The Texas game, how will OSU fare in 2009, the week that was, and a few words on the basketball Buckeyes...
THE FIESTA BOWL AND OTHER BCS STUFF:
We don't get to play in the national championship game this year but we get to play the team that SHOULD be in the national championship game. How would you like to be a Texas fan? Your team is 11-1 and you are watching two other teams playing in the conference championship game, and you beat them both. And the winner gets to play for the national championship. Once again, the BCS has its head where the sun don't shine. There are seven major college football teams with 11-1 or 12-1 records yet the BCS knows which two deserve to play for the championship. How is Oklahoma's 12-1 or Florida's 12-1 better than USC, Texas, Penn State, Alabama or Texas Tech's one loss? Or Boise State or Utah's undefeated seasons? I hope I live long enough to see a playoff but I just don't think it will happen. Oh, and ESPN, the biggest critic in the past of the BCS, now owns all rights to the BCS bowls for the next five years, ergo, you will never hear another negative word from them about the BCS system.
Different fans I have talked to see the game with Texas in totally different lights. Some want to play Boise State or Utah just to get that win in a bowl game. Kind of like Georgia thumping Hawaii last year and starting this year ranked #1. Others feel we should play the best team possible because you have nothing to gain by beating a Utah but if you beat a Texas you will have released the demons that have haunted us for the last two years. My view is that we should play Texas and hope that Colt McCoy gets a serious case of the flu three days before the game.
Texas is clearly a better team than Ohio State. For one thing, they have an offensive line. For another, they have the best quarterback in the country who should win the Heisman but Texas will probably get screwed on that too. When we beat Texas a couple of years ago they had a freshman quarterback with a ton of potential but he played like a freshman that day. Sound familiar? The only thing we have going for us is our defense. The BEST defense Texas played this year was Oklahoma's and they are ranked #66. However, our great defenses haven't shown up the last three times we were on the big national stage. We're already 10 point underdogs. That and Beanie's big toe getting healed may be just what the doctor ordered.
2009:
Now that we are down to our last football game of the season it is time to start worrying about next year. Are we going to be better or worse? The offense was pretty bad all year so you would think, just on general principles, that we would be better. I mean, we had a six year senior returning at quarterback that had led us to an outright Big 10 championship and a shot at the national championship and our offensive line sucked so big time that Tressel had to go with a freshman that was fleet of foot to escape oncoming road graders. We had the best running back in the country that managed over 1,000 yards with tiny little slivers of holes to sneak through. Any other running back would have been shut down every game. Here's how I see next year:
Quarterback. We have perhaps the best quarterback in the country in terms of potential in Terrelle Pryor. Enjoy him for the next two years. He will be a much better quarterback after having gone through a winter of conditioning, a spring practice, summer workouts and fall camp. He will have watched a gazillion feet of film or whatever a gazillion feet of film comes out to digitally. But he better not get hurt because there is a good chance that his backup, Joe Bauserman, might transfer and we have no other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and no incoming freshmen unless we sign one between now and February. Overall, our starter will be better.
Running Backs. Chris Wells will be playing on Sunday next year and Mo Wells will spend his recreational time on the Columbus inner belt getting hit by trucks to bring back those old football memories. That leaves "Boom" Herron and "Zoom" Saine and three very good freshmen coming in. Jaamal Berry is rated as one of the top tailbacks in the country and Carlos Hyde, at 6-1 235, is rated as the number one fullback but he will be playing tailback. Jordan Hall, a teammate of Pryor's, and one of the top backs in Pennsylvania, rounds out the freshman class. Overall, running backs will not be as good because you can't replace Beanie.
Fullbacks. We lose Brandon Smith who was a converted tight end and his backup, Ryan Lukins, who was a converted walk-on linebacker. Jermil Martin red shirted and will start next year. Two more freshmen will join him in Adam Homan, 6-2 230 and Zach Boren, 6-1 250. Overall, we should be at least as good.
