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OregonBuckeye
Semper Fi Buckeyes
Must sleep...but can't...too much excitement...zzz. Goodnight, BP.
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Saw31
High Seas Rogue
I would like to wish all our Texas friends good luck. This two game series has been a pleasure. Anyone who has the college football mania like we do understands how great this is. No matter what happens tomorrow, I will never regret these games being on the schedule. Hopefully the rest of the college football world grows a pair and starts scheduling these great match ups...Bowl Game in September!!!
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el mastiff
All-American
OregonBuckeye;600516; said:
You're sleeping? I woke up about an hour ago and I'm good to go. Only about 16 hours to kickoff.
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buckeye247
# 33
Ive gotten about an hour of sleep tonight, i dont know about all you but when the Buckeyes play a huge game i cant sleep a wink.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Link
ToledoBlade
ToledoBlade
Ohio State fans see lots of Orange
Ohio State fans and players are going to see lots of ‘Hook ’em Horns’ signs from the University of Texas’ rowdy fans.
( ASSOCIATED PRESS )
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
AUSTIN - The 100 or so Ohio State fans that piled off a Continental Airlines connecting flight here yesterday morning got an immediate reminder that they were behind enemy lines, even before they exited the retractable jetway that provided passage from the plane to the terminal at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
The Buckeyes' faithful, all decked out in scarlet and gray with nutty adornments, had their full field of view painted in bright orange, the theme from ceiling to floor in The Longhorns Store, where Texas gear comes at you in the form of shirts and jerseys, lawn chairs, kitchen utensils and a variety of over-sized banners.
And just to add insult to insult, the big screen television hanging from the wall in the shop was showing a replay of last year's 25-22 Texas win over Ohio State in Columbus. In tonight's intensely ballyhooed rematch, the No. 1 Buckeyes face the No. 2 Longhorns, who used that win a year ago to launch them on a successful march toward the national championship.
"I guess they're just letting us know that we're in Texas," said Ron McCall of Cleveland who flew into Austin yesterday and expects to be one of an estimated 30,000 Ohio State fans who will be in and around Darryl K. Royal Memorial Stadium when the Buckeyes play here for the first time.
OHIO STATE AT TEXAS• When: Tonight, 8
• Records: No. 1 OSU is 1-0; No. 2 Texas is 1-0
• Series: Texas leads 1-0
• Favorite: Texas by 2?
• TV: 13, 7
• Radio: 1470"We expect a really loud and lively crowd, because that's what
Ohio State faces everywhere we play," Buckeyes senior defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock said.
"But there will be a lot of Scarlet and Gray out there, too. Our fans are great and so loyal - and they travel by the hundreds, by the thousands, to every road game. We're going into a hostile environment, but we'll see a lot of Buckeyes fans out in that crowd."
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith said the passion of the fans on both sides creates a great atmosphere for the meeting of the two college football giants.
"This is the kind of game you come to Ohio State to play in, big games like this, with a national stage," Smith said. "You can't let all the hype and all the stuff going on around the game affect you or how you prepare, but it's kind of neat to see the fans get so worked up. You can feel their energy out there on the field."
Texas coach Mack Brown said his team had a memorable trip to Columbus to play in Ohio Stadium last year, and he expects the Buckeyes to long remember all of the pomp and pageantry that has surrounded their visit to the Texas state capital.
"The Horseshoe was such a special experience for us," Brown said. "Their kids and our kids played a classy, tough, physical football game throughout. I thought the Ohio State people that we were around treated us with great class and we would expect our place to do the same for them this weekend and make sure that it's a wonderful experience for everybody that's there. It should be loud, it should be aggressive, but not against the other team, for us."
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he anticipates seeing significant representation of the Buckeye nation this evening.
"We're excited, because this is a wonderful opportunity for our kids and this program," Tressel said. "I just hope I can see the difference between the burnt orange and the red up in the stands. But our fans always find a way. People are excited about this game, and we are too."
Ohio state senior center Doug Datish said the magnitude of the No. 1 vs. No. 2 game makes it an automatic magnet for the dedicated followings on both sides.
