The 614

NCAA 11

2010-08-10T21:59:00.003-04:00

You know Brian's getting his point across when I feel back about cutting players in NCAA Football 11.

So. . .

2010-08-02T19:03:00.000-04:00

I'm back. I think.

Nobody's Home

2007-02-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

I don't post here anymore. I post at Around the Oval. This site's dead, that one's not. If you're so inclined, please update your bookmarks and read my rantings and ravings over there. And if you're really ambitious, ask the person whose site directed you here why they haven't updated their links. I understand if you don't want to put in that much effort, though. All I ask, is that if (for some reason) you enjoy reading what I write, continue to read it over at Around the Oval.

Moving Onward and Upward

2007-01-15T02:51:00.000-05:00

The Cliff’s Notes version of this post: I’m taking over Around the Oval, and will be posting there from now on.

Why? If you pay attention to the college football blogosphere, you’ve noticed that the former proprietor of AtO, JD, hasn’t posted regularly there for some time now. Turns out he had a bit more on his plate than he could handle, and asked SportsBlog Nation to find a replacement for him, so he could focus on his Cincinnati Reds blog, Red Reporter (which is excellent, by the way, if you’re a Reds fan). Peter of Burnt Orange Nation, the dude in charge of SBN’s collegiate section, asked me to be that replacement, and I accepted. Today, I’m taking my show on the road, and headed over there.

So what changes in this scheme? Well, the net result is the end of The 614. It makes more sense to keep AtO going rather than starting this site over again at SBN. So I’m gonna start posting at AtO, and stop posting here. Net result, minus one OSU blog. That’s alright, it’s not like we were all starved for Buckeye-related content anyway, and another OSU blog will probably be started shortly, anyway. OSU blogs can’t be stopped. You strike one down, two more rise in its place. Never fear.

That’s pretty much it in terms of negative changes. The rest is all good. Over at AtO, I’ll reach a larger audience, which I am of course excited about. But I’ll also get to take advantage of all the features of SBN, in particular the diary system, which allows readers to offer insights, opinions, analysis, and all that type of stuff without having it tied to a post of mine. Effectively, it’s an opportunity to work toward creating a Buckeye community at Around the Oval, which is a pretty exciting possibility.

The point of all this is that today’s the big move to Around the Oval. If you want to continue reading whatever I write (and I hope you do), that’s the place to do it in the future. Please update your bookmarks. If you link here from your blog, I hope you’ll link to me at AtO. I’ll be sure to reciprocate once I get settled in over there.

That’s it. Everything I have to say will be said at Around the Oval from here on out. I’ll see you over there.

Gonzo's Gone. . . zo

2007-01-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

Per The Ozone, who presumably has someone at Anthony Gonzalez's press conference, Gonzo is passing up his final year of eligibility and declaring for the draft. Ted Ginn is expected to announce before long that he's also entering the draft, but Gonzo's officially headed to the draft.

It's not a major surprise. While Ginn was the better athlete and a good receiver in his own right, Gonzo was the best receiver on the team this season. We'd all hoped he'd stay out of a love for college life or a desire to not end his collegiate career on such a down note, but he and Antonio Pittman are probably the two most NFL-ready juniors on the roster.

Initially, my concern, for both Gonzo and Ginn (assuming he goes), was that they might be underestimating the depth of the receiver class this year. Jeff Samardzija, Calvin Johnson, and Dwayne Jarrett could all easily be drafted before either OSU receiver. With excellent workouts, Robert Meachem from Tennessee and Sidney Rice from South Carolina are two other juniors that could give Gonzo and Ginn some competition. Is it worth leaving school early to be the fourth or fifth wide receiver drafted?

Last year, it certainly wasn't. Santonio Holmes was the only wide receiver drafted in the first round. But if you look at other drafts, their decisions make more sense. Six wide receivers went in the first round in 2005 and seven went in 2004. So in reality, both guys would likely be taking first round money by leaving early, and that's something that's worth doing, especially when they could end up hurting their draft stock by staying and working with a new quarterback. Gonzo (and presumably Ginn) made the safe choice, and probably the smart choice.

But where does this leave Ohio State for 2007? In a rather nebulous cloud of receiving mystery and potential. Brian Robiskie will move to number one receiver, up from rough number 3.5 receiver. He was pretty good this season, but there wasn't a whole lot asked of him. All he had to do was capitalize on openings created by Ginn and Gonzo. How will he respond to the dramatically increased attention?

Opposite him will likely be Brian Hartline, who was the fourth or fifth receiver this past season. He looked pretty decent over the course of the season, but as the fourth or fifth option, it's tough to look bad, unless you're helping the defense make tackles or running the wrong way with the ball or something. He came in as a pretty highly-touted recruit, so we'll get to see what has become of that potential.

But we'll save the in-depth looks at the receiving corps for much later. For now, good look to Gonzo and (again, presumably) Ginn in the draft, and good luck to the Brians that will be replacing them.

Update: There's an AP article with some more information on Gonzo leaving. The biggest piece of new info from it is that an NFL committee told him that he would be a second-round pick. Interesting that he decided that the risks inherent in returning for another year outweighed the benefits (chief among them: a degree and a better contract if he improved his stock to first-round status). Not necessarily a wrong decision by him; who are we to tell him what's best for him? But interesting. The question is: did he just want to make the safe play and head to the NFL, or does he suspect something about next year's offense that the rest of us might not?

National Championship Postgame - A Guest Piece

2007-01-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not especially interested in rewatching, thinking about, or acknowledging the national championship game. I felt a little bad about not providing any analysis, but it was my sanity at stake, so you all were out of luck. Or so I thought. Jeff Forward, an Ohio State alum out on the West Coast, e-mailed me a piece sharing his thoughts on what went wrong Monday night. I figured I'd share it with you all, since it allows me to post thoughts on the game without actually having to think about the game. I'd like to emphasize that this is his work, not mine. All the credit for the time and effort put in goes to him. I just did the cut-and-paste shuffle. I don't agree with all of it, but he does make some good points. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments, or send them to Jeff here.

-Sean

Why The Buckeyes Got Trounced - A Few Theories
By Jeff Forward

I don't think any sane Buckeye fan thought that what happened on Monday was possible. I am sure that a 41-14 butt-whupping with a mere 80-some yards of offense was not on anyone's mind.

But, that's exactly what happened in a stunning and painful fashion. As I sat in a sports bar in Granite Bay, Calif. with 120 other Ohio State fans and alumni, the pain of the game grew with each passing minute and Tim Tebow run up the gut of a tired, on-the-field for 40-minutes Buckeye defense.

Obviously the press jumped on this blow-out in typical fashion, with Lee Corso from ESPN telling viewers the Gators would beat Ohio State nine out of 10 games. Amazing how fast they switch sides, isn't it.

Here are my theories of why what happened in Glendale happened.

The Florida Gators simply played the best game they possibly could on the same night that Ohio State played their absolute worst game possible. When they showed the stats of Chris Leak through the first quarter, he was having a near perfect game. I didn't think he could maintain that for four quarters, but it's exactly what he did. Same thing goes for the entire UF team. They all played their best on the night the Buckeyes played their worst.

I am sorry, but 51 days between games for the Buckeyes was insane and unfair. Florida had an extra two weeks of serious, meaningful practice and two difficult and important games on the road while OSU was at home twiddling their thumbs. Say what you will, but it was obvious the Buckeyes were rusty.

Bringing me to this point: give credit to Urban Meyer for realizing the Buckeyes would be rusty and out-of-sync and creating a great game plan for the beginning of the game to exploit this. As things unfolded and the Gators were en route to 21-unanswered points, I turned to a friend and said, "Meyer has run nearly every trick play in the book in the first quarter alone." My friend replied the Gators hadn't run a reverse yet. Well, two plays later, there it was - a Percy Harvin reverse. Those trick plays really affected the Buckeye defense and its confidence.

As much as it pains me to say this, Jim Tressel did a very poor job preparing the Buckeyes for this game. And, during the game, he made some very questionable calls and decisions. Not only that, but Tressel and his staff did not make any in-game changes to the game plan or strategy which may have swung momentum back to the Buckeyes.

Trailing 21-7, Tressel decided to run the ball. Troy Smith and Antonio Pittman combined for a lot of yards on the ground and OSU scored and cut the lead to 21-14. A great three-and-out by the defense gave the Buckeyes the ball back with a prime chance to climb even at 21. But, instead of going back to the successful running of the previous drive, Tressel had Troy throw on first down - incomplete; and then throw on the next two downs - both incomplete; and was forced to punt. Why not stick with the run when it was already successful and Troy's bad passing game was so very evident? Then there was an ill-advised fourth and one play that was a failure and led to more points.

The last questionable coaching decision Tressel did not make was benching Troy Smith. As soon as I mentioned this, my friends laid into me. "Come on," they said. "Troy is the Heisman winner. We have to stick with him." I agree to a point. But by the third quarter it was evident that Troy was not going to get any better. He was playing poorly on all fronts and was not improving. Why not put Justin Zwick into the game? I mean, this guy has started a lot of games and he can throw the ball. He may not be as mobile as Troy or the leader, but with the terrible game Troy was playing with no signs of getting better, why not gamble and put Zwick in?

I can see it now....add in a tight end on every play for extra protection on the offensive line, put Stan White at fullback and rotate Pittman and Chris Wells and have two receivers and run - no, pound - the ball until you make them honest on defense. Then throw when things open up. I was saddened to not see Zwick in the game for at least one or two series at the end.

My final thought is the Ted Ginn Jr. injury affected the Buckeye offense much more than any of us could have imagined. After the big win over Michigan, Troy was on the set of Game Day and told the crew that he felt Ted Ginn Jr. should win the Heisman. That's how important Troy thinks Ginn is to this offense. With Ginn out of the picture, there was no worrying about everything he could and can do by the Gator defense. No direct snaps to Ginn. No reverses. No post routes blowing by a DB. No punt or kick-off returns. That absence of talent and speed hurt the Buckeye offense and special teams, no question.

In the end, people will say Florida deserved the title and are the champs. But, I can't help but wonder what the outcome may have been if this game was played in December. But, as my father always said, if my grandma had balls, she'd be my grandpa.

Here's to next season and thanks to the Ohio State football team for one hell of a ride and a lot of memories I will never forget. Well, there is one memory I hope goes away fast. I think you know what I am talking about.

Final BlogPoll

2007-01-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

A little late, I know, since the official version is out, but here's my ballot:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	2
2	Ohio State	1
3	LSU	1
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Michigan	3
6	Boise State	4
7	Wisconsin	1
8	Louisville	1
9	Auburn	--
10	California	1
11	Oklahoma	3
12	West Virginia	1
13	Rutgers	2
14	Arkansas	--
15	Notre Dame	3
16	Texas	2
17	Penn State	3
18	Oregon State	5
19	Brigham Young	3
20	Boston College	6
21	Wake Forest	4
22	TCU	4
23	Tennessee	4
24	Virginia Tech	8
25	Central Michigan	--

Dropped Out: Nebraska (#21), Texas A&M (#24).

Like I said, the final poll is posted at mgoblog, and yours truly won the "Mr. Stubborn" award convincingly. I think my ballot looks pretty reasonable, but Brian has said I am stubborn, and Brian is an honorable man. So I suppose I should defend my ballot a bit.

Since this isn't really a "Your rankings suck!" award, but more of a "Did you even watch the bowls?" award, I won't work through my thinking for all the rankings. It would seem to me that if my rankings are reasonably close to the actual BlogPoll, they're alright, and my lack of change in my ballot is due less to ignoring the bowls, and more to my amazing skill at ranking teams prior to the bowls. So let's just take a look at the teams whose place on my ballot differs from the actual BlogPoll by more than, say, three places. Arbitrary, but it doesn't seem out of line to say that's where personal opinion starts to become personal stupidity.

10. Cal (14 in BlogPoll) - This was basically semi-irrational exuberence throughout the season that wasn't going to be corrected now, since they crushed Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. I've had Cal ranked a little high all season. What can I say? I heart Marshawn Lynch and DeSean Jackson (Seans unite!).

17. Penn State (23) - Big Ten pride is some of that, probably. But still, their only losses are to OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. According to the BlogPoll, the collective wisdom of the voters is that every team ranked below Notre Dame would also lose to those teams. We know PSU should be ranked below the four teams that beat them, but beyond that, it's a judgement call. My ranking isn't too crazy; Sagarin and Billingsley have PSU at 18, and they use computers and numbers and stuff.

21. Wake Forest (17) - Any faith I had in the quality of the ACC was crushed repeatedly throughout the season (Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, etc., not to mention Miami and FSU). So yeah, I didn't have much respect for Wake Forest. Maybe it's just because they're Wake Forest, but am I so crazy?

24. Virginia Tech (20) - See above. I got no love for the ACC.

25. Central Michigan (UNR) - Leftover wackiness, mostly. I figured winning the MAC oughta count for something, and then they went out and crushed Middle Tennessee State, so who knows? But this is almost certainly the least defensible ranking in my ballot.

So there you have it. Five teams whose rankings could reasonably be called into question. Brian himself has five teams that meet the above criteria, and Brian is an honorable man. I expect most bloggers have a similar number of questionable rankings, and they are all, all honorable men.

In conclusion, it wasn't that I was stubborn, or in denial about the bowls (much as I tried). It was that I was just that awesome at ranking teams prior to the bowl games. When you're this damn good, you don't have to change your rankings much.

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men. . .

2007-01-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well, that wasn't what I had in mind.

If you're hoping for any breakdown of the game from me, you're out of luck. I spent most of last night in shock, and I intend to spend the rest of today in denial. There will come a day when I am prepared to rationally discuss the national championship game without the extensive and creative use of profanity, but by that time, everyone will have moved on, so this is probably all you get from me.

Congratulations to the Gators, though. They clearly showed that they were the better team last night. The Buckeyes were outplayed and outcoached, something that has seldom happened under Tressel's watch. Florida played a great game and deserves that fancy crystal football.

But it's not as though this season was a failure for Ohio State. A Big Ten championship and a win over Michigan define a successful season for me, however disappointed I am in the beating the team took in the national championship game.

The basketball team has a big game tonight at Wisconsin. They crushed Illinois over the weekend in a game where they didn't even shoot very well. That's something to build on, but that's not the Illinois team of a few years ago. The Buckeyes have come up short in their two big tests thus far this season, and I'm not too wild about their chances in this one. I think Ohio State is the most talented team in the Big Ten, but Wisconsin is playing better right now, and they'll be at home. A win for the Buckeyes would be a big statement, but if they're in the game for its entirety, that will be satisfactory.

That said, if they turn in the second loss in a big game in 24 hours for Buckeye teams, this week is officially ruined for me. But if they win. . . well, it's still probably ruined. Such is the risk you run when you attach your emotional well-being to the success of a collegiate athletic program.

National Championship Preview

2007-01-05T17:26:00.000-05:00

It's you. It's me. It's the Hypothetical Interviewer 9000. Let's do this.

Um, hold on. HI9000, why are you locked in your room?

The door doesn't have a lock. It's just closed. I'm protecting myself from alligators. They have Florida speed. And SEC speed! They said that Buckeyes can't handle that sort of speed! We're all doomed!
Easy, HI9000, they weren't talking about real alligators. They were talking about the Florida Gators football team. They're - they're just people. Not man-eating reptiles.

Even worse! People have thumbs! They can open doors!
Calm down, the Florida football team is not out to get you. They're just claiming that their players are faster because they're from/playing in the southeastern part of the United States.

Well, okay. But isn't that still a problem for the national championship game?
No. We've been through this whole speed argument before. Remember the last national championship game? How our slow, plodding Buckeyes were going to get crushed by Miami, whose players were so fast that they were only visible with the aid of high-speed cameras? That one worked out okay, didn't it?

True. But we're still at a disadvantage. By the time the game rolls around, we will have gone 51 days without playing a football game. Isn't that a problem?
Ohio State's had long layoffs going into bowl games for decades. Was the long break a problem last year against Notre Dame? Or the year before, against Oklahoma State? Or the year before, against Kansas State? Or in the aforementioned national title game against Miami?

Well, no.
Exactly. With the exception of the Miami game, OSU won comfortably every year. In fact, they generally played their best football of the season. The long break hasn't been a problem under Tressel. If anything, it seems to have been an advantage.

Okay, then, the layoff doesn't matter. Give me an overview of the game.
Very superficially, Florida looks pretty similar to Michigan. A team with an outstanding defense and an offense that just gets the job done. Of course, the two teams aren't actually that similar. Florida's offense, for example, is very different from Michigan's.

Let's talk about that offense.
You already know the basics. They're running that Urban Meyer spread option offense with a quarterback, Chris Leak, who is not made for it. Running is not his thing. When he throws the ball, he's alright, but not great. He has 14 picks to his 22 touchdowns, a ratio that is not too good. His two favorite targets are Dallas Baker and Andre Caldwell, who both average a bit over four receptions per game. Baker is the big play guy, but both are solid receivers.

What about running the ball?
That has been something of an adventure for the Gators. They average 160ish yards per game, which is above average NCAA-wide, but not very good in reality. Their leading rusher, DeShawn Wynn, averages less than ten carries per game. Tim Tebow, uber-recruit QB, is used pretty regularly as a running back, and averages 33 yards per game. Chris Leak, an option QB in the offense but not in reality, has 23 yards on the season. It appears to be something of a running game by committee, but with an exceptionally large and diverse committee, ranging from backup quarterbacks to wide receivers.

So is there anything to be afraid of from this offense?
Sure. They aren't outstanding running or passing, but they also aren't bad at either. It's a pretty balanced offense. That's always a concern.

But a bigger concern is Percy Harvin. He's technically a wide receiver, but he's more likely to carry the ball than catch a pass. He hasn't been used a whole lot during the season, due to injury, but he exploded the last two games of the season, particularly against Arkansas, when he finished with 105 yards rushing, 62 yards receiving, and two touchdowns. He's a big play waiting to happen.

How should the Buckeyes defend that attack?
The biggest thing they need to do is be disciplined. It's an option attack, complete with reverses and end-arounds, so the defense can't just chase after the ball, lest they be caught out of position. They will also want to be careful with blitzes, for the same reason. However, blitzes can be successful, as Florida has had some trouble with allowing sacks.

I expect a bit of a bend-don't-break defense, focused on keeping Baker and Harvin under wraps. If I were coaching, I would probably blitz selectively, focusing more on either forcing Leak into mistakes, or waiting for Florida to beat themselves (they're the second most-penalized team in the country). But then, I've been hilariously wrong on stuff like this before.

What about the Gator defense?
They've certainly put up some impressive numbers. But then, name a good SEC offense.

Well, there's LSU. . .
I'll give you them, sure.

And there's Arkansas and Tennessee.
The two teams that exploded for a combined 24 points in their bowl games? Riiiight.

I get your point. You're saying that Florida's defense is good because they've faced bad offenses?
I've made the argument before. But I'm not entirely serious. This Florida defense is very good, regardless of what you think of SEC offenses. Reggie Nelson is the big star, the safety that just destroys hapless receivers. Brandon Siler, a linebacker, is another guy to look out for.

So how do the Bucks attack these guys? Rushing? Passing? With giant battle axes? Please say we get to use axes.
Nope, sorry.

Nobody ever uses axes anymore.
I know. Anyway, running doesn't appear to be much of an option; they're sixth in the country against the run. And that number isn't even inflated much by sacks; they're just 50th in the country in sacks. Passing appears to be a better option, as they are 48th against the pass. That may be a byproduct of their rush defense, though. The Gators are 5th in pass efficiency defense, suggesting that they're actually pretty good against the pass. But I'm not sure; I haven't seen that many Florida games.

You didn't answer the question. How do we attack the Florida defense?
I'm not sure, honestly. There don't appear to be many weaknesses. True, they don't get that many sacks, but when you're sixth in the country in interceptions, getting sacks isn't such a big deal. I'm counting on Troy Smith to make plays where others couldn't. He'll have time (that sack number, again), and with him, that's translated into positive plays all season. I don't expect the run game to be a major factor, but I didn't expect that against Michigan, and Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells both broke off big touchdown runs. But yeah, basically, I'm just counting on Troy to do the things he's done all season.

Care to make a score prediction?
Nope. I did that for the basketball game against Florida, and it didn't work out so well. So I'm just keeping my fool mouth shut and not tempting the football gods. All I'll say is that I don't anticipate the blowout that many of the Buckeye faithful are predicting. Though I'd certainly be happy with it.

Another Battle of the Blogs

2007-01-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

Like they did with the OSU-Michigan game, CSTV.com is running a Battle of the Blogs for the national championship game. We're on day three of the battle. To bring you up to speed, on Tuesday Pfef drew the unenviable task of debating Orson from EDSBS on each school's fans, while yesterday, Annapolisbuckeye went up against We Are the Boys, debating which school has the better bowl tradition. Pfef did well, I think. I'd argue that he won the debate, as much as one can win these things. He presented an excellent argument, while Orson mostly cracked jokes (good jokes, though; this is EDSBS we're talking about here). I thought Annapolisbuckeye also took care of business, though he had a few more decades of bowl tradition to work with. We Are the Boys did about as good a job as one could hope to do with what they had to work with.

I drew Swamp Ball as an opponent for today's battle, the Florida offense versus the Ohio State defense. As a savvy veteran of Battles of the Blogs (Battle of the Blogses?), I went for every dirty debate trick I could apply at midnight, when I was writing my side of the debate. Balance, reasonableness, and honesty went out the window (not all the way out, maybe, but I at least dangled them out the window, as though they were Vanilla Ice to my Suge Knight). I cherry picked statistics that helped my argument. I ignored everything that might weaken my argument. I even set up a bit of a straw man, just to get a shot in at the SEC:

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect my colleague and opponent across the page is arguing that Ohio State’s numbers came against inferior competition, while Florida’s stats came against tough SEC defenses; it’s the argument I would make were our situations reversed. However, let me present a counter-argument: SEC defenses are no better than any others. In fact, an offense approaching competent is all it takes to win the SEC.

Look at the SEC championship game: it pitted a team (Arkansas) whose best quarterback was a running back (Darren McFadden) against a team (Florida) whose best running back was a backup quarterback (Tim Tebow). That isn’t innovation; that’s desperation. It’s the sort of thing you do when you’ve exhausted all other options. It’s the sort of thing that went out of style decades ago. It’s the sort of thing that’s good enough to win the SEC.

Meanwhile, how does Swamp Ball attack? With a calm, reasoned essay outlining the sort of gameplan that might be successful against the Buckeyes, based on results of previous games. It was well-thought out and well-written. Who does that in online debates?

As it turns out, there's a lot less trash-talking in an OSU-Florida debate than an OSU-Michigan debate, which I probably should have expected. Regardless, I feel like I come off a little message board-y, when I could have afforded to be more evenhanded in my site of the debate. But I'm not going to get too concerned about it. After all, if you don't get a little fiery in a college football debate, when will you?

Anyway, there's been a lot of good work done in this Battle of the Blogs, by both sides. So go check it out.

OSU-Indiana Postgame

2007-01-03T15:23:00.000-05:00

I'm abandoning my look at the BCS bowls, at least temporarily, because I realized that I don't really care about the Orange Bowl. Louisville won, but who cares? It confirms what we already suspected: Wake Forest is not that good.

Instead, let's talk about basketball. Specifically, the 74-67 win over Indiana. There were good and bad things going on there. First, the good:

Greg Oden had a career-high 21 points. He was greatly helped by going 9 of 10 on his free throws, despite still shooting left-handed. If I'm him, I think long and hard about not switching back. And if I'm Pat Riley, I send video of Oden shooting to Shaq.
Mike Conley had his best game yet, ending with nine points, ten assists (to zero turnovers!) and three steals. He drives to the basket better than anyone on the team, and he passes better than anyone on the team. Oden may be the best player on the team, but he has some real competition from Conley.
Speaking of best games yet, Othello Hunter also played very well for perhaps the first time this year. The numbers aren't terribly gaudy - 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks - but for the first time, he was a real presence on both ends of the court. He missed an easy layup on a great pass from Conley early in the game, but that was his only miss, as he went five of six on his shots and four for four on the line. He got much more aggressive on offense, going for dunks instead of settling for layups or jumpers. There were times, both offensively and defensively, when I mistook him for Oden.
Daequan Cook continues to shoot well. He had twelve points on four of six shooting, making two of his three attempts behind the arc. He can score from anywhere. It's fun to watch.
Late in the game, Oden blocked a shot clear to the other half of the court. It effectively ended any chance the Hoosiers had at a comeback, and it looked really cool.

Now, the bad:

The team is still in a shooting slump. They hit just four of 15 threes. Jamar Butler and Ron Lewis each made one of four. At least the team appears to recognize the problem: they shot well below their average of 22.8 3-pt. attempts per game. On the other hand, maybe the problem is that they aren't getting into a shooting rhythm like earlier in the season. I don't know what the problem is; all I know is that I miss the Buckeye team that was making 40+% of its threes, annoying basketball purists, and turning six-point deficits into nine-point leads in the span of five possessions.
Indiana, by contrast, shot absurdly well from behind the arc, hitting twelve of 22 (54.5%). Some of this was just luck, but seeing as Florida also shot well against the Buckeyes, perhaps there's something beyond luck at work here. If the good teams continue to shoot well against the Buckeyes, Florida won't be the last loss of the season.
Those damnable pick-and-rolls continue to be a problem. As Keith has already mentioned, the Buckeyes (Oden in particular) have been defending it by hedging (briefly guarding the man with the ball so his defender can recover, yay basketball lingo). The problem is that Oden pretty regularly picks up a foul defending the play, and when he doesn't, he hasn't been quick enough getting back to his man. Florida and Indiana would run some of those screens well outside the three-point line, presumably to draw Oden and his Shot-Blocking Hands of Justice(!) away from the basket. If that continues to be the case, might it be better to have him back off and let the other defender go under the pick? Sure, it might leave the ballhandler with an open shot, but if that shot's a 25- or 30-footer, is that a bad thing? And who knows; Oden might be able to block that shot anyway. Regardless, what they're doing now doesn't work very well.

And overall, the game itself was good and bad. A win is a good thing, and the play of Conley and Hunter in particular was very good. But I think Indiana helped to develop a blueprint for beating Ohio State, and that's a bad thing. Defensively, teams should focus on denying passes to Oden, whether with a zone or some other strategy, since they don't have to worry about Ohio State making them pay from outside. Offensively, lots of pick-and-rolls. Lots and lots. Of course, if the pick-and-roll defense improves and the long-range shots start falling, that blueprint and just about any other for beating the Buckeyes go right out the window, and that would be a good thing.

The Fiesta Bowl: A Taste of Things to Come, and Bob Stoops' What-The-Hell Face

2007-01-02T17:05:00.000-05:00

I resigned myself to watching the Fiesta Bowl, more out of a sense of duty than any eagerness to see the actual game. Since this was essentially the warm-up game for the national championship, I wanted to see whether the broadcast team was any good, whether Fox would do anything annoying with the cameras, and whether the field was any good. Basically, I was scouting Fox and the field for the OSU-Florida game; watching Boise State get crushed by a far superior, yet still boring Oklahoma team was something I was resigned to as a result, not something I was excited about. But then the game actually turned out to be pretty good, and when Boise State put on a trick play clinic at the end of the game, it became straight-up awesome.

The Broadcasters
But first, the broadcast team. I, and everyone I know, was worried that Joe Buck would be calling this game. The last thing I wanted was that smug jackass ruining the bastion of purity and essential goodness that is college football. The football gods took pity upon us, though, and gave us Thom Brennaman instead. He's a baseball guy, and kind of a jackass himself, but he is better than Joe Buck because he is not Joe Buck.

But the football gods giveth with one hand, and taketh away with the other. While I associate Brennaman's voice more with calling double plays and complaining about Manny Ramirez than football, he's at least good at his job. The same can't be said for the combo Fox picked to do color: Charles Davis and Barry Alvarez.

Davis is just annoying. It's one thing to point out the obvious from time to time; it's standard broadcast procedure. It's another thing to point out the obvious, stalk it, learn its daily routine, videotape its every movement, and watch the video over and over in a dark room. Davis is a stalker of the obvious. When Boise State, contrary to what Davis expected, continued to occasionally pass the ball and try to pick up first downs and score touchdowns (basically what had been working for them all game), rather than just say, "Well, Boise State isn't content with this lead," or maybe "Wow, Boise State is taking some risks late in the game. I guess you gotta stick with what's been working," Davis launched into a lengthy explanation about how he doesn't know everything about football, about how the Broncos had done this all year, and about how he's a big believer in Team DNA (which was definitely not covered in any of my biology classes). He was pretty consistently wrong, he only pointed out the obvious, and he would not shut up. He's my worst sports broadcasting nightmare.

