Game Thread Ohio State 33, Washington 14 (Final)

[Steve19]

Game on right now

The game is being rebroadcast on ESPNU in North Carolina right now on TWC. Six minutes before halftime.

 

[akronbuck]

Espn still sucks. Anyone notice when they listed the starters for OSU and how many were seniors.:!

 

[lvbuckeye]

Wisconsin-Suppose to be top 10 team? Bull shit, they are giving up huge chunks of points. First to WSU, then to NMSU, and now today giving up 31 to the CITADEL!

When Wisconsin ( who almost lost to New Mexico state)

Wiscy didn't play NMSU. they played UNLV, who played their asses off.

Texas looked like crap for the third week in a row. is the Big XII down? UCLA got run off the field by Utah. is the Pac Ten down? Auburn lost to South Florida. is the SEC down?

 

[lvbuckeye]

23Skidoo, the B10 woes are not limited to this season. The supposed #1 and 2 teams in the country, which recieved insane amounts of hype last November/December, were pantsed in their respective bowl games. The B10 has a perception problem right now, and the teams are doing nothing to dispel that, as a whole, on the field.

they were "pantsed" because they had already played for the National Championship six weeks earlier. given the history of this rivalry, you can not honestly say that you are surprised at what happened in January. it happened to the Buckeyes and TSUN all through the Ten Year War. whoever won The Game invariably lost the Rose Bowl. there was no way to get up for another opponent. they'd already given everything they had in the last game in November. read anything that Woody or Bo said about it. you'll find their statements to back mine up.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I'm honestly lost. Are you saying that the B10 is performing up to expectation right now?

one of the Big Two is down. Penn State is solid. the little eight are irrelevant, as they have been historically. is it really a "down" year when Northwestern sucks? they ALWAYS suck. is it really a "down" year when Indiana sucks? they've sucked for fifty years! Minny? they had a nice five year run, but they've been bad since the 1940s. Purdue? they had a nice run for a few years, but now they've dropped back with the rest of the little eight.. MSU and Illinois appear to be on the rise, but whatever. it's a transitional time.

TSUN falling off gives a horrible perception, but the Big Ten is what it has been: two powerhouses and a bunch of okay to bad teams taking turns at periodical runs towards the top.

 

[sandgk]

Wiscy didn't play NMSU. they played UNLV, who played their asses off.

Texas looked like crap for the third week in a row. is the Big XII down? UCLA got run off the field by Utah. is the Pac Ten down? Auburn lost to South Florida. is the SEC down?

Actually, at this point I'd say all of the above "are they down" questions have some merit - with one possible exception.
The very top of the respective conferences are good. The very best teams in D1A are much better right now than the rest (I prefer not to use that new naming scheme - so sue me). Those better teams? LSU, USC and Oklahoma. The rest are a shade below - though Florida is catching up fast, impressive win over a somewhat hobbled Vol squad.

In the Big 10 the class of the group will likely include the Buckeyes before seasons end - I would not have claimed that before yesterday, but that was a great learning experience for Todd Boeckmann and the whole team.
Oh, yes, the exception is the SEC where there are few teams truly down (outside of Auburn) and some pleasant surprises (Kentucky).

 

[Taosman]

One wonders how good Penn State really is after giving up.....24?
To....Buffalo?

 

[jlb1705]

One wonders how good Penn State really is after giving up.....24?
To....Buffalo?

Looking at the linescore it seems most of those points were given up in garbage time.

 

[Dryden]

Those better teams? LSU, USC and Oklahoma. The rest are a shade below - though Florida is catching up fast, impressive win over a somewhat hobbled Vol squad.

A shade? USC, LSU, Florida, and Oklahoma are playing at a completely different level than everyone else in all three phases of the game, from what I've seen. The gap between #4 and #5 appears bigger right now than at any other time I can think of.

I mean, who is #5? According to the GameDay wrap-up last night, Herbie is sticking to PSU, Fowler has WVU, and Corso had (I think) Cal. Who else deserves consideration at #5? Oregon? Texas? Wisconsin? Ohio State? Rutgers? Clemson? Boston College?

There's a HUGE drop there, right now. At least ten different teams are playing to be the fifth best team in the country, and I don't think any of them could hang with the Top 4 if they had to play each other next week. Not right now, anyhow.

 

[Taosman]

One thing I noticed about USC's receiving core.
Right now, they are still learning. Big drop off from last year.
And they look like "possession" type guys, lacking game breaking speed.

 

[Bobby Hoying]

One wonders how good Penn State really is after giving up.....24?
To....Buffalo?

Or how about UW...err...Wisconsin giving up 31 points to Citadel (21 before the half).

