Game Thread BCS National Championship Game: tOSU 24, LSU 38 (final)

[schwab]

OK, what's the deal?

Four times... why?

Good Lord, thanks for asking DBB. I was sitting here thinking "either I've drank waaay to much (which I usually have a feel for, and didn't have that feel this time) or else my computer is plain going buggy on me" Felt like the pages weren't quite refreshing.......

So what is the reason bill? You finally got someone to respond!

 

[RB07OSU]

My thoughts:
- Initially I must admit this hurts really bad. I honestly don't think it was all that close...when someone scores 31 unanswered points on you (I know they eventually answered when it hardly mattered), you were getting dominated. Yes we had a real shot but I do think the better team won. On top of that, I have to be honest in saying I think Georgia, WVU, and USC are better teams and would have had a better shot at LSU.
- Poor coaching on JT's part. For such a good big game coach I can't figure out what is happening. We came out on a solid game plan but as soon as Robo drops that TD pass and the kick is blocked, the whole team deflated for almost the rest of the game. As soon as we started getting down, it looked like the Florida game all over again. We could run the ball with Beanie, just like we could with Pittman the year before but we panicked when we got down and started reaching.
- The SEC really is the much better conference...I know, I know...I hate hearing it constantly from the media but after 2 embarrassments to them in a row and being 0-9 vs. them in bowl games, I really don't think there is parity and that "we didn't come ready to play". We came ready to play, seemed to have the will to win, and just got beat plain and simple. There should be no more excuses...the SEC has better football right now and we are just going to have to get better.
- Thoroughly unimpressed with our WR's. We got absolutely no seperation all night almost and it was the same in the NC game. WR's quit running routes and never helped Boeckman out any. I know sometimes you the other guy can have your number but it looked like we really took plays off here. Also, I got extremely pissed off when Small didn't make an effort for the ball on Todd's first INT. He also got owned in coverage by whoever was on him.
- Beanie will go down as an OSU great...he is simply amazing. He carried the team on his back and could have carried them further.
- We need to utilize Saine more...our WR's were doing nothing and I really think he was one of our biggest threats tonight that wasn't used.
- Defense ...I'm sorry but we had an absolute letdown here for most of the game. The whole first half LSU did whatever they wanted to and when they wanted to. Our DT recruiting over the past couple years is becoming evident imo (as I've been worried about all season and well before it in the '07+'06 classes). The interior OL of LSU dominated us. I heard JL getting a lot of heat from the people around me but Denlinger, Larimore, and Worthington were getting driven 10 yards down field. They got no penetration all night and no DT was even considered for getting a double team. Vernon Gholston...one heck of a game and likely his last for OSU. He played his heart out and did his job. He did a great job of containment on many perimeter run/option plays but no LB's were flowing to the ball. Grant had one heck of a last performance and I will miss him for sure. However, Marcus Freeman was nowhere to be found. JL...great game as well (I think I saw 18 tackles total) and great effort. Jenkins was up and down tonight but he played with a lot of fire I wish we all had. Washington seemed to do ok but our safety play was awful. Russell and Coleman missed tackles all night long and I can't remember either making a play on the ball. After such a good year from both of them, I don't know where their tackling technique went.
- Poor composure for the team. Penalties galore and at critical points in the game. We were really undisciplined and LSU played a mistake free game.
- Our '08 class coming in is going to help. I think Brewster can play immediately and Cordle really got demolished tonight, granted it was by the best DL in the country. Posey and Thomas could have a great impact on our passing game (no gamebreakers as of now) and Stoney will create mismatches.
- Overall for this season...even though I want to tell myself in anger that we embarrassed ourselves again on the biggest national stage possible, I can't. I thought we would lose 3-4 games this year and be lucky to get into a January first game. For this team to make it to the NC game is astonishing and one heck of an accomplishment. Amazing year guys and it was a privilege to watch you. I feel bad for Barton, Johnson, Whaley, and Grant because they really all wanted it on their senior year. We are going to have a great team next year but this year can and will not go down as a disappointment. It is very, very, very upsetting to lose like this again...however we can hang our heads high and be proud of the guys. They really did want it but were just outplayed. It's going to a rough next couple of days but the sun will shine again. Go Bucks!

 

[Dryden]

The ESPN team just gave their top five for next year and surprise... they don't include Ohio State. The "shock" will start early next season when we beat USC. The forward thinking nature of college football is a beautiful thing... and it's still a great time to be a Buckeye.

Mad props for keeping the faith against almighty USC next year, but haven't you heard? USC is the best team in the country in January, April, and even September. For seven years, they've been the best team in the country every single week, other than during weeks which they lose, which only occurs due to injuries, then they're the best team in the country again the following week.

We're going to get destroyed (unless somebody for USC gets injured, then our win will be a fluke).

