SB Nation - Vernon Gholston

Back out on that road again

Sam @ WWAHT — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:30:32 -0000

Three weeks ago, Ohio State ignominiously fell on the road in West Lafayette to a determined Purdue Boilermakers squad playing roughly 7 miles over its head. The shocking loss snapped Ohio State's 16-game road winning streak and negated the possibility of the Buckeyes matching Michigan's 17-game road streak in the late 80's. Had Ohio State won that game, it would be returning to Happy Valley this Saturday in the hopes of snapping their archrival's record. Unfortunately, Terrelle Pryor's performance in front a not-that-hostile crowd on that fateful day make such pondering feel more like delusions of grandeur. Ohio State has had two weeks to lick its wounds at home against wildly overmatched foes, both in- and out-of-conference, and the narrative has shifted. Now, the Buckeyes head into Happy Valley with the goal of getting their road groove back.

Just how magical was that road streak? Well, from late 2005 until early 2009, it wasn't particularly controversial to say that Jim Tressel's teams played some of their best football in hostile environments. Five games in particular truly defined the run, and even a bonus one came out of conference:

In 2005, Ohio State arrived in Ann Arbor 8-2, but with an apparent renewed life following the heartbreaking loss to the Nittany Lions. Down 21-19 late in the fourth, Troy Smith thrust a dagger into the heart of Michigan fans (and it wouldn't be the last time):

Antonio Pittman would later seal the deal with a touchdown run, and the streak was on.

The next season, in the early September Texas heat, the preseason favorites for the national championship made quick work of the defending champion Texas Longhorns (sound NSFW):

It was after this game that the "road warrior" meme first gained traction. Heading into that game, there wasn't that much (setting aside preseason hype and rankings) in the Buckeyes' favor. Sure, Vince Young was gone, but Ohio State had to replace 9 starters on defense, and was still in search of a bona fide number one receiver. Nevertheless, for one magical night, the team put it all together and dominated a team that, even in retrospect, it probably shouldn't have dominated so thoroughly. The win catapulted the Buckeyes through an undefeated regular season and landed them a date with Florida (*single tear*) in Glendale.

But before all that, Ohio State had to take care of conference business, and that meant traveling to undefeated Iowa in late September, the last test of what had looked to be a brutal opening month going into the year. Unfortunately, Iowa ended up being fairly disappointing on the year, but that didn't stop this from being so much damn fun:

That marvelous catch and run was just a part of an epic 38-17 beatdown that would set a new standard for road beatdowns in which the good guys ride into town, rape the mascots and ride off on the women. Or, rather, with the opposing women-folk trussed to their wagon. Either way, the win solidified Ohio State's status as untouchable for the 2006 regular season.

Yes, 2006 Iowa set a standard. That is, until Ohio State returned to State College, Pennsylvania in 2007. Penn State was by no means a great team, but had all the necessary tools (except for Anthony Morelli, who was just a plain tool if you're a Nittany Lion) to pull off an upset of the top-ranked Buckeyes. At the site of Ohio State's last road loss, anything seemed possible. Instead, Ohio State crushed Penn State's larynx the moment the Nits showed signs of life in taking a 7-3 lead on their very first drive (apologies for the music):

Looking back on that game now, it's easy to say it was anomaly for Todd Boeckman, who never came close to approaching. It was not, however, anomalous for the team as a whole, which now had a reputation etched in stone for playing its best football on the road. Ironically, a shocking home loss to Illinois two weeks later only worked to solidify Ohio State's growing conference reputation as road juggernauts.

While the "road warrior" label did not die in 2007, I feel it's proper to end with the most thorough, soul-crushing domination of the entire streak. Yes, there were approximately 67 punts. Yes, Michigan had little-to-no chance of winning this game in the first place. Yes, Ohio State's offense didn't look particularly pretty, but, uh, I'm kinda used to that by now. I don't care. This is simply the stuff schadenfreude dreams are made of:

There are images from this game that will never die: Chad Henne assuming the fetal position, cowering from another Vernon Gholston sack. The Gun Show getting Henne on some other occasion, this time ensuring the team's best player has at least one more black mark on his senior season. Beanie Wells ending all doubt by putting the Buckeyes up 14-3 wit ha brilliant scoring one. Vaguely attractive Michigan coeds crying. This... this beautiful, beautiful thing:

