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Game Thread Game One: #1 Ohio State 35, Northern Illinois 12 (9/2/06)

Well after spending a good portion of my reading day getting caught up on this thread, here's my impression.

Cut G-FORCE a little slack.

Will Wolfe run for 100? I doubt it, but who knows? I see a guy (GF) who has come to talk football. He's been generally very respectful and has only returned in kind when pressed. Even then he's been restrained. He's kept the discussion on football and has used stats, insight and clips to help support his claims. He certainly isn't predicting victory or even that Wolfe will dominate this game. He's outnumbered a bajillion to one (basically) here, yet has consistently given us information about his team when asked. This is much more than can be said for a few Texas fans in another thread. Do we really want to drive off the only real NIU fan that has ventured over with a commitment to discuss the game?

He's passionate about his team and extremely geeked about their RB. No crime in that. That just makes me want to watch Wolfe even more. I certainly don't use total yards gained as the only measure of a runningback's ability. As their main weapon, Wolfe will be fighting an uphill battle. Maybe he'll bust off a few runs ... or maybe he'll make some incredible runs just to get back to the line of scrimmage. I know I'll be watching, and I think that's been G-FORCE's main point ... "Here's a great player on my team, watch him".

Finally I hope we can keep from disparaging NIU and the MAC as a weaker team/conference. We really sound arrogant when doing this (think typical ND fan). We know the caliber is different. G-FORCE knows the caliber is different. He isn't suggesting otherwise. We play the games for a reason. It's that slight chance that G-FORCE is betting on and I don't fault him for that.

I guess I just don't see this like NCST, or Washington, or Miami (OH), or any of the numerous other fans that thought they would not only play with the Bucks, but quite possibly beat them.

(Not sure how I ended up on this soapbox, but it's time to jump off :wink2:)

I agree...except for the 6 or so pages that were split off from the thread...:wink:

j/k...I've enjoyed this thread and continue to enjoy it. I'm glad to see G-Force has found his way around to other parts of BP as well. It's a great site and we always like having other teams represented...:biggrin:
 
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And the fact that Northern Illinois is just this years team that comes here telling us how we are in for more than we bargained for. Heard it before....it gets old.

Yeah I know 27. I think it's a fact of life we'll need to accept. It's going to happen when your team is consistently good. I just don't see GF making the outrageous claims that were being tossed around by fans of ... take your pick team. My other thought is that GF is ACTUALLY bringing some data into the conversation. Feel free to poke holes in his arguments, but at least he isn't debating from a purely emotional point of view. That's something I can respect and it wasn't really the case with fans from Miami (OH), Washington, NCST, etc.


I agree...except for the 6 or so pages that were split off from the thread...:wink:

Yes, I noticed that. I would say that the split was due to a different poster (NIUHuskies who is temporarily banned) and that G-FORCE did his best to make the situation better ... not worse.
 
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Well you're welcome GF, but there's nothing to thank me for. I just think we're (Buckeye fans) a bit frustrated from a different game thread and it's been spilling over to this one.

I would think it was more of the constant of his "Wolfe this, and Wolfe that", and "We scare everyone" spiel during his first 8 billion posts that got on our nerves. He's since calmed down (relatively) and has recently brought out some new info about his star offensive lineman, his QB, and huge-potential WR. Not to mention he nut-kicked that nimrod NIUhuskies a couple times. NIU has the potential to be a very tough MAC team, and that means they will put up a fight and if we're not careful the shit can get deeper than we'd like.
 
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I would think it was more of the constant of his "Wolfe this, and Wolfe that", and "We scare everyone" spiel during his first 8 billion posts that got on our nerves. He's since calmed down (relatively) and has recently brought out some new info about his star offensive lineman, his QB, and huge-potential WR. Not to mention he nut-kicked that nimrod NIUhuskies a couple times. NIU has the potential to be a very tough MAC team, and that means they will put up a fight and if we're not careful the shit can get deeper than we'd like.

Yeah, I grant you that Mili. GF is probably over the top with his love of Wolfe. If I were a NIU fan I might be in the same position though. He's got a guy he believes in and thinks can be productive against the Bucks. Hell it's not too impossible to accept. We have a guy (TG) that can singlehandly make big plays. Is Wolfe THAT kind of exciting? I doubt it since I really haven't heard that much about him, but I'm willing to let GF tout his guy when he's been so realistic and honest about most other aspects of the matchup.

As far as NIU scaring us? Well, we won't be scared of anyone, but the possibility remains for a close game. Quite a few factors mark this game as a "trap" for the Bucks. All of these (IMO) revolve around the Buckeye and not so much on NIU.

