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Buckeyes' dominating defense will be hard to beat
By George M. Thomas Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
First-year coach Tim Brewster isn't about to allow his Minnesota football team to believe that it will lose to Ohio State tonight in the Metrodome in Minneapolis despite the Gophers' 1-3 record.
''If we take care of the things we can control and play as hard as we can play, we can beat Ohio State on Saturday night. We can talk and reflect back about how Minnesota won in 2000, but what's most important is what we do today,'' Brewster said. ''What it comes down to is whether you're preparing and doing all the things necessary to win on Saturday on Tuesday.
''If you work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you'll have a chance on Saturday.''
Brewster and his team, which is led by freshman quarterback Adam Weber, will likely have to play a perfect and dominating game because OSU looks to have put it all together. There was little wrong with the defense that has dominated since the season's opening kickoff.
After struggling the first couple of games and in the first half against the University of Washington, the offense seems to have hit its groove.
Consider that in the second half against the Huskies, the team put up 30 points. Last week against Northwestern, 51 of the Buckeyes' 58 points came from the offense. It was a balanced attack, with 191 yards rushing and 205 yards passing.
With Minnesota's defense ranking last in passing and scoring defense, it looks like the offense will only get better.
Buckeyes players acknowledge improvement on offense, though they're not willing to rest on any accomplishments.
''I'm sure the offense is definitely looking to exploit'' the Gophers' defense, OSU running back Maurice Wells said. ''That's what you have to do to win games, make big plays, so we're definitely trying to take advantage of that.''
The Minnesota defense knows the OSU offense is improving, too.
''I think so far we've been good against the run. People haven't really been able to run against us, and I think we should be able to do the same against Ohio State,'' Minnesota defensive lineman Eric Small said. ''If they want to pass, they can try to pass; if they want to run, they can try to run.''
Should the Buckeyes not be able to run the ball, the Gophers will find themselves looking at one of the best quarterback-wide receiver connections in the country in Todd Boeckman and Brian Robiskie.
After inconsistent play early on, Boeckman graded out well enough against the Wildcats and was chosen the offensive player of the week after hitting 11 of 14 passes for 179 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Robiskie. The wide receiver has developed into a big-play guy this season and averages more than 20 yards a catch.
The Buckeyes realize that they have to worry about Minnesota's offense as well. Weber leads an offense that scores more than 35 points per game. He's not prepared to concede anything to OSU despite the defense ranking tops in the conference in most categories.
''It only matters what we think; it only matters how we play. With the way our season's been going, nobody is going to give us much of a chance,'' he said. ''That's OK because Ohio State is a great team, and I think that anything can happen in the Big Ten; I think that's been proven so far this year. We know that if we prepare, if we execute and if we protect the ball, we'll have a shot.''
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel respects what Weber brings to the table even though he's just a freshman.
''To me, the play that really marked who he is, is when they were down by three touchdowns (against Purdue) with about seven or eight minutes to go, and he's coming around the end on the 2-yard line and he was not going to be denied getting into the end zone,'' Tressel said. ''Three people hit him and he split them and scored, and that's just the way he plays.''
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
First-year coach Tim Brewster isn't about to allow his Minnesota football team to believe that it will lose to Ohio State tonight in the Metrodome in Minneapolis despite the Gophers' 1-3 record.
Get the full article here.
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