While I hesitate to call it the beginning of any sort of end, the thoroughly demoralizing, soul-stomping victory in Ann Arbor, like a boot stomping on a human face forever, was arguably this streak's crowning achievement. Sure, the Buckeyes won more road games the next season; a last-minute victory at Wisconsin, twin jailsexings of Michigan State and Northwestern, and an even-in-all-but-the-turnover-margin-and-thus-the-final-score cro-magnon victory at Illinois. All were fun to watch, but none of them featured Buckeye football at its absolute best (ed. note: Michigan at least featured great defense) in truly pressure-packed situations (Madtown came close, but.... the Buckeyes hardly looked even competent for three quarters of that game), and thus, none of them truly merit inclusion as games that defined the streak. Michigan represented a farewell of sorts; the Buckeyes would not quite live up to their dominant road billing from there on out, and it finally came back to bite them in West Lafayette.

Thus, that streak is over. Dead. When Ohio State makes the trip to Happy Valley this weekend, it absolutely must attempt to recapture some of the magic that guided previous Ohio State squads into and out of hostile territory unblemished. Jim Tressel's winning formula is usually excellent on the road; home team turnovers plus a consistent ground attack, capable of grinding out 5+-minute scoring drives, take any crowd - including the Whiteout, if 2007 is any indication - out of the game, with a masterful, and at times, brutal efficiency. Yes, I'm all for boring these suckers to death. Games like these are when Tresselball's ability to slowly destroy an opponent's soul is paramount. Hopefully, this Buckeye team can cobble together enough of a running game to make this look a bit more like 2007 than 2005. Ohio State is "back out on that road again", as Steve Earle once sung, and in these situations, there really are "those that break and bend". Is Ohio State the other kind? We'll know soon enough.

Toledo tonic: cures more than just what ails ye

Sam @ WWAHT — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Amy Sancetta - AP

Channeling Marty McFly: you better get used to that end zone, kid...

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I think it's safe to say that Ohio State needed to win the way it did on Saturday to provide some sort of spark for the rest of this season. It was very easy for many in the media and some in the fanbase to assume Ohio State was dead in the water after its loss to USC; it's just difficult to rebound from a game where mere minutes seemed to separate redemption from regression. Quoth the Dispatch:

Instead, after losing to Southern California last week, the Ohio State Buckeyes wallowed in their misery. They internalized it, got mad and got even.

Toledo was the unfortunate recipient of all this seething, absorbing a 38-0 beating in front of a heavily partisan OSU crowd of 71,727 in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

I guess we just have to hope they didn't spend all that excess aggression and rage against what, when you get down to it, was just another MACrifice that had chewed its way through nice and cushy lowest-tier BCS defenses. If you take the best players from Purdue and Colorado's defenses, you might be able to cobble together a defense three-quarters as athletic as Ohio State's. I don't say this to be cruel or arrogant, it's just fact.

So Toledo ended up being an excellent showcase game, but it also ended up being good practice for Illinois, as the Rockettes run a very similar offense to the Illini's, albeit with a fraction of the talent. Toledo's offensive line, which had looked dominant against Colorado and merely very good against Purdue, never got a beat on the Ohio State pass rush. The numbers may not show it, but Cameron Heyward, Doug Worthington and Thaddeus Gibson each set up their own tent in the backfield. If Ohio State can provide similar amounts of pressure all season long, it won't lose another game. I'm not sure it faces a genuinely better offensive line until Wisconsin comes to town, so now is the time to hone their skills. Partial mea culpa: I was only partially wrong about Worthington as a DT. In short yardage, dude got put on roller skates by USC and Navy. But when the offense has any more than 2 yards to go for a first down, the guy's just a terror and will be a huge asset against every spread team Ohio State faces, which brings me back to Illinois.

It helps to have a dominant defensive line against any team, but spread teams like the Illini typically try to neutralize the pass rush with incredibly annoying bubble screens and QB draws. Illinois did this well against Ohio State two years ago in the 'Shoe, most noticeably on the agonizing final Illini possession that bled eight minutes (!) off the play clock. Todd Boeckman always got the blame for that loss, but the defense did him no favors. They just couldn't get the Illini off the field. Even Vernon Gholston struggled with the read-option, long after it became clear that Juice Williams was keeping the ball every time. This defensive line is far more disciplined than the '07 one, and stronger on the interior. The Illini have already given up five sacks on the year, and that's with multiple mobile quarterbacks to choose from. I think another big day is in store for Heyward and Co.

