Game Thread THE GAME: #1 Ohio State 42, #2 Michigan 39 (11/18/06)

[osugrad21]

CPD

Dad passes down rivalry to son


Tuesday, November 14, 2006Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Columbus -- Baldwin-Wall ace's season was over by the time of the Ohio State-Michigan game, so the late Lee Tressel, a champi onship coach at the Berea school, and the championship coach in the making, his son Jimmy, would watch it on television together.
"It used to be about the first time I saw my dad in the light of day," Jim Tres sel said.
Some father-son bondings occur on the green diamonds of baseball. The Tressels were soldered together by what happened in The Big House or by how the luck fell in The Horseshoe.
"He was a huge Buckeye fan, and probably the most important thing to me was I got a chance to be with him and watch it. And of course here he was rooting for his team, so that became my team," Tressel said.
He grew up to be the Buckeyes coach, gaining a stature in the biggest rivalry game of them all that vies with that of Woody Hayes himself. He is in the head of Michigan's Lloyd Carr the way Carr used to be in John Cooper's.
Carr's personality runs the gamut from irate to uptight. With a 1-4 record against Tressel, he enjoys The Game about as much as the accused witch enjoyed being drowned in a medieval trial by ordeal. Saturday, when No. 1 Ohio State faces No. 2 Michigan at Ohio Stadium, Carr will be as much fun as a peptic ulcer.
Tressel is close to the vest, in both attire and emotions. But he holds Ohio State-Michigan in his heart because it is the end-game, the last line on his team's growth chart, and because it was the first game, the one that tied him to his father and taught him the dynamics of a rivalry he would dominate.
"I got an e-mail from a guy who said he's flying to Las Vegas to watch the game with his son because he can't get tickets, then flying home that night. He just wants to be with his son. I can relate to that," Tressel said.
Tressel doesn't even hate Michigan. Wasn't that Cooper's problem, that he didn't have the proper venom in his veins? That he was a guy who would buy gas in Michigan, rather than push his car across the state line? "I liked them both," Tressel said. "I just liked Ohio State better."
Can you really like them both? Aren't Ohio State and Michigan mutually exclusive, like the Montagues and Capulets, or the Democrats and Republicans?

"If you like the game of football, you can," Tressel said.
It seems to be part of his embrace of all things about the rivalry. From both the outside looking in and from the innermost sanctum of big-game-planning, he can't fathom anything else like it.
"You can't quantify it, but you can feel the electricity and the energy," Tressel said. "My first [Michigan] game as an assistant here, I was preparing for just another game as a coach, and then all of a sudden you go into that environment. I wasn't worth a hoot probably the first quarter because I was in awe of the feeling. I probably wasn't worth a hoot in the fourth quarter, either." He freely admits it is impossible to scheme Troy Smith's spin moves in a playbook or to plot Anthony Gonzalez's flight path to Smith's passes. Sometimes it comes down to great players making great plays. But his teams are not intimidated by the big moments because their coach meets them with his eyes shining, on his very own field of dreams.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

OSU seeks first outright crown in 22 years
JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
11/14/2006


http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1699&dept_id=46370&newsid=17462059

COLUMBUS -- It will rarely get discussed this week, given the larger ramifications at stake, but a victory over Michigan on Saturday would give Ohio State its first outright Big Ten championship in 22 years.


The Buckeyes have shared six titles since winning it outright in 1984, but winning an outright conference championship has been important to coach Jim Tressel since he arrived. Tressel, in fact, was on coach Earle Bruce's staff in '84.

''We've had a number of co-championships, but that's huge,'' Tressel said. ''Now where does it rank in comparison to the (national championship game)? Below them, but it's big.''

Added guard T.J. Downing: ''The last time we won it outright was when I was born. So it's a dream of mine to get it.''

Injury report

Left tackle Alex Boone, who has missed two games with what is considered a knee injury, will return this week. Aside from Anderson Russell, who was lost for the season in September with a knee injury, that makes every starter healthy going into the final game of the season.

''For being in game 12 of 12 games in a row,'' Tressel said, ''I have no complaints (health-wise).''

Back to Wells

Tressel has given every indication that he intends to play Chris Wells extensively on Saturday, despite his propensity to fumble and Michigan's ability to create turnovers.

