kc286496;1253160; said:
When we lost to LSU last year, you could hear the collective groan from the entire state of Ohio. All we could think was, "Great, now we have to hear about this from the rest of the country FOREVER!" This is our chance to prove what most of us already know...that Ohio State is still one of the heavyweights in college football. The reality is that by losing on a National Championship stage two years in a row (and losing pretty convincingly), we have made our own beds. We do feel we have been treated unfairly as teams like USC have gotten passes despite an embarrassing home loss to a Stanford team that is no better than the Ohio team we struggled against on Saturday. That is not a shot at USC; just pointing out that every team has been victimized by lackluster performances. Nobody is invincible. Buckeye Nation is strong and proud. Our boys in the Scarlet & Grey will earn back the nation's respect. I just hope we earn it back THIS weekend because I can't take much more of this abuse!!!!
Thanks for the kind words. CFB is the passion that unites us all and I don't find it too difficult to take off the Crimson and Gold glasses and talk about it as objectively as possible.
The paragraph of yours that I hilighted was interesting because it reflects the feeling of many OSU fans which is mainly that the Bucks MUST win the USC game to reaffirm their place as a top team in CFB after two straight blowout losses in BCS title games. As an outsider, I see it differently.
Is this game important for the Bucks? Yes, absolutely. If they win, they will prove alot of doubters wrong simply because a win against USC at the Colliseum is about as much of a statement win as anyone in CFB can get. It can't be explained away, rationalized, or downplayed--it's a huge win. However, if OSU loses the game, what are we to take from it?
If they lose in a blowout, I think it really will be a crushing blow for OSU's season. No matter how we look at it, if the Bucks come into LA and get blown out, there will be good reason to say that the Buckeyes, althougha good team, just lack that extra gear to beat the best teams in CFB when it counts. However, if the Bucks lose in a close one, which has been my prediciton all along, what happens then?
According to a lot of Bucks fans, a close loss would still be a major blow to OSU but I see it as proving nothing, beyond the fact that OSU can be beat by great, well coached teams that they have to face on the road. A close OSU loss at the Colliseum proves nothing about OSU's competence or standing as an elite team aside from the fact that they can hang with a really good team in their house. There seems to be an attitude amongst Buckeye fans that this game is a MUST win or OSU's season and entire legacy they have built over the past decade are gone out the window. I think this is a mistake in many ways, simply because a loss to USC on the road is not a bad loss for any team in the country, period. If Georgia lost to SC on the road, would that discredit Gerogia? If Florida lost a close one to SC on the road (as if Urban Meyer would ever make that trip in the first place...
) would that send the Gators season into a tailspin?
Buckeye fans and the media need a little perspective on this game. A win would be huge for the Bucks, but a close loss, although I dont want to call it a moral victory, would certainly not derail the season.