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Game Thread BCS Championship Game, tOSU vs. Florida - Jan 8th

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One, of the many things, I've never seen before was Troy Smith getting run down by a lineman. We've seen the offensive line get porous at times throughout the year but Smith was always able to escape. One of the keys to Florida's victory was this combined with very good coverage. Of course another huge thing was giving Florida excellent field position several times, that didn't help our effort either.
 
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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.
 
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I don't think this gets said enough. . .

But the loss aside, I'm still happier than hell Jim Tressel is the head coach of this team, our Buckeyes. I'm embarrassed for other fans when their coaches act like babies, pout, throw things, yell, swear and generally just behave like my 2 year old does when I take a toy away from him.

I'm grateful for Coach Tressel's class, his style and the way he handles a loss is equally as classy as the way he handles a win. Any one of us could handle a win with grace but try being gracious and genuine after a blowout loss in a championship game.

Kudos to the 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes. My hats off to Coach Jim Tressel (who has my deepest respect and admiration) and staff and congrats on a fine year that many teams would kill to have had!

:osu:
 
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The sad truth about Championship games is that you cannot win them all. Obviously we'd all prefer a NC right now, the score of last night's game reversed. So, it didn't happen.... I for one don't think that last night was the last time Ohio State will ever again sniff the title game. I don't think it'll happen every year, but I do expect it to happen again. Maybe the next title game Ohio State wins.

Tressel's made 2 Championship games in 5 years. Regardless of yesterday's loss, it's a great time to be a Buckeye.

Or, in short... I agree with you. Enjoy your GPA.
 
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As the fan of an SEC team (Auburn) and the only team to beat Florida this year, I'm shocked at the game plan you guys had. It's like Tressel didn't watch any film. Leak is a good QB...if he's allowed to have time. He'll pick you apart. But he's fragile mentally. If you get pressure on him and knock him around a little, he gets happy feet and throws the ball too quickly. So I'm surprised that the defensive gameplan was to drop back and play zone and not blitz a hell of a lot more.

We weren't playing very well in the first half of our game against them and had given up 17 first half points (could have been worse). Our halftime adjustments were basically to tell the players to stop being intimidated by their speed, stop overthinking things and worrying about being so exact with the schemes and just get after someone. Fly to the ball, hit people in the mouth and a lot more blitzing and stunting. We totally shut them down from that point.

Ultimately, yes, Florida is very fast. But the key is rattling Leak. Period. Tebow's a good runner and can trick you with a short pass but he's not going to beat you, so Leak's their main guy.

Sorry it got so ugly, but I was really puzzled by the strategy.
 
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For whatever it is worth, I think many fans got caught in the delusion that Ohio State could become a dynasty in the same vein as USC lately or Florida State in the 90s, competing for titles year in and year out. I don't think that is realistic. We play in a tougher conference. We travel away from home to play in the big bowl games. And we don't have the bright lights of the big city, or the cool breeze of the ocean to lure premadonna recruits (that can play some ball).

Remember, we went from '68 until '02 without a title. We never even had a chance for a title in a bowl game under Cooper. And I think it's fair to say that, with Tressel, we'll be back soon enough.
 
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Excuses for the loss,none, reasons, quite a few. But to me what happened was Florida's coaches used a game plan that put there atheletes in position all night to make key plays. We didn't adjust to what they took away and because of that our offense was left with nothing. Early in the game it was apparent that our passing game as planned wasn't going to work. I didn't see an attemp to incorprate some kind of ball control into our in offensive game plan. Who controls that? I don't know. But Florida without the ball sure seems to me to equate into less opportunities for them to score. It also allows our defense some time to rest. Our defense played their hearts out, but because they spent so much time doing that they were just worn out.
When it comes right down to it for me, during the game we were simply out coach. Poor in game adjustments/decisions. The only adjustment I saw was on defense. After giving up 34 pts in the first half we only allowed them 7 in the second.
Now let me say I love coach Tressel, don't want anybody else. I bet he learns what ever lessons there are to be learned from this and bounces back. Win or lose, I'll always be a BUCKEYE!!:oh: :io:
 
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Sullie, you're 100% right. One of the announcers said it- that with the program Tressel has built, there will be other championships. This hurts, but overall we're very fortunate to have him. He'll learn from this and make the team better for it.

Speaking of class, I didn't watch all of the post-game stuff, but I did notice that Meyer didn't mention OSU in his on the field interview. Tressel almost always credits the other team and congratulates them for a good game (evn if they didn't play a good game, like we didn't...). I know it's a little thing, but it stuck out.
 
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