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Game Thread Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20 (final)

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Oh man, did you guys read this from the O zone?

I didn't see it anywhere so if its a dup please delete.

Funny as hell.

Football
Irish Stewing
By Tony Gerdeman
I know that I don’t speak for all Ohio State fans when I say that people just need to stop whining about Notre Dame getting an automatic bid for being in the Top 6 of the BCS poll. If there wasn’t a Top 6 stipulation for mid-majors, then we’d never be able to see a Utah or a Memphis or an Arkansas State or a Notre Dame in the BCS.
What the BCS has done is given teams that aren’t good enough to belong to a BCS conference an opportunity to show that they belong. And I’m sure that Notre Dame will be trying to prove that they are every bit the football power that Utah is. If there weren’t a Top 6 stipulation, then Notre Dame would be relegated to the Gator Bowl on NBC every year.
Don’t get me wrong, the Gator Bowl is a good bowl. It’s a New Year’s Day bowl game, after all. The problem is that it’s basically the rich man’s Humanitarian/MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Just like the MPC Computers Bowl is intended for Boise State every year, the Gator Bowl is intended for Notre Dame every year. The Gator Bowl is basically the old Humanitarian Bowl with racing stripes and power windows.
Giving Notre Dame, and all mid-majors, a chance to be in a BCS bowl game gives them the necessary exposure to compete with the Michigan States and the Boston Colleges of the world. If we don’t give UTEP, Eastern Michigan and Notre Dame a shot at the BCS, then we really haven’t progressed as a country. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, do you really think he meant that all men were created equal, except for SMU, Tulsa and Notre Dame? I don’t think so. The little guys have just as much right to a piece of the BCS pie as the big guys.
And so what if Notre Dame has lost seven consecutive bowl games. You can’t always expect to win 14.3% of your bowl games. If you look at their opponents over those seven bowl games, it’s easy to see why they were unable to overcome the big school mystique.
In the 1994 season, Notre Dame lost to Colorado in the ’95 Fiesta Bowl 41-24. Notre Dame, as a lone independent, did well to stay within 17 points of the Buffalo juggernaut in that game.
In the 1995 season, Notre Dame lost to mighty Florida State in the ’96 Orange Bowl 31-26. Yes, that Florida State. If you’re like me, you’re pretty impressed that they almost beat the Seminoles. Almost score one for the little guy.
In the 1996 season, there was no bowl. Probably because Notre Dame was unlisted in the phone book.
In the 1997 season, Notre Dame lost to LSU 27-9 in the Independence Bowl. Keep in mind that this was an LSU team that was representing the 4,000 pound gorilla known as the SEC. Had Notre Dame had the kind of backing that LSU did, you would have to think that they would have been far more competitive.
In the 1998 season, Notre Dame lost to Georgia Tech 35-28 in the ‘99 Gator Bowl. It was a tough loss, but not an unexpected loss, as the Yellow Jackets had won a National Championship less than a decade earlier.
In the 1999 season, there was no bowl. If I recall correctly, they didn’t want to be flying during Y2K.
In the 2000 season, Notre Dame lost in the ’01 Fiesta Bowl 41-9 to Oregon State. There is no truth to the rumor that they sold their entire ticket allotment to Nebraska fans. It was probably this game that epitomized the distance between a BCS school and a mid-major like Notre Dame or Tulane or Louisiana-Lafayette.
In the 2001 season, there was no bowl. The rumor was that Notre Dame was being discriminated against for only winning five games. Rather than get in a fight against the immovable NCAA, Notre Dame just decided to move on and focus on academics.
In the 2002 season, Notre Dame lost to North Carolina State 28-6 in the ’03 Gator Bowl. It had to be frustrating to be playing a major BCS opponent every year in a bowl game and never getting an opponent of comparable talent. Say a North Texas or a Northern Illinois or even a San Jose State.
In the 2003 season, there was no bowl game for Notre Dame. At the time, the speculation was that the winner of the Sugar Bowl between LSU and Oklahoma would play Notre Dame, but the “National Champion” Tigers reneged on the deal.
In 2004, Notre Dame once again lost to Oregon State. This time the bowl was the Insight Bowl and the score was 38-21. However, this time Notre Dame exacted their revenge on the hurtful Beavers by losing to them by fifteen fewer points than they did in 2001. This was a clear indicator that Notre Dame was definitely ready for that next step. That “next step” was aided last year when Utah made the BCS and walked all over mighty Pittsburgh. Notre Dame saw that and said, “If Utah can win a BCS game, then so can we!”
This year, Notre Dame will get that opportunity. And if history is any lesson, the Buckeyes better be ready. Notre Dame no longer sees itself as the pasty, red-headed stepchild of the NCAA. They see themselves as the under-cared-for middle child.
Well, on January 2nd, 2006, the middle child is going to make their definitive cry for attention and unleash a gauntlet of slaps and kicks the likes of which Ohio State has never seen. Will it be enough? It’s too early to say. However, if Ohio State isn’t careful, they could get a cornea scratched or a finger dislocated. Horseplay is dangerous.
As I think about Notre Dame’s place in the BCS, I’m reminded of the first time that I got to eat at the adults’ table for dinner at my grandma’s house. I was no longer stuck eating meatloaf on the coffee table watching PBS. I was in the kitchen, eating meatloaf and listening to conversations about PBS. And it was grand. I appreciated my step up just as I’m sure Notre Dame appreciates the step up the BCS gave them a few years ago. However, when I made my step up, I at least brought something to the table (and it wasn’t a possible NCAA record-tying eighth consecutive bowl loss). So here’s hoping Notre Dame appreciates the hand out given to them by the BCS. I’m sure Troy or Louisiana-Monroe or Florida Atlantic would switch with Notre Dame in a heartbeat. Don’t take this opportunity for granted, Notre Dame. Because next year a counterpart like Florida International may take it from you.​
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Yowza!

