Morning After Pill
There must be a parallel universe out there where Troy Smith has a Chris Leak game and Pitcock spends the evening in the Florida backfield. I saw ways in which Florida could make a game out of it. I saw ways in which they might even win, but no where did I see an ass kicking of the size of this one coming. And when Ted Ginn took the opening kick off 93 yards I was sure we were on the way to a 41 - 14 game... just not the one the Great Spirit dialed up on my TV.
I had moments while watching Michigan get shoved around the Rose Bowl when I thought, "Damn, if USC can push Michigan around, maybe OSU isn't that good." Then I'd come back with the thought that the difference was Troy Smith and his mobility and accuracy and that if it hadn't been for all those second half lapses in play, the Buckeyes would have laid the lumber on them also.
So this is how it feels in Bloomington and Evanston on a regular basis? Gonna find me some blues and put 'em on the stereo... maybe listen to Willow Weep for Me by Columbus native, Nancy Wilson. I hadn't seen an OSU team get whipped this badly since 1965 (?) at East Lansing when Bubba Smith and George Webster pounded Don Unverferth into the turf, holding the Buckeyes to -1 yards rushing.
What happened? My first reaction was that Jim Tressel and defensive Coordinator Heacock got out-coached. My second thought was that the lay-off had impacted the team in a major way. Perhaps Troy Smith had an off night. The loss of Ginn killed the offense. Maybe Florida had too much speed.
None of that was the case. The Buckeyes got manhandled at the center, guard and tackle position on both sides of the ball. Smith didn't lack for time or running lanes. There was simply no one open and when their was, he didn't have time to throw. When he no longer had the game time left to consider running, the running lanes were gone. By the same token, Chris Leak had all day and there was always someone open underneath. Our linebackers were never in this game. They were fifteen to twenty yards down field by the time Leak had to pass, opening up the dink shot and guaranteeing the running game would work when it was needed. There are no "halftime adjustments" to make when the guys up front are getting their hat handed to them on every play.
Maybe it was a brilliant coaching job by Urban Myer. Make OSU cover the long threat and throw the ball underneath, but that won't work if you can't buy the quarterback enough time to threaten the long ball. On the other side, Smith was limited by what his offensive line could do. Down by 13 with four minutes to play in the first quarter you have to start thinking, "score quickly," and the QB run is no longer an option.
Give credit where credit is due. When the ball was snapped the Gator linemen did their job and the Buckeyes did not. It was all that simple.