Wells carried 11 times last week against Northwestern without a fumble, the first time in four games that has happened. Still, Tressel said yesterday that Wells is second in line and Maurice Wells is third.

''I'm counting on Chris Wells to be a great contributor,'' Tressel said. ''I think Chris Wells is a big part of who we want to be and our chance of succeeding. He's gotten to the point now where there's not anything that he hasn't experienced.''

Scouting Michigan

Defensive end Jay Richardson said Michigan tailback Mike Hart isn't as elusive as Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe and he isn't as powerful as Michigan State's Jehuu Caulcrick, but he's the best combination of both.

Hart has rushed for 1,373 yards and 11 touchdowns, while his average of 124 yards a game ranks sixth in the nation.

''He's got excellent vision and amazing balance,'' Richardson said. ''He's hard to take down with an arm tackle, he can spin off guys, he can keep his balance, keep his footing, get those extra yards before he goes out of bounds. It's going to be a real tough test for us as a defense to be able to kind of contain him and keep him in front of us.''

No paint

The fashionable T.J. Downing, who has sported a Mohawk all season, said earlier this year he might put a little maize and blue in it for the Michigan game. There wasn't any paint in it yesterday and Downing said it will stay that way.

''That might be going a little too far,'' he said yesterday. ''I think I outspoke myself when I said that. I usually don't do that much.''

 

[osugrad21]

Link

OSU-Michigan game is what sports is all about
By JIM INGRAHAM, Morning Journal Writer
11/14/2006


http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1699&dept_id=46370&newsid=17462058

It's because of games like this that players play, coaches coach, and fans fan.


Saturday, at 3:30 p.m., by the shores of the Olentangy, in the shining Big Gray Horseshoe, near the backyard of St. Woody, under a blue gray November sky, our lives will be -- there's no other way to look at it, really, is there? -- forever changed.

An overstatement, you say?

Says you.

Says the rest of us: fasten your seat belts. We're about to witness sports history on a gargantuan scale.

How many layers of deliciousness do you need?

No. 1 vs. No. 2.

Undefeated vs. Undefeated.

Superpower vs. Superpower.

Michigan vs. Ohio State.

It's like a roomful of Da Vinci's, and Mona Lisa just walked through the door.

THIS is why we care about sports. This is why we put up with the arrogant, ego-driven, selfish, spoiled, over-paid, under-motivated, gun-toting, drug-abusing, jerks who litter the darker corners of life's toy department.

We put up with them, because of moments like this.

We put up with them, because for us, the game's the thing, and what a thing this game is going to be.

For us.

For them.

And for the two men who will lead their respective, heavily-taped and padded mobs of student-athlete men-children onto the sacred, albeit patchy clumps of sod that more or less carpets the floor of The Great Cathedral, Ohio Stadium, at 3:30 p.m., on Smackdown Saturday.

Michigan vs. Ohio State.

Lloyd Carr vs. Jim Tressel.

Gentlemen, empty your weight rooms!

''I remember,'' said Tressel at his weekly press conference in Columbus yesterday, ''one year when we were both recruiting (the same player). The youngster told me that one thing coach Carr told him was, ?You want to go to go to one of these two schools, because this is the greatest rivalry in college football and you want to be a part of that.' That was my first time (recruiting against Carr), and I was tremendously impressed with his feeling for what Ohio State and Michigan is all about.''

What it's all about, of course, is everything. And each coach knows it. Each one knows he will, first and foremost, be defined as a football coach, by how successful he is on Smackdown Saturday.

That, in fact, is how Tressel got the job in Columbus. His predecessor, John Cooper, wrote his own ticket out of town by going a hideous 2-10-1 vs. Michigan. Carr cashed in on the tail end of that ineptitude. He took over in Ann Arbor in 1995 and won five of his first six games against Team Cooper.

Tressel took over in 2001, and since then, Carr's record vs. Ohio State is 1-4.

Asked yesterday at his own press conference in Ann Arbor about the criticism he's shouldered for his inability to beat Tressel, Carr said, ''Anytime you lose, you're going to take criticism. That's just the way it is.''

That may explain Carr's more tempered feelings towards his counterpart in Columbus.

''We have always had a professional relationship,'' he said, ''but I don't think you'll be seeing the Ohio State and Michigan coaches going to any parties together.''

