Still standing! Ohio State holds on 42-41

The Ohio State Buckeyes took the best shot from a rival that entered the day disappointed and left it the same way despite a grand effort as the Buckeyes moved to 12-0 with a 42-41 victory over Michigan!
Carlos Hyde smashed his way through the blue defense for 226 yards and the game-winning score while Braxton Miller threw for three scores and ran for two more as the Buckeyes maintained their undefeated record going into the Big 10 title game next weekend against the once-beaten Michigan State Spartans.....

Olentangy Offerings

1) Off the stick, as thrilled as I was to see Auburn dump Alabama and possibly give the Buckeyes their shot at the national title,I knew what was coming.
Should one loss Auburn leap over the Buckeyes into the number two?
My short answer is no. Undefeated is undefeated and for all the pounding that the media gives the Buckeyes for their non-conference schedule, Auburn wasn't playing Murderer's Row.

2) Hate to start off with a bad point, but boy did Luke Fickell's defense play poorly in this one.
Bad tackling and what seemed to be major problems stopping the screen pass (Bet on Michigan State practicing that all week) made the mediocre Devin Gardner look like a Hall of Famer.
I appreciate Fickell's contributions to the program as a player and getting the program through a rough time, but he might be better suited to making a move elsewhere...

3) Give Brady Hoke some credit.
I hate his braggadocio for a guy who hasn't won anything, but he had his team fired up and ready to play with a tremendous effort.

4) If I were a fan of the team up north, I would applaud Hoke for going to the well for the two-pointer and the win, but question the play call.
Hoke had to realize that overtime would favor OSU, who was killing their defense on the ground and saw their best chance to win was there and now, so I agreed with that call.
Where Hoke went wrong was the play when the screen and option had befuddled the Buckeyes all day long.
He played right into the Buckeye's hands, Thanks!

5) Carlos Hyde is a first-round running back.
I made the statement in the past that the oft-injured Jordan Hall was the team's best back.

I was wrong. Hyde might not be the fastest or the strongest, but his combination of the two reminds me of Eddie George,

6) Another thing I love about Hyde?
After his fumble that came after carrying defenders down the field with loads of extra effort, he was clearly upset on the sidelines, but not in an out-of-control manner.
If Hyde can show the same composure off the field, I'd love to see him as a Brown.

7) The fight.
I can understand Dontre Wilson getting fired up and tossed, but Marcus Hall wasn't even on the field!
Dumb play from a senior and as much as I can understand Hall's wanting to flip the bird to the fans, who I'm sure were not friendly, he shouldn't have done it.
It reflects badly on the program and university...

8) The Buckeye offensive line was the major factor in this game.
The loss of Hall, I thought could be major, and yet the big boys did not skip a beat and the play of the offensive line had to have influenced Brady Hoke's decision to go for two.

9) Carlos Hyde is the first-ever Buckeye with over 220 yards in a game twice in a season.
If Hyde hadn't missed those first few games due to off-the-field issues, Hyde would have won the Heisman....

10) Now it is the Spartans of Michigan State standing between Ohio State and BCS glory.
The Spartans have just one loss and lost by just one point to the Buckeyes last season in East Lansing.
A win over Sparty would add some points to the computer ratings that were lost with Wisconsin losing to Penn State yesterday.
Looks like a good one in Indy next week, despite the presence of Gus Johnson...

Photo Credits: Cleveland Plain Dealer

Janssen jolts Flyers!

In what was very similar to the game last week at the Rock,the New Jersey Devils reversed to score under similar circumstances as the team scored on deflections by Adam Henrique (5) and Cam Janssen (I swear I'm not making that up) (1) and Jaromir Jagr added the kill shot (4 empty net) to lift the Devils to a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Philly.
Martin Brodeur finished the game with 22 saves in earning the 122nd shutout of his career.
The Devils travel to Toronto tomorrow night at 7:30 and play against the Maple Leafs.

Hell Raisers

1) If this game is ever remembered at all (it likely shouldn't be) it will be due to the deflection goal by Cam Janssen.
Janssen had not scored a goal since he was a St.Louis Blue in 2011.
Janssen had been recalled from Albany and Rostislav Olesz was returned to Albany after the Devils last defeat.
I would wager goal scoring was not the reason for the callup!

2) From Scott Gilbert on Rachel's Devils fan page-Cam Janssen now has more goals for the season than Claude Giroux! HA HA

3) Martin Brodeur was flawless in goal,but wasn't exactly tested either.The Flyers looked like the Devils did in Newark.
Dull,tired and not a good effort for a Flyers team that looks to be cooked this season.

