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Game Thread FIESTA BOWL: tOSU 21, Texas 24 (01-05-09)

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BuckeyeNation27;1350624; said:
66 on Coastal Carolina
45 on Oregon St
55 on Syracuse
45 on Temple

211 points in 4 games against teams we would be strung up for playing.
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Versus Youngstown State, Ohio U., Kent State and Troy? I fail to see much of a differece other than the fact that Oregon State is a BCS elgible team.
 
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Dispatch

Rob Oller commentary: Buckeyes can't take a siesta at Fiesta

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 3:06 AM
By Rob Oller





If familiarity breeds contempt, then Ohio State is booked into the perfect hotel, the same posh Scottsdale Princess resort that served as team headquarters in each of OSU's past four trips to the Arizona desert. The first three of those forays into the lap of citrus shower soap luxury ended in BCS wins. The fourth? Not so much. Against Florida in the 2007 national championship game, the Buckeyes played like a team lulled into complacency. Everything felt familiar except the embarrassing 41-14 score.
The Princess again will house Ohio State during this Fiesta Bowl visit -- Texas picked first and chose the resplendent Scottsdale Plaza Resort -- and if the Buckeyes are smart they'll take one look at their mansion-like digs and see a Motel 6 instead. And like it. They should show contempt for the comfortable and harbor an attitude of oppression over indulgence and opportunity over opulence.
The Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5 should be viewed as a test, not a treat. The game is about regaining respect by impressing the nation, and for that to happen, the No. 10 Buckeyes need to win big against No. 3 Texas, which can only happen if Jim Tressel coaches outside his comfort zone, meaning he needs to design a game plan that somewhat imitates the wide-open attacks that dot the Big 12 conference.
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Blade
Article published Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Texas might take frustration out on OSU
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
Everything seems to point to an angry, bitter Texas team getting off the plane in Phoenix in less than three weeks and possibly taking out its mountain of frustrations on Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The two national powerhouses were matched up in the Jan. 5 game by the Bowl Championship Series, and while the Buckeyes (10-2) seem elated to be back in the desert Southwest, Texas (11-1) likely thinks its rightful stage is 2,000 miles away, in Miami, where the national championship game will be played. With losses to No. 5 Southern California and No. 8 Penn State this season, Ohio State could have ended up out of a BCS game. But the No. 10 Buckeyes make their fifth trip to Arizona in seven years, likely based on the strength of their tradition and the economic punch of their substantial fan base. Texas has had to accept its exclusion from the BCS title game, despite the fact the Longhorns are the only team in the nation to beat No. 1 Oklahoma this season - a convincing enough 45-35 win at a neutral site two months ago. The Sooners piled up some impressive wins down the stretch, and in the polls leap-frogged the Longhorns, whose only loss was a 39-33 road defeat to Texas Tech. First Oklahoma got the Big 12 South bid to the conference title game and then the Sooners received an invite to the Big One in south Florida. That left Texas at the curb, psychologically speaking. Longhorns coaches and players have been trying to say all the right things to keep the bowl guys in those Rodney Dangerfield sport coats happy, but there are momentary lapses when it appears that, indeed, hell hath no fury like a BCS contender scorned. "We've put this recent challenge of not making the Big 12 championship game behind us, and we are disappointed we didn't make it to the national championship game," defensive end Brian Orakpo said. "We know we're still worthy of being considered one of the best teams in the nation and are focused on proving to everyone what a great team we are."
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Link

LONGHORNS FOOTBALL
Buckeyes eager to avoid third straight BCS flop

By Alan Trubow
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

While the Texas Longhorns ended the season hoping for a bid to the BCS championship game, the Ohio State Buckeyes began the season that way.
Everybody was talking about the Buckeyes in August, when Ohio State was ranked No. 2, had almost everybody returning from last year's team that made it to the championship game and had an early-season showcase game at Southern Cal.
But a one-sided, 35-3 loss to the Trojans on Sept. 13 took the shine off of Ohio State, and a 13-6 defeat at the hands of Penn State removed any remaining luster.
Combine that with being on the wrong end of back-to-back blowout losses in the 2007 and 2008 BCS championship games and the Buckeyes know they've got something to prove.
A victory against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5 would accomplish that goal.

