RhodeIslandBuck
This guy's a real jerk
So far my summer's been petty boring (besides football) so I decided to enter an essay contest for my school. It's an essay about the 2006 Ohio State season (a fictional prediction for the season). Here it is.
The only thing that experts and critics were on shaky ground about was Ohio States loss of nine starters on defense; one of those players is now pro bowl linebacker A.J. Hawk. Another loss that was even harder to swallow was the fact that cornerback Ashton Youboty and safety Donte Whitner forwent their senior season to enter the NFL draft (both were drafted by the Buffalo Bills). Both Whitner and Youboty were both expected to return for their senior season. The defense would be reloading with an extremely talented, but inexperienced corp of defenders. Among the star players were sophomore linebacker Marcus Freeman, sophomore cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, defensive tackle David Patterson, and preseason first team All-American defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. After last season though, the fresh Buckeye defense was going to have to fill some big shoes; last years defense was ranked fourth in the country in overall defense. This didn’t seem to worry Jim Tressel as he continually said throughout spring practice that the defense was looking tremendous and he expected a very small drop-off, if any.
As week one of this promising young season approached, the buzz continuously grew as tickets were selling out rapidly and the players were getting ready for what would be a historic season for the Ohio State University.
It was finally here, opening weekend for college football; this week would keep hopes alive for a National Championship and shatter dreams of a perfect season. For the Ohio State’s first game of the season the Buckeyes would shatter the dreams of the Northern Illinois Huckies in convincing fashion, winning the game 48-10. This game also put Ted Ginn on top of the Heisman hype meter. During that game Ginn recorded three touchdowns; one on a 71-yard punt return, the second on a 58-yard reverse, and a 27-yard receiving touchdown. This was an amazing confidence builder for the entire Ohio State team. They would need it as their next game they were headed down to Austin, Texas to seek revenge on the Texas Longhorns who won a heartbreaker of a game last September to end the hopes of the Buckeyes title dreams.
This was the make or break game for the Buckeyes and the Longhorns this year. When the game started, the booing from the Texas fans began, the game was on. After a defensive struggle for most of the first quarter both teams remained scoreless. The second wasn’t much more entertaining as the score heading into the half was 7-3 in favor of Texas. The adjustments were set and the Bucks and Horns were ready to duke it out for thirty more long minutes. The third quarter almost got out of hand with the scoring soaring to an amazing high. After this exciting quarter the Buckeyes were trailing 28-24. After both offenses being almost completely barren the Buckeyes were trailing 31-24, as they were ready to head down the field for one of the most historic drives in college football history. After driving down to the Texas 35-yard line the Buckeyes had 16 seconds left on the clock on fourth down. After hurrying to the line, Smith hiked the ball and darted it into Ted Ginn for a quick slant that got him down to the Texas five-yard line. With seven seconds left after sprinting to the line, Smith called hike and found Anthony Gonzalez and got the Buckeyes within one point. All they needed was the extra point to win. On the contrary, Jim Tressel decided to go for two. This appalled the whole crowd in Texas Stadium when the Bucks lined up for the win, and the hopes of a National Championship season. Tressel had called a halfback dive to Antonio Pittman. When Smith called hike, he handed it off to Pittman up the middle and the whole line pushed. After what felt like an hour of rustle and bustle, Pittman dove into the endzone to give the Buckeyes the win!
The Buckeye faithful would be celebrating that win for years to come, but first they had to get by the rest of their season. The Buckeyes trampled over the Cincinnati Bearcats 38-3 to improve the Buckeyes record to 3-0 and they were looking like this could be THE year. While this was happening the Buckeyes had the two Heisman Trophy leaders in Ginn and Smith, they were both racking up amazing numbers while also leading their team to prominence.
The Buckeyes next game was against a solid Penn State team that had defeated the Bucks last year in Happy Valley. It didn’t happen this time as the Buckeyes rolled over Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions 36-20. Then the Buckeyes would have a showdown with the Iowa Hawkeyes and their senior All-Big Ten quarterback Drew Tate. Despite a valiant effort by Tate and his troops, they fell short of defeating the mighty Buckeyes 34-24. Ohio State would next face the Bowling Green Falcons out of the MAC. This game seemed almost like a practice as the Bucks won 54-7.
