it was Troy. You should have had 14 points in the first three minutes, not three quarters. Going into the 4th, the Trojans had more total yards and more first downs. The Penn St and Wisconsin games are starting to look pretty bleak.

Continuing with the surprising news, TP was not only the starter in this game, but Boeckman only took two snaps and threw one pass. This really came as a shock to me. After Boeckman threw said pass straight into the ground, he was booed by the smallest crown at Ohio Stadium in six years. This upsets me. I realize that everyone loves Pryor, and it's obvious that he needs to play almost all of the time, but there's no need to embarrass the man that was All-Big Ten and led your team to the National Championship game last season. It's bad enough for the poor guy that he lost his starting job as a fifth-year senior after a stellar season, he doesn't need to hear it from the fans. I digress, back to Pryor. It seems he looked good; 10/16 for 139 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 14 carries for 66 yards. This guy could be that something special that everyone saw in high school. When your expectations are as high as TP's are, it's very difficult to live up to them. He's on his way to doing that.

Other random notes: Hartline and Robiskie seem to be back to their big-play form, as Hartline had touchdowns of 39 and 16 yards and Robiskie caught a 38 yard TD. While this is good, the fact that these were 3/4s of their catches is not. Only 4 catches between these two? Not exactly All-Conference numbers. Also: 0 catches for Ray Small, another guy that seems to be in Tressel's doghouse. Dan Herron did much better this week, rushing for 94 yards on 20 carries. Again, Brandon Saine was rarely seen, getting only 4 carries.

Sorry about the lack of report for this game, but it didn't seem like too exciting of a game anyway. Blame Penn St, those bastards. Conference play begins this weekend as Minnesota comes to The Shoe (Noon, Big Ten Network). Projected by most to be in the bottom half of the Big Ten, the Gophers are 4-0 on a very weak non-conference schedule. OSU will probably be about a touchdown favorite, God knows why. Here's to getting back on track this week.

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