Receivers. Robiskie is gone and there are rumors that Hartline may go out early. I don't think he will simply because his stock isn't that high, he needs to play his senior year and improve that stock. So we will have him as well as Ray Small, Dane Sanzenbacher, DeVier Posey, Laamar Thomas and Swartz and Washington all returning. Jake Stoneburner would have played as a freshman but was injured and took a red shirt year. You can bet he will be on the field next year at 6-5 225. Joining the team as freshmen will be the best receiver in Ohio as well as the best in Michigan and Duron Carter, Cris's boy, who happens to be one of the best in Florida. I actually think we will be better at the receiver position IF Tressel spends the next nine months getting Pryor ready to throw the ball, which I think is a given.
Tight End. We lose starter Rory Nicol but will have part time starter and primary backup, Jake Ballard returning. Ballard is as good as Nicol but we will have very little backup help due to poor recruiting over the last few years at this position. Because of depth, we will not be as good at tight end.
Offensive Guard. We lose Rehring, a three year starter, Person, a two year starter, Mitchum, a three year backup and Ebner, a walk-on that was granted a scholarship his senior year. Because Person and Rehring were injured so much last year Cordle was moved from center to guard and did very well the last half of the year. Next year's starters will be Cordle and Justin Boren. Boren was a five star guy that went to meeeshitagin and started half way through his freshman year and all of his sophomore year before transferring to Ohio State when Rich-Rod went to Ann Arbor. Obviously, the kid got smarter after high school. Backups look to be Conner Smith (if he doesn't transfer out) and Andy Miller. But don't be surprised if a couple of the incoming freshmen end up in the two deep. I think this position will be as good, if not better.
Center. When Cordle moved to guard, freshman Michael Brewster started at center and was every bit as good as Cordle. With another year under his belt Brewster will make this position better.
Offensive Tackle. We lose Alex Boone, a three and a half year starter and Jon Skinner, a backup that spent most of his career in medical rehab and ended up taking a medical waiver his senior year. The other starter was sophomore Byrant Browning who now has a year of experience. Two freshmen that were rated as two of the best in the country coming out of high school, Mike Adams and BJ Shurgarts, were immediate backups and were playing in every game until injuries took them out. Shurgarts made it back in time to play in The Game and will be on hand to play Texas. I believe they will both start and Browning will back them both up. It may be shaky early on but as the year goes on this position will be better.
Overall, the offense should be better. With a new offensive line I don't see how it couldn't get better.
As usual, the defense kept us in every game but the one at USC. And I think they would have done well there if they weren't on the field for about 59 minutes. As freshmen and sophomores our defensive line sucked. As juniors and sophomores this year they only sucked for half a year and then they began to play the way we all expected them to in 2007. Next year, finally, they should be the strength of the team.
Defensive End. We have all four in the rotation returning in Gibson, Wilson, Rose and Williams. We also have Solomon Thomas returning and two freshmen that took a red shirt, Willie Mobley and Kieth Wells. Two new freshmen, Melvin Fellows and Jonathan Newsome, could also see the field. We will be better.
Defensive Tackle. We lose Abdallah but the other four in the rotation all return. Worthington and Heyward will start and Denlinger and Larimore will rotate throughout the game plus we add one of the top recruits last year that took a red shirt, Garrett Goebel. We also have two very good freshmen coming in, John Simon and Adam Bellamy. This should not only be better, it should be the best position on the team.
Linebacker. We will lose one of the best to ever play the position at Ohio State in James Laurinatis as well as his side kick, Marcus Freeman. Ross Homan returns. I won't even go into all of the names, suffice to say we have an embarrassment of talent and depth at linebacker. ESPN had Sabino and Sweat ranked #1 and #2 last year and next year we will have Dorian Bell and Storm Klein, two of the best in the country joining them. But we still will not be better than this year. Like Beanie, you can't just replace the Little Animal.
