Things to Watch

Injury Update

Tyler Moeller is out with a torn pectoral, ouch. It was an old injury and according to reports, it was a ticking time bomb and he could not strengthen it as he recovered from the head trauma last year. Being the optimist he has said this gives him a chance to get it properly healed before hopefully playing another year at OSU or at the next level. He is in his fifth year, and will start the paperwork for a sixth year, and he makes a good case but nothing is for sure. Taking Moeller's place is true freshman Christian Bryant, who had a good preseason. Backing up Bryant is starting safety Jermale Hines and fellow nickleback Nate Oliver. Pryor had a quad muscle strain and all reports are that he is good to go, but we may not be getting the whole story. Tressel said the pop sound was his knee brace. TE Jake Stonebrunner is not likely to play, as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain. WR Grant Schwartz had a scary practice this week as he was taken off the field on a streaker after landing bad and have a moment of unconsciousness. Schwartz will miss this week and will continue to be evaluated.

 

Player to Watch

If you don't know him already you will soon know the name Zach Boren at fullback, the younger brother of offensive lineman Justin Boren. As you may remember Justin transferred after Rich-Rod took the job at Michigan. It was a big deal that Boren transferred, considering it was to OSU, and because his dad played for Bo back in the day. Well with Justin at OSU, it was an easy decision for Zach to come to OSU. He has been tearing it up at FB, picking up some big blocks and clearing the way for the running game. He also has some good hands and gets some balls thrown his way. Last week he was the lineman of the week, yes the lineman of the week. Keep watching this sophomore, as he will only get better. Oh and word is there is another Boren brother in high school and OSU is looking at him...

 

Don't Freak Out...yet

It was a windy day in Champaign, and so is the case when you play in Memorial Stadium. I have only been to one game there, but it was pretty windy. Illinois is a windy state, think Chicago. The wind had an effect on the kicking and passing game, which means the running game was affected. That makes sense, because if you are struggling to pass with the wind, then you will run and the defense will load up the box in anticipation of the run. Many teams have loaded up the D-Line against OSU, forcing Pryor to pass, and up until this week teams have paid the price. This week the passing game was not effective, one because of the wind, and two because Pryor was hurt. There were some points of concern from the game, including Pryor's injury and the season ending injury of Tyler Moeller, but there is no need to freak out at this point. If the O-Line continues to struggle as they did Saturday with the run, then you can officially freak out. If Pryor is limited in mobility and teams load up the box, then the running game will struggle, and you can freak out. If the young players (some true freshmen) going in as injury replacements on defense struggle, then you can freak out. Until some of those things happen, there is no need to freak out. As Bob Hunter said in a blog post this week, remember this is Indiana.