How did you guys lose to USC?

[billmac91]

Tressel overestimated USC and played it too conservative. He didn't get aggressive on offense, even though Ohio State had great field position for much of the game. One of the few times that Tresselball bit him in the ass.

100% correct. Take USC off their jersey and that game is probably a 14 point victory. Tress played to keep it close with a chance to win in the fourth rather than treating them the way he would a mid-level Big 10 team.

 

[Yertle]

Although most of these posts are focusing on one play here or there (over-running the punt block, 4th and an inch call), the plain fact is that the Buckeyes were at their worst (ignoring Purdue) during USC and the Trojans were at their best. That's pretty obvious. With the Novembers that the two teams had, you could tell that a rematch wouldn't have come down to a play here or there that made the difference. It would have been a down right ass spanking. And it would have been oh so sweet.

Do major program coaches leave if he thinks his team is headed in the right direction? Tressel isn't going anywhere... how about their boy Petey?

 

[DaveyBoy]

this response is directed to the Pac10 and especially Oregon Duck fans who "felt so confident" about beating Ohio State:

1. USC plays at a different level for elite competition outside their conference. Duck fans may not like to hear it, but USC lives to play its best in the Rose Bowl and on the big stage.

2. Ohio State's offensive line has usually struggled early in the year under Bollman. The best time to catch OSU is usually game #1 or #2.

3. Tressel really did over Tresselball the game from the start. It was clear OSU was tight early but started to loosen up....then the reins got pulled. As someone said, this was one of the games when Tresselball really bit JT in the butt.

4. OSU beat USC up a lot that game and left them in rather poor condition for the remaining few weeks. Taylor Mays wasn't the same after that game....and don't forget the running back who dropped the barbell on his neck the next week.

 

[Tlangs]

Not to mention Barclay's seperated shoulder which kept him out of the washington debacle.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

How did we lose.. any one of four plays.. take your pick

1) The opening INT
2) The called TD that never crossed the line (see SI photo proving this)
3) The punt that somehow Schwartz didn't block
4) McNights catch on 3 and 18

Some games ya gotta have a smidgeon of luck

 

[Jagdaddy]

. . . Tress played to keep it close with a chance to win in the fourth rather than treating them the way he would a mid-level Big 10 team.

Are you sure this is actually different from how OSU treats mid-level Big Ten teams?

 

[zincfinger]

IMHO, all of the posts focusing on the events of the game are missing the point by miles. Yes, there were individual events on that wretched evening that affected the outcome. But the reason that the question was asked was because the person asking finds the outcome surprising, given the events of January 1. To answer the question properly, you have to consider where the question is coming from, thus taking into consideration why the outcome was a surprise.

The main reason that Ohio State did not beat USC is that USC was a better team that day. The main reason that this fact is a surprise to anyone is that Ohio State played better than USC did for most of the remainder of the season (and DSA comes as close to proof of that as is possible).

Several posts have addressed these points already. Much of the rest sounds like a lot of woulda coulda shoulda with a little whining thrown in here and there.

I generally agree with this, but it raises the question in my mind, why did USC become so much weaker over the course of the season? The answer a few have given, that OSU just physically beat that much stuffing out of them seems unsatisfactory. It was a hard fought game, but nothing that should have derailed any team's entire season. And I don't doubt that USC struggled with injuries later in the season, but they went from a team that looked reasonably solid in September, to a team that looked barely mediocre later in the season. That seems unusual, particularly for a team like USC that has very strong breadth and depth of talent. Did OSU play down to a weak USC team in September, as LJB suggested, or did a reasonably solid September USC team turn into a paper tiger November USC team, as DBB suggested? Probably a bit of both, as both LJB and DBB concluded, but to the extent that USC crumbled, why did they?

 

[zincfinger]

100% correct. Take USC off their jersey and that game is probably a 14 point victory. Tress played to keep it close with a chance to win in the fourth rather than treating them the way he would a mid-level Big 10 team.