Who shit in his cheerios?

this line

Well, on January 2nd, 2006, the middle child is going to make their definitive cry for attention and unleash a gauntlet of slaps and kicks the likes of which Ohio State has never seen. Will it be enough? It’s too early to say. However, if Ohio State isn’t careful, they could get a cornea scratched or a finger dislocated. Horseplay is dangerous.
Click to expand...

KILLS me :tongue2::tongue2::tongue2::tongue2::tongue2:
 
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Cleveland PD

OHIO STATE FOOTBALL INSIDER
Irish make fight for Fiesta tickets that much tougher


Wednesday, December 07, 2005Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Ohio State fans hoping for Fiesta Bowl tickets for Christmas should prepare to settle for a Woody Hayes bobblehead.
"We've probably had more demand than for any Fiesta Bowl," Fiesta Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffler said Tuesday of the 35th edition of the game. "It's because of Notre Dame's return to prominence and Ohio State playing Notre Dame."
As opposed to years when the Fiesta Bowl hosts the national championship game and fans know years ahead that tickets will be hot, the announcement of the Ohio State-Notre Dame matchup created later, and therefore, stronger demand.
"Even though Ohio State is making its third trip here in four years, we've been hearing they're so excited for the opportunity to play Notre Dame," Schoeffler said. "It's been nuts."
That's not good news for the average fan. At 5 p.m. Tuesday on eBay, 112 separate ticket auctions were selling about 300 Fiesta Bowl tickets. Two seats in the lower level in the end zone went for a $705 bid; another group of four in the same area brought $1,175.
Sun Devil Stadium, hosting its final Fiesta Bowl, officially holds 73,752, though a record 80,470 fans crowded in for Tennessee's national championship victory in 1999. More than 40,000 of those seats are sold to Tempe-area sponsors and fans.
Both schools were allotted 15,000 tickets, though Ohio State was able to acquire another 1,000 to offer for sale. Neither school will sell tickets to the public and will hold lotteries even for priority fans like donors, season ticket holders, former football players, students and faculty. Ohio State will award its seats to donors based on a points system.
For Richelle Simonson, Ohio State's associate athletic director for tickets, the process feels a lot like it did for Ohio State's Fiesta Bowl trip three years ago.
"It's really paralleling that national championship game very closely," she said Tuesday. "We're getting a lot of calls from fans who are just lost as to how to procure a ticket."
Notre Dame sent ticket applications to 62,427 priority alumni and associates in November, and expects to receive 30,000 to 40,000 ticket requests by its Thursday deadline, as much of a response as the school has ever seen for a bowl. A computerized lottery will then take place.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," said Notre Dame director of ticketing Josh Berlo.
At All World Tickets, a Cleveland ticket broker, only a few calls had come in about Fiesta Bowl seats. But at Main Event Inc., a Columbus broker with a Cleveland office, calls had been flooding in for two days.
"It's a very hot ticket, because anything with Notre Dame is rivalry, so it's a pretty big deal not only for Buckeye fans, but for Notre Dame fans," said Main Event's Karyn Schmidt.
They've been taking orders for upper deck seats for $450 a pair, and had sold about 100 tickets so far. Schmidt said the resale market is still sorting itself out because alumni have not yet received their tickets.
Team awards:
Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk, up for four national individual awards, was named Ohio State's team MVP on Sunday as voted by his teammates.
Among other awards, senior safety Nate Salley was given the Bo Rein Most Inspirational Award, also voted on by the players. Quarterback Troy Smith was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player and defensive end Mike Kudla was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player. Freshman tackle Alex Boone and freshman cornerback Malcolm Jenkins were given the first-year offensive and defensive player awards.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4748
 
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In post #234 of this thread, I posted my "Differential Defense" and "Differential Offense" breakdown of this game.

