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BuckBackHome
Wolverine is largest member of weasel family
Don't know why I was ever worried about this game. I found out today the OSU coaches were figuring it would be a 2 TD victory earlier this week.
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Kueller
Senior
X-ray talked up his all-american 4th stringers so much you had to believe at least a bit of his hype. I mean, I usually take what an opposing fan says and figure it's about half-true. The ratio of truth to exaggeration was just just smaller than I expected. And after Superman put on such a performance all through last season, who wouldn't buy into what was being sold about the Horns?BuckBackHome;602553; said:
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lvbuckeye
Silver Surfer
you're not supposed to burn other people's couches...you're supposed to burn the old nasty, fucked up one with a busted bottom and ripped cushions that was on your porch when you moved in, and which you sit in (notice 'in' not 'on,' because the bottom is busted) at last call to watch the drunks stumble home from the bars... and which you occasionally bust a homeless guy sleeping on... or yourself...Buckeyeskickbuttocks;602549; said:
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Here are some nice SI photos of the game:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0609/gallery.ohiostvstexas/content.1.html
Note: if the above link has already been posted go ahead and delete this post.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0609/gallery.ohiostvstexas/content.1.html
Note: if the above link has already been posted go ahead and delete this post.
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Check out what this texas writer has to say about the Bucks
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/ksherrington/stories/091006dnsposherrington.33bbfbd.html
Buckeyes better, but are they really No. 1?
12:56 AM CDT on Sunday, September 10, 2006
AUSTIN ? The last time a game this big came to the state capital, Knute Rockne and his Notre Dame teammates were floating a funky thing called the forward pass. A crowd of 7,000 showed up for that one, which might not seem like much until you consider it was about half the town's population in 1913.
They had that many Ohio State fans holed up in the Drum for a pep rally Saturday.
The largest crowd ever to see a football game in Texas. Tickets going for Rose Bowl rates. Sixth Street tighter than a six-pack.
Texas fans showing up on time.
All that sensory build-up, and here's the payoff: Jim Tressel was right, no matter what the Ohio State coach said before his vote became public.
The Buckeyes really are better than Texas.
Not that it seemed like much of a statement as Ohio State exacted its revenge, 24-7, at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
These were the nation's top two teams? Sure, they've only played a couple of games apiece. But so far the Buckeyes haven't provided any clue they can stop the run. They don't pack much of a rushing attack, either, and both are prerequisites for teams with national title hopes. Even chip-shot field goal attempts are adventures.
As for Texas, the Longhorns surely missed Tarell Brown, suspended by Mack Brown last week. But it's not as if he was going to cover everybody running loose.
Texas' defense is supposed to be the best in Brown's tenure. But not only did it occasionally have trouble tracking down Ted Ginn Jr., the Longhorns made Anthony Gonzalez look like the second coming of Cris Carter.
And it didn't help that Texas failed to force a single turnover.
The most talked about home game in Texas history lived up to this much, though:
It came down to two quarterbacks, and the better man won.
Troy Smith hung in the pocket, threw on the run and found open men for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Longhorns expected Smith to try to beat them with his feet, not his arm. His play probably only opened up Tressel for more second-guessing back home, where the locals are still mad that he didn't stick with Smith over Justin Zwick in last year's classic.
Maybe Vince Young still would have rallied Texas to the road win that sold it to national voters.
But Young doesn't play here anymore, and it shows. Boy, does it.
Colt McCoy? He looked like the inexperienced kid that he is, only a year out of Tuscola and until last week still just a teenager.
Best-case scenario for McCoy against Ohio State: He'd stick the ball in Jamaal Charles' stomach or Selvin Young's, and the rest of the time he'd just drive the big burnt orange bus.
Seemed like a plan, anyway. In the Buckeyes' opener, they gave up 171 yards rushing to Garrett Wolfe. Now Wolfe may be the most underrated running back in the country, a poor man's Barry Sanders, even, but he still plays for Northern Illinois. And a Northern Illinois running back shouldn't be hanging 171 yards on the nation's No. 1 team.
If, indeed, that's what Ohio State really is. Texas certainly couldn't prove otherwise.