I might go out on a limb here, but can we win the Big 10 and win the Rose Bowl in a "down" year? If so think of where we would be in the pre season rankings in 2008!

 

[JCOSU86]

Great game by the Buckeyes. Boeckman had a so-so first half but really came on the the 2nd. OL looked dominant. I think UW is for real, they will make noise in the PAC-10. Beanie!

 

[brutus2002]

Who has LSU,OKIE, and USC played??/

Nebraska? GMAFB they should have lost to a mediocre Wake Team. I'd put Washington up against the Huskers any day of the week, Locker would run for 200+ yeards on that rush defense plus Callahan is an idiot.

LSU? VT was struggling with Ohio, MTSU is a joke, and MSU beat an AUburn team that is mediocre.

Okie...wow that Utah State team sure is a juggernaut.

All three of these teams mentioned above have ran up the score. Stoops is horrible at this and so is Carroll.

Let the season shake out. I have a funny feeling that LSU and USC will find a way to lose a game or two. IMO Okie has the best chance of running the table.

 

[sandgk]

A shade? USC, LSU, Florida, and Oklahoma are playing at a completely different level than everyone else in all three phases of the game, from what I've seen. The gap between #4 and #5 appears bigger right now than at any other time I can think of.

I mean, who is #5? According to the GameDay wrap-up last night, Herbie is sticking to PSU, Fowler has WVU, and Corso had (I think) Cal. Who else deserves consideration at #5? Oregon? Texas? Wisconsin? Ohio State? Rutgers? Clemson? Boston College?

There's a HUGE drop there, right now. At least ten different teams are playing to be the fifth best team in the country, and I don't think any of them could hang with the Top 4 if they had to play each other next week. Not right now, anyhow.

Well let's call it deep shade - perhaps the kind found at the bottom of a deep gulf.

In any event, we both agree that those four are playing better than all the other teams right now. That makes the interesting question who, if anybody, will separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

The Buckeyes could do it - but frankly I think that is still a long shot - but one that could get easier as the team gels and plays clean football on the Offensive side of the ball. That match-up with Purdue looms as the next great litmus test. Wonder if the Boilermakers can crack the top 25 by that time.
Of the ranked Big Ten teams Wisconsin is currently winning uglier, or at least with less effective defense. If they get to October 13th unscathed the meeting with Penn State is a great match-up and day of decision.
The Big East just got a dose of salts from Kentucky so Louisville's bid for BCS primacy is thoroughly tainted. That would leave West Va. from that league untouched and playing at a higher level than their cohort. Oh, and in passing, Cincinnati deserves those votes in this weeks polls.
The ACC is full of casualty cases from whom Clemson and BC are pace setters - but strictly middle of the pack material. As things stand now the November 17th match-up between these two will be a key game. BC presently has the inside track as all their games have been in conference.
SEC will be dog eat dog, so it boils down to who best survives - will Florida be ready for the challenge of playing LSU in Baton Rouge? Will LSU be able to run clean through the table and that SEC championship game toward which they seem pointed.
Outside of the already mentioned Oklahoma - who is there from the Big 12? Red River shoot-out looms as the primary test for the Sooners.

Not a lot of answers offered in this response, but there are certainly a lot of questions.

 

[lvbuckeye]

Good post LJB.

My .02:

1) I think part of them getting pissed was shaking off some of the doubt still lingering from 1/8/07. Not doubt from outside, but doubt found between their own ears. IMO they came to a fork in the road, one path was to let the self doubt/national perception doubt win and say well maybe we just aren't that good. The other path was to get pissed, say fuck that and start to show glimpses of how good they can be.

2) What I like most about this year is that you can tell the team isn't on the same level as the elite teams yet, so they are going to have to keep working to get better every week. Now everyone says that every year but you can just tell this team as of the second half vs UW honestly feels that. There won't be any fat and lazy syndrome with this bunch because they KNOW they aren't good enough....yet.

3) Much like 2002 I see the elite teams and am pretty sure we can't hang with them right now. Just like 2002 I have the peaceful, calming feeling of knowing we don't have to be able to right now...we have untill January. All we have to do is win each game and earn the right to get there.

4) I think this team has tasted just enough failure to be scared, that means they will take coaching and buy into the one game at a time/steady improvement stuff. Tasted failure/fear/adversity without wrecking the season. Absolutely cannot overstate the importance of that as far as I'm concerned.

5) I'll take my chances with the talent we have, with the right attitude and our coaches.


Lets go get NW

i don't know if it got any run, but the FG block should have been the Pontiac Game Changing Moment... maybe for the entire season. that's the reason that Tressel was going nuts there on the sideline. he saw the light go on.