Game Thread Ohio State 3, Southern Cal 35 (Sept. 13)

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU-USC showdown
Wells isn't part of team practice

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 3:22 AM
By Tim May


The Columbus Dispatch
Chris "Beanie" Wells did some work on the side yesterday, but some of his teammates said he did not practice as fifth-ranked Ohio State began preparations for Saturday's showdown with No. 1 Southern California in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Wells missed the game against Ohio University on Saturday because of a right foot injury suffered the previous week, and it was obvious from a report on yesterday's practice that he has not been cleared to return.
Quarterback Todd Boeckman said Wells was outside with the team but spent the session on the sideline.
"I don't know if he was running, jogging -- I have no idea if he was walking, riding a (stationary) bike," Boeckman said. "I really can't give you any details on what he was doing."
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

USC the top contender, reporter says

By Mike Tankersley ? [email protected] ? September 9, 2008


Tony Barnhart has never been shy about making predictions. He certainly wasn't Monday night when he addressed the season's first meeting of the Montgomery Quarterback Club.
"You can write this down," the longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter told a near capacity crowd of more than 100 at the Embassy Suites. "If USC beats Ohio State this weekend, they will be in the national championship game.
"USC had the deepest and most talented team last year, I thought. How they lost to Stanford, I'll never know. But they've got it all together this year."
Barnhart -- who also favors Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez to win the Heisman Trophy -- says USC's opponent in the title game will be either the SEC champion or the Big 12.
"But the SEC champ better have one or no losses," he cautioned. "I think the two-loss thing with LSU last year was an aberration. The stars and the moon lined up for them last year, and that won't happen again.
"In the Big 12, I like Oklahoma, but every time I see Missouri, I'm really impressed."
Barnhart thinks the Heisman race is wide open because Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 winner, will have, by design, lower numbers than he put up last season.


Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Rested, restless Troy ready for action

By A. Stacy Long ? [email protected] ? September 9, 2008
TROY -- An unexpected off weekend has left Troy coach Larry Blakeney with a football itch.
By the time the Trojans (1-0) play their home opener Saturday, it will have been 16 days since Troy's opener. Damage from Hurricane Gustav caused last weekend's game at LSU to be postponed until November.
"It seems like a year since we played," Blakeney said. "We had a pretty good outing in the opener, but it's been a long time since that opener. It's time to play somebody else.
"It may work out for the best for us to play LSU later -- I don't know -- but we need to play now."
Troy, which started the season with a win Aug. 28 at Middle Tennessee, hosts Alcorn State (0-2) on Saturday.
"We've had a long break, half of a month since we played a game," linebacker Bear Woods said. "I'm ready. Time flies so much, but with practicing we stayed right on schedule. We have no excuses."
The Trojans were mostly couch potatoes last weekend. They watched football from seemingly dawn until midnight, ate less-than-healthy foods and slept as much as possible.
Quarterback Jamie Hampton and about 20 friends piled into a house near campus, started cooking before noon and vegged out for about 14 hours. The only activities were fetching more food and turning to another game.
They flipped between Auburn-Southern Miss and Ohio State-Ohio early, moved on to East Carolina-West Virginia, Middle Tennessee-Maryland and BYU-Washington in the afternoon and segued into Miami-Florida by night. Late, they caught some Texas-UTEP.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Wells looks good testing foot

Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus -- Ohio State running back Beanie Wells didn't practice but was testing his injured right foot on Monday, according to OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis.
"I saw him on the sidelines a little bit, running and seeing how it felt and he looked good," Laurinaitis said on a conference call with reporters. "From what I could tell, it looked like he was running great."
On the depth chart released by Ohio State on Monday, Wells is listed as the starter. When Wells sat out against Ohio on Saturday, he was listed as the starter on the pregame depth chart, but Dan Herron was listed as a co-starter with him.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

OCNews

USC readies for two Ohio State QBs

Trojans defensive tackle Moala says Ohio State freshman Terrelle Pryor has some Vince Young-like tendencies.