"We just had a hard time getting the ball down the field," said Texas' offensive coordinator, Greg Davis.
Here was the difference between the two teams in style, summed up neatly on each team's last drive before the half:
Texas spent more than seven minutes on its only touchdown. Got a little help in the red zone, too, when the Buckeyes' 6-6 Jay Richardson slammed into McCoy and apparently was flagged for being too tall.
Ohio State's response: Smith goes for 23 yards to Brian Robiskie, 14 and 23 to Gonzalez and the final 29 to Ginn.
Elapsed time: 1 minute, 39 seconds. Just long enough to suck all the air from Texas.
The Buckeyes' two-minute drill packed about all the excitement this game could muster.
Nothing Texas did in the second half could rouse its record crowd of 89,422.
Not even shots on the dazzling new video scoreboard of the Longhorns' celebrity cheerleader, Matthew McConaughey.
The last time we'd seen bongo boy on a big screen was Failure to Launch. Behold the sequel.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/ksherrington/stories/091006dnsposherrington.33bbfbd.html
Buckeyes better, but are they really No. 1?
12:56 AM CDT on Sunday, September 10, 2006
AUSTIN ? The last time a game this big came to the state capital, Knute Rockne and his Notre Dame teammates were floating a funky thing called the forward pass. A crowd of 7,000 showed up for that one, which might not seem like much until you consider it was about half the town's population in 1913.
They had that many Ohio State fans holed up in the Drum for a pep rally Saturday.
The largest crowd ever to see a football game in Texas. Tickets going for Rose Bowl rates. Sixth Street tighter than a six-pack.
Texas fans showing up on time.
All that sensory build-up, and here's the payoff: Jim Tressel was right, no matter what the Ohio State coach said before his vote became public.
The Buckeyes really are better than Texas.
Not that it seemed like much of a statement as Ohio State exacted its revenge, 24-7, at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
These were the nation's top two teams? Sure, they've only played a couple of games apiece. But so far the Buckeyes haven't provided any clue they can stop the run. They don't pack much of a rushing attack, either, and both are prerequisites for teams with national title hopes. Even chip-shot field goal attempts are adventures.
As for Texas, the Longhorns surely missed Tarell Brown, suspended by Mack Brown last week. But it's not as if he was going to cover everybody running loose.
Texas' defense is supposed to be the best in Brown's tenure. But not only did it occasionally have trouble tracking down Ted Ginn Jr., the Longhorns made Anthony Gonzalez look like the second coming of Cris Carter.
And it didn't help that Texas failed to force a single turnover.
The most talked about home game in Texas history lived up to this much, though:
It came down to two quarterbacks, and the better man won.
Troy Smith hung in the pocket, threw on the run and found open men for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Longhorns expected Smith to try to beat them with his feet, not his arm. His play probably only opened up Tressel for more second-guessing back home, where the locals are still mad that he didn't stick with Smith over Justin Zwick in last year's classic.
Maybe Vince Young still would have rallied Texas to the road win that sold it to national voters.
But Young doesn't play here anymore, and it shows. Boy, does it.
Colt McCoy? He looked like the inexperienced kid that he is, only a year out of Tuscola and until last week still just a teenager.
Best-case scenario for McCoy against Ohio State: He'd stick the ball in Jamaal Charles' stomach or Selvin Young's, and the rest of the time he'd just drive the big burnt orange bus.
Seemed like a plan, anyway. In the Buckeyes' opener, they gave up 171 yards rushing to Garrett Wolfe. Now Wolfe may be the most underrated running back in the country, a poor man's Barry Sanders, even, but he still plays for Northern Illinois. And a Northern Illinois running back shouldn't be hanging 171 yards on the nation's No. 1 team.
If, indeed, that's what Ohio State really is. Texas certainly couldn't prove otherwise.
"We just had a hard time getting the ball down the field," said Texas' offensive coordinator, Greg Davis.
Here was the difference between the two teams in style, summed up neatly on each team's last drive before the half:
Texas spent more than seven minutes on its only touchdown. Got a little help in the red zone, too, when the Buckeyes' 6-6 Jay Richardson slammed into McCoy and apparently was flagged for being too tall.