"This is a huge game, and going anywhere into a hostile environment like this, we are like the enemy invading," Datish said. "Texas has great fans and it will be a crazy environment."
Stan White, the Buckeyes' senior fullback, said the customers at The Longhorns Store and the Ohio State fans pouring into the Austin airport are not the only ones who have been watching the replay of that Texas-Ohio State battle from 2005.
"We have watched the game from last year about 100 times," White said. "When you go in and play the defending national champions in week two of the season, they deserve respect."
Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade,com
or 419-724-6510.
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OSUBuckeye4Life
"THE" Ohio State Buckeyes
Hook em Horns;600443; said:
Read it again, the drug charges were dropped but not the GUN charges.
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[SIZE=+2]Rubs Me Raw: Mack Brown does right but still comes up short
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 09/09/2006 06:00 AM CDT
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Rick Taylor
Express-News Staff Writer[/SIZE] Mack Brown did the right thing this week.
Well, almost.
The Texas Longhorns coach was informed Monday that starting cornerback Tarell Brown and backup linebacker Tyrell Gatewood had been arrested. They were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Tarell Brown allegedly also was found sleeping in the back seat of a car with a loaded handgun. You can be sure that the loaded 9-mm handgun said to be in his lap is not the latest in deer-hunting weaponry.
Mack Brown promptly suspended both players for this week's critical game against Ohio State. It's good to see a coach who will not let a big game get in the way of doing what is right.
Yet Mack Brown still came up short.
At the minimum, the suspensions or Tarell Brown and Gatewood should have been indefinite. Maybe for the rest of the season. Maybe even permanent.
The possibility that these players may miss only one game while criminal charges hover over them is irresponsible.
Therein lies what Rubs Me Raw this week: Mack Brown should have made it abundantly clear that as long as criminal charges linger over Tarell Brown and Gatewood, they will not play football this week or any other week for the University of Texas.
It is true that Mack Brown has not said whether the suspensions are just for one game. He's said he hasn't thought past the Ohio State game. That kind of coach-speak is completely bogus. Taking them one game at time does not apply to the legal system. A coach has to act decisively and do the right thing immediately no matter how much it hurts the depth chart.
The right thing in this instance would be that Tarell Brown and Gatewood do not practice or play football for Texas until justice has run its course. If that date comes in February 2007, oh well.
Mack Brown does not have to offer any information about his decision to the public. So we're left to speculate as to why he is hesitating on this situation.
Maybe he is hoping this will fade away in the glory of a big victory against the country's No. 1 team. Then he quietly can reinstate both players.
Maybe he's waiting to see how well Tarell Brown's backup does against Ted Ginn before doing what's best for the team.
Maybe he needs a scapegoat and what better scapegoat than a legal distraction?
What if these players return in a week or two with these charges still pending? Is that really a message Mack Brown wants to send to the rest of the country?
That would make Texas no better than the Miami and Oklahoma teams of past infamy.
Prior to winning the national title last year, Mack Brown was a lot of things: He was the coach who could not beat Oklahoma; he was the coach who could not land Texas in a BCS bowl; and he was the coach who could not win a big game.
Yet he was also a coach who ran a program that had no (or just the standard minor) off-the-field indiscretions. His program has been regarded as elite for its success in all facets of collegiate life. For all of his perceived faults, he had one very real strength: He ran an honorable and clean program.
By not taking a stricter, more appropriate stance in regard to Tarell Brown's and Gatewood's off-field issues, however, Mack Brown runs a risk of tarnishing Texas' reputation.
Who's to say he might not be running a program that looks past a player's transgressions provided that player can cover the country's best wide receiver; looks past a player's behavior so long as he rushes for 1,000 yards; ignores a player's rap sheet so long as he helps win a national title?
If that were the case, then Texas would be no better than those Miamis and Oklahomas that ran afoul of the law in the 1970s and '80s almost as much as they ran away from opponents. And Texas fans would no longer be able to hold themselves above those programs, something they always have loved doing.
All of that aside, what's puzzling is why Brown is hesitant to make the suspensions indefinite.
