Game Thread Game Two: Texas 25, Ohio State 22 (final)

[rocketman]

Likewise man! I never followed UT football before, but now I'm sure as hell gonna be watching as many Texas games as I can. To me, UT and Ohio State seem like clones of each other as far as their rich heritage of college football and passion for the game. Can't wait to go to Austin next year. Also, I am now a big Vince Young fan - amazing athleticism, guts, and poise shown on the field. I dunno how anyone could not go mad trying to make sense out of anything on the field with the crowd noise at the 'Shoe, but when the 'Horns needed a clutch play, Young delivered it. Anyone who tries to discredit his abilities as a QB is an idiot and needs to be beat over the head with a garden hose.

 

[OH10]

More thoughts from another OSU fan...

1. The offense, as a whole, did not make the plays that needed to be made at the worst times. And it goes on both QBs, Hamby, WRs, everyone up to and including JT and the playcalling.

2. Kudos to the defense for their effort all night. The game winner was not stoppable. Great play by a great QB at the right time. That's why Texas is #2.

3. A QB should have been picked b4 or during the game. I'm a Smith guy personally, but I feel this team would have been better off with a decision having been made for the entire second half. JT has seen these guys for over three years, playing in games last year, and even had the first half of last night's game. He should have known who his guy is by that point and told that person at half time, so they could feel confident in their position. Whether JZ or TS, it doesn't matter. The offense, and the team as a whole, would have benefited from knowing what to expect.

4. This loss hurts in a number of ways. I can't describe how I feel about in so many words. It cripples our national title hopes this year. And next year (our last with TG2 probably), we will be without these great LBs. We have to play AT Texas next year. You have to wonder when and if we are going to be in the national title race again. I thought this was the year. That doesn't look like it is going to happen now. And I have to think that 2008 or 2009 is the next time we compete for a national title again. Sorry for the doomsday prediction. But, that is the reason why I take this loss hard, so I figured I'd say it.

5. Good luck to Texas the rest of the way. And let's go win the Big Ten and bring home another win in a BCS game.

 

[High Lonesome]

I could write for days about what I witnessed last night but not only would no one want to read it, it would not be saying anything that has not already been said. I will say this, after a game like that it is very easy to play the "we shoulda won" game, I have not seen one post like and I am very impressed. This board continues to surprise me and I wish nothing but luck to the bucks for the rest of the year. You gave us all we could handle and then some. I wish I could say that I want to see you in pasadena but the truth is that I want nothing to do with the bucks till this time next year.

Good luck in confrence play. From my veiw point you are by far the strongest in the big 10.

& HOOK'EM

 

[JXC]

WOW!!!

This is my first post since the game. I needed 24 hours to just...well most of you understand.

Today was a warm sunny autumn day. What a way for Mother Nature to mock the Buckeyes. I overheard a fellow Buckeye fan exiting The ‘Shoe say, “at least the sun will come up tomorrow.” Well for this Buckeye fan, after a loss, there is no tomorrow. And even if there is a tomorrow, the sun sure as hell shouldn’t be coming up, and definitely shouldn’t be shining! It should have been cold, cloudy and rainy. That’s how it was in my heart.

Now that I have that off my chest, I want to speak about the game last night, and not about what could have happened, what didn't happen, or what we need to change. God only knows how many times I’ve thought about these things. No, I want to talk about how truly amazing yesterday was.

I am so glad the Buckeyes scheduled this game. I have been to almost every home game since I started to understand football (early 90s) and I have NEVER felt, heard, and seen a better atmosphere outside and inside Ohio Stadium before a game. That was the most intense tailgate, skull session, band entrance, Script Ohio, and team entrance I have ever been a part of. The flashbulbs, the many Texas fans (great fans by the way), and the immeasurable amounts of excitement and anticipation made this game feel like a national championship game. And maybe it was.

I can't call this the loudest game ever though, because I thought that once the game started, the crowd might have already worn itself out with all the intensity that preceeded this game. I'm not saying we weren’t loud, because we were. But were we '95 Notre Dame loud, or '02 PSU loud? No...but close.

Besides the 2002 games (let's face it, most of those games were amazing beyond belief, and we will never see anything like that again) I feel that this was the most exciting football game I’ve ever been to. It came right down to the end, and both teams left it all out on the field. There was so much talent on that field, and watching both of those teams battle was such a treat!