Ohio State's response: Smith goes for 23 yards to Brian Robiskie, 14 and 23 to Gonzalez and the final 29 to Ginn.
Elapsed time: 1 minute, 39 seconds. Just long enough to suck all the air from Texas.
The Buckeyes' two-minute drill packed about all the excitement this game could muster.
Nothing Texas did in the second half could rouse its record crowd of 89,422.
Not even shots on the dazzling new video scoreboard of the Longhorns' celebrity cheerleader, Matthew McConaughey.
The last time we'd seen bongo boy on a big screen was Failure to Launch. Behold the sequel.
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There is absolutely no truth to the unfounded rumors that I was the first couch burner!!.
Those witnesses all lied and the criminal charges were totally bogus.:)
Those witnesses all lied and the criminal charges were totally bogus.:)
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My last 19 hours in Texas, a rambling story. Actual game observations will be in a separate post.
I just read the 60 pages of this thread that I'd missed after signing off during College Gameday yesterday. At that point I checked out of my hotel, even though my free week was good until Sunday morning - with my 6 a.m. flight I knew that (win or lose) I wouldn't sleep before heading to the airport.
I then headed over to the tailgating area and located E-Horn, whom I found since he was the guy holding the football when I got there. After exchanging greetings, I showed about 5 minutes of the 'restraint' he mentioned in an earlier post, before cracking open my first Shiner Bock at high noon, allowing me to follow my personal rule. If any more waiting time had been required, I would have adopted my gameday addendum which allows me to follow Greenwich time.
If you ever have the opportunity to tailgate with Texas fans you should do so. We had some good conversation about football, food, and women; had some very fine beef fajitas, and washed them down with a few products from that small Texas town called Shiner.
Although E-Horn and his friends showed some fine hospitaliity, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit at the Longhorn tailgate, after a while I craved a little more of a Buckeye atmosphere. After chatting with some tOSU fans at a Buckeye tailgate and checking on the ND-PSU game, it was time to enter the Erwin Center for a Southwestern 'Skull Session'.
There were thousands of tOSU folks inside the arena, and the crowd responded loudly to Archie Griffin and Gene Smith. But the place got rockin' when TBDBITL marched in and played all the fan favorites: Buckeye Battle Cry, Hang On Sloopy, Carmen Ohio, etc. They also had a shop for tOSU souvenirs on the floor of the arena (I think it was 'Buckeye Corner).
I then made it over to a tour of Texas Tower, which is attached to the Main Building on campus, and has been a symbol of the University since it was built during the 1930s. Some older folks will remember it being the site of a famous sniper incident in August of 1966. The Tower is illuminated in different ways in order to recognize significant academic and athletic achievements, it's usually all orange after big football victories, and displayed a '#1' after the Rose Bowl earlier this year.
The tower, measured from its base, is not as tall as the nearby State Capitol building, since there was a (now-defunct) rule prohibiting such construction in Austin. But is was situated on a slight rise, so it does reach a slightly higher elevation. Thus it provided excellent views of the area as the people were milling toward the stadium, which is in the middle of the campus toward the south end. It was odd to look over at DKR and see the crowd I'd soon be joining.
On my way into the stadium, I saw the just-unveiled statue of The Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell. If you don't remember Earl Campbell from his playing days, he was one hell of a football player. The 1977 Heisman winner would run over, around, and through would-be tacklers and was a joy to watch. For his first few years in the NFL, before the numerous hits from his head-on style curtailed his career, he was simpy the best RB in the league (better than Walter Payton in his first few years, and that statement comes from a Chicago Bears fan). I felt honored to witness the tribute to him at halftime, and admit to getting misty-eyed seeing his highlights.
When I got to my seats, I had a brief moment of "Did-I-buy-fake-tickets-on-e-bay?" panic when a Texas fan was sitting in row 17 seat, 11; but the other Texas fans let him know that he in the wrong section (38 vs. 37). That way I didn't have to figure out where to hide in the stadium during the game, because if the ticketes were fake I was already inside and wasn't planning on leaving!