Tarell Brown is a fabulous football player, but Texas oozes fabulous football players. Tarell Brown's replacement is going to be a very good football player. Blue chippers back up blue chippers at Texas. It's not like this is Houston or Rice where the dropoff from first team to second team can be as great as the dropoff from Division I-caliber player to Division II-caliber player.
There is the argument, and some will surely make it to Rubs Me Raw, that maybe Mack Brown is being supportive to two young men who made mistakes.
Don't even go there with that nonsense.
There is little sympathy from this space for this argument for the following reason: Marijuana goes far beyond a mistake, it is a crime. People know it is illegal.
Besides, you can be supportive and right at the same time.
And what kind of college student carries or even owns a 9-mm handgun? Tell us something UT parents, do you want your children going to school where fellow students are carrying weapons of this magnitude?
Mack Brown can still do the right thing. He can take a tougher stance. He owes that to his team, the students at Texas and its fans.
From the Rubs Me Raw mailbag:
[SIZE=+2]Rubs Me Raw: Mack Brown does right but still comes up short
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Web Posted: 09/09/2006 06:00 AM CDT
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Rick Taylor
Express-News Staff Writer[/SIZE] Mack Brown did the right thing this week.
Well, almost.
The Texas Longhorns coach was informed Monday that starting cornerback Tarell Brown and backup linebacker Tyrell Gatewood had been arrested. They were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Tarell Brown allegedly also was found sleeping in the back seat of a car with a loaded handgun. You can be sure that the loaded 9-mm handgun said to be in his lap is not the latest in deer-hunting weaponry.
Mack Brown promptly suspended both players for this week's critical game against Ohio State. It's good to see a coach who will not let a big game get in the way of doing what is right.
Yet Mack Brown still came up short.
At the minimum, the suspensions or Tarell Brown and Gatewood should have been indefinite. Maybe for the rest of the season. Maybe even permanent.
The possibility that these players may miss only one game while criminal charges hover over them is irresponsible.
Therein lies what Rubs Me Raw this week: Mack Brown should have made it abundantly clear that as long as criminal charges linger over Tarell Brown and Gatewood, they will not play football this week or any other week for the University of Texas.
It is true that Mack Brown has not said whether the suspensions are just for one game. He's said he hasn't thought past the Ohio State game. That kind of coach-speak is completely bogus. Taking them one game at time does not apply to the legal system. A coach has to act decisively and do the right thing immediately no matter how much it hurts the depth chart.
The right thing in this instance would be that Tarell Brown and Gatewood do not practice or play football for Texas until justice has run its course. If that date comes in February 2007, oh well.
Mack Brown does not have to offer any information about his decision to the public. So we're left to speculate as to why he is hesitating on this situation.
Maybe he is hoping this will fade away in the glory of a big victory against the country's No. 1 team. Then he quietly can reinstate both players.
Maybe he's waiting to see how well Tarell Brown's backup does against Ted Ginn before doing what's best for the team.
Maybe he needs a scapegoat and what better scapegoat than a legal distraction?
What if these players return in a week or two with these charges still pending? Is that really a message Mack Brown wants to send to the rest of the country?
That would make Texas no better than the Miami and Oklahoma teams of past infamy.
Prior to winning the national title last year, Mack Brown was a lot of things: He was the coach who could not beat Oklahoma; he was the coach who could not land Texas in a BCS bowl; and he was the coach who could not win a big game.
Yet he was also a coach who ran a program that had no (or just the standard minor) off-the-field indiscretions. His program has been regarded as elite for its success in all facets of collegiate life. For all of his perceived faults, he had one very real strength: He ran an honorable and clean program.
By not taking a stricter, more appropriate stance in regard to Tarell Brown's and Gatewood's off-field issues, however, Mack Brown runs a risk of tarnishing Texas' reputation.
Who's to say he might not be running a program that looks past a player's transgressions provided that player can cover the country's best wide receiver; looks past a player's behavior so long as he rushes for 1,000 yards; ignores a player's rap sheet so long as he helps win a national title?
