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

[joefoshow]

I think every game is winnable even the USC game cause Tressel will be able to get the team up for it I think if we do lose a game it will be USC though unfortunately

 

[muffler dragon]

at Autzen,

Go Bucks!

:osu:

I liked what you had to say, but I don't recall playing Oregon.

 

[sandgk]

I liked what you had to say, but I don't recall playing Oregon.

My mind was a little Husky - too little sleep :)

 

[OCBucksFan]

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.

Aaah, the USC suck-offs start already? How you manage to type with Pete Carrolls balls in your mouth is beyond me. It will be a new team for both schools, USC is graduating a few, tOSU will have a lot of changes, who knows, one things for sure, it should be a fun game.

 

[OhioExile]

At USC will be very tough for us....man I look foreward to seeing how we match up with them! :osu:

 

[localyokel]

Turn off ESPN and you'll be fine after a couple of weeks.

Most TV remotes have this cool little feature that lets you delete channels, so when you're surfing you sail right over the bloody, buckeye-body-part strewn waters that are ESPN.

Having spent a year becoming nauseaus every time I hear the term "SEC", the only solution I've found is to just not listen/not watch/not read. That, and meditating on the meaning of releasing situations over which I have no control.

Unless the SEC fans organize squads going door-to-door to rub it in our faces, we'll be spared.







There, I'm all better now...


:2004:


...uh, or maybe not...

 

[Flocka]

At halftime I didn't bother with much of the analysis on FOX - well frankly there wasn't much coming forth. There was however one telling comment, delivered by Jimmy Johnson. He spoke to how LSU came back to tie the game and then go ahead - because they were well tested in the regular season.

He was right. LSU was resilient, they had been tested before and it showed on the field.

By contrast, this year the Buckeyes never faced and passed the kinds of tests that steeled the 2002 NC squad. The closest trial was at home against Illinois and that resulted in a loss. Wisconsin played it close through the 3rd quarter in Columbus, but the Buckeyes were never behind in that game and ran away with things in the 4th.

I should clarify that I am not discounting the facts that the Buckeyes overcame tough road environments at Husky Stadium, in Happy Valley, at night in the putrid air of West Lafayette nor the biggest win of the year in AA, MI. No, what I speak to is overcoming difficult situations within a game - and as I said above only one prior test comes close, and it was a home loss.

Last night the Defense couldn't stop the Tigers when they got going in the 2nd quarter - last night getting back from a multi-score deficit did not happen. I think part of their difficulty can be attributed to the relative lack of experience for the Buckeyes in overcoming such obstacles.

So, looking forward, what comes next? Are there strong tests pending for our 2008 edition of the Buckeyes? Consider the schedule.

2008
Youngstown State (8/30) - mark down a win, a warm-up and not one which will win high marks from the media.

Ohio (9/6) - Ditto in spades.

at USC (9/13) - Unquestionably a significant test.

Troy (9/20) - Better than YSU / Ohio, <<<<< USC.

Minnesota (9/27) -- Good to see Brewster get a couple of relatively high profile QBs in their recent class, but this game will surprise only if the Buckeyes don't win big.

at Wisconsin (10/4) -- If Wisconsin can shore up their lines this figures to be the normal tough test in Camp Randall.

Purdue (10/11) -- With all the departures pending from this squad this should be a certified win for the Buckeyes.

at Michigan State (10/18) -- Definitely an away game to try and get tickets to, and one I like the Buckeyes chances in. A test though? Not on the order of Wisconsin, certainly not as tough as USC. Simply too many critical departures.

Penn State (10/25) -- Is Penn State better off with the departure of Morelli and the installation of Devlin or Clark under Center? What will also be telling are the Junior departures from this team. Either way, it is not a guaranteed tough test and the game is in Columbus.

at Northwestern (11/8) -- It's Northwestern, I always like our chances against the Wildcats, ergo not a tough test.

at Illinois (11/15) -- Interesting, JT will want to take a scalp here but, despite the departures of graduating Seniors like Lehman and early exiting Mendenhall I have to rate this as a test. Possibly a significant test.

Michigan (11/22) -- No matter that this is the first year with RR's spread or spread-option offense, no matter that Mallett may or may not be under center (or in shotgun with 5 wide) this is The Game. No matter that it is in Columbus, this is The Game. This is therefore a huge test, one that I believe JT still owns no matter who is calling the shots for TSUN.


The point of the above being that, with the exception of USC, all of the games on the '08 schedule are winnable or very winnable. Come Thanksgiving of '08 you could easily be looking at an 11-1 Buckeye team again.

And with such a record the only issue then becomes where does the team place in the Polls. If that one loss is to 'SC then we will be debating the fairness of a top-5 through 8 poll position and planning for California weather post season. If that one loss is within Conference (meaning the now more experienced Buckeyes beat 'SC in LA) then, unless there are multiple one-loss teams, the Buckeyes definitely break the top-5.

And if there are no undefeated teams? Well then we are playing out this years game of who's on first - a game I suspect the Buckeyes may lose based on last night's contest.

Still, the Buckeyes would be in the thick of another championship chase, within striking distance of playing for it all.
And think of it, this can happen despite the (ill) wishes of media pundits, despite the harping of any OOC trolls on message boards, and despite the prior two years end of season performances. It can happen (and I believe it will happen) because the Buckeyes are and remain The Class of the Big 10.

One day that Class will show what it can really do, will fulfill it's potential in BCS play.

Hopefully against an SEC team with great swagger. Hopefully next year.

Go Bucks!

:osu:

Well, we were down 17-10 to Wisconsin, but I agree that we were not tested and probably had something to do with losing the game.