Since this is the bowl game, I'm going to break it down by rushing and passing as well (I did this for The Game too).

As in post #234:

Differential Offense means how many more yards you gained against each opponent over and above what each opponent gave up on average to everyone else on their schedule, and

Differential Defense means how many fewer yards you allowed than your opponents gained on average against everyone else on their schedules.

Once I have the differential numbers, I've combined each team's average offense/defense with the other team's differential defense/offense to come up with predictions for the game w.r.t. rushing and passing output.



Predictions for OHIO STATE

Rushing

_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Carry
Ohio State Average Offense______189.55__________4.44_____
______________________________minus__________minus______
Notre Dame Differential Defense___ 55.43__________0.83_____
So, OSU's expected yardage is___134.12_________3.61____


-alternatively-


_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Carry
Notre Dame Average Defense_____119.36__________3.58_____
_______________________________plus___________plus________
OSU Differential Offense__________29.55__________0.24_____
So, OSU's expected yardage is___148.91_________3.82____


-and-

Passing

_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Attempt
Ohio State Average Offense______215.09___________8.64______
______________________________minus___________minus________
Notre Dame Differential Defense___-31.84__________-0.26______
So, OSU's expected yardage is___246.93__________8.90_____


-alternatively-


_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Attempt
Notre Dame Average Defense_____257.55___________7.42______
_______________________________plus____________plus_________
OSU Differential Offense__________-8.89___________2.07______
So, OSU's expected yardage is___248.66_________9.49_____


So the predictions for OSU are:
  1. 134-149 yards rushing
  2. 3.61-3.82 ypc
  3. 247-249 yards passing
  4. 8.90-9.49 ypa
This shows that Notre Dame's Rush Defense isn't bad at all, and our ability to sustain a ground game is probable but iffy. We should be able to sling the ball all over the place though.

While some may be tempted to suggest that ND's pass defense numbers are skewed by having played USC, the average rank of the passing offenses they played was 54.36. In spite of this, they ranked a dismal 97th in pass defense. Troy Smith should light them up.



Predictions for Notre Dame

Rushing

_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Carry
Notre Dame Average Offense_____154.82__________3.68_____
______________________________minus__________minus______
Ohio State Differential Defense___127.36__________2.42_____
So, ND's expected yardage is_____27.46_________1.26____


-alternatively-


_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Carry
Ohio State Average Defense______74.45__________2.36_____
______________________________plus___________plus________
ND Differential Offense___________9.47__________-0.19_____
So, ND's expected yardage is____83.92_________2.17____


-and-

Passing

_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Attempt
Notre Dame Average Offense______334.27___________8.99______
_______________________________minus___________minus________
Ohio State Differential Defense_____44.57___________1.33______
So, ND's expected yardage is_____289.70_________7.66_____


-alternatively-


_____________________________YARDS______Yards Per Attempt
Ohio State Average Defense_____200.82___________6.14_______
______________________________plus_____________plus_________
ND Differential Offense__________111.30___________2.05______
So, ND's expected yardage is____312.12_________8.19_____



So the predictions for Notre Dame are:
  1. 27-84 yards rushing
  2. 1.26-2.17 ypc
  3. 290-312 yards passing
  4. 7.66-8.19 ypa
No freakin' way is ND running the ball successfully in this game. While OSU gave up 200.82 ypg against the pass this year; against teams that ran for as few yards as ND is project to, OSU gave up only 160.71 yards per game. While none of these teams had ND's passing offense, one of them was the #10 passing offense in the country (Northwestern). The wildcats managed only 98 yards passing against the Buckeyes.

The upshot here is that it is reasonable to expect that ND will not be able to run the ball with the Bucks playing straight up, and will therefore be likely to fall short of the projected passing numbers. They will nevertheless be able to move the ball between the 20s on occasion.


Summary

Comparing offensive output to differential defense predicts:

OSU outrushes ND 134 yards to 27 (3.61 ypc to 1.26)
ND outpasses OSU 290 yards to 247 (but OSU throws for more YPC: 8.90 to 7.66)


Comparing defensive average to differential offense predicts:

OSU outrushes ND 149 yards to 84 (3.82 ypc to 2.17)
ND outpasses OSU 312 yards to 249 (but OSU throws for more YPA: 9.49 to 8.19)


Again, ND's passing numbers don't take into consideration the fact that OSU will not have to worry about their running game. Only 2 teams stopped the Irish running game without 8 men in the box, and both held them below their average in passing. While the Irish did face the #2 Rush Defense in the country, Tennessee, and put up 295 yards passing on them; it should be considered that OSU is ranked 23 places ahead of the Volunteers in pass defense. The truth is, ND hasn't faced a defense even close to what the Buckeyes bring.

