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

[osugrad21]

DDN

McCain vs. Obama nothing compared to USC vs. OSU


By Carlos "Big C" Holmes
Staff Writer

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Look for the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain to take a back seat to Saturday's Sept. 13 matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and USC Trojans. This primetime event will be the only thing on the minds of patriotic football fans come game day.
Just in case you're here from another planet, USC is ranked No. 1 in the nation while the Buckeyes are ranked No. 5.
If you think the fans are jacked up about this clash of the titans, imagine the adrenaline high the players must be on.
I found out firsthand during a phone interview with linebacker and former Wayne High School standout Marcus Freeman on Tuesday night. He was upbeat, positive and talked about the magnitude of the big game.
"Many people would be lying if they said this was just another game because it is not," Freeman said. "It's the biggest game in the country this weekend, and many people will be watching. I think once the whistle blows, then it will be just another football game. There's a lot of hype going into the game and we are extremely excited, but at the same time it's still football and we have to play our game."
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[osugrad21]

DDN

Palmer picks USC in a rout

By Chick Ludwig
Staff Writer

Thursday, September 11, 2008
CINCINNATI ? Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said "it's been tough to find a bet" from an Ohio State player willing to risk some cash for the clash between the Buckeyes and Southern California.
The powerhouses collide on Saturday night, and Palmer ? who won the Heisman Trophy at USC ? is trumpeting the Trojans.
"We don't have any Ohio State guys on the team," Palmer said. "Mike Vrabel (of the New England Patriots) won't call me and place a bet. There's a number of guys I know who don't want to mess with a bet, points or not, no matter what the spread is. People are worried."
Palmer made a prediction for the Columbus Dispatch: Trojans 38, Buckeyes 14.
"I should have said 42-17," Palmer said Wednesday, Sept. 10. "Whatever you want to write is fine. It's college football, anything can happen. I'm, of course, dying to see SC win. I think it'll be a close game early, and I think SC will pull away in the third and fourth quarter."
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[osugrad21]

DDN

Ohio State vs. USC: Who has the better middle linebacker?
By Staff and wire reports

Thursday, September 11, 2008

They will be at the heart of their teams' defenses because, well, that's where you would expect them to be.
James Laurinaitis of Ohio State (above) and Rey Maualuga of Southern Cal are considered the best middle linebackers in college football by everybody from casual fans to NFL scouts.
Both would have been high first-round NFL draft picks had they elected to come out. The two will be fighting it out for many major individual awards.
Who's the better player? Saturday's showdown in Los Angeles Coliseum might help answer that question, among others.
Rey Maualuga, USC, 6-foot-2, 247 pounds
Earned acclaim in the Rose Bowl by sacking Illinois quarterback Juice Williams three times, intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble.
Broke his right ring finger five days before USC's season-opening romp at Virginia but says it's no problem: "This is a big game. Broken leg, pulled hamstring, I'm playing, no matter what."
Has reputation for hitting. Dropped about 20 pounds since last year to improve quickness.
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[osugrad21]

DDN

Recipe for OSU success seems relatively simple

By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

Thursday, September 11, 2008
A national magazine asked 12 ex-college football coaches before the season to predict the winner of the Ohio State-Southern Cal game, and five ? John Cooper, Frank Broyles, Bill Mallory, Don Nehlen and Dick MacPherson ? picked the Buckeyes.
Bet that poll might look a little different if it were taken this week.
Many expect the Buckeyes to get smoked like salmon against USC, which is a 10-point favorite. And practically the only voice on the airwaves giving OSU a chance is ESPN broadcaster Lou Holtz. But I'm with him.
The showdown Saturday, Sept. 13, reminds me of the national title game in 2002. The Buckeyes were 11-point underdogs against profusely talented Miami, which had won the 2001 crown and took a 34-game winning streak into that clash.
But while the Hurricanes were loaded with future NFL standouts, the Buckeyes emerged with the crystal trophy by sticking to an expert game plan. And that formula could work again.
Protect the ball. The Buckeyes were so conservative in '02 that quarterback Craig Krenzel ended up being the game's leading rusher (19 carries for 81 yards). Todd Boeckman isn't apt to be running many QB draws, but Terrelle Pryor can ? and should.
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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Memory of USC win still leaves bitter taste 1990 OSU game interrupted by thunderstorm
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press

