By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -

Columbus — It’s a 50-year-old formula that Jim Tressel adopted from his father, Lee, a coach and mathematician who created it during his career at Baldwin-Wallace. It’s the formula that says an MVP outing in the Rose Bowl for Terrelle Pryor or a record-breaking 16 straight completions against Ohio isn’t quite enough, not at least by this measure. It’s the formula, that on a day like today when the Buckeyes are six-touchdown favorites against Eastern Michigan, will let the players know on Sunday, despite what the scoreboard says, whether they were good enough.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty huge deal,” OSU left tackle Mike Adams said this week. “The way they grade film around here is crazy. They’re real picky. Everything has to be right.”

The formula varies from position to position, obviously, but in the end it creates the same standard, whether a Buckeye was deemed to have a “winning performance.” That’s a phrase Tressel often drops into his Tuesday news conference, when somewhere between five and 20 OSU players are usually revealed to have risen above that bar. With most of the Buckeye Leaves helmet stickers awarded for team or group accomplishments, earning a “winning performance” is Ohio State’s best gauge of individual achievement. Over three months, especially in games like today when the Buckeyes are huge favorites, dangling those carrots isn’t a bad idea.

“I think we all have a couple innate things we need,” Tressel said. “One is, what do you expect of me? And two is, how am I doing? So there needs to be, I think, a little bit of a barometer, as to here’s what we’re asking you do to do, now here’s how well you’re doing it. And by the way, if you do it at this rate, we have a chance to be successful, if you all do it at this rate.”

The rates change by position as well, with 80 percent the standard for the offensive and defensive lines, 85 percent at quarterback, receiver and linebacker and 90 percent at running back and in the secondary. Players are judged on every play and everything they do. Linemen, for instance, are judged not only on whether they made a block, but whether they applied the right technique and took the right steps while making it. And a missed assignment, completely missing out on your job on a play, is a grade killer. Everything is plugged into the Lee Tressel formula and given a final number.

“It’s kind of a tough deal because the better you are, the harder they grade you,” senior defensive tackle Dexter Larimore said. “Now you’ve got to not only do your job every play, but do it very well. So it’s something we strive for. But it’s not something in a game we keep in the back of our minds.”

Against the Eagles, Larimore won’t decide to take on a double-team just because he wants a winning performance. But there’s something to the idea that every play will be watched, evaluated and graded. There’s no time for plays off even in a blowout. And the players admit they care about earning the performances, with some groups told…..

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