CRUNCH TIME FOR THE BUCKEYES

Current gathering at the Sports Page, picture above of newly weds from Columbus and Buckeye Bob and Buckeye Brett.

Ohio State takes on Penn State this Saturday and I will be their with my niece Mindi and almost former Buckeye Kelly (however with a few more OSU victories it will be back to Buckeye Kelly).

"God Willing and The Creeks Don't Rise", the Buckeyes will win their last three games against Penn State, Iowa and Michigan and be on their Merry way to the Rose Bowl against USC or Oregon. That is the very best scenario we can hope for this year.

A lot of fans believe we will be lucky to win one of the last three remaining games. We are all just going to watch one play and one game at a time and see what kind of strength and determination is in this group of Buckeye players and their coaches. It is a TEAM effort!! They have the ingredients to get the job done, if the COOK shows up.

Love all you Buckeye fans. I will be their for the Buckeyes in person to witness our fate for the Penn State game and the Iowa game. It has been a dream of mine for twenty years to attend an Ohio State football game at Penn State. It has been the only place in the Big Ten that I have not attended a game.

Aloha and Thank you all, Buckeye Bob....GO BUCKS!!!

BUCKEYE FANS STILL PEEVED WITH FOOTBALL TEAM

After a pathetical weak showing of the Ohio State football offense beginning with the last half of the Indiana game through the Wisconsin, Purdue and the first two quarters of the Minnesota game (a total of three games worth of football) many fans are still understandably very upset and some are going forth with their venom and emotions about Terrelle Pryor and the offensive line and some of the coaches. My good friend (almost former Ohio State Buckeye Kelly) had the following to say. One may agree or disagree, but the fact of the matter is, many Buckeye faithful have similar feelings.

"Buckeye Bob,

Brother the one thing I would like to point out is that Pryor seems so stupid at times. You would think that a quarter back with intelligence would have a far more humble approach. Just like his footwork, defensive reads he just doesn't have what I call "football smarts". Seems to me just like John McCain in our last election that Ohio state would have "vetted" their quarterbacks intelligence level a little better. Maybe with all the huge losses on the national stage the "football smarts:" needs to start with the coaching staff and who they recruit and how they develop them. Ohio State has the most under achieving offensive line in the country. Just two seasons ago incoming J.B Shugarts, Mike Adams and Michael Brewster were suppose to be the best offensive line in the country. Here we are two seasons later and they stink. How is it that a coaching staff can take 5 star players and make them worse then when they played pee wee football? Its amazing to me how the personalities on the field just don't seem to mesh. I think Ohio State has much bigger problems then just Terrelle Pryor. Ohio State has major coaching issues that need addressed first. I guarantee you if Mack Brown or Nick Saban had our group of guys with their staff, OSU would not be where it is today. The liiberal nancy's at OSU starting with Gene Smith, let Tressel go, fire Bollman first. You might keep Heacock but what the hell, fire them all. We as Buckeyes deserve much better.

Almost Former Buckeye Kelly"

Buckeye Bob until next week. New Mexico State should be an easy scrimmage game.

OHIO STATE PURE POSITIVE ENERGY

Think about what it is you want and believe what you think--this type of philosophy will result in manifesting what one wants. This seems to be the strategy of the Ohio State football program and friends of Terrelle Pryor.

This week all the coaches have come out in support of Pryor, as though he had never played a bad play in his life (although they admitted he was not playing up to par). Coach Tressel being interviewed by ESPN today Friday stated that the public and the fans do not see Pryor working in practice and becoming a better player all the time. Tressel stated that Pryor will be a great quarterback!! Co Defensive Coordinator coach Luke Fickell called Terrelle and told him to relax and not to try to make anything happen.

