As Buckeye Nation holds its breath.

Literally, as I sit here Ohio Stadium is silent as Chris Wells gets worked on. He and fumbled the ball as he rushed near the goal line. It didn't look good as teammates helped him off the field. Wells had to eventually be helped to a cart where it can only be presumed he's heading for X-rays.

Wells eventually came back in an orthopedic boot. X-Rays taken in the locker room came back negative.

A couple of observations:

Despite a 26-0 lead the Buckeyes look far from impressive. The two TDs they scored came outside the redzone - one courtesy of a Chris Wells 43-yard-TD run and the other a 31-yard Todd Boeckman to Brian Robiskie TD pass.

The went 0-4 inside the redzone. Not good. Not inspiring because there will come a time when the offense has to come up big inside the 20 and if they can't do it against YSU, then they won't be able to do it against a USC or a lot of Big Ten teams.

Injury update: at one point in the first half Beanie Wells pulled himself out of the game and Robiskie wasn't out at mdifield for the the start of the second half. Considering he's a team captain. He should have been. That shoulder-arm injury looks troublesome.

Terrelle Pryor's stats in his first drive: 3 of 3 passing, 25 yards and he rushed for 16 yards on 4 carries including a long of 14.

Pryor flashed the skills that made him last year's most wanted recruit, but you can definitley see that when it comes to the passing game, he will need work. He took a sack looking to make something happen. Admirable, but he needs to know when to get rid of the ball

It's the first game and the Buckeyes have a comfy 16 point lead, but here's hoping a trend isn't developing. They are 0-for-3 in the redzone. Sure, they'll get away with it against YSU and OU next week, but the likelihood that they will against USC…ummm…NO.

After dealing with parking issues and the like I finally hit Ohio Stadium and it would the Buckeyes already realize that they are playing an inferior opponent.

This is one of those games - as well as next week's - when they should take the opportunity to get their kinks worked out. Settling on for a field goal on the first drive doesn't qualify.

In this very game last year, Akron's Chris Wells looked uninspired and unimpressive. Not so today. Four carries 55 yards and a score. 'Nuff said.

Now the crowd cheers as Jim Tressle give sthe crowd what they want on the third drive of the game - Terrelle Pryor - the QB phenom out of Jennette, Pa.

Sources familiar with negotiations said that the Big Ten Network and Time Warner Cable have reached an agreement in principle for carriage of the year-old cable network in time for this weekend’s Ohio State Buckeyes season opener against Youngstown State Saturday.
The deal calls for Time Warner to carry the channel on expanded basic on all of its systems in the eight-states where Big Ten schools operate. As recently as Friday, it looked as if an agreement wouldn’t be reached in time to broadcast the game.
‘’We have a handshake deal with Fox (the Big Ten Network’s partner) that will ensure that Time Warner customers will be able to watch the game this weekend,’’ said Bill Jasso, Time Warner’s vice president for government affairs and media relations. ‘’And ware are confident that we’ll reach a deal for carriage shortly.’’
BTN and Time Warner have been locked in a battle over the station since the network began. When Comcast, the nation’s top video provider reached a deal last spring, an agreement with Time Warner seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
That’s not been the case and in recent days negotiations had grown a bit contentious with both sides taking their respective cases to the media. In fact, Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith sent an open letter to Buckeyes fans advising them to switch video providers.
No details of the deal were available.

I'm no fashionista. Some might even say I'm fashion challenged, but those Brown pants? Yuck.

In fact, they were so hideous that maybe they cast some kind of wicked spell on the Browns first-teamers Monday night.

Yes, they were live from New York and they definitely were the Not-Ready-For-Primetime Players and not in the good sense.

Shall we recap the first quarter? Oh, lets:

16 plays for 26 yards
Six penalties for 98 yards
A blocked punt for a safety
The subsequent kick from that safety returned for a touchdown
Said retuner, one Domenick Hixson caught two other TDs from Giants QB Eli Manning
The Giants recover a fumble and return it 80 gazillion yards for a score.
Derek Anderson suffers possible concussion
Pass protection is non-existent
Josh Cribbs injures ankle

Did I leave anything out? Let's face it. This isn't exactly what Browns fans expected in the team's first appearance on national television in umpteen million years. Hell, I'd suspect that even the Miami Dolphins, last year's worst team in the NFL, didn't expect this one. But it happened.

The best thing for the team? First Coach Romeo Crennel and his coaching staff obviously have some work to do with the O-line, the D-line, DBs…Well, can't they just start over? Just kidding.

The fact of the matter is that it's just the second pre-season game. There's still time to get most of these problems corrected.

Secondly, I don't know if a butt kicking like th is in the pre-season is necessarily a bad thing. It kind of serves as a reality check for a young team that is brimming with confidence. Does that confidence come close to arrogance? Not from what I've seen during my many visits to training camp, but still, this could definitely serve as one of those moments when they realize there's hard work to be done and they get down to the business of it.

xmsirius1 Here's a plea to the powers that be over at the new SiriusXM company, that newly minted company created by the merger of two struggling satellite radio providers. Do. NOT. I REPEAT. DO.NOT. MAKE. SPORTS.FANS.HAVE.TO.SWITCH.SERVICES.

Like approximately 18.5 million folks out there joined with moi over the years and chucked terrestrial radio for the commercial-free comfort of satellite radio. Trust me, many people I know asked if I was crazy to be paying for radio.

