Had to post this (Buckeyes on roll)

[RendeR]

This is ane xcerpt from the end of an article I just read after having to look up who won the OSU - Purdue game today, my buckeyes win ugly again, and I just love this commentary:


*from espn.com*

There are those who say the Buckeyes are lucky, and that's simply a lazy explanation. Ohio State is not lucky, even if Sander, the holder, said someone got a finger on Nugent's overtime field goal. That one went through the uprights, and Jones' did not. No one goes 24-1 by being lucky. No one wins three games in one season without an offensive touchdown by rubbing a rabbit's foot.

"We've got to score more points," Tressel said. "We understand that. We'll go to work on it."

No hurry, coach. It's just Michigan Week. Why treat the Wolverines any differently than anyone else? Tresselball may set the cause of offense back a few decades. But it seems to be working out pretty well at Ohio State.
*****

Do the Buckeyes deserve a shot at Oklahoma if they beat the Whinerines? Damn skippy they do.

Ren

[SFL Cat]

The big test for the Buckeyes will be next week against Michigan. Of course, I'm about ready to just hand the Sooners the national crown...they look like they could beat a fair number of pro teams right now.

[SackAttack]

The Buckeye fans are going to rip me for this one, but I don't think today's win helps them as much as it hurts them. Yes, they beat the #11 team in the nation, and if Purdue stays ranked the rest of the year, that will help in the BCS.

What I'm looking at is the poll component. They needed overtime to beat Purdue, at home, no less.

Meanwhile, USC dominated on both sides of the ball today and shut out Arizona 45-0. Is Arizona on Purdue's level? Of course not. But a performance like that may send a message to the pollsters that USC is the clear second-best team in the nation right now.

TCU won big, as did LSU. LSU is in the hunt, TCU isn't, really, but TCU can still move up in the polls enough to hurt OSU in the BCS, depending on whether or not the voters reward them, punish them, or leave them where they're at after the day's results.

Heck, Michigan won big, too.

Don't get me wrong - they're still the defending national champs, and if they beat Michigan next week, they'll have a convincing argument for that #2 BCS spot. I'm simply reminding folks that USC isn't going away, and that there are some other teams lurking on the fringe.

I still don't think OSU will beat Michigan, but I didn't think they'd beat Mich. State either, and they proved me wrong there. I'll be rooting against them - that blatant choke attempt earlier this year has cost them any support from me until that jackass is gone. But if they beat Michigan and ace out USC for that #2 BCS, I'll find it easier to swallow than if they make it in otherwise.

Josh

[BigJohn&TheLions]

All I can say is that I am glas OSU won today. Now they won't be all pissed off next week and Coach Carr can pick apart what OSU showed on tape. GO BLUE!!!

[cody8200]

It doesnt matter who OU plays. The Sooners are absolutely unstoppable. Should I remind you of the 77-0 win over Texas a and m 2 weeks ago.

[ISiddiqui]

Do the Buckeyes deserve a shot at Oklahoma if they beat the Whinerines? Damn skippy they do.

Not if USC wins out.

[mckerney]

Better than their overtime win against Illinois last year, I guess.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

By the way... Is there anyone outside of Columbus who actually believes Oh-How-I-Hate did not get the gift of a lifetime with that horrible pass interference call that handed them a national title? And doesn't college OT suck?

[mckerney]

If you want to see a gift, see aforementioned OT game against Illinois last year. Twice on a drive in overtime Illinois had TD passes that replays showed were clearly caught in bounds rule no catches.

[kingnebwsu]

Everybody seems to forget the pass interference non-call at the end of regulation that should have gone against Miami. It was 3rd down and OSU threw a pass where there was "clearly" interference. The announcers mentioned that it should have been called, but OSU punted which led to the game-tying FG. Had OSU gotten a PI call on that play, they would have likely ran out the clock and the game would have never went to overtime.

But people see what they wanna see and have a tendency to ignore that play. Even dumbass reviewers for NCAA 2004 bring up that the game "doesn't have phantom pass interference." True class is not giving both sides of the story.

[ice4277]

Why does one of these threads come up after EVERY OSU victory?