LeBron James called Pryor and told him to relax. He said he understood the hype that surrounds Pryor and told him to go with the flow. Marcus Forston the 2nd year defensive tackle for Miami introduced Terrelle to Miami quarterback Jacory Harris and this week Jacory told Pryor about his game against Oklahoma and how he tried to do things he was not able to do and how he settled down and just took what the Oklahoma defense gave him. Pryor even talked to Jimmy Clausen, the Notre Dame quarterback this week. They talk on a regular basis and he gave Terrelle confidence that he would excel.

From all this advice, philosophy and support from his friends, team mates and coaches this is what Pryor's conclusion was for his strategy for the Minnesota game tomorrow. "I will just take what they give me. It will lead to big plays and make some drives and get this thing exciting again. I love Columbus and I love the Ohio State football fans and I want to make them happy".

It is a shame that Minnesota has a worst ranked offense than Ohio State. They are 105th ranked in rushing offense, 103.4 yards per game. They are 88th in passing offense. Adam Weber is the passing quarterback. The freshman quarterback who comes in occasionally, MarQueis Gray has had ten carries for 55 yards rushing. Minnesota is 4 wins and 3 losses with the terrible team they have. The teams brightest star so far is receiver Eric Decker who has 104 yards per game in receptions and leads the Big Ten and can catch everything thrown close to him.

Aaron Pettrey will be the 4th Ohio State Captain for the Minnesota game.

In case you're wondering, Brutus the Buckeye has been to every game since 1965. I'm sure he will show up for the remaining games of 2009, just like the rest of us Buckeye fanatics!!!

Buckeye Bob....until next week.

PRYOR HYPES OFFENSE CAN HE DELIVER??

Going back to the second half of the Indiana game, I felt something terrible was wrong with Terrelle Pryor. First I might add something was wrong with Jim Tressel. With the game well under control, why did he leave Pryor in the game? It would have been a good time to give Bauserman some work. Instead Pryor makes a fool of himself, passing wildly to Posey two times low short passes and another wild pass to Sanzenbacher three yards over his head!!! He looked worse than a high school quarterback. That is obviously why the quarterbacks coach says that Pryors greatness right now is his ability to run. What a joke, he only does an average job of doing that.

During the Wisconsin game Pryor showed zero improvement, having only two drives of more than twelve yards and five times going three and out. Pryor made Wisconsin's pass rusher O'Brien Schofield appear freakishly athletic and tremendously effective.

Further speaking if anyone is interested, the Big Ten is lousy. The only bright spot is Ohio State's defense that ranks fairly well nationally. Also Place-kicker Aaron Pettrey leads the Big Ten is scoring averaging 8.7 points per game (this is an indicator of how bad the offense is in the Red Zone). Our punter Jon Thoma is currently tenth in the Big Ten.

Now Pryor is saying wait until we see the offense perform in the remaining six games. Well they have always had the potential, it is only very poor coaching and very poor execution that has held this bunch of great athletes back. I understand, the coaches have now settled on plays they feel will work for the Purdue game. They have worked and looked very well in practice. Can that effort carry over to improvement in the actual game. Purdue should be like a scrimmage game, since they are a very weak opponent. But do not believe it until we actually show that we do have an offense and our defense continues to shine.

I almost feel like the Illinois coach who benched Juice Williams for his lack of performance. If I was the coach I would have benched Pryor and gave Bauserman a chance, he could not do a worse job. Look at the Michigan coach who blasted his main quarterback Tate Forcier and humiliated him after some poor plays. He replaced him with Denard Robinson who looked great in a scoring drive and the next drive he threw an interception that caused Michigan to lose to Iowa. I do not approve of the Michigan coach's behavior. However, Illinois and Michigan do not have a PRIMA DONNA whom the coaches cannot criticize or try someone else out. When there was Troy Smith and Justin Zwick, at least if one did not do well they would put the other quarter back in. However, with Pryor, it is like he is our future and regardless of how badly he performs, we are not giving anyone else a chance. In my opinion, if Pryor does not perform in the next couple games and show signs that he is improving (albeit against very weak opponents), I do not know what to think about our beloved Ohio State football team.