My first glance at the stadium clock showed it to be precisely 60 minutes before kickoff. After 6 days in Austin, at last the game was about to start! I was sitting next to Ahiacitian, who bought my other ticket since I bid on a pair, and there were 2 loud and loyal female Buckeye fans right behind us.
Sitting underneath the Godzillatron was loud, which I got used to, but they were playing lousy music before the game started. During the game, I was able to turn around to see replays. But it was just like the 'Shoe, and questionable plays wasn't shown. So they didn't show the fumble on the goal line which Mack Brown challenged, or the supposed helmet-to-helmet hit of Colt McCoy (which was worth 4 points), or any other close call that really mattered.
The Texas fans were great. They were friendly before the game, and none of them said anything about the small group of 4 Buckeye fans frequently high-fiving and yelling when things went well for tOSU. We only sat during TV timeouts and halftime, everybody expected to stand the entire game. They did get a couple of loud rounds of 'Texas..Fight!' going, and seemed to be a knowledgeable crowd, but the design of the stadium allows the noise to escape, as I think Bob Davie said on the TV broadcast (which I watched as soon as I got home today).
The Texas fans were loyal to their traditions, and the vast majority stayed until their band played "The Eyes of Texas Are upon You" after the game ended. On the way out, numerous Longhorn fans graciously congratulated Buckeye fans, and said things like 'Hope you win 'em all'.
After Ahiatician and his buddies decided to begin the long drive back shortly after the game, I was following one of those girls wearing chaps for a while. Eventually, I somehow managed to head in a different direction, and veered off toward Stubbs, the place that a couple thousand tOSU fans had swarmed the day before. The first Shiner Bock after the game was very pleasing! So were the others, for that matter.
After a while I headed over to 6th street to check out the late night scene. It has lots of bars along several blocks that were barricaded off from traffic, with a large police presence to maintain order (10-12 cops per block, with cops on horseback, cops on bikes, and vans for hauling away anybody that got out of control - I saw 1 guy get cuffed and loaded into the van). But from what I gather, this is a fairly typical weekend scene on 6th street once UT classes are in session. It's been compared to Bourbon St. in New Orleans. There was an older guy standing in the middle of the street posing for pictues wearing a thong - I don't know why, and the fact that I know he had on a thong is more than I wanted to see, but at least he was wearing something.
At about 2:30 I decided I was ready to head to the airport. After getting back to my car, on my drive away from the campus area I got a good view of Texas Tower, just to make sure it had normal lighting. Y'all already know that it did.
I just read the 60 pages of this thread that I'd missed after signing off during College Gameday yesterday. At that point I checked out of my hotel, even though my free week was good until Sunday morning - with my 6 a.m. flight I knew that (win or lose) I wouldn't sleep before heading to the airport.
I then headed over to the tailgating area and located E-Horn, whom I found since he was the guy holding the football when I got there. After exchanging greetings, I showed about 5 minutes of the 'restraint' he mentioned in an earlier post, before cracking open my first Shiner Bock at high noon, allowing me to follow my personal rule. If any more waiting time had been required, I would have adopted my gameday addendum which allows me to follow Greenwich time.
If you ever have the opportunity to tailgate with Texas fans you should do so. We had some good conversation about football, food, and women; had some very fine beef fajitas, and washed them down with a few products from that small Texas town called Shiner.
Although E-Horn and his friends showed some fine hospitaliity, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit at the Longhorn tailgate, after a while I craved a little more of a Buckeye atmosphere. After chatting with some tOSU fans at a Buckeye tailgate and checking on the ND-PSU game, it was time to enter the Erwin Center for a Southwestern 'Skull Session'.
There were thousands of tOSU folks inside the arena, and the crowd responded loudly to Archie Griffin and Gene Smith. But the place got rockin' when TBDBITL marched in and played all the fan favorites: Buckeye Battle Cry, Hang On Sloopy, Carmen Ohio, etc. They also had a shop for tOSU souvenirs on the floor of the arena (I think it was 'Buckeye Corner).
I then made it over to a tour of Texas Tower, which is attached to the Main Building on campus, and has been a symbol of the University since it was built during the 1930s. Some older folks will remember it being the site of a famous sniper incident in August of 1966. The Tower is illuminated in different ways in order to recognize significant academic and athletic achievements, it's usually all orange after big football victories, and displayed a '#1' after the Rose Bowl earlier this year.
