Rave Rookie Review

A classic college clash consumed a wounded Wisconsin team as the Buckeyes bashed their Big Ten opponent. The nation’s top rookie recruit raced to the endzone with a little over one minute in the fourth quarter to score the game winning touchdown. Terrelle Pryor kept his poise and showed progress in the 20-17 win at Camp Randall, Wisconsin. It was one of the most exciting fourth quarter drives in recent memory for me. The Badgers had one last opportunity to ruin the rookie’s moment but an Allan Evridge pass was intercepted by OSU’s Malcom Jenkins. I said it before and I still hold that Jenkins is going to star in the NFL one day. It was Evridge’s second turnover of the night.
The Buckeyes are now back in the national title picture and reign supreme in the conference. Penn State is rated sixth in the country and pulverized the Purdue Boilermakers yesterday. In two weeks time, the Nittany Lions face the Buckeyes for what could be the Big Ten title. Terrelle Pryor’s freshman finish was phenomenal and Chris “Beanie” Wells looked in top form for the second straight week. Head coach, Jim Tressel, unquestionably was correct in his replacement of senior quarterback, Todd Boekman. Pryor proved last night a 19 year old can lead a team to triumph on the road, under the lights against a heavy defensive unit. Has Pryor even declared his major yet? This Wisconsin team is not the same one of years’ past, and I think they were traumatized with their deflating loss at Michigan a week ago. Still, winning in Wisconsin is not an easy task. The Buckeyes were ranked 14th coming into the game. The 18th ranked Badgers were riding a 16 game home winning streak. It was snapped by the stringent OSU defense.
Dan Herron, backup tailback, converted a third down the first half and overall the Buckeyes were 50% on third down conversions. Pryor’s conversion of a third down with less than two minutes to go was game defining and kept the Buckeyes drive going. A come-from-behind win might just be the type that drives the team the rest of the season.
After Wisconsin scored the go ahead points late in the second quarter, I had a feeling perhaps the Buckeyes wouldn’t bounce back. The Philip Welch field goal gave the Badgers a three point lead heading into the locker room. I was proud to see the team do exactly what they had to do in the third quarter. Ryan Pretorius’ 21 yard field goal evened the score again. The Wisconsin defense contained Pryor and Wells prior to the second half but Beanie rushed for 168 of OSU’s total 188 yards on the ground.
There are still some wary weaknesses I see in this Buckeye team, notably on offense. I’d like to see Tressel allow Pryor to spread the ball more on the turf. Even though he is a gifted scrambling quarterback, the Buckeyes are not utilizing the talent of their wideouts. Terrelle was sacked four times and threw the ball away before getting hit hard on several attempts. There is still much he needs to learn but you can see why Pryor was the number one high school player last year. His speed and versatility make him a hard takedown. Still, if he can control his passes and put himself in position to throw threadlike touchdowns to top receivers. The Pryor-Wells combination is fine, but why not mix in more deep passes too.
The penalty yardage needs to go down for the Buckeyes as well. OSU had 30 penalty yards to Wisconsin’s 19. The Badgers converted more first downs and passed for more total yardage also. Pryor’s longest pass was a 27 yard one to WR Brian Hartline. Dane Sanzenbacher (I love saying that) had two receptions for 40 yards and I think can make a bigger impact. Sanzenbacher caught a 17 yard pass from Pryor on Ohio State’s first drive. Then, Terrelle started throwing short passes to his teammates after a Langford interception. Pryor shouldn’t be afraid to start throwing downfield. The short Herron catches and Posey receptions were nice, but Brian Robiskie and Ray Small being open in the third quarter were delightful to see. The completion to Small with 3:33 left on the final drive was a key and critical play for the Buckeyes.
Just to give some kudos to the Badgers: That running back John Clay was impressive. I think he could be used along with P.J. Hill as a duel threat on the ground.

Parting points: Congrats to Joe Torre and the L.A. Dodgers on their sweep of the Cubs.

From National Lampoon’s European Vacation:
The Griswolds are traveling in Germany…
Clark Griswold: “There it is kids, my motherland.”
Rusty Griswold: “Dad, Grandma’s from Chicago.”
Clark Griswold: “Shut up, Russ.”