In his 12 years at Michigan, Carr's record is 103-34 (.752). In his six years at Ohio State, Tressel is 61-13, a winning percentage of .824, which is the better than Woody Hayes' mark in Columbus, and better than any of the other 20 men who have coached football at Ohio State since 1890, with the exception of the legend himself, Carroll Widdoes, who succeeded somebody named Paul Brown in Columbus and went 16-2 (88 percent) in his two years (1944-45) behind the wheel.

However, Widdoes was only 1-1 vs. Michigan, and neither of those games carried the historical baggage that will come with Saturday's Extravaganzapalooza.

''We've played this game for 102 years and this is the first time in over a century that (the teams have gone into it 11-0 and ranked 1-2 in the country),'' said Carr, who has 12 Ohioans on his roster (Tressel has just two players from Michigan). ''In that length of time, this has never happened before, and it may never happen again. It's a dream to coach in this rivalry, but to coach in a game like this is very special.''

Tressel, whose quotes tend to be about as flashy as his trademark sweater vests, is typically reluctant to put any stock in his .800 winning percentage vs. Michigan.

Asked his feeling about being 4-1 in The Game, Tressel, said, ''It has nothing to do with 2006. That's the biggest feeling.''

Indeed, if the two coaches in Saturday's Game of the Century share any common ground, its a determination not to say anything the least bit provocative in the days leading up to armageddon.

Tressel, that 4-1 record notwithstanding, says he has no manila folder stamped ''top secret'' that he pulls out of his desk drawer every November.

''I don't have any answers (that other coaches don't have for beating Michigan),'' he said. ''I think our guys play hard. They have for however many years the Ohio State-Michigan game has gone on. Sometimes you come up on the good end, sometimes you don't. But if anyone pretends to think they have the answer, they've got a problem.''

Us?

We've got Saturday. It's why we do whatever we do. And it can't get here soon enough.

 

[osugrad21]

MSNBC

Carr?s legacy on line? That?s ridiculous

Give Michigan coach credit for an amazing record

Carlos Osorio / AP file
Lloyd Carr deserves credit for an excellent program at Michigan, writes columnist Joey Johnston.

ASK THE EXPERT
By Joey Johnston
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

Not much is at stake in Saturday?s Ohio State-Michigan game. Only the Big Ten championship. Only the undisputed No. 1 ranking. Only a spot in the BCS Championship Game and a shot at this season?s national championship. Only bragging rights in the biggest of the 103 Ohio State-Michigan games, widely considered as the top rivalry in college football.
Only the legacy of Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.
If Michigan wins, Carr has beaten his biggest nemesis, the nation?s top-ranked team, on the road, with the highest stakes ever. Few coaches ? Bo Schembechler included ? have won a game that big. If Michigan loses, Carr sinks to 1-5 against Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and a season?s worth of goodwill is diminished.

?That?s hogwash!? Schembechler said Monday when asked about the pressure Carr might face when trying to beat Tressel. ?I think we should go back and look at Lloyd?s record.?
We did. And it?s impressive. Carr is 113-34 overall. In the Big Ten, he?s 75-20 with five league titles and a share of one national championship. So why is his legacy even being called into question?
Because Michigan has underachieved in recent seasons. Because most of the games that really mattered just haven?t gone Carr?s way. Because when the heat has turned up, Michigan displayed a tendency of playing things too close to the vest.
Because of a coach named John Cooper.
Cooper won 72 percent of his games with Ohio State. By anyone?s measure, that?s wildly successful. But how will Cooper be remembered? For his 2-10-1 record against Michigan, which seemingly toyed with the Buckeyes at times.
Everything changed when Cooper was fired and Jim Tressel, the sweater-vest-wearing kingpin of Division I-AA was brought to Columbus. From the get-go, Tressel got it. Remember his words? ?I can assure you that you?ll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community ? and especially 310 days from now in Ann Arbor Michigan.?
Tressel stood up to the challenge ? immediately. And he has proven to be an incredible big-game coach, especially when Carr stands on the other sideline.
But anyone who suggests this is the same old Lloyd Carr just hasn?t been paying attention. The program that laid its way back to a 7-5 finish last season ? Michigan?s worst record in two decades ? has undergone a facelift. The Wolverines are making plays. They are producing. Most of all, they are getting after people on defense.
Carr deserves the credit. He saw what was happening last season, and he knew it was unacceptable. So he made changes, alterations that have transformed Michigan into a national-championship contender.
He cleaned house tastefully, allowing his offensive and defensive coordinator to leave for openings in the NFL. The new look has paid dividends, particularly on defense, where coordinator Ron English has made all the right moves in turning the Wolverines into a nasty, flying-to-the-ball, pressure-filled unit.
Carr was clearly perturbed by last season?s effort, which was capped by losses to Ohio State and in the bowl game for the second straight year. It might seem ludicrous now, but there was talk of Carr being on Michigan?s hot seat. Winning more than you lose and going to a bowl game each season isn?t where the bar is set at Michigan.
It?s about winning nearly all of your games. It?s about winning the bowl appearances. Most of all, it?s about defeating Ohio State.
Carr took the necessary steps to get Michigan back among the elite. With another victory ? potentially the most significant of Carr?s career ? the transformation will be complete. And Lloyd Carr will be viewed in a totally different light.

