2008 Buckeye Football Season

[generaladm]

...not necessarily.

If we win out, we're guaranteed at least a share of the Big Ten title, as every other team has at least one conference loss. Since PSU and MSU play each other, there can only be one team that can tie our conference record. We would be co-champions, even if we don't go to the Rose Bowl.

 

[TooTall]

If we win out, we're guaranteed at least a share of the Big Ten title, as every other team has at least one conference loss. Since PSU and MSU play each other, there can only be one team that can tie our conference record. We would be co-champions, even if we don't go to the Rose Bowl.

Right and if PSU beats MSU, PSU will get the auto bid.. If MSU beats PSU, OSU will get the auto bid. I like how Ohio State might look matched up in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

OSU Insider: Buckeyes have 14 straight Big Ten road wins, 3 shy of record

by Doug Lesmerises/Plain Dealer Reporter Tuesday November 11, 2008, 10:59 PM

Al Goldis/Associated PressTerrelle Pryor (2) and Brian Robiskie (80) celebrate after scoring a touchdown on the road against Michigan State. The Buckeye are three road wins away from breaking Michigan's conference road win streak record.
COLUMBUS -- Ohio State has been beating conference opponents on the road for three years. Now everyone else is doing it, too. For the first time since 1999, Big Ten teams have a chance to produce a winning road record in conference games, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending how you look at it. So far, teams are 17-17 on the road this season, after going 17-27 on the road a year ago.
The Buckeyes, who visit Illinois on Saturday in their final road game of the season, have won 14 straight Big Ten road games dating back to their loss at Penn State on Oct. 8, 2005. That's the second-longest conference road win streak in Big Ten history, trailing only Michigan's 17-game streak from 1988-92.
"We talk a lot about the difficulty of winning on the road and that it does take maybe a little bit more focus because you don't necessarily have that energy that the home crowd brings," OSU coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday. "It's going to take a little bit better performance, and it will take that this week."
If Ohio State keeps winning, the Buckeyes would tie the conference record next year against Purdue then could beat it with a win at Penn State on Nov. 7, 2009
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

OSU Buckeyes rarely allow and gain big pass plays

by Doug Lesmerises/Plain Dealer/Reporter Tuesday November 11, 2008, 10:42 PM

Carlos Osorio/Associated PressThe Buckeyes' pass defense will face a stiff test in Illinois quarterback Juice Williams. Williams leads the Big Ten in yards per pass attempt. ? OSU Insider: Buckeyes have 14 straight Big Ten road wins, 3 shy of record

COLUMBUS -- It's the most important thing Ohio State safeties coach Paul Haynes drums into the heads of his players -- don't get beat deep. And it almost never happens. "I think we've been doing a pretty good job," OSU senior cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. "But that doesn't matter unless we do a good job Saturday, and we know we'll get tested this week."
No team in the Big Ten challenges a secondary like Illinois, which leads the conference with 39 pass plays of 20-or-more yards this season. The Buckeyes have given up only 16 long pass plays and only six of them have gone for more than 30 yards.
Part of that is the discipline of safeties Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell, who divide the deep part of the field in OSU's typical Cover 2 zone defense and keep everything in front of them. Another part is the coverage of corners Donald Washington, Chimdi Chekwa and, especially, Jenkins, who has played at an All-American level. Russell usually plays the shorter side of the field, backing up Jenkins, and has seen teams unwilling to test the senior. And part of that is the spread offense -- teams pass often, but usually with quick drops and short throws.

Cont..

 

[osugrad21]

BG$-Video: Tressel turns Attention Forward

 

[cincibuck]

Right and if PSU beats MSU, PSU will get the auto bid.. If MSU beats PSU, OSU will get the auto bid. I like how Ohio State might look matched up in the Fiesta Bowl.

It's my understanding that if MSU wins they would be the Rose Bowl team because they did not play a Div 2 team and would thus have the better overall record against Big 10 and Div 1 teams. i.e. the Bucks and the Rose Bowl is a very long shot.

 

[Padraig]

It's my understanding that if MSU wins they would be the Rose Bowl team because they did not play a Div 2 team and would thus have the better overall record against Big 10 and Div 1 teams. i.e. the Bucks and the Rose Bowl is a very long shot.

I think that would have only been if PSU was undefeated, then lost to MSU. Because then we all would have ended the season with 1 loss in the Big Ten, OSU having beaten MSU, MSU having beaten PSU, & PSU having beaten us. No one being able to pull the "head-to-head card" advantage from their back pocket, so the "playing a Div 2 school" (which PSU & OSU has) would have come into play.

With the loss to Iowa, that senerio is no longer the case. MSU beats PSU & we win out, then the head-to-head win over MSU is the decider.

(I think) ...whew :tic:




BB73 edit - A 3-way tie is still possible if PSU loses to Indiana, but in that case Penn State would win the tiebreaker since they will have defeated both MSU and tOSU. Head-to-head is used before the FCS (1-AA) scheduling thing, which is no longer a factor this year. The sticky thread 'tOSU's BCS Bowl possibilities' is where this is discussed, and it was covered in the Iowa-PSU game thread aftermath.

 

[Derek2k3]

I think that would have only been if PSU was undefeated, then lost to MSU. Because then we all would have ended the season with 1 loss in the Big Ten, OSU having beaten MSU, MSU having beaten PSU, & PSU having beaten us. No one being able to pull the "head-to-head card" advantage from their back pocket, so the "playing a Div 2 school" (which PSU & OSU has) would have come into play.

With the loss to Iowa, that senerio is no longer the case. MSU beats PSU & we win out, then the head-to-head win over MSU is the decider.

(I think) ...whew :tic:

Exactly. There's a lot of confusion about this because all the scenarios assumed that PSU would win on Saturday.

