Andrew Moses

It turns out Halloween of 2009 was a time for Moses – Andrew Moses, that is.

Few Ohio State football fans may have even noticed but the Buckeyes’ yawner with New Mexico State on Saturday – which resulted in a 45-0 win – was a momentous day for Moses, a senior offensive lineman who walked on to the program more than four years ago.

A 6-3, 280-pounder, Moses not only started at left guard in place of the injured Justin Boren, he also was named the team’s offensive captain for the day.

“It was fun, honestly,” he told Bucknuts.com after the game. “That’s why you come here. That’s why you go through all the 6 a.m.s and all the summer running, just to have an opportunity like this. I was trying to get ready the whole last couple years. This season I’ve been ready to go, and it was great.”

Offensive coordinator and interior line coach Jim Bollman said the appointment of Moses to the starting lineup was not charity.

“He’s done a very good job throughout his career of getting better and better and better, certainly an outstanding job this year of performing his role as a backup in there at all three inside positions,” Bollman said. “He’s really a knowledgeable guy. He knows what’s going on at any of those positions and can help the younger guys. He’s a valuable guy to have around.

“So it was nice that he had a chance to do those things today and I’m sure he feels good about it.”

Good is an understatement.

“It’s almost too much to put into words,” an obviously elated Moses said. “You never really know what this plan of playing in college is going to bring. It was amazing. My family is here and one of my best friends all the way from first grade is here. My one best friend saw me play my first game and the other one was here today. It was unbelievable. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”

Moses was a captain at Bishop Watterson in Columbus and helped his prep squad to a state title in 2002 as well elite eight appearances the next two seasons. In 2005, he walked on at Ohio State and redshirted, working his way up the food chain slowly and steadily to the point where he lettered last season. This year has paid big dividends as he graduated in March with a degree in political science and turned in a very solid spring on the practice field.

At the start of fall camp he was awarded a full scholarship and placed in the two-deep. He had performed well as Mike Brewster’s backup at center but also was showing the range to handle each of the guard spots.

Moses not only was an all-state football player in high school, he also was an accomplished student. He carried that work ethic into his collegiate experience and is now a member of the OSU Honors Program. Last year he was selected as a Mortar Board honorary as well as being named to the Big Ten all-academic team.

His parents, Ann and Charley Moses, are both OSU alums and have followed his career for five seasons now, often attending away games as well as being fixtures in the Horseshoe.

This week, Andrew sensed their added enthusiasm.

“They were thrilled,” he said. “We’ve been through some big situations, some (high school) championship games and stuff like that. So they were excited. It was a difficult week of practice and getting through school and stuff. You just try to stay calm. But they were thrilled, they were excited.”

Moments after ably handling the responsibilities of starter and captain, Andrew felt the same way.

“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “It’s a tremendous honor. I think it will be something I’ll be able to grasp more as I get older and I’m done with this. But to represent this bunch, to play in the ’Shoe with the band and everybody, it’s a dream come true. It’s beyond anything I’ve ever dreamt of, so it was great.”

Treats For All

Moses was part of a noteworthy effort up front as the Buckeyes racked up 559 yards of total offense, converted 10 of 19 first downs and allowed just one quarterback sack in 82 offensive plays.

The defense, meanwhile, turned in another yeoman effort, holding the Aggies to a meager 62 total yards on 45 plays, an average of 1.4 per snap.

Domination is 24 first downs to 2. Domination is outgaining your opponent by 497 yards. Domination is more than 300 yards rushing and 6.3 per attempt.

“I think the only bad thing about this game is Aaron Pettrey getting hurt,” senior safety Kurt Coleman said of OSU’s placekicker wrenching a knee during a NMSU kickoff return. “It’s going to be a big blow to our kicking game. Hopefully we have people to step up.

“Defensively it was a way for us to polish some things up and really work on the things we weren’t doing well before. And I think we came out of this game unscathed.”

OSU’s front seven was in such complete and utter control that Coleman, an All-American candidate didn’t even need to cheat up and help stop the run – or worry about any big pass plays down the field. He finished with just one solo tackle, blasting a receiver on a minimal gain in the flat.

