Week 1: Marshall @ Ohio State

[seofan_via_dublin]

Opener for both teams, what are your thoughts.

I'll do my best to be professional, so long as others play along.

[seofan_via_dublin]

New coach for Marshall

Will the Buckeyes "open it up"?

How much does The Vest show to Miami?

Will we see Pryor get to throw more?

How will the new Buckeyes defensive players fit in?

[JChipwood]

Pryor needs some rushing reps before Miami comes to town. He hasn't been hit in game like contact since the Rose Bowl and even last year was a very raw runner relying on talent. I agree he needs to throw the ball more and most importantly more accurately with velocity.

We all know they won't show much beyond about 6 different plays but against the Canes we better show alot more rather than holding all of our cards until "The Game" or someone will get us. We may have "opened it up" against Purdue last year but they weren't "no fail" plays relying on our strength but rather vanilla passing plays relying on superior athletes and it made Pryor look horrible, not that he helped his own cause any either. Even against Iowa we didn't really get into our go to sets any even when the chips were down. We always wait until UM and the bowl games to consistantly run our go to sets. This may be a year much like TS senior year that we finally say "here it is, now prepare for it and try to stop it". Nonetheless, Pryor needs to be healthy but also needs to get some carries. In all honesty, Marshall doesn't have guys that can catch him and any that they have ever had weren't strong enough to hurt him or tackle him without just shooting his legs.

I would add another ? to your list and that is how long will it take teams to figure out that a go route or fade route against Chekwa is a reception or interference call a very high percentage of the time? If his helmet could catch he would have 20 picks by now in his career.

Also, who will step up and play the safety spot, no team wins a championship at any level w/o good safety play.

The d will look great against Marshall and by years' end be the strength of the team much like every year.

I say 37-6.

Doc will improve his club if they leave him alone and keep him happy.

[JChipwood]

On another note, I have a very good friend that runs an establishment in c-bus and it is a gathering place for the student athletes and he says this is the biggest line he has seen at tOSU in his 18 years in the business. He also said they weren't slugs like in the past but actual athletic looking bigs. He is a good friend with Boren.

[west siders]

I hope to see Pryor throw the ball at least 30 times in this game. Should be a cakewalk for the bucks. 38-3 Buckeyes come out on top.

[Orange and Brown]

Ohio State by 20+... expect Pryor to throw 20 times..Starters take the 4th quarter off.

[seofan_via_dublin]

If you see Pryor throw the ball 30+ times in a single game all year, we'll be in trouble.

He'll get 20-25 in every game, and may push 30 in some.
But Tressel will make sure the attack stays balanced, AS IT SHOULD!

If the Bucks have a good lead, TP will be handing the ball off to run the clock, or sitting on the sideline while the
victory cigar gets handed to the backup QB to light.

JT will always go into a game with a goal of 250 rushing yards 200 passing yards. Anything extra is bonus.

[seofan_via_dublin]

In the summer Jersey Scrimmage TP was "unofficially" 10-24 for around 150 yards and a single TD.

They ran 140 plays and the offense turned the ball over just once.

They had several key defensive players watching from the sidelines.

[bigtimehitter]

This is not gonna be ablowout like people on here are suggesting. I do believe that Tress will come out throwing early and often, get a 10+ lead in the first quarter in a half and start wearing them down with the running game. I think Tress knows what is weighing in on this season, I think it might be a little more open attack.
And at the safety spots I think Hines is gonna have a huge season, the guy is all over the field. I also heard that Orhian Johnson was impressing in spring ball and is looking to fill in nicely, I honestly don't think it is going to take much to make up for the absence of Russell. Our D-line is gonna wreak havoc all game like on Brian Anderson who will be the Herd starting QB, I'm calling for at least 6 sacks. They have absolutely no running back depth, and even if they did, it honestly wouldnt make a difference. I curious to see how our return game is gonna look, thats something thats been horrible the past 3 seasons. I would like to see someone step up, who could that be? Any idea Dubs?

The score might not reflect how badly The Buckeyes dominate the Herd.

