Buckeye Recap

Here goes my rant. My prediction was 35-10 USC. I am glad it wasn't a rout but I almost wish now it was.

One word sums up Ohio State's 18-15 loss to the Trojans. Embarrassing. This was a game that the Buckeyes truly dominated save a drive at the end of each half. This was a game that the Buckeyes defense more than held their own with the vaunted USC offensive unit. And at the end it came down to coaching. And the Bucks came up, once again, woefully short.

The game came down, once again, to Tressel's never failing conservatism. And it is starting to get really annoying. When the game-winning drive started OSU had USC pinned deep, 2nd and 19 at their own 5. Ohio State made a decision to quit playing the aggressive style that had been working and go to a soft defense, dropping the linebackers and playing off of the receivers. This was the same mistake they made at the end of the first half which allowed the Trojans to drive 80 yards for a tying field goal. That first half drive was set up by a ridiculous 3 play 7 yard drive that consumed a whopping 54 seconds off the clock. After USC scored to go up 18-15 Ohio State saw a defense that blitzed and confused Pryor. What a concept.

The offensive line at times looked good but other times looked very inept. Boom Herron is not the answer at running back. He was slow to hit the open hole and never really put any fear in the defense. Saine was a non factor. I really would have liked to see Pryor run more. A quarterback sneak would be a great play but I sometimes think OSU believes their line can't get them a yard. They really need to work overtime on Pryor's throwing mechanics. He threw off balance and off the wrong foot several times.


Grade Card:
Offense D
Defense B
Special Teams A
Pre-Game Preparation B
In Game Coaching D-

As the game came down to crunch time my feeling could be described by one word. A word that millions of Buckeye fans know all too well. BOHICA; Bend over here it comes again. We all knew what was going to happen and it did. Later this week I'll post my top-ten list of BOHICA moments as a Buckeye Football fan.

I listened to his post game news conference and was disappointed. Disappointed that no reporter asked about the inexcusable three and out on OSU's last possession of the first half. USC had no time outs and he let them off the hook. I was dissapointed that Tressel didn't step up and say he blew it.

So after that I have decided that Saint Tressel is officially now being down graded to the same status as St. Nicholas, St. Christopher, and St. George. He has to start winning the big games right now. He must beat Penn State in Happy Valley this year. He must beat Michigan in Ann Arbor this year. He must win the Bowl Game after this season. There might be a BCS game after this season and if there is he must win it. The Miami Hurricanes are a home and home series starting next season. And in 2012 there are back-to-back home games against Cincinnati and Cal. I'm really not looking forward to any of those games.

Buckeye-Trojan Minutia
• USC leads the all-time series, 13-9-1 and has won the last seven. Ohio State's last win in the series was in the Rose Bowl following the 1973 season.

• Seven games in the all-time series have been decided by a touchdown or less.

• The home team has won 9 of 16 regular-season matchups.

• Ohio State is 44-18-2 against the Pac-10 Conference.

• Ohio State and USC played in front of 106,000-plus for the third time in the series history - the other two were Jan. 1, 1972 and Jan. 1, 1974, both in the Rose Bowl. It is the seventh time they have played in front of 100,000-plus.

Next week sees Ohio State going on the road to Cleveland where they will play a decent Toledo team. If they don't regroup and/or overlook this team they will get beat. I hope they pull it together. Go Bucks!!

Number 59 Watch

Had a pretty good night. Had a real good look at him running on the field as the Bucks took the field. During the pregame show he got about 15 seconds of air time during a blocking drill. He had a quick shot on camera during the game and then a real nice shot at the end when they were singing Carmen Ohio as a team.