 

[osugrad21]

Link


Joint U of M-OSU Website Examines Football Rivalry By Seth Myers
November 13, 2006
The football rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University is legendary. The teams have battled one another since 1897. A website developed by the two universities examines the history of this weekend?s match up. Librarians at the 2 schools have maintained an "OSU vs. Michigan" website for several years.
Click Here to visit the website.
The site has a great collection of stats, images from past game day programs, and information about coaches and players.

 

[lvbuckeye]

my confidence level just went up. during their pressers today, Tressel and Carr were asked similar questions about what happens when the play breaks down. Carr said that well, sometimes they make a play, and sometimes they break a tackle, and you have to play through it. Tressel said well, sometimes you have to make a play, and sometimes you have to break a tackle, and sometimes you have to go real high to make a tough catch.

that is a STARK contrast in mentalities.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Traitors
Ohioans who played for Michigan get grief from OSU fans
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By Todd Jones THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

They might as well have miniature winged helmets painted on their foreheads as targets and rent themselves out at Ohio State booster parties as human pi?atas.
They are the few, the proud, the Columbus natives who literally crossed the line, as in the state border, played football for the Michigan Wolverines, then returned to their hometown with no regrets.
"It?s like being in the belly of the beast," said Mike Boren of Pickerington, a former Michigan linebacker. "In the (1990s) it was a great place to live. Now, it?s been a little hectic. Hey, it?s humbling."
Boren chuckled, for any razzing he takes from Ohio State fans ? emboldened by two straight wins over the Wolverines and four in the past five years ? is generally goodnatured.
Besides, it?s Boren?s son, Justin, who?ll be viewed with disdain Saturday in Ohio Stadium when he takes the field as a freshman reserve right guard for second-ranked Michigan against No. 1 Ohio State.
"He?s the one who has to put up with people down here saying, ?You?re a traitor,? " said Boren, an Eastmoor High School graduate who played for Michigan from 1980-83, and led the team in tackles his junior and senior years.
David Key, one of seven players from Columbus and 325 from Ohio to letter in football for Michigan, still hears "Benedict Arnold" comments aimed at him, and he hasn?t worn a Wolverines uniform in 16 years.
"I have gone to Ohio State games incognito," the East Side resident said with a laugh. "I tell people, ?Don?t tell anyone I?m here.? "
Jeff Reeves, a Linden McKinley graduate who lettered as a Michigan defensive back from 1979 to ?81, hasn?t received a prodigal son?s welcome since moving back to central Ohio three years ago.
"I?ve had people egg my windows and take the decals off my car," he said. "They write ?Traitor? on my window."
Reeves, the chief administrative officer for Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, has fun with Ohio State fans by giving them his own zingers when they joke about his Michigan coat or hat, as they did recently at a Gahanna High School football game.
"They were all abusing me," he said. "I told them, ?You guys are just ashamed and embarrassed you don?t have a real football program.? I told them, ?I?m so tired of that sloopy song.?