Cornerback. We lose Michael Jenkins who may be a top ten draft choice and should be the Thorpe Award winner and there are rumors that Donald Washington may go out early. I think he returns and starts beside Chekwa who replaced him this year when he got in Tressel's doghouse. Both of those guys have now started for a year. We also have Andre Amos, Devon Torrence, and Donnie Evege returning as backups. Plus Howard, a red shirt, and three very good recruits. Cornerback will not be as good as this year but will be as good as any other group in the Big 10.
Safety. We lose backups O'Neal and Patterson but return both starters, Coleman and Russell and their primary backups, Hines and Gant. Add in four more that were freshman this year and two more highly rated recruits and we will be just fine thank you. This position will be better.
Punter. We lose four year starter AJ Trapasso and will start the next four year starter, Ben Buchanan. Buchanan will be as good as Trapasso eventually, but I doubt it will be next year. Backup, Thoma, returns. This position will not be as good.
Kicker. We lose Pretorius but get Pettrey back. Pettrey started for a year and then lost his spot due to injuries. He is as good as Pretorius and did the kick offs and long field goals this year and was 5 of 5 from long distance. His backup, Barclay, also returns. I think we will be better.
Overall the defense should be better than this year even though we lose Laurinatis and Jenkins, both multiple All Americans. I say that because the defensive line should be better and therefore the linebackers won't have to be All Americans to make the plays plus we have the four starters returning in the backfield and shouldn't have trouble finding a fifth back out of the other 15 guys. How's that for depth? I don't see punting or kicking being a problem at all.
I still think we are a year away but in 2010 we should be a top team in contention for the national championship once again.
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Very few games were played last week but there were some worth watching.
Florida VS Alabama. That's like Iran playing North Korea. Who do you root for? I decided to root for Alabama because it's not the players fault the university chose to hire a snake so why take it out on them? Plus, I absolutely despise Florida and that stinking ass chomp they do. Of course, my rooting for Alabama pretty much assured a Florida win.
Navy bombed Army 34-0.
Cal beat Washington 48-7. Washington ended up the worst team in the country at 0-12. They scored 159 points while giving up 463. And $Notre Dame was criticized for firing Willingham after only three years?
East Carolina keel hauled Tulsa 27-24. Tulsa looked oh so much better on paper but The Pirates forced six turnovers. Arrrr, give me ye balls.
Cincinnati had to travel to Hawaii to beat the Warriors (they used to be the Rainbows but the team thought that was to gay) 29-24. That's a better win than it appears because when you play in Hawaii you play their best eleven plus three refs.
In the worst game of the week Oklahoma beat Missouri 62-21 so their coach could "Stoop" so low as to beg for votes. Let me get this finger out of my throat.
Pitt beat UConn 34-10 to go to 9-3 on the season. Wow, that's kind of a shocker. Dave Wannstadt 9-3? That's like putting Charlie Weis and 9-3 in the same sentence.
Mount Union beat Cortland State 41-14. Nate Kmic rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns. The game was close for a half as Mount only led 20-14 but then blew it out in the second half as they usually do. The game was played in a snow storm and there wasn't a penalty called until the end of the third quarter. I think the refs just wanted to get the game over and head home.
THE WEEK THAT WILL BE:
The Wheaton (ILL) Thunder will travel to Alliance, Ohio, to take on the Mount Union Purple Raiders. The winner goes to Salem, Virginia, to play either Wisconsin White-Water or Mary Hardin Baylor of Texas, for the national championship. Wheaton comes in at 11-2 after having beaten Franklin 45-28 last week. Nate Kmic is just 288 yards short of the all time, all division rushing record. And like I said last week, NOBODY runs the ball better in December than Nate Kmic.
BASKETBALL:Talk about a pleasant surprise. Unrated Ohio State beat #21 Miami on their home floor and #7 $Notre Dame in Indianapolis. That moved Ohio State up to #21. We're still nine spots below $Notre Dame but, hey, it's a start. Speaking of $Notre Dame, it would appear that the Hawaii Rainbow/Warriors won the bowl raffle and will play The Fighting Irish led by Charlie Weis himself in the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, on Christmas Eve. The team is going by plane but Charlie is going by sleigh.
The Coach