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COLUMBUS – Just what the doctor ordered. Right?
When a team is down on its luck after being humbled a week prior, a small Division I-A school is just what you like to see come to town.
That’s exactly what faced the Ohio State Buckeyes here Saturday afternoon inside Ohio Stadium when Troy University came calling for the first-ever meeting between the two universities.
At least it seemed that way on paper.
At some point Ohio State’s going to realize that games aren’t played on paper and just because you’re wearing the mighty Scarlet and Grey doesn’t guarantee victory, and certainly doesn’t guarantee intimidation.
The Buckeyes had to scratch and claw their way to a 28-10 victory in front of a shade over 102K in what looked like another game where the Buckeyes came out thinking they could just go through the motions and win by 40.
The Buckeyes – fresh off their miserable performance at Southern California last week – scored on their first drive, making OSU fans think maybe, just maybe, this team was ready to shake off the early-season troubles they’d seen since the Youngstown State game.
Nah!
The Trojans – out of the Sun Belt Conference with an enrollment of less than 7,000 undergrads – came north and gave the Buckeyes all they wanted, and then some before the Buckeyes eventually pulled away.
“We knew this would be a tough football game,” said OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis. “We’d seen them battle Georgia tough and battle Florida tough, so we knew we’d be in a fight.”
A win is a win and after last week’s deflating loss, head coach Jim Tressel will sure take it, but it was by no means a work of art. However, there were some definite pieces to build upon.
“We need to keep improvng our play and keep taking steps forward as we enter the Big 10 season,” said OSU senior wide receiver Brian Robiskie.
The Buckeyes – who are now 23-1 in non-league games under Tressel at Ohio Stadium – showed some signs of brilliance, but more often than not, showed the same deficiencies they’d shown the past two weeks when they had to squeeze out a win over inferior Ohio University and then got their clocks cleaned by No. 1 USC.
The offensive problems consisted of struggling to get into rhythm, not blocking particuarily well up front, and the Bucks still lacked a vertical passing game for the most part. To some extent, we’ll grant them a pass since this was the third consecutive game that Chris “Beanie” Wells didn’t suit up, and for the first time 1978 a true freshman started at quarterback.
Now there were some positives to the offense.
Despite the troubles blocking, the Buckeyes did look a little more versatile with the insertion of Terrelle Pryor as the starting quarterback. He showed signs of brilliance as a runner and threw a quartet of touchdown passes, but at times he made decisions that still indicated he’s a true freshman.
However, the few Pryor mistakes and growing pains out-weigh the way senior quarterback Todd Boeckman had looked the past two weeks.
“I am just glad to be a Buckeye,” Pryor said moments after the Buckeyes joined the marching band in singing Carmen Ohio. “Coach Tressel is the greatest coach for me, and the greatest coach I’ve played for.”
Prior finished the game 10-of-16 for 139 yards and the aforementioned scores. He was picked off on a desperation heave before halftime.
“We’ve got a ways to go offensively,” Tressel said. “We knew we were going to start him unless we had something strange happen like we were at our own 3-yard line or something.”
While Tressel admitted there were things that Bockeman did better during the week of practice, Pryor had shown him enough to, in essence, win the job as the full-time starter.
“We don’t like to practice on game days if you know what I mean,” Tressel pointed out. “We had a whole column of Todd plays on our sheet, but the situation never presented itself.”
While it was a little bittersweet for Boeckman, the classy senior from St. Henry handled himself well.
“I am just glad we won the football game,” Boeckman said. “We made some progress today, and Terrelle did a nice job, and I am happy for him about that.”
Tressel said Pryor would continue to start at quarterback when quizzed by several media members.
SETH’S SCOOPS
* WELCOME BACK BRIAN(S). It was nice to see Hartline and Robiskie again a part of the Ohio State offense. The two home-run threats on the outside both caught a touchdown in the game. Hartline scored against Ohio two weeks ago, but Robiskie hadn’t done much all season since the Youngstown game. Robiskie needed the score seeing he was drawing a few boo-birds when he seemed to let up and attempt to catch a pass with one hand during the first half.
About the missed ball in the first half, Robiskie said, “I missed it.”
TRESSEL got a good laugh during his press conference when a media member pronounced Rory Nichol (Nickel) as Rory Nicole.
“I was thinking who’s Nicole,” Tressel laughed. “Be careful, my wife’s upstairs. I don’t know any Nicoles.”
RAY SMALL – which had a punt return for a touchdown against Ohio U. – has been in the OSU coaching staff doghouse before. He appeared for only one offensive play and that was reverse toward the end of the contest.
“Ray had been our fourth option at receiver, but today, we decided to go with (DeVier) Posey and (Taurian) Washington.”
As for Small’s status for next week Tressel said, “He’s fighting for playing time.”
* ST. CLAIRSVILLE graduate Adam Stewart is a full-time student trainer for the Buckeyes. He was involved a year ago, but is fully entrenched in the football squad this year.
* THAD MATTA – the Ohio State Men’s Basketball Coach – was spotted tailgating in the parking lot directly behind French Field House. It’s the same lot that James Laurinaitis’ father Joe was hanging out in.
* TICKETS were readily available outside of the stadium Saturday. Scalpers were spotted all over the place like normal, but there were plenty of non-scalpers selling off unwanted tickets. There were two sections in the south end of the stadium with plenty of open seats. A total shock when you think about Ohio State Football.
* CLAYTON NORTHMONT product Kurt Coleman turned in a dazzling defensive performance. He wrestled an interception away from a Troy defender and went high into the air, stopping Troy’s inital drive of the second half.
“Kurt’s a player out there,” Tressel said. “He flies around the field and brings a lot of energy that the other guys feed off of.”
* MEMBERS OF the 1968 and 1973 Ohio State National Championship teams were recognized at halftime along with yet another sterling performance by TBDBITL.
* WITH ANOTHER crowd of more than 100K taking in the game, it marked the 44th consecutive game at Ohio Stadium with a crowd at least that large shoehorned in the building.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com