Alright, I'm done salivating over the D-line. Other units impressed against Toledo. The secondary in particular got a good bit of practice against Toledo's tall, fast wideouts, but they probably aren't going to face a receiving corps as talented as Illinois' again this year. You know who Arrelious Benn is and what he do, unsexy '09 stats (1 catch for 9 yards) notwithstanding. Benn is struggling with a high ankle sprain, but may be healthy for this weekend's game (about that article: can you believe Illinois has won 7 out of the last 10 games in Columbus?). As if Benn's potential presence wasn't enough to get you fretting, Jarred Fayson is actually the Illini's leading receiver, with.... 8 grabs for 89 yards. Um. As you can tell, the Illini passing attack isn't exactly clicking on all cylinders right now, and there really isn't much in the way of evidence that it's going to start any time soon. This week, Juice Williams is coming back from an injury, and he's doing it against what's shaping up to be one of the Big Ten's best secondaries.

However, it's Juice Williams, and it's Ohio State. The past two seasons, Juice Williams has thrown for 332 yards and 6 touchdowns (to just 1 interception) while toting the rock himself 25 times for 118 yards. Against everyone else, he has 30 touchdowns to go with 28 picks. It's accepted fact these days that there is a Dr. Isaiah and a Mr. Juice, a Jekyll/Hyde conundrum within Isaiah "Juice" Williams that causes him to alternate between bona fide all-Big Ten quarterback and just another noodle-armed scrambler. Ohio State has mostly seen Dr. Isaiah dicing them for two years running; In 2007, Ohio State's defense, which finished the season as statistically the best in the country, could not bottle up Dr. Isaiah for the life of them. In 2008, flashes of Mr. Juice ended up dooming an Illini upset bid in which Dr. Isaiah presided over most of the proceedings. What Juice Williams shows up will go along way in determining whether this game is competitive.

Offensively, there shouldn't be too much to worry about. Ohio State got a far different look from Toledo than it will against Illinois, so it's difficult to know what to expect. Toledo ran a 4-2-5, Navy ran a 3-4 (and looked pretty good doing it), while USC's 4-3 "under" scheme invalidated the Ohio State running game. While the Illini run a 4-3 much like USC's in terms of personnel, the talent level is, despite Zook's overzealous recruiting strategies, greatly reduced, and so are the results: the Illini have given up 840 yards and 54 points of offense through two games. They have little-to-no pass rush and the secondary is, *ahem*, questionable, giving up even more yards through the air to Illinois State than they did to rebuilding Missouri.

While I fully expected Ohio State to roll Toledo with a powerful rushing tandem of Herron and Saine, that never came to be. This is one of the few games Ohio State has remaining in which it should, on paper, pile up 200+ yards rushing in a relatively easy winning effort. However, If the Buckeye running game again fails to get untracked, another 250+ yard day through the air from Pryor doesn't look out of the question with Illinois' porous pass D. If the stars align and both dynamics of the offense are fully in sync and hitting on all cylinders, this could just be another quiet snoozer. Unless, of course Dr. Isaiah has something to say about it.

Bucknotes looks at calendar, sheds a single tear

Sam @ WWAHT — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:11 -0000

44 days....

BuckeyeXtra - Turner learned lessons abroad
Another puff piece that isn't quite as puffy; Turner talks about learning to spread the wealth (commie!) and how the experience turned into more of a team player and whatnot. Sucks that he and other Americans got booed for political reasons (read the article to find out why; trust me, it's lame).

NY Jets coach Rex Ryan names Vernon Gholston starter in place of suspended Calvin Pace - NJ.com
Big Vern will be getting his first serious opportunity after a, shall we say, "lackluster" rookie season. Good opportunity to shed the "Weight Room Warrior, Average Player" label.

The Columbus Dispatch : Herbstreit 'fire' puts focus on IRS dispute
Bizarre story about Herbstreit donating his house to the fire department for "burn-down" exercises, only to have his tax deduction denied by the IRS. Herbstreit responded like any good American would: with a lawsuit. Rant about "big gubmint" and "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" goes here.

Wolverine Liberation Army - Ring the Bell
The WLA continues to fetishize Michigan Strength and Conditioning guy Mike Barwis. Pervs.

Prices Rising For Ohio State Football Tailgaters
Want to tailgate? Bring some lube.

Former Ohio State Buckeyes corner Antoine Winfield signs extension with Minnesota Vikings - cleveland.com
Guy is 32, a defensive back, and signed a five-year extension? He's coming off his first pro bowl season, which is a travesty of justice. Nevertheless, playing cornerback in the NFL at 37 would be most impressive.