Barry Alvarez, ex-Wisconsin coach and current Wisconsin A.D., is the third man in the booth. I'm under the assumption that when there are three people in the booth, one is supposed to do play by play, one is supposed to provide basic commentary for casual viewers, and one is supposed to provide more in-depth insight for the more hardcore fans (that's you and me, amigo). Alvarez is our voice in the booth. He's okay, but he's pretty clearly new at this. He offered some decent observations, but he'd stutter, he'd spend time looking for the right word, he'd just act like a guy who's still new to this broadcast stuff. Even worse for Alvarez, with Davis going into repeated thirty second discussions about the differences in clock rules between college and the NFL, among other inane ramblings, Alvarez had trouble getting a word in edgewise. There would be long stretches where you could forget he was even there. And maybe he wasn't; he might have gone searching for duct tape to shut up Davis.

So, in conclusion, if you're willing and able to make jokes about the broadcast team, these guys will be acceptable. But if bad commentators can ruin the game for you, you're better off listening to the game on the radio and muting the TV.

Oh, and a memo to Brennaman, re: your late-game comments - the whole BCS-versus-playoff debate has been done do death. We all know the BCS sucks, we're sick of talking about it. The new clock rules are the talking point we expect you to beat to death. Please adjust your commentary accordingly.

The Field
It was alright. They had apparently replaced the middle section of the field (between the hash marks, plus a little more) at some point, and judging by the remains of the old field, it was a good call. I guess that between the Cardinals and high school playoffs, the field had received some heavy use. What they ended up with wasn't very photogenic, but it seemed to work well enough. It wasn't pristine, but it wasn't Horseshoe in '06 bad.

The Game
If you missed it, Boise State beat Oklahoma in overtime, 43-42. But the game was so much more awesome than that. Boise State surprised me (and just about everyone else) by leading for much of the game, achieving it not through tricks or fluke plays, but by going toe to toe with the Sooners and winning. Then they blew the lead, Oklahoma took the lead on a pick-six, and Boise State had to stage a comeback. They ran into a little trouble with that, and faced 4th and 18. No problem, they just ran a hook-and-ladder to perfection to tie the game up. Fox cut to a shot of Bob Stoops, whose look said very clearly: "What the hell?"

The game went into overtime, and on the first play, Adrian Peterson cruised through the Boise State defense for a touchdown. Order was restored, and it was maintained up until 4th and 2 for the Broncos. That's when they ran a WR pass that resulted in another touchdown, and another "What the hell?" shot of Stoops. Boise State then lined up to go for two, and Oklahoma called a time out, presumably to allow Stoops to explain to BSU coach Chris Petersen that that's just not how things are done in big time football. Petersen evidently ignored him, reached into the jar of trick plays, and pulled out a Statue of Liberty play, which also worked to perfection. One last "What the hell?" shot of Stoops, and game over. Bob's press conference didn't consist entirely of profanity and confused looks, but regardless of what he said, we know what he was thinking: What the hell?

Back With Rose Bowl Thoughts

2007-01-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

I have returned. In the past nine days, I have traveled the world, searching for enlightenment, helping the less fortunate, and solving ancient mysteries (like "how does Lou Holtz keep getting work?").

Or, I was doing the Christmas thing, then doing the New Year's thing, and spending all the time in between playing Guitar Hero. And really, isn't playing Guitar Hero a lot like a search for enlightenment? I sure hope so, because otherwise, I've wasted an awful lot of time.

But I also watched quite a bit of football, and I have a few thoughts and crackpot ideas to share. Since discussion of all the games would be boring and a lot of work, I've decided to focus on the BCS games. First up is the Rose Bowl, which, as you are likely already aware, was won by USC, 32-18. Every year, I tell myself that I'm going to cheer for Michigan in their bowl game, that I'm going to support the Big Ten. And every year, I end up cheering the other team's touchdowns and cackling madly at everything the Wolverines do wrong and every call that goes against them. I just can't help cheering against them. We're like Pavlov's dog and a bell, me and the Wolverines.

Now, as far as the actual game, a buddy of mine suggested that this was a bad matchup for the Wolverines. In particular, he thought a big receiver like Dwayne Jarrett would be trouble for Michigan. I figured Michigan was just so much better than those pansy Pac-10'ers that individual matchups like that wouldn't matter. 205 yards and two touchdowns later, it's looking like I may have been mistaken. Jarrett kinda sorta totally dominated the Michigan secondary. In particular, he went out of his way to own safety Willis Barringer, taunting him into a personal foul penalty on one touchdown, then flipping the ball to him after a big catch on another play, just to name two examples. It was entertaining, though how Jarrett didn't get flagged on any of that, I'll never know.

Of course, this outcome provides a pretty good rebuttal to any argument about Michigan deserving to be in the national championship game. We have evidence now that Michigan is not as good as Ohio State or USC, so they have a little trouble claiming to be one of the two best teams in the country. But that doesn't mean that the decision-making process that kept them out of the game wasn't flawed. If you open up a bear cub-kidnapping business, and on Day One some mother bear doesn't rip your arms off, that doesn't mean that you have a good business plan; it means that you got lucky. Similarly, the BCS got lucky. Michigan could have blown out USC, then we'd be halfway to yet another championship controversy.

But they didn't, and we aren't. For now, we can sit back and bask in a third-straight Michigan bowl loss. Even if it's bad for the Big Ten's reputation, even if you were actually cheering for the Wolverines, you can still take some pleasure in their misfortune. Schadenfreude, the kids call it.

Ohio State vs. Florida Postgame

2006-12-23T17:49:00.000-05:00

Well, that sucked. Ohio State lost, 86-60. The Buckeyes were outshot, outrebounded, and outplayed by the Gators. Mike Conley played well for the Buckeyes, posting 13 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. He also played pretty well defensively, chipping in three steals. He was outscored by his counterpart from Florida, Taurean Green, who went for 24 points. Conley's the only Buckeye who I thought played well.

Greg Oden had seven points, seven rebounds, and four blocks. Florida, surprisingly, had success driving to the basket in the second half. I chalk this up to Oden being tired, since Othello Hunter did not play well. As a result, Oden played most of the second half, and by the end of the game, didn't look much better than Hunter (and that's a bad thing). It raises the question: why didn't Matt Terwilliger play before garbage time? True, he's not as talented as Oden or Hunter, but he can be a solid player, and solid's what we needed from Oden's backup. Hunter seemed almost invisible when Florida went into the lane; someone who was tangible would have been an improvement.

Regardless, Oden was outplayed by his counterpart from the Gators, who turned out to be not Joakim Noah, but Al Horford. Apparently, when Billy Donovan said "He's not going to play," he meant Horford was going to play 27 minutes. He had a double-double, going for 11 points and 11 rebounds.

But whether Horford played or not, the Gators were going to win. They made 50% of their threes; the Buckeyes made 35.9% of their total shots. Florida outrebounded Ohio State, 37-20. Ohio State had 13 turnovers to Florida's 16, but that's the only statistic where the Buckeyes had an advantage.

So what can we take from this? Well, this should quiet down the Oden hype for a while, though people shouldn't be too critical of a guy that still has a ways to go before he's healthy. And we've learned again that Ohio State loses when they can't make threes, but that's not exactly news. That the Buckeyes did so poorly on the glass was a concern. A perimeter-oriented team is going to get outrebounded by a team with two quality big men; that's not a surprise. But if the Buckeyes are going to be outrebounded by 2 to 1 margins, they are going to lose more games.

Looking at the big picture, though, I'm willing to trade a loss in the basketball game against Florida for a win in the football game. Here's hoping we get it.

Ohio State vs. Florida (Basketball) Preview

2006-12-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

The first big game against the Gators comes tomorrow for the Buckeyes. To break it down, I will dust off the ol' Hypothetical Interviewer 9000.

Florida. They won the national championship last year, and they brought everyone back. Statistically, where do we have an advantage against these guys?
Well, we score a few more points per game than they do, but the shootout against VMI skews that a bit. We also defend the three a bit better than they do.

That's it?
Pretty much.

Bummer.
Not necessarily. Team statistics go to Florida, but matchups and player statistics go to the Buckeyes.

Prove it. Mike Conley versus Taurean Green.
I give that one to Conley. More assists in fewer minutes than Green, and fewer turnovers. Green shoots better from outside than Conley, and scores more points per game (12.8 vs. 9.7), but in terms of points per shot (because I'm too lazy to calculate PPWS, I use ESPN.com's PPS), Green's advantage is smaller. Conley also creates more steals. Conley passes better, turns the ball over less, forces more turnovers, and scores almost as well as Green, so I give him the nod.

Next: Jamar Butler versus Lee Humphrey.
Push. Humphrey's a better scorer by just about every measurable statistic, but Butler's much better in assists and assists/turnover ratio. Butler also forces more turnovers. So it depends on whether you need a scorer or a passer. I'd say both players have worked out pretty well for their teams.

Alright, how does Ron Lewis stack up against Corey Brewer?
Size-wise, not very well. Brewer's 6'9", Lewis is 6'4". I compare them only because Brewer plays the 3, while Lewis is a third guard. But oddly enough, they both produce similarly. Oddly enough, Brewer averages more assists (3.6 to 1.4). Brewer averages 4.4 boards per game, Lewis averages 4.0. Lewis outscores Brewer, 15.3 points to 11.1. But then, Lewis plays about five more minutes per game than Brewer, so Brewer actually holds an even bigger advantage in assists and rebounds, and Lewis's advantage in points is smaller. Lewis is, however, a more efficient scorer (1.66 PPS) than Brewer (1.30). So, again, it depends on what the team needs. Lewis is more of a pure scorer, while Brewer can do a variety of things. He's like a Swiss Army knife with a jumpshot, minus the corkscrew and crappy tweezers.

Next up, Al Horford versus-
Get with the times, 9000! Horford is not expected to play (HT: Buckeye Commentary).

Okay, who's his replacement? And who do we compare him to? Another post player like Othello Hunter or Ivan Harris? Or Daequan Cook, who plays more minutes?
So many questions. Well, Chris Richard, a 6'9" senior averaging 5.5 and 2.9, is expected to replace him. So, I suppose we should compare him to Harris, since Harris started the last game and will probably start this one. I think this matchup goes to the Buckeyes. Harris plays just three more minutes per game, but averages 5.9 more points and 1.4 more rebounds. Richard might be a little better inside, but Harris is much better outside. My impression of Richard (having seen little of Florida) is that he's not unlike Matt Terwilliger, capable but not outstanding. When Harris is making shots, he's outstanding.

And the most anticipated matchup: Greg Oden versus Joakim Noah.
Wednesday night, I watched the Ohio State women's team take on Oklahoma.

Warning: You are getting off topic. I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Sean.
You're creeping me out, HI9000. And I'm going somewhere with this. The highlight of the OSU-OU game was our Jessica Davenport versus their Courtney Paris. Paris is the hotshot young center, perhaps the best in women's college basketball, while Davenport is close behind, but much more experienced. OSU won, and Davenport had a good game. So did Paris, but Davenport made her work for it. Paris finished with 22 and 13, but on 10 of 24 shooting. Davenport had a less impressive, but more efficient, 14 and 10. That's sort of what I expect to happen here, with Oden in the young gun role, and Noah playing the savvy vet. Oden has the size and talent to get the points, but Noah has the talent and experience to make it difficult for Oden. Meanwhile Noah, a better passer than Oden, will be keeping his offense flowing, even if he's not getting good looks. I call it a push, in part because Oden still isn't 100%. But it'll be great to watch.

What about the bench?
I think this is an advantage for the Buckeyes. The Gators are about as deep as Ohio State, but they don't have anyone like Daequan Cook on the bench. With Horford out, they lose depth among their big men, which is good news for Hunter and Twiggy. And I haven't even mentioned David Lighty.

What does this all mean?
I think Florida will try to avoid getting into a fast-paced game. The loss of Horford gives them one less player, and if both teams need a lot of minutes from their benches, the advantage goes to the Buckeyes. Ohio State might let them slow it down, because they've been playing slower while trying to get the ball to Oden. If the Buckeyes are willing to run and take advantage of their athletes, I think it'll be good for them. And if their threes are falling, I don't think it matters what Florida does, the Buckeyes win. But if it's a slow game with Ohio State wasting possessions by shooting bricks from outside, Florida could win comfortably.

Summarize, for the readers who are too lazy to read the whole thing.
Florida's experience makes them more than the sum of their parts, but Ohio State's parts are better. The Gators are seriously hurt by the loss of Horford, but they're at home and do everything well. If Oden's effective and the threes are falling, OSU wins comfortably. If the Buckeyes' shooting is off, Florida can collapse on Oden. If they do that and execute on the offensive end, the Gators win.

Any prediction?
The Buckeyes haven't been shooting well lately; this would be a good time to get the outside shot back on track. I say they do. I further say that Oden will have his worst game of the year, going for something around 16 points and nine rebounds on shooting a bit under 50%. However, the Buckeyes do enough to beat the Horford-less Gators, 72-68.

Post-Iowa State Thoughts

2006-12-20T11:16:00.000-05:00

First of all, it was a win. Not only that, it was a 19 point win. Yay, first and foremost.

But (cliche alert!) it was a much closer game than the final score would indicate. Iowa State slowed the game down (59 possessions) and kept it close most of the time. It was mostly a game of mini-runs. Ohio State would open up an 8- or 10-point lead, then Iowa State would pull within two. The Cyclones shot pretty well on their three point attempts (38.5%), and did an okay job taking care of the ball for most of the game. But they turned the ball over three times late as OSU went on a run late to put the game away. The Buckeyes, for their part, played a very clean game, turning the ball over just eight times and committing just six fouls.

Greg Oden had his worst game of the season, and still posted 18 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes. The Cyclones did a pretty decent job on Oden, really, which opened things up for other players. Daequan Cook in particular benefited from the attention paid to Oden. Cook scored 21 points in 26 minutes, going three for five on his three point attempts. Mike Conley contributed 15 points and six assists, also leading the team in free throw attempts and makes (seven for seven). Ivan Harris had an Ivan Harrisy game, scoring six of his ten points on threes and contributing a little help rebounding (four boards). Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler didn't do much offensively (seven and zero points, respectively), but Butler did chip in seven assists. Interestingly, Othello Hunter and David Lighty only played fifteen minutes each. Playing matchups, recognition of off nights by Thad Matta, or a sign of things to come?

In related news, The Ozone reports that Oden says he might stick around all four years. As MotSaG points out, this is the right thing for him to say right now, and it's much easier to say when millions of dollars aren't staring him in the face. I'll still assume he's one-and-done, but the possibility of him staying is very intriguing. Assuming everyone else stays (Conley and Cook, I'm looking in your direction), our starters next year might look like this:

G - Mike Conley
G - Jamar Butler
G - Daequan Cook
F - Kosta Koufos (incoming 7' freshman)
C - Greg Oden

I gotta say, if I was putting together my ideal team, that's pretty close to the array of skills I'd want on it. A point guard that can distribute and penetrate, another guard that can shoot and pass, another guy that can score from anywhere, one seven-footer with some range, and another that's outstanding near the basket, offensively and defensively.

Again, probably won't happen, but it's fun to dream, isn't it?

Florida Week

2006-12-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

If you're willing to overlook Iowa State's basketball team (and I am, so long as Thad Matta and company aren't), then we've reached a rather unusual part of the year, wherein the next opponent for both the football and basketball teams is the same school. Yes, it's Florida Week.

This follows a thorough beatdown of the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday. At the end of the first half, the Bearcats had 14 points. Ohio State had three times that. The game was never in doubt, which is especially impressive considering that the Buckeyes didn't shoot especially well, hitting just 26.1% of their threes and 43.1% of all their shots. But they got an extra 16 points from their 23 free throw attempts, and more importantly, Cincinnati shot even worse. The Bearcats hit 2 of 24 threes (8.3%), and just 26% overall. All of this is attributable in no small part to Greg Oden. When the shots aren't falling from outside, having an inside scoring presence comes in handy. And with a seven-feet tall shot blocking machine in the middle, the Buckeyes are free to go crazy on perimeter defense. So teams shoot outside, because they can't get shots off inside, which plays right into Ohio State's hands. Perimeter defense has been a strong suit of the Buckeyes since Matta arrived, and now that it only takes one player to adequately defend inside the arc, the perimeter D only gets stronger. The end result was a blowout, even with poor shooting from the Buckeyes.

So now the Buckeyes (after the ISU game on Tuesday) turn their attention to Florida. The football team beat the defending national champs at their place early in the season; now it's the basketball team's chance to do the same. A full preview will be coming later, but at a glance, it'll be an interesting matchup. Florida has experience, obviously, but that's not all. They have size in Al Horford (6'10") and Joakim Noah (6'11"). Neither is as big as Oden, but both are very good. Florida also has depth. Like Ohio State, none of their players average more than 30 minutes per game. Both teams also have nine players averaging at least ten minutes per game. It looks like it will be a heck of a matchup. If you're a fan of the Buckeyes, or basketball in general, you have to be looking forward to it.

And, of course, there's the matter of that bowl game coming up January 8th for the football team. Again, I'll save a preview for later, but I think you'll hear a thing or two about it as it gets closer. It's a pretty big game, I understand.

Slow Week

2006-12-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted lately, but there's just not much to post about. The football team isn't doing much until that game they have in January that you may have heard about. The basketball team kicks off a week of pretty big games on Saturday, but until then, there's not a lot going on.

So, in the meantime, I'm doing a little work behind the scenes on the site. I'm working on a redesign, but getting things to look and work the way I want has proven to be a bit of a pain. But it's getting there.

While I'm doing that, you can take a look at a couple links that I've been meaning to post, if you so desire. First is My Casual Thoughts, a blog run by Andy, a Buckeye fan behind enemy lines in Ann Arbor. I finally added it to the sidebar a while ago, but I figured I'd mention it in a post.

Secondly, back when I was complaining about the National Championship ticket situation, I got mentioned over at SeatSmart's blog. It's a site with the goal of allowing fans better information about tickets, in part by searching several sites that sell tickets to return pricing info. Take a look, if you're so inclined.

Troy Smith's Place in Buckeye History

2006-12-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

At some point during the season, about the time that the Heisman became Troy Smith's to lose, a friend of mine asked me if I thought Troy Smith's number would be retired. As I believe I have metioned before, I eventually decided that it would be if he won the Heisman, but it was tough to get used to the idea that I was watching one of the all-time great Buckeyes play.

Now, on the eve of the Heisman Trophy presentation, I've grown a little more accustomed to the idea. It's still hard to believe, but in more of a "wow, isn't this lucky?" sort of way. Look at this highlight video, or this one, or any of the ones you'll see on YouTube. The guy makes plays few others could make. He rarely makes a bad decision, and he regularly does unbelievable things.

In short, Troy Smith is the best quarterback in Ohio State football history.

If you look at statistics, Troy's numbers are great, but generally not amazing, which isn't too surprising. In terms of yardage, Joe Germaine, Bobby Hoying, and Art Schlichter are the only quarterbacks with better yardage than Troy, but he's not being asked to air it out like those guys were (only 41.6% of OSU's plays this season have been passes). In terms of rushing production, he's behind Cornelius Greene, among others, but he's not being asked to run like those guys.

If you're looking for statistics that define Troy Smith's contribution to this team, there are three you need to look at. The first is completion percentage. Troy owns the top two spots in completion percentage for a season, as well as the record for career completion percentage. The second statistic, related to the first, is pass efficiency. Troy is first and third in season pass efficiency, and first in career efficiency. The third statistic is touchdowns. His thirty touchdown passes this season is a record, and he's top five in career touchdown passes.

What's all this mean? Troy Smith gets the job done. Others might rack up more yards through the air or on the ground, but he scores the points and gets the wins. He executes the offense almost to perfection, and that shows up in the efficiency and touchdowns. And, of course, there's that 3-0 record as a starter against Michigan.

Of course, stats don't tell the whole story about Troy's place in Ohio State history (though the record against Michigan can do a pretty good job). You have to watch him to truly appreciate him. He is almost always in absolute command of the offense. Even when he's scrambling madly, it's usually in the service of the overall goal of putting points on the board (Exhibit A). We know he can run; he showed that last season. This season he has preferred to shred defense through the air.

Yet despite all we've seen from him over the past three years, I can't help but believe we seldom saw all he had to offer. Certainly Michigan brought out the best in him, but I think he could have done even more if he needed to. I think he could have thrown for 3000+ yards if Tressel asked him to air it out. I think he could have rushed for a thousand yards if the system had been different. But he was asked to distribute the ball, to execute and spread the field. And he did that with a cold precision. Even if he didn't always find the best option, he almost always found a good option, and hardly ever made a major mistake. He threw downfield when Ted Ginn got behind defense, he found Anthony Gonzalez just across the first down lines on third-and-long, he scrambled until his third or fourth option got open, and when all else failed, he ran better than most quarterbacks in the country.

Of course, he still has one more game to go. He will cement his place in Buckeye history in the national championship game. But regardless of what happens on January 8, I've already made my decision. I don't think the Buckeyes have ever seen such a combination of athletic talent, leadership, and mastery of an offense in a quarterback as Troy Smith has shown. He's the best quarterback the Buckeyes have had, and I think it'll be a long time before we see another like him.

Finals-Related Hiatus

2006-12-06T21:17:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten that I run a blog. I'm in the midst of finals week, so all my time spent in front of my computer is going toward studying, or playing solitare, because that feels like it only takes a little bit of time away from studying, whereas blogging feels like a much larger commitment. In reality, I probably spend more time playing solitare than I would posting on here, but still: perception is everything when you're avoiding studying.

Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow or Friday, depending on how serious the post-exam burnout is.

Now You All Are In Big, Big Trouble

2006-12-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Quick football-related note: It's official, we're playing Florida. Complete thoughts to follow tomorrow, but in brief: 1.) Michigan got ripped off, which makes their fans angry, which makes me happy, regardless of what I said earlier today, and 2.) At first glance, Ohio State should win comfortably, but we'll examine that at more depth in the future.

But there's some big basketball-related news to take care of, first. How big? Seven feet, 280 pounds big. Yeah, I'm talking about the return of Greg Oden in Saturday's 78-58 win over Valpo. In his 23 minutes of work, he recorded a double-double, going for 14 points, ten rebounds, and five blocks. He wore a brace on his right wrist and essentially played the game one-handed, even going so far as to shoot free throws with his left hand.

One game isn't really enough data to perform much statistical analysis on, but even without equations and fancy numbers, his influence on the game was very apparent. For the most part, it was positive. He looked a little nervous and rusty in his first few minutes, but once he got going, he had an impact, particularly defensively. He proved Dick Vitale and all those other experts right, as just about all Valpo's trips to the basket were fruitless when Oden was in. During one notable possession, he started by blocking one shot from in front of the basket. A Valpo player recovered the ball near the baseline and attempted a second shot. Oden just reached out and blocked that one too. Five blocks in 23 minutes is impressive enough, but when you factor in the shots that were altered to avoid him and the shots that weren't attempted out of fear of yet another rejection, his impact was major.

Offensively, he was good, but his lack of a second hand was more apparent. You could tell that he wasn't as comfortable and had to think about things more, since he couldn't shoot with his right hand. But as he figured things out, he became more effective, and that was trouble for Valpo. When there's a 7 foot, 280 pound giant backing you down in the post, how do you stop that? You foul. And Valpo did. Oden's biggest impact, from a numbers stand point, came in free throws, as he made more free throws (15), than the Buckeyes attempted against North Carolina (13).

There were some problems though, mostly on the offensive end as the team tried to do too much through Oden. Who can blame them? When Dickie V is calling a guy the greatest thing to happen to basketball since the invention of rubber, it's only natural to want to get him the ball. As a result, it looked like the team tried to force things from time to time, rather than just working Oden into the flow of things. But I think that as they grow more comfortable with him on the floor, and as he continues to heal and improve, we'll end up with an inside-outside game like we had last year, except with more talent all over the floor. And that is scary for the rest of the Big Ten.

That's not to say that other Buckeyes didn't have good games. Daequan Cook led the team in scoring with twenty points, going 4-5 from behind the arc. Mike Conley had seven points and seven assists (to two turnovers). And the team as a whole shot shot well, 51% overall and 45.4% on their threes.

But in a game that was essentially over at halftime, the debut of Greg Oden is going to be the story, and rightfully so. When he's 100%, how do you stop this offense? You can't collapse down on Oden when the team is making almost 44% of their threes, but you clearly can't defend Oden one-on-one. And how do you attack them defensively? Venturing inside looks to be a foolish choice, but as a Thad Matta-coached team, they defend the perimeter well (opponents are making less than 29% of their threes). Oden's arrival is great news for the Buckeyes, and bad news for the rest of the Big Ten.

Chaos Reigns in the Football World; Week Fifteen BlogPoll

2006-12-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

If you're the type of Ohio State fan that I am, you spent yesterday afternoon cheering for USC. It hurt, it was like cheering for the bad guy in movies, but you did it anyway, because you did not want to see a rematch with Michigan. You've already seen Ohio State-Michigan, you know the outcome. So why do it again? Plus, Michigan not making it to the National Championship game would make Michigan fans unhappy, and that's a nice bonus.

But as you no doubt already suspected, Pete Carroll is incapable of doing anything that makes Buckeyes fans happy. The man always wins, except when we actually want him to win. In a fashion that should have been predictable, the Trojans lost to UCLA, taking them out of the national title picture.

As a result, the battle for number two in the BCS rankings comes down to Michigan and Florida. We, as Ohio State fans, are left with a similar question we had back before USC lost: do we support Michigan, a fellow Big Ten school and the second best team in the country, or Florida, a very good team in their own right who has the added benefit of not having already lost to the Buckeyes?

I've decided that I'm indifferent. I believe that Michigan is the second best team in the country, and I think they'd beat Florida by at least a touchdown. But that feeling's balanced by not wanting to see a rematch of the last game OSU and Michigan played. It's that same sentiment you've heard: Michigan had their chance, and lost. Let someone else get a shot.

But by the stated goal of the BCS system, to put the two best teams in the championship game, I think Florida should be left out. They are fresh off an SEC championship game that pitted a team whose best quarterback is a running back (Arkansas) against a team whose best running back is a quarterback (Florida). Okay, I may be exaggerating things a bit, but the point I want to make is that two offenses that aren't paragons of quality and execution were enough to get their teams to the SEC championship. Michigan, possessing both an effective quarterback and a real live talented running back, gets the nod from me in terms of offense. Defenses are a push, both in my mind and statistically. Michigan is, I think, the better team, and should get the nod from that standpoint.

But, as I said, I also don't want to see a rematch. So, whatever the BCS system decides, either outcome will be equally acceptable to me.

With all that said, let's move on to the early draft of my BlogPoll ballot:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	1
3	Florida	1
4	Southern Cal	2
5	LSU	--
6	Wisconsin	--
7	Louisville	1
8	Oklahoma	2
9	Auburn	--
10	Boise State	1
11	California	2
12	Notre Dame	2
13	West Virginia	2
14	Arkansas	2
15	Rutgers	8
16	Virginia Tech	--
17	Wake Forest	2
18	Texas	1
19	Tennessee	1
20	Penn State	1
21	Nebraska	3
22	Brigham Young	--
23	Oregon State	--
24	Texas A&M	1
25	Central Michigan	1

Dropped Out: Georgia Tech (#24).

Notes

Not a lot of games this week, so not a ton of significant movement.
Michigan, as I said, gets my vote for second best team in the country.
I'm not sure I punished USC enough for their loss, but it was a close loss in a rivalry game, and I'd still take them to beat all those teams ranked below them.
Arkansas doesn't drop much because my opinion of them doesn't really change with the outcome of the SEC championship game. Rutgers drops a lot with their loss mostly because I had them above Louisville, but with the loss to West Virginia, I decided to drop them below the Mountaineers. Plus I think this is a more accurate placement for them.
Central Michigan: why not?

Postgame Thoughts: North Carolina

2006-11-30T11:41:00.000-05:00

If you went to bed early, OSU lost, 98-89. Honestly, I'm almost pleased with the result. It's a little disappointing, because Ohio State was leading for much of the game, but we saw a team missing (possibly) the best player in the country hang with one of the best teams in one of the most difficult environments to play in. You have to be satisfied with the performance.

