Reading HW's preview put some new thinking into this game for me but mixing it with how I felt before here are my points for this game and for the season thereafter.
1. The Lines are where this game is gonna be won. Cliche as it may be, OSU's D line has to get hits on the RBs and on Corp or Barkley. The disappointment in the D line was one of the biggest standouts from the game in LA. They put two young and inexpirienced guys on their right side and our D line couldn't exploit it and get to Sanchez and from that it probably did feel like practice. The D line against Tex in the bowl played great and held Colt in check to some degree and gave the Bucks the chance to pull out a win. The O line is upgraded by subtraction of 2-3 players that werent pushed for their spots on the line and against even to better talent those players especially the party at LT was a continuous revolving door for DEs including USC's. Pryor will need the time back there and the RB's will need an agressive blow off the ball line.
2. Creativity is an off and on thing with Tressell. In the bowls he tries hard to utilize other sets and switch things up but doesn't like using that stuff early or showing his hand. He will again have many weapons on offense to switch in and out, and now has a talented and ultra athletic TE to use...hint hint... The DCor also has to let loose a bit of the reigns, be creative but let instincts of what you've practiced all week come out. With 2 sets of very telented safties in this years game the D's could have the oppurtunities to fly all over the place.
3. TP's development in the offseason is going to be paramount to the success of the season. Decision-making and technique needs to shine thru. A mid-spring video showed his obvious hunger and leadership but I hope he has allowed this to drive him to be the best player he can be in all aspects. In that same video he discussed how much he had thrown (it had only been the first 3-4 weeks if that of practice) and worked on footwork and how much his confidence was brimming in those aspects as well as his trust in the line and recievers. If his development matches what I saw in that video he could make up for alot of inadequacies the Bucks could have on offense. Pryor will throw alot more than many expect but his threat of running could put opposing defenses on their heels. Plus it's TP's team this year and the divisions that grew even with Senior leadership being so thick shouldn't occur this year.
4. The RB's expirience and hunger will help keep things even on offense. Saine has expressed being tired of having his mom answer questions of when he will live up to the potential that was expected prior to his knee injury. He could have an unbelievably productive year as a RB and recieving back. Herron has proved that he can cut it as a number one back and another year in the Buckeye weight training program will only help him.
5. Addition by subtraction overall. I understand losing leadership hurts young players overall, but i feel some of the players that left had a massive hangover from all of those big game let downs. Over and over we heard them say " that isn't going to happen again" followed by "we had a great practice session" which we all know how that preparation turned out. The young (and not as inexpierienced as people want to believe) Bucks of 09 could come out with that mentality of "We are playing to win" not "let's not mess up and lose". Pryor's offseason attitude could prove to be key in this.
6. Being in Columbus is huge for Sept. 12. I understand that USC has traveled east and won before but against lesser talented clubs and with much better talent of their own. (Vir, Ark, Aub) Not normally top teir teams of recent years. USC has been very hard to beat in SoCal over the last 10 years, but add that to the Beanie watch the week before and the way Boeckman had issues with defensive pressure and that was a time bomb wanting to happen. Having the knowledge that USC comes to our house will play a big role in the players and possibly even coaches confidence.
7. Many of the young players played significant time last year and know what to expect in regular season and Big Stage games. Tressell always does a good job of rotating in players to get them acclumated to the speed of the game. Even though main starters were lost, OFF-TP, herron, saine, brew, boren, ballard, adams, cordle, shugarts, browning, sans, posey, small(hopefully grades) DEF-Coleman, hines, homan, spitler, hayward, thad, chekwa, denlinger, worth, wilson, russell, larimore, rose(hopefully grades) and more have played many meaningful downs and even played USC before.
The team is more expirienced than believed but the name guys arent there like in years past but it could make for a more well knit team.
All that being said, I believe Pryor's decision making will prove key and the Bucks defense will do enough to slow USC down to 17-21 points.
OSU 28 - USC 17