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Football
The Ohio State Note and Quotebook - Toledo Edition
By Tony Gerdeman

Toledo's Last Gasp: The Ohio State football team knew that the Rockets were going to pose a difficult test for them, and nobody in the Scarlet and Gray was expecting a walk over.

But even the Buckeyes had to be a little surprised that Toledo had the ball in their hands with a chance to win at the end of the game.

J. B.Shugarts
Photo by Dan Harker

"I was just waiting for our defense to make a play," said right tackle J.B. Shugarts.

"They always seem to come up with a big play, and they did. It's pretty nerve-wracking, but our defense was prepared. They were playing hard all day. I thought they went out there and did a great job to stop them."

"They're a confident team," left guard Jack Mewhort said of the Rockets.

Jack Mewhort
Photo by Dan Harker

"They come in hungry, a lot of teams do. They played their asses off. I'm glad we came away with a 'W'. They played hard. You have to give them credit, but our defense showed up big at the end, so we owe a lot to them."

And while the offense was on the sideline watching things unfold, the defense was on the field doing the unfolding.

They wanted to make a play to end the game, but they knew that even if they didn't make a play, all they had to do was keep Toledo out of the endzone, and they'd win. That was their plan.

Ohrian Johnson
Photo by Jim Davidson

"It was simple," said safety Orhian Johnson.

"We had to go out there and make sure they didn't score. They could catch the ball, but as long as they stayed outside the endzone we felt comfortable."

"Get to the quarterback and get off the field," is how linebacker Etienne Sabino put it.

"It's definitely nothing new," said Johnson of the final drive.

"Coach put us in a lot of situations like that throughout camp. We were prepared for it and we knew we couldn't let them score. They can get all the yards they want to, but as long as they don't get into the endzone we're good."

And on Toledo's final snap, defensive end John Simon blasted through the line of scrimmage and disrupted Toledo's entire play, ensuring that the Rockets would be kept out of that endzone.

“It's absolutely a game of inches," Simon said.

"Every second counts. As a defensive front, we have to get to the quarterback as quickly as possible and don't take our time getting there. Luckily on that play we were able to get there pretty quickly and force a bad throw.”

No Running Allowed: During the postgame interviews, talk quickly turned from the elation of the win to the disappointment in the lack of a running game.

Carlos Hyde
Photo by Jim Davidson

The Buckeyes managed to rush for just 112 yards on 34 carries, an average of 3.3 yards per carry. And that includes Carlos Hyde's 36-yard touchdown run. Without that carry, Ohio State averaged just 2.3 yards per rush. Numbers like that will not lead to many wins going forward, and the Buckeyes know it.

“It's definitely a little frustrating, but that's when you make adjustments and you try to figure it out," said Mewhort.

"It was difficult at times. Frustrating at times. And then it falls on the offensive line to get it moving. I think we need to keep improving."

But it wasn't necessarily what the offensive line wasn't doing. Rather, it was what the Rockets defense was doing.

"I like to run the ball, but when there are nine guys in the box, or eight guys, we might not have enough guys," said Shugarts. "That means we have to work that much harder to open a hole or get a drive off the line and give our backs a chance."

"Definitely we didn't run the ball at all like we would like to. They were giving us some hard looks with some of the inside stunts and some of the blitzes they were bringing. They were extremely prepared for us and they did a good job, but we've definitely got to move the ball better."

Mike Brewster
Photo by Dan Harker

"It was hard today," center Mike Brewster agreed.

"They were moving a lot. We didn't get many of our base plays that we like to run. You could see we were running outside a lot just because there was so much of a mess inside. We've got (Andrew) Norwell and Jack (Mewhort) and Marcus (Hall) and it's only their second game starting. They're doing a helluva job. We've just got to clean some things up and we'll roll."

"They had games going inside. Extra guys in the box. I'm sure we'll evaluate it and figure it out. Bolls always says that it's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it looks. We'll have to look at the film."

Perhaps it shouldn't have come as so much of a surprise that the Rockets would be well-suited to handle the Ohio State offense considering head coach Tim Beckman had two years of experience working to stop it when he was the cornerbacks coach at Ohio State in 2005 and 2006.

"They're coached very well," said tight end Jake Stoneburner.

"Coach Beckman is a great coach. He knew what we were doing, he coached here. They were able to do some defenses that confused us, slanting on the defensive line, rolling coverages. They got us a few times but we were able to make plays when we needed to."

Boo Who? While it was the running game that wasn't performing up to par, it was the passing game and Joe Bauserman that felt the wrath of the Buckeye fans in Ohio Stadium.