The Ohio State University-31
Marshall-13

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

all i can say is the last time i thought the buckeyes were gonna roll the herd , it took i think a 52 yarder by nugent to win. then i think it was the same year i watched ohio university drop like 6 balls in the endzone that could have, and should have beat the buckeyes. i hope my beloved buckeyes do not treat this like a scrimmage looking past the herd to miami. do i think marshall can pull off the upset, no i don't. but a couple years ago i saw a very spirited youngstown penguin team, give the bucks all they wanted. on a very hot day in the shoe. if they are gonna be mentioned in the same breath as alabama. then we better come out shooting from both holsters from the hip. and look like a bcs contender.with that said GO BUCKS.

[seofan_via_dublin]

Nobody besides the losing team remembers the final score of tight early season non-conference games.

I couldn't tell you the score of the Appalachian St/UM game, all I know is they lost.
I don't know the score to the OU, Marshall, YSU, or UC from 02 games for the Buckeyes,
I just know they won.

I could look it up, but it doesn't matter. You don't get points for close loses.

If at the end of the year, the Buckeyes stand unbeaten, then they will be in the title game.
It doesn't matter if they beat Marshall by 1, or by 101.

That said, the last time they played Marshal, it was a gift scheduling due to the connection that Tress had with Marshall
from the Marshall/YSU title games. They rescheduled another game because Marshall played them well, and they had a
former Buckeye assistant as head coach.

They don't have any connection now, and Tress doesn't have any reason not to beat the hell out of them.
Call me a homer, say I don't know crap, but if you don't think JT works like that, then you don't know the
ways of the man from Youngstown.

The final score might not reflect a butt kicking, but mark it down, the Herd will get physically beat.
The only reason they won't blow them out of the stadium is that it's early.
Tress always wants backups to get a ton of PT early, and he won't show anything to Miami.
If you're wanting explosiveness, don't watch past Halftime.

[JChipwood]

bigtime, I agree totally on Hines, he lacked middle run support last year but other than that was better than Russell and we were better having hin on the field. He will replace Coleman nicely but Coleman was a player and will be missed. Someone, and I don't care who, needs to step in and fill the other safety spot. It won't take alot to replace Russell but in JT's eyes, experience is better than talent.

[seofan_via_dublin]

Hines will be great, in the same vien as Coleman and Mike Doss.

Not having Anderson Russell, is addition through subtraction.

[west siders]

If you see Pryor throw the ball 30+ times in a single game all year, we'll be in trouble.

He'll get 20-25 in every game, and may push 30 in some.
But Tressel will make sure the attack stays balanced, AS IT SHOULD!

If the Bucks have a good lead, TP will be handing the ball off to run the clock, or sitting on the sideline while the
victory cigar gets handed to the backup QB to light.

JT will always go into a game with a goal of 250 rushing yards 200 passing yards. Anything extra is bonus.

That is true but with a weak opponent in Marshall we should try to polish our passing game a little bit before the big Miami game.

[seofan_via_dublin]

You and I are on the same page. Frankly I miss the days of putting 70 on the weak opponents.
The big bonus we have in the Tressel system, is rebuilding is out. They simply reload with experienced guys.

[Jughe@d]

The final score will be somewhere in the 10-14 point range in favor of the Buckeyes. Regardless who is coaching for the other team, Tressel always plays teams that they should blow out, close. Just looked at the box score when they last played Ohio and Marshall, both of which were won because of the turnover margin.

[tomcat fan]

anyone know how good the seats are in section 27C row 34?

[Space Cowboy]

Ohio St. by 21+
If they (or should I say Tressel) havent learned to be more aggressive and blow teams out, then they need to stop the crying about the BCS not taking them as serious contenders.

[Hoggy]

I honestly don't see tOSU opening the play book up. They will take a few shots down field, but they will not give Miami too much to prepare for. The running game will be called upon and several backs will get carries.

I just hope OSU doesn't come in looking forward to the following week. I could care less if the margin of victory is 5 or 50 points!

[Spenceman]

Ohio state by like 30