By MICHAEL LEV
The Orange County Register
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
LOS ANGELES -- Fili Moala is just glad Terrelle Pryor is entering his third college game rather than his third college season.
The USC defensive tackle is among many who see similarities between Pryor, Ohio State's change-of-pace freshman quarterback, and Vince Young. And Trojans fans know what happened when USC faced Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
"Very similar to Vince. Same body type, same everything," Moala said after practice Monday. "He's still finding himself. He's going to be a player in years to come."
Top-ranked USC has to prepare to defend two quarterbacks in Saturday's game against No. 5 Ohio State, and they're nothing alike. Senior starter Todd Boeckman is a pocket passer; Pryor is a dual threat who runs options and quarterback draws.
Ohio State used Pryor, the top-ranked recruit in the nation, for just a few series during its first two games while he learns the Buckeyes' offense. USC coach Pete Carroll said it's impossible for a freshman quarterback to "be ready with everything at this time," although Boeckman said Pryor is an eager learner who asks him questions every day.
USC used 6-foot-2, 210-pound Garrett Green to simulate the 6-6, 235-pound Pryor during practice Monday.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Trojans hope to avoid getting star-struck by OSU

Four staff writers take a look at five OSU players who have received All-Conference or All-American honors in their careers. careers.

Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: Sports



Chris Wells, RB, Junior

Chris "Beanie" Wells took the handoff from quarterback Todd Boeckman and immediately crumbled to the ground in the third quarter of the Buckeyes' opening-game win against Youngstown State.

In an instant, phrases such as "All-American," "Heisman Favorite" and "2000-yard rusher" that had showered the junior running back in the preseason seemed irrelevant as Wells lay on the turf signaling to the training staff.

The Buckeyes' most explosive weapon, Wells suffered a right toe injury and was held out of Saturday's victory over Ohio, a game in which the Buckeyes struggled to establish an offensive rhythm or running game in Wells' absence. Ohio State trailed the Bobcats 14-12 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wells watched from the sideline, waving a towel for encouragement, as three other Buckeye running backs struggled to establish the ground game, gaining only six yards in the first quarter.

Expected to return to the lineup this week, Wells holds the key to the Buckeyes' offense and any chance they has in beating USC. Ohio State has remained coy about the injury, but all reports indicate that Wells is feeling good and will be ready to play by this weekend.

When healthy, Wells is an electrifying player with a rare blend of punishing power and blistering speed. As a sophomore in 2007, Wells ran for 1,609 yards and 15 touchdowns including a 222 yard, two-touchdown performance against rival Michigan.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

[SIZE=+2]USC expects to face Buckeyes' Wells

[/SIZE][SIZE=+1]

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]12:40 AM PDT on Tuesday, September 9, 2008

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By DAN WEBER
The Press-Enterprise[/SIZE] LOS ANGELES - No, he's not on the Beanie Wells Watch, Pete Carroll said right after Monday's practice.
"We just figure he's playing," Carroll said of Ohio State's 6-foot-1, 237-pound Heisman Trophy candidate tailback, who sat out Saturday's game against Ohio with a toe injury.
"I can't imagine he won't (play)," Carroll said. "We're counting on him playing."
Wells is listed as the No. 1 tailback on the OSU depth chart and has four more days to get ready for Saturday's showdown with No. 1 USC (1-0).
Allen Bradford, a 225-pound USC junior who's serving as this week's Wells look-alike for the Trojans' first-team defense, said it doesn't matter to him.
"I'm just going to run hard and help them get ready," said Bradford, one of the USC's four regular tailbacks. He'll get some help from redshirt freshman Broderick Green.
"If (Wells) plays, I figure I helped our defense get ready," Bradford said. "If not, well, either way it'll be good for our defense."
Two OSU team captains who actually watched Wells during the 2-0 Buckeyes' closed practice Monday described what they saw on a post-practice conference call with the media.
"I saw him on the side a little bit running," All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "He looked good, kind of doing drills, testing it out. From what I could tell he looked really great. But who really knows but him?"
Wide receiver Brian Robiskie said, "If he gets the OK and they tell him he's ready to go, there's no doubt in my mind he's going to play."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

USC, Ohio State players were once allies

By Scott Wolf, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/08/2008 10:48:48 PM PDT