As expected, North Carolina scored almost at will in the post. Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger didn't play poorly (Terwilliger in particular impressed my untrained eye with his work defensively), but they are no Tyler Hansbrough and Brandan Wright. Obviously, a better inside presence is forthcoming for Ohio State, so I'm not too worried about that.

I also think that the Buckeye's lack of depth showed as the game went on. Much was made of North Carolina's depth, and they had nine guys play more than ten minutes (with a tenth playing nine minutes). OSU, by contrast, had their usual eight. The game was played at a pretty high pace (76 possessions), which meant two things for OSU: increased opportunity to foul (and therefore some foul trouble), and more time on the court running around for those who weren't in foul trouble. Some of the guys looked a little tired toward the end, and some (Hunter and Ivan Harris, in particular) didn't get a chance to play as much as you'd want due to foul trouble.

But there was a lot of good to take away from the game. The Buckeyes shot extremely well, going 13 of 26 on their threes. Ivan Harris was excellent again, going 5 of 8 on his threes en route to 18 points. They also showed the ability to drive to the basket. Mike Conley occasionally looked like Allen Iverson, blowing past defenders and around big men on his way to layups. Ron Lewis was even more impressive, scoring 24 of his 30(!) points inside the arc.

Overall, the team proved that they were as good as they looked against the Loyolas and Kent States earlier in the season. The only real weakness on the team is a major presence inside. If they had had Terence Dials for this game, I believe they would have won. However, they aren't getting Dials. They are getting a guy that is viewed by just about everyone as better than Dials in just about every facet of the game. We know now that the rest of the team can play with the best in college basketball. If Greg Oden can do likewise, this could be a scary good team.

More on the Ticket Situation

2006-11-29T18:12:00.000-05:00

There has been a little action on the National Championship Game ticket front.

First, there were three letters to the editor in the Lantern about the tickets (and lack thereof). The first letter is from a guy who didn't hear about the lottery and was therefore out of town on Monday and missed the lottery. The athletic department doesn't promote a lot of the ticket opportunities very well specifically because they know that word of mouth alone will result in more demand than they need. It's a logical thing to do, but results in unfortunate situations like this. The other two letters say pretty much the same thing I said Monday, but at least they confirm that I'm not just a lone crackpot on this ticket situation.

Next up is a breakdown from the university of how their 16,000 tickets are distributed. Looking at all the people they need to give tickets to, it's tough not to appreciate how difficult their task is, trying to keep so many people happy. But then, other parts of it just serve to make me angrier. In particular:

They claim the student lottery distributed 1,100 tickets. But if you count the winning numbers, either by hand (as two people I know did) or by importing them into Excel (as I just did), you will find that there were 1,000 winners. Where are the other one hundred tickets? True, one hundred tickets isn't much to get worked up about, but why claim you're giving out more tickets than you are, when it's so easy to prove you wrong? That bugs me.
The "President's Club/Buckeye Club/Development" segment (the big time donors, for the uninitiated) gets by far the largest piece of the pie, receiving 4,900 tickets. For comparison, that's almost ten times what the season ticket holders received, almost five times what the students received, and nearly twice what was allotted for the players, coaches, staff, and their families.

Overall, it's a pretty clear indicator of who the athletic department wants to keep happy. Not the thousands of students or the thousands of season ticket holders. It's the people that donate all the money. That's not to suggest it doesn't make good business sense, though I do wish the athletic department's priorities extended beyond making money.

They will want to be careful. With tuition and other costs of post-secondary education rising, some students (everywhere, not just at OSU) are feeling like they aren't getting the same bang for their educational buck, like they are no more than a source of revenue for the university. The athletic department isn't helping, as tickets are getting more and more expensive and tougher and tougher to resell. Now the department is telling students (in particular, but also season ticket holders and, to a lesser extent, alumni) that they aren't an important enough revenue stream to warrant anything resembling the consideration for tickets that the big time donors receive. They aren't helping to foster much love for the ol' alma mater, and it might come back to haunt them when they need new donors down the road.

There is still a sliver of hope for us ticketless students, however. The athletic department has announced that there is going to be a second lottery on Thursday night for the unclaimed tickets from the earlier student and faculty/staff lotteries. I'm guessing it won't be more than a few hundred tickets, but hey, it'll help.

OSU Men's Basketball Preview

2006-11-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

Now that football's out of the way until January 8th, we can safely turn our attention to basketball for a bit. The timing's especially good, since OSU takes on North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge tomorrow night.

So, with no further ado, let's take a look at the team. Let's begin with the starters:

Mike Conley - One of the Thad Five, he has been starting at point guard all season, which was something of a surprise to me. I thought he was good, but nowhere near good enough to displace Jamar Butler (which he has only sort of done, as we'll discuss). I must admit, though, that he has exceeded my expectations. He has been distributing the ball very well, averaging 6.3 assists per game even without Greg Oden to feed the ball to in the middle. Even more impressive, he averages 2.9 assists for every turnover, which is good for anyone, and great for a true freshman point guard. He's also averaging 3.2 steals a game. The only negative is that he doesn't have much of an outside shot, going 1-7 on his threes. As the Wonk mentioned, at least he seems to be aware that he doesn't shoot well from outside, since he's only attempted seven threes. He does a good job driving to the basket. He's going to be something special before he's done here.

Jamar Butler - Butler plays shooting guard when Conley's on the floor and point guard when Conley's out. I was going to write here that Butler's taken on more of a scoring role, but the numbers don't exactly back me up there, as he's averaging 8.8 points a game - not exactly a gaudy number. He's still averaging 5.7 assists per game, which is a good number (as is his assists to turnover ratio, 2.1). He's only shooting 36.8% from behind the arc, which (while not terrible) does explain his relative lack of point production, since 82.6% of his shots are threes. Presumably his three point average will creep up toward 40%, and his scoring average will increase accordingly. He's in something of an unusual situation when he's playing with Conley: he's a distributor asked to be a scorer, instead of the other way around. The double role will take some getting used to for him, I expect. It also makes him tough to evaluate: 6 assists is good for a shooting guard, but decent for a point guard, while 9 points is acceptable for a point guard, but not enough for a starting shooting guard. He's an excellent point guard occasionally playing shooting guard, with all the positives and negatives that come along with it.

Ron Lewis - The scorer of the starting five. He's averaging 17 points and five rebounds per game. 59% of his shots are threes, and he hits 47.2% of them, which is good. Last year, his outside shot was the weak part of his game, offensively, and he seems to have worked on it. He's been asked to shoulder more of the scoring load, and he's handled it with no problem. The only question mark I have about him is his defensive ability. I don't mean to say that he isn't a good defender, just that I don't know if he is or not. I can't say I'm a great evaluator of defensive basketball skills, and the team as a whole hasn't been tested all season. Out of all the starters, he's the one I'm least worried about on a nightly basis. His job is to score, and you can count on him to get it done. If the three is falling, he's not afraid to shoot. If it's not, he's not afraid to drive.

David Lighty - Another of the Thad Five, he's considered the defensive stopper of the starters, if not the team, which is another way to say "his contribution is difficult to quantify." His numbers are alright (8.3/3.2/1.5), but not great. And, like I said, I can't tell you if he's been that great on defense or not. But he's still starting and getting plenty of playing time, so apparently Thad Matta's satisfied with his performance. And since Thad's the one getting the big bucks to know what's what basketball-wise, I'll defer to his judgement.

Othello Hunter - The least-heralded of the Thad Five, and a pleasant surprise so far. He's averaging 7.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. You add in the 1.8 blocks per game and you have a solid interior player. He's no Terence Dials, but he's not being asked to score like Dials was last year. All he has to do is be a solid role player, and he's done that and more. He rebounds well, and he's a capable scorer. He'll complement whatshisname nicely when he returns (arrives?).

Daequan Cook - Cook is the best scorer on the team, and he may be the best player on this team under seven feet tall. He leads the team in points (17.8) and is second in rebounds (7.2). He's hitting 48% of his threes, though only 33.8% of his shots are threes. He also throws in 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. My usual note about defensive ability applies, but from what we've seen so far, he's the real deal. Everyone's worried about Greg Oden leaving at the end of the year, but by season's end, we may be just as worried about Cook leaving.

Ivan Harris - Ivan Harris is a shooter, plain and simple. If the shots are falling, he puts up a lot of points. If they aren't, he's still shooting, which is not a good thing. Fortunately, the shots have been falling for most of the season. He's third on the team at 11.3 ppg, and he's hitting on 46.4% of his threes. I have to think a guy like Harris would drive a coach crazy. When he gets the ball, there's a good chance he's shooting, regardless of whether his shots are falling, how much time is left on the shot clock, if he's open or not, or if he's even on the appropriate side of half court. But you don't want to tell him to stop, because if a guy is making almost half of his threes, he can put up points in a hurry. Here's hoping he keeps hitting at this pace all season.

Matt Terwilliger - Most of the time, you know what to expect from Twiggy. He's a decent big man, but not spectacular. He seldom does something really impressive, but he doesn't do much wrong, either, which is what you want to see from a backup big man. He's averaging 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, which isn't bad for a backup, and he's hit 61.9% of his shots, though he's only had 21 attempts. Considering he's not playing that much less than Othello Hunter, though, I'd like to see more production from him. I am still willing to lead his fan club, however, for two reasons: he's the only person on the team that's perfect from behind the arc (one for one), and he had a really awesome dunk against Loyola (which I still need video of, incidentally). If he can occasionally display unexpected awesomeness like that, he'll be okay in my book.

Greg Oden - He's done a great job of wearing street clothes thus far, though I question his decision to accessorize with a towel. As for actual basketball-related skills? He grades incomplete thus far, but I'm hoping awesomeness is forthcoming.

Not Happy

2006-11-27T21:41:00.000-05:00

Today, the OSU Athletic Department held a lottery to determine which students get to spend $185 on a ticket for the National Championship game (full details on the plan here). The winning numbers were just announced, and I didn't win. I am, of course, disappointed.

But I'm also angry.

If you count the winning numbers, you will discover that there are 1,000 of them. And if you take a look at the numbers that won, you'll see they run from roughly 14000 to 20000, suggesting that approximately 6,000 students entered the lottery.

One thousand tickets. For a demand of six thousand. At a university of roughly forty thousand undergrads.

Who the hell thought that one thousand tickets would be enough for all the students?

One thousand tickets for students would be acceptable if the game was being played at Northern Arizona. But it's not. It's being played at University of Phoenix Stadium, the state-of-the-art home of the Arizona Cardinals, seating 63,400. That means that OSU students, the ones that pay all that tuition money, the ones that bought all those season tickets, the ones who yelled themselves hoarse against Michigan, were allotted 1.6% of the seats at the National Championship game. Who should we blame? It sure seems like the people running the National Championship are a good target. If students only get 1,000 tickets, they must not have given many to the university. Three or four thousand tickets are just not enough for a school this size, and they should have given us far more.

They did. My understanding is that the university was allotted 16,000 tickets. I don't have any concrete info on that, but the number seems reasonable, even a bit low maybe. Assuming it is accurate, the university intends to distribute 6.25% of its tickets to students. Am I crazy, or does that seem like an incredibly low number?

Listen, I try to be a realist. I don't ask the university to give all, or even most, of the tickets to us students. I understand there are boosters and alums to keep happy. But the athletic department has 40,000 future alums right here on campus. Six thousand of them stood in line for a chance to see their team, their fellow students, their friends on the biggest stage in college football. In reality, no more than four or five thousand of them would have actually made the trip to Glendale. Is it too much to ask that the university reserve 30% of those tickets for the students currently paying tuition, the students that can't afford the $2,000 bowl tour packages, the students that will be potential donors in ten or twenty years?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation. Maybe the university was allotted far fewer than 16,000 tickets. Maybe they will release more tickets for the students. Maybe only one thousand students actually want to go to the bowl game. I don't think any of that is true, but it's possible.

All I know is that right now, thousands of students that wanted tickets will not get the opportunity to buy them. And I'm one of them. If, twenty years from now, the athletic department calls me up to ask for a donation, I will tell them that I ask one thing in exchange for my donation: a ticket to the 2007 BCS National Championship game. Until I get that, they don't get a dime from me.*

*That's a lie. I'll still sign up for my one ticket per year. OSU football tickets are not something I'm prepared to give up in order to make a moral stand. But no more than the price of that yearly ticket!

Week Fourteen BlogPoll

2006-11-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

I missed a lot taking my Thanksgiving vacation. There were several things that I wanted to talk about, but that's no longer timely, so I'm just moving on. BlogPoll!

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Southern Cal	1
3	Michigan	1
4	Florida	2
5	LSU	3
6	Wisconsin	1
7	Rutgers	2
8	Louisville	2
9	Auburn	5
10	Oklahoma	5
11	Boise State	2
12	Arkansas	8
13	Virginia Tech	7
14	California	2
15	West Virginia	4
16	Texas	4
17	Nebraska	4
18	Notre Dame	13
19	Wake Forest	3
20	Tennessee	1
21	Penn State	2
22	Brigham Young	2
23	Oregon State	3
24	Georgia Tech	7
25	Texas A&M	1

Dropped Out: Boston College (#18), Maryland (#25).

Notes

I feel dirty for moving USC above Michigan. I kinda think Michigan's better than USC, but USC has played a tougher schedule. Basically I rank them this way because I don't want a rematch for the national championship game, but USC is the only team I feel is good enough to warrant getting in over Michigan. Brian lays out the argument for ranking USC above Michigan, and it's pretty compelling. At least he makes an argument using actual information and working within the framework of the BCS, instead of forming a weak argument claiming that Michigan is more deserving, failing to back it up in any meaningful way, then closing with a half-assed plea for a playoff. You'd have to be pretty stupid to do that.
LSU vaults over Wisconsin and Rutgers, mostly because "LSU, top five team" doesn't sound as silly as "Wisconsin/Rutgers, top five team."
Auburn moves up, because someone has to, and the BCS computers like Auburn. When I have to pick sides, I prefer to pick the side made up of things that lack the ability to say "style points."
Oklahoma moves up because I've decided to remove the loss to Oregon from consideration, seeing as it wasn't really a loss. So it moves to a notch below "unimpressive win," and they're a one-loss team in a kinda weak conference. That's top ten-worthy.
Big drop for Arkansas as it turns out their best quarterback is their running back. Smaller drops for Texas and West Virginia, as they also need quarterbacks, but their QB problems are either due to injury or something we already knew about.
Huge drop for Notre Dame. Perhaps too big, but how do we know they're any better than the teams around them? They've played two very good teams and gotten crushed, which suggests they aren't top-10 material. They needed dramatic comebacks to beat UCLA and Michigan State, which suggests they probably aren't top-15 material. I don't entirely blame them for the weak schedule, but the fact remains - they haven't proven anything this season.
Another Georgia Tech loss, another Calvin Johnson disappearing act. The question is no longer "Why don't they throw to Calvin?" The question has become "Why doesn't he perform in big games?"

Week Thirteen BlogPoll

2006-11-21T17:53:00.000-05:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	--
3	Southern Cal	--
4	Arkansas	--
5	Notre Dame	1
6	Florida	1
7	Wisconsin	2
8	LSU	--
9	Rutgers	4
10	Louisville	1
11	West Virginia	2
12	Texas	--
13	Boise State	1
14	Auburn	1
15	Oklahoma	2
16	California	6
17	Georgia Tech	2
18	Boston College	3
19	Tennessee	1
20	Virginia Tech	2
21	Nebraska	2
22	Wake Forest	6
23	Penn State	3
24	Brigham Young	1
25	Maryland	7

Dropped Out: Oregon (#24).

I'm in the midst of an annual tradition that, while less beloved than most associated with the Buckeyes, is nevertheless a regular part of my football season activities: the post-Michigan illness. Jumping in an ice-cold lake teeming with all sorts of little bugs, screaming for three hours at a game, and getting zero sleep inevitably leads to me getting sick. So no post yesterday. But anyone, on to the bullet points:

I didn't drop Michigan after The Game, because I do honestly think they're the second best team in America. Plus, as losses to OSU's go, a loss to Ohio State looks a lot better than a loss to Oregon State.
However, that doesn't mean that I'm in favor of a rematch. If Michigan had lost to OSU early in the season, that would be one thing. But if they lost in their last game, why give them another shot? If we're going to make the argument that the regular season means anything, there shouldn't be a rematch.

However, if we're going to make the argument that the BCS should give us the best two teams in the national championship game, there should be a rematch. And I understand that logic, and I generally agree with it. But not in this case. Michigan had their chance, they lost. Give someone else a shot at it.
Florida won big, but against a 1-AA team. That's the equivalent of a bye week to me. The way I feel about playing a 1-AA team is that it cannot help you in my rankings, it can only hurt you.
Rutgers is only that high because I can't see dropping them below a team they just beat. But a loss to Cincinnati is a bad loss. I might change my mind on their ranking. I may just wait, however, since I think the wheels are about to fall off of Rutgers.
Penn State's back in the rankings, almost entirely because I like the Big Ten. Sure, you could argue that a team whose three losses all came to top-5 teams might not be that bad, but I won't make the argument. I'll just acknowledge my bias and move on.

Woooooo!

2006-11-19T13:04:00.000-05:00

Wow. Buckeye fans were all hoping for a win, many even expected one, but I don't think anyone expected it would come like this, in a 42-39 win. The Game certainly didn't play out the way I expected:

Two of the top scoring defenses in the country gave up a combined 81 points.
Michigan's vaunted run defense gave up 187 yards to the Buckeyes.
Ohio State's turnover machine of a defense did not force any turnovers (though I don't think that interception should have been overturned. Big Ten officials use a screwy definition of "indisputable video evidence"). On a related note, Chad Henne actually looked pretty good most of the game.

I expected a defensive struggle, a battle of field position. I got a shootout. It doesn't matter to me, I'll take the wins as they come. Some more thoughts:

From what I can gather, both sides feel ripped off by the refs, so I guess they didn't do too bad of a job (or, alternatively, they were bad, but at least the bad calls evened out).
Speaking of the refs, don't let anyone tell you that personal foul call late in the game was controversial. You aren't allowed to lead with your helmet or hit with the top of your helmet. Easy call, and a correct one.
One thing that did go as planned: the performance of Troy Smith. One of those fumbles was his fault, and he probably shouldn't have thrown that pass that got picked off (but he makes those plays often enough that I won't argue against his decision too much). Other than that, he was fantastic. I agree with those that say he locked up the Heisman with that game. He's definitely given the best performance of any OSU quarterback against Michigan, and I'd argue that he's the best quarterback we've had.
Mike Hart also had an excellent performance. He doesn't make the exciting runs like a Steve Slaton, but he cannot be tackled by one man. I know our rush defense isn't exactly fantastic, but still, watching him shed tackles time and time again was impressive.
That's not to say that our running backs weren't good. Antonio Pittman did better than anyone has against the Michigan defense. And is it just me, or did his long touchdown run look a little familiar?
Beanie's touchdown run was even more impressive. A spin to get out of the backfield, splitting a couple defenders, then hitting the afterburners. It was great to watch
Oh, and the field? Not very good. If they're confident they can get it up to par by the start of next season, great. But if there's any doubt, just go with FieldTurf. Grass is great, but crappy grass sucks.

So that's it. A lot of offense, not a lot of defense. Not that I'm complaining. We beat Michigan, and that's enough. But that's not all. We're going to Glendale!

T Minus 20 Hours

2006-11-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

As you are probably aware, Bo Schembechler died this morning at the age of 77 (ESPN story here). Honestly, there isn't all that much I can say about him. I knew he was the face of Michigan football, that he means as much to them as Woody means to us. But honestly, while I appreciate his contribution to the sport I love, and while I know he was a great person, there's really nothing I can write about him. He didn't impact my life in the way he did the lives of all those Michigan players and fans. So, for some thoughts on Bo and the game tomorrow from a Michigan fan, I point you toward Brian's excellent post here at mgoblog.

However, the game goes on, as I imagine Bo would want it. Hearts will be heavy tomorrow on the Michigan sideline, but the team will play on, as they should. Bo and Woody made this rivalry what it is: a game that is bigger than any one single person. Michigan will be playing for Bo tomorrow, certainly, but not just for him. They're also playing for Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, Tom Harmon, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, and hundreds of players and coaches over the years.

And of course, for our Buckeyes, it isn't just about Jim Tressel's record against Lloyd Carr, or Troy Smith's Heisman hopes, or even a berth in the national championship. They're playing for the glory of a program that has been headed by Paul Brown and Woody Hayes, two of the greatest coaches in football history, a program that has produced five Heisman Trophy winners: Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, Hopalong Cassady, Archie Griffin (twice, of course), and Eddie George. Hundreds of players over the years have had their success or failure judged by their record against Michigan, and this team is no different.

Since 1935, this game has decided the Big Ten Championship twenty times. Twice before this have both teams come into the game undefeated. This, however, is the only time the teams have been ranked #1 and #2. The winner will play for the national championship. In short, the game could not be bigger.

But you know as well as I do that the records don't matter. This game would be the most important on the schedule regardless of record. Whether the teams have everything to play for or nothing, this is the game the players and the fans want to win the most.

That's it for me until after the game. Here's hoping for a good, hard-fought game, and a Buckeye victory. Enjoy the game, and go Bucks!

The Ancient Society of Mirror Lake Jumper Inners

2006-11-16T18:54:00.000-05:00

Later tonight I, along with thousands of other students, will participate in one of the biggest traditions of Michigan Week: jumping into Mirror Lake. It looks like it won't be as bad as years past; we're looking at a temperature around forty degrees. But regardless of the temperature, the turnout is always huge, and it's always fun.

Rather than describe the scene, I'll show it to you:

This is Mirror Lake on a normal day. Scenic and calm.

This is Mirror Lake on the night of the jump. Crazy, loud, and fun.

And here's some video, set to a crappy rap mashup, that gives you a sense of the scene.

It's yet another example of activities that are considered normal in college, yet clear examples of insanity out in the real world. I'm looking forward to it.

Thursday Links

2006-11-16T17:49:00.000-05:00

First, a Men of the Scarlet and Gray extravaganza! They're up against Maize and Brew in the CSTV.com Battle of the Blogs, discussing the biggest battle of the game: the OSU offense versus the Michigan defense. I'll leave it up to you to decide who wins the debate, but since you're reading a Buckeye blog, I have a guess who you're picking.

MotSaG isn't done, though. They also brought back Tressnac the Magnificent to display psychic powers both astonishing and humorous. My favorite line of the whole post: "May you return to your office to discover John L. Smith measuring for drapes." If only there was an opportunity to break that one out in normal conversation.

Next up, there's some love for Troy Smith from the big boys. Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel interviews him, with predictable results. Troy says nothing interesting, and no non-Buckeye fan has any real incentive to read it. Buckeye fans will eat it up, though, because it's Troy freakin' Smith. Pat Forde also checks in on ESPN.com with talk of Troy's dominance of Michigan the past two years. Again, nothing you didn't already know, but still worth a read.

Mandel's up again with an article about Michigan's defensive coordinator, Ron English. Replacing Jim Hermann with Ron English is probably the best move Lloyd Carr's made in years. I was sorry to see Hermann go, and now that I know his replacement is actually competent, I miss Jimbo even more. Though I am glad the mini-movement to call the Michigan defense "the English Majors" never got going. That would have gotten really old really quick.

Even More Links!

2006-11-15T17:37:00.000-05:00

Once again, I'm linking to CSTV.com's Battle of the Blogs, in part to make sure you don't see some of OSU and Michigan's best bloggers duking it out, and partly because I'm up again in it. As I mentioned, we apparently have a slacker in our midst on the Buckeye side, and for once I'm not talking about myself. Since this unnamed blogger didn't get his article submitted, I got the chance to take over for him, arguing that the dotting of the "i" is better than Michigan's fight song. I think I did a credible job with it, though it certainly took me a lot of words to do. But there is a misconception about Script Ohio, as explained by my opponent, Frank of UMTailgate.com, that I would like to correct. Frank writes:

But fortunately for Michigan, this debate is win-win. Because not only did Michigan Marching Band invent "The Victors," they also were the first to perform "Script Ohio." That’s right. We invented your march Buckeyes. Performed by the Michigan marching band in 1932, the Ohio State marching band copied it starting in 1936.

Not exactly. It is true, the Michigan band did perform a script Ohio in 1932, four years before Ohio State first did Script Ohio. But Michigan just put together a formation that spelled "Ohio" in script. Starting in a Block O, marching that mimics actually writing "Ohio," setting it to "Le Regiment de Sambre et Meuse," the performance culminating in the dotting of the "i," basically everything that makes Script Ohio what it is - that all came from the OSU marching band. Saying Michigan invented Script Ohio is like saying the Wright brothers invented the stealth bomber. For more details on the whole thing, the OSU library has a nice page on the "controversy."

Moving on, the Dispatch briefly discusses the new field here. In short, it's supposed to be good to go. They say it took hold nicely, the seams are gone, and it's not going to impact the game. I certainly hope they're right, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Last up, John Porentas has an article at the Ozone about Tressel. Well, it's more an ode to Tressel. Check it:

Tressel's leadership is really characterized by three qualities. He is a rare mix of an individual who has a clear understanding and firm grasp of the big picture and is yet obsessively immersed in every detail of his undertaking. Those two qualities almost never coexist in people. That's why we have CEOs (big picture people) and accountants (detail people). Tressel, however, is both for his football team. He provides clear-cut big picture goals, but can call the parents and siblings of every player on his team by first name. He knows everyone's major, where every picture is hung in the WHAC, who every football alumnus is, the name of every team manager and trainer.

Listen, I love Tressel as much as the next rabid Buckeye fan. But I do not buy that he could identify a walk-on's sister by name, talk to her about her brother's major, then point her in the direction of some random picture of Archie Griffin. But then, I've been wrong before.

Regardless, it's an interesting article, especially the part about how players basically repeat what Tressel says in interviews. I've noticed the same thing. The younger players will occasionally say something interesting in interviews, but by the time they're seniors, it's all but a waste of time to interview them, because they're just going to spout the same old cliches. Not that that's entirely a bad thing. When's the last time an Ohio State player provided bulletin board material for the other team?

Light Posting today

2006-11-14T21:38:00.000-05:00

If I make it through today, I can coast through the rest of Beat Michigan Week, school-wise. But I have to get stuff done tonight, so it's a light day of posting.

Basically, I just wanted to point you in the direction of the Battle of the Blogs at CSTV.com again, because my debate is up there right now. I'm up against Kenny of Westsider Rider on the topic of the Ohio State defense versus the Michigan offense. I finally won the battle of post length for our side, in a hard-fought struggle. We both make some good points and throw some numbers at each other. I'll leave it up to you to decide who wins the debate (subliminal hint: memememememememe).

I may be up there again tomorrow, as one of our bloggers has apparently gone missing, likely kidnapped by that diabolical Bo Schembechler. A man who will walk away from Woody Hayes and the Buckeyes for Michigan is capable of perpetrating any sort of evil. Continue to stay tuned.

In other news, Every Day Should Be Sunday has a report on the anarchy reigning in Columbus (side note: how can anarchy reign? Isn't that a little oxymoronic?). All I have to say is that everything they say in that post is completely and absolutely true. A snippet:

Armed gunmen announcing themselves as “the Loyal People’s Army of UzBuckistan” deposed Columbus mayor Michael B. Coleman in rush through the city hall early Tuesday morning, and announced the declaration of new statehood for what they are calling “the Republic of UzBuckistan.” Mobs control the streets, and have prevented entry into the city at all points. Many appear to be intoxicated.
“Death to Michigan, and death to all who oppose us,” said a masked figure identifying himself only as “Subcommandate Wayne” in a television broadcast Tuesday morning. “We have taken that which is ours, the pure nut at the core of this rotten fruit we call Ohio, and made it a perfect paradise for all who love and obey the Buckeye. We have everything, and need nothing–except beer, which we’re almost out of. ”

It's a fair and accurate representation. We have taken control. We shall be victorious. All glory unto our leader, the wise and noble Tressel. Viva la revolucion!