<O:p</O:pIt's hard to say these things, because we lost, but I still know it's the truth.

It was an amazing game for college football. It's a game that many people not even associated with Texas or Ohio State will not soon forget. Texas fans will remember it for many years to come, and so will Ohio State fans. I only hope that we will not just remember it as a loss, but remember how great the game and everything surrounding it was. And two great teams didn't disappoint putting on an amazing performance. It's sad the Bucks lost, but as I said before, I'm glad the game happened.

Thank you BUcks for not being scared to schedule games like this and for putting USC, Virginia Tech, and Miami, FL on the schedule for future games. I love it! It's great for college football, great for Ohio State, and great for me, the fan!

NOW LET'S GO WIN THE BIG 10!!!! GO BUCKS!!!!

 

[crazybuckfan40]

The game certainly changed when Troy came in, but I think everyone just suddenly settled down. Maybe it was him and maybe not. I really wonder what would that game have been like had it been played at noon. Less time for the players to sit and over analyze.

Yeah, but maybe it was the fact he came in the game that settled everyone down. I don't care, but in football when you have the big mo, you do everything in your power to keep it that way and it started when Smith came in the game.

 

[BuckBackHome]

I could write for days about what I witnessed last night but not only would no one want to read it, it would not be saying anything that has not already been said. I will say this, after a game like that it is very easy to play the "we shoulda won" game, I have not seen one post like and I am very impressed. This board continues to surprise me and I wish nothing but luck to the bucks for the rest of the year. You gave us all we could handle and then some. I wish I could say that I want to see you in pasadena but the truth is that I want nothing to do with the bucks till this time next year.

Good luck in confrence play. From my veiw point you are by far the strongest in the big 10.

& HOOK'EM

Very nice post, as usual. Make sure your Horn ass sticks around during the season. I will respectfully disagree with you on one point. I want to play you guys again this year. I would much rather play a top notch team with fans who understand and respect the game.

 

[Oneshot]

Agreed.

Cal and the Longhorns are now my #2 team. I mean you gotta respect a team that plays as tough as Texas does. Dominating in the trenches... And VY is a TROOPER. When Whitner and Carp took him down, I thought for sure that would be the Wilhelm-Dorsey hit of the 2002 Championship game. All VY needed was a timeout and some water.

 

[BB73]

This is my first post since being gone to the game for the weekend. I have about 100 pages of this thread to read, which I won't do now but will sometime this week. Just because.

Congrats, HL and all the Texas fans. It was a great game. Please kick the Land Thieves' asses big-time in the RRS this year. I really hope you win out the rest of the year. If you play USC, wax them also.

I will be in DKR next September. I hope to witness another classic battle, with the visiting team coming out on top once again.



Texas - Fight!

 

[tibor75]

And this is coming from an opal-head who lives in a fucking tent...

Still waiting to see your first OSU game, cheapass?

What a fucking loser you must feel..telling everybody how you're going to the game, and then realizing you don't have the money to go.

 

[FromAustin]

I'll admit...

...that game made me an OSU fan also. It's early in the season, but they played some true, bad-ass football. And as much as a loss like this can hurt it appears that most OSU fans could still appreciate all apsects of the well fought battle. You're not just good OSU fans, but ya'll are proven to be great fans of the game. I won't just be rooting for your team because of what they did on the field, I'll be rooting for them because of their fans.


Now ya'll go kick some arse. And if we don't see each other in Pasadena, I'm sure you'll have a blast partying in Austin next Spetember.


(oh, and I expect a few of us will be popping in here when you play that team in November... the one that sucks)

 

[ScarletBlood31]

i think that we outplayed texas, but they outscored us.


obviously, one is much more important than the other.......

 

[lvbuckeye]

i think that i am the only person on this board who thinks this loss could be the very thing that propels the Ohio State Buckeyes to a truely magical season...

i don't want to compare it to Coop, and the '90s, but after leaving it all out there on the field, and coming up two yards short, all the pressure to go undefeated is off... no more pressing, no more pressure... just go out there, have some fun, and play some fucking football...

i think the guys are going to play fast and loose for the rest of the year, and we are going to see some beatdowns, the likes of which we haven't seen in years...

 

[scooter1369]

i think that i am the only person on this board who thinks this loss could be the very thing that propels the Ohio State Buckeyes to a truely magical season...

i don't want to compare it to Coop, and the '90s, but after leaving it all out there on the field, and coming up two yards short, all the pressure to go undefeated is off... no more pressing, no more pressure... just go out there, have some fun, and play some fucking football...

i think the guys are going to play fast and loose for the rest of the year, and we are going to see some beatdowns, the likes of which we haven't seen in years...

