It's baaaaaaaaaaack. But did it ever really go anywhere? The definition of Tressellball has undergone numerous revisions throughout Jim Tressel's tenure in Columbus: first, it was strictly about having a ball-control offense. In 2002, the classic definition of Tresselball emerged: ball-control was still the be-all end-all, but excellent special teams and bend-but-don't break defense became the critical component in a system that prides itself on small margins-of-error. This style of play continued mostly unabated until the latter half of 2005 and all of 2006, when Troy Smith finally came into his own as a passer. While "ball-control" was still important, it was not the end-game of the offense; scoring points was, and that's how it should be with four future first-day WRs on the roster.  In 2007 and 2008, things seemed to return to form, but the traditionally excellent special teams seemed to miss a step, and while the defense remained stout through '07 and most of '08, the offense began to fall below even minimum acceptable levels for Jim Tressel. Jim Tressel doesn't set his standards very high for the offense; he talks up the dream "250 through the air, 200 on the ground" scenario but if he doesn't get it, I don't think he minds, as long as he wins.

Since the USC game, I and others have documented a marked change in the offensive philosophy, especially in the latter stages of triplet blowouts against Indiana, Illinois and Toledo. Ohio State was still passing in the fourth quarter, which is a thing absolutely unheard of in the Jim Tressel system. Moreover, Ohio State seemed to be taking the field each time with an intention to score; you may think that seems like a pointless decision, but if you've watched Ohio State while away countless fourth quarters with three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-punt, you'd know that's a rather shocking departure from the norm.

Well, today, that wasn't working. Vintage 2002/2003 Tresseball - anemic offense intact - won the day today.  I mean it: outside of precisely one 88-yard drive before the half, the offense didn't click. At all. Most of it, unfortunately, is on the shoulders of one Terrelle Pryor, who at no point looked comfortable. In fact, he frequently looked like Craig Krenzel, before Krazy Legs grew a set and essentially willed his team to a championship. Ladies and gentlemen: I think it's time we start revising down our expectations. Terrelle Pryor is not, and, barring multiple miracles, will never be Troy Smith. Let's proceed from here.

The Good

- First up, hats off to the entire damn defense. I know the numbers aren't the sexiest: 368 yards of offense for Wisconsin, 118 rushing (99 yards below their season average, btw) 250 passing, but they in no way tell the story. With the offense struggling mightily, the entire front seven got no rest, and got quite a workout during twin pick sixes by Hines and Coleman. Nevertheless, they were relentless: they notched six sacks on the day, forced two picks, and bottled up Badger wrecking ball John Clay, who toted the rock 20 times for 59 yards. The Badgers had a long run of 15 yards, and it was on an end around to speedster David Gilreath. Said end around plagued us in the first half, but they adjusted and shut it down the next time it was deployed. 

- When you give up 250 yards passing, it's hard to have many laudatory things to say about the secondary. But Kurt Coleman and Jer "Alpha"male Hines (name credit to commenter Big Red Dog) deserve special mention for those critical pick sixes. Coleman's was beautiful, while Hines was majestic - tipping the ball to himself, and then having the fabled "presence of mind" to weave through tacklers for the score. Both players were terrific in run support as well.

- The special teams were, obviously solid; Pettrey got out of his, while The Ghost of Ray Small (HT: 11W) showcased the quicks that made us so excited about him. 

The Bad

Uh, where to start?

- Terrelle Pryor. Buddy, I told myself I'd keep you out of this category for my own sanity until you were actively awful, and uh, yeah:

Add onto that just 8 yards rushing outside of an admittedly good late 2nd-quarter 27-yd run, and....

Pryor, your game! WOOF!

I have no idea what to make of this. Yes, we saw some progress after USC. Yes, he's "only a sophomore" (though that excuse should have been in its death throes weeks ago). Yes, Wisconsin's defense is  okay, I guess, but let's be honest here: he pulls this against Iowa, Penn State, or even Michigan? We won't stand a chance. Because of this, I feel it is my personal responsiblity to say this: start revising down your expectations. He's never going to be Troy Smith. Right now, he's not even Tyrod Taylor. If he ever gets to the point where we can count on him for 200 yards passing, and about 50 rushing (assuming the RBs are competent and also producing), I think we should be very, very thankful.

- The offensive line. Weeks of progress dissipated against a Wisconsin front that - and let's be honest here - is at the very most above-average. They had given up 100+ yards to two opponents, 200+ yards to one (though, to be fair, that was on 55 carries, but it was against Wofford), and hadn't really started coming together until games against MSU and Minnesota - two of the league's worst rushing offenses. There really isn't any excuse for Ohio State to fail to get at least one back over 100 yards, especially after all the improvements that had been made in the weeks prior. But they didn't even come close.

- But that isn't all on the line. Daniel Herron and Brandon Saine weren't seeing the few holes that there were, and thus, couldn't pace the offense like we need them to.

- If it's true that Jim Tressel exclusively calls plays in the red zone, as the announcers alleged, I think we've found (or perhaps rediscovered) our problem. There were a few brilliant calls today - the Pryor TD pass and the ridiculous misdirection that Saine nearly took the house - and both occured outside the red zone. I don't think it's particularly controversial to assume Hazell had some hand in both, if he didn't outright call the plays in the first place. Another offensive outing like this, especially in one of our critical last three games, and the calls for Tressel to cede playcalling duties will be nothing short a deafening roar.

The Downright Confusing

Not much to speak of here, outside of some officiating mistakes:

• What was with the game clock management? No time was burned away for two kickoff returns plus a field goal, and with the game still vaguely in doubt, these sorts of mistakes can lead to, well, awkard situations like that two-minute draining of the clock while everyone just sorta stood around. It helped the Ohio State defense catch its breath, so I can't complain too much, but I've never seen something as elementary as the game clock get butchered like that.
• This is some slight nitpicking, but that late intentional grounding call on Pryor was rather ticky-tack. It still resulted in a field goal, but if it were in a much more critical situation, the outrage emanating from Columbus would have scorched the sky (and probably the earth as well)
• Where was Duron Carter? I know there isn't a lot of wealth to be spread around when you complete 5 passes, but I was hoping for a bit more from him.

In closing, I'd like to reiterate something about "youth". This is, to be sure, a "young" team, with five seniors starting (Cordle, who hasn't even played for the past few weeks, Coleman, Worthington, Amos, and Ballard). There are a couple older guys sprinkled in as backups - Denlinger, Russell, come to mind - but overall, we're watching juniors, sophomores, and a few freshmen. So what does that all mean, Basil? Well, let's thing about what youth connotates. "Young" does not necessarily mean "bad", what it really usually means is "prone to inconsistency, volatility and massive swings in production". That's what we're getting with this offense, and a lot of it's on Pryor, but putting it all on him is cheating the rest of the unit of its own responsibilities. The running backs have to recapture the consistency they provided against Illinois and Indiana, while the wide receivers have to learn to adjust to their QB's numerous deficiencies - they've got to break off routes and keep the passes simpler for him, because right now, he's not going to diagnose coverages. He's going to look for the open man, and when he doesn't feel like doing that, he's going to stare a guy (usually DeVier Posey) down until he comes open. That's just his style right now. If that means we have a moral obligation to beat Nick Siciliano with a tire iron, then so be it, and since the staff clearly can't change how Pryor is playing as easily as we'd hoped, they've got to adjust. The offense itself has a lot to learn, and they don't have that much time to do it before things start getting real. It's looking like these next few games will be almost as crucial as that final stretch.