1. Great game by both teams, and (unfortunately) reminiscent of the 1975, 1980, and 1985 Rose Bowls, all of which were won by USC.
2. Before the game, I felt that Ohio State simply did not have the talent to match up with Southern Cal, but I was wrong. Despite all of the hype concerning the Trojans, the teams were evenly matched, and they basically played an even game. Ohio State still has a few weak spots, but they almost beat (and really should have beaten) arguably the best and most talented team in the country. The Buckeyes showed especially strong along the defensive line, which was thought to be a relative weakness last season; right now, the talent and depth at that position is just amazing, and if Gibson and Heyward return for the 2010 season, it could be ridiculous next year.
3. Are the Buckeyes still in the hunt for a national championship? You bet. This week, Ohio State showed more in its loss than most other teams showed in their respective wins. If the Buckeyes win out - and they will if they play at the same level as they did Saturday night - then it will be difficult to find two better teams for a BCS title game contest. But in order to impress the voters enough to move back to the top of the polls, Ohio State will need to win every game in impressive fashion - in other words, no more efforts like we saw in week one against Navy. And of course, they will need some help along the way, as an undefeated SEC or Big 12 team, as well as a one-loss USC team, get in ahead of Ohio State.
However, talk of a national championship is premature. This Buckeye team is still relatively young, and it is quite possible that they will trip themselves up once or twice more, especially with road games to Happy Valley and Ann Arbor. Regardless of what happens during the remainder of this season, I firmly believe that 2010 will be their year.
4. "Football is a game of inches." Josh Winslow and others have noted several times when this maxim held true to the detriment of Ohio State - USC's first touchdown run, Boom Herron being stopped just short of the goal line, Grant Schwartz missing a blocked punt, Duron Carter nearly snagging a pass in triple coverage, and so on and so forth. But to be fair, a few inches here and there also cost Southern Cal some points - if a field goal attempt is a few inches longer, if a punt snap is a few inches lower, if Damian William's foot is a few inches to the left, then USC might well have had seven more points and given up five less.
5. Prior to the game, most people gave Ohio State no chance to win, and those who did give the Buckeyes a shot thought that Terrelle Pryor would have to be the difference maker ... meaning that Pryor would have to have a Vince Young type performance against the Trojans. Well, Terrelle did not have that kind of game and he was not the difference maker, at least not in a positive way for Ohio State. Granted, Southern Cal is competition at the highest level, but Pryor played his worst game as a Buckeye ... and yet Ohio State nearly won the game. And that fact actually bodes well for Ohio State's future, because they have talent at every position, and they will not need to rely on just one player to carry the team.
But will Terrelle Pryor every be able to carry this team? Some players are "naturals", and they become true superstars from the moment that they buckle their chinstraps - Hopalong Cassady, Archie Griffin, Chris Spielman, Orlando Pace, Andy Katzenmoyer, Maurice Clarett - but most players need a couple of years to learn the college game and adjust to the increased level of talent around them. Ohio State's last two Heisman winners - Eddie George and Troy Smith - both looked like busts early in their careers, and the same thing could be said for countless others as well.
In most cases, players will make steady progress over time and gradually reach their peaks. Sometimes, however, a great player will have very little success until he has his break-out game. Troy Smith, for example, had his epiphany against Michigan in 2004, when he accounted for 386 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Before that game, however, Smith's career totals (in 23 games, plus a red-shirt season) were 66 rushes for 208 yards (3.15 average) and one touchdown; and 55 completions in 99 attempts (.556 percentage) for 655 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions ... hardly numbers that would indicate that greatness was on the horizon. Then, out of the blue, against a heavily-favored Michigan squad, Troy rushes 18 times for 145 yards (8.05 average) and a touchdown; and completes 13 of 23 passes for 241 yards and 2 touchdowns. And ironically, Troy's break-out performance occurred the week after his worst game as a Buckeye, when he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in the red zone during a loss to an unranked Purdue team.
Although Terrelle Pryor has shown some improvement during his short Buckeye career, he still doesn't seem quite comfortable out on the field - he seems to be "pressing", and that is causing him to make both physical and mental mistakes. Perhaps Pryor is in need of a break-out game, where everything comes together at once, and after that there will be no looking back.
6. Then again, how much improvement should we expect from Pryor after just fifteen games in college? Five of the most successful college quarterbacks in recent memory - Michael Vick, Vince Young, Troy Smith, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford - each had a red-shirt season as a freshman; Terrelle Pryor did not have that luxury, and was instead named the starting quarterback in week four of his true freshman season. Here's how Pryor stacks up against those other star quarterbacks, as well as Tim Tebow who played as a true freshman, after their first fifteen games:
Player.......Comp....Att....Pct....Yards....TD....INT....Rush....Yards....Avg....TD
Vick..........121....214....56.5%...2313....16.....7.....149......1014....6.81...14
Young.........109....186....58.6%...1458.....9.....7.....157......1103....7.03...11
Smith...........2......5....40.0%.....29.....1.....0.......8........21....2.63....0
McCoy.........264....389....67.9%...3032....32....11......80.......215....2.69....2
Bradford......254....363....70.0%...3304....38.....8......31........93....3.00....0
Tebow..........35.....50....70.0%....658.....8.....1......97.......597....6.16....9
Pryor.........125....211....59.2%...1662....13.....6.....155.......697....4.50....7
At the fifteen-game mark, Pryor compares most favorably with Young, and somewhat less so with Vick who had more big plays in the passing game to go along with better rushing numbers. McCoy and Bradford both had far better passing numbers, but each played in a pass-happy offense that helped to pad their stats. And before we get too deeply into the numbers, remember that Vick, Young, McCoy, and Bradford all had the benefit of a red-shirt year to learn the offense and to get physcially, mentally, and emotionally prepared for the college game.
Even after his red-shirt season, Troy Smith was much more slow to develop than Terrelle Pryor. Early in his career, Smith was a back-up return man, and he didn't really get an opportunity to play significant minutes at quarterback until his 19th game, and didn't have his break-out performance until his 24th game (and his 38th game in the program, counting his red-shirt year).
Tebow was a "gimmick" player who saw limited action in 14 games as a true freshman, and he did not emerge as a franchise quarterback until his sophomore year. Tebow did not red-shirt, but at least he had the benefit of playing behind an established senior quarterback (Chris Leak) for an entire season, whereas Pryor was forced into the starting role when the Buckeyes' sixth-year senior quarterback (Todd Boeckman) came unglued during last year's contest with Southern Cal.
So, can we make any predictions on Terrelle Pryor's future based on the comparisons set forth above? No, but I think that we can conclusively say that (1) Pryor is on pace or ahead of the pace of at least half of the six superstar quarterbacks profiled above, and (2) Pryor would have benefitted greatly from a red-shirt year, or at least an entire season as a back-up quarterback to an established veteran.
7. Except on two occasions, I have not seen Jim Tressel look comfortable calling a big game - he almost always calls an "uptight" plays, and seems afraid to "hang loose" for fear of blowing the game with a risky call. The first exception occurred in the 2001 Outback Bowl - after Ohio State got down 28-0, Tressel was basically forced to open up the offense, and lo and behold, the Buckeyes tied the game in the fourth quarter before falling to a last-second field goal. The second exception was the 2006 Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame - after hearing endless commentary on the offensive genius of Charlie Weis, I think that JT literally said (more or less), "Screw it - I'm going to show that pompous ass a thing or two about offensive play calling" ... and 617 yards later, I think that he proved his point. If only we could find some way to trigger that response from Tressel every week....
This one:
