My heart is broken. But I can see the groundwork being laid for a dominant defense with this team. USC had two real drives. They scored 11 points on their own. The first touchdown was not the defenses fault, especially after they stopped them the first 3 downs. I hurt for the defense. Holding the #3 team in the country to 18 points, where 7 were almost impossible to stop, along with getting a safety. The offense should have been able to put up the points necessary to win. That last drive, the defense was extremely gassed. You could tell.
The offense seems to be a bit of a patchwork offense at this point. They never really seemed comfortable. It was a mix of big plays and lost yardage, no real sustained drives to tire out USC's defense. Boom and Saine played great. Terrelle threw a couple great balls that he wouldnt have been able to complete last year. The offensive line did a MUCH better than expected job. But the cohesiveness, the glue plays that patch together in between the big plays, don't seem to be here yet. I'm talking about the 5 yard slant to improve 3rd down chances, or the 6 yard carry to give you a bevy of options on 2nd and short. Those plays weren't there. So it was either big play, or predictable third down situation.
All in all I'm proud of the way our guys fought. We are a few glue plays away from sustaining drives and killing out the clock. The talent is there, we can hang with any team in the country in that regard. I just don't think that our guys (mostly young) have been able to fulfill their potential as of yet.
I emplore the buckeye fan base to stay postive with this game. Sure, it leaves a sour taste in our mouths. But, this lays the ground work for an even sweeter vindication when it comes. We are Ohio State. Vindication is coming. Until then, it is our duty as a fan base to be proud and to support the young men that put their all into this game.
Go Bucks!
to the rest of the season, and an 
to getting to another bowl game.