If that were the case, then Texas would be no better than those Miamis and Oklahomas that ran afoul of the law in the 1970s and '80s almost as much as they ran away from opponents. And Texas fans would no longer be able to hold themselves above those programs, something they always have loved doing.
All of that aside, what's puzzling is why Brown is hesitant to make the suspensions indefinite.
Tarell Brown is a fabulous football player, but Texas oozes fabulous football players. Tarell Brown's replacement is going to be a very good football player. Blue chippers back up blue chippers at Texas. It's not like this is Houston or Rice where the dropoff from first team to second team can be as great as the dropoff from Division I-caliber player to Division II-caliber player.
There is the argument, and some will surely make it to Rubs Me Raw, that maybe Mack Brown is being supportive to two young men who made mistakes.
Don't even go there with that nonsense.
There is little sympathy from this space for this argument for the following reason: Marijuana goes far beyond a mistake, it is a crime. People know it is illegal.
Besides, you can be supportive and right at the same time.
And what kind of college student carries or even owns a 9-mm handgun? Tell us something UT parents, do you want your children going to school where fellow students are carrying weapons of this magnitude?
Mack Brown can still do the right thing. He can take a tougher stance. He owes that to his team, the students at Texas and its fans.
From the Rubs Me Raw mailbag:
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[FONT=arial,][SIZE=+1]Texas, OSU in early blockbuster[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=-1]By JIM VERTUNO[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]THE ASSOCIATED PRESS[/SIZE]
AUSTIN, Texas - Ohio State vs. Texas would be a big game any time, any year.
Plop it in early September, make it No. 1 vs. No. 2, and mix in that Texas beat the Buckeyes on the way to the national championship last season and you've got one big-time early fall blockbuster.
Oh, yeah. Don't forget the Heisman talk for OSU quarterback Troy Smith, new Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, the element of the rematch and prime time.
''Ohio State is a special game,'' Texas coach Mack Brown said. ''Our guys have been talking about it since we left the Horseshoe last year.''
Texas kick-started its run to the national championship with a 25-22 win in Columbus last year. The loss bumped the Buckeyes into the pack and created a season of frustration for a team that had title hopes of its own.
In an age of cupcake out-of-conference schedules, that's what makes this game so dangerous for both teams. The loser risks dropping out of the title chase just as the season's begun.
''It's a risk-reward game,'' Brown said. ''Last year we were rewarded for winning right at the end. It was tough for them because they had a good enough team maybe to win the national championship.''
For college football fans, it's a doozy.
Buckeye players say tonight isn't about revenge. But it sure would be sweet to knock the 'Horns off their perch.
''This game means everything for the season,'' Ohio State offensive lineman Kirk Barton said. ''Our goal is to make it to the national title game, and you have to win it all to get there.''
This is the first regular-season matchup of the top two teams in the AP rankings since 1996. And it's the first time a No. 1 has visited Austin since SMU in 1950.
And while this may be the first 1-2 rodeo in Austin, the Longhorns can lean on their experience in more than a few big games the last two seasons.
Texas (1-0) has won 21 straight games, three against teams in the top 10. With the last season's Rose Bowl win over Southern California, the Longhorns will face their second top-ranked opponent in three games against Ohio State (1-0).
Unlike last year's game in Columbus and the Rose Bowl - practically in USC's backyard - this one comes in a city and stadium full of burnt-orange fans singing ''The Eyes of Texas.''
''It's going to be loud,'' Ohio State guard T.J. Downing said. ''I know those fans are going to be nuts.''
Last year, it was quarterback Vince Young leading Texas. Had he returned this season instead of leaving for the NFL, it's likely the Longhorns would be No. 1 right now and the Buckeyes No. 2.
McCoy, a redshirt freshman, made a solid debut with three passing touchdowns and another running last week against North Texas. But the quarterback from farm country in West Texas hasn't played in prime time.
''I plan on going out there and having fun,'' said McCoy, who laughed and joked with reporters early in the week. ''Having fun is the secret.''
[FONT=arial,][SIZE=+1]Texas, OSU in early blockbuster[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=-1]By JIM VERTUNO[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]THE ASSOCIATED PRESS[/SIZE]
AUSTIN, Texas - Ohio State vs. Texas would be a big game any time, any year.
