Posted on Monday 25 September 2006 by Kenny Roda @ 12:17 pm
Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!
Buckeyes stay undefeated
I know it wasn’t a pretty Ohio St. win over Penn St. but I don’t care. When we look back on it at the end of what hopefully is a National Championship season, no one will care that the Buckeyes were down 3-0 at halftime. They’ll just look at it as 1 of 13 wins in a run to a title.
How do I know this? Because does anybody look back at the win over Penn St. during the 2002 National Championship season and talk about the 13-7 win over the Nittany Lions and care that the only touchdown scored that day by the Buckeyes was on an interception return by Chris Gamble? No, it was just 1 of 14 wins that season that helped bring home the title! (Good sign though that back in ‘02 and now in ‘06, OSU’s defense returned INT’s for TD’s versus Joe Pa’s squad)
It wasn’t his best game, but maybe it was his best play of the season. Troy Smith’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie in the fourth quarter will be the main thing people remember from the Penn St. win, especially if he wins the Heisman Trophy. It’s highlight material that will be shown over and over. Smith avoiding the rush, breaking some quarterback rules by reversing his field and then slinging a pass some 50 yards in the air for the score and a 14-3 lead. I can hear the legendary Keith Jackson saying, “Hello Heisman!”
By the way, that devastated Buckeyes defense, you know, the one that lost nine starters from last year’s squad, has now given up a total of 32 points in four games. That’s right, they’re yielding just 8 points per game so far this season. Not bad for what was supposed to be the weak link. Yes, they’ll be tested more this week in Iowa against Drew Tate and the Hawkeyes, but early on they’re holding there own and then some. They have created 9 turnovers in four games which is just three less than what last year’s “D” had for the entire season. Give credit to defensive coordinator Jim Heacock for molding this group together and watching them grow.
How good is James Laurinitis going to be? Better than A.J. Hawk? Wow, that would be something, but is it really that far-fetched. He leads the team in tackles as a sophomore and already has 3 huge interceptions this year. You gotta love the “Little Animal!”
One final Buckeye note. Will everyone please stop taking Antonio Pittman for granted and give him the love he deserves. All he did against Penn St. was carry the ball 20 times for 110 yards and a score. He tends to go unnoticed because of Ginn, Smith, Gonzo and Laurinitis but he is one of, if not the best, running backs in the Big 10. His number so far in Ohio State’s 4-0 start…71 carries for 450 yards with 4 TDs
and a 6.3 yard average!
Browns lose a tough one
O.I.C. strikes again. How else can you explain the Browns losing to the Ravens 15-14?
Consider that the Browns had a 14-3 lead entering the fourth quarter and even though that lead shrunk to 14-12 with 3:43 to go, they had the ball 2nd and goal from the Baltimore 4 yard line. A field goal forces the Ravens to have to score a touchdown in the final 2:30 minutes to win the game, something they had done only once in the first 56:30 minutes. A TD there puts the game on ice and gives the Browns their first win of the season! So what happens? A Red Right 88 flashback without the cold weather. An interception in the endzone. Frye is hit as he throws over the middle, intending the pass for Braylon Edwards and it’s picked off
by Chris McAlister for a touchback. Zero points and the ball goes over to the Ravens.
And, of course, after some nice throws and great catches by the Ravens offense, former Brown, Matt Stover, who I believe is 88 years old, somehow finds enough power in his leg to kick a 52-yard field goal to beat the Browns 15-14…OUCH!
Was the play call a bad one, going for the touchdown? I say no and yes. No, in that I would have thrown at least once down there. But yes, on the pass play selection. Why not throw the fade, a jump ball to the back pile on with Edwards. That way if he doesn’t catch it, it goes out of bounds or maybe you get a pass interference call. Throwing it over the middle? Too much congestion there, where the ball could be tipped or underthrown if the QB is hit, which is what happened.
Kudos to Charlie Frye for his efforts. Yes, he threw the interception that led to the Ravens’ winning field goal drive. But if not for Frye the Browns aren’t even in this game. He was sacked 7 times and hit 12 other times. And these weren’t just little bumps or little shoves. He looked like a WWE wrestler who was on the wrong end of a pile driver in a Summer Slam event. All that was missing was for Ray Lewis to grab the team bench and hit him over the head with it after he knocked his helmet off! Frye competed, made some big plays and showed a lot of courage, throwing for 298 yards and rushing for his third touchdown of the season while under heavy duress all game long.
More kudos, this time to Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. First with K2. He spoke out. He was right with what he was saying, but maybe went about it the wrong way. But there was nothing wrong with the way he played on Sunday. He backed up his words, grabbing 7 passes from Charlie Frye for 92 yards and at least 3 of them were on third down plays that resulted in a first down. If you’re going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk that talk, and that’s exactly what #80 did.
As for Edwards. He talked during the week of going back to the basics so he wouldn’t drop any more balls from Charlie. Well, it must have worked. Five catches for 116 yards with a touchdown of 58 yards, but more importantly, NO drops. If Braylon and Kellen can put up those type of numbers week in and week out, then the Browns offense, if Charlie is given the time by the offensive line, will make a lot of big, exciting plays this season and for years to come. They are indeed the playmakers on this team and should rarely be off the field. Hopefully offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon realizes that now!