Continued.............
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Maybe i am all wet here and i will soon find out once i get thru with this post, so here are my thoughts on the Big 12 conference. Texas, Oklahoma and TexasTech were monsters on offense and seemed to score at will against anybody that got in thier way. Even Nebraska seemed to get better once they got thier act together at the end of thier season.

Are they the best Conference out there and are most of thier teams just as good on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe thats the point i am trying to drive home here. I just don't see how the Big 12 matches up with other conference from the defensive side of the ball. I guess somebody out there thinks that they are pretty good on defense when Texas is giving Ohio State 10 or 11 points before the game is on. And what is the line goiing to be for the Florida Oklahoma game. Oklahoma drilled Cincy pretty good when they met but that was early in the season. Just some thoughts to ponder here.
 
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I'm telling you what, this is such a challenge for our football team, I need to see these guys step up to a brawl and not get soft. Clearly Texas' gameplan is going to be (as was most of our late opponents): let's load the box and slow down Beanie, blitz the hell out of TP and see if he can throw the ball. It seems pretty unanimous on this board, TP is going to make significant strides over this break. If I was Tress I would be in the oline's face for a month (especially Boone) and get them soo sick of hearing me talk about the Texas front seven and how Orakpo called Boone's mom a cottonheaded ninnymuggins, that the oline drives the dline 30 yards down field on the first play. Make it unrealistic. Challenge them to not let TP get touched. Not even touched. Give him all day to throw and let him work their freshman safeties and once the box opens up, give them a healthy dose of Beanie. We have to come into this game with bad intentions because they will.
 
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matt_thatsme;1350412; said:
What is everybody's opinion on the big layoff between the scUM game and the bowl game? Will it be good since it gives Pryor more time learn the offense better and maybe even implement some new material or will the layoff just make the team rusty? Other reasons???
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A healed Beanie Wells. Nuff said.
 
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I'm telling you what, this is such a challenge for our football team, I need to see these guys step up to a brawl and not get soft. Clearly Texas' gameplan is going to be (as was most of our late opponents): let's load the box and slow down Beanie, blitz the hell out of TP and see if he can throw the ball. It seems pretty unanimous on this board, TP is going to make significant strides over this break. If I was Tress I would be in the oline's face for a month (especially Boone) and get them soo sick of hearing me talk about the Texas front seven and how Orakpo called Boone's mom a cottonheaded ninnymuggins, that the oline drives the dline 30 yards down field on the first play. Make it unrealistic. Challenge them to not let TP get touched. Not even touched. Give him all day to throw and let him work their freshman safeties and once the box opens up, give them a healthy dose of Beanie. We have to come into this game with bad intentions because they will.
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The first part of this is also what I want to see. It seems in the past 3 blow outs that when our team realizes that "hey this team is as good as us" we have just folded and not stood up. Our team just needs to come out and play their game because believe it or not we have the talent to beat about anyone.

As far as the offensive line goes. Texas will make some plays, but our offensive line has to make some plays as well. We don't have to destroy Texas' front but mearly just get a split decision so to speak. Because if we can do that Beanie/Pryor then can worry about where to throw/run to without having people draped all over them.



I think the biggest point though isn't our offense its our DEFENSE. Lets face it tosu under Jim Tressel has been known for what? Defense and special teams. In the past blow outs our defense tackled poorly, got destroyed upfront, and were sadly often times out of position. If the defensive line can keep gap control as well as get pressure, and our defense as a whole tackles well I like our chances.

Thats why I think we'll know a ton after Texas' 2nd drive. If they move the ball and there's distubringly huge holes everywhere on the field then we may be in for another long night. Because to be honest I don't think we can outscore Texas' and because of that we need to make them play OUR game.
 
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