All we need is MSU to knock off JoPa's team and we're in the BCS automatically...assuming we exact our revenge on Illinois and humiliate TSUN:)

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

No. 10 Buckeyes suddenly back in the Big Ten race


By Rusty Miller
Associated Press

Thursday, November 13, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Ohio State's darkened team bus was on its way back from the airport to campus on Saturday night when word spread that unbeaten Penn State was on the ropes at Iowa.
The 10th-ranked Buckeyes, returning home after a lopsided win at Northwestern, took notice.
The bus driver had a small radio that he handed to coach Jim Tressel. Everyone else used cell phones to get updates.
Penn State led 23-21 when Daniel Murray came on the field for a 31-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds.
"When the Iowa kicker kicked it through, you could see that piqued interest, because all of a sudden you're ostensibly back with a shot (at the Big Ten title), if you do your work," Tressel said Tuesday.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Buckeyes' coach Jim Tressel not much for reality TV

by Doug Lesmerises/Plain Dealer Reporter Wednesday November 12, 2008, 9:28 PM

Al Godis/Associated PressBuckeyes will have to settle for being guests on the reality show "The Journey" as it follows the Illini's football team. The open access philosophy of the show doesn't seem to mesh with Jim Tressel close-knit locker room doctrine.
COLUMBUS -- Jim Tressel sits behind his desk, a Diet Coke at his side, flipping through a copy of "The Winners Manual." "You know, this really is well written," Tressel mumbles to himself as the door of his office swings open. In strides freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, his face twisted in consternation, a look that indicates he has something very interesting, and very private, to say, something he'd never tell reporters.
"T, what's up?" Tressel says.
"Coach Tress, we have to talk," Pryor says.
"Sure," Tressel says. "Don't mind the cameras."
"Really?" Pryor asks. "OK. Well . . . "
Stay tuned for what happens next on "Ohio State football: The Journey."
This will never happen. Not at Ohio State. Not while Jim Tressel, Man of Mystery, is the coach of the Buckeyes.

"No," tight end Rory Nicol, linebacker James Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins all said before the full hypothetical could even be presented.
"We're too uptight around here," Jenkins said with a smile. "We like to keep things in house."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Coach Jim Tressel was asked again Tuesday about calling for a fake punt in the fourth quarter of Ohio State's win over Northwestern. The implication was that he may have been trying to run up the score on the Wildcats, a theory that seemed to gain credence when Dan Herron's 16-yard TD run with seven seconds left boosted the score to 45-10.
Tressel isn't bothered by much, but this definitely seemed to affect him. He again defended his decision to not punt by noting that the Buckeyes had only a 21-point lead with more than seven minutes left -- not quite fail-safe -- and were also facing a 25 mph headwind. As for Herron's run, the second-team line was in and he didn't think Herron was going to go all the way.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU notebook: Flippin' good at calling coin toss
Buckeyes, Laurinaitis have hot streak going
Friday, November 14, 2008 2:57 AM
By Ken Gordon and Bill Rabinowitz


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



James Laurinaitis is an All-America linebacker and coin-flip caller? The Ohio State captain calls the toss when the Buckeyes are on the road, and he's on a roll, having won the past three.
"Tails never fails," he said, grinning.
OSU also has won the past two in Ohio Stadium, when the visiting team calls it, giving the Buckeyes a five-game coin-toss win streak. Overall, OSU has won seven of 10 coin flips.
Beginning last season, when kickoffs were moved back five yards to the 30-yard line, coach Jim Tressel has taken the ball first when OSU wins the toss, rather than deferring to the second half.
"We thought that you have a chance, even with an average return, to be out to the 25," Tressel said. "When the ball was being kicked from the 35 and so many balls were going as touchbacks, we didn't necessarily think that that's an advantage starting on the 20, so we thought, 'Well, let's begin the game with some field position.' "
Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

College football
OSU hopeful with Big Ten still in play

Saturday, November 15, 2008 3:35 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


For Ohio State this season, it appears that what goes down must come up.
Twice, the Buckeyes have lost and hopes have been dashed. Twice, a combination of their wins and others' losses has resurrected hope.
So it is that heading into today's game at Illinois, 10th-ranked OSU (8-2, 5-1) once again has its destiny largely in its own control. Win their final two games and the Buckeyes will be fitted for Big Ten championship rings as co-champs.
"I just feel like we're happy to have it back in our hands, and not waiting on everybody else to lose or some things to happen," cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. "But now it's back in our hands: All we have to do is win our games."
Jenkins is mostly right. Wins today and next week against Michigan would ensure the Buckeyes a share of the Big Ten crown. A 10-2 OSU team could snag a Bowl Championship Series at-large berth.

Continued..................

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

College football
OSU Insider

Monday, November 17, 2008 3:06 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• Saturday: Ohio State 30, Illinois 20
• Next game: vs. Michigan
• Where: Ohio Stadium
• When: Noon Saturday
• TV: ABC (Ch. 6)
• Radio: WBNS-AM/FM (1460/97.1)

25 words or fewer

To cultivate the Rose, Ohio State fans must root for Michigan State and root against Michigan. At least the latter is an act of nature.
In the BCS

While No. 2 Texas Tech plays at No. 4 Oklahoma in a game that will have a profound impact on the national title picture, the Buckeyes -- 10th in this week's Bowl Championship Series standings but tied for the Big Ten lead with Michigan State and Penn State -- still have their eyes on the Rose Bowl. Should OSU beat Michigan and Michigan State win at Penn State, OSU would gain the Rose bid because of its win over the Spartans. Should OSU and Penn State win, the Nittany Lions would get the Rose because of its win at OSU, and the Buckeyes would fall into the BCS at-large pool, hoping for a call from the Fiesta, Sugar or Orange.
Cont...