 

[Gatorubet]

Les Miles talking about devine intervention and grace getting them in this position? Uh, I doubt God values LSU prayers over OSU prayers (in Asian dialects that would be LSU players over OSU players). Winning this game was not God's compensation for Katrina. God sent Katrina. Probably to show you shouldn't let people live near an antiquated levee in a hurricane zone.

Ummmm..,pretty sure he was talking about the fortuitous events surrounding the number of teams that had to lose to give LSU a shot at the Title Game.

I mean, for the team that woodshedded Oklahoma to lose to Pitt at home was just Other Worldly

 

[RB07OSU]

On the USC game...I will of course root my heart out but USC has one heck of a team coming back. Since we're not a 40 point underdog in the game, I can't see us getting overlooked and us beating them. I honestly think at the end of the year just about every year USC is the top team in the country and this year was no different. I'm not so brave to say we'll come out on top next year...

 

[NFBuck]

My thoughts:
- Poor coaching on JT's part. For such a good big game coach I can't figure out what is happening. We came out on a solid game plan but as soon as Robo drops that TD pass and the kick is blocked, the whole team deflated for almost the rest of the game. As soon as we started getting down, it looked like the Florida game all over again. We could run the ball with Beanie, just like we could with Pittman the year before but we panicked when we got down and started reaching.

Not to dig up an old excuse, but the layoff hurts. Everybody goes back to the drawing board. JT can be a very innovative play caller, but something has slipped the past two Bowl Games. Aside from the wheel route to Zoom, they called a pretty basic game. I'd love to see more wrinkles in the offense, or better utilization of some of the athletes we have. I wish we could have gone to Beanie more consistently than we did, which may have let us spread the field more. The athletes are here to do that. Oh well,this loss absolutely sucks ass, but I'm very happy with this season. 11-2, another Big-10 title, another win over scUM and a BCSCG appearance has been awesome. Anybody that lived through the Cooper regime knows that.

 

[LittleTrampBuck]

have only read the past couple pages of this thread, so i'm not sure if this stuff had been commented on earlier, but just some quick thoughts:

- i hate the arguments about sec speed just as much as every other buckeye fan, and have always dismissed them as ridiculous and lazy thinking. however, while i'm not totally on board by any means, i'm starting to rethink it a LITTLE bit. pretty much solely based on the matchup of our wr's vs. their db's. just like last year against florida (though we didn't have ginn), our wideouts could get NO separation whatsoever, and this on top of poor protection leads to a pretty impossible job for a quarterback. even ray small, our speediest receiver, was covered like a blanket every single time. seeing our guys outside getting dominated like that was more disturbing to me than anything.

- for me, the turning point of the game was the two plays in a row where jackson broke up the touchdown pass to robiskie, and then the blocked field goal. both teams were marching up and down the field on each other, and getting no points out of this opportunity really hurt. even at the time, i felt that this was going to be really, really bad for us. and after that point, we didn't threaten again for a long time while being largely unable to stop them. i don't blame robiskie for losing the handle on it. he has fantastic hands and it was just a great play by chevis jackson. however, i do blame ben person for the blocked field goal. not trying to trash anybody, but he's been the weak link on the line for me all year, and jean-francois blew him up on that play in a way that can only be described as embarrassing, and basically then just stepped over him to reach his hand up and make the block. i can't help but think that person's starting spot can't be a total afterthought going into next season.

- also disappointing to me was how down our team, and especially our defense, seemed to get when things weren't going well. in that second quarter where we couldn't stop them to save our lives, nobody on that defense seemed like they even wanted to be there. and our offense wasn't helping them by making them be on the field a ton, but i saw no life out of james and vern and all the rest. then they went into the locker room, got all fired up again, and held the tigers to a punt on that first drive of the second half. but after spitler's penalty, you could just feel that the defense didn't wanna have to be going back out onto the field. they'd completely lost their edge, and it showed on some of those terrible missed tackles that led to the backbreaking touchdown. i think part of this is we had a team that's only been remotely challenged in a few games the past two years, and wasn't battle tested enough the way the 2002 team and lsu this year were, and used to having to play from behind. but the second quarter reminded me a lot of those last 8 minutes against juice and illinois, and i feel like our d somehow has to get a little mentally tougher this offseason.

- it's a nit-picky little thing, but i was really surprised we didn't run the ball on that 3rd and 4 the play before boeckman's 4th down fumble down 31-17. we'd set them up with passes, and were in four down territory anyway, so why not run a draw or something to beanie, and let him either pick it up, or at least put us in a 4th and 1 or 2? i was displeased when i saw boeckman dropping back, and then of course more so when he got sacked. ha.

anyway, i apologize if this is coming off all negative. the feeling i had at the end of this game was 8 million times better than last year. the better simply won. despite all the mistakes and things that could've gone differently, we just had to scrap and scrape for everything, while they got it all done with ease. where i'm still not even sure if florida was the better team last year, b/c only one team even showed up, this year i'm 100% confident that the better team won, and that gives a sense of closure that is reassuring.

can't wait until spring practice starts up. i hope the players feel the same way. they had a great season and have made us all proud. go bucks!