"They say, ?Take that jacket off. Have you lost your mind? Don?t you know where you?re at?? I say, ?Yes, I?m in Columbus, Ohio, and when you get some class you?ll wear a jacket like this.? They laugh, but some of them take it serious. What really gets them mad is when I say, ?We are known for academics (at Michigan). Your guys (at Ohio State) are known for jail.? "
And then there?s Marcus Ray, a foil for his hometown since he helped to beat the Buckeyes three times in his four seasons as a defensive back at Michigan from 1995 through ?98.
"Even to this day, people have stuff to say to me about Ohio State and Michigan," said Ray, a social worker for the Columbus Public Schools. "It?s kind of hard to live here. I?ve thought about moving back to Ann Arbor. I guess they need one person to pick on, but I?ve always got something to throw back in their faces.
"I love living here, but I hate Buckeye fans. It?s just that I?m not a Buckeye fan. Every time I look up, everything they do is the greatest in the world. ?This is the greatest linebacker. He?s the greatest.? It?s all a hype machine. I can barely watch TV."
The state of Ohio first watched a native son leave to play football in Ann Arbor in 1893, when Fred Henninger of Barberton played his first of four seasons for the Wolverines. William Baker of Woodville was the first native Ohioan to play against the Buckeyes in the inaugural OSU-Michigan game on Oct. 16, 1897.
Ohioans who have followed Henninger and Baker to letter at Michigan include Columbus natives Tom Austin, George Johnson and Dale Keitz, Pickerington?s Lawrence Reid, Worthington?s Dennis Jones, Blacklick?s Grant Bowman, Delaware?s Tom Lansdsittel, Circleville?s Miller Pontius and Lancaster?s Don Eaton.
Two of Michigan?s three Heisman Trophy winners were born in Ohio. Desmond Howard, the 1991 winner, is a Cleveland native, and 1997 winner Charles Woodson hails from Fremont.
Bo Schembechler, the legendary Michigan coach, was from Barberton and served as an Ohio State assistant coach under Woody Hayes. His successor as Wolverines coach in 1990 was Gary Moeller, a Bellefontaine native who was a player-captain for the Buckeyes in 1962.
"I hear about that, but I never hear bad things, things like I was a traitor," Moeller said.
Key, a Hartley graduate, enjoys the exchanges he has with OSU fans about why he left home to play defensive back at Michigan from 1987 to ?90.
"I love this rivalry, and it becomes more important to me as I get older, especially in the current atmosphere of Buckeyemania," said Key, who grew up an Ohio State fan.
For defense in the face of OSU fever, Key points out that he went 3-1 against the Buckeyes, won three Big Ten titles and played in two Rose Bowls.
Ray uses his bling to block out unwanted noise.
"I flash my ?97 national championship ring at them to get them to back off a little bit," he said.
Mike Boren and Reeves can say they went 2-2 against Ohio State and played in two Rose Bowls as Big Ten champs.
"I respect Jim Tressel," Reeves said. "I respect what the university is about and how Woody put together that program. But their fans are obnoxious. What I have a problem with, being a Michigan fan in Columbus, is that people here can?t leave it salone. They talk about it all year round."
Reeves expects to hear some comments Saturday when he watches the game on the Wolverines? sideline as part of a Michigan recruiting trip made by his son Darius, a Gahanna junior running back.
And he expects he?ll have clean-up chores at home, too, because of some OSU zealots.
"They?ll toilet paper my yard in Blacklick," Reeves said with a laugh. "I know they will. That?s OK, I?m fine with it. It?s about class. Michigan fans have class. Ohio State fans have a one-track mind: football and drinking beer. Win or lose, those idiots will tear up the city."
[email protected]