The Bucks had completed their non-conference schedule and part of the Big Ten schedule after the matchup with Bowling Green. The Buckeyes then would dominate over the rest of their games including a satisfying 24-14 win over hated rival Michigan. After all of this, it was certain, the Buckeyes were going to Arizona to play in the National Championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This was sure to be an intriguing rematch of last year’s Fiesta Bowl.
Troy Smith and Ted Ginn were both invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation and were the top two vote-getters but in the end, Smith took home the hardware to become the first Buckeye since Eddie George in 1995, to win the Heisman Trophy.
Troy Smith headed into the National Championship game as confident as ever and it would show on the field. Smith would duplicate his performance against Notre Dame last year and lead the Buckeyes to a 48-35 win and the National Championship. Smith had hoped for this since the day he picked up a football, and his dream came true.
Though the Buckeyes were champions, the good news kept coming as Ted Ginn unexpectedly declared he would return for his senior season and help lead the Buckeyes to a second straight National Championship. The Buckeyes finished with the top overall offense in America and the twenty-fourth ranked defense in the country. Also, they finished with four All-Americans: quarterback Troy Smith, wideout Ted Ginn, runningback Antonio Pittman, and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Pittman, who was a junior also, decided to come back for his last year of eligibility. The following year he and the top high school player in the country, Chris "Beanie" Wells, would lead the backfield and keep the offensive firepower alive, and of course, with some help from Ted Ginn. Little did any of the players on the Buckeye team know or think that this season would be the birth of the greatest dynasty in the history of College Football.
2006
After a roller coaster ride of a season in 2005, the Ohio State Buckeyes entered 2006 as the #1 ranked team in the coaches and AP (Associated Press) poll. The Buckeyes were returning eight players from an offense that was rolling at the end of the 2005 season. Among these players included Heisman contenders, wideout Ted Ginn and quarterback Troy Smith. Smith and Ginn who both ended the 2005 season tremendously by thrashing the defense of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Even though Ginn had an inconsistent, but solid 2005 season, the hype for him this year was bigger than ever. The buzz during spring practice was that this would be his money year. Wideout Anthony Gonzalez would accompany Ginn as a duo of wideouts that would prove to be even more deadly than the duo of Ginn and Santonio Holmes, who is now a pro bowl receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As for Troy Smith the hype for him was even bigger. Smith was being heralded as a top three Heisman candidate, along with Oklahoma’s stud running back Adrian Peterson and Notre Dame’s golden boy quarterback Brady Quinn.The only thing that experts and critics were on shaky ground about was Ohio States loss of nine starters on defense; one of those players is now pro bowl linebacker A.J. Hawk. Another loss that was even harder to swallow was the fact that cornerback Ashton Youboty and safety Donte Whitner forwent their senior season to enter the NFL draft (both were drafted by the Buffalo Bills). Both Whitner and Youboty were both expected to return for their senior season. The defense would be reloading with an extremely talented, but inexperienced corp of defenders. Among the star players were sophomore linebacker Marcus Freeman, sophomore cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, defensive tackle David Patterson, and preseason first team All-American defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. After last season though, the fresh Buckeye defense was going to have to fill some big shoes; last years defense was ranked fourth in the country in overall defense. This didn’t seem to worry Jim Tressel as he continually said throughout spring practice that the defense was looking tremendous and he expected a very small drop-off, if any.
As week one of this promising young season approached, the buzz continuously grew as tickets were selling out rapidly and the players were getting ready for what would be a historic season for the Ohio State University.
It was finally here, opening weekend for college football; this week would keep hopes alive for a National Championship and shatter dreams of a perfect season. For the Ohio State’s first game of the season the Buckeyes would shatter the dreams of the Northern Illinois Huckies in convincing fashion, winning the game 48-10. This game also put Ted Ginn on top of the Heisman hype meter. During that game Ginn recorded three touchdowns; one on a 71-yard punt return, the second on a 58-yard reverse, and a 27-yard receiving touchdown. This was an amazing confidence builder for the entire Ohio State team. They would need it as their next game they were headed down to Austin, Texas to seek revenge on the Texas Longhorns who won a heartbreaker of a game last September to end the hopes of the Buckeyes title dreams.