Published on Thursday, Sep 11, 2008
COLUMBUS: It has been 18 years and Greg Frey still refuses to accept defeat.
''There were 21/2 minutes left on the clock, and now we'll never know,'' the former Ohio State quarterback said Monday.
When No. 1 Southern California hosts No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday in the first big tilt of the college football season, it will be the first time the teams meet since their showdown in 1990, ? a game people still talk about because of its bizarre circumstances and twist at the end.
No. 18 USC marched into Ohio Stadium to take on the 15th-ranked Buckeyes before a raucous crowd of 89,422 and a national television audience on ABC. The Buckeyes were 2-0 and had permitted just 126 yards on the ground in those two victories. Coach Larry Smith, an Ohio native, and his Trojans were 2-1 and had plummeted 13 spots in the rankings after getting drilled 31-0 at Washington the week before.
The scene was set for some Big Ten redemption. After all, USC had broken a lot of Buckeyes' hearts with victories in the four previous meetings. A year earlier, the Trojans won 42-3 in Los Angeles. And one-point losses
in the Rose Bowl to USC had cost Ohio State shots at national titles in 1974 and again in 1979.


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[osugrad21]

CPD

Are buttoned-down Bucks setting a Trojan trap?

by Doug Lesmerises Wednesday September 10, 2008, 10:07 PM


COLUMBUS -- Jim Bollman couldn't stop laughing -- just another ploy, most likely, to avoid giving up Ohio State's secrets.
Marvin Fong/The Plain DealerTerrelle Pryor (2) has seen very limited action in games against Youngstown State and Ohio. Does that mean there are bigger (or smaller) plans in place for Saturday against Southern California?
"Now why should I tell you that?" the Buckeyes' offensive coordinator answered Wednesday when asked how much of the offense OSU had been holding back the first two games of the season in order to surprise USC on Saturday. "I'm not going to divulge the whole game plan, no. I'd like to know their game plan. I'd say there's a little advantage to that." There certainly is. The question is how far will a team go to throw off a future opponent.
You can find conspiracy theories among fans in Buckeyeland who believe Beanie Wells' toe injury and subsequent alleged recovery is a plot to throw off the No. 1 Trojans. Having your best player fake an injury is probably a bit much.
Yet because of the uncertainty around how much and how effectively Wells will play and exactly how the Buckeyes will or won't use freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, there are a lot more questions about the offense than you'd expect from a team that returned nine offensive starters.

As former Auburn coach Terry Bowden sees it, that should be part of the plan when a national power opens against Youngstown State and Ohio.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Ohio State football: Wells practices at 75 percent; to reach 100 percent by Saturday would be "miraculous"

by Doug Lesmerises Wednesday September 10, 2008, 7:19 PM


Both Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman said running back Beanie Wells practiced at about 75 percent today in his preparations for Saturday's game at USC.
Wells won't be himself by Saturday.
"You're just hoping that he can get in a situation where he can help us contribute in some situations," Bollman said. "The chances of him being 100 percent are not real high, I wouldn't think so. That would be a miraculous recovery here."
Wells wasn't hit during practice, but Tressel said on his radio show tonight that Wells carried the ball about 20 times. Bollman said Wells wasn't going 100 miles per hour but he was "going pretty good and getting a feel for things."
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Ohio State Insider: Wells at 75 percent; Washington returns, but not as starter

by Doug Lesmerises Wednesday September 10, 2008, 10:21 PM


In 1979, Pete Carroll was an assistant coach on Earle Bruce's Big Ten Champion team which faced Southern California in the 1980 Rose Bowl. These are his memories, taken from his current USC coaches show.

