I finally got rid of the blanket and crawled out of the corner. But if you are looking for sunshine - look elsewhere. My only goal this week is to get some things off my chest without incurring a two week ban.
A. NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
After the 2004 election a number of dejected loser..., er, I mean liberals established a new web site. They took pictures of themselves in various poses and holding various objects that said "We're Sorry". The apology was to the world for being a citizen in the nation that reelected George Bush. It was sad and pathetic.
We need to link to that site.
(Disclaimer: Not all liberals are losers - just the ones on We're Sorry. I have nothing against liberals. I had a friend in HS who was a liberal and he seemed like a really nice guy.)
B. EXPECTATIONS
Everybody has different expectations. For the most part they are our own creation. But certainly coaches and players help color those expectations by past successes or failures.
Tressel and the Buckeyes have had great success the past six plus years and this has lead to great expectations on our part. Now it is time for them to pay.
But let's be fair. USC is a machine. I don't want to restart the "star rating" debate. I know who A J Hawk is. And for any particular player, yes, the stars mean nothing. But in the aggregate they are a strong indicator of talent level.
With Beanie on the bench Saturday OSU entered the game with one five star athlete in its starting lineup. One.
On both sides of the ball USC started a total of ELEVEN.
We started eight players rated 3 stars or less. USC started one.
From 2004-2007 - the years that are most relevant for this game - USC has landed 31 five start recruits. OSU has landed 8 (four of whom are no longer with the team). 31-8 isn't far off the final score.
USC has two QBs who were rated #1 in their class and a third rated #3. In 2007 they landed the #1 RB in the country - and then landed the #2. And for all their vaunted "stable of running backs" - four in number - it was a fifth, a fullback, who outran Freeman for their first TD.
Patrick Turner was the #1 WR receiver prospect in the nation in 2005. Vidal Hazelton was #1 in 2006. Ronald Johnson is running around there as well and none of these three are Sanchez favorite target. Which brings us to David Ausberrry. Ausberry is a five star WR rated #6 in his class two years ago. But he is the fifth receiver at USC. Give that some thought. The #6 receiver in the nation out of HS and the 5th best receiver on USC. Is it any wonder they could simply throw at Jenkins? And it is like that at every position. There are no weaknesses on this team. Not even in their depth.
It is sick, sick talent. We are not there yet. Our magic jerseys don't work that way.
And they have some pretty fair coaching. Sure, there was Stanford. But USC has not lost by more than 7 points since 2001.
And take a look at some of the other embarrassing losses USC has handed out in that span (records non-inclusive of the USC spanking).
2002
9-4 Colorado 40-4 at Colorado
10-2 Notre Dame 44-13
11-1 Iowa 38-17 in the Rose Bowl
2003
8-4 Auburn 22-0 at Auburn (an SEC team if you can believe that)
10-2 Washington 43-23 at Washington
10-2 Washington St 43-16
10-2 Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl
2004
9-2 Arizona St 45-7
12-0 Oklahoma 55-19 in the NC game
2005
10-1 Oregon 45-13 at Oregon
8-3 Cal 35-10 at Cal
10-1 UCLA 66-19 (I'll be they are scrambling to take that billboard down)
2006
10-3 Arkansas 50-14 at Arkansas (another SEC team)
9-4 Nebraska 28-10
10-2 Cal 23-9
11-1 Michigan 32-18 in the Rose Bowl
2007
9-3 Oregon St 24-3
10-2 Arizona St 44-24 at ASU
9-3 Illinois 49-17 in the Rose Bowl (anybody seeing a Rose Bowl trend here?)
But somehow we were expected to fly to California and take on this phalanx (who has been anticipating this game just as much as we have) without our starting running back and prevail?
Well, maybe. Maybe if we had a masterful game plan and our coaches were ready with needed adjustments at every turn. (Hang on a second - gotta grab a drink and stop this coughing.) Maybe if they were taking us lightly (maybe they were) and we were totally fired up. Maybe if we made no mistakes. Maybe then we could have covered the spread.
For some time many have been arguing that our program is at the same level as USC. It simply is not. No program is. (And the systems that rank recruiting classes which don't put USC in the top 5 every season are simply broken.)
