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Remember when someone you looked up to gave you their advice and said” If you want to expect something different, you need to do something different”.  Someone, anyone, needs to send that message to OSU in a hurry or we will all see the same familiar headline in the paper Sunday morning; “Tressel and OSU lose BIG GAME again”.  Aren’t we all tired of hearing this, I know I am.  If they play the same way and make similar calls this week, then the scarlet and gray blood that pours out of us will just be gray once again.

I am not even sure where to start with last week’s game against the Navy Midshipmen.  I understand these individuals give up their lives to represent and fight for our country.  I also knew that there was no way Coach Tressel was going to run up the score on those gentlemen.  What I did not know was that we were going to give Navy many opportunities to come back and scare us all.

I think it was on the third series of the game, the Buckeye offensive came out on the field with their second string quarterback.  The 6’2’’, 220 pound sophomore, Joe Bauserman, came into the game.  Now I am pretty sure everyone noticed that Coach said throughout the week that Joe was going to get some playing time.  It was also easy to see that our star quarterback and future Heisman hopeful, Terrelle Pryor, was getting chased out of the pocket way too often.   Which reminds me to mention the offensive line will definitely have to step it up a notch this week against a higher ranked team, the USC Trojans.  So I ask one simple question, “Why bring in someone who can’t run away from the rush for someone who can?”  At least Pryor can throw under pressure and he threw well a number of times.  Coach wanted to stand by his word and one can respect that.  However, sometimes things change.  If you plan on getting up tomorrow and going to work but wake up and are too sick to leave the house, you have to change your plans and Tressel should have changed his plans also.   It is acceptable to change your plan if something happens which may effect an outcome.  If Pryor stays in the game, we have a much better chance to drive down the field and score a touchdown before half-time.  If OSU got a score there, it could have and probably would have changed the entire outlook of the game for both teams.  It might have put the game out of reach.   A 24-7 score would have been a lot better then a 20-7 half-time score because it would have put the Buckeyes up by three scores instead of just two scores.  If the game got out of hand and OSU was running away with it then you put Bauserman in the game, but not this early, bad move number one.

The next horrible decision was to go for it on 4^th down with 2 yards to go.  Tressel never goes for it on 4^th down when he can put points on the board.  We were all so surprised in 2002 when he faked a field goal against Miami in the National Championship game, which if you recall did not work then either. So, “Why go for it here coach”!  If they kicked a field goal at that point in the game it would have been much harder for Navy to come out on their next possession and think they still had a good shot to make an unbelievable comeback.  The Navy defense not only kept the buckeyes from a first down but stopped them for a loss on the play.  Now, Navy was probably thinking we just held the “#6” team in the nation and we are only two scores away from not only keeping the game respectable but now we can win the game.  This move, after much thought, I still do not understand.  Tressel, during the post game press conference, even admitted he should have probably kicked the field goal.   At that point I wish I could have made a song dedication to him; “It’s a little too late to do the right thing now”.

It is probably difficult for you to understand after reading this that I am a huge Ohio State Buckeye fan.  Tressel is a great coach for our beloved Buckeyes.  Maybe that is why my emotions get so worked up when I see a game like I saw last Saturday.  I just can’t help myself.   I know they pulled out another “W’ last week and I am very happy they did.   The problem is, it should not have been that close; no disrespect to the Midshipmen.  It was another Saturday of throwing things across the room and hoping not to break anything.   Just another routine OSU Saturday, OSU Saturday.

GO BUCKS BEAT THOSE TROJANS!

Tags: jim tressel, joe bauserman, navy football, ohio state football, terrelle pryor, usc football