A Couple Links

2006-11-14T12:28:00.000-05:00

As you may have seen elsewhere, CSTV.com is running a battle of the blogs between OSU and Michigan blogs this week. Buckeye Commentary handled Sunday's topic, arguing that OSU has a better gameday atmosphere than Michigan. Ryan of Pfef's Sports Blog took Monday's topic, arguing for the Horseshoe's superiority over the Big House. Both had the easier side of the debate, I think: OSU wins the atmosphere battle by default (jangling keys and tailgating on a golf course do not an atmosphere create), and the Horseshoe is superior to any hole in the ground, even if 107,500 people can fit in it. Nevertheless, the Buckeye bloggers did an excellent job in the debate, demonstrating clear superiority both rhetorical and moral. Plus, Michigan bloggers have poor hygiene and they enjoy clubbing seals.

I'm just kidding. Most Michigan bloggers shower regularly, and their representatives did a fine, if very verbose, job in the battle of blogs. However, there is no evidence that they don't not club seals.

I'm up on Wednesday in the Battle, incidentally. So stay tuned.

Next up, we have the depth chart (pdf file) for The Game. No stunning changes, but here's some notables:

Tim Schafer is still listed as the starter at left tackle. Alex Boone is second string. It would seem that whatever injury he has is still bothering him a bit. I'm not too worried though. As someone (Chris Spielman, I'm thinking, but I'm not sure) once said, injuries have a way of disappearing for the Michigan game. I'm guessing Boone will be magically healed a couple of series in.
The starter at right tackle is listed as Kirk Barton or Jon Skinner. I'm guessing this is a reward for Skinner playing well filling in along the line, but I'm not really sure. Can anyone shed any light?
The Buckeyes intend to come out in a 4-3 for a change, playing Marcus Freeman, James Laurinaitis, and John Kerr. Makes sense, seeing as Michigan's not exactly running a spread offense. I haven't really seen enough of John Kerr lately to evaluate if he's made any progress, but Ross Homan looked good against Northwestern. I'm guessing both guys will play quite a bit on Saturday.

Week Twelve BlogPoll

2006-11-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	--
3	Southern Cal	6
4	Arkansas	6
5	Rutgers	8
6	Notre Dame	1
7	Florida	1
8	LSU	3
9	Wisconsin	7
10	California	6
11	Louisville	3
12	Texas	9
13	West Virginia	1
14	Boise State	1
15	Auburn	10
16	Wake Forest	3
17	Oklahoma	--
18	Maryland	7
19	Georgia Tech	4
20	Tennessee	8
21	Boston College	1
22	Virginia Tech	4
23	Nebraska	1
24	Oregon	3
25	Brigham Young	1

Dropped Out: Clemson (#22).

I got the poll done early, mostly to avoid studying for an accounting exam. Thoughts:

There's two ways to look at the college football landscape this season: everyone's good, or everyone sucks. It's either "wow, look at all those teams that have a chance to win," or "wow, look at all those teams that apparently don't want to win." I'm kinda looking at things the second way. I feel like teams three though ten are all overrated, but who else is there?
OSU and Michigan stay on top. There's no question there. The question will be how far to drop the loser of The Game. And I don't have an answer to that yet.
USC has played well since their loss, and if they get through the rest of their schedule, they will have earned this ranking, so I stuck them there.
I think I've figured out the SEC: it's like one of those post-apocalyptic pseudo-paradise civilizations you see in books and movies (I'm thinking The Island, but only because I saw it recently and Scarlett Johansson is nice to think about. You're welcome to think Logan's Run if you prefer). Apparently some teams have realized the truth: that if you actually win the SEC, you don't get a trophy; you get killed! And Arkansas is the idiotic guy who hasn't figured it out yet. So he's thrilled about the possibility of winning, while Tennessee and Auburn are running through the vents, trying to escape. On paper, Arkansas is probably the fifth best team in the SEC, but they're the only ones that actually seem interested in winning it on a week to week basis.
Rutgers moves up because I've adjusted my thinking on the quality of the conferences. That isn't to say that I've decided the Big East isn't so bad after all; I've just decided everyone else is worse. I mean, is there any real difference between the Big 12, ACC, and Big East in terms of quality? The best team in the Big 12 just lost to Kansas State (!), and Wake Forest has become the best team in the ACC. With that much absurdity elsewhere in the country, I don't think the Big East looks that bad by comparison.
Notre Dame has looked impressive in their quest to win the Commander in Chief's Trophy. With a win over Army, they will have beaten all the service academies. If this was 1945, I'd be impressed. However, it's 2006, and the service academies aren't any good. However, Notre Dame deserves credit for simply not screwing up, something most of college football has trouble with.
Florida needed two blocked kicks to beat South Carolina. So you could either be impressed that they dug deep and made the big plays, or unimpressed with the fact that this game was that close. I'm just amused that they run their short-yardage plays out of the shotgun. When your best short-yardage back is a backup quarterback, you have a problem.
JaMarcus Russell has exceeded my expectations in the last few big games for LSU, managing to avoid the backbreaking interceptions I'd come to expect from him. When he plays well, they win. And lately, he's played well.
I don't think Wisconsin is a top ten team, but who else is there? And being a one-loss team in the Big Ten counts for something, so I stuck them at number nine.
Cal's loss against Arizona was all kinds of bad. However, there's still plenty of talent on this team, and they still look like the second best team in the Pac 10.
So, apparently that defensive secondary for Texas is really really bad. Nobody should give up that many points to this Kansas State team.
I have West Virginia at 13, but I expect them to beat the #5 team. If the BlogPoll is supposed to rank teams based on who would win heads up, I'm sure doing a crappy job of it (it is, and I am, incidentally).
I'm not sure what caused my enthusiasm for Maryland. They played well against Miami, but beating Miami isn't so impressive. I think I just wanted to move another ACC team ahead of Georgia Tech to punish them for not getting Calvin Johnson more involved. Listen, Reggie Ball: unless there is nobody within ten yards of another receiver, you throw to Calvin Johnson. Always. No exceptions. Alright?
I'm really unexcited about those last five teams. But who else is there?

Quick Tech Update

2006-11-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

I switched the blog over to Blogger Beta today, in hopes that it would make site customization and a potential site redesign easier. I've got everything looking more or less the way it was, but if you see something missing or something screwy, let me know.

As far as Blogger Beta goes, I'm not too terribly impressed with it. I was hoping it would make it easy to make adjustments to the dimensions of the site, as all that gray blank space kinda bugs me. It doesn't seem to allow that, due to the limitations of the template I'm using. So I may have to ditch the template, though that may not happen for a while. If there's ever a week not to make changes that screw up an Ohio State blog, this is it.

It's Michigan Week

2006-11-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about posting some thoughts on the Northwestern game, but really: who cares? The offense went back to firing on all cylinders. The defense gave up too much yardage on screens, but adjusted nicely at halftime and finished strong. Plus, they forced a ton of turnovers. The team missed two extra points, but if they had missed every extra point, it still wouldn't have mattered. Northwestern was a nice tuneup, but that game means nothing now, because this is the week of The Game. And it will be huge.

Ohio State, meeting all our hopes, enters the week undefeated, with a national championship game berth and a Heisman trophy at stake. Michigan, contrary to all my cheering, hoping, and insulting, is also undefeated. But while I don't like the happiness an undefeated season brings to Michigan fans, I must admit that it makes The Game that much bigger. How much bigger? Well, let's just call this the biggest Ohio State-Michigan game ever.

I've been on campus for three Ohio State-Michigan games. In 2003, Ohio State lost convincingly, finishing off a decent season, but one that never really met expectations. In 2004, Troy Smith ran wild as we went crazy in Block O. The win put a positive spin on an otherwise down year. And, of course, there was last year's comeback win, resulting in much spontaneous yelling and celebrating out in the street. There were major differences year to year in terms of expectations and the state of the teams, but the importance of the Michigan game was a constant. In short, if you beat Michigan, you had a good season. If you didn't, you didn't.

Let's look at 2003 and 2005. In 2003, Ohio State was coming off a championship season, and they were expected to be even better. However, they lost to Wisconsin and then to Michigan, for Jim Tressel's only loss to that school up north. They still made it to the Fiesta Bowl and won, finishing the year 10-2.

Last year, expectations were pretty standard: a Big Ten title, a shot at the national championship with some luck. However, early losses to Texas and Penn State pretty much ended the national championship hopes. The team finished strong, though, as they beat Michigan and went to the Fiesta Bowl, beating Notre Dame to finish 10-2.

The Buckeyes had identical records in both seasons, went to the same bowl both years, and won both years. Yet, if you're like me, you regard 2003 as a disappointment, and 2005 as a success. What's the difference?

Well, you could argue that expectations were higher in 2003, and you'd be right. But I think the real difference is the Michigan game. The Buckeyes won in 2005; they lost in 2003. This one game is the difference between success and failure.

So here we are again at Michigan Week, this time with a berth in the national championship on the line. It's Ohio State-Michigan, and it's also 1 versus 2. This is as big as it gets.

I just hope my professors don't expect me to do anything productive this week.

Some More Basketball

2006-11-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

The last time I'll think about basketball this week:

Last night, the men's team picked up their second win of the season by beating Loyala 87-75. Ron Lewis had a huge game, going for 27 points and 11 rebounds. Daequan Cook continued to do Daequan Cook things, going for 18 points and 9 boards. Mike Conley didn't finish with great stats (8 points, 4 assists), but he only played 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Ivan Harris was much more efficient, finishing with 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting (and 3 of 4 from the line).

But the high point of the game came from Matt Terwilliger. He improved from yesterday, this time going for 6 points and 5 boards in just 16 minutes, so that's good. But more important, he had a huge one-handed putback dunk just before halftime, instantly elevating himself to mythical folk-hero status. If he does nothing else for the rest of his life, he can still get high fives from me for life for that one. That might not seem like much, but it really is. Imagine feeling a little down one day, maybe you had a rough day at work. Maybe you stopped at McDonald's on your way home and they messed up your order. Maybe you notice a troublesome rattle in your engine on the drive home. Maybe you get home and see a couple shingles blew off your roof during the day. Things just aren't going your way.

Then I run up to you, give you a high five, and run off. You telling me that wouldn't cheer you up?

Monstrous one-handed dunk. High five.
Oh, and if anyone would happen to have video of said awesome dunk, I would like to see it.

Basketball Post-Game Thoughts

2006-11-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

We all know that the football game against Northwestern is and should be the top priority for Buckeye fans, but there isn't a lot for me to say about it. For a quality preview, if you just have to have information on Northwestern, you could check out the O-Zone's Northwestern preview.

In news that's less important but more interesting than previewing the Northwestern Wildcats, the men's basketball team opened up the season with a 107-69 win over VMI. VMI is one of those teams that believes the only bad shot is the one you don't take. Their gameplan consists of shooting the ball as quickly as possible, hoping to just miss less than the other team and/or tire them out. They had averaged 136 points per game in the preseason as they had success with that plan. Here, not so much. Bullet points!

OSU started three members of the Thad Five recruiting class, with Mike Conley, Jr., Othello Hunter, and David Lighty starting alongside Jamar Butler and Ron Lewis. It's a little surprising that Conley and Butler are both starting, since that gives us two point guards on the floor. But I gotta say, it works pretty well. Butler can still handle the ball, but he can take on much more of a scoring role with Conley handling point guard duties. Conley finished with ten assists, and Butler was 5-10 on threes and finished with eighteen points.
This lineup is a cause for concern until Greg Oden returns (arrives?). This is a four-guard offense, and Othello Hunter, while a good player and better than I expected, is not a beast down low. The team can spread the floor and hit open shots, but bigger teams with a good post player or two will give the Buckeyes trouble until Greg Oden can fill in down low.
This was a game that will contribute a lot of highlights. It was a very fast game, with OSU more than willing to run with VMI. The Buckeyes had roughly 96 possessions (65 is about average in the Big Ten), and quite a few of them ended with fancy dunks and alley-oops. The team had a great game offensively, but when you have that many chances against that bad of an opponent, you'd better look good.
Speaking of looking good, Daequan Cook looked great. He was responsible for several of those fancy dunks, and he finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds. He still needs a little work defensively, and he needs to take better care of the ball (five turnovers), but he was the player of the game last night.
Quick evaluation of the rest of the new players: Mike Conley made some nice passes, both of the flashy type and the fundamentally solid type, and did not look like a guy starting his first college regular season game. David Lighty was solid, but not outstanding. Othello Hunter looked pretty good down low, but grades incomplete since most of the VMI players were uninterested in venturing past the three point line. Greg Oden was well-dressed.
Things were pretty much status quo from last season for Jamar Butler, Ron Lewis, and Matt Terwilliger. Butler and Lewis hit the open shots and looked good, and Terwilliger was tall and kinda goofy-looking. Okay, Twiggy wasn't bad, either, though I had hoped for a little more production from him (just 4 points and 4 boards).
Ivan Harris didn't really impress me. He seemed to be a black hole out on the court. The ball went to him and never came out. He got the ball, he shot, he missed. He got the ball, he shot, he missed. To an extent, there's some bias here, since his numbers aren't that much worse than the aforementioned "great" ones from Cook, but he did lead the team in field goals attempted, despite playing only 20 minutes. I guess it's good that he's got that confidence, and once those shots start falling it'll be great, but as long as he's missing, I wish that he'd look to pass more.

To summarize: a good game, but it better be against VMI. The new guys didn't play like new guys. There are five or six guys on the team that can hit threes, but the team's going to miss Greg Oden's size against teams with good post players.

Links for a Thursday

2006-11-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

There's not a whole lot going on in OSU football right now, but here's a few links:

First up, Bruce Hooley's wondering if the OSU-Michigan matchup will be all that great. The argument's basically "yeah, they've done well, but they did it against the Big Ten, and the Big Ten sucks this year." He might be right. I wouldn't be surprised if the game doesn't live up to the hype. These games seldom do. I don't think his argument holds much water, though. "The rest of the Big Ten hasn't been very good, therefore OSU and Michigan aren't that good, either." It might be true that neither team has regularly been tested against top-flight competition, but who is that true of? Most conferences don't look all that deep this season. If The Game doesn't meet expectations, it's not because the teams aren't that good; it's because the expectations are too high. Not every game that should be a classic is.

In other news, the Butkus Award finalists have been announced, and James Laurinaitis is one of them. That's some nice recognition for the dude. He hasn't been A.J. Hawk good; I never worried about whether Hawk was going to make a tackle, which is something that sometimes concerns me with Laurinaitis. But then, Hawk didn't win the Butkus; they decided to give it to Penn State's Paul Posluszny, as I'm sure you remember. There would be some justice in Pos not winning the Butkus this year, but in that situation, I expect it to go to Patrick Willis of Ole Miss, the other finalist. I don't see a sophmore winning the award over two seniors.

Speaking of Penn State, Joe Paterno will miss this weekend's game against Temple. If there's ever a game for a head coach to take off, Temple's probably the one. But basically, I just want to mention how badass JoePa is. He sustained the sort of horrific injury that would have pretty much every player on the ground moaning and groaning for fifteen minutes. Paterno, by contrast, still tried to stand and coach on a broken leg. That's hardcore. You gotta like JoePa. I maintain that he's the only thing keeping Ohio State-Penn State from becoming a rivalry. As long as Paterno's coaching, everyone's liking and respect for him will keep Ohio State fans from developing the requisite hatred needed for a good rivalry. Once he retires, it's on.

Okay, JoePa's retired. So now, I guess, it's on.

Legitimacy, Here I Come!

2006-11-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

I didn't mention it earlier for one reason or another, but if you aren't reading the Syracuse student newspaper, the Daily Orange, you really should. Not so much because you need to stay up on Syracuse-related news, but because they quoted me. That's right, I'm a source for a real news story. Sort of.

Matt Levin of the Daily Orange, sports columnist and the greatest newspaper writer in the history of the English language, interviewed me as part of his story about the Dead Schembechlers, the anti-Michigan punk rockers, and about OSU-Michigan in general. The relevant point:

But anything is possible at a school of more than 50,000 students.

"It's already getting crazy," said Sean Sheehan, an OSU senior and creator of the Ohio State football Web log, The 614. "Every year it's pretty crazy and if it's going to be No. 1 vs. No. 2, I can't imagine what it's going to be like."

He said the existence of a band such as the Dead Schembechlers is "a testament to how big the rivalry is."

Sheehan said the band has various well-written songs. He particularly enjoys the song "Ted Ginn Did Everythin'," a song that tells the tale of how the Bucks speedy receiver single-handedly built the pyramids and tore down the Berlin Wall-among other superhuman feats.

Ok, so it's not going to get me into Bartlett's or anything, but hey, it's a start. I tried to give him a feel for the OSU-Michigan rivalry, but that's a tough thing to do in just a few minutes. Or so I thought. This Daily Show clip, which has been making the rounds, sums the rivalry up nicely:

And in a completely unrelated note, Britney Spears has filed for divorce from Kevin Federline (HT: EDSBS, oddly enough). And there was much rejoicing. Why, you ask? Well let me show you:

Britney before Federline:

Britney after Federline:

There are some very real "Return to Glory" type possibilities here, only this would be a real return, not a fake one like Notre Dame had last season.

EDIT: Just realized I never actually linked the story in the Daily Orange on the Dead Schembechlers. I fixed that above, or you can just click here to check it out.

Week Eleven BlogPoll

2006-11-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	--
3	Texas	--
4	California	--
5	Auburn	--
6	Florida	--
7	Notre Dame	3
8	Louisville	4
9	Southern Cal	1
10	Arkansas	1
11	LSU	2
12	Tennessee	5
13	Rutgers	1
14	West Virginia	3
15	Boise State	3
16	Wisconsin	--
17	Oklahoma	2
18	Virginia Tech	2
19	Wake Forest	4
20	Boston College	5
21	Oregon	--
22	Clemson	5
23	Georgia Tech	1
24	Nebraska	2
25	Maryland	1

Dropped Out: Texas A&M (#22), Missouri (#25).

Thoughts:

No movement in the top six. OSU and Michigan didn't look so hot, but the whole "undefeated" thing counts for a lot. Texas, Cal, and Auburn looked pretty good, but not enough to change the status quo. Florida had some trouble, but I still think they're the most talented SEC team, if they ever get their act together.
I reconsidered things, and decided I was probably underrating Notre Dame a bit. They've played a solid schedule, and the one loss came to the #2 team in the country. True, they should have lost to Michigan State, but honestly, that Michigan State team could beat or lose to any team in the country and I wouldn't be especially surprised.
Louisville moves up after beating West Virginia. They're undefeated, which is good, but they haven't played much in the way of good teams, which is bad. They beat Miami and West Virginia, which is good, but they struggled with Cincinnati and Syracuse, which is bad. They beat the (supposed) #3 team in the country, which is good, but they looked sloppy and didn't play defense, which is bad. All of this is just to say that they won't crack the top five if they don't crush Rutgers.
USC dropped, but only so Notre Dame and Louisville could move up.
I'm starting to figure out the SEC. Auburn and Florida are probably the best teams, but Arkansas isn't far behind. That's impressive, considering they're doing it without any meaningful contribution from the quarterback. They've been riding a great running back and some solid receivers to victory, while not letting the QB lose the game for them. Basically, they're having the season Penn State hoped to have.
LSU finally gets a meaningful win! Yay! The team looked virtually identical to Ohio State, in terms of scoring offense and defense, but they hadn't beaten anyone worth talking about. But JaMarcus Russell couldn't quite lose this one for the Tigers, and they beat Tennessee, who now find themselves one spot behind LSU.
I don't really know what the difference is between Rutgers and Louisville, except that one is Rutgers. And because Rutgers is Rutgers, they're five spots behind Louisville. That's two sentences that seem to make no sense, but that actually make perfect sense to anyone that's followed college football over the past decade.
That's about all there is of note. Boise State moves up by default, Clemson continues to anti-Cinderella themselves, and Wake Forest continues to defy any reasonable expectations by climbing even more up the rankings. It's a sign of the apocalypse.

U-G-L-Y

2006-11-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

Well, that certainly wasn't pretty. 17-10 against a formerly 2-7 Illinois team is not what you expect to see from a #1 team. But, I suppose, if you're going to have a bad week, it's better to do it now than two weeks from now.

Offensively, that was clearly the worst game this team has played. I always say that good things will happen if you get Antonio Pittman 20+ carries. Well, he got 32, and things did end up fine, but you couldn't give much credit to the rushing attack, as Pittman only got 58 yards. I don't really blame him, as he did the same thing he's done all season: hit the hole if it's there, and cut back if it isn't. The holes often weren't there, for which the offensive line should take a lot of blame, and the cutbacks were ineffective, for which the Illini defense should be given a lot of credit.

But at least Pittman held on to the ball. For the second straight week, and the fourth (maybe? I'm not sure. Someone help me out.) time this season, Chris Wells fumbled. Woody Hayes once said that "no back in history ever has been worth two fumbles a game." I think Jim Tressel has adapted that to "no backup in history has ever been worth one fumble a game." Once Beanie fumbled, he was done. It's certainly important to keep a guy's confidence up, but until he learns to protect the football, he's going to limit his playing time.

Troy Smith had a bad day, too. He started reasonably well, but things went steadily downhill. He threw an interception, which is rare and also bad, but he also had some bad throws and bad reads. It wasn't entirely his fault; the line played its worst game of the year. Illinois shut down the run and consistently got pressure on Smith. They certainly deserve credit for that, but the line deserves some blame as well, as does Troy, for holding onto the ball too long a couple times. The long and short of it is that he probably just opened the door to get Brady Quinn right back into the Heisman race.

I don't really have any complaints about the defense. They had a few lapses, but for the most part, they shut down Illinois. They forced a couple turnovers and held them to 233 yards of total offense, which would have been a lot better if the offense picked up 400 or so instead of just 224 yards. There isn't a lot to say about them; they continue to get better each game, which is all you can ask of them.

The special teams were up and down. The return game wasn't really a factor. Aaron Pettrey made a 50-yarder, which, like most of his kicks recently, looked like it would have been good from five or ten yards further out. A.J. Trapasso looked pretty good on some punts and pretty bad on some other ones, but that last punt of his was huge. So overall, no major complaints about the special teams.

Coaching was decent. This wasn't their best effort on the offensive end. They gave Michigan a few new things to look at, but seemed to play the entire second half in prevent mode. That normally wouldn't be a problem, because normally Pittman, Wells, and Wells (that sounds like a law firm. Pittman, Wells, and Wells, LLP) would have run all over the defense. However, that didn't happen. Illinois didn't get tired, didn't get pushed around, and our running game didn't work. At that point, Tressel probably should have opened things up a bit. Overall, though, it was a problem of execution more than coaching.

Overall, what should we take from this game? Well, that Illinois is better defensively than expected. A friend of mine from Penn State mentioned that this was a pretty good defense and that the game might be closer than expected. "Nonsense," I thought, "They're still Illinois, and our offense is really good." I probably should have looked at the stats. They came in 3rd in pass defense, 6th in rush defense, and 5th total. From watching this game, I think the Illini are even better than that. True, some of our offensive woes were our own doing, but no defense makes an offense that good look that bad without being at least decent. If they keep improving, the Illini could contend for a Big Ten title in a year or two.

Other than that, I'm not too worried about the outcome. It was a bad game, but they happen. The team got out with all title hopes intact, and they get a little motivation going into Northwestern. We all knew that complacency was the biggest threat until November 18th, and this game should pretty much eliminate that.

A Sad Day

2006-11-01T18:54:00.000-05:00

John L. Smith is officially out at Michigan State after this season.

No more hilarity at halftime, no more slapping himself in press conferences, no more stunning collapses. It is truly the end of an era.

This is a very sad time. Let us all remember better days:

That's all you'll get from me today. I had a long day of class and studying, and now I'm off to my local pub to watch LeBron. Have a nice night, everyone.

Holy Crap

2006-10-31T19:02:00.000-05:00

Big Ten Wonk returns tomorrow. And the Cavs play their first regular season game tomorrow.

This means basketball season is starting.

Troy Smith, LeBron James, and Jamar Butler (eventually Greg Oden), all being awesome at the same time. Good times.

Week Ten BlogPoll

2006-10-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	25
2	Michigan	24
3	Texas	23
4	California	22
5	Auburn	21
6	Florida	20
7	Tennessee	19
8	Southern Cal	18
9	Arkansas	17
10	Notre Dame	16
11	West Virginia	15
12	Louisville	14
13	LSU	13
14	Rutgers	12
15	Boston College	11
16	Wisconsin	10
17	Clemson	9
18	Boise State	8
19	Oklahoma	7
20	Virginia Tech	6
21	Oregon	5
22	Texas A&M	4
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Georgia Tech	2
25	Missouri	1

Dropped Out:

As always, let me know rather quickly if I made any serious errors, and I will correct them.

Ignore the delta numbers on the right, obviously. I missed last week's BlogPoll, which annoys me, but afforded me the opportunity to start over, which I sort of took. Some thoughts, by conference:

Big Ten
The Buckeyes still look like the class of the conference. Tops in the conference in scoring offense and scoring defense, with a defense that's improving every week. My biggest concern about the team is that they are probably being challenged more during practice than they are during gameday. That should change come November 18th, and I hope they're ready for it.

Just a note to those arguing that Michigan hasn't been as impressive as a #2 team should be: true, but that's no indication of the quality of the team. Just keep in mind, the 2002 Buckeyes seldom looked all that impressive, and look what they accomplished. Maybe (hopefully) Ohio State will blow them off the field in a few weeks, but I doubt it.

I'm not sold on Wisconsin. The offense is one-dimensional, and the defense is decent, but nothing special. If they beat Penn State, I'll reconsider.

Speaking of Penn State, I considered ranking them, again. I talked myself out of it, but their three losses came to my first, second, and tenth teams. There are 15 ranked teams that I would expect to do the same, with that schedule.

Big East
Am I giving no respect to the Big East? Absolutely. WVU's best win is Maryland, Louisville's is Miami, and Rutgers' is probably Navy. These are not good teams. If those three teams beat up on each other and everyone loses, I don't see myself ranking any of them above 15. It'll take one of the teams blowing the other two out of the water for me to consider them a top five team.

SEC
I don't really think all those teams are that good. That's not to say that it's a bad conference, just that I think they probably only have 2 or 3 legit top-10 teams. I just don't know the good teams from the bad at this point, so I threw them all in a jumble in the hopes that they'll sort things out. I tried to give Arkansas some respect, since just about the only reason they aren't as highly ranked as the other SEC teams in the rest of the polls is that they started the season unranked.

Big 12
It's Texas and Oklahoma again. Awesome. I am so excited.

Texas A&M keeps winning, but seldom impressively. I'll have to give them some real respect if they handle Oklahoma Saturday.

I liked Missouri and Chase Daniels, but I would appreciate it if they stopped sucking.

ACC
Thanks a lot, Clemson. I bought into you, then you lost to BC and I decided you were the same old Clemson team, then you were really good again, and I decided you were legit, and you got stomped by Virginia Tech. Same old Clemson. I don't care what else happens this season. You're dead to me (in other words, stay the hell out of my top ten).

Virginia Tech's sort of a usual suspect in top 25's around the world, though I'm not sure they're that good. Beating a top ten team gets you into my top 25, but I don't know if that's because Tech's capable of being that good, or if (more likely) I just overrated Clemson.

I don't know what sort of events have transpired that have led to a Wake Forest team missing it's starting QB and RB going 7-1, but I think they may eventually lead to the end of the world.

And I have no idea how good Georgia Tech is. None. They baffle me.

Pac 10
USC lost, which made me happy, since I don't especially like USC. I don't think that means they're bad, though. There's still a ton of talent on that team. I think Cal's the more complete team, though. Other than that, I don't really have much of an opinion on the West Coasters, other than I'm looking forward to watching USC's last four games of the season: Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, UCLA. Good times.

Everyone Else
If I'd thought it would piss off Charlie Weis in any way, shape, or form, I'd have dropped Notre Dame out of my top 25. How can a guy be such a jackass when there's cameras and reporters around, but such an (apparently) nice guy to people when he's away from a podium? Shouldn't famous people be nice on camera, and jerks to the individual fans, not the other way around?

As for Boise State, meh. There, I said it.

Halloween 2006: The Re-Resoddening

2006-10-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

I saw today that the athletic department is replacing the field at the Shoe again. It's a good thing. The new field didn't look great when it was installed, and it didn't get better. The people in charge are claiming that the failure of the replacement field is just bad luck:

The turf was replaced after the home game with Penn State on Sept. 23, in time for the next home game Oct. 7 against Bowling Green. But two frosts and unseasonably wet weather since then doomed that batch of sod, Patko said.

"Nine times out of 10 it works out, but this just happened to be the one," he said.