So the loss I can live with. The loss, quite frankly, I fully expected.
The loss isn't the problem. 35-3 is the problem.
And USC isn't the problem. USC plus LSU plus Florida - that is the problem.
114-41 in three games (114 - 24 after our opening salvos) - that is the problem.
The media abuse. The taunting from opposing fans with fewer and fewer handy retorts on our side. That is the problem.
C. CARING FOR YOUR DVR
A DVR is nothing more than a computer. It has an operating system and a hard drive. And here is something that you may not know about how computers work. When you delete a file it doesn't really delete the data. Instead, there is an index that points to the files and when you do a delete the index entry for that file is removed making that space available to be used again. But, until that space is used, the file and its data are still there (unless you do a low level reformat which is not an option on the menu of most DVRs)..
So what's the point? The point is THAT GAME IS STILL ON YOUR DVR!! We have to get rid of it. Now!!!!
The best solution is to soak the entire machine in a tub of warm soapy water for at least 20 minutes. Then, while it is still moist, cut the cord and splice it to the pig tail from your dryer. Plug it in to the dryer outlet and fry that sucker for about 10 seconds.
Then, and only then, can we get on with our respective lives.
D. QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSEY
Stan White pretty much got a pass at OSU - as he should. Rated the #9 TE out of HS and a four star recruit he was moved around to a variety of positions just to get playing time. He made a contribution but never came close to making anybody-s All American or All Big Ten lists.
But nobody ever trashed Stan White because he was never asked to move to center stage and be anything more than Stan White. Jamo, Tim Schaefer, Roy Hall were all 4 and 5 star players who arguably never lived up to the "expectations" of a player at that level. But they were contributing members of the team who were what they were and the team did not need them to be anything more to be a good football team - even to be a team that competed for National Championships. Even Justin Zwick got a pass in the end because we had Troy Smith.
Then along comes this three star QB out of St Henry. He never asked Schoenhoft to crash and burn. He didn't ask Henton to transfer. He didn't ask OSU not to recruit more competition at the position. He just went out and worked hard and played his best and EARNED the starting nod after Troy Smith left.
Along with writing "observations" I have been busy deleting all my posts defending Todd and arguing he would transition into an AA candidate this season. It doesn't look like that is going to happen. Even after six years he stares down receivers, throws into coverage, and struggles under pressure. Just like Mili said he would.
But while it may be fair to honestly critique his performance (sitting in front of a TV long enough on a Saturday gives us the right to do this to kids we have never met) we must be careful. Todd Boeckman has been asked to perform a role White and Jamo and Schaefer and Hall were never asked to perform. To be a star in the show. To run the offense.
And he did perform that role last season - well enough to win the Big Ten and get us to the NC game. And for all that happened Saturday night there he was after every play looking at JT and the other coaches who were unable to solve the problem of the USC defense and saying "Thank you Sir, may I have another". And he is still fully capable of leading us to another Big Ten title this season. And, with USC in the Orange - winning the Rose.
But he won't. He has lost his job. With Boeckman on the field and no Beanie we lost half our offensive potential. With Pryor in we lost the other half. But Pryor has an enormous upside. And if JT trusted him enough to play him when he did last night it is time to trust him far more against Troy and Minnesota. It may happen gradually. Boeckman may remain the face saving starter on the first drive of each game for some time. But it does mean more and more Pryor running more and more of the Offense and taking over the reigns as fast as his ability to learn the Offense will let him.
And as for Pryor - take a moment to consider what was asked of him. I am still amazed JT gave him the keys as much as he did. And no, he didn't pull a Vince Young. He did much more than Vince Young did because as a true Freshman Vince Young was sitting on the bench wearing a red shirt. Pryor stood in against the finest athletes in college football and kept his poise.
And this transition could be interesting to watch - an opportunity for JT to earn his keep. No player on this team has played a down without Todd Boeckman in the game or on the sideline. He was the acknowledged leader coming into the season. He is one of the 39 upperclassmen who dominate this team.
Pryor is a brash kid with some justifiable swagger. It is easy to dismiss this change as no problem. You do what the coach says and march on. But it isn't that easy. Team chemistry can be a sensitive thing. (Although the events of Saturday night should actually facilitate the process.)