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State running back Beanie Wells practiced Wednesday at about 75 percent, though what he'll be doing Saturday against USC is less than 100 percent certain.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has been expecting that Wells will be available two weeks after he injured his right foot at the base of his big toe in the season opener against Youngstown State. Yet how Wells bounces back for a practice Thursday morning before the Buckeyes fly to California at 2 p.m. remains a crucial part of his progress.
"You could see he got a little sore as the practice went," Tressel said on his radio show Wednesday night. "I would say the key is how sore is he [today]? If he's not sore, then he'll make a big jump [Thursday] and Friday and Saturday."

Tressel said Wells carried the ball about 20 times in a practice, though that did not include any hitting. That was the most work he'd seen, his action on Monday and Tuesday limited to running and drills on the sidelines.
"He wasn't going 100 miles per hour, but he was going pretty good and getting a feel for things and everything he has to go through," offensive coordinator Jim Bollman said.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Tressel and Carroll: No twins here
Powerhouse coaches have identical records, but that's about it
Thursday, September 11, 2008
By TODD PORTER
[email protected]

COLUMBUS As much as Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll have in common ? don't laugh, they do ? there's more distance between two of college football's best coaches than the 2,300 miles that separate Columbus from Los Angeles.

There are similarities that start and end on paper. Tressel was hired in 2001 at Ohio State, the same year Southern Cal brought in Carroll. Tressel is 75-16 at OSU, Carroll 77-14 at USC. They have the same 210-73-2 career record.

And one more thing: Their hair has gone grayer since taking over their titan football programs.

The differences?

They don't seem to end. Tressel was a college quarterback. Carroll was the guy picking off passes as a safety at Pacific. Tressel has never been attracted to coaching in the NFL. Carroll was mediocre there.

Tressel smirked slightly when a reporter asked him about the differences between the two coaches whose programs face off Saturday night in the regular-season game of the year. Try to picture Tressel ? who hasn't been to the movies in years and told reporters last December he's never heard of the movie "300" ? in Hollywood.

The image goes together like Woody Hayes sunbathing at a nudist beach.

Tressel is serious, Carroll laid-back. Tressel rarely shows emotion on the sideline. Carroll rarely keeps it in. Tressel's like a bottle of champagne that's uncorked once a year. Carroll's like a beer tap someone forgot to shut off.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Buckeye notebook
Thursday, September 11, 2008

TP PT There seems to be a good chance that freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor will play more against USC than he has in the first two games. Pryor took fewer snaps in last week's come-from-behind win against Ohio. Perhaps it was because the Buckeyes were down. Perhaps, though, Tressel didn't want to expose another player to injury. "He brings a lot to table," Tressel said. "The only thing that holds a freshman back from playing, in my mind, is if they don't understand what we're doing, therefore their physical abilities can't take over. The thing I've been impressed with Terrelle is he understands what we're doing, so he'll have opportunities."

ABRUPT END Carroll ended a scheduled conference call with reporters ? from around the country as well as Ohio and California ? when an impostor got access to the call and was able to ask Carroll a couple of questions. The first question was whether Carroll rewarded players' on-field performance by setting up dates with Hollywood stars. Carroll, surprisingly, answered that matchmaking wasn't part of his job. The impostor was able to ask a follow-up that had something to do with product that shares the name "Trojans." Carroll hung up, but not before leveling blame at Ohio State for the impostor.

