Sports

I was out of town all weekend visiting family and we got home late, so this will be a quick Buckeye Blog.

I watched the first 2.5 quarters of the game and listened to the rest (waiting for a parade) and what I saw and heard was mostly positive. The offense still seems to be trying to figure out who it is. While the stability of having a #1 QB seems to have made the talking heads happy, Smith’s throwing ability scares me. He’ll be fine but I get nervous when he cocks his arm back to throw.

The defense doesn’t worry me at all. If you take away the first play SDSU scored on and the defense only gives up 120 yards total offense. That is domination, plain and simple. They held them to 13 yards rushing. This Buckeye defense is one of the best (if not the best) in the country.

Yeah, so I’ve had over 12 hours to let the sting of the Buckeye’s loss lessen a bit. If you didn’t know, OSU fell to Texas, 25-22. There is a lot of finger-pointing and blaming that could go on, but in the end the Buckeyes just failed to convert turnovers into touchdowns. The turning point, in my mind at least, was when OSU had Texas’ kick returner IN THE ENDZONE and were unable to tackle him for the safety. That would have been such a huge swing of momentum. But so many other things went wrong that there’s no way to pin this game’s outcome on one play or one decision. It was a culmination of bad luck and bad decisions. Coach Tressel will be second-guessed all year long on his QB decisions. This should be Troy Smith’s football team. As much as I like Justin Zwick he just doesn’t have the talent Smith does.

So I tip my hat to the Texas Longhorns. Vince Young is a heck of a football player (but still not a heck of QB yet). It still hurts and will hurt for a long time. The Buckeyes will still have a great season but it sure would be nice to be 2-0.

And can we start including A.J. Hawk when we talk about Heisman races? The dude is a Manimal.

Update: OSU has dropped from #4 to #9. I think that is completely fair. We still belong in the discussion of the top ten teams in the nation. I know it’s a long shot but we’re not completely out of the National Championship picture. A lot of things need to come to pass, but it’s entirely possible.

In a little more than 24 hours, I will be in section 7C of the ‘Shoe, literally peeing my pants with anticipation of the OSU/Texas game. This game has had such a build up of aniticipation and hope that words can’t describe the excitement here in Columbus, Ohio. I can not wait for kick-off tomorrow night. So much hype, culminating into 3 hours of college football nirvana. Such is Buckeye Mania.

Bill at SportsGamer has some tidbits about the game that are worth the read. There’s a lot over at ESPN.com as well. There’s this article about OSU’s All-American linebacker, AJ Hawk. It’s a great article about a great football player, but the best part are the quotes from AJ’s mom:

“I love to see A.J. hit,” Judy Hawk confirms. “We thrive on A.J. hitting people.”

That’s a family that knows its football.

I am very optimistic about this game. I think OSU will give Texas the business. Why am I so confident? This is more-or-less the OSU team put the wood to both Oklahoma State and Michigan, two teams the Texas struggled with. Texas had to come from behind to beat perennial Big-12 punching bag Kansas. Texas is without Cedric Benson and Derrick Johnson. I’m not saying they’re a bad team, I just think OSU has too many weapons. I think they win this game. Maybe not easily but they win, nonetheless. What does Vegas think? Currently the line is a point with OSU favored. The over/under is now up to 46 points.

My prediction is 28-17. You heard it here first.

Before I go, I’d like to present two OSU haikus, one written by your’s truly and the other written by buttonmashing.com reader Bobster. Enjoy.

Ted Ginn is so fast.
Santonio Holmes is, too.
Buckeyes win by ten.

Texas is ranked
So are the OSU Bucks
Game of the season

Update: I decided I’m not reading enough sports blogs currently, so I went to the unreliable Technorati to do a little search. I decided to link other people’s predictions, along with mine. I like the cut of these guys jibs (most of them, anyway)

OSU 31 – Texas 10
OSU 52 – Texas 3 (not too sure about that one)
OSU 24 – Texas 21
Not a prediction, but red buckeye asks, “Am I alone in thinking Texas is going to get ambushed tomorrow? No, from the looks of it, you’re not.
OSU Wins
OSU 17 – Texas 24 – Booo!
OSU 37 – Texas 34

There are plenty more predictions out there, this is just a sampling. But from the looks of it, things are looking up for Texas.

The Buckeyes handled their business in preparation for the the Showdown with Texas next week, beating the Redhawks 34-14. The offense looked solid – Pittman carried the ball well and Zwick and Boeckman threw rather efficiently. The Buckeyes’ defense is just insane. The Miami Redhawks are a good team but they couldn’t get anything going. The defense held them to -5 yards rushing in the first half. The score doesn’t do justice to the first team defense, they could have easily pitched a shut-out. Overall, OSU’s performance was great and I am excited about next week. Even more so now that I know I’ll be in the stands for the Texas game.

Among the other games today, I was surprised at how well Notre Dame played and how poorly Oklahoma played. Adrian Peterson can kiss his Heisman Hopes good-bye. With no passing threat, OU’s running game is going to get punished. Michigan looked solid. So did USC. No other big surprises so far.

Did I mention how excited I am about the OSU/Texas game?

Update: I’m watching the FSU/Miami game right now. While I don’t really care who wins this game since I hate all things Florida football, I heard this guy’s name called a couple of times. That has to be the worse name to grow up with.

Another Update: This may warrant its own post at some point, but Bill at TBftSG has a post about Trev Alberts’ firing at ESPN. That sound you hear is a million Buckeyes cheering. Now, how do we get rid of May?

For Buckeye fans, this picture needs no explanation:

For the uninitiated, there is a tradition at Ohio Stadium to chant O! H! I! O! with each section of the stadium yelling their letter while making the sign of the letter with their arms. This Marine, obviously an OSU fan, recruited some Iraqi children to participate in this great tradition.

This picture made my day.

Well well, lookie here. Who does SI’s Stewart Mandel think will be making a Run for the Roses this year? None other than your Ohio State Buckeyes. Excellent. I couldn’t agree more. I still think it’s weird that Texas is ranked #2 in most pre-season polls while OSU is found in the sixth spot. Of course that all changes around the third week of the season.

A.J. Hawk and Ted Ginn Jr are the #4 and #2 players in the Big Ten (respectively), also according to SI. (Is TGJ not looking that pass in? How un-Tressel like.)

Have I mentioned how excited I am about College Football?