Over at the FanHouse, JD isn't so sure:

I said this before the last resurfacing, and I'll say it again: resurfacing a field in the middle of the season is rarely a good idea.

The Bengals faced this problem before they switched to FieldTurf. Neil Rackers struggled mightily as the Bengals kicker because of the sandy surface, and he thrived once he left. Once a field is bad, it's bad. If the grass didn't take the first time around, why's it going to take the second? Or the third?

He goes on to make the point that it's a little late to be replacing the turf, and I agree. However, they have to do something. That field was just unacceptable during the Minnesota game. With three weeks to prepare, I think they should be able to get the field into decent condition for the Michigan game. And honestly, I think that's all they'll get out of it. After this much trouble with the field, I expect them to switch to artificial turf for next season. Why go to all this trouble with natural grass when you can install a synthetic field and then not worry about it? It's not like we have an extensive tradition of playing on grass; there was an artificial field from 1970 to 1990. And with the quality of artifical turf nowadays, it just seems like the way to go.

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

2006-10-27T19:54:00.000-04:00

So, it's homecoming weekend. I don't know anyone who's all that excited about the actual homecoming festivities, though I'm sure they're out there, and good for them. But among the people I talk to, the two biggest topics of conversation are A.) Jack Nicklaus dotting the I, and B.) Halloween costumes.

Jack Nicklaus dotting the I is actually a bigger deal than I expected. I was half-expecting people to tell me "I didn't even know he went here!" But not only did I not get that, I had lots of people telling me how excited they were that he was going to do it. There isn't a lot of excitement about the game itself, somewhat understandably. Minnesota is good enough to not get blown off the field, but lacking any exciting playmaker. Plus, it's supposed to be cold and windy, if not rainy. Certainly everyone will be there and cheering, but the part of the day that will get the loudest cheers is when the Golden Bear dots the I, no question.

As for the costumes, they are a very important part of college. Halloween might not be the biggest party weekend of the year, but it's close. Everyone has a costume, from the people that spent weeks assembling incredibly clever costumes to the ones that put it off until the last minute and end up dressing as serial killers ("they look just like regular people!"). For some examples, check out CollegeHumor's Halloween section. Girls, it should be noted, have it easier than guys. If guys want to impress people with their costumes, they either have to find something clever or get a costume that looks uncannily like a movie or TV character. Girls, on the other hand, just have to pick a noun and put "sexy" in front of it. Sexy nurse, sexy devil, sexy cat, sexy duvet cover, sexy pizza - all are viable costume ideas. Once again, I must go to College Humor, which has an entertaining video that pretty accurately describes the situation:

If all you see is white space above this, click in the middle of it to play the video. There's some not-safe-for-work audio there, but let's face it: if you didn't think a video of girls' Halloween costumes was inappropriate for your workplace, what's a little bad language gonna hurt?
As for me, I'm going as a grad student. I bought a long-hair wig that I've put into a ponytail, I picked up a cheap sport coat at Goodwill, and I'm going to wear a dress shirt and jeans. Basically, it's every male American teaching assistant I've encountered (that may be a slight exaggeration).

Mid-Big Ten Season Review

2006-10-25T19:20:00.000-04:00

Sheesh. It's been a busy couple days. One more piece of advice to freshmen: never graduate. Never even get to your senior year. The classes are tough, and the job hunt begins. It's a pain in the ass. Just keep changing majors to stay a sophmore. Assume false identities if you have to. Just never graduate.

Anyway, the season's more than half over, and most teams are halfway through their conference schedule, so I decided it's about time to take a look at the conference. I haven't watched a ton of Big Ten football, but I've seen all the teams, I've checked out the statistics, and I have the audacity (or arrogance) to think my opinion means anything, whether that's true or not.

So, from top to bottom by quality of team, not by current or projected record. . . .

Ohio State - Who else did you think I would put at the top? But it's tough to argue with the resume. The top scoring offense in the Big Ten, the top scoring defense in the Big Ten, and a win over the number seven team in the country. The offense is rolling, but we all expected that. The surprise is the defense. They're third in the Big Ten in passing defense, and second in rush defense (though they are way, way behind Michigan). Plus, the team has both the most takeaways and the fewest giveaways in the Big Ten. Basically, it's everything you could ask for in an offense, with much more than you could hope for from a defense (sort of) replacing nine starters. The biggest concern is the kicking game, which has converted only 7 of 11 chances. With the offense scoring as much as it is, and with the defense giving up so few points, it hasn't been a problem. If (when?) we're in a game where three points can make a difference, the kicking game could be a concern.

Michigan - Perhaps 1A. The offense has been decent (7th in total offense, 3rd in scoring), but survey defensive coordinators, and see if any of them would be eager to try and shut down Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, and company simultaneously. I still think that Chad Henne is nothing without quality receivers, but that won't be a problem once Manningham gets back. Mike Hart may literally fall apart on the field one day, but until then, the Michigan offense will ride him as much as possible. Stopping the offense isn't fun, but it beats trying to do anything on the defense. The pass defense is sixth in the Big Ten, which doesn't sound that impressive, but when you consider that teams have to resort to passing due to an utter inability to run against the Wolverines, it sounds much better. U of M leads the Big Ten in rush yards allowed, and they're better than five hundred yards ahead of the second place team, your Ohio State Buckeyes. That's just crazy. But if that wasn't crazy enough for you, consider this: Michigan leads the Big Ten in field goal kicking, converting 85.7% of their kicks. It's like living in Bizarro world, isn't it? November 18th's shaping up to be huge.

Wisconsin - There hasn't been much of a step down since trading in Barry Alvarez for Bret Bielema. They're still running all over teams, and they've managed the third-best defense in the Big Ten. PJ Hill is good, John Stocco is not making mistakes, and the defense is being pretty awesome. When people talk about the conference being the Big Two again, I think they're doing a disservice to Wisconsin. This is a legitimately good team, early-season non-conference hiccups nonwithstanding.

Penn State - I think of them as about as good as Iowa, but then I look at the players, and there's a lot more to like about the Nittany Lions. So why are they nearly equal in my mind? I don't know. The importance of a quality quarterback? Remnants of preseason Iowa hype? Stupidity? You decide. This is a team with problems, regardless. Tony Hunt has been good, but the offense as a whole has been kinda shaky. Anthony Morelli's not playing up to expectations, and the offensive line hasn't been very impressive. The defense is good, but they aren't helped by a defensive coordinator that is apparently betting against his team. PSU has looked its best when blitzing, yet they don't do that much of it. Why? I don't know. But still, if they get those problems fixed, there's a lot to like about the team, including Hunt, Derrick Williams, and arguably the best linebacker in the Big Ten (I'm talking Dan Connor, not the one you're thinking of).

Iowa - Is it just me, or does this team always have injury problems? Not long ago, they were starting like a fifth string running back, and lately they've been all but starting the entire second string. When healthy, they aren't a bad team. Drew Tate's a good QB, and Mitch King's a good DT, and both are proably my least-favorite non-Michigan college football players, so they got that going for them. But they definitely miss the receivers and linebackers they graduated. They're just kind of a blah team to me. They have some talent, and they'll win some games, but you don't say, "Aw, cool, I get to watch Iowa play." I'm betting they'll be around this part of the Big Ten for at least the next year. Drew Tate's the only thing keeping this offense going. He doesn't have the weapons this year, and he's gone after this.

Purdue - Well well, look who found some offense. Curtis Painter is far and away the Big Ten leader in passing yards per game, and he's spreading the ball around nicely (three of the top six in receptions per game are Purdue receivers). This is the Purdue offense we all remember from the Drew Brees years. However, the Boilermakers are 10th in the Big Ten in scoring defense and last in total defense. If they ever find a defense, they might be a good team. But they don't have one, so they're no better than decent.

Michigan State - Um, wow. They blow the Notre Dame game, and appear to completely fall apart. Then they stage the biggest comeback in Division 1-A history against Northwestern. Anything is possible with this team. They're hurt by losing Javon Ringer for the season, but I'd still pick them over any team I have below them. Well, I'd pick Good Michigan State over them. Bad Michigan State could lose to anyone. So I'm not real comfortable with MSU here, but could I honestly say that any of the other options are better? No. Incidentally, the big comeback against Northwestern did not save John L. Smith's job. Well, it might have stopped him from getting fired in the locker room after the game, but he's still done for.

Minnesota - The high-powered rush offense isn't there this season, and they're hurting for it, both in the "quality of team" sense and in the "me caring" sense. Quality-wise, they're worse than in previous years, but not a lot worse. They're low-middle of the pack on offense and defense, but without a real offensive identity, I don't have much interest in watching them, or in writing about them (though I think I'll try some more this week).

Illinois - I didn't see the game, but from what I understand, the Illini had some success against Penn State with the option. They've got a freshman at QB in Juice Williams, who has a lot of promise, but who probably isn't ready to lead an offense short on playmakers. Asking this guy to read defenses and throw to bad receivers is probably a bad idea, but asking him to run around and decide "pitch or keep" is probably something a freshman can handle. So there is some hope for the offense. And, as bad defenses go, the Illinois defense is pretty decent, and that's a ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one. So there's a little hope.

Indiana - The running game still needs some work, but I think they made a good choice putting Kellen Lewis in at QB. He's young and inexperienced, and he'll make plenty of mistakes, but he adds a dimension to the offense that Blake Powers didn't have. Lewis is fast enough to make defenses worry about him scrambling, and he's not bad at throwing the ball, either. The defense is not good, but. . . well, there's no but. The defense is not good. Basically, I see Indiana as Illinois, only less so. And really, that might describe the states as well as the schools.

Northwestern - They get a free pass for this season, and that's a good thing. They are not good. Basically, they're no better than eighth in any meaningful statistical category except rushing offense. And for a team with Tyrell Sutton at running back, fifth in the Big Ten is not something to be proud of. They're 2-6, 0-4 in the Big Ten, and that's about what you can expect from them. C.J. Bacher provided a glimmer of hope, looking pretty good against Michigan State, but who knows if that was him being good, or Sparty being Sparty (God, I can't believe I just wrote that)?

On Being #1

2006-10-20T18:47:00.000-04:00

There isn't a whole lot to say about Indiana. They're improving, but Ohio State is still clearly the better team. That doesn't mean the game tomorrow is a guaranteed win, just that there's not a whole lot of interesting stuff to say about the game.

So instead I'm going to use this space to talk about the experience of being the number one team. Basically, I'm still not used to it. Since Jim Tressel took over as coach, the Buckeyes have been sort of a juggernaut underdog, if you will. The talent's never been a question, the defense has always been solid, but for years, this hasn't been a program that the entire country believed in. You'd have Trev Alberts arguing that Iowa was better, or people saying they couldn't handle Miami's speed, or people wondering if they had enough offensive firepower to beat any of several teams. And when you consider the tightrope they walked pretty regularly against teams they should have beaten easily, the national doubt is somewhat understandable.

Not that we, as Buckeye fans, generally looked at it that way. "So what if it's close or boring," we'd say, "we're still winning. That's all that matters." The Buckeyes were low on style points, but generally had more of the regular points than the other guys. However, it seemed like the style points were what mattered, and all the talk about the teams racking them up out on the west coast, in Florida, and in other places around the country has made us a little defensive. If you looked at message boards over the past couple years, pretty regularly you'd see a post along the lines of "ESPiN/SI/Whoever Disrespecting the Bucks AGAIN!!!"

Now, things have changed. The defense is still good, but they're good in a fancier way, creating turnovers left and right. More importantly, the offense has become more telegenic. Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez are threats to score whenever they touch the ball. Troy Smith is making plays with his feet and his arm. Antonio Pittman isn't exactly Barry Sanders or Walter Payton, but even he is breaking tackles and taking runs outside in a way that's more fun to watch than the ol' three yards and a cloud of dust. The team is getting a lot of attention, they're number one, and they are the favorite to win the national championship. It's a new role for the team, and a new role for the fans to get used to.

Some of us are having trouble with the new role. I'd say Buckeye fans this season have reacted to being the favorites in three main ways (yay, another list!):

Denial - These are the people that act as if nothing's changed from previous years. To them, the mainstream media is still giving the Buckeyes no respect. These are the people that read "Troy Smith doesn't have to be great for the Buckeyes to win. He just has to distribute the ball" and say "The media says Troy Smith isn't any good!" Occasionally they do actually find someone that doesn't like Ohio State, but just as often, they're reading a bit too much into things.
Suspicion - I fall into this category sometimes. We're the sort of people that have conditioned themselves to doubt everything the pundits say, because the "experts" have been wrong so regularly, especially about the Buckeyes. However, now that the same experts like the Bucks, we're thrown into confusion. Does that mean they're wrong about Ohio State too? These people start to look at the team too critically, seeing shortcomings where there aren't any, or at least overemphasizing the flaws. If you see someone criticizing Troy Smith, you shouldn't necessarily assume he/she is an idiot; they may just fall into this category, and have conditioned themselves to disbelieve everything Lee Corso and Lou Holtz say to the point that they're applying it to their own beloved Buckeyes.
Happiness - These are probably the most well-adjusted Buckeyes. Their team is number one, everything is great. The offense is great, the defense is one of the best in terms of points allowed, the coach wears snazzy sweatervests. What more can you ask for?

Needless to say, that third category is probably the place to be. The media likes Ohio State now; we're just going to have to learn to deal with that. Besides, things might return to normal at any time. In the mean time, why not enjoy the ride? If the team goes undefeated, you don't want to be the guy that says "nobody believed in us!" when half of America put Ohio State in the title game in the preseason. And if the team loses, can you really take any solace in the fact that you had identified all the weaknesses before some team took advange of them? Of course not. So why not be happy?

Be like Happy Cat.

Don't be like Angry Cat.

Week Eight BlogPoll

2006-10-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	--
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Texas	1
5	Tennessee	1
6	California	2
7	Notre Dame	--
8	West Virginia	1
9	Clemson	1
10	Arkansas	4
11	Auburn	4
12	Florida	9
13	LSU	--
14	Georgia Tech	5
15	Louisville	4
16	Oregon	--
17	Nebraska	5
18	Wisconsin	5
19	Boise State	6
20	Oklahoma	3
21	Rutgers	5
22	Boston College	4
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Texas A&M	2
25	Missouri	4

Dropped Out: Iowa (#18), Virginia Tech (#20), Georgia (#22), Penn State (#24).

Sorry for not posting more, Evil Accounting Exam of Doom kinda required my attention. Anyway, I don't even really remember what games I watched, so I'll just skip straight to my thoughts, expanded somewhat from the usual:

The Top Nine
1. Ohio State - We've looked consistently good, Michigan's looked consistently good. I've got the Buckeyes just a little bit ahead of Michigan, based mostly on the win over Texas. It's better than anything anyone else has.

2. Michigan - Some would argue that their win over Penn State was better than ours, and it's tough to argue otherwise, so I won't. My response instead would be that our win over Michigan State was better than theirs, so they cancel out. Fortunately, we get to settle the whole thing on the field, and it's looking more and more like it'll be for all the proverbial marbles.

3. USC - I kinda think several teams below them would beat them, but going undefeated in a real (i.e. non-Big East) conference counts for something, so they stay top three.

4. Texas - Interesting factoid: this weekend's game against Nebraska will be the first time they've traveled outside of Texas this season. They may have been the quietest top ten team this season. They had the loss to Ohio State, then they've split their time between destroying crappy teams from other parts of Texas and looking respectable against decent Big 12 competition. I'll feel a lot better about the top five ranking for them if they get by Nebraska.

5. Tennessee - I think one of the SEC teams is a top five team, but which one? Momentum has gotten the Vols to this ranking, but I don't really know if they're the best of the conference or not.

6. California - Probably the best team in the Pac 10, but that whuppin' at Tennessee should still be factored in. USC plays them followed by Notre Dame in a couple weeks, and those two games will go a long way toward sorting out the top ten.

7. Notre Dame - They don't really seem like a top ten team, but who else is there? They got stomped by Michigan, and they were going to lose to Michigan State before they made like Cinderella at midnight and turned back into MSU, but they've been fine other than that. Maybe they just have a problem with teams from Michigan. None of the directional Michigan schools are on the schedule, so it's smooth sailing for the Fighting Irish.

8. West Virginia - All they do is run the ball. They don't throw it, and they don't play defense. But they run the ball really, really, really well. I think, though, that all the teams ranked above them (and maybe several below) could stop their rushing attack. Therefore, they're at number eight.

9. Clemson - They also run the ball really well. They're sort of West Virginia minus the option and plus a bit of defense. I think they're more talented than West Virginia, in fact. However, the fact remains that they are Clemson, the Michigan State of the ACC. As a result, I have difficulty putting them any higher than this.

And the rest:
All those SEC teams - will you all kindly sort out who's good in the conference? Everyone's beating up on each other, and I understand that's all good, exciting, rough-and-tumble southern footbaw, but as a Yankee observer, I have a tough time telling if that means you're all good, or all decent. Until a pecking order emerges, I'm just going to stick Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, and LSU in a jumble.

14. Georgia Tech - They sure looked impressive against Bye, huh? Ok, I'm not sure why they got that boost. But I don't think it's too crazy a place for them. Calvin Johnson's awesome, the defense is good. Why not #14 for them?

15. Louisville - I saw Cincinnati. They have potential, but they aren't good. If you expect me to think you're a top ten team, you should not have to hold on to beat Cincinnati at home.

18. Wisconsin - Gradually establishing themselves as the third-best team in the Big Ten. How good does that make them? I dunno, but 18 feels about right.

20. Oklahoma - Not their fault, but Oklahoma minus Adrian Peterson is probably not a top-25 team. I'll wait until they lose before I kick them out, though, just in case.

Miami - I know I'm piling on here, but fighting with Florida International? Really? C'mon, guys. I expected better. If Youngstown State tries to pick a fight with the Buckeyes next season, I expect the players to laugh in their collective Penguin faces. I certainly don't expect any players to step in swinging helmets.

Sidebar Update

2006-10-14T13:06:00.000-04:00

Yeah, the MSU game is in less than three hours, and I haven't said anything about it. Oh well. We all know what the situation is. OSU is the more talented team, and Michigan State may be completely self-destructing, but we all remember 1998, when the Spartans ruined a perfect season in a similar situation. Plus, there's always the chance that the players overlook the Spartans, or just play poorly. A loss is always a possibility. So I'm nervous, just like everyone else.

In the meantime, I've put some work in on the sidebar. I added the freshman year guidelines to the greatest hits section, just to put something else there. I cleaned up the mainstream media links a bit. And I added a bunch of OSU blogs. First up is the Buckeye Expat, a blog from a Buckeye in ACC country. I gotta say, I like his NFL picks this week (as well as that bonus college pick). We've also got the POJO Dojo, a fellow Cavs fan as well as a Steelers fan, which probably makes life a little difficult in Cleveland. There's also the Penalty Kill, a quality blog despite not appreciating the comedic genius of John L. Smith. I also added AOL's OSU blog, run by JD of Around the Oval. There's also Buckeye Battle Cry, he of the great YouTube videos, and Eleven Warriors, another quality OSU blog, which also has probably my favorite logo of all of them. I'm not sure why, I just like it.

Those last two are noteworthy also because they allow me to do this:

In old Ohio there's a team
That's known throughout the land
Eleven warriors brave and bold,
Whose fame will ever stand.
And when the ball goes over,
Our cheers will reach the sky,
Ohio Field will hear again
The Buckeye Battle Cry!

Drive, Drive on down the field,
Men of the scarlet and gray;
Don't let them through that line,
We've got to win this game today,
COME ON OHIO!
Smash through to victory,
We cheer you as we go!
Our honor defend we will fight to the end
for O-HI-O!

I don't think there are any other good blog names in there, but if anyone starts up a "Smash Through to Victory" blog, I'll be happy to link to you.

Week Seven BlogPoll

2006-10-10T22:52:00.000-04:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	--
3	Florida	2
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Texas	1
6	Tennessee	7
7	Notre Dame	1
8	California	8
9	West Virginia	--
10	Clemson	4
11	Louisville	--
12	Nebraska	5
13	LSU	6
14	Arkansas	12
15	Auburn	11
16	Oregon	6
17	Oklahoma	5
18	Iowa	1
19	Georgia Tech	1
20	Virginia Tech	1
21	Missouri	1
22	Georgia	7
23	Wisconsin	3
24	Penn State	6
25	Boise State	1

Dropped Out: UCLA (#23), Florida State (#24), Rutgers (#25).

Games Watched: All of OSU-BG, parts of Michigan-MSU, Arkansas-Auburn, Penn State-Minnesota, and Nebraska-Iowa State

Notes:

Based on what they've actually done, the top three are pretty close to interchangeable, depending on your personal bias. Mine is reflected above.
Southern Cal has possibly been the least impressive of the unbeatens, including Missouri, Boise State, and Rutgers. But I, like most everyone else, believe that eventually they will play like the team composed of top recruits that they are.
Tennessee's looking like the most complete team in the SEC, but you have to give credit to Florida for getting it done, even if they're low on style points sometimes.
The Vols' resurgence makes Cal's loss to them not look so bad anymore, which is good. Something has to make them look good, and those yellow uniforms they broke out sure didn't (har dee har har).
Clemson in the top ten seems sketchy, but who else should go there? I'm still not sold on Louisville (or West Virginia, for that matter).
I was tempted to keep Arkansas below Auburn, but then I said to myself, "Self, you have two one-loss teams. One beat the other. Therefore, the one should be ranked above the other." It made sense to me
I was certain Georgia was going to lose a low-scoring game. I thought we'd all agreed: the Bulldogs have a good defense, but no offense. Then they go and score 30+ and give up 50+, and now I'm confused. What's the deal down in Athens?
I may have shown some irrational exuberance on PSU. None of the Penn State bloggers have them ranked, and an overtime win against Minnesota that required a little luck isn't too impressive. Of course, now the Nittany Lions will come out and beat Michigan, and I'll look like a fool for ever doubting them. But I'd be okay with that, if it makes Michigan fans unhappy.

Bowling Green Post-Game Thoughts

2006-10-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

A win's a win, and the win over BG was a solid one, but it could have been better. The atmosphere all around for the game was a little weird. It was as if nobody wanted to be there: fans, players, coaches, nobody. In Block O, we tried to get into the game, but this was expected to be an easy win, so once we got that, everyone was just hoping for neat stuff to happen. The Ohio State players and coaches seemed to just want to get through the game as quickly and painlessly as possible, and the Bowling Green players and staff didn't seem too broken up about the outcome.

Let's rock the bullet points:
Offense:

A great game for Troy Smith. Three incompletions, and three touchdowns. I think his stats are hurt by teams kicking away from Ted Ginn, and that was especially true against BG. Their punter shanked several punts to avoid returns from Ted, which led to short fields for the offense. If Troy wins the Heisman, it will either be proof that a player's quality and value cannot be measured by stats alone, or completely a product of the ESPN media machine, depending on who you ask.
A solid, if unspectacular, day for the running game. Antonio Pittman looked good, but the only really notable designed run (Troy's long scramble for a first down was obviously pretty cool) was Chris Well's failure to pick up a first down on fourth and short. I did not see that coming.
Ted Ginn finished with good stats, but I hope that those quick passes to him don't become a staple of the offense. I realize they are effectively a running play, and I don't mind a few of them, but I don't think they're all that effective. Ted just gets the ball, dances for a few yards, and gets tackled. If you want a big day from Ted, don't try to get him the ball in space; try to get him the ball on the run. He can't juke everyone on the field, but he can outrun just about anyone. More slants, crossing patterns, and flys; less swing passes.

Defense:

Vernon Gholston's turning into a star on the defense. Quinn Pitcock's still the best player on the defense, but Gholston's closing the gap, thanks to improved play against the run. Plus, defensive ends get more glory. It's unfair, but it's true
Brandon Mitchell continues to deliver big hits. That makes me happy. He's become a very good player in his own right.
Not strictly defense, but a note to James Laurinaitis: in any game where you are not leading by three touchdowns, regardless of what any defensive back tells you, do not lateral the ball to anyone unless there is nobody within twenty yards of the two of you, neither one of you is moving, and you are facing each other. Even then, if you are going to give him the ball, I would prefer you calmly walk over to him, hand him the ball, and request a receipt. Laterals make me nervous.

General:

I'm glad there's a week off between home games. The new field still needs a little work. The footing seemed to be better than the old field, but the field's not quite ready for primetime yet.
I don't know which was worse: that they had two guys I'd never heard of doing the game on ESPNPlus, or that I liked the guys better than several of the better-known broadcast teams.
A note to those who attend the games: please remove your hat for both the national anthem and "Carmen Ohio." Most guys have the national anthem thing down, but it's a heads up for the hat-wearing females among us who did not receive the indoctrination and instruction in hatiquette that most guys received. And there's just a lot of people out there that don't know you're supposed to remove your hat for the alma mater. So, take your hat off. Pet peeve of mine.

BlogPoll Roundtable

2006-10-04T19:46:00.000-04:00

The questions for this roundtable come courtesy of CrossCyed, the best Iowa State blog I know of, and a very good blog in general. Here we go.

1. We're about halfway through the season at this point. Have you gotten a gauge on your team's chances this year to make noise in conference play, or is the team still a total freaking mystery?

I think we've got a pretty good idea about Ohio State's chances to make some noise in the Big Ten (that's a bit of understatement, yo). Further, I think we've figured out what to expect from this team: an offense that can do everything well (except complete passes to the tight end, but meh), and a defense that gives up yards, but tightens up in the red zone and forces a bunch of turnovers. I'll take that. There's still the everpresent possibility of a soul-crushing loss to somebody they should beat, but the way things are shaping up, it seems lik the OSU-Michigan game will be for the Big Ten title once again (knocking furiously on wood).

2. Many of the bigger conferences such as the Big 12 and the Big 10 use a rotating schedule to determine conference games each year. What are your feelings on the current system used in your conference? Does a rotating schedule work? Has your team always caught a break?

I don't like the rotating schedule. The difference in schedule strength can be huge. For instance, Purdue misses both Ohio State and Michigan this year. If Iowa or Penn State had that schedule, wouldn't they become a favorite for the Big Ten title (much like Purdue was last year, before we discovered they sucked)? Plus, it leaves unanswered questions (see: Trev Albert's quest to convince America that Iowa was better than Ohio State in the 2002 season). It is tough to get away from it with eleven teams, though. If all the Big Ten teams played each other, that would leave two nonconference games for each team, which probably means no more big interconference matchups like OSU-Texas, since who wants to get ready for the conference by playing a big name opponent, when you could play a 1-AA team and a MAC school?

So, I guess, as much as I don't like the rotating schedule, I'd rather do that and have big out of conference matchups than play everyone in the Big Ten. So, much like democracy, the rotating schedule is the worst possible solution, except for all the others.

3. In an effort to get to know more about college football, both nationally and regionally, what have you done to expand your college football horizons? Have you caught yourself watching games from other conferences, or taking an interest in games that show up on ESPNU or Fox Sports?

Well, I'd like to watch some games on ESPNU, but for some reason, Time Warner in Columbus, the biggest college town in America, has elected not to grant ESPNU to the masses. I'll watch just about any college football that's on TV, but I can't say I've significantly expanded my horizons though TV.

Internet has been another story. I definitely don't check out all the links on the sidebar every day, but I get to all of them about every other day. Between blogs and message boards, I can get opinion and analysis on just about any major team whenever I want. So I do find I'm better informed about teams than I was a couple years ago. I would still kind of like to see more games from out of my region, but it's not important enough to me to buy Gameplan. At least not yet.

4. What would you change about the current exposure your team gets, either on the radio, television, print, or on the internet?

The first three are fine. OSU is getting a ton of attention this season all over the place, and I like it. I never get tired of hearing about the Buckeyes.

The internet is another thing. Much as Mike of Black Shoe Diaries noted for PSU fans, Buckeye fans can be stupid, rude assholes in chat rooms and forums. The idiots are outnumbered by the friendly, intelligent Ohio State fans, but as is the case with fans in general, a few bad ones always stand out more than the bunches of good ones. So I'd like to see the overall image of Buckeye fans online improve. I think blogs are helping that. Just look at the list of Buckeye blogs on the sidebar (which needs updating) for a collection of intelligent, well-written opinions on football from Buckeye fans.

5. During last Saturday's game against I-AA Northern Iowa, Iowa State trailed 21-7 at the half. The Cyclone Marching Band played a variety of songs from animated shows, including selections from South Park titled "Blame Canada" and "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" Needless to say, the Cyclones outscored the Panthers 21-6 in the second half. If you had to pick one song for your favorite team to rally to, what would it be? Because we all know what they did for the 2005 White Sox, Journey and "Don't Stop Believing" are not to be considered.

