This is the last post on replacements for JT. II have not heard anything more about the YSU president situation. I don't know if that means anything or not. It could be a matter of the coach being flattered but not interested. It could also mean he is seriously considering it and just wants to shut the thing down until he mulls it over some more. Either way the issue is going to die down, whether permanently or just for now. One last thing I want to throw out there.

I mentioned a number of candidates for the job. The mail I have received about the issue has been ver focused, yes, I see the candidates. Pick one. I think my answer may surprise you.

I really like Butch Davis. Love his style of play. Attack, attack, attack. He gets great athletes

Last Friday we had a technical snafu that made a mess of the blog. Not many people got to see the post in its entirety. I want to run it again, at least part of it, as I think everyone would want to see it.

Was anyone else as floored as I was to hear JT has been nominated by a faculty member at YSU as a possible President of the school? JT was supposedly speechless for a moment when told he had been nominated but then offered that he "loved" that school but did not want to give the impression he did not love what he is doing now. I wonder about this. Jim Tressel has always been about young people and getting an education. Buckeye Nation always talks about him moving up in the administration when his time as coach is over. I

I am at a loss to explain the lack of enthusiasm for this win. I think we got some things going right for the first time in a few weeks. This was not a game that we looked like a national title contender but we did look better than we have in weeks and I would say we looked like a pretty good football team.

First, I have to get this off my chest. JT just can't stop playing it safe. It hurt us early and could have been devasting if Minnesota was not so mistake prone, not to mention their quarterback not looking like the player we thought he would be. Talk about going backward. We go down the field with good play calling and execution. I thought we were sure to score when JT decided to go for on fourth and short. That we go for it, run Dave to convert, and Bryant Browning gets not one but two guys as the lead blocker was a triple good omen. Then we get nothing on a first down quarterback draw, surprise surprise, Pryor throws late

There is some buzz out there about Pryor being humbled, or maybe it is more like he humbled himself. He supposedly addressed some teammates about his attitude and some things he has said. I heard before the season started that TP had a love hate relationship with the team. That the older players hated and resented him while the younger players saw him as a Moses kind of guy who would lead them to the promised land, so they loved him. I spoke to several coaches who had played at a higher level. I spoke to several players who played at the major college level and a couple had a couple of coffee in the Show. They all said this kind of thing is blown out of proportion. Most players have the attitude that as long as a guy

The Purdue loss was devastating. I am not talking about the way we lost. I am not talking about how bad we looked. I am talking about bowl prospects. The week before there was a story on College Football News, and another from yours truly, about the Buckeyes still being in the title hunt if we could win out. That all went out up in smoke last Saturday. The question now is, where do we go from here?

There are two schools of thought. We are young. We were not supposed to be contenders this year anyway. Be more focused on making these young pups better. Get more of them into the mix. Back-ups start. Current mop-up players move into the 2-deep. Seniors, thank

I have looked at the class of 2010 targets from the point of view of who are the most talented and who I want to see here. I have not addressed it from the point of view of need. That is because there are so few to speak of. No need for linebackers, running backs or receivers. We have more weakside ends than we can use. The same with fullbacks.We are solid in depth at corner. We have a quarterback in this really down quarterback class so even if the staff desired another there are no targets out there. The staff is already courting 2011 kids. We need tight ends but the staff is looking to next year for a tight end. No offers out there for 2010 kids but at least one, Ben Koyack from Pa, for a 2011 kid. I believe Baldwin fills that role in this class anyway.

1 - Seantrell Henderson - OL. I am trying not to get excited about him but the buzz is this will come down to Ohio State and USC. One thing I have heard is that Henderson is being told that he can come in here and start at left tackle. I try to avoid rumors but this one has such a solid foundation that it makes sense. We all saw how much Mike Adams is struggling. He is an immense talent. He is so far behind at this point with the loss of reps from injury an

I think it is time to talk about the elephant we are ignoring in the middle of the room.

I made a bet with everyone that disagrees with me about change. I am so convinced that Jim Bollman will not come back as the offensive coordinator or the offensive line coach that I agreed to go silent for a month, no blogs, no posts to Bucknuts or anywhere else, if Bollman is back in either role next year.

I think most everyone accepts that he will not be back. Darrell Hazel has emerged as the voice in JTs ear. There is no question about that anymore. There is little attempt to hide the fact that he is more involved with the offense. I think that is a calculated attempt to show him worthy of the job. The question is, why does he need to show he is worthy?

There are two reasons. Hazel has been an OC for 2 years. Those two years were at Oberlin, and it was nearly 20 years ago. That is not the kind of resume that is going to elicit a strong base of support. He needs to get out there and show something. I have seen more diversity in the offense since he got more involved but like most, I am not convinced.

The other reason is why I making this post. There is a Tressel backlash out there. Bringing in a Tressel protege is something that many do not want. There might be some change but not enough with one of his handpicked assistants. Hazel might not be the yes man that Bollman has been but he is going to share so much of Tressels thinking that we are not going to see enough change to make it worthwhile.

Here is the question I am going to throw out to all of you. Someone outside of a Tressel

What a great game plan by Purdue. They did their homework. My only problem with the defense since the USC loss last year is we will always always ALWAYS play soft behind the front seven. Heacock cannot bring himself to come up and play man defense. That is why we are so vulnerable to the dink and dump game. Wisky did it to us last week. Purdue saw that and killed us with it. If we come up and play man we force more three and outs. No
question about that. We maybe force more turnovers and sacks. We talk about keeping a good offense off the field. The truth is the best place for any offense is on the sideline. The less the other team has the ball, the better for your team. The more they are on the field
means the more chances they have of making something happen. Everybody wants one more

As I look over the roster this morning any number of questions jumped into my mind. I want to throw them out to you. I will state the facts. I want to get your answers.

Does Jim Cordle return as the starter when he comes back from injury? JT has always maintained that no player loses his job due to injury. The line has been better in recent weeks. Shugarts and Hall have had their problems but that is due to lack of experience. Cordle did not convince me that his move to tackle was a good thing. The other question is, is the line