E. A NOTE TO THE USC FANS
If you are over here to gloat - go ahead and get it over with. But remember this. Sure, you may have the better football team - for now.
But we have seasons that change. And those pretty Midwestern girls - who are just a little broader in the beam (for those of us who like that sort of thing). And their hair comes in colors other than blonde and many of them have real boobs. And we have the JC Penney Outlet Center and a mall at every freeway exit. And you can get to those exits because our traffic is manageable and you can see those exits because we don't have your smog. And Wendy's got its start here.
You got Hollywood stars? We got Richard Lewis. You got beaches? We got one of those at Alum Creek. You got mountains? We got MAGIC Mountains.
So go ahead and gloat and enjoy your football team. Cause that's all you got.
F. THE TRENCHES
All week everyone was quibbling over whether Beanie would play* and how much we would see Pryor**. But the real issues always were Defense and the battles in the trenches.
Whatever USC did offensively started with their line. The holes their RB's jogged through and the time given to Sanchez.
And any problems we had on Offense started the same way. As often as not Boeckman had company with the snap. And that one five star players who started for OSU? He was called for two penalties (one for "flinching"?) and opened the door to a sack and fumble by vacating his hole and biting on a fake blitz.
The fixes start here. Play them even up at the line and we can start talking about skill positions. But we never got there.
(* Beanie should not have played. Sure, he practiced. But imagine him engaged with Maulaluga trying for one more yard, the effort he would give, and the torque that would put on his foot. And it wouldn't have changed the outcome.)
(**More Pryor simply meant more of the game with half our available offense and more time for USC to focus on what that meant. And it wouldn't have changed the outcome.)
G. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
My sister in law made the news this week:
www.theonion.com/content/node/35346
H. DEFENSE
Airfare to LA - $560
Lodging at a fine hotel - $350 per night.
Tickets to the big game - $80
Contribution to the Athletic Department - $10,000
Having your hat handed to you for the third straight time - priceless.
The alumni are angry. They are looking for JT and they have nails and vinegar.
Not just Florida. Not just LSU. Not just USC. Take a look at our last six games:
A loss to Illinois at home that included not only the failure of our offense but a remarkable and inexplicable 16 play Illinois drive that ran out the final 8 plus minutes of the game.
An 8 point win against a struggling and banged up Michigan (not that any win over Michigan should ever be described as anything less than a great win).
A second straight NC butt whipping at the hands of the SEC.
A rout - of a lower Division school.
A 4th quarter come from behind win against an 0-3 MAC school.
Our third straight humbling defeat on the national stage.
I can rationalize away each of these games - but not all of them. And no matter how hard I try I come back to one thing. Three straight times on the big stage and we failed to show up. It happens. But three straight times is tough to take.
I haven't been reading the boards, but I imagine right now folks are blaming everyone. My attention is pretty focused. Defensive game planning. There are lots of reasons your O can stall. But everything - including offensive field position - starts with the D.
For the past two seasons we put up great defensive numbers. But we gave up 80 points the last two games of 2006, 38 in last years NC game and 35 Saturday.
From 1973 through 1976 nobody scored more than 23 points against Ohio State. THAT is great D. Saturday marked the 12th time opponents have passed that mark since 2004.
Granted, we faced great teams with great offenses. But good pitching stops good hitting. You simply can't make the case that in any of those games we put together a solid game plan or made adequate adjustments.
We know we have the players. We can see them on film. They get the awards. They are drafted into the NFL.
A good defensive game plan is not just what you are going to do. It is what you are going to do AND what you are going to do next when they adjust to what you did. Building a good game plan is a complex activity. It can take a lot of time. (We had all freakin summer.)
And with a solid game plan even a mediocre team should be able to take away another team's primary weapon. They will still get beat - but they can force you to beat them some other way.
When USC changed weapons Saturday it was their choice - not ours. They simply got bored with one approach and went with another. They wanted to show off all their weapons. They did more or less as they pleased.
Florida, LSU, USC - 114 points in three games. I don't recall any of those teams going to plan B.