Well, I'd like to say "Liquid Swords" by the GZA, seeing as that was my unoffical theme song for this season. However, a good rally song has to be cheesy, and ideally from the 80's. For that reason, I support "Jukebox Hero" by Foreigner. It's not related to football in any way, I admit. But it rocks, and it's about being awesome, so that's good enough for me. Plus, it'd make a good soundtrack for highlight reels.

Now he needs to keep rockin' / He just can't stop / Gotta keep on rockin' / That boy has got to stay on top

Week Six BlogPoll

2006-10-03T09:51:00.000-04:00

Unless there are any objections, here's my ballot for week six:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Michigan	4
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Auburn	1
5	Florida	1
6	Texas	1
7	Louisiana State	1
8	Notre Dame	2
9	West Virginia	2
10	Oregon	2
11	Louisville	2
12	Oklahoma	3
13	Tennessee	4
14	Clemson	8
15	Georgia	4
16	Cal	2
17	Nebraska	1
18	Penn State	2
19	Iowa	10
20	Georgia Tech	6
21	Virginia Tech	7
22	Missouri	4
23	UCLA	4
24	Florida State	1
25	Rutgers	1

Dropped Out: TCU (#21), Arizona State (#23), Boise State (#24).

Games Watched: All of OSU-Iowa and Auburn-South Carolina, parts of Michigan-Minnesota, USC-Washington State, Notre Dame-Purdue, and Michigan State-Illinois

Notes

Michigan moves up to #2, because I don't see any of the teams ranked below them beating them. They have all kinds of talent, and they aren't screwing it up like they have in previous years. They still have PSU and Iowa to play, but the only team with a real chance to beat them before November 18th is themselves. Granted, that usually happens, but still.
West Virginia drops because of continuing doubts about their ability. Who have they beaten? Why have they not destroyed all competition thus far? Plus, you stop Steve Slaton, you stop West Virginia, and I think a lot of the teams in the top 10 can do that.
Clemson continues to shoot up the poll behind a killer rushing attack. They won't have any more big jumps in my poll, I don't think, but they could continue to climb.
Georgia drops because their offense sucks. Win this weekend, Bulldogs, and I'll take it all back.
Iowa falls so far only because I feel they belong behind Penn State. Penn State was competitive on the road against the Buckeyes, while Iowa was not at home in a night game.
Va. Tech drops on account of losing to Ga. Tech, who should then probably be ranked above them. Since the Ramblin' Wreck's only loss was a close one to Notre Dame, I don't have a problem with ranking them that high.
UCLA drops to make up for me not moving them down after last week's lost. Makeup call.
Sorry, Boise State, nothing personal. You'll probably be ranked again next week.

Iowa Post-Game Thoughts

2006-10-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

38-17. That's convincing. It's not totally unexpected, either. Iowa hasn't looked like a top-10 team all season (says the guy who has them at #9). They've been riding on expectations, and they haven't really materialized. That's not to say that Iowa's not a good team, just that they haven't shown it thus far. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, should be able to roll through the schedule until Michigan, so long as they don't believe they can just roll through the schedule until Michigan. Hype is their biggest opponent right now.

Some thoughts. . . .

When Ohio State had the ball

Not a great day, yardage-wise, for Troy Smith, but still a great performance. He threw some nice passes today. In particular, his touchdown to Brian Robiskie was fantastic, throwing the ball before Robo was even open. That was the kind of throw you have to make in the NFL, getting the ball to the guy that will get open, not the guy that is open.
I had started to wonder if Anthony Gonzalez was getting a little overrated. He seemed to be getting an awful lot of hype. Then he went ahead and had a great game today (5 catches, 77 yards, 2 TDs) , preemptively shutting me up. His second touchdown catch was a thing of beauty.
Speaking of that touchdown catch, did you see Brian Hartline take out two linemen to spring Gonzo at the end? Great block.
It was a good day on the ground for the Buckeyes. Antonio Pittman was Antonio Pittman, going over 100 yards on 25 carries, and Beanie Wells did more than just convert third-and-shorts. This was definitely Beanie's best game in his young career.
The line did a great job protecting Troy. Alternatively, Iowa did a poor job pressuring the QB. However you look at it, Troy had all the time he needed to throw, and a lot of the credit must go to the line.

When Iowa had the ball

Pretty bad day for Drew Tate. He went 19 of 41 with three picks. He missed guys several times, and a lot of receivers dropped passes they should have caught. Not good times for him. Good times for me, though.
I don't really think I'd like to have Tate as a teammate. It's great to be competitive and fired up and everything, but there's something to be said for not being a jerk to your teammates, too. Several times he'd yell at linemen after sacks or receivers after drops. He is without question the best player Iowa has, but I'd prefer criticism from the leader of my team to be of the constructive sort.
Another game, another turnover for James Laurinaitis. He had a nice all-around game, but I think everyone was waiting for him to get a pick. It was inevitable.
Vernon Gholston put together a good game, too. Of note was a play where he was trying to shed a blocker with his left hand, then just reached out with his right hand and grabbed a running back trying to get by him. Dude's strong.
Brandon Mitchell had another solid game. He's good in run support, good against the pass, just good overall.
Marcus Freeman finally had a good game. His interception was very nice. Hopefully it was a sign of things to come, not a fluke
Statistically, we had a good game against the run, but that's deceiving. We held Iowa to 87 yards on the ground, mostly because they had to throw to get back into the game and to keep Tate from having a tantrum. The team looked better against the run, but they still have work to do.
I think we've established what sort of defense we have. You can move the ball some against them, but they will capitalize on any mistake you make.

Overall, that went about as well as we could have hoped. Now it should be smooth sailing until Michigan, but I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of those games are tougher than expected. Hopefully the team continues to execute as well as they did today.

Week Five BlogPoll

2006-09-29T18:43:00.000-04:00

A little late, I know, but here's the BlogPoll I submitted for this week:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Southern Cal	--
3	Auburn	--
4	Florida	--
5	Texas	--
6	Michigan	--
7	West Virginia	--
8	Louisiana State	1
9	Iowa	1
10	Notre Dame	1
11	Georgia	3
12	Oregon	--
13	Louisville	--
14	Virginia Tech	1
15	Oklahoma	2
16	Nebraska	--
17	Tennessee	1
18	Cal	4
19	UCLA	2
20	Penn State	1
21	TCU	4
22	Clemson	4
23	Arizona State	9
24	Boise State	2
25	Florida State	1

Dropped Out: Michigan State (#20), Alabama (#23), Boston College (#24).

Notes:

I probably should have punished West Virginia for the trouble they had with ECU, but I couldn't convince myself that they should be ranked lower.
A friend of mine (not a Buckeye fan) argues that Iowa has done nothing to warrant a top-10 ranking. Upon further review, I'm inclined to agree. Unfortunately, he points this out after I submitted the ballot. Oh well, we'll know just how good they are after this weekend.
Oklahoma moved up in large part because I shouldn't have dropped them that much last week. I still think they're worse than Oregon, but not as much worse as I had them.
UCLA loses and moves up? Oops. My bad.
Penn State didn't drop much because I didn't really learn anything new about them in that game. The game showed they had an excellent defense, a very good running game, and a QB that was the weakness of the team. I knew all that before the game.
Look for Clemson to continue to rise. The only loss was on a fluke in OT; they're at least a top 20 team, I think.
Florida State, successfully running the football! Way to go guys! Advancing the ball by carrying it. Jeff Bowden is an innovator.
Dammit, Michigan State, I believed in you! I thought this year would be different! But noooo, same old MSU.

Sean's Guidelines for Freshmen

2006-09-28T18:24:00.000-04:00

As you may be aware, classes started last week here at OSU. A lot of freshman are getting their college careers started. OSU can be a pretty daunting place to get yourself educated. As I am starting my fourth year at the Ohio State University, I have seen and done a lot on and around campus. So, as a public service, I am providing some guidelines, rules, suggestions, and/or observations designed to help freshmen get through their first year. If you aren't interested in the typical college life (e.g., you don't drink, you only care about getting good grades, etc.), then these guidelines aren't for you. Do your thing, have fun with it, and do it well. But if you're after the standard college experience, I may be able to help you out. Here we go. . . .

Don't be a jerk. I understand you're off on your own for the first time. I understand you may have been Mr. or Mrs. Popularity at high school. Nobody cares anymore. There's enough people around that nobody has to be impressed with you, like you, or even acknowledge your existence. Be nice to people. You never know who might be able to help you out in the future, or who is just an interesting person worth knowing. The people that like everyone and have lots of friends are happier than the people making sarcastic comments behind people's backs.
Don't be an idiot. Sure, you are expected to do stupid things as a college student, especially as a freshman. But there's a difference between doing stupid things and being an idiot. Drinking so much you black out and wake up naked on the Oval during gameday is doing something stupid and hilarious (at least to everyone else). Drinking so much you black out and pee on somebody's floor during a party is being an idiot. Basically, if your actions are funny and hurt nobody (or at least nobody but yourself), they're stupid things that you should occasionally do. If they annoy or hurt others, you're an idiot. Don't be an idiot.

Public Service Announcement: That rug you're peeing on may really tie the room together. Don't do it.
Leave your dorm room door open, unless you're doing things you don't want people to see. Basically, your door should only be closed if you're not there, sleeping, partaking of illicit substances, or engaged in sexual relations of one sort or another. If your door is always closed, people assume you're antisocial, and you miss out on all sorts of stuff. Plus you run the risk of being that guy who's always in his room alone with the door closed. We know what you're doing in there, young man.
Don't have a long-distance boyfriend or girlfriend. Sure, it might be true love, and occasionally these relationships do work out, but almost all the time, they just die a slow, painful death. Meanwhile you're sitting in your dorm room on the phone while everyone else is out having a life. Freshman year is, in part, about irresponsibility and having fun; spending your weekend on the phone talking to a girlfriend you only see four times a year is neither.

Those four guidelines should help to ensure that you have some sort of social life. What do you do when you're out on the town? Funny you should ask:

Don't go to parties in groups larger than five. Freshmen tend to all go to the same parties. It makes sense: freshmen don't know many people, so the ones that know someone throwing a party tend to attract a large crowd. It's one thing to tell twenty people about the huge party your friend's cousin is throwing; it's another to bring them all with you in one group. Doing so just screams "freshmen," and you don't want to look like freshmen. If a bunch of people are going to the party, at least break up into smaller groups. Everyone will still find out you're freshmen, but at least you won't make it so blatantly obvious. Speaking of going to parties. . . .
Don't stand outside parties wondering if you can get in. That also screams "freshmen," which means "we don't belong here," which means "we won't get in." If you're just walking around looking for parties, decide if you're going to try to get into a party before you get there. If it's worth a shot, walk up like you belong. It might not work, but it's better than looking like you aren't supposed to be there. Of course, there are easier ways to get into parties. . . .
Bring girls. Simple fact: pretty girls can get into any party. Sexist, but true. So if you want in the party, bring girls. At least enough to not hurt the guy-girl ratio, ideally more. A bunch of freshman guys showing up is annoying; girls showing up and bringing a couple guys is alright. And if you are a freshman girl, well, go to any party you want.
Don't be an idiot. I bring it up again because it seems to be a problem for so many people. Don't be loud and annoying; don't scream out lines from Old School, Wedding Crashers, Animal House, or anything else. Don't pick fights with anyone. And especially, don't drink so much that you do something stupid and attract the attention of the police. The cops will generally leave you (and parties) alone so long as you're minding your own business and not causing trouble. So just stay cool and relaxed when you're out and about, and you'll be fine.
Know your limits. Many hilarious stories involve blacking out and waking up in a random location. However, it's better to be the one listening to the story than the one telling it. Neither of you remembers experiencing it, so why be the one that picked a fight with the hockey club team, stole a hot dog from a 7-11, and passed out on the shoulder of a highway? If you're going to drink, you'll be better off in the long run if you maintain some sort of control over yourself.

Now, of course, you aren't at college to party; you're here to learn. I have advice on that too, but you've heard all of it already: go to class, study, get to know your professor, etc. It's all good advice, honestly. It will help you if you do all that, but you've heard it all already. I have only one piece of class-related advice to add.

Don't half-ass it in your easy classes. It doesn't seem like a problem. Most of the 100-level classes seem so mind-numbingly easy that there's no good reason to go to class or study. Don't fall for it. They are that easy, but you need to make sure you do well in those to make up for the tough classes. It sucks to get your worst grade of the quarter in your easiest class. It sucks worse to not be able to apply for a couple internships you want because you don't meet the GPA requirements because you slacked off in a couple easy classes (happened to me, but luckily I found a job anyway). It sucks even worse to have to retake a 100-level course because you were too lazy to go. So put in the effort needed to get the grade you want. It might not take much, but if you don't do it, you'll regret it.

I'll finish up with some stuff I suggest you do on and around campus:

Eat at the following: Raising Cane's on High Street between 14th and 15th Ave. (great chicken fingers, fantastic sauce), Flying Pizza on High, also between 14th and 15th (one of several good places for pizza), PJ's on Frambes, just east of High Street (home of the fat sandwiches, featuring such silliness as french fries, chicken fingers, mozarella sticks, and mac & cheese, all on a sandwich), and any other non-chain restaurant you can find. There's a lot of good places to eat on High Street; check out as many of them as possible.
Do the following: jump in Mirror Lake on the Thursday of Michigan Week (wear sandals, but don't lose them in the lake), hang out on the Oval on the first nice day in spring (and just about any other nice day as well), attend the Big Free Concert (at least some point in your college career, you will get to see an artist you want to see for free), attend a concert at the Newport (small venue, pretty big names, good place to see a show), eat breakfast at Jack & Benny's (it's all the way up near Hudson Street, but the breakfast is great), sit in Block O (only because if you're here, you're a football fan, and there are no crazier fans at the Horseshoe than Block O).

There's certainly more to do than I listed, but if you follow the above guidelines and suggestions, you should be well on your way to enjoying your time at Ohio State. If anyone else has any other guidelines (or hilarious college-related stories), feel free to leave them in the comments. I leave you with one last point: class is important, but once in a while, it's perfectly acceptable to skip class because it's too sunny or because lawnmower racing is on TV.

I have skipped class to watch this on ESPN2. I have no regrets.

Catching Up

2006-09-26T11:32:00.000-04:00

Woo! We beat Penn State! Some things to take away from the game:

Offense:

Antonio Pittman got his twenty carries, and responded with 110 yards and a touchdown. Let's keep doing that.
Seeing Chris Wells run onto the field has to be demoralizing for a defense. It's third and short, everyone knows a run up the middle is coming, but there's nothing the defense can do about it. Someday, Tressel will run play action on third and short, and it will work beautifully because everyone's trying to stop Beanie.
Troy Smith didn't look very good. The Penn State defense had a lot to do with it, and they did a good job getting some pressure on him. The weather also influenced it, I think, as several times Troy just missed with his throws.
I think I'm developing a prejudice against tight ends. It seemed like every time we threw to a tight end, Troy either missed him or he dropped it. Let's not use tight ends anymore. H-backs and fullbacks are fine, however.
All the increased attention on Anthony Gonzalez has been and will continue to be great for Brian Robiskie. On any given play, at least three guys are dedicated to stopping Ted Ginn and Gonzo, which opens things up for Robiskie.
Hopefully we'll see more options and swing passes against Iowa. I think Tressel pulled the option from the playbook due to the rain, but he added the swing pass, which was very effective one time in particular. Pittman's great when you get him on the outside. He can outrun linebackers and defensive ends, and he breaks tackles from defensive backs.
Awesomeness:

Courtesy of Buckeye Commentary

Defense:

James Laurinaitis might be my hero. At a certain point, creating turnovers stops being about luck and starts being about anticipation and instincts. The guy is just always around the ball when he needs to be.
Malcolm Jenkins is rapidly becoming great. Good technique, good instincts, and he's very physical. He should probably hold onto the ball all the way into the endzone next time, though.
Our D-line is great. Quinn Pitcock is always double-teamed and routinely gets in the backfield anyway. Patterson continues to improve, and all the defensive ends are playing very well, especially Vernon Gholston. They're still getting held a lot, though. I don't know what they can do about that. A joy buzzer under the jersey, maybe?
Still looking for a linebacker combination that works. John Kerr and Marcus Freeman looked better, but not good. Curtis Terry should probably be starting. Ross Homan's close, but not quite ready to start. Hopefully a couple guys can step up, and quickly.
For all the problems the defense has defending the run, they have yet to give up a rushing touchdown. They don't allow many touchdowns, period. The defense steps it up in the red zone.
Quick special teams note: It was wet with a crappy field. I'm not going to draw any conclusions about our punting and field goal kicking. They looked shaky, but they get a pass this week.

Penn State:

Dan Connor was PSU's best linebacker on Saturday, and he was very good. Paul Posluszny was decent, but not impressive. He seemed a little slow to me.
Tony Hunt was excellent. He's a quality back.
Anthony Morelli's not a bad QB, but the game should not be placed in his hands at any point in the game. He's not going to beat the opponent, and Penn State should make sure he doesn't beat them. He'll be a good quarterback before all is said and done, though.

Penn State - What to Watch For

2006-09-23T09:40:00.000-04:00

The start of Gameday is nearing, so I don't want to take too long on this (particularly since these posts should probably go up on Fridays). But here's some things to keep an eye on this afternoon:

The pressure on Anthony Morelli and how he reacts to it - I'm guessing OSU will try to take the run away from Penn State and try to make Morelli beat them. They'll try to confuse him and force him into mistakes. If OSU is able to pressure Penn State consistently, that'll be a good thing. If, however, Morelli can avoid the pressure and make plays, that's a very bad thing. He's made some big mistakes this season, and the Buckeyes will try to force him into some more. I'm betting they will succeed, and he will not respond well under pressure in this game.
Both team's running games - OSU will be going up against another good back, so that's bad. But he's not as fast as Selvin Young and Jamaal Charles, and he's not as shifty as Garrett Wolfe, so that's good. If the Buckeyes can contain a talented, yet more conventional runner in Tony Hunt, that bodes well for the rest of the season. On the other side of the ball, I'm looking for Antonio Pittman to get more work. Something over twenty carries would be nice. If he can be effective, I think he'll see the additional carries. At the same time, though, it seems to me that Pittman doesn't really begin to get effective until he gets into his tenth carry or so. I'm just throwing this out there, Tressel, do what you want with it: Get Pittman at least twenty carries, regardless of how effective he is early on.
Aaron Pettrey - He's been good of late, so he's probably getting some confidence. It will be tested in these conditions. A slippery field and wind are not good things for a kicker. If he can make kicks today, he can make them anytime.
The weather - I've heard a variety of theories on who will benefit from this. The one I buy is that it's good for the receivers, since they know when and where they are cutting, while the defensive backs do not. At the same time, the wind might cause trouble on the deep balls. As a result, receivers should be open downfield, but quarterbacks may miss them.

So that's that. I'm off to watch Gameday. After that, I'm headed to the game, where I will stand in the rain, jumping and yelling all afternoon. I'm looking forward to it.

Enjoy the game, everyone, and GO BUCKS!

A Preview and A. Pittman

2006-09-22T11:37:00.000-04:00

Mike from the Black Shoe Diaries contacted me and Keith from Buckeye Commentary, asking us to answer a few questions about the Buckeyes and the upcoming game with Penn State. You can see our answers here.

Speaking of Keith, he's got a nice post up about Antonio Pittman. It's what you already should know, that Pittman's the most underrated part of this offense. I keep bringing Pittman up just because people still don't appreciate him enough. There were a couple people in my section trying to get a "we want Beanie" chant started during the Cincinnati game. It was absurd. Pittman's great. The guy has worked hard, and has visibly improved each year. He'll be very important this weekend, I think.

A Few Quick Links

2006-09-21T16:59:00.000-04:00

Lydell Ross is selling his national championship ring (HT: MotSaG) - The obvious question is, of course, "Why?" Money is the obvious answer. He isn't actually selling it on eBay, I don't think, as the seller is also selling a gold pants charm from 2005, after Ross graduated. This means that whoever the seller is, he apparently has some connections with former players, particularly the disgruntled and in need of money segments. Interesting, and kind of a shame, since I'm not sure I could bring myself to part with a gold pants charm, let alone a national championship ring. But it's their stuff, they can do whatever they want with it, I guess.
T.J. Downing is pro-Sea of Scarlet - He basically says that it was really loud at Penn State, and OSU fans should try and do even better than PSU. I agree with him on both counts. Just because I don't really think of this game so much as revenge or a rivalry, doesn't mean I don't want a deafening environment for the game. I don't think it will be too insane, partly because it's an afternoon game, and partly because it's supposed to rain for the game, but it will still be plenty loud. I'm looking forward to it.
The replay official who botched the Oklahoma-Oregon game is taking a leave of absence - Probably for the best. It's a tough job, and I gotta say that anytime I see an official interviewed, I'm pretty impressed with how serious they are about always making the right call and how hard they take screwing up. This is probably for the best though. By next year, people will have moved on. Except for Oklahoma. Okies never forget. On a related note, I gotta say that Bobby Knight's comments are pretty funny.

Taking Care of Some Loose Ends

2006-09-20T22:43:00.000-04:00

Yay, we beat Cincinnati! It was a decent game, aside from that first quarter.
Link update: Saturday Morning QB has moved, and I have fixed the link to reflect that. Only a month late!
Addition #1: Second Rate News, a Buckeyes blog, sort of. A good blog, certainly. It's entertaining, have a look.
Addition #2: Black Shoe Diaries, a fantastic Penn State blog. Know your enemy and all that, so check it out. Then keep checking it out, because it's good.
Addition #3: The Illini Report, a great Illinois blog that hasn't updated in two weeks. Figures, by the time I get around to updating links, Jake goes on vacation or something. Have a look anyway, and hope he updates again sometime soon.
Addition #4: Write On Sports, which I have already mentioned. It's a combination blog and collection of links, and worth a look.
I got an e-mail from Sam regarding a plan to have everyone wear scarlet to the Penn State game, as some sort of revenge for last year. I'm passing the plan along, but not because I wholeheartedly agree with it. I'm for the idea because I personally think that everyone should wear scarlet to every game, but that's more because it looks cool to have a solid color in the stadium. I'm not yet prepared to acknowledge any sort of rivalry with Penn State, so the idea of any retaliation or any effort to outdo them is silly to me. Right now, they're at about the same place as Wisconsin in my book: the fans kind of bug me sometimes, I don't like that we have so much trouble against them, but there's enough respect and indifference that it's not a rivalry for me. If they get a win this weekend, then maybe I'll call it a rivalry, but as of now, they're just a quality opponent. So wear scarlet to the game, certainly. But wear scarlet to every game, and don't get too worked up about this being a revenge game. And please, try to treat Penn State fans with respect. Treat your couches with respect, as well. Don't set either on fire.

The following should not be set on fire: furniture, Nittany Lions fans

Cincinnati: What to Expect

2006-09-16T09:30:00.000-04:00

I'm guessing not too many people are going to read this before the game, since kickoff is in two and a half hours, but here's a couple things to keep an eye out for:

Ohio State should win this easily, but that doesn't mean they will. The fans are taking the Bearcats lightly, as they should, but if the team does the same, Cinci can get the win. I trust that Jim Tressel and Troy Smith won't allow that to happen.
Look for Ohio State to look better both running the ball and stopping the run. This isn't necessarily because they've improved that much, but because they're playing Cincinnati. There's no Garrett Wolfe or Selvin Young on this team. They split the workload between three backs, none of whom have looked especially good this season. On offense, if things go as planned, OSU should throw away the play book and just start running left, right, and up the middle in the third quarter.
Expect a couple more big plays for Troy Smith and Ted Ginn. Cinci blitzes a lot (they're coached by Mark Dantonio, after all), which means that if the line can pick it up, or if Troy can escape the pressure, the big play will be there.
Cinci has one defensive tackle that's listed at 6'0" 235. Look for him just to see a defensive tackle that's the size of a running back. The dude, Tony Carvitti, does have two sacks (leading the Bearcats in the statistic), so he's apparently effective in the role, which is impressive.
Be prepared to get a little annoyed at Dustin Grutza, the Cincinnati QB. He can run a bit, so don't be surprised if he takes off and picks up a few first downs. He is willing to gamble a bit on his throws, so hopefully the D can grab a pick or two.

Let's end with a few questions that should get answered today:

Does James Laurinaitis turn in another good game? There was talk that his Texas performance wasn't quite as good as advertised, that he got lucky a couple times, made tackles eight yards downfield, and wasn't really playing that well. I don't know about that, but I look to see if we're watching a great linebacker emerge, or just seeing a guy put in the occasional good game.
How good is Aaron Pettrey? He's made his first field goal, so some pressure is off, but does he develop some consistency? Hopefully he gets some work today and impresses.
Who is Ohio State's #3 QB? Justin Zwick will get some work, hopefully without getting booed. C'mon people, you go crazy for a quarterback that broke NCAA rules and got suspended for two games, but you complain and boo a guy that did nothing but give this team his best, just for a couple onfield mistakes. If you can forgive an NCAA violation (and you should in this case, don't get me wrong), shouldn't you forgive a few turnovers? I just don't get some people.

Sorry, I got distracted. If things go like they should, another QB should get work beyond Zwick and Smith. Will it be Todd Boeckman, or Rob Schoenhoft? Good things have been said about both, and you have to think that the one that gets mop-up duty has the inside track for the job next year.

On Fiery Furniture

2006-09-15T20:42:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking some about fan behavior, given the couch-burning after the Texas game, as well as the generally great treatment our fans received in Austin. In short, I've come to the conclusion that Ohio State has problems with fan behavior that, while overblown somewhat, still need to be dealt with. I have an idea about improving how fans of the opposing team are treated, and I will discuss that in the near future. Now, though, I want to talk about the supposed collection of arsonists that make up the OSU student body.

I've heard a few explanations for the couch and dumpster fires that have been set off. One of the arguments that can be dismissed immediately is that it isn't OSU students, since they aren't in town. That's not the case. Nobody's in the dorms, that's true. But that's only about a quarter of the undergraduate student body. Lots of students leave town for home or an internship. But just as many stay in town and work or take classes. I'd estimate that there are around 20,000 students still in Columbus. So while those fires weren't set exclusively by OSU students, I think it's safe to say that most of them were our doing.

I've also heard it said that it's not a big deal. I initially agreed. It's just a couch in the street or a dumpster in an alley; what's it matter? No, it's not real classy, but who am I to tell people how to have fun? For example, my neighbors set fire to a couch in the middle of the street, ten or twenty feet away from anything that was flammable. What's the harm?

The harm isn't the couch fire itself, generally. Occasionally a car or house will be damaged by a fire that gets out of control, but that's not the real problem. As I see it, the real problem is all the other, real emergencies going on at the same time. Every time the police have to spot a fire, they aren't able to deal with any actual crimes. Every minute a fire truck spends putting out a dumpster fire is a minute not spent on the way to a house fire. So yes, these need to be dealt with. But how?

Well, there's making it a felony to burn couches and dumpsters, as the firefighters have proposed. It's overkill, but it would probably be effective. I don't really think it's right that burning a loveseat is placed on the same level as assault, but it seems like such a simple way to solve the problem, which is what's needed, since getting to the root of the problem is much more difficult.

The real issue is, I think, that students need to be convinced to take pride in their community, and that's a difficult thing to make happen. The single biggest issue with that is that this isn't a college town; it's a city, and much of the student housing (and most of the fires) borders on some pretty bad neighborhoods. People that take pride in their neighborhood aren't going to set fires in it, but why take pride in a neighborhood where the side of your house got tagged with graffiti and someone just broke your car window and stole your CD player? There is, to some degree, a sense of, "Well, the police don't care about the crime, the landlords don't care about the houses, the city doesn't care about the streets and sidewalks, and the university doesn't care about the students as anything other than a source of income, why should I care about the neighborhood, when I'm out of here at the end of the year?"

Fixing this attitude would not be easy. First of all, most of the above isn't true. The police, city, landlords, and university do, in fact, care; this I know (well, except for the landlords). They need to do a better job of showing they're on the students' side. The police too often have a relationship with students that borders on adversarial; they break up our parties and arrest us for stepping onto the sidewalk with beers, but don't care when we get robbed, or so the argument goes. The police and the city in general need to find a way to work with students. The university would get off to a good start simply by not raising tuition for a year or two. The landlords, well, there's not a lot they can do. They basically assume that students are constantly destroying their properties, and we often are, and we think landlords are only trying to rip us off, and they often are.

