Although it doesn’t seem Dave is over Saturday’s debacle yet, my 3-day hangover has finally ended and I’m ready to discuss some things on my mind:

-First off, 9 out of 10 times Terrelle Pryor does not fumble that ball and breaks that run for a huge gain, if not for a game-sealing touchdown. I love that Terrelle wanted to make the big play and win us that game, despite what Jim Tressel thinks. That is the desire and head you want on you quarterback whether he is a senior or freshman. It’s a shame Mark Rubin did knock that one away, because it could have been a very special night for the young career of the phenom from Jeannatte, Pennsylvania. By the way, there was still over 10 minutes left in the game when Pryor fumbled, meaning the Buckeyes could have been forced to punt on the next set of downs (I know more time would have ran off and field position would have been worse for PSU) and there is also the fact that the Buckeyes did get the ball back before Mo Wells muffed another kick.

-Before we get to Tressel, let’s talk about Bollman. If you read between the lines of Beanie’s post-game comments, it seems the players are getting fed up with the Bollman-Tressel play calling strategy. Yes, both defenses were outstanding Saturday night and it was an old-fashioned Big Ten battle, but come on and let this team go. Tressel continues to talk about how this team needs to find an identity, but when you have Terrelle Pryor and Chris Wells you MAKE an identity for yourself. Bollman’s game planning is a joke and JT doesn’t help by calling those plays.

-Speaking of Jim Tressel, I’m not going to go as far as some Buckeye fans who want him fired, but I am concerned with a few things. First off, Saturday’s game was one in which Tressel specializes in winning. So what went wrong? Just like in the third quarter of the MSU game, the Minnesota game and in the Purdue game, Tressel has been playing games “not to lose” instead of playing them “to win”. In layman’s terms he plays the clock game and is content with going three and out to punt when holding leads allowing teams to get back into games or make them closer than they should be, instead of putting these teams away. The game of football is different from when JT lead the boys over The U for the National Championship and Coach Tress needs to start conforming this team to the rest of the college football world. Now, addressing Jim Tressel as the coach of this team, I love how he runs this program, recruits, and has that Senator-like demeanor to him. What I don’t like is his insistence to call the offensive plays. How can you be so uncreative with so much talent at your disposal? This will continue to be the question all Buckeye fans continue to ask themselves and unless he is forced to hire an offensive coordinator who will be calling the plays, JT will continue to be loyal to Jim Bollman and the rest of the coaches who have let us down over and over again in big games the last two or three years. One guy I would love to have is Al Davis’s latest victim, Lane Kiffin. That guys knows how to use his talent.

-One bright spot to Saturday was the men’s basketball team scrimmage held at The Schott before the football game. Word on the street from New Jersey AAU coach, Ira Goldstein, who was in attendance, was that the team looked pretty solid overall and that Thad may have found a point guard in JUCO transfer Jeremie Simmons. William Buford and Jon Diebler showed their stroke from behind the new three point line and Dallas Lauderdale is starting to look like the player this team is going to need alongside BJ Mullens. Watch out for this team, as I feel they are sleepers, and compare very much to the 2005-2006 Big Ten Champion Buckeyes who everyone overlooked prior to the season.

-Finally to wrap things up, Troy Smith finally saw the field in the Ravens pummeling of Oakland on Sunday. The Ravens have been using a “Suggs Formation” in which Troy and Joe Flacco are on the field at the same time, with Troy behind center and Flacco lined up as a wide out. The package was run 5 times in the game for a gain of 65 yards and head coach Jon Harbaugh says the team will continue to use Smith and Flacco in this package. Congratulations Jon, you have been more creative with Troy Smith in 8 weeks than Jim Tressel was in 5 years.