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Buckeyes want this season to be special
Players want to achieve a lot more than just beating rival Michigan
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Banners hung around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center proclaimed, "Beat Michigan," and "The Greatest Rivalry, a Tradition Unmatched."
It?s that week at Ohio State.
Of course the Buckeyes want to beat Michigan on Saturday. But other OSU teams have done that. That in itself isn?t all these players are trying to achieve. They want more, much more.
They want to go down in history.
That?s what athletic director Gene Smith talked about when he addressed the Buckeyes in August, after they had been voted preseason No. 1. OSU has won five national titles, but none of those teams was ranked No. 1 the entire season.
Going to wireto-wire is something that would set the 2006 team apart, and that?s what the players want, to be set apart.
"Gene came in and just basically told us that we have an opportunity to not only be a great team ? there?s a lot of great teams in Ohio State history ? but to distinguish ourselves," defensive end Jay Richardson said. "Separate from all those other teams as one of the best and to be a really special team."
So much is at stake Saturday in Ohio Stadium. Foremost is a trip to the Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale, Ariz., and a chance for OSU?s sixth national title.
But many other things would put this team on a pedestal above the others:
? A third straight win over Michigan, which Ohio State hasn?t accomplished since 1962.
? The program?s first outright Big Ten championship since 1984.
? Two wins over a No. 2 team in the same season, which no topranked team has done since 1945.
? A chance for a fifth-year senior class to win two national titles, something only OSU?s 1957 class has done.
Don?t discount the Big Ten title on that list of achievements. Though it is secondary to a national crown, it?s significant.
Consider that when the Buckeyes beat Michigan to clinch the 1984 title, only 26 current players were alive. Offensive tackle Kirk Barton was 13 days old. Linebacker Curtis Terry was born three days later.
"That was one of the main focuses of our preseason talk during camp," receiver Anthony Gonzalez said. "That would be a tremendous honor to be a part of that."
Book-marking their careers with national championships has an appealing symmetry for the fifth- year seniors, particularly because they all redshirted in 2002.
"It would be amazing to be able to come in on top like we did in 2002, and then to be able to get one going out," Richardson said. "That would be probably the best accomplishment any college football player could say they had."
It?s about being remembered. Players of 28 points, they want more.
They want immortality, to have started No. 1, stayed there all season and then finished the job.
"That would mean so much in this program," quarterback Troy Smith said. "That would be legendary.
"Oftentimes, teams and players come through here and they could be just another great team, but we have a chance to possibly be that team."

walk past rows of photos every day on the walls of their facility, many of great players who may have beaten Michigan just once or never won a Big Ten or national title.
"Everyone talks about their legacy here," defensive tackle David Patterson said. "I just want our seniors to leave with a legacy of winners. I want people to look back on this 2006 Ohio State football team and remember us as winners."
All day yesterday, the players spoke using strong, emotional terms such as legacy. Having beaten 11 opponents by an average

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Getting a head start part of Game lore
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

ANN ARBOR, Mich. ? The 15-minute "rivalry timeout" supposedly died out with the dinosaurs, Woody and Bo, and their prehistoric practice rituals.
Every season, every week, every day, Ohio State and Michigan coaches would set aside practice time for "The Game" preparation. During those quarter-hour sessions, the Buckeyes concentrated on Michigan; the Wolverines concentrated on Ohio State. It didn?t matter who the two rivals were playing that week ? Northwestern, Indiana, Illinois ? time was always set aside for the big one.
Those were the days of the Big Two and Little Eight, when OSU and Michigan could afford to look ahead.
In this age of parity, neither program would ever think of doing such a thing. Or would they?
On his radio show recently, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr revealed ? let slip is more like it ? that the Wolverines actually winked at the sacred one-gameat-a-time approach this season. Somewhere in the schedule ? he wouldn?t say where, but back-to-back-to-backers against Northwestern, Ball State and Indiana the past three weeks would be a good guess ? Michigan cast an eye toward Columbus.
"I think there was a point in our schedule where we felt we had an opportunity to get ahead and work on some things, and we did that," Carr said yesterday.
To which Schembechler, making a rare appearance at Michigan media day, said bravo.
"It was our strategy here at Michigan to do something to beat Ohio State every day, even if it?s in the first meeting (of the year) to talk about it," Schembechler said. "So that?s nothing new."
And that goes for OSU, too, Schembechler said, adding that the Buckeyes most certainly have not waited until this week to begin strategizing for Michigan.
"It was very similar (to Michigan) toward the end there playing the other Big Ten teams, that frankly, could not measure up to these two," he said, referencing the Buckeyes? past two games against Illinois and Indiana. "So they had an opportunity to work on other things they may use against the opponent."
Among Michigan players, only quarterback Chad Henne came clean by saying that it?s naive to think that planning for the rivalry only begins on the Sunday before the game.
"I think it?s the same way every year. I mean, if you go down to Ohio State and you look at their practice, they are preparing for Michigan, too, for a couple of games," he said. "It might not be long. It might be five, 10 minutes. But each team is geared up for that game because we know what?s at stake right now.
"It?s not a drastic thing. It?s not like we?re taking our ideas away from each team that week. But, I mean, we definitely understand what?s at stake and want to prepare a little bit for them."
Most of the preparation happens during coaches meetings, but Schembechler recalled inserting specific schemes into practice just for Ohio State.
"They weren?t necessarily trick plays. It was more blocking their defense, which is more important than putting in new plays," he said. "If you?re going to use some new adjustments, you practice them during the week, even though you were not going to use them that Saturday. You?re going to hold them for Ohio State. We did do that."
[email protected]

