| 22 August 2010
What I look for in games like this is players. There were some notable performances.
Melvin Fellows needs to find a way to stay healthy. The one player who everyone came away taking about is Adam Bellamy. He had a monster game playing SSDE as Fellows is still not fully recovered, though he did play, and Heyward went down. The defense did not miss a beat as Bellamy had three sacks. Bellamy was a player I was always a fan of during the recruiting process. He is not the most explosive or the most athletic but he is explosive enough and is athletic enough. He is big, strong, relentless and smart. He is a long kid which allows him to play the same way Heyward does. We have always talked about the edge rushers on the weak side. They have not become any less important but they are easier to find. If you can't find one big enough to play a straight 4-3 you can find one to play uncovered in an odd man line, something that is a staple of what Jim Heacock wants to do. We saw it with Thaddeus Gibson and we will continue to look for those kinds of players. The strong side has always been overlooked. The importance of the strong side end has become something we talk about more. A player who is big enough to play like a tackle out there but strong enough to hold the point of attack is important, and I would say crucial to playing with the odd man front. We were looking to Fellows getting healthy, and Kenny Hayes next year, and hopefully Wormley in the class of 2012. Looks like we have found another one of these key players on this roster.
Sol Thomas needs to step up. I was concerned about this. He has been given every opportunity to be the man. He is still not there. It is going to be important to have Williams back. The immediate impact of Bellamy coming into his own is the fact that it allows us to move Heyward over just in case Williams is not ready.
I know you are asking, what about DT with Bellamy looking like he is going to play outside more? I think we could see him playing the role of Heyward which means inside as well as outside but no worries, Buckeye fans. Garrett Goebel had an awfully solid game inside and Jon Hankins is running with the 2's.
One of the big surprises for me was seeing that Jordan Whiting had 10 tackles in this game. That is great news.
On offense, there seems to be some difference of opinion on Pryor. Some say he was very impressive while others saw him as inconsistent. Even my own contacts came back with a difference of opinion. What nobody argues with is the fact that the offense moved the ball consistently. I think that should be the bottom line. A show of hands, how many remember what Craig Krenzels passing numbers were? We do remember that he was 12-0 one year. We all want Pryor to be the superstar he was projected to be but in the end, what we really want is the numbers 13-0. If that happens we will not be the least interested in any of Pryors other numbers.
As far as the other quarterbacks are concerned, the name that was on everyones lips was Taylor Graham. He put up some nice numbers, 7 of 9 for 58 yards, and did not rust or nerves. Guiton was the next best quarterback going 7 of 17 for 50 yards but ran the ball well too. Bauserman continues to underwhelm but also continues to hold the #2 spot. I think that is to be expected as JT is going to play it really close to the vest if something happens to Pryor. He has the defense, the kicking game looks strong and he should be able to run the ball. If Pryor goes down long term I would expect to see Guiton but short term JT is going to go Tresselball bigtime. That means a quarterback who will not lose the game for him.
I am still waiting to talk to someone who thinks Mike Adams is looking good. The best I can get out of anyones mouth is solid. We still need to be at least good at that position.
The big news at running back is Jamal Berry. I had heard he was coming on but he was the leading rusher in the game. Carlos Hyde is dinged again. I am beginning to worry about his tendency to get hurt.
We saw a number of passes to the backs and Pryor hit Stoneburner for a 25-yard gain.