Plop it in early September, make it No. 1 vs. No. 2, and mix in that Texas beat the Buckeyes on the way to the national championship last season and you've got one big-time early fall blockbuster.
Oh, yeah. Don't forget the Heisman talk for OSU quarterback Troy Smith, new Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, the element of the rematch and prime time.
''Ohio State is a special game,'' Texas coach Mack Brown said. ''Our guys have been talking about it since we left the Horseshoe last year.''
Texas kick-started its run to the national championship with a 25-22 win in Columbus last year. The loss bumped the Buckeyes into the pack and created a season of frustration for a team that had title hopes of its own.
In an age of cupcake out-of-conference schedules, that's what makes this game so dangerous for both teams. The loser risks dropping out of the title chase just as the season's begun.
''It's a risk-reward game,'' Brown said. ''Last year we were rewarded for winning right at the end. It was tough for them because they had a good enough team maybe to win the national championship.''
For college football fans, it's a doozy.
Buckeye players say tonight isn't about revenge. But it sure would be sweet to knock the 'Horns off their perch.
''This game means everything for the season,'' Ohio State offensive lineman Kirk Barton said. ''Our goal is to make it to the national title game, and you have to win it all to get there.''
This is the first regular-season matchup of the top two teams in the AP rankings since 1996. And it's the first time a No. 1 has visited Austin since SMU in 1950.
And while this may be the first 1-2 rodeo in Austin, the Longhorns can lean on their experience in more than a few big games the last two seasons.
Texas (1-0) has won 21 straight games, three against teams in the top 10. With the last season's Rose Bowl win over Southern California, the Longhorns will face their second top-ranked opponent in three games against Ohio State (1-0).
Unlike last year's game in Columbus and the Rose Bowl - practically in USC's backyard - this one comes in a city and stadium full of burnt-orange fans singing ''The Eyes of Texas.''
''It's going to be loud,'' Ohio State guard T.J. Downing said. ''I know those fans are going to be nuts.''
Last year, it was quarterback Vince Young leading Texas. Had he returned this season instead of leaving for the NFL, it's likely the Longhorns would be No. 1 right now and the Buckeyes No. 2.
McCoy, a redshirt freshman, made a solid debut with three passing touchdowns and another running last week against North Texas. But the quarterback from farm country in West Texas hasn't played in prime time.
''I plan on going out there and having fun,'' said McCoy, who laughed and joked with reporters early in the week. ''Having fun is the secret.''
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Texas video gets Barton fired up
By Jon Spencer
He?s your toddler, the one who wears out the VCR playing the ?Barney? tape or the ?Wizard of Oz? video until you think you?re going to scream.
Except that when Ohio State offensive tackle Kirk Barton pops in the tape for the umpteenth time of last year?s come-from-ahead loss to Texas, he?s the one who feels like screaming.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Barton isn?t a big baby. Just a big glutton for punishment.
But if it helps him get his mind right for Saturday?s rematch, keep watching kid.
?I?ve watched that Texas game at least 50 times,? Barton said. ?On a lazy afternoon in Massillon, Ohio, with nothing to do, I pop that in. I?ve seen that game and the Iowa game (a 33-7 loss in 2004) probably more than any game in my life.
?You want to remember that feeling because that?s what motivates you. The feeling of being in the locker room after the Texas game and taking your jersey off, it was like you got hit by a car. You?re done.
?Last year we had high expectations, but by week 2 they were kind of dashed. We finished well, but it?s not what we wanted.?
As a result, Barton punishes himself by watching the replay over and over, sometimes fast-forwarding to the unbearable finish ? a 24-yard pass from Vince
Young to a falling, juggling Limas Sweed in the left corner of the end zone. Sweed
beat two defenders on the play.
?Old Yeller? had a more upbeat ending.
?I keep referencing that play because it was an unbelievable catch,? Barton said. ?He had one foot down in the end zone and you?re like, ?Is his foot really down? Did (the officials) mess it up? Can I go back and hit erase?? It?s not a good feeling, and you don?t want to live it again.