BuckeyeXtra - Could this be his breakout year?
Brian Rolle really doesn't like riding the pine. Which sucks, because he stepped into the most crowded linebacker situation at Ohio State in the last twenty or so years, and he's got three legit all-Big Ten guys to back-up. If Moeller doesn't pan out, Rolle might finally find his place here. But if not.... let's hope this article isn't being written all over again next year.

BuckeyeXtra - Latest recruit could help at several spots
Baldwin could see time at tight end, but I don't see him actually making the move. He has a better shot at contributing early and often at DE, and as mentioned in the article, two starting spots could be up for grabs as the start of his sophomore (redshirt freshman?) year.

Just how far can the spread spread? " Get The Picture

But I’m not sure [a rule, proposed by Arkansas' Bobby Petrino that would mandate how often high school QBs should take snaps from under center] should be necessary, anyway, if the NFL continues along its current path. As long as there’s a market for drop-back passers, there should be high schools and colleges that accommodate that style of play, because there are going to be gifted QBs that want to play in it. Plus, if those of us who see the college game as cyclical in nature when it comes to offensive and defensive strategies (and I believe HP counts himself among that bunch) are right, shouldn’t that bode well for the prospects of pro-style offenses in an era when college defenses are gearing up to stop the spread more and more?

I'm not sure I totally buy into the "it's all cyclical" argument that so many espouse when it comes to offense and defensive philosophies, but I have to admit it has its logical foundations. The general gist of it is that as teams move towards new defensive strategies designed to stop the "spread offense", dropback passer-led offenses that spell the air attack with a tough, between-the-tackles running game will begin to flourish again. In other words, the attacks reminiscent of Jim Tressel's early offenses will again become successful against the smaller, quicker defenses of today; teams that are "built" to defend the new wave of spread offenses. But what does it mean for a team to be "built" to defend the "spread offense"? Well, that's difficult to answer, because few people will give you a straight answer as to what the spread offense actually is; is it an entire offense, is it an offense that features multiple spread formations, or is it a philosophy that's designed merely to get a team's best athletes in coveted "space"?

Based on my rudimentary knowledge of one of college football's memes-du-jour, defenses that defend the "spread" well are said to have have quick, safety-sized linebackers, smaller, quicker DEs, and cornerbacks that excel mostly in zone coverage. But if that's the case, why aren't the teams that run more traditional offenses - Tennessee under Phil Fulmer, and Iowa come to mind immediately - already flourishing against the supposedly new-look defenses? You know, the ones that have adjusted athletically and schematically to defend college football's sexiest formation?

I, personally, am of the "talent trumps scheme" school of thought. It's essentially insignifcant what a team's offensive philosophy is; excellent athletes are what makes offenses dangerous, not necessarily crafty new schemes. Take a talent-laden school like Florida for example: athletes like Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, and Chris Rainey would be dangerous in any offensive system. That's just the nature of the elite athlete. Similarly, Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes, Michael Crabtree, Reggie Bush, and a host of other current and past college superstars would excel regardless of what system they're in. No matter what scheme is being run, it's difficult to defend Ted Ginn's world-class speed; it's impossible to defend Percy Harvin's ability to change direction literally on a dime, and you I both know well that Santonio Holmes, given an inch of space, was going to score six. These guys might not put up identical stats and highlights under different schemes, but they'd be dangerous, game-changing weapons whether they're playing for Texas Tech or Georgia Tech. What you're going to see is not the spread "fading away", because it isn't a fad. It's an evolution of the college game; it will not "stop spreading", but instead it eventually will be assimilated into most offensive philosophies as packages that act as part of a gameplan, but not the gameplan itself. What will eventually fade away are teams that use the spread exclusively; yes, there will be Hawaiis and Texas Techs that will keep spread principles as their bread and butter, just as Navy and Army did with the option; but the fabled concept of "going to the spread" and the excitement that it causes in many fanbases each spring will probably pass the way of the dodo before too long, in my estimation. If you look at it the way I do, Jim Tressel's usage of the spread as merely a circumstantial package may end up being a more forward-thinking move for the ol' coach than many realize.

Deconstructing: How the Hokie D becomes deadlier as it adapts - Dr. Saturday
In the ensuing agony after the USC debacle last season, I overreacted and swore by Bud Foster as my top choice for the defensive coordinator spot. While I came to my senses about Jim Heacock after relatively solid defensive performances against Penn State and Texas, I still like nearly everything Bud Foster has done at Virginia Tech. He'll probably never leave Blacksburg, even for the exorbitant amount of money Ohio State would have to throw at him if truly interested. Read this article to find out why I like him and his ideas so damn much.