Here’s the report card for the 2008 OSU - Northwestern game:

  • The Opponent - B-. At least Northwestern makes games interesting, even when they get drilled by teams with more talent. The Fitzpatrick-led Wildcats are always a little feisty and, sometimes, can even appear to be dangerous. With their first-string quarterback on the sideline, Mike Kafka stepped up and displayed grit and determination in a losing effort. But it’s still Northwestern, and opposing teams should be more concerned with sportscasters’ dreadful attempts at Kafka literary humor than with the potency of the Wildcat spread offense. Besides, only pretentious, annoying Europeans ever read Kafka. And I’m guessing that Franz wouldn’t have been able to throw deep against the Buckeye defense, either.
  • The Defense - B+. It wasn’t pretty in the first quarter, but the defense slowly tightened against the Northwestern attack. By the end of the game, the Ohio State defense established its dominance and held the Wildcats to a mere 10 points. The defensive line played well - again. This time is was Nader Abdallah who provided the spark for the guys up front. The linebackers and secondary had a little difficulty tackling Kafka, but they generally outclassed their opponents across the board. The most impressive development in the defense this season has been the elimination of the offensive big play. One can only wonder whether the outcome of the USC game would have been different if this mature Ohio State defense had made the trip to Los Angeles.
  • The Offense - B. Terrelle Pryor shook off the disappointment of the Penn State game to lead the Buckeyes to their best offensive performance this year. The attack is still somewhat limited in its vision, but the young quarterback is playing within the system. He’s making quick decisions and using his athletic ability to make plays. And success with the occasional deep ball is starting to open up the underneath routes and make the linebackers soften a little at the second level. Beanie delivered another inspiring performance with little help from his offensive line. I won’t continue to beat up the line because I’ve concluded that they simply don’t have the athletic ability or attitude to play any better than they’ve been playing. If the rules didn’t require the offense to have seven men on the line of scrimmage, I’d recommend that we just line the guards and tackles up four yards deep in the backfield. That’s where they end up anyway. Only because of Pryor’s escapability are the receivers starting to make a contribution downfield.
  • The Special Teams - B. The special teams played solid football again this week. Pretorius resumed his regular kicking duties, and Trepasso kept the ball on the right side of the field. The former high school running back also converted on a well-executed fake punt. The return game was solid, but the soap opera with Ray Small continues. Without him, we don’t have the firepower to go the distance on punt returns. I don’t know what’s really going on, but it’s generally a bad idea to test Coach Tressel’s patience. He has more job security than Mr. Small.
  • My Favorite Play. The obvious choices are Beanie’s 2nd quarter, solo romp into the end zone or Pryor’s 3rd quarter touchdown pass to Roy Nicol after a brilliant effort to avoid a sack. But I’m going to eschew the conventional approach this week and instead go with Alex Boone’s flagrant late hit on a Northwestern defensive back in the 3rd quarter. Yes it resulted in a personal foul, but we at least we saw a little emotion out of an offensive lineman for the first time this year.
  • Game Ball. Terrelle Pryor.

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