Sparty +4.5 at TSUN (ov/un 64.5) 3:30 ET ABC/ESPN

[Steve19]

The posters I like best are those who begin with words similar to, "I'm starting to think that RichRod may not lead us to a national championship...all in...hold the soap..."

Hey Woody! Are you making sure that Bo gets every detail?

 

[Steve19]

I must admit that I am sometimes loathe to rub salt in the wounds of TSUN fans. Bear with me a second. We're all part of a common humanity and, if you are old enough, then you must remember what it was like when John Cooper was a coach.

Except, then I realize it is not the same.

Ohio State lost to TSUN when it had some pretty good teams under Cooper. I don't think Ohio State fans ever had to endure something like this, despite the expectations for four loss seasons under Cooper generally. I mean Coop won three BigTen championships and never hit the image lows of RichRod. Although there were widespread criticisms that Coop never understood the "soul" of Ohio State football (e.g., the rivalry with TSUN, hot tub promos), I don't remember anyone questioning whether he was a decent man as compared to the scandals around RichRod leaving WVa, the condo deals, etc.

Boy, these are not days to be a TSUN fan and I am going to be amazed if he is there at year end.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I must admit that I am sometimes loathe to rub salt in the wounds of TSUN fans. Bear with me a second. We're all part of a common humanity and, if you are old enough, then you must remember what it was like when John Cooper was a coach.

Except, then I realize it is not the same.

Ohio State lost to TSUN when it had some pretty good teams under Cooper. I don't think Ohio State fans ever had to endure something like this, despite the expectations for four loss seasons under Cooper generally. I mean Coop won three BigTen championships and never hit the image lows of RichRod. Although there were widespread criticisms that Coop never understood the "soul" of Ohio State football (e.g., the rivalry with TSUN, hot tub promos), I don't remember anyone questioning whether he was a decent man as compared to the scandals around RichRod leaving WVa, the condo deals, etc.

Boy, these are not days to be a TSUN fan and I am going to be amazed if he is there at year end.

With the power of hindsight I'd say there was a stretch between 1987 and 1992 (under both Earl and Coop) where the program was at the lowest sustained level it has been in modern history. I know I damn sure wouldn't ever want to relive that period, it was pure hell but on its worst day it was never as bad as what is going on up in AA right now. Never.

1988 was the low point, 4-6-1 no Bowl for the second year in a row and Darkest Day II. 1989 saw them return to 8-4 and a Bowl with steady improvement from there on out. The other big difference was that in the early years when Coop was at a talent disadvantage in The Game he actually played them pretty tough.

Coop never lost at home to a Toledo. He never brought down major NCAA infractions and his lowest B10 win total was 2 wins and a tie in 1988. By the end of his 3rd year at OSU he had 13 B10 wins and had them in 2 Bowl games. Also, when Coop left he had a roster with enough talent on it to win a NC in year 2 for his successor.

If scUM finds a guy that can win a NC in 2 years with what RR will leave him, I'll make a donation to the M club.

 

[BB73]

He got 15 yards for the whisper signal? Somewhat harsh.

I think that specific move is in the rule book. I actually think it was in the rule book when TG got away with it.

I've looked it up. NCAA.football.rules pages 125/126

Rule 9.1 Conduct of players, Section 2 Unsportsmanlike conduct fouls

It talks about these things:

"engage is such acts that provoke ill will or are demeaning to an opponent";

"pointing the finger(s), hand(s) or arm(s) at an opponent",

"imitating the slashing of the throat",

"taunting, baiting, or ridiculing an opponent verbally",

"inciting an opponent or spectators in any other way, such as simulating the firing of a weapon or placing a hand by the ear to request recognition",

"obviously altering stride approaching the end zone or diving into it (unopposed)",

"removal of a helmet",

"punching one's own chest or crossing one's arms in front of the chest while posing over a prone player", and

"bowing at the waist after a good play".

So nothing specifically worded for the whisper gesture, but there's wording that can have that interpreted as being unsportsmanlike, like provoking "ill will" or "inciting spectators".

 

[Mrstickball]

Michigan has the classic failings of any zone-read team. If the other team is disciplined to ensure there are no easy throws or runs, then they fold.

We did it to Oregon and Massoli in the Rose Bowl. Iowa did it against Georgia Tech. There's almost no way Michigan is going to beat Iowa or Wiscy.

I can't wait for that matchup to end the season with Michigan. Feels like we could run the score to 50 or even 60 against them, given how good Ohio State's offense is. Michigan is, at best, an 8-win team.

 

[ulukinatme]

After being at the ND/Michigan game and watching the MSU/ND game I had a feeling this matchup would favor Sparty because they had the defense. Both games were close, however the deciding factor was that ND didn't have a QB for half the game against Michigan. Denard looks to still be a force in the loss against Sparty, but give credit to Sparty holding him for fewer rushing yards than some of his previous outtings. I wish I could have seen this one, but I was at Pitt/ND. Hat's off to Dantonio, and heres hoping to a speedy recovery.

 

[OhioState001]

I just realized if Dantonio keeps this up he may be able to steal another Big Ten Coach of the Year from Tressel.