The tower, measured from its base, is not as tall as the nearby State Capitol building, since there was a (now-defunct) rule prohibiting such construction in Austin. But is was situated on a slight rise, so it does reach a slightly higher elevation. Thus it provided excellent views of the area as the people were milling toward the stadium, which is in the middle of the campus toward the south end. It was odd to look over at DKR and see the crowd I'd soon be joining.
On my way into the stadium, I saw the just-unveiled statue of The Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell. If you don't remember Earl Campbell from his playing days, he was one hell of a football player. The 1977 Heisman winner would run over, around, and through would-be tacklers and was a joy to watch. For his first few years in the NFL, before the numerous hits from his head-on style curtailed his career, he was simpy the best RB in the league (better than Walter Payton in his first few years, and that statement comes from a Chicago Bears fan). I felt honored to witness the tribute to him at halftime, and admit to getting misty-eyed seeing his highlights.
When I got to my seats, I had a brief moment of "Did-I-buy-fake-tickets-on-e-bay?" panic when a Texas fan was sitting in row 17 seat, 11; but the other Texas fans let him know that he in the wrong section (38 vs. 37). That way I didn't have to figure out where to hide in the stadium during the game, because if the ticketes were fake I was already inside and wasn't planning on leaving!
My first glance at the stadium clock showed it to be precisely 60 minutes before kickoff. After 6 days in Austin, at last the game was about to start! I was sitting next to Ahiacitian, who bought my other ticket since I bid on a pair, and there were 2 loud and loyal female Buckeye fans right behind us.
Sitting underneath the Godzillatron was loud, which I got used to, but they were playing lousy music before the game started. During the game, I was able to turn around to see replays. But it was just like the 'Shoe, and questionable plays wasn't shown. So they didn't show the fumble on the goal line which Mack Brown challenged, or the supposed helmet-to-helmet hit of Colt McCoy (which was worth 4 points), or any other close call that really mattered.
The Texas fans were great. They were friendly before the game, and none of them said anything about the small group of 4 Buckeye fans frequently high-fiving and yelling when things went well for tOSU. We only sat during TV timeouts and halftime, everybody expected to stand the entire game. They did get a couple of loud rounds of 'Texas..Fight!' going, and seemed to be a knowledgeable crowd, but the design of the stadium allows the noise to escape, as I think Bob Davie said on the TV broadcast (which I watched as soon as I got home today).
The Texas fans were loyal to their traditions, and the vast majority stayed until their band played "The Eyes of Texas Are upon You" after the game ended. On the way out, numerous Longhorn fans graciously congratulated Buckeye fans, and said things like 'Hope you win 'em all'.
After Ahiatician and his buddies decided to begin the long drive back shortly after the game, I was following one of those girls wearing chaps for a while. Eventually, I somehow managed to head in a different direction, and veered off toward Stubbs, the place that a couple thousand tOSU fans had swarmed the day before. The first Shiner Bock after the game was very pleasing! So were the others, for that matter.
After a while I headed over to 6th street to check out the late night scene. It has lots of bars along several blocks that were barricaded off from traffic, with a large police presence to maintain order (10-12 cops per block, with cops on horseback, cops on bikes, and vans for hauling away anybody that got out of control - I saw 1 guy get cuffed and loaded into the van). But from what I gather, this is a fairly typical weekend scene on 6th street once UT classes are in session. It's been compared to Bourbon St. in New Orleans. There was an older guy standing in the middle of the street posing for pictues wearing a thong - I don't know why, and the fact that I know he had on a thong is more than I wanted to see, but at least he was wearing something.
At about 2:30 I decided I was ready to head to the airport. After getting back to my car, on my drive away from the campus area I got a good view of Texas Tower, just to make sure it had normal lighting. Y'all already know that it did.
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OK, now some thoughts about the actual football game. For reference, I've read what's in this thread, but not any other threads since I got back.