In short, students need to feel like they are part of something worth improving and maintaining. Throwing arsonists in jail isn't a bad thing. I encourage it, in fact. That might solve the problem of dumpster fires, but if the city and university really want to make a difference, they need to work with students. Students shouldn't feel like the police are only waiting to arrest them; they should feel like they're on the same side as the cops. Students shouldn't feel like cash machines for the university; they should feel like the university takes as much pride in the student body as the student body takes in the university. Both of these things are true already: the police are on the same side as the students, and the university does want to help its students. And I don't mean to suggest that the students don't know this; most of us do. It's pretty easy to forget that, though, and that's a problem. But with effort from everyone, the city, the police, the university, and especially the students, I think there can be a real change in how the students look at their community, and I think that would solve problems beyond the burning couches issue.

Of course, if it doesn't work, they can just lock 'em all up and take away their beer. That's also effective.

Week Three BlogPoll

2006-09-11T22:57:00.000-04:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Southern Cal	1
3	Auburn	1
4	Notre Dame	5
5	Louisiana State	--
6	Texas	4
7	Florida	1
8	West Virginia	2
9	Michigan	1
10	Georgia	3
11	Nebraska	3
12	Iowa	5
13	Oregon	4
14	Oklahoma	4
15	Tennessee	1
16	Arizona State	3
17	Louisville	9
18	Virginia Tech	2
19	Florida State	4
20	Penn State	8
21	Cal	--
22	Miami (Florida)	1
23	Michigan State	1
24	Boston College	2
25	Wisconsin	--

Dropped Out: Clemson (#11), Alabama (#22).

Games Watched: All of Ohio State - Texas, parts of Notre Dame - Penn State, Iowa - Syracuse, and Virginia Tech - North Carolina

Notes:

Yeah, I didn't watch too many games. What can I say? Saturday was a party.
I still don't know if Notre Dame was that good or Penn State was that bad. Probably a bit of both. For now, though, I'm working under the assumption that Notre Dame's good. This could be like their Pitt win last year, though: a "big" win over a team that turned out to be much worse than expected.
Auburn-LSU is gonna be pretty big. I'm excited about that one.
I was hesitant to punish Texas too much for the loss. If their coaches continue to be so stupid, however, this won't be their last loss. C'mon guys, run the ball. And also, put two guys on the awesome receivers.
West Virginia drops a bit not for being bad (they played well), but just because Notre Dame and Florida looked like more complete teams.
Iowa drops for almost losing to Syracuse. It's true, they were without Drew Tate, but still, it's Syracuse guys. And these aren't the Donovan McNabb years. Or the Marvin Harrison years. And they're certainly not the Jim Brown years. Get your act together, Hawkeyes. That was a badass goal line stand, though, regardless of opponent.
A bunch of teams moved up in the teens not by playing well, but by virtue of Clemson and Penn State losing, as well as Florida State and Tennessee continuing to look like crap.
I'm sorry, Louisville. I will try to behave in a less knee-jerk fashion in the future. In exchange, you must not lay an egg against a team you should beat.
Looks like half of the same old Clemson team: close losses against teams they should probably beat. The other half? Upset wins against FSU. They could get that this weekend.
Bama, I know nothing about you, but if you want to stay in my poll, you are going to have to put up some more impressive numbers. A 13-10 win over Vandy is not gonna cut it.

Disagree with the rankings? Feel free to present your case below. I will be happy to adjust my poll tomorrow night if a persuasive argument is made.

Postgame Thoughts: Texas

2006-09-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

- Woooooo!!!

- What can you say about Troy Smith that hasn't already been said? The guy's awesome. And he did it in this game with his arm. I think he genuinely enjoys not running past the line of scrimmage.

- I'm fairly pleased with the defense as a whole. They're still unimpressive on run defense, but they'll get better with time. The pass defense was solid, though they weren't tested downfield much. The defensive line was able to get some pressure on Colt McCoy, even going up against such a good offensive line.

- Some notes on the offense:

Troy Smith - Like I said, awesome. He was making good decisions all game, and not just about who he threw it to. He also showed some great maturity in being willing to throw the ball away or just take a sack for a short loss, rather than force a throw and risk a pick or try some crazy scramble and risk a big loss.
Antonio Pittman - The stat line is almost identical to last year against Texas, other than the touchdown. I still wonder why he wasn't used more, but you can't argue with the outcome.
The offensive line - Held their own against a great defensive line. Troy didn't have all day to throw, and the running game wasn't real effective, but the line was good enough. They won't face a better D-line all season, so they should look even better the rest of the season.
Ted Ginn - Another good game. He definitely looks like a more complete receiver. Even though Texas focused on stopping him, he still made an impact.
Anthony Gonzalez - The beneficiary of all the attention paid to Ted. I thought Texas would look to stop him as well as Ginn, and the third receiver would have some opportunities. Turns out Texas forgot about Gonzo. Big game from him. Hope he enjoyed it; teams are probably gonna be keeping better track of him from here on out.

- And now the defense:

The defensive line - Like I said, got pressure on the QB while going up against a great O-line. I'd like to see them get better against the run, and they probably will once they quit playing teams with great running games.
James Laurinaitis - Defensive MVP of the game, no question. 10 solo tackles, a forced fumble, and an interception. He looked great.
John Kerr - Rapidly playing himself out of the starting lineup. During the game, I remember thinking, "I haven't seen much of John Kerr." This morning, I take a look at the box score, and he's nowhere to be found. Not even an assist. Ross Homan, meanwhile, is somewhere: 2 solos, 2 assists. Homan will be starting soon, I think.
The defensive backs - I was pretty impressed with all of them. I like that the corners are capable of making a tackle, particularly Malcolm Jenkins. Brandon Mitchell was making a lot of plays, too. They looked good, but again, they weren't tested downfield a whole lot.

- A.J. Trapasso had a great day punting. Hopefully that wasn't a fluke, and was instead what we can expect all season.

- Aaron Pettrey looked shaky on field goals, but I'm not too worried (yet). Three attempts is hardly enough to form any judgements on. He'll be fine (IhopeIhopeIhope). On the plus side, he was solid on kickoffs.

- If I was coaching Texas, I probably would have taken a page from Northern Illinois and always ran the ball. Run left, right, and up the middle. Thow those damn swing passes and screens, so you can start running again as soon as possible. Even when you're down, keep running, because it worked. It's a better plan than putting the game in the hands of the freshman making his second start.

- Some people on my block set a couch on fire. Celebration via flaming furniture. And somehow, it made sense.

What to Watch For

2006-09-09T11:20:00.000-04:00

Yeah, yeah, Troy Smith, Ted Ginn, Texas running game, Colt McCoy, all that. You've heard a lot about all that. Here's a few other, less talked-about keys to the game:

The Ohio State linebackers - They weren't terribly effective against Northern Illinois, but the story we're all sticking with is that the defense switched to just a vanilla base defense once the lead got so big, which makes it about ten seconds into the second quarter. Look to see if these guys are blitzing and trying to control what Texas is doing, as opposed to sitting back and reacting. Because if they're trying to react to Selvin Young and Jamaal Charles, they'll be in trouble. They're athletic linebackers, but not that athletic.
The Texas offensive line - We know that the running game is excellent and that there's a ton of talent at wide receiver, but if their line isn't blocking well, that won't matter. OSU's front four is very good, and if the Texas O-line has trouble with them, then that means trouble for the running game, trouble for Colt McCoy, and trouble for Texas.
The Ohio State running game - About the start of the season, Antonio Pittman went from "underrated guy that nobody talks about" to "guy who everyone calls underrated to the point where he's almost overrated." I figured people would remember that he's pretty good for the rest of the season. But sure enough, you don't hear much about him going into the game. It's all about Troy Smith and Ted Ginn. Pittman was decent against Texas in limited action (why didn't he get more carries?), and he's only gotten better since then. The passing game is the story going into the game, but the running game could be the story coming out. If Texas is too concerned about stopping the passing game, then Pittman, Chris Wells, and even Maurice Wells could have a good day.
The Texas linebackers - I put them on here only because I haven't heard much about them. The Texas D-line is excellent, and the secondary's very good as well, but I haven't heard so much about the linebackers. Is this because they are the weak point of the defense? Or have they just not received the attention they deserve? If it's the latter, will they correct the problem with a big performance in this game? We'll find out soon.
Ohio State's #3 receiver - Everyone knows about Ted Ginn, and everyone that's paid any sort of attention to Ohio State knows about Anthony Gonzalez. The third receiver, likely Brian Robiskie, could be a key in the passing game. Texas could gameplan to shut down Ginn and Gonzo, but to shut down three receivers? That's probably asking too much. Robiskie (or Brian Hartline, or maybe Ray Small, or Roy Hall, if he isn't too injured to play) will have an opportunity to have an impact on this game. He'll just need to take advantage of it.
Both team's kickers - The kickers on both sides are unproven, and in a big game like this, the kicking game has a good chance of deciding the outcome. Who makes the big kicks? That could end up being the most important question of this game.

Enjoy the game everyone, and GO BUCKS!

People Doing Stuff

2006-09-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

I've been invited to participate in several different things around the blogosphere, most of which I've passed on due to lack of time at the moment, but I wanted to make you aware of some of them:

The Illini Report is just an all-around good blog. If you can say that about an Illinois blog during football season, then they're doing their thing very well. Jake solicited opinions on the opening week in college football, and while I did not participate, several college football bloggers did, including College Football Resource and Heisman Pundit. Well worth a read.
Badger Sports is starting up a Carnival of College Football, which is sort of a chance for bloggers to show off anything interesting they've posted.
Lastly, have a look at Write On Sports if you get a chance. It's sort of a combination of a collection of links to blogs and a web-based magazine ("webzine," if you must combine all the words you see). I haven't contributed anything yet, but it's a cool idea, and I hope to add something at some point.

I'm sure there's more that I forgot, but I've been busy lately. Sometime in the early afternoon tomorrow, I'll post some things to look for in the big game. Should be, if not insightful, at least wordful. That is, full of words and punctuation, signifying nothing.

My Week Two BlogPoll

2006-09-06T21:37:00.000-04:00

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Texas	--
3	Southern Cal	2
4	Auburn	1
5	Louisiana State	4
6	West Virginia	--
7	Iowa	4
8	Florida	1
9	Notre Dame	5
10	Michigan	2
11	Clemson	2
12	Penn State	2
13	Georgia	2
14	Nebraska	4
15	Florida State	4
16	Tennessee	5
17	Oregon	7
18	Oklahoma	2
19	Arizona State	1
20	Virginia Tech	5
21	Cal	11
22	Alabama	1
23	Miami (Florida)	11
24	Michigan State	2
25	Wisconsin	1

Dropped Out: Louisville (#17).

Notes

Much like Jim Tressel, Texas was my number one team, but my poll does not reflect this.
I fear USC has reloaded. And with Cal already collapsing under their expectations, USC doesn't appear to have too difficult a road back to the national title game.
The media seems to be adopting a "hey, they still won" attitude with Notre Dame. I won't do so. If they continue to win, they'll move up, but they didn't impress me in that game. If Chan Gailey had been anywhere near Charlie Weis's equal, I think Notre Dame would have lost.
Michigan also failed to impress. The defense looked pretty good, but it was against Vandy. Chad Henne's football career appears to progressing Merlin-style; he's getting less experienced as time goes by.
I moved Clemson up, but with their top linebacker out for the season, they've got their work cut out for them defensively.
Penn State had better find a running game quickly. Hell, just put Derrick Williams back there. It couldn't be worse than what they managed against mighty Akron.
I tried not to go too crazy with Tennessee and Cal. Tennessee looked pretty good, and Cal looked pretty bad but it was just one game, and at home for Tennessee. They'll both have to show me more before I move them into the top-10 or out of the top 25 entirely, respectively.
Have there been two more disappointing big games than the past two Florida State-Miami games? Man, those sucked to watch.
Wisconsin makes it in just because they're a Big Ten team. UCLA may have been more deserving. We'll see how it goes.
I feel bad for dropping Louisville entirely, but I just can't see them beating any of the top-25 teams after losing Michael Bush. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong, though.

Disagree with anything? Share your thoughts in the comments. I listen to any and all arguments, both well-reasoned and absurd.

Tarell Brown Suspended for Game Against Bucks

2006-09-06T07:45:00.000-04:00

Tarell Brown, the Longhorn's #1 cornerback, has been suspended after being charged with a couple misdemeanors for carrying a weapon and posession of marijuana.

Not a lot to say here. Mack Brown did the right thing in suspending the guy, but I don't think anyone really expected him to do otherwise. It's a definite loss for the Longhorns, and I really think I wish they hadn't suspended the guy. I'd have rather played Texas at their best, as opposed to when they're missing one of their top defensive players.

Very stupid of Tarell Brown, though. It sounds like it may have been a case of simply hanging out with the wrong crowd, not necessarily him doing something wrong. But how do you even get yourself into that situation this week? You can do stupid things the rest of the year; why choose the week when you're involved in a 1 vs. 2 matchup?

Northern Illinois - The Day After

2006-09-03T12:44:00.000-04:00

As you should be aware, OSU beat Northern Illinois, 35-12. I'd say the game pretty much met expectations. Offensively, Troy Smith was efficient, the running game was very good, and the Buckeyes were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted. The defense showed the makings of a great defense, but also gave up a ton of big plays. The kicking game was shaky. So overall, I wouldn't say we learned anything new from the game. Some more thoughts:

Offense:

Troy Smith ran once, on an option. He had all day to throw, and he never panicked and took off running. He was making good decisions and good throws all game. He looked every bit a Heisman candidate.
The running game also was more than solid. The coaches look like they have a plan for using all three backs: Chris Wells for short yardage, Maurice Wells when you can get him in space, and Antonio Pittman in any situation. Maurice didn't look quite as good, but next to the performances given by Pittman and Chris Wells, it's tough to look good. All three will be fine.
The receivers were also good, and look to go pretty reliably six deep. Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez picked up right where they left off last season. Brian Robiskie did a great job filling in for Roy Hall, and Brian Hartline and Ray Small also looked good. If Hall doesn't play better than he has thus far, he'll lose his starting spot to Robiskie pretty quickly.
I didn't really notice the offensive line, which is a good thing, because it means they didn't mess up much. Given the success of the running game and the time Troy had to throw, one can conclude they had a good day. Hopefully they can keep it up against Texas, who will be just a bit better than a MAC team.

Defense:

The D-line looked as good as advertised, for the most part. Quinn Pitcock had to be double teamed, which freed up the other guys to make plays. If the ball didn't get out of the backfield quickly, those guys came up with a sack or a tackle for a loss.
The linebackers looked kind of iffy. Sometimes they made big plays, other times they were invisible, or worse, missing tackles or misreading plays and giving up big plays. They'll get more consistent as the season wears on, though.
The secondary was pretty good, I thought. Malcolm Jenkins, in particular, impressed me as a tackler. It's tough to evaluate them, though, seeing as the Northern Illinois passing game was screens to Garrett Wolfe and screen passes to Garrett Wolfe and passes that should have gone to Garrett Wolfe.
At this point, the defense reminds me of the 2003 defense that always seemed to give up a bunch of yards, but not many points. If so, I'll take that. If a team doesn't score, they can rack up as many yards on us as they want.

Special Teams

I thought Aaron Pettrey had the big leg and accuracy problems, while Ryan Pretorious was accurate but didn't have the distance on his kicks. So why did Pretorious kick the long field goal and Pettrey the short one? How does that make sense?
Judging from what I saw yesterday, Pettrey should handle the kickoff duties. The more touchbacks we can get on kickoffs, the better.
Our return game should be solid. Gonzalez, Small, Jamario O'Neal, and of course, Ginn, are all capable of a big return.

Other

Garrett Wolfe. Wow.

I was at the game, which makes serious analysis difficult. Maybe it's just me, but I think watching a game from a student section is different from watching elsewhere in the stadium, and especially watching at home. You don't think, "That's a good play fake, an excellent double-move by the wide receiver to get open, and a great pass to hit the receiver in stride for a touchdown." You think, "C'mon Bucks. . . . WOOOOO!!!!!" So you'll have to look elsewhere for quality analysis. Buckeye Commentary should do a good job of that once Keith gets around to it.

My seats for this game were in the fourth row of 11AA, by the northwest corner of the field. The great thing was that rows 1 and 2 were only four seats long, so I was effectively in the second row, which was very cool. I took a bunch of pictures, which you can see here. A few highlights:

The Rotunda at the north end of Ohio Stadium

The man, the myth, the legend: Joe Germaine

Dotting the I in one of four Script Ohios

And, as a bonus, a video I took of Chris Wells' first touchdown. It's short, it's not great, but hey, it's a video:

All this photography likely won't be a regular thing, as my seats for the next game aren't as good, and then I move to Block O, in the south stands, which is even worse, from a photography standpoint. So I might throw out the occasional picture, but probably not a photo album of them.

Pregame Thoughts

2006-09-02T10:46:00.000-04:00

Sorry I didn't post more this week. Cleaning was followed by a couple celebrations that required me to be an irresponsible college student.

But now it's gameday. It's sort of like Christmas, except Christmas is not followed by even better Christmases in the following weekends. Here's a few of my thoughts going into the game, in no specific order:

I, probably like you, initially thought "blowout" for the game, then realized that Northern Illinois is good, and Tressel teams don't often blow people out. I thought of Cincinnati, San Diego State, and Marshall, among others, and actually got a little worried. I don't want any late-game drama in this game. I don't need a big win, but I couldn't deal with winning on the last possession of the game so early in the season.
If I start to worry about this being a close game, I remind myself that Tressel has won every opening game in his Buckeye coaching career by two touchdowns or more. Then I feel better.
Contrary to what you might hear throughout the sports world, you should not panic if the following things happen: Garret Wolfe gets over 100 yards, the defense gets burned on a couple long touchdowns, we don't blow out Northern Illinois, the offense doesn't look unstoppable, Ted Ginn and/or Troy Smith has an off game.
You should worry if the following happen: Garret Wolfe looks even better than he is, the defensive line gets no pressure on Phil Horvath, the defensive backs get abused all game, both kickers play poorly.
As the Ozone mentioned, you'll see a lot of players getting time, particularly on defense. Especially watch the corner position opposite Malcolm Jenkins, which seems anything but locked down.
Once again, don't expect any fireworks on offense. It's gonna be chilly and wet, it's the first game of the season, and Texas is next week. Evaluate success not on big plays, but on execution. The offense should be able to run on Northern Illinois (otherwise we're in trouble), so expect a lot of Pittman and both Wellses.
Hope for our defense to creat some turnovers. That's the only thing last year's D didn't do well, and I could see that being the sort of thing this year's team makes their signature. They'll probably give up a couple big plays, but hopefully they'll make some of their own.
Keep an eye out for the freshmen: Chris Wells and Ray Small on offense, Ross Homan, Tyler Moeller, Kurt Coleman, and maybe Robert Rose on defense. With any luck, we'll have the starters out sometime in the third quarter, and they'll all see a lot of time.

Enjoy the game, and of course, GO BUCKS!

I'm Back!

2006-08-30T19:01:00.000-04:00

We finally got our cable (and cable modem) hooked up at the new place, so I am officially online again. Unfortunately, I'm on my way out the door to clean up the old place in a (likely futile) effort to get our security deposit back. So no posting today.

The season preview may be done, seeing as the season starts this Friday. I may keep it going, trying to stay a couple weeks ahead of the actual game, but I'll probably just move on. We'll see how it goes.

Well, just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive and haven't forgotten about the website. Now I'm gonna go shove around a mop for a while.

Gettin' My Move On

2006-08-24T23:41:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, I'm moving from south-ish campus to north-ish campus this weekend, so unless things go really quickly, I probably won't be posting again until Monday. In the meantime, I suggest perusing the various links on the sidebar. They're all good.

Check back Monday for my triumphant return, as well as a mad rush to get ahead on my season previews before the season actually starts.

Open Practice Photos and Thoughts

2006-08-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I checked out the open practice Monday night. I took a few pictures, but looking over them today, most of them sucked. That's what happens when you try to take close up shots from B Deck, I guess. If you want some good pictures, you'll want to check out the Ozone. However, I did have a few that I felt were worth sharing. And if they aren't worth sharing, well, I'm gonna do it anyway. (Note: clicking the pictures just takes you to the Photobucket site. Click the link below the pic if you want the full size)

click here for full size
Here's a shot of the stadium just as the practice was starting. Using a highly scientific analysis of this picture, I have concluded that the official estimate of 28,000 people attending the practice is off by 116 people. But yeah, a lot of people were there.

click here for full size
Hey, obstructed view! It's just like seeing a real game from B Deck!

click here for full size
Here's Beanie Wells apparently making fun of Antonio Pittman for going through some extensive stretching.

I left before the band showed up, I'm a little upset about missing them. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Some thoughts on the practice:

All the running backs looked pretty good, I thought. Antonio Pittman looked good, doing nothing to convince me that he won't have a big year this year. Chris Wells just sorta ran through people, disappearing into masses of defensive humanity and falling out the other side, five yards later. Maurice Wells looked more decisive than last year, generally making one cut and going. He hurt himself by dancing in the backfield last year (and by being run into the middle to be tackled by guys twice his size), so if he avoids that, he'll be much more effective.
Ted Ginn seems to have made some serious strides as a receiver. He didn't just beat guys by running by them, but also by running good routes. And he made some tough catches. So either he's very good and opposing defenses are in trouble, or he's no better than last year, and our defense is in trouble. I'm betting the former.
The kicking game looked decent, which is a step down from years past. Kickoffs were generally getting to the goal line, punts were going about forty yards, and a couple punts were blocked (though that might have been Anderson Russell being awesome, not punt protection sucking). I hesitate to draw too many conclusions from one practice, though. And the Ozone is reporting that both kickers were sending back kicks for touchbacks in the kick scrimmage, so maybe they'll be fine. They're also reporting that Aaron Pettrey was perfect in the scrimmage, while Ryan Pretorious wasn't. I thought Pettrey looked better Monday night; perhaps he's getting close to locking up the kicking duties.
If the defensive backs play the way they did Monday night, they'll be fine. Once Kurt Coleman gets a bit more fundamentally solid, he'll be great. Dude just makes plays. The rest seemed solid, if unspectacular, which is all you can ask of them at this point.

There's my conclusions, drawn from watching a team practice for an hour and a half. Which means they're pretty close to worthless, but that's the value of most of my opinions, so I stand by them.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-08-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

I'm currently beginning the process of moving from the south-ish side of campus to the north-ish side of campus, so I'm pretty busy cleaning and packing and playing beer pong to determine which room I get. As a result, posting will be pretty light this week. I did attend the night practice on Monday, and here's my thoughts in brief: Ted Ginn is good, Chris Wells is good, and either our kickoffs need to be longer, or everyone's kickoffs will be shorter and Ginn will have some big returns this season. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow and a preview of the mighty Cincinnati Bearcats later this week.

In the meantime, have a look at Mr. Wolverine, if you're in the mood for checking out blogs representing that team up north. David (owner and proprietor of said blog) e-mailed me requesting a link exchange, and I agreed, seeing as I believe in linking to good blogs, even if they're Michigan blogs. He's in the unenviable position of being a UM fan in Ohio, and while I generally believe such people should be remanded to the care of a psychiatric ward, I make an exception for him, because he's running a pretty solid blog. So check it out.

BlogPoll Roundtable #1

2006-08-21T10:51:00.000-04:00

You know the deal: every week, BlogPoll voters all answer some opinions about the doings and goings-ons and what have you in college football. And since I have somehow fooled the powers that be into thinking I somehow know what I'm talking about, I suppose I should participate in these shenanigans. Let's get started.

1. What's the biggest ripoff in this preseason poll? Either pick a team that's offensively over or underrated, or you can rag on a particular voter's bad pick (hey, we're all adults here, we can handle it).

The poll doesn’t look too bad to me. There are question marks everywhere, so it’s tough to say that one team’s way overrated or underrated. You could put together a top 25 by drawing the top dozen or so teams out of a hat and be able to defend your rankings.

That said, I think Virginia Tech’s a little high in the poll, but it’s not too bad. I think Michigan State should be ranked, but given their track record of collapses, it’s tough to argue it too hard. I’m not sure about the Big East teams, West Virginia and Louisville, being ranked that high. I don’t know if they have the talent to hang with those teams ranked around them. They might, but we’ll have a tough time knowing for sure, given that about their only real competition is each other.

2. What should a preseason poll measure? Specifically, should it be a predictor of end-of-season standing (meaning that a team's schedule should be taken into account when determining a ranking), or should it merely be a barometer of talent/hype/expectations?

I think that a preseason poll should be a ranking of the top teams based on talent, coaching, etc., with no regard for the schedule. The schedule gets factored in throughout the season, I think. For example, if you think a team is, say 5th best talent-wise, but you rank them 10th because you expect them to lose to some juggernaut in Week 4, what do you do with them when they lose? They’ve just met your expectations, so why should you drop them in the rankings? Yet that is what just about everyone will do. So, the preseason poll should be used, as the BlogPoll is intended, to rank teams based on who you think would perform the best if all the teams played each other on a neutral field. Then the season can be used to adjust the rankings based on how teams exceed expectations, or fail to meet them.

3. What is your biggest stretch in your preseason ballot? That is to say, which team has the best chance of making you look like an idiot for overrating them?

Well, of course, my Buckeyes (as well as yours), could certainly lose three or four games this season, and just about everyone who filled out a ballot would look pretty stupid for having them that high. But then, so could just about everyone else in the top 25. As you know, there are a lot of question marks headed into this season.

The teams that worry me the most in my rankings are Michigan and Michigan State, though. Every year, Michigan is in the preseason top ten, and every year, they lose three games. The only reason to believe this team is better than last year’s is that the new coordinators might make a difference. I think they will, but another five loss season isn’t out of the question.

Michigan State is, of course, still Michigan State, and they’re still coached by John L. Smith. Those two things alone are generally worth at least four losses. Why do I expect them to do better? I’m honestly not sure.

4. What do you see as the biggest flaw in the polling system (both wire service and blogpolling)? Is polling an integral part of the great game of college football, or is it an outdated system that needs to be replaced? If you say the latter, enlighten us with your new plan.

As others have mentioned, the biggest flaw in all polls is the difference in methods used to rank teams. Is it a matter of ranking them by most likely to go undefeated? By quality of team? By prettiness of school colors? Alphabetically? Whatever method is used by a poll, it needs to be clearly defined for both the people doing the ranking and the public in general.

5. You're Scott Bakula, and you have the opportunity to "Quantum Leap" back in time and change any single moment in your team's history. It can be a play on the field, a hiring decision, or your school's founders deciding to build the campus in Northern Indiana, of all godforsaken places. What do you do?

This one's easy: I head back to the 1978 Gator Bowl and stop Woody Hayes from punching Charlie Bauman. I wouldn't change the outcome of the game, as a victory might convince him to keep coaching longer, and Woody was already hanging on too long by then. But the man is one of the greatest coaches of all time, a guy who had a positive impact on hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, and what he's remembered most for is punching a player. So I'd come up with something to calm him down, avoid the whole incident, and let Woody end his career on his own terms.

Pronounced With an Umpty

2006-08-17T19:17:00.000-04:00

Some links for y'all:

First, Marcel Frost has transferred to Jackson State. Or, as it's becoming known, Ohio State South. Like I said when Erik Haw transferred, hopefully we won't miss him too much, and hopefully he gets what he wants at Jackson State.

Next, there have been some changes at the linebacker positions, according to the Ozone.

According to linebackers coach Luke Fickell, the depth chart at linebacker has James Laurinaitis as the number one middle linebacker, Marcus Freeman as the leo linebacker, and John Kerr at the will linebacker.

I'm not too surprised to see Laurinaitis at middle linebacker; he seems like a good replacement for Schlegel. As someone pointed out in one forum or another, he was pretty much running the defense while on the field in the Spring game, much as Schlegel did last year. I am, however, surprised to see Freeman at the leo spot. That means he's taking over for Carpenter, not Hawk, which is a bit of a surprise to everyone. I think I'll defer to the coaches on this one, though. They've seen the practices, I haven't.