Joe Bauserman
Photo by Jim Davidson

After incompletions and missed opportunities, the fans booed and let it be known who the target of their angst was.

"They're gonna be frustrated when we don't score, as any fans should," Bauserman said.

"If you're not out there scoring every series, they should be mad. They're gonna be upset when we don't score, but they have to realize that we're grinding and we'll put it in sooner or later.”

Rather than force the ball into spaces that he wasn't comfortable with, Bauserman chose to throw the ball away on a few occasions. It's something that fans begged Terrelle Pryor to do for three years, but apparently they get no joy from Bauserman doing it.

Verlon Reed
Photo by Jim Davidson

"They (the fans) are on the outside looking in, so they don't necessarily know why he does what he does," said receiver Verlon Reed. "You can't let the crowd affect you when something negative happens."

"You can't listen to the crowd during the game," said Mewhort.

"You've got to listen to your coaches and your preparation and everything. The fans are going to say what they want but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what they think. It matters what the staff thinks what's best for this team."

Passing Fancy: Spread teams have come into Ohio Stadium before and moved the ball well enough, but few have executed as well as Toledo's passing game did.

The deep throws weren't working, but the short and intermediate game had its moments. For an Ohio State defensive line that is supposed to disrupt the passing game, Toledo's quick passing attack can become a point of frustration.

Michael Bennett
Photo by Jim Davidson

"It's frustrating," said freshman defensive lineman Michael Bennett.

"But we trust our corners and safeties and linebackers, and obviously they stepped up. Toledo tried to take us out of the game, but I think the defensive line, when it was our turn, we did really well."

While it may have seemed like something extraordinary, the Rocket quarterbacks only completed 50% of their passes. Even though the defensive line wasn't always able to get into the quarterbacks' faces, they were clearly still in their heads.

Toledo schemed to lessen the impact of Ohio State's defensive line with their screens and quick passes, and the Buckeye front four just had to keep on plugging.

"It's a total team sport, so we have trust in our secondary and our linebackers, and they made great plays today," said Simon.

It was just our job to pressure the quarterback as best we could and I think we did a nice job."

"They took the defensive linemen out of the game a lot with just getting the ball out on quick screens, and stuff like that," said linebacker Storm Klein. "They had a good game plan."

"They (Toledo) ran their kind of game," said Orhian Johnson.

"They went out there and executed well. It can get frustrating at times when you're getting nickel and dimed the whole way down the field, but those guys made those plays and they stretched it. We had to calm down and play our kind of game."

Page Turning Performance: The focal point of Toledo's passing game is junior wide receiver Eric Page. The Buckeyes knew this going in, but they may not have know just how much a part of the offense he was going to be.

Tyler Moeller
Photo by Jim Davidson

Page finished the game with twelve catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns. And he was targeted another half dozen times on top of that. He was all over the field, and his quarterbacks knew where he was every step of the way.

"He's better than advertised," said nickel back Tyler Moeller. "He's fast, he's great on his feet, just an all-around great player. He's the real deal."

"He's definitely quick," agreed Orhian Johnson, "and they run their offense around him."

"There's always gonna be a way that they try to get him open. They did a great job of using him.”

"He's definitely a great player. He plays into their system very well. Players definitely rally around him a lot. He was a leader for those guys and he came out here and played a good game."

Not So Simple Simon: John Simon missed most of the third quarter on Saturday with a leg cramp. When he returned he provided a much needed spark to a defense that was definitely looking for one.

John Simon
Photo by Dan Harker

On his first series back, he sacked Toledo quarterback Austin Dantin on third and long. He was relentless in his pass rush and also forced the incompletion on Toledo's last play.

"He definitely has a high motor," said Orhian Johnson.

"And with him having a chance to sit down for a little bit and get some more fluids back in him, and then get him back running, it was definitely a plus for us. And having him out there fresh and getting after the quarterback, I'll take that any day."

"It's huge," said Etienne Sabino of getting Simon back on the field. "John Simon is an unstoppable force. I think we all know that and we've all seen it."

"He's an animal," said Michael Brewster.

"He's crazy. I saw him once run all the way around the tackle and make the sack. It's pretty impressive."

Just imagine if Simon had not been able to make it back out onto the field. Would the Buckeyes have been able to hang on for the victory?

"Absolutely," said Simon.

"We've got skill positions and great players all over the field. A lot of young guys stepped up and made plays. It's just a great thing to see those guys learn so quickly and get this game experience and not get rattled by it. Just having guys you can trust 24/7 is an amazing experience for us."

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