But with the evil Clear Channel empire laying its insidious plot to stamp out originality in local radio broadcasting for the past decade, it was a no brainer for me. Commercial free music, most cable news networks (although I'm still pissed that XM ditched MSNBC from its lineup), and sports, sports and more sports. I was in my version of Nirvana. I could listen to any baseball game I wanted or most any major college football game that I wanted. All I needed was the NFL. Unfortunately, I backed the wrong horse in that race. I had XM and Sirius lured the nation's No. 1 sport to its satellite waves.

But I never wavered, primarily because I'm normally working Sundays during football season anway, but now, I'm hoping that this new behemoth will see the light. How so?

The deal is too complex for my brain at this hour of the night, but here's the gist of their new packages. You can find XM's here.

The plan that most sports fans will likely be interested? the XM and Select Sirius and Sirius and Select XM plans for one simple reason - SPORTS.

With XM having the MLB package and Sirius the NFL and NBA, this is a marriage made in sports heaven. And personally I have little doubt that those packages are among the most popular for each service.

So here's a tip should muckety mucks for either company should be reading (yeah, right), do the right thing and make sure sports fans are taken care of in this deal.

PACKERS FAVRE Yes, Alan and Larry, much to your dismay, disdain and disgust, I have returned. I could go into the myriads of reasons about why I stayed away, but I get heckled enough already. I don't really need to give you guys anymore ammunition now, do I.

Anyhoo, on to the business of the day. Or the soap of the month that is - the continuing saga of one Brett Favre. You know that guy - former NFL MVP, Super Bowl quarterback, most durable guy to every play the position. He has a new name now - Man Without a Team.

You see, Ted Thompson, who runs the Green Bay Packers franchise had decided that the future of one of the NFL's most storied franchises is in the hands of one Aaron Rodgers. Yeah this guy: Packers Cowboys Football
Rodgers of the 35 completions in 59 pass attempts fame. Yeah, that guy. Listening to the Packers' Thompson earlier today it's clear it's all about his team moving on to the future. Excuse me? Unless you're the New England Patriots, in the NFL the future is now.

When it comes to the Favre soap opera, Thompson should be asking himself one question: Which quarterback gives me the best chance to win the Super Bowl this year? It's not a difficult question to ask and it's not a difficult question to answer. If anyone out there answers anything but "Brett Favre" I want to party with you.

The Packers came within one game of the Super Bowl last year for two big reasons - a young, ferocious defense and a rejuventated Favre. Thompson, may believe that he's doing his fans a favor by moving forward. With all due respect, until Rodgers wins anything any reasonable fan will view it as a general manager who may be allowing his best chance to win a Super Bowl get away.

The NFL schedule is out and the Cleveland Browns saw themselves from starving from lack of respect from TV networks and the schedule making gods last year to gorging on it next season.

The Browns will appear on national television a whopping FIVE times in the 2008 campaign. That's going to make for a lot of late nights in Cleveland.

Here's the rundown:

Pittsburgh Steelers: Sunday, Sept. 14, 8:15 p.m., NBC (WKYC Channel 3)
New York Giants: Monday, Oct. 13, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Denver Broncos: Thursday, Nov. 6, 8:15 p.m., NFL Network
At Buffalo Bills, Monday, Nov., 17, 8:30p.m., ESPN
At Philadelphia Eagles, Monday, Dec. 15, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Additionally, one other game, the home opener against the Dallas Cowboys has a 4:15 starting time which means that more than likely it will be the national game for the FOX Network that week. Three other Sunday games also start after 4 p.m.

Find the entire schedule here.

What should Browns fans make of this? First of all, the league rewarded the Browns entertaining play on the field and their perceived status as an up-and-coming team. It will however, mean nothing should they not win.

And at first glance, this schedule is fair to middlin' with respect to difficulty. The combined winning percentage of every team on it is .535. If the Browns have improved the way everyone believes them to have they should have a successful season.

The toughies: Pittsburgh, the Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts (how many of you want payback for them not playing with any desire in their season closer?) and the Titans. That's not to say the rest of the teams on the schedule will be pushovers. Far from it. But the Browns find themselves in an unenviable position - they either perform on the limelight or they likely won't be invited back as often in the future. Additionally, it's going to be interesting to see how this funky schedule affects this team the following week. Three of those national matchup will cause the team to play on short weeks.

I'm trying to decipher what's going on in C-bus lately.

Why?

Because I think the OSU schedule gods are finally listening to the naysayers. You know, the ones who dissed that thing called a schedule last year. Although, in all fairness, that line-up of cream pu…errr…ummm football teams was set up to help a team that was viewed to be in a rebuilding year.

Those critics were right. Last year's schedule wasn't befitting a football program that views itself as a perennial powerhouse. Apparently, however, the times they are a changin'.

The Buckeyes, who previously announced a home-and-home match-up with the Oklahoma Sooners, just announced the same deal with the Tennessee Volunteers. Yes, those Volunteers. That would be an SEC team. In the regular season.

Perhaps they got tired of hearing about all of the experts proclaiming the SEC the best conference - even if it is correct. Even if that is the case, this continues to be a step in the right direction for Buckeyes. It gives them legitimacy in one respect.

However, they will continue to beat up on the state's usual suspects. I have no way of knowing what the future holds, but with these other powerhouses, the Buckeyes need to add one team just below the likes of the Oklahomas and Tennessees to add further legitimacy. The Tennessee series begins in 2018. Gee, get your tickets now.