A great offensive game plan by JT. Many of us thought having Troy only run once in the NIU game was a decoy for Texas's film study, and that Troy would be unleashed on option runs against Texas. Apparently Gene Chizik (of the former 29-game win streak) also thought so, as he's stated that the Texas defense expected Troy to run more than he did on Saturday.
It's amazing that the first TD drive occurred with the second team O-line that entire series. I was also surprised that Ginn, Gonzo, Robiskie, Hartline, Dukes, and Small all played WR early. JT kept the WR's fresh, while Texas had DB issues with Brown suspended and Marcus Griffin getting hurt.
Speaking of keeping fresh, I'm wondering if JT had one of those new Nike cooling sytems under the sweater-vest Saturday night.
The way tOSU managed the clock was excellent. The 2-minute drill at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game. Overcoming the penalties on that drive, and scoring a TD with less than 30 seconds in the half really boosted the team and the Heisman hype for Troy. Troy's post-game statements to the sideline reporter were also ideal.
The fourth-quarter drive that sealed the game was a thing of beauty. Passes to Ginn and Gonzo (that one on first down!) to keep the chains and the clock moving. The bad face-mask penalty on Texas offset the back-to-back penalties on tOSU's offense after getting a first down on the 22. But a nice run-pass mixture on that drive took about 6 minutes off the clock and provided the dagger on the scoreboard.
Selvin Young had 11 carries for 93 or 94 yards. I guess Texas fans are wondering why he only had 11 carries. Texas was running sweeps and counters, and their blockers were doing a good job of tying up the outside defenders as their RB's turned the corner repeatedly. Some defensive adjustments got some better upfield pressure as the game went on, but Texas was running effectively while defenders were having difficulty shedding the blocks. It is worth noting that the Texas O-line will be the best one the Buckeyes face this year.
Texas WR's got a total of 9 catches for 70 yards. That was a result of them being reluctant to throw downfield with McCoy making his second start, and a nice mixture of blitzes and disgused coverages.
McCoy showed guts and good composure considering the situation. He got rocked a few times, but made some good throws right after (and even while) getting drilled. His first swing pass was short, showing some nerves, but after that he played well. He did OK running the option and didn't get rattled in the pocket. He'll be a good QB for them.
The only deep throws by McCoy that I remember are the one into the end zone that got PI called when Sweed was run into; and the play near the pylon where Jenkins battled for the ball using great technique. He positioned himself well and put a hand between Sweed's arms to pull the ball out.
Colt's only bad mistake was the pick by Laurinaitis early in the second half. He clearly never saw L'il Animal, and the 3 points off that turnover gave tOSU the 2-score lead that Tresselball craves.
The new clock rules play into Tresselball, also. Once a team has a lead, the new rules make it much harder for the team attempting a comeback to run a lot of plays. Once it was 17-7, I was surprised that Troy Smith was sometimes taking a snap with double-digits on the play clock. That happened 2 or 3 times, but not after it was 24-7.
Watching Gonzo run wild from the slot reminded me of what Northwestern was doing against tOSU in 2004. Although this time, instead of screaming "Cover the slot guy!" from the stands, I was just snickering whenever Gonzo would line up without anyone across from. The blown coverage of Gonzo right after the Boone holding penalty late in the first half made the 3rd down manageable and helped keep that critical drive alive.
Obviously the big play by Laurinaitis, poking the ball out with his left hand, was huge. But when Billy Pittman caught the ball, I thought he would score (flashback to Garrett Wolfe's TD last week). A writer in one of the game articles correctly pointed out that Mitchell slowed Pittman down, allowing JL to make that play. Watch the play again, though. I haven't seen anybody mention that Antonio Smith stepped on the tip of the ball, which popped it up and allowed Washington to get the big runback. A break like that doesn't hurt.
It was nice to see a zero-turnover performance by the offense, especially against a defense of this caliber.
A couple of quick stats:
Over the last 4 games, tOSU's has defeated the teams that are #1, #2, and #3 in all-time winning percentage.
Minus 2 - the difference between the number of points scored by the defending National Champions at home, and the number of new starters on the defense they were facing.
