1. Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Pain. Lots of pain.
2. Wow!
What a wonderful football game.
I believe I am fortunate to be a college football fan first and an OSU fan second. I know when I have seen a great football game, and I saw one tonight. For those who feel they went away from this game with nothing I feel sorry for you. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some perspective. It was what college football is all about.
3. The First – very brief - game
First, let me qualify my observations for a game like this. I tend to get so focused on outcomes of plays that I don’t always see what player did what, and tonight you certainly couldn’t hear much from the PA.
That said, the first two series by each side were an OSU nightmare – reminiscent of the Fiesta Bowl. The Texas lines – particularly their O-Line - dominated. Thought for sure it was going to be a very long night. But I should have known better.
There were also a lot of OSU fans hollering for a spy on Young during those drives. Maybe someone who understands this game better than I can help me out, but what is the point of a spy when you the other team is dominating the blocks and you can’t make the tackle?
4. The Second – much longer - Game
Classic Tressel Ball. Made adjustments and slowed, then stopped, the Texas O. Moved the ball much better than I thought we would. Got conservative in the red zone, then got so conservative we didn’t get to the red zone. But with the lead that was OK. Just keep them bottled up and keep swapping punts. But we underestimated Young, and we made too many mistakes – which have no place in Tressel Ball.
5. Red Zone
After two punts we scored on 6 consecutive possessions. You can net 42 points from a performance like that. We got 22. 26 would have won the game. Makes me insane.
6. What if?
There are so many single plays where we can argue ‘what if?’
There are no “what if’s”. You make mistakes – under pressure or not - it is your team that makes the mistakes and that is part of who you are.
7. Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes
The classic adage is that a team makes its greatest improvement between game one and game two.
So much for that adage.
Three unforced errors on our first four offensive plays. Holds, personal fouls, delay of game – what mistake DIDN’T we make? Texas made them too. But wasn’t this our house? Weren’t they supposed to be rattled? Isn’t two defensive penalties on the final Texas scoring drive a bit too much of a test for Tressel ball?
8. Officiating
From what I saw the officiating was solid (maybe a holding call here and there, but you will always have missed holding calls) and the replay made sure there were no big mistakes. I REALLY like the approach of one conference providing the officials and the other conference running the replay. Classic auditing.
9. Heisman winner.
I am a Vince Young believer. He made some mistakes and you can question his judgment, but he is a specimen. The first sack was a remarkable play. We have a man hanging on him and he is pumping his arm trying to get a throw off and won’t go down. Similar play later cost him a pick, but QBs aren’t supposed to have THAT kind of strength. His passing was also impressive, but I will argue that much of his running can be attributed to great blocking as well as his own ability.
I don’t think anyone felt Texas could beat us without establishing some sort of running game independent of Young. Seventeen carries for 50 yards is not much of a running game. Young beat us – no getting around it.
10. Heisman loser.
I love Teddy, but… is he really a coaches son?
11. AJ
Trappaso and Hawk. Both game ball candidates IMO.
Four punts, all inside the 20. Hell of an outing for a first timer in a big game.
And Hawk? 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception.
OK, give Trappaso a pat on the back and a game ball to Hawk. Oh, wait, no game ball tonight.
12. Nuuuuge?
What can I say. That was the biggest FG attempt I can recall in some time. Go up two scores – or give them the ball in good field position with plenty of time. Tough kick, and Houuuu was solid tonight - but damn.
13. QB Controversey.
I don’t even want to open the threads. The only player who made any sort of positive statement about being the starting QB for this team was Boeckman.
Before Zwick came back in the first time I had just finished asking my son how many mistakes Smith would be allowed to make. That the Texas D was dropping passes in their chests or that Smith was recovering his own fumbles was not the point. Ultimately Zwick was no better.
I posted earlier this week that my key to the game was how well the OSU QBs performed under pressure and whether they could keep from making big mistakes. I don’t think I was that far off the mark.
14. Texas Fans
From what I saw they were pretty classy. More than I hoped to see, but nothing in your face. Don’t know if they were quiet from confidence or from following Mack Brown around. Looked for them after the game, but they were staying in the stadium. Saw very few – a mistake for some I fear (see below).
15. Whores and Horns
Too much burn orange in that stadium tonight. I had expected to see plenty in the student section, but to my surprise it was almost pure scarlet. These kids who could probably use the money had hung on to their stub and their spirit. Where most of the OSU fans had prostituted themselves were between the 20 in B and C on the East side. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that faculty and alumni?