Our almost unprecedented success the past 5 plus years and our disastrous performances in these three games are an anomaly that begs for explanation or remedy.
I have been the boss. I have fired people. It ain't easy.
Or, to put it another way - three and a half million is a lot of money.
I. IF ONLY...
I hope nobody is desperate enough to play "If only Beanie....." or "If only they called holding...." or other pitiful games this week. But there is one version I still hang on to.
In 2006 the pollsters came dangerously close to sending Michigan instead of Florida to the NC game. If only they had....
Win and we are the team of the decade. Lose and we split with UM and our status suffers only limited damage. And in either case the Big Ten is not exposed.
Then the LSU game is the anomaly. The game where we were just a bit over confident. And even now the pain would be limited. Pants a bit loose perhaps, but not around our ankles.
If only....
J. POWER OUTAGE
Due to the wind storm and resulting power outage in central Ohio (if only it had come a day earlier) I am forced to type this by candle light. As a result inane attempts at humor that only I think is funny will be limited.
This is one of them.
K. REGROUPING
The way to get the most out of our illogical attachment to sports teams of which we are not a direct part is simple. Embrace them when they do well - and let it go when they do poorly.
How do you let it go? Play football with your kids. Cook a fattening meal. Google "penguins and midgets with large breasts". The world is a wonderful place.
For those more directly involved with the program it can't be that easy.
First of all, let me thank Beanie for staying off the exercise bike. The parallels are already too clear. But how do these kids who came back for an NC - who came back to play and beat USC - make sense of what has happened to them. This is OSU's version of the Redeem Team - coming back to prove that Florida and LSU were flukes. How do they restore confidence in themselves and their coaches?
I'm not sure, but if they are going to be paid 3.5 million a year they better... Oops. My bad. They get a free education. It is Tressel who gets 3.5 million. And it is up to Tressel to get them ready by Saturday. He will. Increased use of Pryor (properly managed) could reenergize. The return of Beanie - please, please, please - certainly will.
L. POLITICS
This is one of the more interesting elections I can recall. But I am now ready to make a decision.
I will vote for whatever candidate will support a law making it illegal to televise images of a grown man naked in a bathtub while two other grown men blow into it with straws. I am sure it was meant to amuse. The image is far too disturbing.
M. WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE
The theme of this week - and perhaps the remainder of the season - on this and other boards will be the need for change.
Let us move cautiously.
Regardless of this game there are not five better programs in the nation over the past 5 years than OSU. We are not as bad as we look - honest.
Beginning last season recruiting has gone to a new level - a level equal even with USC. (Half of the five star athletes on our current roster are true freshmen. And we will have at least five 5 star players in the 2008 and 2009 classes who will play in those nasty trenches.)
There is new QB in town who could single handedly take us up a notch.
We are dominant in the Big Ten and have a chance to win an unprecedented third straight Big Ten title.
We are recruiting quality kids who are improving our graduation rates and (for the most part) keeping their noses clean.
Our head coach is a genuinely classy, quality individual.
And our last NC is only 6 years old.
The folks who have brought us to this level deserve something better than floggings for raising our expectations a bit too high.
But in three years we have been called on three times to face one of the other top five programs in the nation - and we didn't show up. That is fact.
It is not time for wholesale changes. But it is time for change. (Or at least it will be come seasons end.) Subtle changes can have big results. Assistant coaches and coordinators can have enormous impact. I won't pretend to know the specifics - although I obviously have an opinion. It is Tressel's job to fix it. Unfortunately by all appearances it is a problem that should have been fixed during the past off season. For all my bluster I really don't know. Neither do you.
But for now let's take a deep breath, win the Big Ten, thump Michigan and chalk up another Rose Bowl. This is a great team that is about to start using Terrelle Pryor to a degree I had never anticipated this early. That alone will be worth the price of admission. So let's keep the rhetoric within a manageable level and appreciate what is in front of us for what it is - not what we expected it to be.
