Touchdown passes are good for the soul. They're also good for sophomore quarterbacks who had yet to prove they could play consistent football against a live, non-MAC, non-Illinois defense. Terrelle Pryor was far from perfect today, but if you watched the game, you couldn't help but feel good.  Yes, there were blown coverages. But there had been blown coverages before this season, and Terrelle couldn't hit the gloriously open man to save his life. Today, he did, and as sad as it may be, that's most of the progress I was looking for.

The first half was a tad agonizing, to put it lightly. The Ohio State offense was just misfiring, rather than out-and-out failing to establishing anything resembling a consistent drive. DeVier Posey dropped two touchdown passes. The offensive line looked lost, though it didn't feel like anything new. The defense was inches away from forcing Minnesota into three-and-outs, just like it was against Purdue for 90 percent of the game. In the comment thread, I noted: 

Seems like the offense is more misfiring than anything else today, rather than out-and-out failing to achieve anything resembling consistency. I know how this sounds, but we’re inches away from 28-0 and next-to-no complaining from the peanut gallery. Two dropped TD passes, and a third that was just thrown behind the receiver and picked off. We’re sustaining drives, Pryor is hitting open men, he’s running when nothing else is available, and Saine looked good before the injury (concussion?).

In the second half, the agony would mercifully end.

For the first time this season, it actually felt like the miscues from the first half were corrected and produced noticed results in the second half. Posey's case of the dropsies? Gone. Offensive line? Vaguely competent. Defensive line, which was decidely lackluster in the first and second stanzas? Reinvigorated. It was a bit shocking, given that this coaching staff's calling card lately has been bashing its head into walls until they break. The stark difference between the halves? It's tough to deny that lot of it resulted from coaching.  While we won't be eating crow about the offensive staff anytime soon since it's Minnesota, it would be shortsighted to not give the staff credit; yes, even Bollman and Siciliano.

The Good

- Terrelle Pryor finally earned his way into this category today. The stats aren't all that sexy: 13 for 25, 239 yards, two touchdowns, and one pick that would have been a touchdown if it had been better placed. In another first for this season, Pryor ran with confidence (!) and, after the first half, was fully willing to absorb hits if it meant extra yardage. Not to sound like a complete blowhard, but can anyone deny he played angry today? Excellent performance, and just what he needed to bounce back from Purdue. Also awesome? 104 yards on the ground at a 7 yards-per-carry clip.

- Jordan Hall. When Saine went down with an injury in the 2nd, I'll admit, I started dialing up the local noose store, just to see if they shipped in bulk. Either Ohio State was going to burn Berry's redshirt and risk further injury, or Jordan Hall was going to have to manbeast his way into full-time, every down status. I had completely forgotten about one Jermil Martin, but more on that in a minute. Hall looks excellent for a freshman, and I've already thought up a nickname: "Baby 'Tonio", as in Antonio Pittman, who he's looking more and more like with each carry.

- Speaking of baby running backs, how about Jermil Martin? His long TD run was Beanie-esque, bowling over defenders and dragging fools into the end zone. I half-expected him to get up and rip his jersey in two, but he didn't. I'm still praying to gods I don't even believe in that Saine is fine, but it isn't the end of the world if he's out for next week.

- I can't go without mentioning Posey, of course: 8 catches, 161 yards, two touchdowns. Two dropped score prevented him from having the mother of all monster days, but as the object of Pryor's stare-down desire, he's doing quite well for himself.

- Welcome back to the category, defensive line, though you technically didn't go anywhere since I was too busy ranting after Purdue to categorize your performance. Five sacks on the day was excellent, especially considering two of them came against the annoyingly-elusive Marqueis Gray.

The Bad

Well, not a whole lot was legitimately bad, but there were some minor issues that better teams than Minnesota will take advantage of.

- Aaron Pettrey. His struggles continued, but were prettied up a bit by a late, long field goal to make it 38-0. Why is he missing short-yardage field goals? The first was from a tough angle, granted, but he was automatic in '06 from almost any distance. He was supplanted last year due to Pretorius' strong leg, not because the South African Sensation was particularly accurate. Wazzup?

- This is a stretch, but I was a little surprised by the intermittent success Minnesota had on the ground. As the conference's worst rushing offense, I didn't expect them to get over 75 yards. Instead, they had the best day on the ground of any Ohio State opponent all year, exceeding Wisconsin and USC's mark of 118 yards by five. I'm not sure what to think. I could chalk it up to the front seven having a bit of an off day in that respect, but I hope the team doesn't. There are a few things to work on before the trip to Happy Valley.

- I don't think the secondary had the best day. Most of Weber's incompletions resulted directly from enormous pressure from the DL. Back-up Marqueis Gray had a surprising amount of success through the air and on the ground, making DBs miss and forcing them to bite hard on a few different play-action passes. They were by no means awful in holding Minnesota to 163 yards through the air, but a better quarterback will make Ohio State pay if it fails to bring enough pressure, just as Joey Elliot did.

- Perhaps Tim Brewster will fall back on the "getting our offense some late-game practice excuse", but scoring a TD against the back-ups to prevent the shutout was lame.

The Downright Confusing

- Well, at least the offensive line didn't make the bad category again, as its play improved after the first drive. Pryor was only sacked once, and the OL directly benefited image-wise from Pryor making far better decisions under pressure than he did in West Lafayette. All that said, they opened some gaping holes for Martin and Hall, and outside of "False Starts" JB Shugarts, they trimmed down on the penalties.

- Is it some sort of ritual for Minnesota kick returners to muff the kickoff? How many different times did that happen today?

- Coleman's missed tackle on Gray's 25 yard-run in the first quarter was surprising, but he redeemed himself on yet another brilliant pick.

While this wasn't quite the perfect way to bounce back from Purdue, I think both units got a good bit of confidence playing a Minnesota team that, in the end, might not be as good as its record indicates. Most importantly, Pryor gave his critics plenty of crow in showing that he can be terrific when he puts it all together. While I don't think he needs any more confidence (dude is downright arrogant at times, which is fine, as long as he backs it up), a game or two to get his head right is just what this team as a whole needs. This was an excellent start. While New Mexico State won't mean jack for Happy Valley, another good game under his belt may slow the game down for him just enough to keep the Buckeyes mighty competitive on November 7th .