I tend to agree. I would not want to be SDSU right now.

 

[AirForceBuck]

i think that i am the only person on this board who thinks this loss could be the very thing that propels the Ohio State Buckeyes to a truely magical season...

i don't want to compare it to Coop, and the '90s, but after leaving it all out there on the field, and coming up two yards short, all the pressure to go undefeated is off... no more pressing, no more pressure... just go out there, have some fun, and play some fucking football...

i think the guys are going to play fast and loose for the rest of the year, and we are going to see some beatdowns, the likes of which we haven't seen in years...

Ive seen it said that they don't wanna be SDSU right about now. I don't want to be SDSU because of the revenge factor. However, I ESPECIALLY don't wanna be Iowa, Michigan St, Illinois, or Northwestern because from here on out we WILL protect our home stadium and our home state! No more bullshit - plain and simple!

 

[AirForceBuck]

What Sportsline's Dennis Dodd had to say about this weekend (Note that I VERY much dissagree and am very dissapointed):

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 1. Time to reassess, Big Ten [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] After a 10-0 non-conference start in Week 1, 8-3 in Week 2 means your league is essentially out of the national championship race. All three top 10 teams (Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State) lost showdown games, Iowa embarrassingly so. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="30%"> <tbody><tr class="bg0"> <td> Dodd's Power Poll </td> </tr> <tr class="bg4"> <td> (Week of Sept. 11) </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 1. USC </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 2. Texas </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 3. Notre Dame </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 4. Tennessee </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 5. Virginia Tech </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 6. LSU </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 7. Florida </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 8. Georgia </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 9. Ohio State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 10. Louisville </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 11. Florida State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 12. Purdue </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 13. Miami </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 14. Georgia Tech </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 15. Clemson </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 16. Iowa </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 17. Boston College </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 18. Iowa State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 19. Michigan </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 20. Arizona State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 21. Oklahoma </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 22. Cal </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 23. Colorado/td> </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 24. Texas Tech </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 25. Fresno State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 25. (tie) Utah </td> </tr> <tr class="bg4"> <td> Non-BCS Top 10 </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 1. Fresno State </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 2. Utah </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 3. New Mexico </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 4. UTEP </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 5. Toledo </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 6. Wyoming </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 7. Air Force </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 8. Bowling Green </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 9. North Texas </td> </tr> <tr class="bg2"> <td> 10. SMU </td> </tr> </tbody></table> [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] In the space of a few hours ... [/FONT]
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• 
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  [*] Notre Dame exposed Michigan as a pretender. It doesn't matter that Lloyd Carr has all those offensive weapons. The defense needs work. [/FONT]

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  [*] Iowa State became the state's favorite loveable underdog in beating Iowa. The defense rose up and knocked out Iowa quarterback Drew Tate, opening the door for a 23-3 victory. Did we say underdog? Iowa State has now won six of the last eight meetings. [/FONT]

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• 
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  [*] Jim Tressel's close-to-the-sweater vest philosophy finally got him. The Man Who Loved Field Goals couldn't find a way to get the ball to his playmakers against Texas. The quarterback situation -- switching Justin Zwick and Troy Smith -- is a mess. Josh Huston kicked five field goals but missed a sixth, leaving an opening for Texas in a 25-22 Longhorns' victory. [/FONT]

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• 
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  [*] The injury report was not good. Lost: the conference's leading rusher last year and its offensive player of the year. Tate was knocked out with an apparent concussion. Michigan lost tailback Michael Hart after a first-quarter hit by Notre Dame linebacker Corey Mays. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] The Big Ten is all but out of the Rose Bowl race because its best teams aren't good enough. That, and some BCS logic. Of the 14 teams that have played in the BCS title game, only five have made it with one loss. Last year Auburn went undefeated and couldn't get an invite. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Saturday's Big Three Big Ten losers all play each other -- meaning, at best, only one of them can emerge with one loss. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] And we haven't even examined which one-loss teams will emerge from other conferences. We've learned that you don't want the BCS computers to sort things out. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] Where to go from here? Hope that Purdue wins out. The Boilermakers trounced Akron to open the season and don't play Michigan or Ohio State. [/FONT]