 

[Jake the Guru]

.



The ESPN team just gave their top five for next year and surprise... they don't include Ohio State. The "shock" will start early next season when we beat USC. The forward thinking nature of college football is a beautiful thing... and it's still a great time to be a Buckeye.

I'm not sure about that. In fact, in the 3 years OSU played in the BCSCG, I think USC torches the Bucks each time. Just look at what USC has done to the Big Ten in Bowl Games.

 

[NFBuck]

I'm not sure about that. In fact, in the 3 years OSU played in the BCSCG, I think USC torches the Bucks each time. Just look at what USC has done to the Big Ten in Bowl Games.

Mark May...is that you?

 

[jwinslow]

I'm not sure about that. In fact, in the 3 years OSU played in the BCSCG, I think USC torches the Bucks each time. Just look at what USC has done to the Big Ten in Bowl Games.

Yeah, that Miami team sure sucked. We're lucky we ducked the real NC contender

What a weak line to go out with...

 

[schwab]

Mad props for keeping the faith against almighty USC next year, but haven't you heard? USC is the best team in the country in January, April, and even September. For seven years, they've been the best team in the country every single week, other than during weeks which they lose, which only occurs due to injuries, then they're the best team in the country again the following week.

We're going to get destroyed (unless somebody for USC gets injured, then our win will be a fluke).

Didn't you know? If Stanford started their backup QB all season, they'd probably have played for the marbles tonight.

I honestly think at the end of the year just about every year USC is the top team in the country and this year was no different. I'm not so brave to say we'll come out on top next year...

So the (41 point dog + 1 point victory) 42 point turnaround doesn't really do much for you either, huh? Man, I thought only paid professionals came up with this kind of rhetoric. I value your posts bro, but we don't have a playoff. USC is going to have to be a little more convincing to me. Even I could take a roster full of 5* #1 guys and lose to Stanford. Let's give credit where it is due....oh yeah, Oregon is in my corner too.

The USC lovefest seems to strike this time every year, but strangely enough when we are beating sub-par opponents, they are losing to the same ilk. But while we get slammed for beating them, it seems they are praised for losing to them?

I don't get it.

 

[Carmen Ohio]

Ummmm..,pretty sure he was talking about the fortuitous events surrounding the number of teams that had to lose to give LSU a shot at the Title Game.

I mean, for the team that woodshedded Oklahoma to lose to Pitt at home was just Other Worldly

Ohio State had to have more teams lose and it had nothing to do with devine intervention. Nobody was that good all season... period.

 

[Dryden]

I'm not sure about that. In fact, in the 3 years OSU played in the BCSCG, I think USC torches the Bucks each time. Just look at what USC has done to the Big Ten in Bowl Games.

USC got the 2nd best Big Ten team in 2002, 2006 and 2007 (and that's even debatable).

This is the LSU/OSU game thread, so I don't want to derail it further. But I would be remiss if I didn't say I think OSU stood a punchers chance at any of those USC teams for those years -- and I say this as one of the bigger USC homers on this board, fully acknowledging how they've embarrassed all-comers from every conference during that time-frame.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Like RB07OSU, I'm going to do a thoughts on the game thing:

1). Out of all the things that could've hurt us, I didn't think it was going to be the short yardage offense. We have no business spreading the field on third and short when Beanie Wells is in the field, period.

2). Boeckman played well enough for us to win. The second INT was just after he got hammered and the game was out of reach anyway at that point. I don't think he's completely to blame for the first INT either as the WR should have battled more for the ball. The crucial plays that we asked for him to make weren't the last few drives of the game when we were down by two or three scores. The real crucial plays, plays that if had been converted would have dramatically changed the outcome, were third and short inside the ten when the score was 7-0 and when it was third and short when the score was 10-10. I don't think you can blame Todd for not converting on those plays when you got an empty backfield which means LSU basically knew it was going to be passing, and when the WRs haven't been open all night. I don't think it's fair to criticize Todd for that.

3). We got to get more disciplined as a team. Dumb penalties hurt us.

4). Patience. The teams that we've lost to, Florida and LSU, had more patience than we have shown. Neither of these teams tried to do too much, just bread and butter stuff with tough running and occasional but effective passing. I felt that we been trying too hard to be perceived as a jaggernut but all we really needed to do was reach the first down marker and end the game with one more point on the board than our opponent.

 

[Buckeyecty4]

I didnt understand all the empty backfield or shotgun formations on short yardage.. feed the franchise back..

The packages and playcalling in this game were mind boggling to me