Yes, it will be remembered as another devastating loss in the long list of devastating losses for Browns fans. But for the players this season, hopefully this will be remembered as the game where they learned what it takes to compete in the AFC North and in the NFL. I know there are no moral victories in this league, but experience, good or bad, goes a long way in building a winning team and hopefully the painful experience on Sunday will help the young Browns start to develop into a solid team.
And let me end this weeks blog on a positive note for Browns fans everywhere. Your hated Pittsburgh Steelers had a miserable week. Losing twice in seven days at the hands of Jacksonville and Cincinnati to fall to 1-2 on the year, only a game better than the Browns! Hopefully that will pick your spirits up, along with the fact that the Browns’ next opponent is the NFL’s worst team, the winless Oakland Raiders. If the Browns play like they did against the Ravens, they’ll pick up their first win this coming Sunday at Oakland.
Also listed under: Cleveland Browns, OSU Football
GoBucks,
they are the real deal. Yes Kenny they were struggling, but unlike other coaching teams, Tressel is one of the best at making half time adjustments and he did just that. He switched to the run, which continued to work along with some good draw plays and screens against the blitz that slowed Penn State down and lead to the first score. Once Smith got the second touchdown, the game was never in question for me. I was a little upset that Penn State ran 10 strait running plays all the way down the field, but we held when it counted and the clock was running the whole time, certainly not a bad situation for OSU at the time. Smith’s unbelievable scramble play certainly was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Of course I was screaming for him to throw the ball away the whole time, and cringed when I saw him turn back towards the middle, but it was the best throw & catch the team has had all year. As for the Browns, that game was also never in question, I knew they would choke and I knew that with a lead they would go conservative in the second half. Romeo could certainly learn from Tressel in making half time adjustments. Once again an X-Cleveland player comes back to kill them. One last question Kenny, why didn’t the Browns kick INTO the wind in the third quarter to give them the wind in the fourth. If so, NO field goal to win the game.
I still think Carthon sucks, but this was probably his best game, even though he still didn’t adjust to the Ravens defense in the 2nd half. This was like watching a boxing match, where one guy is beating the hell out of the other guy, for the whole fight. Then with 10 seconds left in the 12th round, the guy that was getting his @ss kicked, turns around and lands an uppercut, and knocks the other dude out.
Kenny, I know that there’s a God in heaven, because He’s given us downtrodden, broken, busted, and disgusted Browns fans, a team called the Buckeyes.
Thank you Jesus, may your name be glorified!!!!!!!
scott,
great question about the wind. i wasn’t at teh game and don’t have an answer for you. i’ll see if i can find out. again bad teams find ways to lose, good team find ways to win.
IcebergSlim,
i’m with you on carthon. i’m not and have never been a big fan of his.
here’s hoping he opens things up a little bit, but he better find a way to do it without charlie getting killed in the process.[
Kenny,
Very encouraging game for the Browns. They played well against a quality opponent, but what I really liked was how the young guys played. It sounds like a loser’s mentality, but I’m basing success this season not so much on wins and loses but on what the young players show us. Despite what some people said, it was clear to me based on their off-season moves that this team was still firmly in the rebuilding mode. Other than the Bently signing, most of the free agents were stop-gap types that might give you one good year until a younger player can replace them. Plus, by not getting a real backup for Frye they were basically saying we don’t want him looking over his shoulder, and if he gets hurt and we lose a ton of games so be it. On defense, Wimbley, D’Quell Jackson, Sean Jones and even Simon Fraser looked pretty good. I agree with you that the combination of Frye, Winslow and Edwards could be a powder keg waiting to explode if they can find some people who can block.
When you look at the failure that was the Butch Davis era, the biggest reason for it was that they never brought in any young players in that were worth a damn. They had some decent veteran guys that were mostly free-agent signings when they made the playoffs in 2002, but you could see that they had peaked at that point because there were no young guys on the horizon that were ready to step up. I’m starting to see some difference making potential in some of the young players, and that’s something I haven’t seen since the Browns have been back. Still very early in the process though.
Yo roadman what’s up. I don’t have good feelings about the raiders game. I am having nightmares about Daven Holly trying to cover Randy Moss. That’s like Kirstie Alley trying to catch a cheetah. Not good. Who are the possible top 5 draft picks next year. No doubt were picking that high next year. Please…please …Phil Savage draft an offensive linesman on the first day next year. These guys couldn’t stop Stephen Hawking from getting a sack. I wish the Dolans were our quarterbacks. I would love to see those liars get sacked 100 times in a season. I bet if their paychecks were on the line, the o-line could probably stop the U.S. army. Well..maybe the French army. As for trying to pass at the end of the Ravens game, I agree with going for the juggular. It was just a bad idea to pass in the middle of the end zone. Maurice Carthon should working in the concession stands and not on the sidelines. But that wouldn’t work because he would confuse his co-workers by calling out the wrong orders. Go buckeyes, and when do the Cavs start playing games.
Kenny,
I heard the answer about the wind on your show yesterday. I understand that IF you thought you had luck with the wind, you might build a big lead there. However, this is Prevent Carthon, who goes into a shell until the last drive of the game. Reminds me of Coopers ability to make adjustments to defensive schemes. If the Browns do beat the Raiders it will have to be 7-3 in my opinion based on Carthons offensive prowess.