N. IN CLOSING
My therapist recommends that I paint. Says it will help me control the temper and perhaps dampen the voices. If I could paint a picture to reflect my feelings about this week's game it would probably look something like this:
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/...x=400&y=237&q=85&sig=Jc8UFEWemVFsreuOH00K6A--
A. NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
After the 2004 election a number of dejected loser..., er, I mean liberals established a new web site. They took pictures of themselves in various poses and holding various objects that said "We're Sorry". The apology was to the world for being a citizen in the nation that reelected George Bush. It was sad and pathetic.
We need to link to that site.
(Disclaimer: Not all liberals are losers - just the ones on We're Sorry. I have nothing against liberals. I had a friend in HS who was a liberal and he seemed like a really nice guy.)
B. EXPECTATIONS
Everybody has different expectations. For the most part they are our own creation. But certainly coaches and players help color those expectations by past successes or failures.
Tressel and the Buckeyes have had great success the past six plus years and this has lead to great expectations on our part. Now it is time for them to pay.
But let's be fair. USC is a machine. I don't want to restart the "star rating" debate. I know who A J Hawk is. And for any particular player, yes, the stars mean nothing. But in the aggregate they are a strong indicator of talent level.
With Beanie on the bench Saturday OSU entered the game with one five star athlete in its starting lineup. One.
On both sides of the ball USC started a total of ELEVEN.
We started eight players rated 3 stars or less. USC started one.
From 2004-2007 - the years that are most relevant for this game - USC has landed 31 five start recruits. OSU has landed 8 (four of whom are no longer with the team). 31-8 isn't far off the final score.
USC has two QBs who were rated #1 in their class and a third rated #3. In 2007 they landed the #1 RB in the country - and then landed the #2. And for all their vaunted "stable of running backs" - four in number - it was a fifth, a fullback, who outran Freeman for their first TD.
Patrick Turner was the #1 WR receiver prospect in the nation in 2005. Vidal Hazelton was #1 in 2006. Ronald Johnson is running around there as well and none of these three are Sanchez favorite target. Which brings us to David Ausberrry. Ausberry is a five star WR rated #6 in his class two years ago. But he is the fifth receiver at USC. Give that some thought. The #6 receiver in the nation out of HS and the 5th best receiver on USC. Is it any wonder they could simply throw at Jenkins? And it is like that at every position. There are no weaknesses on this team. Not even in their depth.
It is sick, sick talent. We are not there yet. Our magic jerseys don't work that way.
And they have some pretty fair coaching. Sure, there was Stanford. But USC has not lost by more than 7 points since 2001.
And take a look at some of the other embarrassing losses USC has handed out in that span (records non-inclusive of the USC spanking).
2002
9-4 Colorado 40-4 at Colorado
10-2 Notre Dame 44-13
11-1 Iowa 38-17 in the Rose Bowl
2003
8-4 Auburn 22-0 at Auburn (an SEC team if you can believe that)
10-2 Washington 43-23 at Washington
10-2 Washington St 43-16
10-2 Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl
2004
9-2 Arizona St 45-7
12-0 Oklahoma 55-19 in the NC game
2005
10-1 Oregon 45-13 at Oregon
8-3 Cal 35-10 at Cal
10-1 UCLA 66-19 (I'll be they are scrambling to take that billboard down)
2006
10-3 Arkansas 50-14 at Arkansas (another SEC team)
9-4 Nebraska 28-10
10-2 Cal 23-9
11-1 Michigan 32-18 in the Rose Bowl
2007
9-3 Oregon St 24-3
10-2 Arizona St 44-24 at ASU
9-3 Illinois 49-17 in the Rose Bowl (anybody seeing a Rose Bowl trend here?)
But somehow we were expected to fly to California and take on this phalanx (who has been anticipating this game just as much as we have) without our starting running back and prevail?
Well, maybe. Maybe if we had a masterful game plan and our coaches were ready with needed adjustments at every turn. (Hang on a second - gotta grab a drink and stop this coughing.) Maybe if they were taking us lightly (maybe they were) and we were totally fired up. Maybe if we made no mistakes. Maybe then we could have covered the spread.
For some time many have been arguing that our program is at the same level as USC. It simply is not. No program is. (And the systems that rank recruiting classes which don't put USC in the top 5 every season are simply broken.)
So the loss I can live with. The loss, quite frankly, I fully expected.