Our Defense may be able to carry us to winning out our remaining games including a bowl game, but it would be very pleasing if we had a little offense also.

All of us Buckeye football fans will have to refresh our memories and go back to when Tressel won the whole Enchilada in 2002, Jan 2003 with quarterback Craig Krenzel running a sputtering offense, we had fantastic defense, sterling special teams play and a strong combination of good karma mixed with serendipity!!! Tressel's philosophy than was 1.No bad or sloppy decisions. 2. Don't lose the game on offense. 3. Control the clock. 4. Win with defense and special teams.

GO BUCKS!!! LETS WIN REGARDLESS OF HOW IT LOOKS, BEAT PURDUE AND CONTINUE WINNING!!! BUCKEYE BOB

MAUI BUCKEYE MEETS PRESIDENT GEE

The above picture is of Brett Davis and Ohio State President Gordon Gee. Click on picture to enlarge.

Brett Davis has been part of our Buckeye family here on Maui for the past four years. Not only has Brett been a fantastic Ohio State football fan, but he has recently investigated the possibility of Maui having its own Ohio State University alumni club along with another inspired fan Katie Cook.

Brett was recently back in Ohio on vacation and had the honor and pleasure to attend the Ohio State vs. Toledo football game at Cleveland, Ohio.

He never planned or dreamed that he would meet the President of The Ohio State University. Brett was caught up in the pre-game football hype before the game when his Dad and Mother called for him to come to where they were. Brett went over to them, and there was President Gee with his security entourage. Somehow Brett's father grabbed the opportunity for a photo shoot, and they all had their picture taken with the President. As you can see in the above photo, Brett is so happy he is just short of levitating. What an opportunity and what a great picture!!! A rare opportunity indeed. Way to go Buckeye Brett!

Brett has a very good job on Maui, working as a Land Use Planner for Chris Hart and Partners, Inc..

ILLINOIS DOWN AS EXPECTED, INDIANA NEXT

Top picture, my lady Ashleea and I after a 2 mile beach walk and swim in the ocean, having breakfast at Fred's in Kihei. Middle picture, Ashleea ready for a party the same night. Last picture, Buckeye Bob, Ohio State from top to bottom, shoes, socks shorts, shirt and hat (that is a Buckeye fan for you)!!

Last week against Illinois, they were without their top defensive player and Juice Williams was all padded up on his thigh and did not have the mobility he had back in 2007. Considering it was a torrential downpour the first half, our offense played pretty good (no yards passing the first half is unusual for any team). The second half our offense played pretty good, but either Pryor is not nearly as good as advertised or our coaches keep calling plays that the players do not resonate with. Although we won, I was not impressed or pleased with our offensive play.

The defense again did a great job, making big plays and I might say lucky plays when needed to keep Illinois from scoring. Kurt Coleman being suspended is really NO surprise to me. The last couple games I have noticed him being a little more aggressive than needed. He is a good player that could be a great player (but keep it clean) and earn your honors by exemplifying accepatable behavior on the field of play.

Indiana is now 3 - 1 having lost their first game at Michigan last week (a game they could have won). They out gained Michigan 467 yards to 372. If one of their four field goals was a touchdown, they would have won by a point. Darius Willis had an 85 yard touchdown run and 152 yards for the game. That was the longest run from scrimmage against Michigan since 1987. It was the most points and yards by an Indiana team against a Michigan team ever. Tanden Doss their best receiver had 197 al-purpose yards, including 5 catches for 104 yards. Their head football coach Bill Lynch was very proud of his QB Ben Chappell who is coming along strong and improving every week. The only turnover by Indiana was the last play when Chappell was picked off, otherwise, he played a masterful game. On Defense Matt Mayberry led with 10 tackles. Nick Freeland tied an Indiana record with 4 field goals in one game (he was 4 out of 5).