16. Fan Noise
How loud the stadium sounds has a lot to do with where you sit. I was in C near the South stands and the noise rarely rose to levels I have heard at Michigan games. But it did get loud.
17. Block O
Only twice do I recall a decent O-H-I-O chant and each time it was started in a different section. No waves, very little organized cheering at all. Which left me listening to the Texas band and fans during far too many time outs. And half the time when I was looking for the band to strike up a tune and drown them out they were throwing bananas in the air – very disappointing.
If OSU is going to schedule these big games before school starts I would like to see some sort of ‘alumni Block O’ of something along those lines to help address that problem. If we are going to have a real game let’s have a real game atmosphere.
18. Big Ten meltdown.
Our chances of getting back in the hunt may have been hurt as much by Michigan and Iowa as Texas. We were close enough to winning to make a run at #2 if enough others fall. But we no longer have the #3 and #8 teams in the country on our schedule.
For those keeping track, every team in the Big Ten is undefeated right now except Ohio State, Michigan, and Iowa.
19. Team Character.
They say you learn more about yourself when you win than when you lose. This was a great performance tonight. The bookies had it right – it was pretty much a ‘pick em’. I feel very good about our chances of winning the Big Ten, running off 10 straight, and having a hell of a season and a BCS bowl.
20. Fan Character
After the game I only saw one or two Texas fans and I told them nice game – and meant it. On the way out I can’t count the number of drunk students who were screaming ‘F___ Texas’. Can one of the young pups on this board explain that to me? Is your identify so tied to the performance of this team that you can’t accept a loss without denigrating the folks who earned the win?
Earlier this week I also warned Texas fans about parking East of High St – where I always park and did again tonight. Most of these kids were in that area. On the way into the game there were several Texas fans heading from that direction. On the way out they were still in the stadium celebrating while these kids were getting drunker and angrier. I hope it wasn’t as bad as I fear it might have become. (There was zero police presence in these areas.)
To be clear, we are talking about your typical ‘vocal’ minority. But I just don’t get it.
Pain. Lots of pain.
2. Wow!
What a wonderful football game.
I believe I am fortunate to be a college football fan first and an OSU fan second. I know when I have seen a great football game, and I saw one tonight. For those who feel they went away from this game with nothing I feel sorry for you. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some perspective. It was what college football is all about.
3. The First – very brief - game
First, let me qualify my observations for a game like this. I tend to get so focused on outcomes of plays that I don’t always see what player did what, and tonight you certainly couldn’t hear much from the PA.
That said, the first two series by each side were an OSU nightmare – reminiscent of the Fiesta Bowl. The Texas lines – particularly their O-Line - dominated. Thought for sure it was going to be a very long night. But I should have known better.
There were also a lot of OSU fans hollering for a spy on Young during those drives. Maybe someone who understands this game better than I can help me out, but what is the point of a spy when you the other team is dominating the blocks and you can’t make the tackle?
4. The Second – much longer - Game
Classic Tressel Ball. Made adjustments and slowed, then stopped, the Texas O. Moved the ball much better than I thought we would. Got conservative in the red zone, then got so conservative we didn’t get to the red zone. But with the lead that was OK. Just keep them bottled up and keep swapping punts. But we underestimated Young, and we made too many mistakes – which have no place in Tressel Ball.
5. Red Zone
After two punts we scored on 6 consecutive possessions. You can net 42 points from a performance like that. We got 22. 26 would have won the game. Makes me insane.
6. What if?
There are so many single plays where we can argue ‘what if?’
There are no “what if’s”. You make mistakes – under pressure or not - it is your team that makes the mistakes and that is part of who you are.
7. Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes
The classic adage is that a team makes its greatest improvement between game one and game two.
So much for that adage.
Three unforced errors on our first four offensive plays. Holds, personal fouls, delay of game – what mistake DIDN’T we make? Texas made them too. But wasn’t this our house? Weren’t they supposed to be rattled? Isn’t two defensive penalties on the final Texas scoring drive a bit too much of a test for Tressel ball?
8. Officiating
From what I saw the officiating was solid (maybe a holding call here and there, but you will always have missed holding calls) and the replay made sure there were no big mistakes. I REALLY like the approach of one conference providing the officials and the other conference running the replay. Classic auditing.
