Ohio State Buckeyes 2010 Review

Ohio State Buckeyes
2010 Record: 12-1 (7-1), Tied 1st Big Ten
2010 Bowl Game: Sugar Bowl, Defeated Arkansas 31-26

     2010 may wind up being a season that never was for the Buckeyes, as incredible allegations of wrongdoing have been flying out of Columbus faster than a fleet of Delta 757s out of Atlanta. The Buckeyes, as it turned out, were playing with guys that were violating rules to a degree unseen since the Southwwest Conference back in the days of SMU pre-death penalty. That being said, the on the field product was solid, as was expected, but fell way short of the title goal due to a very untimely loss to Wisconsin. The Buckeyes, it seems, always find a way to throw away a perfect season.
     Terrelle Pryor, cheater extraodinaire, finally had developed into a consistent passing QB last fall. Shame he was as filthy as a two year old in a mud bog. Pryor managed to pass for 2772 yards and 27 TDs, while keeping his picks down to a manageable 11 for the season. Shame he liked collecting cars (not Hot Wheels) that he could not afford and were given to him on a whim. Pryor managed to average 213 yards passing per game, and completed a solid 65% of his passes. Pryor also rushed for 754 yards and 4 TDs.
     Dan Herron, another player in the tattoo scandal that could potentially crush this program, was the rushing leader, as he ran for 1155 yards and a very strong 16 TDs in 13 games. Herron ran for two scores in a game 4 times, with his best game coming against Penn State, when he rushed for 190 yards. He added a 175 yard effort in the win over Michigan. Jaamal Berry looks to be the heir apparent for the Buckeyes as a sophomore in 2011, as Herron is a huge unknown with at least a 5 game suspension coming on, if he chooses to stay in school.
     Dane Sanzenbacher was the receving leader last fall, and that was not expected on a large scale. Sanzenbacher posted 55-948-11 on the season, as he bacame one of the best possession receivers in college football last fall. DeVier Posey, yet another rule violater, was right behind him, as he posted 53-848-7. Only two other Buckeyes caught as many as 20 passes last fall. Jake Stoneburner (21-222-2) and RB Brandon Saine (23-195-5) were those players. Five other receivers caught one TD per player.
     The Buckeyes were one of the most dominant defenses in America last fall. OSU gave up only 250.3 yards per game last season, with 156.3 yards passing allowed, and a crushing 94 yards rushing.
      The Buckeyes did not spend a ton of time on the field defensively, so they had very few tacklers bust out, with only five tacklers managing 50 tackles or more. Brian Rolle led the team with 76 tackles, and was followed by Ross Homan with 72, Jermale Hines with 68, Devon Torrance with 52, and Orhian Johnson with 50.
     Senior DE Cameron Heyward was a beast up front, disrupting the backfield for a total of 13 TFLs. He was joined by Rolle in double figures, as Rolle collected 11.5. Nathan Williams and John Simon added 8.5 per player, and the Buckeyes Collected 73 TFLs on the season. OSU was not overly adept at sacking QBs, as the leader (Nathan Williams) finished with 4.5 to lead the team.
      The Buckeyes defended 48 passes as a team. Chimdi Chekwa was the leader with 9 passes defended, while Devon Torrance finished with 8. They were the only defenders with at least 5 passes defended on the year. Chekwa led the team with 3 picks on the season.
     Devin Barclay was incredible last fall at the PK position, as he nailed 20 of 24 FGs on the year. He also connected on all 62 PATs on the season. He will be difficult to replace for OSU, as he moved on after the season. Ben Buchannon was the punter all season, having averaged 41.02 yards per punt last fall. Jaamal Berry and Jordan Hall split the returns on kickoffs last fall, and it was a program that worked. Berry averaged 25.43 yards per return, while Hall averaged 27.94 yards per return, and he returnd one for a score (85 yards) against Michigan. Hall also averaged 9.92 yards per return on punt returns.
Final Notes
     I hope that the Buckeye fans enjoyed 2010, beacuae it's going to be one of the final great season for some time to come. As it would seem, violations dating back years under Jim Tressel makes the situation at USC look laughable by comparison, and canaries are singing like it's the fucking Tiki Room at Disneyland. It seems that everyone has something to say, and Tressel's clean, sweatervest wearing, solid Christian morals imagery has been blown up like a Taliban bunker. Major punishments are coming down the pipe when the NCAA finished investigating, and it will likely have to be ugly. A damn shame.