i for one think that we WILL walk all over texas.
i only saw texas play once last year, in the rose bowl. but since that was a huge game, against a good opponent that we also played, and a game in which they won, i think it is a pretty decent place to start. let's take a look at their team, based on what i saw.
offensive line: opened up very few holes for benson. the #4 pick in the draft had very few places to go and very few yards. i am not impressed with their line. i don't care if they can bully their way past big xii teams. this is an overrated line, just like pretty much everything else out of texas and the big xii. remember how adrian peterson ran all over that "soft" usc defense? oh wait, i don't. he had no holes to run through. the big xii is overrated. this will be a common theme in my analysis here.
defensive line: michigan had all day to throw and plenty of space for hart to fit through. the wolverines had pretty much no problem marching up and down the field against texas. not impressed with their d-line at all.
LBs and DBs: don't recall them doing anything in the rose bowl. plus they lose their all-world derrick johnson, and i hardly recall him doing much of anything in that game anyway. they will have a tough task defending troy, ginn, santonio, et al. whereas we only have to defend one player. we are a team. they are an individual.
offensive skill players: they lose benson; even if he was still playing, he wouldn't make much of a difference because their line isn't that good. none of their other skill players stood out at all, all they did was block downfield for vince. i'm worried about our #2 corner, but not in this game.
special teams coverage: HORRIBLE. let me repeat. HORRIBLE. every kickoff breaston was returning to midfield. and it's not like he was having incredible returns; there was simply no coverage and he was just basically running untouched for 50 yds. contrast that with our game against them; every time he brought it out he got drilled before the 20. and this year, we'll have ginn and holmes on both punts and kickoffs. texas better come up with a solution here, although kickoffs won't be much of a problem since they won't be scoring anyway.
coaching: mack brown is john cooper. they now both have one dramatic rose bowl win to their resume. mack can use his talent to out-muscle inferior opponents, but does anyone on here beleive that texas has more talent than we do? they do have plenty of talent, but so do we, and mack brown will NOT outcoach tressel. it simply won't happen.
quarterback: vince young matched up perfectly against michigan's slow-ass linebackers. he had the game of his life. and they still needed a last second field goal to win. VY will NOT have anywhere near the kind of game he had in the rose bowl against us. our defense matches up very well against him. plenty of speed with some big hitters. not to mention, the thing that i have been most proud about the buckeyes the last few years is our tackling. we are EXCELLENT in this department. VY, talented as he is, will not be eluding us. also, he can't throw. supposedly he has gotten better this spring, but that's most likely mack brown blowing sunshine up everyone's ass, like always.
we are a team that is well-coached. they are one player. we have potential weaknesses on our team which could hurt us in the big ten against teams like iowa, psu, minn, mich st, and michigan. but they won't hurt us against texas. the only thing that worries me is if our QB turns it over a lot and/or if our young rb's fumble. but i feel in my gut that troy plays best when the stage is biggest and i think he'll get the job done. texas is totally dependent on VY and they expect him to single-handedly carry them to victory over us. whereas we have a lot of different weapons on all 3 sides of the ball; if one of our guys is struggling the others will pick up the slack.
the biggest thing to remember is this: no matter how much hype their line might be getting, it is NOT any better than ours, and they will not control the line of scrimmage and/or push us around. teams with weak coaches need this to happen to win, or they need a herculean effort from a superstar player against a team he matches up perfectly with. neither will happen against the bucks.
i think we'll kill them not because i think we're great (although we have the potential to be); i think we'll kill them because texas, the big xii, and all of its coaches, including bob stoops (especially bob stoops) are overrated garbage.
i worry that killing them will give us a big head. i hope our players realize that penn st will be a lot tougher to beat than texas.
i worry that VY will get his head taken off in the 1st quarter. then after the game, the excuses will come poring in. we'll go on to finish 11-1, with a tough loss somewhere along the way and several close wins; while texas finishes 11-1 and destroys the weak big xii in the process. texas then ends up getting the number 2 spot and a berth in the rose over us. or, even if VY doesn't get injured, people will say that texas has improved over the year while we have regressed. or that having the game at home at night gave us an unfair advantage.
i like texas fans because they are just like we were 1995-98. still clinging onto the hope that their coach can turn it around, and that they have so much more talent than everyone else in the country.
i have never been more confident about a sporting event in my entire life. i can't remember the last time i was so confident. oh wait. it was pretty recently, and it involved another overrated big xii team in a big game. i remember watching the pregame show and listening to trev alberts talk about how mighty oklahoma was going to push the "soft, west-coast" usc team around, then sprinting to the computer to register my online gambling account before kickoff and plunking $200 straight up on the trojans.
is this an arrogant post? you're damn right it is. i'm just fed up with the big xii. my brownies drafting brodney fucking pool was the last straw. hopefully romeo's brilliant defensive scheme will hide him, after all the patriots had a bunch of rag-tags in their secondary last year and they still shut down 3 potent offenses. if brodney pool didn't have the oklahoma attached to his name, i doubt he'd have gotten drafted before the 5th round. god i hate oklahoma. every time i see a clip of jason white awkwardly accepting the heisman trophy (what an awkward mutherfucker; does this guy inspire any confidence when you look in his eyes? he can't maintain eye contact. compare that with krenzel and troy and leinart and all the other good qb's. when they talk, they're so relaxed and confident; there's no doubt in their eyes or in their voice. just natural leaders. look at tom brady when he talks. then look at kyle boller and tim couch. kyle boller especially. god, what a fucking idiot. if i had to analyze qb's my first and most important requirement would be how they carry themselves when they talk.
being a good qb requires an attitude, a personality, whether it be cool and casual, cocky and tough, intelligent, or a combination of all those things. imagine jason white going on a date. would he have anything to talk about. he would be glancing around the room uncomfortably, shifting in his seat, and mumbling, with the occasional voice crack.
the heisman trophy has been forever tarnished after it passed through that man's hands.