That might change on Monday, though. As you may know, there's an autograph session/practice that night, open to the public. It was originally scheduled to be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, but it has been moved to the Horseshoe. I guess they realized that if we can bring 60,000 to a spring game, we can certainly fill a 12,000-seat stadium so close to the season. I was probably going to pass on the practice, since I'd have to drive to the stadium and get there early and everything, just to see a practice. But how can I pass up a chance to get into the Shoe for free and see some football? I don't think I can. If I do go, I'll see if I can get a couple pictures for you all.

Lastly, the athletic department has set up a couple Heisman websites for our candidates. Have a look at the Troy Smith for Heisman campaign and the Ted Ginn for Heisman campaign. It's not exactly billboards in Times Square, but then, we're not exactly Oregon. They have highlight videos on there, and they aren't bad, but they aren't anything spectacular. You can find stuff just as good on YouTube. But then, if you want Troy Smith highlights, just look at the Michigan games. And Ted Ginn highlights? Look no further than the Fiesta Bowl.

They All Choppable: The Texas Preview

2006-08-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

We now turn to Ohio State's second opponent, the Texas Longhorns. They're a little public university out of the Lone Star State, you may have heard of them. They had a pretty solid season last year, led by a pretty good quarterback named Vince Young. But what about this year? For the answer to that, we need a few more questions. And for those, we go to the Hypothetical Interviewer 9000.

So, Texas. No Vince Young, no problem for the Buckeyes, right?
Not exactly. They lost Young, but, as the old cliche goes, they don't rebuild, they reload. There's talent everywhere. In fact, from the look of things, QB is about the only weakness on this team.

Ok, in that case, how can OSU possibly win?
Well, looks can be deceiving. Texas does have to replace about eleven starters, including the kicker and punter. They do have to replace plenty of other big names besides Young. Safety Michael Huff is gone, as is tight end (and leading receiver) David Thomas. They also lose defensive tackle Rod Wright, cornerback Cedric Griffin, and middle linebacker Aaron Harris, all of whom are All American-caliber players. Word on the message boards is that the replacements are generally better than the guys they're replacing. That may be true, but then, OSU's rebuilt defense might be better than last year's, too. I have doubts either statement will end up being true.

Plus, Ohio State has history on their side. The home team has never won in the history of the Texas-Ohio State series. Additionally, teams that play two quarterbacks have a losing record in the series. So there's that.

Ok, so maybe a win is possible. Give me some Texas players to name-drop so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about.
We'll start with Jamaal Charles. He'll split time at running back with Selvin Young and Henry Melton, but he's the one you'll notice the most. He's fast and talented, and will play a big part in the offense. With the departure of Ramonce Taylor, he becomes the big-play threat in the Texas backfield. Containing him will be central to any Buckeye success.

Justin Blalock is probably gonna be the first Longhorn drafted in April. It sounds like he's moving over to guard to make room for a redshirt freshman at right tackle, but he's good wherever he plays. I'd offer more information, but as I've mentioned, I don't know enough about offensive line play to do anything other than take the word of people more knowledgeable than I.

Michael Griffin's an exciting dude at safety. He was very good last year, and should be even better this year. He'll likely be all over the field, including special teams, where he's apparently developed something of a knack for blocking punts. You'll probaly hear his name a lot. Just hope it's on tackles downfield, and not on any big interceptions or the like.

Last, but not least, is Greg Johnson, kicker. He'll likely handle field goals, punts, and kickoffs for the Longhorns. He's definitely a talent at punter, but it remains to be seen if he's as good a kicker as he is punter. If so, their kicking game is in pretty good shape.

Now I know everything there is to know about their football team. What will they do when they have the ball?
Run. Then run. Probably run a third time. Then they will repeat, or punt. As Peter noted, Tresselball's probably going to be in full effect in Austin. They have inexperienced QBs, talented running backs, a good O-line, and a potentially great defense. It would seem to make sense to rely on the running game and defense to win games.

Conversely, our defensive plan will probably be to put the game in the hands of Colt McCoy and/or Jevean Snead. If the Buckeye defense can stop the run and the offense can score some points, then the Longhorns will have to try to win the game through the air. And if either young QB proves capable of doing that, well, then we're all screwed and Mack Brown should clear some more space in the ol' trophy case for another crystal football.

What about when the good guys have the ball?
That's a good question. I think Tressel would like to be able to control the game on the ground, but I don't know if that will work. If things go as planned and the defense gets some stops, Tressel will probably try to dominate time of possession, shorten the game, and get Texas to the "Hey, Colt/Jevean, go try to win this huge game in your second collegiate start" point as soon as possible. If Texas doesn't give much ground on the, um, ground, then the Buckeyes will try the air. Really, I wouldn't be surprised by anything when Ohio State has the ball, with the exception of total offensive domination on the level of last year's Fiesta Bowl. The Texas defense, it is safe to say, is better than that Notre Dame defense.

The Texas defense, meanwhile, will probably look to force some turnovers, especially since Troy Smith has been known to give the ball away from time to time. If he can avoid doing that, it would obviously help the offense greatly.

Wow, that's some Corso-level analysis there, buddy. "If the quarterback doesn't turn the ball over, that's good." You should be proud.
Shut up. You're a figment of my imagination. I have made you; I can unmake you.

Anyway, how do you think the game will play out?
Ideally? The Buckeyes get a couple big plays early to silence the crowd a bit. I'm thinking a long touchdown pass to Ted Ginn, and maybe an interception return for a touchdown to rattle one of the Texas QB's. OSU takes firm control of the game, and never relinquishes it. Texas doesn't totally fall apart, but everyone sees the end coming by the second quarter. Sure enough, Texas can't put anything together, and OSU wins comfortably. I'm thinking something along the lines of the subway scene in the Matrix, minus the whole "dramatic line and escape" from Neo/Texas. You can see the Buckeye victory coming from a mile away, and sure enough, it happens. That would make my weekend.

Hear that, Coach Brown? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your defeat.
Will that actually happen, though?
If it does, I'll eat my hat.

Really?
Yeah, but be advised: it is a meat hat.

One always looks neat, in a hat made of meat.
In reality, I except a close game, and another classic like the last matchup. The amount of talent involved in this game is amazing, from the coaches to the kickers. Texas will be favored, and rightly so, but not by much, and Ohio State is certainly capable of winning. I think the game will come down to which team can control the ball. Aside from the possibility of some late-game heroics, the team that wins the time of possession will probably win the game. If Texas is controlling the clock, that means they are probably running the ball, and McCoy and Snead are just along for the ride as the Texas O-line clears room for Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young to run. If OSU's winning the time of possession battle, it means that the game is going to be put in the hands of a freshman QB for Texas. In that case, you have to like the Buckeyes' chances. I hope Ohio State can win in impressive fashion, but I will be more than happy with any sort of win. In an effort to avoid cosmic payback, I decline to pick a winner, but a score of 27-21 sounds right to me.

Buckeye Human Interest Stories

2006-08-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

We're at that point in the offseason where the first week is close enough to taste, but still out of reach. It's a tough part of the year to get through. About the only good thing to come out of it is stories on the players. They're generally pretty cliched stuff, but it's still a chance to get to know a bit about the players. Here's a sampling:

Lawerence Wilson learns how to run, becomes starter - Neither part of that is especially accurate. Wilson was able to run before college (I've seen video, trust me), and according to Jim Heacock, Wilson's actually backing up Jay Richardson. However, he did improve his running style with the help of Butch Reynolds (former world record holder in the 400 meters, current OSU speed coordinator), and he will play a lot this year.
Doug Datish's father angered Woody Hayes. . . and lived! - Just a story about Doug Datish and his dad, who was on the team in the 70's. Datish has an opportunity to be the fourth consecutive Buckeye center to be drafted and start in the NFL. There's a streak that is somehow both impressive and almost completely uninteresting.
Quinn Pitcock, whatta guy - Your standard article about a guy stepping up and becoming a leader on the team. There were several of these about Troy Smith earlier this season. Both of those guys are sounding pretty impressive in the offseason. They both sound like they're doing the whole "getting it" thing, being a leader, working hard, doing all the little things. If it's not all talk, they could both be primed for big years. I'd love to see Q.P. continue playing the way he was at the end of last season. If he and the rest of the D-line can get pressure on the quarterback without the help of a blitz, it could really help out the newbies in the secondary.

Texas preview coming soon.

"How Far We Goin' Back?" "Way Back."

2006-08-12T23:58:00.000-04:00

The O-Zone has a Notebook & Quotebook on the defense up. It mentions that Mike D'Andrea's been pretty healthy so far (keep your fingers crossed, people), and that Vernon Gholston's been pretty impressive. But the noteworthy part of the article is this:

The concern over the OSU defense is the fact that the Buckeyes must find nine new starters. Historically, replacing that many new starters spells trouble for a defense. Or does it?
The recent history says that's just not true. The Buckeyes replaced nine starters on defense in 1997 and fielded a team that was 10-1 heading into the Michigan game. That team also allowed just under 11 points per game for the season.

Did you know that? I did not know that. 1997 was, of course, the year after the big Rose Bowl win over Arizona State. I was looking for similarities between the 1997 team and this year's team, but there just aren't that many. The 1997 team had a QB that had ended any quarterback controversy the previous season (Joe Germaine) and a defense that apparently replaced 9 starters, but that's about it. Nevertheless, the knowledge that a Buckeye defense can still be great after replacing so many starters does provide some comfort.

Besides, I don't think we'd really want this year's team to be like the '97 team. They were good, but they lost to Penn State and Michigan. They still made it to the Sugar Bowl, but, uh . . . that was the Florida State Sugar Bowl game. You might remember that. Not good times. Let's not think about that. Let's think back to that Rose Bowl instead.

Yeah, that's better.

Sean's Meaningless Preseason Poll

2006-08-12T13:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, when I said I'd have my poll ready Thursday or Friday, I meant Saturday.

Here's my top 25, in all its glory. It's worth nothing that this is obviously a meaningless ranking at this point, and I intend to start over from scratch once the season starts, but these are the teams that I think are the best 25 at this point. I'm sure I'll feel differently tomorrow, and again the next day, but this is the order I've talked myself into tonight:

1. Ohio State - Obvious and biased, of course, but defensible. The offense should be very good, and I think the defense will be better than expected. The defensive line is actually reasonably experienced, and the linebackers feature a guy who played most of the Michigan game and started the Fiesta Bowl, a former Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Marcus Freeman, who may be the best of the three. The secondary worries me, but by the end of the year, I think Malcolm Jenkins will be very good at the corner and Jamario O'Neal will be an All-Big Ten safety. They have question marks, but so does everyone else, and the uncertainties for Ohio State worry me less than the uncertainties for the other teams.

2. Texas - More like 1A, but as it turns out, 1A is not an actual number, so two will have to do. The only major concern for Texas is quarterback, but it's a big one. Two quarterbacks, a year of college between them, zero college snaps. Not much experience. One or both will turn out to be fine, possibly even great, but at this point in the season, you have to expect the quarterback position to be a liability for the Longhorns. I could be wrong, though, and the great thing is that we'll find out in Week 2.

3. Auburn - I like Kenny Irons, and I think Brandon Cox will be decent or better. The receivers and secondary are cause for concern, but I'm not too worried about it (mostly because I don't really care how Auburn does). There may be less uncertainty about Auburn than there is about OSU and Texas, but I just think that Auburn is less talented than those two, top to bottom.

4. Notre Dame - You're already sick of hearing about Notre Dame, and the season hasn't even started yet, so I'll be brief: The offense will be great, Charlie Weis will be very good (but not half as good as he thinks he is), and the defense will be better. They had a lot of improving to do, though, and I don't know if they'll be good enough to win it all. I'm guessing not quite.

5. USC - They graduated a ton of talent. "USC doesn't rebuild; they reload," you say. Thanks, who are you, Lee Corso? Just about everyone else in the top 10 reloads, too, so the statement is meaningless. Because then we must ask, "Who reloads the best?" and we're right back where we started. Anyway, replacing your starting QB and your top two running backs is no easy task for anyone. On top of that, the defensive backs need a little work. I could see Pete Carroll and his boys going undefeated this year, just to piss me off, but a loss or two seems a bit more likely.

6. West Virginia - I like Pat White, I really like Steve Slaton, and I love the 3-3-5 defense. The receivers are a bit of a concern, but I don't think the offense will ask a whole lot of them. And the gimmick D will offset any problems with experience or quality the secondary may have. West Virginia gets my vote for Most Likely To Go Undefeated, but that doesn't mean they're the best. Just that they play in the Big East.

7. Florida - Chris Leak will be better this year, mostly because Urban Meyer will use him better. The defense will be very good. They could use a running back, though, and a better o-line. They'll be a good team, but with their schedule, you might not know it.

8. Michigan - Yes, I know, Michigan's always in the top ten, and they're always overrated. But I think this is a very talented team, and the coaching changes will make a bigger difference than people are giving them credit before. Plus, everyone's caught on to the whole "Michigan is always overrated at the start of the season" thing, which means it's time for it to change.

9. LSU - There's talent enough here to be ranked higher, but talent doesn't necessarily equal results, and I'm not sold on Les Miles yet. If this was a Nick Saban team, it would probably be top 5, but the only real memory I have of Les is a beating he received in the Alamo Bowl a couple years back. You might remember it.

10. Cal - The token Pac-10 team I fall in love with that ends up disappointing me. Quarterback's a bit of a question mark, but I like what they have just about everywhere else. And we're talking Jeff Tedford, so one of these QB's will go Cinderella on us, being a great college QB before he gets to the NFL and turns back into a dirty, smelly woman (I'm talking about you, Joey Harrington).

11. Iowa - Kirk Ferentz is a very good coach, and Drew Tate is a very good player. I don't think either is quite as good as they're given credit for, though, and neither has exactly proven anything so far. Kirk's done well in the underdog role, now it's time to prove something playing as a favorite. And Drew Tate must prove he isn't, as one of my friends has suggested, the Peyton Manning of college football (unless Peyton Manning is the Peyton Manning of college football).

12. Miami (Florida) - This just feels about right for them. And if Coker doesn't have them here or better by the end of the season, he should probably look for a new job.

13. Clemson - A lot of talent here. If Will Proctor turns out to be good at QB, they might even be a title contender. I just can't see Clemson being that good. So they're here until Tommy Bowden proves he can consistently beat someone other than his dad.

14. Penn State - New QB's are a cause for concern, but Morelli looks to be pretty decent. And people are forgetting about Derrick Williams. The offense looked better without him, but that doesn't mean he won't help this year. The coaching staff knows they don't have to build the offense around him now, which will help both Williams and the offense. The defense will be great, but can the offense keep rolling without Michael Robinson?

Wow, three years ago, did anyone think something resembling that last sentence would ever be written?

15. Georgia - They could easily be better than this, but I'll wait until they settle the QB situation before I pass final judgement.

16. Oklahoma - Can Paul Thompson provide some sort of threat at QB? If he can be anywhere near competent, the team could be top 10. But if he throws like a wide receiver, Adrian Peterson could face the seldom-used 6-5 defense, and it could be a long year for the Sooners.

17. Louisville - Great QB, great RB, great offense, good enough defense to win the Big East. How good does that make them? About 17th is my guess.

18. Nebraska - They could take a big step forward this year, and Bill Callahan could look like a genius. I don't think Callahan's a genius. I don't think they'll take a big step forward.

19. Florida State - Florida State was not a fund team to watch last year, and I tried to avoid it as much as possible. The offense had better improve this year, because the defense got worse.

20. Arizona State - Could be a surprise title contender. The offense should be great, regardless of which QB is running it. But will the defense be any good? My guess is that it won't, thusly, they are ranked 20th.

21. Tennessee - Much like FSU, I tried to avoid watching Tennessee last season. David Cutcliffe should make the offense watchable, and they have the talent to be top-15, but I just can't shake memories of last season's suckitude.

22. Michigan State - Drew Stanton is my favorite non-Buckeye in college football, and Javon Ringer is an underrated back. Sadly, however, they are saddled with a subpar defense and John L. Smith.

23. Alabama - Gotta be honest, I don't know much about 'Bama, I just thought they were a good name to round out the top 25.

24. Oregon - Ditto, but with ugly uniforms.

25. Virginia Tech - Also ditto.

A Li'l Sum'n Sum'n While You Wait

2006-08-09T20:54:00.001-04:00

I've got my top 25 coming tomorrow or Friday, but while you wait, I insist you check out Men of the Scarlet and Gray's GameDay Preview. It's very entertaining. Distilled hilarity, even.

Oh, and the big news as far as OSU: Marcel Frost is suspended for the season. He violated team rules, but if he's got a season suspension (and not an arrest), he must have violated the hell out of said rules. Speculation seems to center around an NCAA rules violation, which would be incredibly stupid of him. It's also possible that this is the culmination of a series of misbehavior. Or, some third option. I won't speculate. It's a loss for the team, no question, but I think Rory Nicol's as good as Frost, and Brandon Smith is also capable. Plus, there's Stan White, Jr. and Dionte Johnson at fullback/H-Back to handle some blocking duties.

As for Clarett's situation, it is very sad and ridiculous. Just remember, he hasn't played a game for OSU since January 3rd, 2003. He's as much a part of this university as all the other freshman dropouts, which is to say: not much. Regardless, I still hope he gets his life straightened out, though that looks less and less likely as time goes on.

Some Monday Reading

2006-08-07T21:42:00.000-04:00

And no, not Carl Monday.

The Plain Dealer had a nice article Sunday about Alex Boone. You may recall that he was convicted of DUI earlier this summer. I have previously argued that he should get a one game suspension for the offense, and I stand by that, but the Plain Dealer story convinces me that he's not just ignoring what happened and dancing all the way back to the bar. He sounds like a guy who was genuinely scared straight.

The first time I read the article, I thought he might be going a bit further than he has to; after all, there's no shortage of people who got a little out of control their freshman year and then went on to be normal, productive members of society. Then I read this:

“I knew I had a problem. I had been drinking like every night, just terrible drinking,” he said. “I’d be down here in Columbus drinking, and I’d wake up . . . and I was like, ‘How did I get home last night?’ And guys were like, you got ripped, and you drove home, and we tried stopping you, and you got into a fight. And I was like, ‘I got a problem,’ and I’d try to go sober, and it would last me about three days, and I’d be like, ‘I need a beer.’

“Even during the season, I was drinking way more than I should have been. I shouldn’t be drinking at all — I’m not of age — but I just realized I’m not mature enough to drink. I’d have one beer, and it would lead to 24 or 36 — there were weekends when in one night I’d be putting down 40."

Um, wow. Forty beers is a lot. For a weekend, it's a lot. For a weekend for two people it's quite a bit. In one night, even if you're a 6'8" 350 lb. offensive lineman, that's a whole lot. The irresponsible college student in me is impressed, but the relatively responsible adult in me says that that's definitely a problem, and dude's lucky he got a chance to fix things.

So good for Boone for making the changes he had to make. He probably saved his own life, and quite possibly someone else's. Here's hoping he can stick with his decision and becomes a better person for it. Even though I still think a one-game suspension was in order, I'll be rooting for the guy from here on out.

Things Done Changed

2006-08-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

I moved Pfef's Sports Blog to the OSU blogs category, because that's where it belongs. If you're writing quality D-Line previews like this one, I am contractually obligated to list you as an OSU sports blog.

Second, I got approved to join up with mgoblog's BlogPoll. I assume it's some sort of error, but I figured I'd set up shop in the BlogPoll before they figured it all out. I'll take the small office, take the Penske file, and get to work.

George: I show up. I pretend I have the job. The guy's on vacation. If I have the job, it's fine. If I don't have the job, by the time he comes back, I'm ensconced.
Jerry: Hmm. Not bad.
George: What's the worst thing that could happen?
Jerry: Well, you'd be embarrassed and humiliated in front of a large group of people and have to walk out in shame with your tail between your legs.
George: Yeah, so?

So, I added the links to the BlogPoll voters that you can see toward the tail end of the sidebar. And, come the start of the season, my completely unqualified opinion will be impacting the BlogPoll. Because, you see, by then, I will be ensconced.

They All Choppable: the Northern Illinois Preview

2006-08-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

It's time to continue the season preview, this time with a look at the Buckeyes' first opponent, Northern Illinois. The Huskies come to the Horseshoe on September 2nd. This preview, like the last one, will be conducted by the Hypothetical Interviewer 9000.

So, Northern Illinois. Why even bother with a preview? Can't you just write "easy win" and move on?
We aren't talking the Citadel or Sam Houston State here. Northern Illinois is one of the favorites to win the MAC. They aren't great, but there are some genuinely good players on the team.

Name one.
Garrett Wolfe.

Too easy. Name four.
The aforementione Mr. Wolfe is one. Last season, he had games of 202, 226, 280, and 325 yards against MAC teams, but also went for 148 yards versus Michigan. He's small, 5'7" and 173 lbs., but he's good, and he's a darkhorse Heisman candidate. Very darkhorse, like "some sort of theoretical frequency in a sci-fi novel that exists beyond black" darkhorse, but if he played at a bigger school, he's be getting some real publicity. There's some fear he can't handle the workload that might be asked of him throughout the season, but that won't be much of a problem in Week One, will it? I think he'll be fine. I'm on the Garrett Wolfe bandwagon. He'll be fun to watch the rest of the season, but not so much that opening weekend.

Wolfe is the best-known player on the team, but Doug Free, the left tackle, is the best pro prospect. He's big (6'7", 302 lbs.), quick, and athletic. He probably also has good footwork and a great motor, or something. I gotta be honest, I don't know all that much about good O-line play, so we'll just say he's good and move on.

Sean, you're out of your element!
Phil Horvath is good player number three. He's their QB, and he was solid last season. At one point in the season, he was fourth in the nation in pass efficiency. Unfortunately, he broke his arm the next week. But dude holds No. Ill.'s single game passing record (486 yards, which would be good enough for the record at OSU, incidentally), and completed 71% of his passes. The only knock on him is that he threw eight picks in his nine games last year. Those interceptions apparently came mostly on downfield passes, so he will occasionally put one up for grabs, which will be a great opportunity to make or break our young secondary's confidence.

The last guy I'll mention is Adriel Hansbro, cornerback. In a nice piece of symmetry, his twin brother, Alvah, is the other corner, but Adriel's a bit better. He's not fantastic (the defensive backfield as a whole is no better than serviceable), but he will make plays if given the opportunity.

I can't help but notice three of those four players are part of the offense. Is the Huskie offense an unstoppable juggernaut?
Not exactly. They put up some impressive numbers, and there is talent there, but as always, you must remember the context of the statistics. The Huskies play in the MAC, which has a few pretty good teams, but also has plenty of really bad teams. Expect Horvath and Wolfe to play below average against the Buckeyes, not because they're bad, but because their average includes teams like the Directional Michigans and Ball State (who beat the Huskies last year).

When the Huskies have the ball, expect to see a lot of Garrett Wolfe, even when they're behind, just because he's that good. He'll likely be bouncing it outside quite a bit. Northern Illinois's tackles are pretty good, but the interior of their line is. . . not so good. And since the defensive tackles are the strength of our d-line, that would be a bit of a mismatch. So a lot of tosses and sweeps will likely be run, and more than a few runs designed to go inside will end up going outside. It'll be a great opportunity for the linebackers to make a play, but also a chance for Wolfe to make them look stupid. He'll probably do that a couple times, but I think the defense will keep him contained, since that should be their first priority.

If things go as expected and Northern Illinois is behind, Horvath will probably try to make things happen downfield, giving the defensive backs a chance to earn some adjectives, whether it's "ball-hawking" or "sieve-like." The receivers are big and fast, and our corners probably won't see much help as the safeties step up to help stop Wolfe. It'll be a challenge for the corners; here's hoping they're up to it.

Overall, Wolfe will look decent, but not great, through three quarters of the game. In the fourth, Horvath will play catchup, and will probably get a score or two in the fourth, but will also make a mistake or two. The Buckeye defense will be up to the challenge of stopping the Huskies, and earn some confidence headed into Texas.

What about when we have the ball?
Like I said in the team preview, I think we'll see a lot of running. In this case, though, it won't be just because Tressel likes to control the ball, but because I think we'll have a real advantage on the ground. The theory behind the Huskies' defense is "speed instead of size." For example, their biggest D-lineman is NT Zack Holycross, who weighs 284 lbs. By contrast, OSU's smallest potential starter on the O-line is Tim Schafer, at 290. If I'm Tressel, I use our size advantage, as well as our depth on the offensive line and at running back, and run right at Northern Illinois. I think there will be plenty of carries for Antonio Pittman and both Maurice and Chris Wells.

The passing game should also be successful. Northern Illinois had trouble with the deep ball last year, and that's something of a specialty for Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez. I think Troy Smith will find one or both of them behind the defense for a long score or two. He will have to watch for their linebackers underneath, however. They aren't especially big, but they are fast. Guys that look open might not be with those guys there.

One last note: don't expect much in the way of trick plays. Tressel won't dig deep into the playbook and put anything on film for Texas to look at if he can avoid it. You might see a screen or reverse for Ted, but I wouldn't be on it. The offense should be vanilla, but effective.

Alright, let's do the whole "sum it up by completing the sentence" thing. Northern Illinois wins if. . .
. . . Ohio State overlooks them. If the Buckeyes are completely unprepared or uninterested, Garrett Wolfe will run all over them. If their preparation consists of "stop the star, Garrett Wolfe," they'll be surprised when Horvath throws the ball over their heads. On offense, Ohio State has a definite edge, but that will be nullified if the O-line thinks they won't have to work to push around the Huskies, or if Troy Smith believes he can throw wherever, whenever he wants.

And Ohio State wins if. . .
. . . they show up. The defense is talented enough to contain the Huskies' offense, and our offense has a big advantage on their defense.

Ok, give us your prediction for the game.
It'll take the Buckeyes about a quarter to settle down and get rolling, but once they do, they'll control the game. The running game will look very good and the passing game will be solid, though Troy might only pass for 150 yards. The defense is decent, holding Garret Wolfe to about 90 yards on about 25 carries, with a touchdown. The Huskies get, say, a touchdown and a field goal fairly late to make the game look closer than it is, but OSU controls the game and wins comfortably. 38-27 sounds about right.

OSU's currently favored at 19. You're saying don't take that bet?
I wouldn't be surprised if they beat the spread, but this is still a Tressel-coached team. He'd be happy to win by ten or so. I expect you to take OSU to beat the spread regardless of the points, though. It's important to get good mojo working, and I will not let any imaginary associates of mine build up bad karma for the Buckeyes.

Understood.

A Look at the News

2006-08-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

First, basketball. Jim O'Brien's gonna get paid $2.2 million for being fired for NCAA rules violations. This sends a positive message to the kids: write up contracts that don't reward cheating. The university plans to appeal, but I don't like their odds. The judge said that the contract sorta screwed OSU over:

"It is clear that this seemingly unfair result arises from the extremely favorable provisions of the contract," Ohio Court of Claims Judge Joseph T. Clark wrote in his decision.

"The contract is extremely favorable to the plaintiff but it is not unreasonable," Clark said in his decision. "The parties in this case negotiated a contract virtually guaranteeing [O'Brien] that he could not be terminated for an NCAA infraction."

It's not all bad news in Buckeye roundball. Well, I guess as far as actual news goes, it is, but still, Andy Katz thinks That Matta's pretty sweet, and that has to count for something.

As far as that sport with the funny-shaped ball and all the awesomeness, the Big Ten Kickoff's going on in Chi-town. The media picked OSU to win the Big Ten, and Troy Smith was picked preseason offensive player of the year. I think both are good picks (of course), but I think Drew Stanton deserves more love. That guy's good.

Ohio State Online says Jim Tressel told the media that Alex Boone is penciled in at starting left tackle. I hadn't seen that anywhere else, but there's a lotta places I haven't looked, and there's no good reason for OSO to lie to me, so I gotta say I'm disappointed in Tressel. I still think Boone (who was convicted of DUI earlier in the summer, if you've forgotten) should at least not start the Northern Illinois game, and I wouldn't object to a suspension. I'm not exactly in the loop on the whole situation, so I'm basically running my mouth about something I know very little about (your standard blogger, in other words), but it seems to me like the guy's getting off light.

Oh yeah, a note for Sooners fans: Sucks to be you. The Troy Smith situation wasn't much fun, and that was just $500. With Bomar's payments for a job not done being reported in the thousands of dollars, it'll be that much worse. Just think back to the glory days of the late 80's. Ok, forget those days, too. Instead, just avoid the forums for the next couple weeks. Go fishing or something.