TRAVEL PLANS Ohio State will practice on campus today, and the team will fly Los Angeles this afternoon. Tressel was unsure if the team would see any sights in LA or not. "I don't know if you know Bob Tucker, but he's kind of the fun-loving guy. He's working on that now. You can imagine, we'll go to a monastery or something." The comment about the all-serious Tucker was tongue-in-cheek. The monastery visit may not have been.
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[osugrad21]

Blade

Article published Thursday, September 11, 2008
Carroll says seeing OSU legend Hayes memorable


Pete Carroll, after several coaching stops including a year at Ohio State, is in charge of the nation's top-ranked football team.
( ASSOCIATED PRESS )

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
LOS ANGELES - It was almost 30 years ago when a young and ambitious football coach sat in his broom closet of an office on the Ohio State campus and maybe was just daydreaming about where all the 18-hour days and the late meals of cold pizza might lead. As this unseasoned assistant gazed out the window, there appeared one of the greatest of all time. A 28-year-old Pete Carroll, Ohio State's secondary coach who was just a few years out of the college classroom at the time, saw Woody Hayes walking down the sidewalk across the parking lot. "That's one of my favorite memories," said Carroll, now head coach of No. 1-ranked Southern California. "I'm sitting up in St. John Arena, the old basketball place. I was looking out the window and I saw coach Hayes. I'd never seen him before." Hayes was the legendary coach of the Buckeyes from 1951-1978. He brought five national championships to Columbus and 13 Big Ten titles but he was fired after the Gator Bowl loss to Clemson in 1978 after hitting a Clemson player. Carroll, who had been on Earle Bruce's staff at Iowa State, came along with Bruce when Bruce was hired to replace Hayes. "I just dropped everything and took off, ran across the parking lot and met him about halfway," Carroll said about his chance encounter with Hayes. "He was walking home from teaching a class, I think. I introduced myself, and we walked for about 10 minutes. And he knew who I was so I was all thrilled. You know, he even knew that I was one of the new coaches. We talked football. That was my one chance I had to visit with him."
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[osugrad21]

Blade

Article published Thursday, September 11, 2008
West Coast trip tests OSU players' mettle
Central's Sanzenbacher says long plane rides toughest for OSU freshmen


Sanzenbacher

BLADE STAFF
LOS ANGELES - After a morning practice in Columbus, the Ohio State Buckeyes plan to travel here early this afternoon - their longest road trip since just about a year ago when they met Washington in Seattle. No. 5 Ohio State plays top-ranked Southern California on Saturday. The palm trees, the spider web of freeways, the Hollywood sign and that big, blue ocean will let the Buckeyes know this is not Ohio. Dane Sanzenbacher, Ohio State's sophomore wide receiver from Central Catholic, vividly recalls the jet lag and jet jitters of his first high altitude venture with the Buckeyes. "That Washington game was my first time out West, and it was such a long plane ride - a lot to take in as a freshman," Sanzenbacher said. "It's part of the experience of college football but it's definitely something you have to adjust to and be prepared for, because so much is different when you go on the road like that." Sanzenbacher caught a couple of passes in Ohio State's 33-14 win over the Huskies and said the on-field part of that long trip probably required the least amount of adjustment. Washington had a larger than normal crowd of 75,000 on hand for the game and had hyped the Buckeyes' visit as being one of the biggest nonconference games it had hosted in a long time. "Their crowd was into it and excited about playing us, and since it was my first game away from Ohio Stadium, that part was different, but once you get out there and lock in on the game and start hitting, the crowd wasn't really that big a factor," Sanzenbacher said. "And as we went on the road in the Big Ten, the real loud, crazy atmospheres are kind of normal. The thing about the Washington game was just how far away it was and adjusting to the time change and all the travel." Sanzenbacher expects that won't be an issue for him today, or Saturday when the Buckeyes walk into the Los Angeles Coliseum to face Southern California.
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[osugrad21]

BN Free--Buckeyes Face Stern Test At No. 1-Ranked USC

 

[osugrad21]

BN $--Coaches Notebook: Bollman, Hazell, Heacock

More on Beanie...Coach Bollman says TP is ready and reminded the 2nd OL that it was the 2nd OL who scored first against Texas...Coach Hazell praises Ray Small...Coach Heacock discusses DB depth, injuries, and defensive philosophy.

 

[MD Buckeye]

LETS GO BUCKS!!!!