Maybe so, but even if OSU had been more aggressive (and successful) on offense, avoided critical mistakes, and wound up with a 14 point win, they were nowhere near dominating USC to the extent that Oregon, and even Stanford, did.

 

[c-rowbuckeye]

Why did we loose to USC? No one will truly know that answer because no one specific reason or play is responsible for that. You go back and change one thing or one play and the rest of the game is different and all new decisions arise from all-new situations. At the end of the day, USC won the head to head match up but the final scoreboard reads this

USC: Most dominant coach of the 2000's bolts for the NFL, new head coach that failed in the NLF and failed at Tennessee and already has suspect recruiting ethics, a season that ended in December in a baseball stadium against a mid-level ACC team and a program that, if there is a merciful and just God, is about to be jailsexed by the NCAA.

Ohio State: former #1 recruit freak athlete QB is finally playing up to his potential, shaking the big game monkey by, with the exception of the brief period of time when behind, controlling the entire game against a team that jailsexed USC and ultra-conservative coach takes the leash off the QB and begins to trust him.

I ask you, who is the real winner?

Go Bucks

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Guys, please

The correct spelling of the word is in the THREAD TITLE.

It's not that hard:

Loose - Opposite of tight; TSUN cheerleaders
Lose - What TSUN does in the last game of the regular season

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Guys, please

The correct spelling of the word is in the THREAD TITLE.

It's not that hard:

Loose - Opposite of tight; TSUN cheerleaders
Lose - What TSUN does in the last game of the regular season

Jeesh. Losen up, gramps.

 

[cincibuck]

Guys, please

The correct spelling of the word is in the THREAD TITLE.

It's not that hard:

Loose - Opposite of tight; TSUN cheerleaders
Lose - What TSUN does in the last game of the regular season

Ah the glories of English, phonetics: oo as in book, took, look, shook, or is it oo as in boo, too, moo, coo, or is it o as in not, got, lot, tot, hot, snot or is it ou as in you, true, crew, yew, few or is it o as in lose, or is that loss, or maybe close. It's a wonder anyone can speak the damn language, much less spell it.

 

[martinss01]

simple really, we didn't execute when the big play was there. we dominated usc on offense defense and special teams. we schemed them perfectly to boot. as others have noted we just didn't take advantage. we could have, and should have, beat them by 3 tds. but when the play was there the pass was off, or the wr dropped the ball, or we inexplicably missed a block/tackle. for whatever reason, it just flat out wasn't our night. i think youth was the biggest factor personally.

it was a scratch your head kind of loss because we won that game in every way except where it truly matters.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

There have been some good posts in this thread... jwins and lordjeff made outstanding contributions.

But it comes down to this:

Ohio State got much better after they played USC (long after)

USC got much worse after playing the Buckeyes (soon after)
​

Just another reason why the transitive property of algebra does not apply to football.



To put it in mathematical terms:


If

1. a > b and
2. b > c, then
3. a > c

But to apply this to football assumes:

1. That "a" in the first inequality (Oregon) is the same as "a" in the third inequality. (possibly true)
2. and that "b" in the first inequality (USC) is the same as "b" in the second inequality. (patently false, and DSA proves it)
3. and that "c" in the second inequality (Ohio State) is the same as "c" in the third inequality. (also disproven by DSA)

I already said all that on the first page.

Then Oregon fans are stupid.

 

[Coqui]

USC's First TD. Horrible call by the refs
USC's 2nd TD. Horrible play calling by the defense (in terms of playing more prevent)

The decision to not kick a FG on our last offensive drive before they scored a TD.

Everything in between - Pryor learning his role, everyone getting situated in their position, and our O-line just not playing as nasty as they did after the Purdue game.

And crowd noise - I saw too many people sitting down and not yelling. Yes this was the loudest Ohio Stadium had been in a long time. Now imagine what would have happened had everyone participated in it.