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
Smith hardly all thumbs despite injury reports
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

CHRIS RUSSELL DISPATCH Troy Smith?s injured thumb didn?t bother him at Northwestern ? he threw four touchdown passes.
Troy Smith was thumbs-up yesterday.
As top-ranked Ohio State moved into serious preparation for Saturday?s "game of the century" with No. 2 Michigan, the sore thumb on the senior quarterback?s right throwing hand was a subject of interest. One reporter asked him how his thumb was doing.
"It?s still on my hand," the Heisman Trophy front-runner deadpanned. Then he smiled and added, "I?m good."
Considering he was named Big Ten player of the week for the fourth time this season, Smith probably should be taken at his word. He threw for a career-high four touchdown passes in the 54-10 win at windy, cold Northwestern on Saturday, despite playing with the base of his thumb in a wrap.
If it?s bothering him, coach Jim Tressel said, Smith is keeping it a secret, even from the coaches.
"He hasn?t missed a rep at all (in practice)," Tressel said. "From Troy, you can never get whether or not ? to him, it never bothers him. He gets it wrapped, it?s obvious. But I think there will be so much adrenaline and so much flowing through his thumb down to his big toe (on Saturday) that he?s not going to feel anything."
He?s back

A knee injury kept Alex Boone out of the past two games, but Tressel said the sophomore offensive left tackle will play against Michigan.
Tressel also said freshman backup defensive back and special-teams performer Kurt Coleman is expected back after missing last week because of an undisclosed malady.
Reserve tight end Brandon Smith will miss his second straight game because of an unspecified injury, but other than that, Tressel said, the Buckeyes are good to go.
"With this being game 12 of 12 games in a row, I have no complaints," Tressel said.
Ho - hum , The Game

The closest any Buckeyes player came to saying something inflammatory was guard T.J. Downing, when he was asked about the possibility that OSU and Michigan could meet two straight times, on Saturday and in a rematch in the Bowl Championship Series national title game.
"That would be fun," Downing said. "And I think ? oh, I hope ? we?d be 2-0."
Not exactly fighting words, but that?s the way it?s been in the six years under Tressel.
"You don?t want to say something stupid that is going to give that guy a little bit of extra motivation," Downing said. "But anything you say can be misconstrued. I?m sure something I said here today can be misconstrued, that (Michigan defensive linemen) LaMarr (Woodley) or Alan (Branch) can look at and say, ?Oh, I?m going to kill 72.?
"We?ve got a lot of quotes hanging in our locker room, and you really can?t look too much into it. You?ve got to play the game and work through it on the field. I?m not worried about anything they would say negative about us, just as I?m sure they?re not worried about what I?m saying."
Ken Gordon contributed to this report

 

[kamfl610]

http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/9799793

Anyone read this article. What a dumb*ss freeman is. Turns out freeman isn't soo clean himself. Freaking liar. Oh makes me sooo mad. Boycott the heck out of CBS. Can't get a freaking journalist.

GO BUCKS! MUCK FICHIGAN!

 

[CookyPuss]

DDN

Bengals' Perry talks some trash


"He shouldn't even win the Heisman. He's not going to win his league or the national championship. We all know what's going to happen. We're going to win it. It's been long overdue. Tressel's been cheating. So, hey, we're going to keep it real. There ain't nothing else to say."

I wondered who would win the Biggest Turd in the Cesspool Award this year.