“There were times I found myself jumping on piles just to jump on piles,” he said with a laugh. “This was a game for me to sit back and relax and let the front seven do all the work. And it’s good as a safety. It means you’re not getting beat up every day.

“It’s a great feeling. Anytime we get a zero on the board and our defense is so dominant, I’m fine with being back there not doing anything.”

Added defensive end Thaddeus Gibson, “We have a lot of fast guys on the defense, so when everybody is running and everybody is excited and wants to be the first to get to the ball, it’s hard to get past us.”

The wealth definitely was spread around on both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes were able to get most second- and third-teamers into the game and many, many players contributed statistically.

Nine different rushers took handoffs, including Brandon Saine, who was knocked out of last week’s game with Minnesota with a concussion, and Boom Herron, who hasn’t played in nearly a month because of a high ankle sprain. Also working in at tailback were walk-ons K.C. Christian, Bo DeLande and Joe Gantz (now on scholarship). Freshman Jordan Hall led all rushers with 90 yards in 10 carries and quarterback Terrelle Pryor was effective on the ground throughout the first half with nine rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Also, wide receivers DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher each enjoyed a big day. Posey had five catches for 79 yards and threw a completion (see below) while Sanzenbacher turned four catches into 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

On defense, outside linebacker Ross Homan continued his outstanding season with a team-high seven tackles. Amazingly, 23 other Buckeyes registered at least one tackle but none of them with more than three.

The Buckeyes logged seven tackles for loss, five of them by defensive linemen

“I think the continuous rotation we’ve had with our front four has been phenomenal,” Coleman said. “I think anybody that’s been going in there has been playing well.”

Tricks On Display, Too

Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel showed a rare lack of concern during the game. He sat Pryor for the entire second half – in fact, the sophomore quarterback peeled off his shoulder pads and came out of the locker room without his jersey on – and also unveiled a couple gadget plays that worked to perfection.

Right after the Buckeyes opened up a 7-0 lead second into the second period, Pettrey trickled an onside kickoff 11 yards and fell on it before the Aggies could react. That led to a five-play, 59-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 19-yard TD connection between Pryor and Sanzenbacher.

However, it was the third touchdown of the day that was really eyebrow-raising.

The OSU offense gave the ball away on its next possession when Saine fumbled and after the defense got it back with a fumble recovery of its own, the starting 11 could gain only 2 yards in three plays and was forced to punt.

But after a three-and-out and punt by the Aggies that set up OSU on its own 30, the home team got marching again – and scored on just three positive plays. The first was a 10-yard run by Herron on second-and-12, which was followed by 27-yard scamper by Pryor on third-and-2. Pryor lost 4 yards on first down from the NMSU 35 but the Buckeyes had a statement up their sleeves.

On second down from the 39, Pryor flipped the ball to Herron, who pitched it back to Posey, who was reversing field. Posey looked briefly to his right to see if Pryor had release free in the flat but he quickly spotted Sanzenbacher in the end zone and fired a left-handed strike to his receiver mate, who made a nifty catch for the touchdown.

“Pryor was the primary read, Pryor was covered, and Dane was the secondary read on a post route and he found Dane,” said associate head coach Darrell Hazell, who called for the play.

Hazell is also the wide receivers coach and knew that Posey was capable of making that throw.

“Guys are always tossing the ball around on the field just playing catch, and that’s how you kind of evaluate who can throw it and who can’t throw it,” he said. “We have four or five guys who can throw the football and reason we used DeVier today is because he’s left-handed. He’s the only lefty and we wanted to do it to our left.”

Some questioned why the Buckeyes would show off trick plays heading into a stretch run of games in November against Penn State, Iowa and Michigan. Hazell, though, said the offense did accomplish some things to help the unit down the road by targeting the tight end on several plays and also looking deep downfield. Pryor was only 11 of 23 passing but that was in part because he chucked several balls deep by design.

“It loosens the defender up so you can throw it underneath a little bit better,” Hazell said. “Teams will sit on you if you don’t do it. They’ll slow-pedal you and sit on the routes. You’ve got to push them deep.

“The last couple weeks we have started to look to push it down the field a little bit.”

Tight end Jake Ballard had just one catch for 10 yards but Pryor looked in his direction a couple other times and backup TE Jake Stoneburner also was able to get off the line and into pass patterns.

