Does Vinnie Clark have eligibility left? The artist previously known as the Ohio State defense took another couple body shots yesterday as Tressel announced Christian Bryant will miss at least the Purdue game with a foot infection and Ross Homan will likely miss both Purdue and Minnesota with an ankle. Bryant's case of the creek-foot (pronounced "crik") further depletes an already suspect secondary missing Tyler Moeller and C.J. Barnett.
Tressel sounded somewhat frustrated by the hits to the secondary but doesn't plan to use it as a potential excuse for underperformance:
"Someone's got to step up. I mean, who cares how difficult it is? Regardless of how difficult it is, we've got to have someone ready. That's why you get to practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and have walk-throughs on Friday. If you want anyone to care that you've had three guys in your secondary hurt, you're coaching the wrong sport at the wrong school because we've got to be ready."
Personally, I think that's a bold statement because, frankly, the thought of Aaron Gant seeing meaningful minutes at safety (Hines moves to Star) or to a lesser extent, having Nate Oliver play Star to leave Hines at safety doesn't sound like an attractive plan to stop Gahanna's offensive attack. Thankfully, Purdue is a run based team with Marve and #1 receiver Keith Smith out for the year. My advice is for all of us to perfect our coercive persuasion telepathy skills to keep Gant off the field. It's not about hatin' but he simply does not pursue or tackle well. After a blown out knee and a few concussions, he's understandably not an effective player though he does get props for already graduating and fighting through those physical setbacks. How do you think OSU should shuffle the secondary this week?
Boiler bits. Purdue visits with an 8-4 record over their last 12 games. As noted, injuries have forced the old gold and black to grind out games on the ground, which they've done behind redshirt freshman QB Rob Henry and RB Dan Dierking. Though they sport a Toledo shiner on the 2010 resume, the Boilers have strung together back to wins at Northwestern and at home against the Former Fighting Brewster's behind Henry. The kid ran for 132 against the Wildcats then backed that up with 4 TD against the Gophers.
Purdue has rushed for over 200 in five straight games, their best streak since 1973, and they're averaging 203 yards per game and 5.0 per carry this year. It's hard to take anything for granted after the Wisconsin Wedgie, but I expect the Buckeyes will have a much easier time stalling Purdue's ground attack considering their success this season has come against Notre Dame, Western Illinois, Ball State, Northwestern and Minnesota.
On the other side of the ball, Ryan Kerrigan is clearly the guy Adams and Shugarts (gulp) need to contain. In his last two games against OSU, he's recorded 7 TFL, 5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles and at least 2.5 manhood strippings.
Alienation 101. Kentucky wide receiver Randall Cobb is once again taking shots at the Wildcat fanbase. After imploring his twitter followers to blacklist Red Lobster after a chatty hostess unwittingly dogged out the team in his presence a few weeks back, Cobb was back at this weekend following Kentucky's surprising defeat of the 'Cocks. Dude doesn't take kindly to fans disguising themselves as empty seats or showing up late:
To all the fans: loved seein Yall come late, love hearing Yall tell us we suck during the game, love that we have to play against our...own fans too! Love that we can't pack the house when we play the #10 team in the nation...It means that much more to me. I love my...my team! Brotherhood they got my back n I got they back. The rest of Yall can get ready for bball season!
I hear his arguments but Cobb is struggling in the class department. Call it SEC spunk.
Tribute befitting a legend. With the shocking dismissal of the greatest developer of tight ends this side of P90X comes a tribute video for all to enjoy:
Don't let the door hit you...Bobby Carpenter has had a rough few weeks. Playing on both Miami's punt and kickoff teams against the Patriots, Carpenter missed an assignment leading directly to a blocked punt and missed a tackle on a KO return for a touchdown. The Dolphin blunders led to the dismissal of special teams coach John Bonamego prompting Jet's ST coach Mike Westhoff to indirectly call out Carpenter for getting the guy canned:
"It's interesting that there was one particular guy that was involved in two of those major breakdowns. Frankly, I don't think he could play. I don't want the guy either. If they had included some personnel with [Bonamego's dismissal], I might have not felt so bad. That bothers me. I know the guy worked hard. It's their business. It's not mine. They have the right to decide their own. I respect that, but I'm disappointed when those things happen."
In Sunday's 23-20 thriller over Green Bay, Carpenter struggled again getting beat at the line allowing a partial block of another punt. Deciding enough was enough, the Dolphins cut Carpenter on Monday.