The loss isn't the problem. 35-3 is the problem.
And USC isn't the problem. USC plus LSU plus Florida - that is the problem.
114-41 in three games (114 - 24 after our opening salvos) - that is the problem.
The media abuse. The taunting from opposing fans with fewer and fewer handy retorts on our side. That is the problem.
C. CARING FOR YOUR DVR
A DVR is nothing more than a computer. It has an operating system and a hard drive. And here is something that you may not know about how computers work. When you delete a file it doesn't really delete the data. Instead, there is an index that points to the files and when you do a delete the index entry for that file is removed making that space available to be used again. But, until that space is used, the file and its data are still there (unless you do a low level reformat which is not an option on the menu of most DVRs)..
So what's the point? The point is THAT GAME IS STILL ON YOUR DVR!! We have to get rid of it. Now!!!!
The best solution is to soak the entire machine in a tub of warm soapy water for at least 20 minutes. Then, while it is still moist, cut the cord and splice it to the pig tail from your dryer. Plug it in to the dryer outlet and fry that sucker for about 10 seconds.
Then, and only then, can we get on with our respective lives.
D. QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSEY
Stan White pretty much got a pass at OSU - as he should. Rated the #9 TE out of HS and a four star recruit he was moved around to a variety of positions just to get playing time. He made a contribution but never came close to making anybody-s All American or All Big Ten lists.
But nobody ever trashed Stan White because he was never asked to move to center stage and be anything more than Stan White. Jamo, Tim Schaefer, Roy Hall were all 4 and 5 star players who arguably never lived up to the "expectations" of a player at that level. But they were contributing members of the team who were what they were and the team did not need them to be anything more to be a good football team - even to be a team that competed for National Championships. Even Justin Zwick got a pass in the end because we had Troy Smith.
Then along comes this three star QB out of St Henry. He never asked Schoenhoft to crash and burn. He didn't ask Henton to transfer. He didn't ask OSU not to recruit more competition at the position. He just went out and worked hard and played his best and EARNED the starting nod after Troy Smith left.
Along with writing "observations" I have been busy deleting all my posts defending Todd and arguing he would transition into an AA candidate this season. It doesn't look like that is going to happen. Even after six years he stares down receivers, throws into coverage, and struggles under pressure. Just like Mili said he would.
But while it may be fair to honestly critique his performance (sitting in front of a TV long enough on a Saturday gives us the right to do this to kids we have never met) we must be careful. Todd Boeckman has been asked to perform a role White and Jamo and Schaefer and Hall were never asked to perform. To be a star in the show. To run the offense.
And he did perform that role last season - well enough to win the Big Ten and get us to the NC game. And for all that happened Saturday night there he was after every play looking at JT and the other coaches who were unable to solve the problem of the USC defense and saying "Thank you Sir, may I have another". And he is still fully capable of leading us to another Big Ten title this season. And, with USC in the Orange - winning the Rose.
But he won't. He has lost his job. With Boeckman on the field and no Beanie we lost half our offensive potential. With Pryor in we lost the other half. But Pryor has an enormous upside. And if JT trusted him enough to play him when he did last night it is time to trust him far more against Troy and Minnesota. It may happen gradually. Boeckman may remain the face saving starter on the first drive of each game for some time. But it does mean more and more Pryor running more and more of the Offense and taking over the reigns as fast as his ability to learn the Offense will let him.
And as for Pryor - take a moment to consider what was asked of him. I am still amazed JT gave him the keys as much as he did. And no, he didn't pull a Vince Young. He did much more than Vince Young did because as a true Freshman Vince Young was sitting on the bench wearing a red shirt. Pryor stood in against the finest athletes in college football and kept his poise.
And this transition could be interesting to watch - an opportunity for JT to earn his keep. No player on this team has played a down without Todd Boeckman in the game or on the sideline. He was the acknowledged leader coming into the season. He is one of the 39 upperclassmen who dominate this team.
Pryor is a brash kid with some justifiable swagger. It is easy to dismiss this change as no problem. You do what the coach says and march on. But it isn't that easy. Team chemistry can be a sensitive thing. (Although the events of Saturday night should actually facilitate the process.)