This was the make or break game for the Buckeyes and the Longhorns this year. When the game started, the booing from the Texas fans began, the game was on. After a defensive struggle for most of the first quarter both teams remained scoreless. The second wasn’t much more entertaining as the score heading into the half was 7-3 in favor of Texas. The adjustments were set and the Bucks and Horns were ready to duke it out for thirty more long minutes. The third quarter almost got out of hand with the scoring soaring to an amazing high. After this exciting quarter the Buckeyes were trailing 28-24. After both offenses being almost completely barren the Buckeyes were trailing 31-24, as they were ready to head down the field for one of the most historic drives in college football history. After driving down to the Texas 35-yard line the Buckeyes had 16 seconds left on the clock on fourth down. After hurrying to the line, Smith hiked the ball and darted it into Ted Ginn for a quick slant that got him down to the Texas five-yard line. With seven seconds left after sprinting to the line, Smith called hike and found Anthony Gonzalez and got the Buckeyes within one point. All they needed was the extra point to win. On the contrary, Jim Tressel decided to go for two. This appalled the whole crowd in Texas Stadium when the Bucks lined up for the win, and the hopes of a National Championship season. Tressel had called a halfback dive to Antonio Pittman. When Smith called hike, he handed it off to Pittman up the middle and the whole line pushed. After what felt like an hour of rustle and bustle, Pittman dove into the endzone to give the Buckeyes the win!
The Buckeye faithful would be celebrating that win for years to come, but first they had to get by the rest of their season. The Buckeyes trampled over the Cincinnati Bearcats 38-3 to improve the Buckeyes record to 3-0 and they were looking like this could be THE year. While this was happening the Buckeyes had the two Heisman Trophy leaders in Ginn and Smith, they were both racking up amazing numbers while also leading their team to prominence.
The Buckeyes next game was against a solid Penn State team that had defeated the Bucks last year in Happy Valley. It didn’t happen this time as the Buckeyes rolled over Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions 36-20. Then the Buckeyes would have a showdown with the Iowa Hawkeyes and their senior All-Big Ten quarterback Drew Tate. Despite a valiant effort by Tate and his troops, they fell short of defeating the mighty Buckeyes 34-24. Ohio State would next face the Bowling Green Falcons out of the MAC. This game seemed almost like a practice as the Bucks won 54-7.
The Bucks had completed their non-conference schedule and part of the Big Ten schedule after the matchup with Bowling Green. The Buckeyes then would dominate over the rest of their games including a satisfying 24-14 win over hated rival Michigan. After all of this, it was certain, the Buckeyes were going to Arizona to play in the National Championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This was sure to be an intriguing rematch of last year’s Fiesta Bowl.
Troy Smith and Ted Ginn were both invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation and were the top two vote-getters but in the end, Smith took home the hardware to become the first Buckeye since Eddie George in 1995, to win the Heisman Trophy.
Troy Smith headed into the National Championship game as confident as ever and it would show on the field. Smith would duplicate his performance against Notre Dame last year and lead the Buckeyes to a 48-35 win and the National Championship. Smith had hoped for this since the day he picked up a football, and his dream came true.
Though the Buckeyes were champions, the good news kept coming as Ted Ginn unexpectedly declared he would return for his senior season and help lead the Buckeyes to a second straight National Championship. The Buckeyes finished with the top overall offense in America and the twenty-fourth ranked defense in the country. Also, they finished with four All-Americans: quarterback Troy Smith, wideout Ted Ginn, runningback Antonio Pittman, and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Pittman, who was a junior also, decided to come back for his last year of eligibility. The following year he and the top high school player in the country, Chris "Beanie" Wells, would lead the backfield and keep the offensive firepower alive, and of course, with some help from Ted Ginn. Little did any of the players on the Buckeye team know or think that this season would be the birth of the greatest dynasty in the history of College Football.
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