When USC and Ohio State players mingled last spring in Los Angeles for a Playboy All-American team function, there was plenty of trash talking, but it did not involve Saturday's game at the Coliseum.
Instead, the Trojans and Buckeyes joined forces to defend their honor against the SEC.
"The LSU and SEC players were talking about how they had the best conference and were like the NFL," USC safety Taylor Mays said Monday. "So we had to say a few things back to them."
Mays and USC linebackers Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing were joined by Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.
"They were just like us," Mays said. "It was cool to see them outside football."
Laurinaitis said the players talked more about how fans were obsessed with the game.
"They are very easy to get along with and we enjoyed the time we had to spend together," Laurinaitis said. "We talked about how that's all Columbus (Ohio) and L.A. were talking about."
Maualuga said there were no problems identifying Laurinaitis or Jenkins.
"You see them on covers and know them in interviews," he said. "Plus, they had Ohio State shirts."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Ohio State will turn up heat on USC offensive line

Email Picture

Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times​

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez will face more pressure to throw from the Ohio State pass rush than he did against Virginia two weeks ago in the Trojans' 52-7 victory to open the season.


Trojans' blockers shined in opener against Virginia, a 52-7 win in which the team rushed for 218 yards and Mark Sanchez wasn't sacked. But the No. 5 Buckeyes will provide a much sterner test.

By Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 9, 2008
Mark Sanchez had all the time in the world.

When USC's quarterback dropped back to pass in the season opener, Virginia defenders barely touched him. Several times Sanchez stood leisurely in the pocket, double- or triple-pumping before finding receivers.

"It was like we were grilling steaks back there," Sanchez said.

The 52-7 rout over Virginia might have been a picnic, but USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel isn't planning to fire up the Weber or make any homemade barbecue sauce with Ohio State coming to the Coliseum on Saturday.

A sluggish victory over Ohio dropped Ohio State from third to fifth in the polls, but the Buckeyes' experienced front seven was not the issue and presents far different problems than what Virginia offered.


Ruel fully expects the Buckeyes to pressure Sanchez, who passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns in the opener.

"I'm not buying those steaks right now," Ruel joked. "It's got to be something you can microwave."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Link

USC FYI
Tickets to USC-Ohio State game are hard to find


[COLOR=#333333 ! important]Prices range from $100 to $5,000 on one leading marketplace website and even the players are coming up short getting tickets for family members.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#999999 ! important]By Gary Klein and David Wharton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 9, 2008 [/COLOR]
It's the toughest ticket in town, with prices ranging from $100 to $5,000 on one leading marketplace website.

But fans are not the only ones scrambling for tickets to Saturday's showdown between top-ranked USC and fifth-ranked Ohio State at the Coliseum.
Cont...

 

[gemsweater]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing the doom and gloom as well. I couldn't give two flying fucks what the media, opposing fans or Buckeye naysayers have to say about Ohio State. I'm not a fan because it's cool or because they win. I didn't decide to start rooting for them because someone wrote an article about them or spoke highly of them on TV. My degree won't spontaneously combust if Ohio State loses on Saturday and my love and fandom won't drop off one iota.

 

[Dryden]

From one of the articles grad linked:

USC, Ohio State players were once allies - LA Daily News

Tressel fan: Tight end Blake Ayles made an unofficial visit to Ohio State last year even though he said he never really considered any school besides USC.

"I just took a trip to take a trip," Ayles said. "But I liked (Coach Jim) Tressel a lot. He told me at Ohio State the tight end blocks a lot, so I wasn't really interested."

 

[troy#1]

From one of the articles grad linked:

USC, Ohio State players were once allies - LA Daily News

I just took a trip to take a trip," Ayles said. "But I liked (Coach Jim) Tressel a lot. He told me at Ohio State the tight end blocks a lot, so I wasn't really interested."
I for one am glad Coach Tressel told him that!

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com (Free)

Last Time Out............................by Matthew Hager.

 

[zincfinger]

The thing is, we're 4-2 in BCS games since 2002. You'd never get that impression after the last 2 title games.

In my opinion, 99% of the skepticism toward OSU, and a large portion of the skepticism toward the BigTen, comes down to one thing: 1/8/07. Every subsequent poor game is magnified, and every subsequent win is viewed with a bit of skepticism, because of that absolute meltdown when everyone was watching, and when nearly everyone expected the Buckeyes to win, if not steamroll. It's going to take some big wins and some time to overcome what that game meant in a lot of people's minds.