| 26 April 2011
I have looked back at the spring game again. I wanted to take another look at the quarterbacks.
Going in I thought this thing was a done deal. Bauserman was going to be the starter. He was a senior. It really came down to that. He was the most veteran so he would know the offense the best. Tressel likes to play hard working upper classmen to pay them for their service. There was going to be no controversy about benching him when Pryor returned. Bang. Three strikes you're in.
I never heard anything this spring that said any quarterback separated himself from the others. I heard Graham looked the best but not so much better than any of the others that he had won the starting job. I heard Braxton Miller showed flashes of brilliance but also showed that he was an 18-year old who was in high school just 5 months ago. There was no reason for me to think anything had changed to make me believe that Bauserman would not be the starter. That all changed for me after the spring game.
My thinking was Bauserman, or whoever was going to be the starting quarterback, would be handing the ball off alot. I still believe that but alot is not exclusively. We are going to have to throw it some. Watching Bauserman throw in the spring game gave me flashbacks to the Illinois game when Pryor went down and the staff put the veteran Bauserman in. By the time Pryor was forced back in the game the
overwhelming consensus of the people in my house was we needed tostop throwing the ball with Bauserman in there. After watching the spring game I have to say I saw the same quarterback as I saw in the Illinois game. We are going to have to throw it some. I can't see Bauserman not hurting us with his passing even throwing it 15 times a game or less. Whether he throws interceptions is obviously the biggest worry. Nobody will forget the interception he threw that three Illinois players had a better shot at than the Buckeye receiver he looked to be trying to throw to. Becoming one dimensional is the end of your offense. When any competent DC knows you cannot throw the ball they have you. At that point they stack against the run and you lose the field position battle. That will not do against Michigan State and it might not do against Miami. The defense constantly having to defend against short fields is a recipe for disaster. It is a recipe for 3-2 not 5-0.
Braxton Miller was easily the best quarterback on the field. After that you can decide whether you liked Taylor Graham's arm better or Kenny Guiton's feet better. I think starting either Miller or Taylor creates the possibility of a quarterback controversy when Pryor comes back. The passing offense struggling, let alone being key to a loss, starts a quarterback controversy much earlier.
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