There was some poor kid from Columbus on the sidelines today. He was wearing an Ohio St. jersey and a string of buckeyes around his neck, and he was very optimistic when his favorite team took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. He thought his beloved Buckeyes had a chance. By the end of the 3rd quarter, he was about as sad as 14-year-old could look.
The security guys roped us off so that Traveler could gallop into the endzone, and we were all packed on either said of the path that the horse would take. As we waited for the big white horse, somebody said, "Watch this kid. It's cooler than anything you'll ever see in Ohio." We all got a good laugh. Thankfully, the little buckeye didn't cry.
Although Ohio St. has a 25-4 record since the start of 2006, those 4 losses are very telling. In the 2006 BCS championship game, the Florida Gators destroyed the Buckeyes 41-14. In 2007, LSU coasted to a 38-24 win in a second straight BCS title game disaster. Now, USC crushed Jim Tressel's program 35-3. During that stretch, OSU's only big non-conference win was over Texas in 2006, and the Longhorns went on to finish the year at a good not great 10-3. They also notched a win over Washington last year, but the Huskies were a 4-9 team. The Buckeyes' non-conference wins have come over Northern Illinois, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Youngstown St. (twice), Akron and Ohio University.
Gotta be honest about Ohio St. after seeing them up close. Todd Boeckman is a very ordinary quarterback. A big stiff really. He's a statue in the pocket and his decision-making is questionable at best as he threw 2 picks today, including the one that Ray Maualuga took to the house. Boeckman's quarterback rating at the Colliseum was a meager 34.7. In short, he's not a big-time quarterback. Granted, he didn't have top weapon Beanie Wells who didn't even dress for the game, but still, he had a bad, bad day.
The OSU defense was good...in the first quarter. I'm sure that they are loaded with future NFL talent. LB James Laurinaitis has a chance to be an Urlacher-like force at the next level. LB Marcus Freeman and DB Malcolm Jenkins are also going to be good pros. The Trojans just have too much speed and too much talent on the offensive side of the ball. And, Mark Sanchez may be the best quarterback in all of college football.
In a way, I feel bad for Laurinaitis, Freeman and Jenkins along with O-Lineman Alex Boone and WR Brian Robiskie. They all decided to return for their senior year because they didn't want to end their college careers without a national championship. They passed up the chance to get to a higher tax bracket early as first or second round NFL draft picks. But, I don't really feel bad because I'm a Trojan fan.
There will be no BCS title game this year, even if Ohio St. runs the table...and they very well may with their extraordinarily weak schedule. But, poll voters now know that this program is not "for real."
I can't wait for Penn St. to play Ohio St. I hope PSU wins.
Posted by: Joefucious | September 17, 2008 at 02:56 PM