1) First game of the year. Will we be firing on all cylinders?
2) Texas is next. Will we be looking forward? Will the coaches "hide" the playbook?
3) We have a large player turnover on D. Now most have quality playing time, but not so much as a unit. I don't see a big problem here, but you just never know until you know.
4) The score will be close because Tress simply doesn't "run up" the score on opponents without cause. When he feels the game is in hand the offense will be shut down for several reasons. A-You don't disrespect an opponent (without cause-even then Tressel doesn't do it). B-Second stringers need work. C-No need to show Texas more than necessary. The score COULD get run up IF NIU doesn't stop our second stringers. I don't say this to insult the NIU program. I'm not guaranteeing that the second stringers will be playing. If they ARE playing, it means the outcome is in hand. If they AREN'T playing, then the game must be close.

My biggest point to everyone is this. If the OSU program continues on it's highly sucessful path (which we all think will happen), then we might as well accept the fact that this type of fan interaction will continue to occur. Let's handle it with class as Tressel and the Buckeyes try to handle themselves. I say this especially concerning the smaller schools and conferences. There is NO need (IMHO) to belittle them based on such criteria. Doing so makes us look petty. We know the difference. They know the difference. This is their chance to shine ... their shot at glory. Of course we have to deal with it for most non conference games. It becomes a tired routine for us. It isn't the same for them. NIU fans get an opportunity to play us once in a lifetime. In my mind that puts the onus on us to steer a conversation on football talk. They don't know we endure the same routine many times a year. Without demeaning their team/program, tell them we deal with this on a weekly basis. Laude them for the passion they show towards their team. Then ask that they return the conversation to football without all the emotional hubris that usually comes out. If that isn't enough, then good football conversation probably isn't going to take place and the gloves are coming off.

I certainly wouldn't give as much rope to larger schools/conferences. If they've been there before (like Washington), they should know how to act like it. If they haven't been there before (like NCST), then they shouldn't act like they have.

(Damn soapbox)
 
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I certainly wouldn't give as much rope to larger schools/conferences. If they've been there before (like Washington), they should know how to act like it. If they haven't been there before (like NCST), then they shouldn't act like they have.

(Damn soapbox)

I agree 100% with everything you said except for this bit. This bit I agree with only about 90%.

We really need to keep in mind that there are kids, teenagers and younger, that are fans of teams that have been there, but not in their lifetime. Washington is a great example of this.

If a Husky (from Seattle) comes over here and acts like a Husky (from NIU), we might want to think about this possibility before ripping into them. Consider that if you were face to face with the person at the other keyboard, you would probably ignore them, their acne, their braces and their Nickelback T-Shirt.
 
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If a Husky (from Seattle) comes over here and acts like a Husky (from NIU), we might want to think about this possibility before ripping into them. Consider that if you were face to face with the person at the other keyboard, you would probably ignore them, their acne, their braces and their Nickelback T-Shirt.

I'm glad my braces are long gone, or I'd get completely ignored around here. :tongue2:

nik190.jpg
 
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I agree 100% with everything you said except for this bit. This bit I agree with only about 90%.

We really need to keep in mind that there are kids, teenagers and younger, that are fans of teams that have been there, but not in their lifetime. Washington is a great example of this.

If a Husky (from Seattle) comes over here and acts like a Husky (from NIU), we might want to think about this possibility before ripping into them. Consider that if you were face to face with the person at the other keyboard, you would probably ignore them, their acne, their braces and their Nickelback T-Shirt.

Yeah, I know Washington wasn't the best example DBB, just the most recent one I could think of. Even then, quite a few of their fans were very good and knowledgable (while others were far from it). That may even point to the differences in age of a particular fan base. At the least, a team like Washington has a history to point to. They have (or should have) fans on their main boards that experienced a period of greatness. Something they can pass on to their younger counterparts. NCST has none of that, and yet you'd have thought they just finished winning their 3rd straight conferenece championship and we off to yet another BCS bowl.

I'll take 90% though ... :biggrin:
 
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The Buckeyes may be able to win this game on special teams alone. That is if NIU kicks to our return men. That probably won't happen though. Forget I said anything about that.
While that is a completely stupid statement, I just watched all the Ginn videos that was on your video clips forum, and we better not even think to kick it to Ginn ever.

We need to stick Bradley Pruitt (and someone else) on him in the pass game also, because he will run right by either of the Hansbro twins.
 
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so you're just going to surrender the 35 yard line every time by kicking out of bounds?

they are also changing the kicking tee, so it will be harder to kick touchbacks.
 
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