generaladm
Legend
SCLendak;1251870; said:
Morgan
Trent, CB, 6'1 184 pounds 4.13 forty, highly flammable. Oftentimes, numbers don't tell the whole story.
I'd just like to comment on the "Buckeyes beat up on lesser opponents, only to fail when facing an elite team" discussion. I have never seen a team in any sport held so mercilessly to a criterion of perfection as OSU is currently. I will point to last year's "expert analysis". Every game after week two's 11am comments from "experts": "This will be OSU's first real test of the season." Post game comments from same "experts": "While OSU completely dominated team X, they have not been tested all season, their first true test will come next week, when they face team X." The same mantra was repeated until we lost to Ill. The message: If OSU wins, their opponent was complete shit, no matter how they fared against other teams. If OSU loses, the opponent was the only credible team they faced all year. Bullshit. This year, whether we beat a lesser team by 43 or 12, it only exposes how completely incompetent we are. Bullshit. A win's a win, no matter how you slice it.
bukIpower, I know you were just letting of steam after a frustrating game, but you can't discount every win from the past three seasons just because we lost a game the same season. ND 05, Texas 06, and UM 06 were not cupcakes. For perspective, every team OSU lost to since the last loss of 04 was a NC, or the Big Ten's Rose Bowl representative. OSU arguably gave Texas 05 a better game than USC. LSU's NC team lost two games to inferior teams. UF's NC team lost a game and had more than one close call against inferior teams. Oklahoma has won more conference championships than the Buckeyes, in a conference that only had a legitimate contender once in the last five years, and have lost four straight bowls. None of those teams are held to the same standard as OSU. For the Buckeyes, there are only two outcomes, perfection or abject failure. It is neither fair, nor logical, but that is the way it will be until we beat the percieved best team in the country (and, maybe, not even then). The reality of the situation is that there are a select few teams that can claim the same type of success that the Buckeyes have achieved over the past three seasons, and we should be proud of their accomplishments.
As far as the USC game, it's obvious that we cannot play like we did in the first two games and expect to win. The OU game may be a blessing in disguise, as this week's practices will undoubtedly have a greater sense of urgency and purpose. The main thing that needs improvement, IMO, is separation by the WRs. I'm hoping that there were factors other than the WRs ability that made them so easy to cover, such as conservative play calling. It is very odd that the Brians, who were very effective last year, have looked very average thus far. Overall, the OU game featured a multitude of uncharacteristic mistakes by everyone: poor O-line play, missed open field tackles, lack of contain, dropped catchable balls, poor mechanics on place kicks, a bad snap by Cordle (when was the last time that happened?), etc. One thing that I particularly did not like was the low number of rushing plays (under 25, IIRC). I do not want to see less than 30-35 carries in a game ever again. The past two wins have been a result of our depth allowing us to dominate as the game reached the latter stages. We cannot count on that against USC. The positive factors going into the game are that we have the talent to match USC's, and we have the leadership on the field and on the sidelines to make the necessary preparations. Every football team makes their share of mistakes in a given season. Hopefully, the Buckeyes got it all out of their system in the last game. The Bucks will have to put their best game on the field in LA to come home with a win. Let's all put our faith in the players and coaches that they will make us proud, as they have done so many times.
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