4) Eric Gelinas shot the puck that Adam Henrique deflected in and played well,but left the game in the third after taking a puck off the foot.
X Rays showed no breaks,but Gelinas left the arena on crutches,so look for Gelinas to miss the Toronto game at least.

5) Adam Henrique did get a goal on a deflection,but missed on a better opportunity by trying to pass rather than shoot and the pass was broken up.
Sometimes being unselfish can be selfish and trying to show that you are a team player can lose chances to score.
Henrique is not the only one to do that,just the one on this night...

photo credit;AP Photo

Browns end streak! Rattle Ravens 24-18

The Cleveland Browns snapped an eleven game losing streak to the Baltimore Ravens behind three touchdown passes by Jason Campbell and took a 24-18 decision in Cleveland.
Davone Bess caught two of the touchdowns with Gary Barnidge grabbing the other.
The Browns improve to 4-5 entering the bye week and will return against the Bengals in Cincinnati....

Brownie Bits

1) Jason Campbell played most of the game with injured ribs after Haloti Ngata fell on Campbell shoving the football into his ribs.
Campbell missed three plays in which Brandon Weeden was booed loudly by Cleveland fans,but returned on the next drive.
Campbell's courage had been doubted by some in the media for not seeming to want to play when Brian Hoyer was inserted into the lineup.
Considering the ribs on this day,the doubts must be non-existent now...

2) Greg Little had a mixed day,but showed his physical ability with a seven catch day for 122 yards.
Little didn't drop a ball in a refreshing twist and was a beast in running with the football after the catch.
This is the type of play that shows the talent of Greg Little when the concentration is there and we even saw some toughness from Little,who injured a shoulder,but still attempted to come back in the game in crunch time...

3) Little still had his down points in being called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
The first was for taking a loose Raven helmet and flinging towards the sidelines.
That was deserved,but a later taunting penalty,while undoubtedly guilty seemed a bit light with the Baltimore guy jawing as well.
Either way,Little still needs to calm down and play the game..

4) I was critical of Davone Bess here last week and he deserved it,but I'll praise him today.
Bess finished with two scores,but the first one was a great catch through two Ravens pulling and stripping the ball.
That Bess is what I expected to see when the Browns traded for him with Miami.

5) Give credit to Rob Chudzinski for going for it on fourth and goal from the one in the first quarter,
One could not blame Chudzinski for taking the easy three early on,but the gutsy call was to play to win and he did so.
I would have liked that call even if it failed because they threw the football!

6) The Browns are going to be one dimensional for the rest of the season.
Willis McGahee looks like a spent comet to me and Chris Ogbonnaya is rarely used except as a pass catcher.
The Browns could have made this game far easier with any semblance of a 4th quarter running game...

7) Ray Horton's defense gets some kudos too.
Horton is never afraid of sending heat after the passer and blitz after blitz hounded Joe Flacco on this day. Five sacks from five different players says that.
I'll say it again,I was dubious of changing defensive schemes-it seems to have being the right move with Horton....

8) That didn't mean that there weren't breakdowns.
A coverage problem near the end of the half led to a long pass play to Torrey Smith and allowed the Ravens to score near the end of the half to keep them in the game.
Another drive made Marlon Brown look like a star.
The secondary play has improved,but there still are coverage issues...

9) I didn't like a pooch punt instead of a 52 yard field goal try.
Sometimes teams outsmart themselves and if you are going to punt-I'd rather have the guy getting paid for it do the kicking...

10) The run defense continues to be stout,Baltimore rushed for just 55 yards and averaged under three yards a carry.
Ray "Spit Take" Rice accounted for just 17 yards on 11 carries.

11) I asked this question on Facebook and here is my opinion.
What would the Browns record be if they had started either Jason Campbell or Brian Hoyer in the four games started by Brandon Weeden?
The Browns lost all four games,but I think they would have beaten the Ravens in Baltimore (14-6) and I think they would not have had an offensive breakdown against Detroit in a game they led at the half 17-7 in a loss at home(31-17).
Miami and Green Bay would have won anyway in my opinion,but move those two games in the W/L column and the Browns are 6-3 tied for first....

12) Finally,does this mean the Browns are in the playoff chase? Not really.
Despite being 4-5 and being ahead of both Baltimore and Pittsburgh,they are still two games behind the Bengals.
A wild card isn't likely as 1 team from the AFC West is a likely lock,so the Browns will have to win the division.
Ironically,A Baltimore win over the Bengals next week would go a long way towards helping the Browns.
The rematch in Cincinnati for the Browns is a must win to have any chance at all...

I will try to be back later with a look at another Devils lackluster performance.