[BishopMVP]

If Ohio State makes the national title game they'll have to get extremely lucky in a low-scoring game. There's no way possible short of getting 3 returns to the 1 that the OSU offense scores more than 1 TD against OU. If USC makes it they'll have to get extremely lucky in a mid-high scoring game. Either way it ain't gonna happen, which is why I'm rooting for either OSU/LSU/USC all losing or OU losing and completely messing up the BCS. If OU plays a 1-loss team in the national title game, I hope it Ohio State because I hate them the most out of the 3 teams so I'll enjoy watching them be blown out.

Of course this brings up another question. If Oklahoma loses to any of the afore-mentioned teams in the BCS Title Game, do they still deserve to be recognized as the National Champion?

[Balldog]

Give Tressel a month and a half to plan for a team and you never know.

I think a lot of the offensive problems are a result of being to predictable and poor play design, especially on running plays. With OL that way 320 lbs and taht can barely move you can not be successful running counters and traps all day. If you watched the game last night the only successful run plays were where Mangold the center was pulling instead of one of the other slobs. Mangold is the only one with another mobility to be capable of blocking like that.

[finkenst]

Isn't there a college football forum on FOFC for these types of threads?

[Bearcat729]

Why is USC considered to be the second best team in the nation?

Looking at their schedule schedule it doesn't look like they are beating the same top teams that OSU,Oklahoma, and LSU are, but everyone thinks they are going to be the only team that contends with Oklahoma in a national title game?

[tucker342]

All of Ohio State's hard games have been at home. USC crushes the bad teams, while OSU barely excapes with a win.

[Scoobz0202]

At least they play the good teams. After Michigan they will have played 12 Top 25 teams in the past two seasons. Thats 26 games, and 12 top 25 teams. I am sure you can see that pretty much HALF their games they have won were against ranked opponents. So basically, they win against the good teams. Cause USC barely plays them.

[Kodos]

It would be fun to see them get crushed by OU, but I think Michigan will end the "why don't you respect me" whining of the Buckeye fans and stop that from happening.

[Scoobz0202]

Yeah, and it was going to be fun to watch the 'Canes crush the Bucks to, huh.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I don't remember the missed call on Miami, but then again I was at work and couldn't fucus entirely on the game. I did see the helmet put on McGahee's knee. Talk about the difference in the game... By the way, how can ANYONE flunk GYM CLASS???

[ISiddiqui]

At least they play the good teams. After Michigan they will have played 12 Top 25 teams in the past two seasons. Thats 26 games, and 12 top 25 teams. I am sure you can see that pretty much HALF their games they have won were against ranked opponents. So basically, they win against the good teams. Cause USC barely plays them.

IIRC, didn't USC have the #1 strength of schedule last year? That doesn't jive with your contention that USC barely plays the good teams.

Furthermore, it is not their fault that Auburn and Notre Dame sucked this year. After all, Auburn was ranked 6th when USC beat them.

[Leonidas]

Ah yes, the obligatory Ohio State sucks just because posts. I'm starting to like the way OSU wins these games because I know how much it pisses everyone off who hates OSU. That's fine. We're not in it for style points, we're in it to win the games.

As for this crap about USC beating Arizona and Michigan beating Northwestern (whom the Buckeyes shut out) being bigger wins than beating the number 10 team in the country in OT, puh-leaze! I'll take an OT win, at home or anywhere else, vs a top 10 team, over a 45 point blowout over a 2-8 team anyday. I think some people need to get their priorities straightened out.

And when it comes time to play in a big time bowl game, which team do you think is better served by its experience? A team that won a bunch of blowouts over weak teams or a team that has a couple OT wins over ranked opponents? Just something to think about.

[Mustang]

BCS sucks.

[Craptacular]

If you haven't already seen the projections on ESPN, it looks like OSU will vault ahead of USC in the BCS, despite being two spots behind them in both polls. That's what playing Arizona did to the Trojans' SOS and computer rankings. If OSU beats Michigan, USC is in trouble.

[kingnebwsu]

I know Michigan is favored to beat OSU (as I guess they should be), but if (IF!) OSU wins...they should play for it all.

I'd still rather see some sort of playoff system, but that would be thread-jacking

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by ice4277
Why does one of these threads come up after EVERY OSU victory?

