Description

Beanie Wells took
Saturday off to save his injured foot for USC. To the chagrin of the
fans, the rest of the team followed Beanie’s lead and also took
Saturday off.

Image: jwinslow (BuckeyePlanet) Ya think he’s healthy enough to play?

First to the positive.
the Buckeyes won. Also, it didn’t appear the Buckeyes suffered any
serious injuries. Sure Ray Small had a punt return for a touchdown, but
even that was tainted by an illegal block that was not called. I guess
the defense played well. At least I think they did. Four interceptions
is a good day any day.
 

The Negatives:

1.       1. Blocking sucked;
2.       2. Either the receivers can’t get separation or Boeckman can’t get them the ball on time. Probably both are true;
3.       3. After Beanie there is a major drop off in talent with the tailbacks;
4.       4. I am not sure we have a fullback;
5.       5. Mobile QB’s give the defense fits;
6.       6. We missed a field goal and an extra point;
7.       7. The coaching staff didn’t trust Terrelle Pryor when the game was on the line; and
8.       8. Most likely by design the play calling was vanilla.

Where are the Buckeyes
going in to the USC game? Last we heard the Bucks are 9.5 point
underdogs. You can’t argue with that based upon game performance. No
team no where performs to their maximum capability week in and week
out. If  you or I knew the reason for that I wouldn’t be
writing this article for DeathRattle and you wouldn’t be reading it.
So, what do I think? Saturday let some of the air out of the hype
balloon. All summer and fall we have been told/sold on how good the
Buckeyes are. I suspect they aren’t as good as the hype and a hell of a
lot better than they showed Saturday. At the same time, I, not for one
minute, believe the hype surrounding USC. I can’t buy it because I
remember some of their performances from last year.

I am looking
forward to Saturday night. It should be a great game. Two fine teams on
the big stage. After this game both teams should know what they have.
As far as the Buckeyes go, you guys embarrassed yourselves Saturday, so
get after it this week and play some ball Saturday night. Sure, the
Buckeyes can pull this upset but it will be anything but easy.