As a nonpartisan observer, I'm not supposed to get a kick out of a particular team's demise. But after two years of being deluged by e-mails from the Ohio State zealots who believed Jim Tressel could walk on water, I can't help but be amused that those same people have suddenly shifted to the other end of the spectrum.
Tressel recently said, "You stop the bleeding by getting better. By going out and winning a game." Excuse me for quoting, but when I look at the last few games it seems to me the Buckeyes are getting worse and worse. It's as if they're wanting to lose! I'm a Buckeyes fan to the end, but what is going on?
--Chris, Marion, Ohio
What do you consider to be Ohio State's main problem? Losing too many players (14) to the NFL Draft last year? A poor, inexperienced QB? A nonexistent rushing game? Defensive deficiencies? Or, as I am beginning to fear, Tressel's inability to recruit the talent his predecessor, John Cooper, was able to?
-- Scott Gabbert, Bolingbrook, Ill.
Please help me out with something. Maybe I don't understand Tressel's approach to football because I am a woman. However, I am getting frustrated watching Lydell Ross try to run the ball only to see him get stopped almost immediately most of the time. It appears that Tressel is favoring the seniors, but is he going to run this season into the ground before he gets his head (and loyalty) out of his backside? The Buckeyes need some changes quick, or we will revisit the 2-10-1 stretch we had under Cooper!
-- Cyndi Vice, San Antonio, Texas
Ah, where to begin. First of all, the Buckeyes' biggest problem, as it has been for two years, is that they can't run the football. A Big Ten team that can't run the ball is dead in the water, unless, as was the case last season, its defense and special teams are so dominant they keep it in the game. Like Cyndi, I, too, used to think the problem was Tressel's insistence on sticking with Ross. But what's becoming increasingly clear is that no one short of Eddie George could gain positive yardage behind the Buckeyes' sorry offensive line. Iowa's defensive front absolutely manhandled it. Ohio State hasn't protected the quarterback well, either. The offensive line is a huge problem, and I'm not sure there's an easy fix.
As for Scott's concern about recruiting, I think Tressel is doing just fine in that area. He had a couple of phenomenal classes in 2002 and '03. Justin Zwick, Donte Whitner, Ted Ginn Jr. , E.J. Underwood -- these are guys any school in the country would have liked to get. However, I think OSU may have been counting on some of the younger guys a little too much, too soon. There's no understating this -- the Buckeyes had 14 players drafted last spring. You don't replace that overnight. This is proving particularly true on defense, where OSU simply isn't the same dominating team it was the past two seasons. No one has yet emerged as the next Will Smith, Darrion Scott, Chris Gamble or Will Allen. They're not getting any pressure up front, so opposing quarterbacks have time to sit back and pick their spots.
The good news is, they have consecutive winnable home games coming up (vs. Indiana and Penn State) to try to get things in order. No doubt it's going to be strange to see the Buckeyes playing in San Antonio or El Paso, Texas, this winter, but I wouldn't go jumping off the Tressel bandwagon just yet. Unless, as Chris suggested, they're "wanting to lose."
this year, though. Interesting you bring the running game vs. passing game coordinator up. I heard Tressel mention this in one of the post games but hadn't heard it here yet. I also wonder if this delineation hurts OSU's developmental progress on the 'tweener' plays like screens and reverses. Also, it may hinder the synergy of a game plan in general.
its got to be true 
