Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas
Tyler Moeller Making the Most of Opportunity: OSU safety/linebacker Tyler Moeller has had injury problems this season which have helped limit his playing time. Moeller is back to full health now, and an injury to Jermale Hines allowed him a chance to get back on the field against the Illini, mostly as OSU's nickel back. Moeller responded with two huge plays in the first half. His hit caused Juice Williams to fumble in the first quarter, a fumble that was recovered by Nader Abdallah at the Illinois 19-yard line. The Buckeyes scored their first touchdown off that turnover. In the second quarter Moeller got to Williams on a blitz and hit him as he released a pass. The ball ended up being intercepted by Kurt Coleman to thwart a promising Illinois drive and once again led to an OSU touchdown. Coleman was quick to credit Moeller with his role in the interception.
"We were in man coverage and I knew from watching film that when Arrelious (Ben) lines up inside the hash he was going to drag. Once I saw him drag and Tyler Moeller got some pressure, he got rid of the ball quick and I just stepped in front of him and took it," said Coleman.
"I love blitzing. That's one of my favorite things to do," said Moeller.
Moeller ended the game with five tackles, two assists, two tackles for loss, one force fumble and one quarterback hurry.
"Tyler Moeller is a playmaker," said OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"I think he's a great blitzer. He's a full speed guy. He's never going to stop. He's always been ready, he finally got his opportunity."
"Tyler is a guy who shows up with his lunch pail every day and is ready to work," added linebacker James Laurinaitis.
"He doesn't complain, doesn't talk, he just wants to know what his job is, goes out in practice and does it, the same then in the game."
Beanie Does it Again: For the second time this season OSU tailback made all the highlight shows with a leap over a defender. The first one earlier this season was impressive, but the one in the Illinois game left even his teammates agog, including his head coach. .
Up, up and away! "Now that one was high. That one early in the year, that was OK, but that one today, he looked like Edwin Moses or Harrison Dillard," said Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"It's exciting to watch Beanie play," said Tyler Moeller.
"You never know what he's going to do. Last week he broke the tackle and got a little push from Boone. This week he hopped over him. That guy was standing straight up and he hopped over him," said a somewhat incredulous Moeller.
Another teammates that was impressed was freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor who, just in case you didn't know, it a pretty athletic guy himself. Pryor joked with reporters that it was getting a little old being outdone by Beanie.
"He keeps doing that. I'm going to have to do it next week," grinned Pryor.
For his part, Wells took a bit of an "aw shucks" attitude toward the play, as if it was something that any old person could do. He also said that the play cost him some playing time later in the game. According to Wells, he tweaked his hamstring making the leap which caused him to sit out part of the fourth quarter, but he doesn't expect the injury to impact his ability to play against Michigan.
"I'm OK. The hamstring was a little strained, but I'll be all right," said Wells.
"I don't think the hamstring is anything too serious. Just a little strain. I'll be back practicing Monday," Wells said.
Defense Impressive: The Illini moved the ball at times against the OSU defense, but after scoring a touchdown on their third possession of the game to tie the score at seven, the Illini could not get into the endzone against until there was less than one minute to play in the game. They settled for two field goals in the second period and OSU shut them out in the third. Head Coach Him Tressel was pleased with the performance.
"Our defense was relentless going against one of the finest offenses we've faced," said Tressel. "They created turnovers at critical times."
Malcolm Jenkins
Photo by Jim DavidsonOne of the stalwarts on that defense, senior defensive back Michael Jenkins, saw it much the same way.
"We did a good job of keeping them out of the endzone," said Jenkins.
"They had some big plays and good drives on us but I think we did a good of keeping them out of the endzone."
That's the bottom line for any defense. They don't put points up on the scoreboard for yards gained, just for crossing the goal line, and the Buckeyes did a good job of preventing the Illini from doing just that. After giving up 292 yards to Illinois in the first half, the Buckeyes limited them to just 163 in the second.
"We just settled down and played our defense," said Jenkins.
Ground Attack: The windy conditions at Illinois did not lend themselves to the passing game. The team that could run the football most effectively was probably going to win the football game. That turned out to be the Buckeyes on the legs of both Beanie Wells and Terrelle Pryor, but also on the backs of the OSU offensive line which probably had one its best games of the year against the Illini.
"I thought we moved them pretty good and I thought the guys ran hard. I thought Illinois had a good front and we held our own," said OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel.
The windy day did lent itself to passing, but the cold weather also did not make the collisions that accompany the running game very pleasant. That didn't bother Beanie Wells who welcomed the opportunity to pound the football, no matter what the weather.
Beanie Wells
Photo by Jim Davidson"Last night I was talking to a couple of guys about it and during walk through I got the feeling that coach Tress was going to run the ball. I was kind of excited," said Wells.
"It's cold outside. Some guys don't want to hit, some guys don't want to get hit, but it all depends on that guy's will and determination as to whether he succeeds or not in cold weather," Wells said.
Like Tressel, Wells appreciated the effort of the offensive line.
"The offensive line did a tremendous job today. There were plays out there where they were driving guys back. They did an incredible job. I'd say it was the best job they've done this season. They keep getting better every week," he said.
The play of the offensive line didn't escape Pryor, either.
"I think the linemen blocked very well today," he said.
"After I handed the ball off I looked at the receivers and there were big holes."
