By: MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) —
COLUMBUS - After he paid the obligatory homage to the next opponent, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said yesterday that the biggest priority for the Buckeyes heading into this weekend’s game at Northwestern is getting their own house in order.

“The most impressive team I saw over the weekend? How about Northwestern,” Tressel said, knowing that was a tough sell after the show Texas Tech and Texas put on, and the way Florida riddled Georgia.

Nationally, Northwestern’s 24-17 win over Minnesota on the final play of the game hardly got an honorable mention, but the Big Ten is Ohio State’s only concern right now, and the Wildcats provide the opposition on Saturday. It’s the first of Ohio State’s three final conference games to buy rx drugs without prescription close out the season, and determine where this team is headed on the bowl schedule, and if it is positioned to take a piece of the conference title, should that become available.

But Tressel wants to keep the attention very short-sighted, and the Buckeyes’ motivations all directed at this weekend.

“The biggest carrot we’re chasing now is that we’re going to play a 7-2 football team away from home, and that’s a great challenge,” Tressel said. “That’s a carrot every time you compete - that’s a carrot of its own. Do we like to think about what the big carrot is down at the end of the road? We’d rather not.”

Despite the fact that Ohio State’s hopes of appearing in a third straight national championship game were essentially eliminated with the 13-6 loss to Penn State 10 days ago, Tressel said he has impressed on his team that there is still plenty on the line. He called on the teachings of one of his predecessors at Ohio State, Earle Bruce, to make the point.

“There’s been a lot that’s happened in the first few weeks of November and into the course of December over the last few football seasons,” Tressel said. “Coach Bruce used to say November is what it’s all about, and that who you are as a football team is really decided by what you do in November.”

In preparation for that, Tressel commented on the specifics the Buckeyes concentrated on during their bye week, saying there was quite a bit of fundamental work done, but no significant issues with the sluggish offense were revealed. Ohio State enters the final month of the season ranked second-last in the Big Ten in total offense.

“I don’t know if we found out anything we didn’t [already] know,” Tressel said about his extended look at the Buckeyes offense. “You get reaffirmed when you study it further that you need to be more consistent, but I don’t know that we had any startling revelation that we found the exact issue. I think just the fact that you have a chance to watch yourself a little bit more, there comes a deeper understanding of just the fine line between being as successful as you need to be, and coming up short.”

Ohio State senior wide receiver Brian Robiskie said the Buckeyes need to resist the temptation to try and overcome their offensive woes by making a few spectacular plays, and instead focus on the incremental work that will ultimately bring success.

“When things aren’t going as you planned, there’s a part of you that wants to step up and do something extraordinary, but you can’t,” Robiskie said. “This is about taking the smaller steps to get where we need to be.”

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