I think this is the most interesting question here.

I cannot ever remember anything in sports like the recent OSU team. All through last year, the team was visible shaky, winning games by narrow margins and never showing the "traditional" signs of dominance -- rolling up 70-0 blowouts against hapless foes, that soert of thing that college football has become used to. As a result, many knowledgeable people quickly called the team soft and lucky - and predicted their downfall at many stages.

Now that they hold the so-called national championship, they've gotten even more scrutiny. One loss, but essentially the same situation -- they have won a ton of games without doing many of teh things that tend to impress college football fans and analysts. Recall, this is a sport that still relies largely on subjcetive rankings in a meaningful way -- much to some people's chagrin. So, more than any other sport, how people perceive a team's strength is very important in college football. And the perception-versus-reality issue with OSU is unlike anything I've ever seen... the team keeps winning, despite all the naysayers.

I confess, I thought OSU was outclasses by Michigan last year, I thought they would lose to Miami last year, I thought they would lose to Wisconsin this year, and I thought they would lose 3-4 games this season all told. I don't know what to think going forward - my brain says that the school up north is a better team right now than OSU, and that the Buckeyes should lose this week. I also believe that USC is a better team and more deserving than OSU for the #2 spot if they both win out... I think.

But what really happens and lies ahead? How can anyone simply say "yes, we know this is true - OSU isn't that good, they cannot win." How can anyone conclude that there's anything this team cannot do?

You'd have made a bundle betting against OSU with a point spread this last year or two... but if you bet the money line on their opponents to win, you'd be in the poor house. Fascinating.

I follow OSU football anyway, but I honestly cannot remember anything like them in any sport - where the gulf between perception and W/L results was so wide and divisive.

[Butter]

Very good post, QS. I am a Buckeye fan, but I agree with you, I expected a good 3-4 losses this year. Even if we lose to Michigan, we still might get a BCS invite and will at the very least be in a New Year's Day game again.

BTW, I don't know what to think about OSU anymore either. I mean, on paper Michigan should roll them. But who the hell knows what's actually going to happen?

[Balldog]

Originally posted by Kodos
It would be fun to see them get crushed by OU, but I think Michigan will end the "why don't you respect me" whining of the Buckeye fans and stop that from happening.

I don't think anyone has been begging for respect, keep underwriting OSU like everyone does and they will surprise you. No it is not pretty, they play defense and special teams. If you watched the Purdue game it was like an epic chess match for the ages, but once OSU got the field position battle in their favor it was over.

They will not get crushed by OU because they will keep it close with great defense and special teams, remember they weren't as good as Miami last year either but this year's team might be even better than last year's for OSU.

[Balldog]

Originally posted by BigJohn&TheLions
I don't remember the missed call on Miami, but then again I was at work and couldn't fucus entirely on the game. I did see the helmet put on McGahee's knee. Talk about the difference in the game... By the way, how can ANYONE flunk GYM CLASS???

So Will Allen a 190 lb defensive back is supposed to tackle McGahee a 220 lb running back where? Don't even suggest it was a dirty play.

He is flunking gym class by not attending.

The aforementioned missed call was not a pass interference play but a play were Gamble made a catch but was ruled out of bounds. The play would have been a first down with 2 minutes to go in the game, while Miami had 1 timeout the clock would have been run down to at least 1 minute.

Can't believe I haven't seen a Suckeyes remark yet, are the Michigan fans ok?

[Airhog]

OSU has trouble putting points on the board. If they were to face OU on the field they would have even more trouble scoring. It would be imperitive that they score alot. even if they do have good defense and special teams, OU has just as good or better defense and special teams. SO in essence is comes down to the offense I think, And i think that OU would win in that regard.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by Balldog
Can't believe I haven't seen a Suckeyes remark yet, are the Michigan fans ok?

Don't put the words of one U of M fan in the mouths of all the others. After last season I have a (grudgingly) newfound respect for the OSU program and what they have managed to do in the last year or two. I thought last season that the game would be a toss-up, and I think OSU still has a decent chance to win this year. However, I think Michigan is peaking and are going to be a very difficult team to beat. I see the Wolverines in a 12-10 type of game.