?You?ve got to reinforce it. You can?t just watch it once and say, ?Oh, maybe it didn?t happen.? It?s got to stay in front of your mind, remembering how it felt.?
Something tells me the Longhorns plan to refresh Barton?s memory ? live, not on tape ? in Saturday?s sequel.
Something tells me they won?t squander home-field advantage the way OSU did last year with its silly game of musical quarterbacks.
Something tells me it?s more than just coincidence that Texas is 44-3 at home under Mack Brown and 19-1 in home night games during the Brown Era.
Something tells me that?s bad karma for a visitor with four straight regular-season losses under the lights and a pedestrian 7-6 road record since 2002.
All else being equal ? green quarterback (Texas) vs. green defense (OSU), veteran quarterback (OSU) vs. veteran defense (Texas), gamebreaker (Ginn) vs. gamebreaker (Sweed) and two-headed tailback (Pittman-Wells) vs. two-headed tailback (Young-Charles) ? the game will come down to handling the excessive heat, humidity and hoopla.
Stuff, unfortunately, you can?t really prepare for or study on tape.
Sorry, Kirk, but I?ve got to go with the ?Horns. I hope for your sake, and your worn-out VCR, that I?m wrong.
Texas video gets Barton fired up
By Jon Spencer
He?s your toddler, the one who wears out the VCR playing the ?Barney? tape or the ?Wizard of Oz? video until you think you?re going to scream.
Except that when Ohio State offensive tackle Kirk Barton pops in the tape for the umpteenth time of last year?s come-from-ahead loss to Texas, he?s the one who feels like screaming.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Barton isn?t a big baby. Just a big glutton for punishment.
But if it helps him get his mind right for Saturday?s rematch, keep watching kid.
?I?ve watched that Texas game at least 50 times,? Barton said. ?On a lazy afternoon in Massillon, Ohio, with nothing to do, I pop that in. I?ve seen that game and the Iowa game (a 33-7 loss in 2004) probably more than any game in my life.
?You want to remember that feeling because that?s what motivates you. The feeling of being in the locker room after the Texas game and taking your jersey off, it was like you got hit by a car. You?re done.
?Last year we had high expectations, but by week 2 they were kind of dashed. We finished well, but it?s not what we wanted.?
As a result, Barton punishes himself by watching the replay over and over, sometimes fast-forwarding to the unbearable finish ? a 24-yard pass from Vince
Young to a falling, juggling Limas Sweed in the left corner of the end zone. Sweed
beat two defenders on the play.
?Old Yeller? had a more upbeat ending.
?I keep referencing that play because it was an unbelievable catch,? Barton said. ?He had one foot down in the end zone and you?re like, ?Is his foot really down? Did (the officials) mess it up? Can I go back and hit erase?? It?s not a good feeling, and you don?t want to live it again.
?You?ve got to reinforce it. You can?t just watch it once and say, ?Oh, maybe it didn?t happen.? It?s got to stay in front of your mind, remembering how it felt.?
Something tells me the Longhorns plan to refresh Barton?s memory ? live, not on tape ? in Saturday?s sequel.
Something tells me they won?t squander home-field advantage the way OSU did last year with its silly game of musical quarterbacks.
Something tells me it?s more than just coincidence that Texas is 44-3 at home under Mack Brown and 19-1 in home night games during the Brown Era.
Something tells me that?s bad karma for a visitor with four straight regular-season losses under the lights and a pedestrian 7-6 road record since 2002.
All else being equal ? green quarterback (Texas) vs. green defense (OSU), veteran quarterback (OSU) vs. veteran defense (Texas), gamebreaker (Ginn) vs. gamebreaker (Sweed) and two-headed tailback (Pittman-Wells) vs. two-headed tailback (Young-Charles) ? the game will come down to handling the excessive heat, humidity and hoopla.
Stuff, unfortunately, you can?t really prepare for or study on tape.
Sorry, Kirk, but I?ve got to go with the ?Horns. I hope for your sake, and your worn-out VCR, that I?m wrong.
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