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

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Blade
Article published Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Buckeyes get back to work for bowl
Hayes Center helps at this time of year
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS ? The Ohio State Buckeyes won?t face No. 3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl in the Arizona desert for about three weeks. But the serious work to ready the 10th-ranked Buckeyes for that game is going on right now, in the midst of a Midwest winter.

?We went to work beginning yesterday for really the biggest week of our preparation,? Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. Tressel spoke from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, where the Buckeyes have an artificial turf indoor practice field at their disposal during inclement weather.

Tressel said Ohio State (10-2) will practice here through next Tuesday, and then he will send the players home for five days over the Christmas holiday. The team will reconvene at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, a luxury resort hotel in suburban Phoenix that served as Ohio State?s headquarters when the Buckeyes faced Florida in the national championship game at the end of the 2006 season.

With a lot of the logistical and planning work out of the way, the Buckeyes can concentrate on the specifics of preparing to play the 11-1 Longhorns, the only team in the country that has defeated top-ranked Oklahoma. Ohio State senior receiver Brian Robiskie said that with final exams over by the end of last week, the Buckeyes are getting a steady diet of Texas and a refresher course in fundamentals.

?We?ve definitely started watching a lot of film,? Robiskie said. ?And we?ve definitely taken a look at the things they do and some of the things that we probably need to prepare for. But we?re also doing a lot of the basics and fundamental stuff, and a lot of position-specific stuff for a lot of guys.?

The tempo of the practice sessions has picked up, as well, and senior kicker Ryan Pretorius said that has kept the Buckeyes sharp despite the fact they have not played in nearly a month ? the season-ending win over Michigan.

?They?ve changed things up a little, and what we are doing now is, the last four periods of every practice is a live situation, a game situation,? Pretorius said. ?The one thing we do miss is having a game every weekend, but because of this arrangement it?s going to keep us on our toes, and I think we?ll be very well prepared.?
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If we can get a couple turnovers like our last game vs Texas, then we have a pretty good chance of winning.
I hope Tressel is really working his team, I don't think I can live through another one of those games where we are completely unprepared.
 
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Not only are we 28-4-1 all-time against current Big 12 teams, we have yet to have been blown out by any Big 12 team. Our four loses are:

Colorado 20, Ohio State 14 (09-25-1971, Columbus)
Missouri 22, Ohio State 21 (09-25-1976, Columbus)
Oklahoma 29, Ohio State 28 (09-24-1977, Columbus)
Texas 25, Ohio State 22 (09-10-2005, Columbus)

We have never lost to a Big 12 team on the road or at a neutral venue.
 
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3074326;1357161; said:
Alright, so explain why we have heard so much about OSU's struggles, and not about Oklahoma's struggles.

You don't have to look very hard to find an anti-Big 10 bias.

I'm pretty sure they called Bob that name to his face when I saw.
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Maybe its because I'm in Texas and no one likes Stoops here but I hear about ou's struggles all the time. I will say that I also here all the time that tOSU has no shot in this game which scares the sh!t out of me. I guess I just don't see that tOSU is the only team getting called out.


there is nothing wrong with a team taking a bunker mentality. To be honest, I hope that Texas uses the outcome of this years cfb season to take the us against the world approach.

Not only are we 28-4-1 all-time against current Big 12 teams, we have yet to have been blown out by any Big 12 team. Our four loses are:

Colorado 20, Ohio State 14 (09-25-1971, Columbus)
Missouri 22, Ohio State 21 (09-25-1976, Columbus)
Oklahoma 29, Ohio State 28 (09-24-1977, Columbus)
Texas 25, Ohio State 22 (09-10-2005, Columbus)

We have never lost to a Big 12 team on the road or at a neutral venue.
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all this kind of talk just reminds me of, "we have never lost in the shoe at night". In my mind the only relevant numbers here are 1 and 1. Vince and Troy are gone. AJ and DJ have moved on as well but I do think that it is reasonable to look back at the last two games to see what each team did to try and exploit their opponents systems, (which haven't changed too much)
 
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Nicknam4;1357768; said:
If we can get a couple turnovers like our last game vs Texas, then we have a pretty good chance of winning.
I hope Tressel is really working his team, I don't think I can live through another one of those games where we are completely unprepared.
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if Texas fumbles the ball going in to score again I may cry
 
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High Lonesome;1357866; said:
all this kind of talk just reminds me of, "we have never lost in the shoe at night". In my mind the only relevant numbers here are 1 and 1.
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Guess what? You won at our place in a very, very close game (as my previous supports) while we won a little bigger at yours in the rematch (much like we did with Oklahoma).

The whole point was that no matter how good the Big 12 team may be, we are very successful (how many other close games did you have in 2005?). Many are think that Texas is going to blow us out...historical data shows otherwise, in that Big 12 teams have played us 33 times and our worst loss (out of only four total) is by six points.
 
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High Lonesome;1357866; said:
all this kind of talk just reminds me of, "we have never lost in the shoe at night". In my mind the only relevant numbers here are 1 and 1. Vince and Troy are gone. AJ and DJ have moved on as well but I do think that it is reasonable to look back at the last two games to see what each team did to try and exploit their opponents systems, (which haven't changed too much)
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in my mind the only relevant numbers are how many potential first round draft picks will be sitting on each teams bench, lets talk about that :wink2:
 
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if Texas fumbles the ball going in to score again I may cry
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Why? Would it be because you'll challenge it and waste a time out or Is it because we get the ball? Actually it's probably both haha

Our past against the Big 12 probably doesn't mean a whole lot to be honest. I will say though that K-State in 2003 was a very hot team at the time that we played them.

I'm thinking so much about this game that I actually had a bad dream about it... I dreamt it was gametime and I couldn't find the game on the TV so I missed the first quarter looking for the game on cable. However, I finally got to see some of the game and take it FWIW but OSU was all over McCoy when he was tryin to pass the ball lol
 
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EngineerHorn;1357880; said:
I'm not liking the general consensus (a Texas win) either. And I don't know where all the blowout predictions are coming from. Maybe it's a result of feeling slighted.
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Well, it is a #3 vs. #10 matchup, the Horns are supposed to be favored. You can also factor in the sentiment that many people think UT should be #1 or 2, and it's become painfully obvious that most sportswriters only watch OSU's losses, so many see this as a lopsided game. I think that OSU, right now, is deserving of a slightly higher rank (due to returns from injuries, and experience), maybe #7 or 8, but I think the fact that these two particualr teams do not run schemes that are outside the opponents comfort zone, the result will come down to execution. One thing that I've noticed in watching some UT highlights, is that many of McCoy's big runs came as a result of huge open spaces that would be inviting to any QB. Colt has shown improved shiftiness and determination since the last meeting, but I think our D is disciplined enough to limit those opportunities. Add to that, OSU has some of the best tackling DBs in the country. I can see the outcome of the game going either way, but I think it will be close. I do think that OSU has an advantage in big play ability from it's skill players, but, as evidenced from last year's NC game, a team that plays solid all-around football is capable of winning any game.
 
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EngineerHorn;1357880; said:
I'm not liking the general consensus (a Texas win) either. And I don't know where all the blowout predictions are coming from. Maybe it's a result of feeling slighted.
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Well, starting out as 10-point favorites shows that Vegas doesn't think much of our chances, and if you watched ESPiN's College Bowl Special, Jesse Palmer predicted Texas would "win big", while both Ed Cunningham and Robert Smith didn't hesitate at all with their prediction on the game. No one outside of Ohio thinks we have a chance...
 
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