E. A NOTE TO THE USC FANS
If you are over here to gloat - go ahead and get it over with. But remember this. Sure, you may have the better football team - for now.
But we have seasons that change. And those pretty Midwestern girls - who are just a little broader in the beam (for those of us who like that sort of thing). And their hair comes in colors other than blonde and many of them have real boobs. And we have the JC Penney Outlet Center and a mall at every freeway exit. And you can get to those exits because our traffic is manageable and you can see those exits because we don't have your smog. And Wendy's got its start here.
You got Hollywood stars? We got Richard Lewis. You got beaches? We got one of those at Alum Creek. You got mountains? We got MAGIC Mountains.
So go ahead and gloat and enjoy your football team. Cause that's all you got.
F. THE TRENCHES
All week everyone was quibbling over whether Beanie would play* and how much we would see Pryor**. But the real issues always were Defense and the battles in the trenches.
Whatever USC did offensively started with their line. The holes their RB's jogged through and the time given to Sanchez.
And any problems we had on Offense started the same way. As often as not Boeckman had company with the snap. And that one five star players who started for OSU? He was called for two penalties (one for "flinching"?) and opened the door to a sack and fumble by vacating his hole and biting on a fake blitz.
The fixes start here. Play them even up at the line and we can start talking about skill positions. But we never got there.
(* Beanie should not have played. Sure, he practiced. But imagine him engaged with Maulaluga trying for one more yard, the effort he would give, and the torque that would put on his foot. And it wouldn't have changed the outcome.)
(**More Pryor simply meant more of the game with half our available offense and more time for USC to focus on what that meant. And it wouldn't have changed the outcome.)
G. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
My sister in law made the news this week:
www.theonion.com/content/node/35346
H. DEFENSE
Airfare to LA - $560
Lodging at a fine hotel - $350 per night.
Tickets to the big game - $80
Contribution to the Athletic Department - $10,000
Having your hat handed to you for the third straight time - priceless.
The alumni are angry. They are looking for JT and they have nails and vinegar.
Not just Florida. Not just LSU. Not just USC. Take a look at our last six games:
A loss to Illinois at home that included not only the failure of our offense but a remarkable and inexplicable 16 play Illinois drive that ran out the final 8 plus minutes of the game.
An 8 point win against a struggling and banged up Michigan (not that any win over Michigan should ever be described as anything less than a great win).
A second straight NC butt whipping at the hands of the SEC.
A rout - of a lower Division school.
A 4th quarter come from behind win against an 0-3 MAC school.
Our third straight humbling defeat on the national stage.
I can rationalize away each of these games - but not all of them. And no matter how hard I try I come back to one thing. Three straight times on the big stage and we failed to show up. It happens. But three straight times is tough to take.
I haven't been reading the boards, but I imagine right now folks are blaming everyone. My attention is pretty focused. Defensive game planning. There are lots of reasons your O can stall. But everything - including offensive field position - starts with the D.
For the past two seasons we put up great defensive numbers. But we gave up 80 points the last two games of 2006, 38 in last years NC game and 35 Saturday.
From 1973 through 1976 nobody scored more than 23 points against Ohio State. THAT is great D. Saturday marked the 12th time opponents have passed that mark since 2004.
Granted, we faced great teams with great offenses. But good pitching stops good hitting. You simply can't make the case that in any of those games we put together a solid game plan or made adequate adjustments.
We know we have the players. We can see them on film. They get the awards. They are drafted into the NFL.
A good defensive game plan is not just what you are going to do. It is what you are going to do AND what you are going to do next when they adjust to what you did. Building a good game plan is a complex activity. It can take a lot of time. (We had all freakin summer.)
And with a solid game plan even a mediocre team should be able to take away another team's primary weapon. They will still get beat - but they can force you to beat them some other way.
When USC changed weapons Saturday it was their choice - not ours. They simply got bored with one approach and went with another. They wanted to show off all their weapons. They did more or less as they pleased.
Florida, LSU, USC - 114 points in three games. I don't recall any of those teams going to plan B.
Our almost unprecedented success the past 5 plus years and our disastrous performances in these three games are an anomaly that begs for explanation or remedy.