Finally, what stands out most about these numbers is that; even when you take them straight up without factoring SOS, OSU is projected to gain more yards per play, both rushing and passing, than the Irish.
 
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Compliments of BuffetBuckeye on BSB:

nd1.gif
 
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Article from local AZ paper

Everything I type in this post is verbatim from what this guy wrote in a local Phoenix, AZ paper. This is just funny to hear I think.

Headline: Fiesta Bowl fumbles with 2nd-rate matchup

"Once again, the Fiesta Bowl fumbled away an opportunity at a marquee matchup that would hav been of significant interest locally and across the country.
They could have selected Penn State and Oregon, matching up the only one-loss teams in a game of significant interest across four time zones - from the West Coast (PAC 10 territory) to the eastern reaches of Big 10 country (Pennsylvania).
Instead, they came up with a second-rate mathup with virtually zero local interest between a couple of two-time losers.
The Fiesta Bowl ought to move to Indiana. If the rules allowed, no doubt Notre Dame would always be the bowl's first selection, even if the team had an 0-11 record.
At least one person - my wife - is happy at the Fiesta Bowl matchup because she knows that this will be one of the few times during bowl season when I will not be watching a game."
-Jim Hamel, Chandler

Can't wait to hear what throughts are about this one coming from ND fans and tOSU fans. This guy really hates the matchup and I really don't understand why. Bowl games are not really suppose to be for "local interest." They are games picked between the teams that are the best (for the most part). Besides, what did Oregon end up ranking? 6th, 7th? I don't even know but we have #4 OSU and #5 ND playing in the game and thats the way it should be. I dunno, my mom just read me this article this afternoon and I couldn't believe someone would write something like that. It's only and editorial, and not many people are likely to see it, but I just wanted to hear what you guys thought about some of those comments.
 
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He's probably one of those people who moved to Arizona because it was better for his asthma.

After three months of watching 90% of the Pac-10 play mediocre football, he's ready for MORE?

Oh yeah... Does that dipshit realize that they don't schedule these bowl games for "local interest". They do it for tourism. They don't give two shits was Joe Dickface from Asshole, AZ wants to see.
 
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aforwark said:
Headline: Fiesta Bowl fumbles with 2nd-rate matchup

They could have selected Penn State and Oregon, matching up the only one-loss teams in a game of significant interest across four time zones - from the West Coast (PAC 10 territory) to the eastern reaches of Big 10 country (Pennsylvania).
Click to expand...

And how does this guy expect Oregon to get an at-large bid to a BCS bowl game? There are 8 available spots to the four games. Six of those are taken by the six conferences. (For the guy who wrote the letter to the editor, that leaves 2 spots left.)

Notre Dame gets one spot, since they are in the top six, and not in a BCS conference. (At least, I think that's the way it works. Their bid was automatic, if I understand it all correctly.)

Ohio State gets another spot, since they didn't get the Big10 bid and they finished in the top 4.

This guy can complain along with Oregon about the rankings all he wants. But the process is very clear, and now the guy looks like a big baby.
 
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aforwark said:
Headline: Fiesta Bowl fumbles with 2nd-rate matchup

"Once again, the Fiesta Bowl fumbled away an opportunity at a marquee matchup that would hav been of significant interest locally and across the country.
They could have selected Penn State and Oregon, matching up the only one-loss teams in a game of significant interest across four time zones - from the West Coast (PAC 10 territory) to the eastern reaches of Big 10 country (Pennsylvania).
Instead, they came up with a second-rate mathup with virtually zero local interest between a couple of two-time losers.
The Fiesta Bowl ought to move to Indiana. If the rules allowed, no doubt Notre Dame would always be the bowl's first selection, even if the team had an 0-11 record.
At least one person - my wife - is happy at the Fiesta Bowl matchup because she knows that this will be one of the few times during bowl season when I will not be watching a game."
-Jim Hamel, Chandler
Click to expand...

What a whiny little bitch.
Aside from the fact that Oregon was not one of the BCS teams, everyone and their brother knows that Penn State would kick the shit out of Oregon. Hell, Oklahoma will probably kick the shit out of them. Have a good time in Chandler, loser.
 
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jlb1705 said:
He's probably one of those people who moved to Arizona because it was better for his asthma.

After three months of watching 90% of the Pac-10 play mediocre football, he's ready for MORE?

Oh yeah... Does that dipshit realize that they don't schedule these bowl games for "local interest". They do it for tourism. They don't give two shits was Joe Dickface from Asshole, AZ wants to see.
Click to expand...
yet Joe Dickface owns about 45,000 of the 70,000 tickets... go figure.
 
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You know... if there's one thing I've learned from perusing other message boards, it's this: everyone but us is dumb...
(or :crazy:).


Normally I'd say that with extreme sarcasm, but in this case (Mr. PSU/Oregon), I believe I'll make an exception :)
 
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