:scum4: :scum3:

 

[osugrad21]

Blade

Father-son event now Tressel's job

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

COLUMBUS - Like any kid, Jim Tressel treasured the time he spent with his father. And because his dad was a coach, that time did not come until the football season was over.
Lee Tressel was the head coach at Division III Baldwin-Wallace near Cleveland, and the schedule at that level usually ended in mid-November, just before the week of the Ohio State-Michigan game. Tressel's reunion with his father was usually celebrated watching the Buckeyes play the Wolverines. The younger Tressel will be on the sideline as Ohio State's head coach here on Saturday, when the top-ranked Buckeyes host No. 2 Michigan. "So that was about the first time I saw my dad in the light of day," Tressel said about sitting in front of the television with his father, who died in 1981. "And we got to watch the game together, and he was a huge Buckeye fan. So probably the most important thing to me was I got a chance to be with him and watch it, and of course, here he was rooting for his team, so that became my team." Tressel was an Ohio State fan first, then an assistant coach with the Buckeyes, and after a highly successful stint as head coach at Youngstown State, where he won four Division I-AA national championships, he took the top job here. Along with a robust resume, Tressel brought with him a deep understanding of the magnitude of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. "It's the one I know the best," he said. "Growing up with it, having been an assistant coach within it, and now being a part of it, I can't fathom anything else being like it, from my perspective." Tressel's players say they immediately recognized just how important this contentious series was to him. The same week he was hired at Ohio State, Tressel spoke at halftime of a Buckeyes basketball game against Michigan and told a packed house that they would be proud of their football team in 310 days in Ann Arbor. The following November, Tressel beat Michigan 26-20, and he has won four of the five games against the Wolverines in his tenure as head coach. "The traditions here are tremendously important to him, and you notice that very early - during the recruiting process," Ohio State junior wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said. "He has a genuine reverence for the history of the program, and those traditions, and certainly putting a major emphasis on the Michigan game is part of that." Tressel recalled his first experience in the Ohio State-Michigan game day atmosphere in 1983, when he was on the staff of former head coach Earle Bruce. "I remember my first game as an assistant, thinking I was preparing for just another game as a coach," Tressel said, "and then all of a sudden you get into the environment, and I wasn't worth a hoot for probably the first quarter, because I was just in awe of the feeling. "I probably wasn't worth a hoot in the fourth quarter either, but it's just a tremendous feeling to be a part of something that so many people are excited about and so many people count it special." Tressel said he felt a kinship with an Ohio State fan who emailed him recently to tell Tressel he would be flying to Las Vegas to watch the game with his son, since the man could not get tickets for them to see the game in person. The emailer said he'd fly home that same night, but the quick trip was worth the trouble since it was important to be with his son to watch Ohio State-Michigan. "I can relate to that, and it's special," Tressel said. "It's a tremendous feeling. You can feel the electricity and the energy and you can't quantify it, but you can feel it."

 

[osugrad21]

http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/9799793

Anyone read this article. What a dumb*ss freeman is. Turns out freeman isn't soo clean himself. Freaking liar. Oh makes me sooo mad. Boycott the heck out of CBS. Can't get a freaking journalist.

Yup..its in JT's thread. Freeman wants you to get upset...that is his entire point. Like Tom Friend, he found a niche with the MoC stuff...it gave him an actual reaction from an audience.

Like you stated, Freeman is a hypocrite and not worth the effort.

 

[DCBuckFan]

DDN
Bengals' Perry talks some trash
Michigan alum mocks Troy Smith, says UM will win 'a blowout.'
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
CINCINNATI ? Bengals tailback and former University of Michigan great Chris Perry added some spice to The Big Game by trashing Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, ripping Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel and predicting a resounding Wolverines victory.
Speaking from the Bengals open locker room Monday, Perry said Smith doesn't deserve the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding player. Perry also bashed the media for hyping Smith's Heisman hopes and said Michigan will administer a decisive 31-17 triumph.
"It's a blowout," Perry said. "Ain't no ifs, ands or buts about it. (Defensive tackle Alan) Branch is going to knock the stuffing out of ? what's his name ? Troy Smith. You all set that (Heisman Trophy talk) up anyway. That's some BS to begin with.
"He shouldn't even win the Heisman. He's not going to win his league or the national championship. We all know what's going to happen. We're going to win it. It's been long overdue. Tressel's been cheating. So, hey, we're going to keep it real. There ain't nothing else to say."

This guys is a freaking cock smoker. I would love for someone to read these comments back to him on Sunday or Monday and see what he says. Asshat...