I have been the boss. I have fired people. It ain't easy.
Or, to put it another way - three and a half million is a lot of money.
I. IF ONLY...
I hope nobody is desperate enough to play "If only Beanie....." or "If only they called holding...." or other pitiful games this week. But there is one version I still hang on to.
In 2006 the pollsters came dangerously close to sending Michigan instead of Florida to the NC game. If only they had....
Win and we are the team of the decade. Lose and we split with UM and our status suffers only limited damage. And in either case the Big Ten is not exposed.
Then the LSU game is the anomaly. The game where we were just a bit over confident. And even now the pain would be limited. Pants a bit loose perhaps, but not around our ankles.
If only....
J. POWER OUTAGE
Due to the wind storm and resulting power outage in central Ohio (if only it had come a day earlier) I am forced to type this by candle light. As a result inane attempts at humor that only I think is funny will be limited.
This is one of them.
K. REGROUPING
The way to get the most out of our illogical attachment to sports teams of which we are not a direct part is simple. Embrace them when they do well - and let it go when they do poorly.
How do you let it go? Play football with your kids. Cook a fattening meal. Google "penguins and midgets with large breasts". The world is a wonderful place.
For those more directly involved with the program it can't be that easy.
First of all, let me thank Beanie for staying off the exercise bike. The parallels are already too clear. But how do these kids who came back for an NC - who came back to play and beat USC - make sense of what has happened to them. This is OSU's version of the Redeem Team - coming back to prove that Florida and LSU were flukes. How do they restore confidence in themselves and their coaches?
I'm not sure, but if they are going to be paid 3.5 million a year they better... Oops. My bad. They get a free education. It is Tressel who gets 3.5 million. And it is up to Tressel to get them ready by Saturday. He will. Increased use of Pryor (properly managed) could reenergize. The return of Beanie - please, please, please - certainly will.
L. POLITICS
This is one of the more interesting elections I can recall. But I am now ready to make a decision.
I will vote for whatever candidate will support a law making it illegal to televise images of a grown man naked in a bathtub while two other grown men blow into it with straws. I am sure it was meant to amuse. The image is far too disturbing.
M. WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE
The theme of this week - and perhaps the remainder of the season - on this and other boards will be the need for change.
Let us move cautiously.
Regardless of this game there are not five better programs in the nation over the past 5 years than OSU. We are not as bad as we look - honest.
Beginning last season recruiting has gone to a new level - a level equal even with USC. (Half of the five star athletes on our current roster are true freshmen. And we will have at least five 5 star players in the 2008 and 2009 classes who will play in those nasty trenches.)
There is new QB in town who could single handedly take us up a notch.
We are dominant in the Big Ten and have a chance to win an unprecedented third straight Big Ten title.
We are recruiting quality kids who are improving our graduation rates and (for the most part) keeping their noses clean.
Our head coach is a genuinely classy, quality individual.
And our last NC is only 6 years old.
The folks who have brought us to this level deserve something better than floggings for raising our expectations a bit too high.
But in three years we have been called on three times to face one of the other top five programs in the nation - and we didn't show up. That is fact.
It is not time for wholesale changes. But it is time for change. (Or at least it will be come seasons end.) Subtle changes can have big results. Assistant coaches and coordinators can have enormous impact. I won't pretend to know the specifics - although I obviously have an opinion. It is Tressel's job to fix it. Unfortunately by all appearances it is a problem that should have been fixed during the past off season. For all my bluster I really don't know. Neither do you.
But for now let's take a deep breath, win the Big Ten, thump Michigan and chalk up another Rose Bowl. This is a great team that is about to start using Terrelle Pryor to a degree I had never anticipated this early. That alone will be worth the price of admission. So let's keep the rhetoric within a manageable level and appreciate what is in front of us for what it is - not what we expected it to be.
N. IN CLOSING
My therapist recommends that I paint. Says it will help me control the temper and perhaps dampen the voices. If I could paint a picture to reflect my feelings about this week's game it would probably look something like this:
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/...x=400&y=237&q=85&sig=Jc8UFEWemVFsreuOH00K6A--
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