Pryor went for 110 net yards on 13 carries while Wells went for 143 on 24 totes. Each scored a touchdown. The lone miscue came when Wells lost a fumble to end a promising drive in the fourth quarter.
"When I fumbled the ball the only thing I could think of was my freshman year when we were here and I fumbled it and the game got close right after that," Wells said.
Turning Off the Juice: Juice Williams had a career day against the Buckeyes last season to lead his team to victory, and while he had a very good game against the Buckeyes this year, OSU was able to contain him in the second half and force him into errors.
James Laurinaitis
Photo by Jim Davidson"Our game plan coming in was to try and pressure him," said James Laurinaitis.
"That worked for some other teams. We wanted to get after him and not sit back and wait. We tried to attack him last year but he made big plays," he said.
This year it was a different story. Laurinaitis said the difference wasn't complicated.
"It was just guys beating guys and getting to the quarterback," he said.
The Buckeyes got to the quarterback in the first half and chased Williams around, but aside from the hit Moeller got on him to force the fumble, OSU's defense had a hard time catching up with Williams once they defeated the blockers.
Thaddeus Gibson "He's a great quarterback and a great scrambler. He's a tough dude," said Thaddeus Gibson.
"We knew he was going to be a force. We had to do our best to get him down and get pressure on him," Gibson said.
"He's a very strong quarterback and he has great mobility," agreed Nader Abdallah.
"It's very frustrating when as a defensive lineman we get there in the backfield and he makes it happen (the defense miss).
The Buckeyes had better luck in the second half, particularly on a sack by Ross Homan who got a wicked shot on Williams to put him to the turf immediately.
"Me and Laurinaitis do kind of a twist and whoever comes free makes the play," said Homan.
"We wanted him to do what he wasn't comfortable with, whether it was running the ball or passing when he didn't want to pass it. That's what we were trying to do the whole game," Homan said.
In the end, the Buckeyes felt they got that done.
"I think we affected the quarterback today," said Abdallah.
"That's what you have to do with offenses. The quarterback is their heart. You affect him you affect the whole offense."
Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Buckeyes pretty much downplayed the revenge factor for the Illinois loss last year after this year's victory, but it was clear that this win was just a little bit sweeter for them, even for players who weren't around for last year's loss like Terrelle Pryor.
Terrelle Pryor "We saw the film of them jumping up and down in Ohio Stadium last year after the game," Pryor said.
"I didn't really like that. It kind of teed me off. I wanted to get a win."
The Buckeyes did, and in the process played one of their better games of the season. Pryor said it's just the continuation of a trend of overall improvement.
"I think we're coming together," he said.
"We've got the passing game together, the running game together, the linemen are starting to key in and play a lot harder and starting to get pumped up.
" I just think we're starting to come together and blend together.
"It's going to be good. Coach says all the time November is the biggest month. It's what you do at the end."
End-chanting: As the game wound down and the outcome was apparent, a section of Illinois fans began chanting at a section of OSU fans. The chant was very simple: "A__-Holes, A__-Holes, A__-Holes," they said as they pointed at the OSU section. The OSU fans kind of laughed and responded with chant of their own. "Scoreboard, Scoreboard, Scoreboard," they said.
The Illinois fans seemed to take that as a challenge and threw this back at the Buckeye fans.
"USC, USC, USC," the said.
The Buckeyes pretty much ended it when they returned "West-ern Mich-i-gan (clap, clap, clap clap clap), "West-ern Mich-i-gan (clap, clap, clap clap clap),"West-ern Mich-i-gan (clap, clap, clap clap clap)," which pretty much shut up the Illinois fans.
All this took place as the game was ending. Just as the the OSU fans were ending their last chant, Terrelle Pryor trotted by on his way the locker room. The Illinois fans took the opportunity to launch a few F-Bombs at Pryor and throw a few things at him. Pryor just looked up, smiled, pointed at them and laughed. Later he said the taunting from the fans didn't bother him a bit.
"I like to be taunted and I like to taunt," he smiled. "It's just part of it. One minute it's F-you, but if the saw me on the street after the game they might ask me for my autograph. It's just part of it."
Head to Head: OSU's last touchdown drive was aided by a personal foul call on a a pass attempt in the vicinity of Dane Sanzenbacher. Illinois fans took exception to the call thinking it was an interference call on a ball that had been tipped, but the call was actually for helmet to helmet contact which is a point of officiating emphasis this year. After the game Sanzenbacher said he thought the pass wasn't even intended for him.
Dane Sanzenbacher
Photo by Jim Davidson"I it was to Boom. I was just there just in case. I just wanted to get into position because I wasn't sure if he was throwing it to me or Boom. I just wanted to be in the vicinity (in case of tipped ball)," he said.
Sanzenbacher has been the victim of several big hits this season and has missed some playing time with a concussion. He remains philosophical about this pain.
"It's part of the game. Somebody has to be out there taking it," he quipped.
"It didn't feel great, but it kept the drive alive."
Sanzenbacher said there is no way to get ready to take those big hits.
"Unless you want to go run into walls, I don't think you can really get prepared," he said with a grin.
Sanzenbacher had better luck in the first half when he caught a touchdown pass from Pryor, a play on which Sanzenbacher says Pryor made a very heady play.
"There's a progression. I definitely wasn't the first option but it ended up coming up my way," he said.
The defensive back trying to defend him did not fare quite as well.
"I slid out and he tried to make a play on the ball and didn't realize I was behind him," Sanzenbacher said.
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