“Today we got him out quite a bit, actually,” Hazell said. “They were only rushing four or five guys today, which enables us to keep the back in or check-release the back and keep the tight end out.

“It’s all about blitz tendencies of the defense. When there are a high-percentage of blitzes where they’re coming, that’s when you want to protect a little bit more, seven- or eight-man protections, and then if they’re not blitzing you can get away with five-man protections or six-man protections and get four people out. That’s what you want because if you have only three guys in routes and eight guys in coverage then there are not many open lanes to throw to.”

Where Have You Been?

The offense also got some solid work out of Herron and Basuerman, who have been basically MIA this month.

Herron netted 66 yards rushing on six carries, including a 53-yard TD burst that close down the scoring for the day.

“That was big for me,” he said. “It felt good to be out there, and coming off my ankle injury it felt pretty good. I’m happy to be back. Missing all those games was tough for me.”

A reporter asked Herron if he was nervous watching guys like Hall and Jermil Martin excel while he was out.

“I wouldn’t call it nervous,” he said. “It was a good thing we have a lot of guys for depth. Of course, they pushed me but I always wanted to get back. It was something that needed to do.”

Bauserman, meanwhile, played his first meaningful minutes since the early weeks of the season, even though OSU was leading 28-0 and in total control when he took over the offense to start the third quarter.

“I feel great,” he said afterward. “It was a good game to get our confidence and some chemistry and go out there and just play against a regular defense instead of the scout team.”

Bauserman actually did not complete a pass in the third quarter and was 0 for 5 when he finally connected with freshman Duron Carter on a 35-yard comnpletion. He later hit Carter for a 40-yarder to finish 2 of 9 for 75 yards. He was sacked once.

There were reports that Bauserman was upset after the team’s loss at Purdue Oct. 17. He said he spoke with quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano afterward but not to file a complaint about not playing as Pryor struggled mightily in that game.

“I was just frustrated because we weren’t playing well,” he said. “It wasn’t that I should have gone in or anything like that.

“There is no exact answer. There’s blame to go around. It was just tough because we couldn’t figure it out that week. Before we’d have that one run or that one pass that got everybody back into synch and we just didn’t have it that week.”

Notes

* Coleman played with the word “Jasper” on his eye black as a way to recognize recently slain Connecticut player Jasper Howard.

“I didn’t know him but it’s Travis Howard’s cousin and I just really wanted to pay tribute to him,” he said. “It’s a sad story and I respect every college player.”

* Gibson was coming off a three-sack performance against Minnesota and was a little quieter this time with just two assisted tackles. However, he logged yet another fumble recovery. Technically, it was his second of the year but he’s had a couple more that were waved off.

Gibson basically ripped the ball away from a New Mexico State player after it had fallen loose.

“The coaches preach all the time that you want 11 guys around the ball,” he said. “I think Nate (Williams) knocked it out. It’s just about trying to get around that ball. I was getting to the ball as fast as I can and I saw it get knocked out of his hand and I didn’t hear a whistle. I just got tight on it and they said it was our ball. He had it and I just took it.”

* The OSU offensive line at times lined up against an Aggie defense that was split out so widely that there weren’t defenders directly across from the OSU guards.

“They had some different looks and presented some different fronts pass-protection-wise,” Bollman said. “I think for the most part we were able to get a hat on a hat, which is the first step in things. So I was glad to see that. I’m sure there were times we could’ve or should’ve blocked them better. They always had some free guys, though. They were playing a lot of man coverage. They were bringing an extra ’backer when our running back or tight end who blocked the guy that was covering them was coming. So our quarterback couldn’t sit back there all day but was able to get the ball off a lot of the time.”

All in all, it was a respectable performance for a line that was without Boren and left tackle Mike Adams. In recent weeks, Marcus Hall has played more at right tackle and Jim Cordle has shifted to left tackle while Andrew Miller continues to return slowly from an illness.

“This was just another week that we had to do what we had to do to make the best of what we could,” Bollman said. “Next week will be another situation. Hopefully we’ll get Justin back. I don’t know that Mike Adams will be back yet. But getting Justin back will help a lot and give us an eighth guy to play with and work with.”