 

[martinss01]

lsu came out with a very good game plan and executed it well. when they needed plays on offense they attacked our talented but inexperienced safeties with misdirection. on d they got affective pressure on boeckman. we knew we would need penn state boeckman to show up to win, unfortunately lsu made him look a little more like illi boeckman. this was one of the keys to the game and lsu clearly won it. i don't think the line play was necissarily the problem, but boeckman was definitely affected by the rush.

the simple fact is you can't make that many mistakes and win a football game. certainly not against a team like lsu. dropped passes, stupid penalties, fumbles, an int, missed tackles, and when we did confuse the lsu d we didn't take advantage of it. but more than anything we felt the lack of senior leadership last night.

 

[buckeyesin07]

At halftime I didn't bother with much of the analysis on FOX - well frankly there wasn't much coming forth. There was however one telling comment, delivered by Jimmy Johnson. He spoke to how LSU came back to tie the game and then go ahead - because they were well tested in the regular season.

He was right. LSU was resilient, they had been tested before and it showed on the field.

By contrast, this year the Buckeyes never faced and passed the kinds of tests that steeled the 2002 NC squad. The closest trial was at home against Illinois and that resulted in a loss. Wisconsin played it close through the 3rd quarter in Columbus, but the Buckeyes were never behind in that game and ran away with things in the 4th.

I should clarify that I am not discounting the facts that the Buckeyes overcame tough road environments at Husky Stadium, in Happy Valley, at night in the putrid air of West Lafayette nor the biggest win of the year in AA, MI. No, what I speak to is overcoming difficult situations within a game - and as I said above only one prior test comes close, and it was a home loss.

Last night the Defense couldn't stop the Tigers when they got going in the 2nd quarter - last night getting back from a multi-score deficit did not happen. I think part of their difficulty can be attributed to the relative lack of experience for the Buckeyes in overcoming such obstacles.

Couldn't agree more (see post #4387).

 

[Basebuck]

I'm not really sure if this should go here or in the game thread...

In today's college football landscape it is really starting to feel like you cannot be successul over a 13 game season without having a mobile QB. The last team to be great with a traditional QB was USC 3 or 4 years ago. Even that extremely talented team got upstaged by a VY led Texas team.

 

[Wingate1217]

Oregon -

Do you realize, after two paragraphs of talking about how the O didn't have any wrinkles and didn't adjust, etc. you followed that up by recognition that Ohio State moved the ball with relative ease?

The Buckeye's scheme was fine. It worked. It just wasn't executed as well as it could have been. A pick and a fumble or two, some bad penalties, a blocked kick (after the robo drop), a great opponent. These are what lost the game. The Buckeyes moved the ball just fine most the night.

Defensively, it occurred to me what the difference is between 02 and now. In 02, it seems to me, the philosophy was "You're not gonna beat us deep very often, so we're gonna take away the short stuff" Much more aggressive. Now OSU seems to be worried about getting beat deep and content to allow the short stuff. LSU did exactly what Florida did.. what Illinois did... dinked and dunked all the way down the field. The did well on 1st down, leaving 2nd and short, and 3rd and short. If there is one adjustment I'd like to see it's to take away the short stuff a little more while trusting the DBs to not get beat deep too often. But... that's just me.

In any case, the Buckeyes were not embarrassed last night. The coaching staff did a fine job with a game plan (Brandon Saine didn't qualify as a wrinkle?) it just didn't get executed to perfection. That happens in football. And it happened to the Buckeyes last night.

Bingo! Great analysis on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively we looked like the ones who didn't have much patience. We would get a drive going by running Beanie and throwing to some short routes, only to lose patience and throw deep. Now we are stuck with second or third and long and we go empty backfield. That was an invitation for LSU to load up for Bear. If we had a more mobile QB that might have worked but face it Todd is not Jesse Owens. It's not Todd's fault we didn't play to his strengths. Sometimes you need to play to your strengths and dare them to stop ya. We didn't let Todd and the offensive have that opportunity......
Because of that the "D" didn't have a lot of time on the sideline to adjust and near the end of the game they were flat out gassed....

 

[localyokel]

I think every game is winnable even the USC game cause Tressel will be able to get the team up for it I think if we do lose a game it will be USC though unfortunately

10/06/07: Stanford 24, USC 23


Anything is possible.

 

[jeepman121]

If Pryor does Commit to OSU do you think Boeckman will still start? I really tried to trust Todd and kept telling myself he could do it. But he is just NOT a big game QB. He over throws, he underthrows, and he doesn't seem to see the field. his frantic scrambles will most likely give me a heart attack. I dont know If I can watch this guy 13 more times. I am not blaming the whole game on Todd, our defense was obviously a key factor in that.

 

[Kickdown02]

Well, I have to agree with this. The Spread-Option is becoming the offense of college football which doesn't exactly excite the NFL. However, that's not to say you can't win with a pro-style QB, he just has to be extremely accurate and be able to handle pressure.

Pressure is one of Todd's major downfalls, when he starts to get pressured, he makes mistakes. I think anyone who has watched our season this year is aware of that, but the coaching staff still left the game on his arm instead of letting Beanies legs do most of the work.

We'll see what happens next year, odds are we'll wind up with Henton under center and run more of an option attack.

LSU seemed to do ok w/ a pro-style QB.

 

[OCBucksFan]

LSU seemed to do ok w/ a pro-style QB.

Their receivers are better than our corners, nuff said. Also, they have an option quarterback in waiting, I wasn't saying it wouldn't work, you just need to have an accurate QB and receivers who can beat the corners they are playing against.