 

[Zander42]

is it possible to say the defense showed a little improvement yesterday? They held MSU to 3 points total in the 1st and 4th quarter. It looked like they got away from that stupid 3-3-5 garbage they'd been playing and finally started blitzing and rushing 4 down linemen.

Eliminate those two home run runs and we may have been in it a little bit more. The offense was the big let down IMO yesterday. Holding them to 35 may have been a victory for the defense.....

That's how Rod's teams play defense though. It's "break, don't bend" all the way. If you have the game DVR'd (and haven't erased it), go back and look at where UM is lined up on D. Every player is within 5 yards of LOS on most plays. It creates a wall that might be hard to break through, but once that happens, it's off to the races. I noticed that also in The Game, 2008. We (tOSU) either got nothing or we gained 20 to 50 yards. Last year was similar, but we weren't executing on offense very well.

 

[cincibuck]

I don't personally give a shit if scUM is 0-11 or 11-0 going into The Game and I don't really care who or what scUM beat to get to that point. I couldn't give a shit less about what the Pundiots think about scUM or Ohio State at that point either.

Why not just have Ohio State play Ohio State each week since other teams don't matter?

At least the "pundiots" are interested in the rest of the world, but hey, if you can get 105K into the shoe 8 times a year to watch a scrimmage why not go for it?

Hell, why not add a scrimmage in January and call it a bowl game, have a parade, a beauty pageant and a week of eating contests between the offense and the defense. My God, how the money rolls in.

 

[OH HSKR FAN]

Michigan State??

Can they run the table? Still have Iowa on the schedule. Also is this just me or are there uniforms more darker green than normal?

 

[Dryden]

Can they run the table? Still have Iowa on the schedule. Also is this just me or are there uniforms more darker green than normal?

Yes, I think they can run the table. Problem is ... they're Sparty, so they won't.

They'll get clipped at Iowa, I presume. Possibly at Northwestern too, just because they're Sparty and they have to lose a heart-breaker somewhere. 10-2 is easily doable for them.

 

[cincibuck]

Seriously? How about that they're not an unstoppable offensive juggernaut and hairlace isn't the superman he was against the tomato cans they had the first five weeks...just like almost all of us said. It's gonna continue the rest of the year, excepting maybe Purdue and PSU (who are awful). Your need to defend everything scUM related is bordering on pathological now.

Pathological? Have I threatened to blow up Buckeye Planet?

And "my need?"

Robinson is having an excellent year. It seems to me that the most obvious fact in the matter is that without his performance Michigan would not be where they are -- 5 and 1. Contrary to what you may believe, I'm surprised that he's been able to run up the numbers he's had -- including his numbers against a good MSU defense -- numbers that look good despite the numerous dropped balls by his receivers -- 3 in a row at one point and 2 in the end zone.

I haven't pimped him for the Heisman, or even Big 10 POW. To be labeled "pathological" for pointing out he's playing well seems over the top.

If the purpose of this board is to do nothing but shill for the Buckeyes, then where is its relevance?

 

[billmac91]

Let me see if I follow the logic here; Denard hasn't faced a good defense because he's played against Notre Dame -- a team the Big 10 has all but begged to join the conference -- and Indiana a conference member -- UConn a team most BP posters picked to kick Michigan's ass and U Mass because they're like Marshall or OU or EMU but with different names and jerseys -- and during this time Denard has run up unGodly numbers even in comparison to the numbers a certain QB from another B10 team has posted, but Denard's numbers don't count because, well, they came against those teams that don't count, unlike EMU, Ohio U and Marshall, who do count, and now he's going to get his comeuppance because Michigan is going to play Michigan State, a team that just blew Notre Dame out of the water, while Dennard had to get lucky and score a last second TD to beat the same team.

Am I close there?

Hey, I love Terrell and the Buckeyes, but let's put some perspective on this.

Mostly b/c everyone remebered what Tate Forcier did to open last season before facing some real teams.

Your argument got blown up as soon as Denard faced an athletic defense with....well, athletes. Just b/c the media has the memory of a 2 year old, doesn't mean intelligent college football fans didn't see Michigan's start for what it was.

The Denard Robinson ungodly numbers are about to hit a similar wall Tate Forcier has already crashed into. The kid is a nice player but he has a long way to go to become a Heisman trophy QB.

PS: Who remembers Tate Forcier getting Hesiman talk last year after 3 weeks. LOL.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

It's his schtick. Before we were all offbase for saying we needed to see him do it against a better defense.

needs repeating.

 

[Rich_Rodriguez]

http://umgoblue.com/talk/Rich-Rod-please-resign-m140775.aspx

They are hurting my feelings over there. I can't coach when I am taking this kind of abuse!

http://www.firerrod.com/forum/forum.html

At least some of those guys understand what I am talking about.

Besides, I don't see what's so nifty about a stupid trophy anyways. It looks good having an empty spot there, I am thinking of installing a coat-rack or maybe a spittoon. Both could also be an option, then we could hang coon-skin caps and spit into the spittoon during team meetings. It would be just like where I used to coach.