Buckeye Bob until next week, GO BUCKS, beat Indiana!!!

OHIO STATE FANS MAY HAVE HOPE

Above picture with my new Ohio State aloha shirt, compliments of my niece Sherry, Thanks. Also, my new OSU hat from my recent trip back to Ohio for the Navy and USC games.

The Navy game was not pretty, in that the Buckeyes played lack luster football and nearly lost to the midshipmen.

Most fans expected USC to defeat our Buckeyes and I believe we psyched ourselves out and the team gave that game away without a decent effort. There was an effort on Defense, but when we needed the stop, we did not get it. Conversely, when Washington needed a stop today they got it along with some other breaks an interception and a fumble recovery to pull off the upset against a sluggish USC team. The same sluggish team we let beat us (Shame on us)!!

Today against Toledo, who has been giving up over 500 yards and 45 points a game against opponents Purdue and Colorado (much lesser teams than OSU supposedly), we did get our 500 yards also. It is an embarasement that we could not score over 50 points. In my opinion an offensive effort of less than 50 points against Toledo is not that great. Again the defensive effort was very good. They put a lot of pressure on the QB (who was among the leaders in the nation in offense numbers) and they also held the running game in check. We did have a fumble recovery and an interception and Coleman knocked the ball loose, preventing Toledo's only threat at a touchdown. Pryor finally began to show some promise, but still has a long way to go if we are going to beat a quality Pac Ten, Big Twelve or SEC top five team. Not counting just beating Penn State and Michigan in the Big Ten (considered the 5th worst conference out of the top six).

If our defense can continue to improve and Pryor and the offense can play up to their potential than we Buckeye faithful fans have hope. What the future holds is anyone's guess. Next opponent Illinois who is hot and cold and we do not know what to expect out of Juice Williams their QB, who does have great potential as a passer and a runner.

I really enjoyed watching the freshman running back Hall carry the ball with some authority today. I believe he is the best running back we have had on the field so far this year. Also, the freshman receiver Carter, seems to have very good potential.

Ohio State football has all the ingredients, if the coaches will step back and allow them to play. There is no doubt in my mind that we have the team to be undefeated to this point. What will happen in the future is up to our coaches (not the players).

I have NO regrets in going to Ohio for the first two games and I am really looking forward to my trip to the Penn State game Nov. 7th and the Iowa game the following week. I have been waiting to visit Happy Valley for the past 20 years and now I can finally fulfill my dream. It will complete my visits to every campus in the Big Ten.

We will be staying at my cousin Sheri and her husband Joe's Lodge (Camp Millie) located at Lockhaven, Pa. about a one hour drive North of State College. There will be at least 9 family members present at the Lodge for a great weekend. Thanks Sheri and Joe.

Although there was a small showing of Buckeye fans at the Sports Page today to watch the OSU vs. Toledo game on TV, it was very rewarding for me To see Buckeye Larry and his son Bubba there. Larry has had health problems for the last year and a half and seems to be on the mend. God Bless You Larry, keep up your return to good health. Also our faithful fans Richard and Barbara were present after returning from a long trip to Ohio. Buckeye Katie and Buckeye Brett were back in Ohio for the game today. We look forward to seeing them back at the Sports Page to watch the next Ohio State football game with us.

The hospitality and cooking of my niece Mindi and her man Kelly were awesome while back in Ohio. And I had great visits with my sisters Ann and Sue (who became a great grandmother as her daughter Robin's daughter Ryeale gave birth to Serenity), brothers-in-laws Herb and Jim, nieces Bobby and her family, Janet and her family and Sherry. Also, had a good visit with my cousin Sheri and husband Joe from Baltimore, Maryland. I even got three rounds of golf in with my good friend Danny, including a round at the prestigious Scarlet Course at Ohio State, the fourth ranked college golf course in the USA.

Buckeye Bob until next time and have faith there is a lot of good Ohio State football ahead of us to witness.