My apologies for the excessive parentheticallness of the following post...
A brief recap of Ohio State's 30-20 win over Illinois Saturday:
1. ESPN color commentator Andre Ware said Brian Hartline had "deceptive speed." Didn't see that coming.
2. Ron Zook made Marty Mornhinwheg look like a genius. Explain. With under 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, Illinois trailing Ohio State 23-13, and with a 4th & 9 from the Buckeye 37 yard line, Ron Zook decided to punt. The right play, obviously. The Illini coverage unit downed the ball at the 1 yard line, where Terrelle Pryor would be forced to work out of their end zone. But wait...five yard penalty on the Bucks...which would give a desperate Illinois team (one win away from bowl eligibility) a shot at a long field goal (to make it a one possession game) or a makeable 4th & 4 (in a road game they'd been manhandled). So what did recruiting wizard (but semi-awful game coach) Ron Zook elect to do? He kept the play, of course (and Andre Ware praised him!), even though his defense isn't any good. And it didn't work in his favor (which had no bearing on me typing these words).
Axe yourself one question: Can you imagine Mike Leach doing something like this? I rest my case.
3. Chris Wells jumped over a human wearing mostly orange laundry (but his initial cutback/burst - at 237 lbs. - is the reason scouts drool over No. 28).
-Brad Spieser (Brad@TwinKilling.com)
11/16/08