9. Heisman winner.
I am a Vince Young believer. He made some mistakes and you can question his judgment, but he is a specimen. The first sack was a remarkable play. We have a man hanging on him and he is pumping his arm trying to get a throw off and won’t go down. Similar play later cost him a pick, but QBs aren’t supposed to have THAT kind of strength. His passing was also impressive, but I will argue that much of his running can be attributed to great blocking as well as his own ability.
I don’t think anyone felt Texas could beat us without establishing some sort of running game independent of Young. Seventeen carries for 50 yards is not much of a running game. Young beat us – no getting around it.
10. Heisman loser.
I love Teddy, but… is he really a coaches son?
11. AJ
Trappaso and Hawk. Both game ball candidates IMO.
Four punts, all inside the 20. Hell of an outing for a first timer in a big game.
And Hawk? 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception.
OK, give Trappaso a pat on the back and a game ball to Hawk. Oh, wait, no game ball tonight.
12. Nuuuuge?
What can I say. That was the biggest FG attempt I can recall in some time. Go up two scores – or give them the ball in good field position with plenty of time. Tough kick, and Houuuu was solid tonight - but damn.
13. QB Controversey.
I don’t even want to open the threads. The only player who made any sort of positive statement about being the starting QB for this team was Boeckman.
Before Zwick came back in the first time I had just finished asking my son how many mistakes Smith would be allowed to make. That the Texas D was dropping passes in their chests or that Smith was recovering his own fumbles was not the point. Ultimately Zwick was no better.
I posted earlier this week that my key to the game was how well the OSU QBs performed under pressure and whether they could keep from making big mistakes. I don’t think I was that far off the mark.
14. Texas Fans
From what I saw they were pretty classy. More than I hoped to see, but nothing in your face. Don’t know if they were quiet from confidence or from following Mack Brown around. Looked for them after the game, but they were staying in the stadium. Saw very few – a mistake for some I fear (see below).
15. Whores and Horns
Too much burn orange in that stadium tonight. I had expected to see plenty in the student section, but to my surprise it was almost pure scarlet. These kids who could probably use the money had hung on to their stub and their spirit. Where most of the OSU fans had prostituted themselves were between the 20 in B and C on the East side. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that faculty and alumni?
16. Fan Noise
How loud the stadium sounds has a lot to do with where you sit. I was in C near the South stands and the noise rarely rose to levels I have heard at Michigan games. But it did get loud.
17. Block O
Only twice do I recall a decent O-H-I-O chant and each time it was started in a different section. No waves, very little organized cheering at all. Which left me listening to the Texas band and fans during far too many time outs. And half the time when I was looking for the band to strike up a tune and drown them out they were throwing bananas in the air – very disappointing.
If OSU is going to schedule these big games before school starts I would like to see some sort of ‘alumni Block O’ of something along those lines to help address that problem. If we are going to have a real game let’s have a real game atmosphere.
18. Big Ten meltdown.
Our chances of getting back in the hunt may have been hurt as much by Michigan and Iowa as Texas. We were close enough to winning to make a run at #2 if enough others fall. But we no longer have the #3 and #8 teams in the country on our schedule.
For those keeping track, every team in the Big Ten is undefeated right now except Ohio State, Michigan, and Iowa.
19. Team Character.
They say you learn more about yourself when you win than when you lose. This was a great performance tonight. The bookies had it right – it was pretty much a ‘pick em’. I feel very good about our chances of winning the Big Ten, running off 10 straight, and having a hell of a season and a BCS bowl.
20. Fan Character
After the game I only saw one or two Texas fans and I told them nice game – and meant it. On the way out I can’t count the number of drunk students who were screaming ‘F___ Texas’. Can one of the young pups on this board explain that to me? Is your identify so tied to the performance of this team that you can’t accept a loss without denigrating the folks who earned the win?
Earlier this week I also warned Texas fans about parking East of High St – where I always park and did again tonight. Most of these kids were in that area. On the way into the game there were several Texas fans heading from that direction. On the way out they were still in the stadium celebrating while these kids were getting drunker and angrier. I hope it wasn’t as bad as I fear it might have become. (There was zero police presence in these areas.)
To be clear, we are talking about your typical ‘vocal’ minority. But I just don’t get it.
