Buckeye fans should hold their fire until after they see the team play in Seattle.
I don't want to sound like some PR flack for the Ohio State football team but I do think the fans need to cut this team a little slack.
Like, say, a week's worth. The truth is we really don't know anything about this year's squad save for the fact that they yawned and sighed their way to a 2-0 start against non-threatening opponents from smaller Ohio cities.
This week, however, will teach us all we need to know about the Buckeyes v.2007.
I've been warning people all summer about this little excursion to the home of the world's first Starbucks (it's across the street from the market where they throw fish, if you're curious). So far, Washington has not disappointed, laying waste to the Orangemen and Bluefieldmen and scaring the crap out of USC fans who thought a national title run would be easy.
I know the first two games haven't been awe-inspiring. I know our offense has looked, well, offensive. But let's face it, the Big Ten is even worse than last year yet Ohio State has looked pretty good compared to Michigan's blues and a title-favored Badger team that needed fourth-quarter heroics to beat the mighty whatever-they-ares from Las Vegas. Also, don't forget a MAC team spared the suspense and beat a Big Ten school in the first week.
If Ohio State plays tough but loses close in Seattle, we know we have a good team that will have some growing pains along the way. If we win it, even better because it will show Ohio State has averted the conference curse that has sent the school up north free-falling through hell. (Although I must say I have enjoyed Michigan's attempt to approximate the vantage point they had of us during the early part of the Cooper era.)
However, if we do lay a Wolverine-sized egg in Husky Stadium you will know our offense really is "that bad" and our defense may only dominate schools from inside the state's borders. Then, you may feel free to boo away ... but still feel pretty good about not wearing the maize and blue.