| 21 November 2010
I will get to the Buckeyes but first I need to talk about the referees in this game. It was so bad and so one sided that they nearly cost the Buckeyes the game. It was like these guys were on the take. The pass interference on Chekwa only existed in that refs mind. It set up Iowas first touchdown. Terrible call. We had a drive stalled because of a holding call on Adams where in actuality he pancaked Clayborn. The refs give Iowa life on a personal foul where Hines helmet made contact with an Iowa receiver. Another awful call. Dan Rubin and I disagreed about this after the game. By the letter of the law it may have been a penalty but I think we need to add intent to this rule. I don't know how defenders are supposed to tackle and at the same time be conscious of where their helmets are as well as where the runners helmet is
going to be. How about the blatant blow to the head, as well as the facemask, on the play where Corey Brown dropped the long pass? Neither were called. Terrible game by the refs. Once sided terrible game by the refs.
Say what you want about Terrelle Pryor. He is such a competitor and a tough guy. This had to be a frustrating win for him. He has solid numbers, 18 of 33 for 195 yards and a touchdown. What would his numbers have looked like without the dropped balls. I can think of four balls that were easily catchable, two by Posey and two by Brown, that would have added at least 50 yards to his total and at least one touchdown, probably two because the first ball Brown dropped he was behind the defense. I don't know if they catch him. Poseys blatant drop in the end zone was for big yardage but the one he dropped on a crossing route in the first quarter could have been an even bigger play. He needed to turn it up and I think he has the speed to to do so. Could have been a huge play. The second drop by Brown is forgivable. A defender flashed in front just as the ball was about to arrive. Maybe when he is older he makes that catch. He was a high school running back last year. Posey, on the other hand, is a junior two year starter who has always played receiver. I stand by my statement of a few weeks ago. NFL? If we had better depth he would not even be a starter here.
Player of the game is the offensive line. At least one publication has Iowa with the top defensive line in the country coming into this season. They are impressive. They are #6 in the country versus the run allowing 93.27 a game. We got them for 158. Pryor did not have too deal with much pass rush from them. I have to single out J.B. Shugarts. Two false starts and gave up the only sack we allowed in this game. That is not good enough. We have no options behind Posey. We are short a split end. We do not have a two-deep at split end. We do have at right tackle. The staff saw enough out of Andrew Norwell to play him as a true freshman. I have to think he could do better than two false starts and a sack. Shugarts is hurt? Sit him.
On defense I have to single out John Simon and Brian Rolle. Both rose to the occasion. I was impressed with Sol Thomas. He was very active and involved in this game. Cam Heyward had a solid game. Overall I was pleased at how the secondary played. I was very concerned that the very good Iowa receivers could have torched our beat up secondary if we did not get good pressure. We got decent pressure but I thought it would have needed to be better for us not to get hurt by Johnson and McNutt. We contained them. Nice job.
So many things went against the Buckeyes in this game but we persevered, showed some toughness and got it done. We think about Jim Tressel coached teams as not being able to come from behind. This was the sixth game this year where the Buckeyes were behind or tied. We won five of them.
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