A great offensive game plan by JT. Many of us thought having Troy only run once in the NIU game was a decoy for Texas's film study, and that Troy would be unleashed on option runs against Texas. Apparently Gene Chizik (of the former 29-game win streak) also thought so, as he's stated that the Texas defense expected Troy to run more than he did on Saturday.
It's amazing that the first TD drive occurred with the second team O-line that entire series. I was also surprised that Ginn, Gonzo, Robiskie, Hartline, Dukes, and Small all played WR early. JT kept the WR's fresh, while Texas had DB issues with Brown suspended and Marcus Griffin getting hurt.
Speaking of keeping fresh, I'm wondering if JT had one of those new Nike cooling sytems under the sweater-vest Saturday night.
The way tOSU managed the clock was excellent. The 2-minute drill at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game. Overcoming the penalties on that drive, and scoring a TD with less than 30 seconds in the half really boosted the team and the Heisman hype for Troy. Troy's post-game statements to the sideline reporter were also ideal.
The fourth-quarter drive that sealed the game was a thing of beauty. Passes to Ginn and Gonzo (that one on first down!) to keep the chains and the clock moving. The bad face-mask penalty on Texas offset the back-to-back penalties on tOSU's offense after getting a first down on the 22. But a nice run-pass mixture on that drive took about 6 minutes off the clock and provided the dagger on the scoreboard.
Selvin Young had 11 carries for 93 or 94 yards. I guess Texas fans are wondering why he only had 11 carries. Texas was running sweeps and counters, and their blockers were doing a good job of tying up the outside defenders as their RB's turned the corner repeatedly. Some defensive adjustments got some better upfield pressure as the game went on, but Texas was running effectively while defenders were having difficulty shedding the blocks. It is worth noting that the Texas O-line will be the best one the Buckeyes face this year.
Texas WR's got a total of 9 catches for 70 yards. That was a result of them being reluctant to throw downfield with McCoy making his second start, and a nice mixture of blitzes and disgused coverages.
McCoy showed guts and good composure considering the situation. He got rocked a few times, but made some good throws right after (and even while) getting drilled. His first swing pass was short, showing some nerves, but after that he played well. He did OK running the option and didn't get rattled in the pocket. He'll be a good QB for them.
The only deep throws by McCoy that I remember are the one into the end zone that got PI called when Sweed was run into; and the play near the pylon where Jenkins battled for the ball using great technique. He positioned himself well and put a hand between Sweed's arms to pull the ball out.
Colt's only bad mistake was the pick by Laurinaitis early in the second half. He clearly never saw L'il Animal, and the 3 points off that turnover gave tOSU the 2-score lead that Tresselball craves.
The new clock rules play into Tresselball, also. Once a team has a lead, the new rules make it much harder for the team attempting a comeback to run a lot of plays. Once it was 17-7, I was surprised that Troy Smith was sometimes taking a snap with double-digits on the play clock. That happened 2 or 3 times, but not after it was 24-7.
Watching Gonzo run wild from the slot reminded me of what Northwestern was doing against tOSU in 2004. Although this time, instead of screaming "Cover the slot guy!" from the stands, I was just snickering whenever Gonzo would line up without anyone across from. The blown coverage of Gonzo right after the Boone holding penalty late in the first half made the 3rd down manageable and helped keep that critical drive alive.
Obviously the big play by Laurinaitis, poking the ball out with his left hand, was huge. But when Billy Pittman caught the ball, I thought he would score (flashback to Garrett Wolfe's TD last week). A writer in one of the game articles correctly pointed out that Mitchell slowed Pittman down, allowing JL to make that play. Watch the play again, though. I haven't seen anybody mention that Antonio Smith stepped on the tip of the ball, which popped it up and allowed Washington to get the big runback. A break like that doesn't hurt.
It was nice to see a zero-turnover performance by the offense, especially against a defense of this caliber.
A couple of quick stats:
Over the last 4 games, tOSU's has defeated the teams that are #1, #2, and #3 in all-time winning percentage.
Minus 2 - the difference between the number of points scored by the defending National Champions at home, and the number of new starters on the defense they were facing.
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ScriptOhio;602597; said:
If anyone had any doubts whether Laurinaitis knocked the ball loose from Pittman before Pittman was down:
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