Open Thread: OSU Buckeyes at USC Trojans
Kickoff: 8:30 PM, EST
TV: ABC
Line: USC (-11)
So…This is it. Number one versus number five. What we’ve all been waiting eighteen years for. This is why players like Malcom Jenkins and Josh Alex Boone returned for their senior seasons. The game that is to prove what the Ohio State Buckeyes will be remembered for for the remainder of the 2008 college football season. As of right now, Chris “Beanie” Wells is out. No team wants to play against another team in this juncture when both squads are not at full strength. However, with Jim Tressel making the call on his own, it will be up to him to make up for the lost Heisman hopeful. Whether it’s Boom Herron, Mo Wells…
News from ESPN, Terrell Pryor will be “heavily” involved.
As always, feel free to follow along in the comments. If you’re nervous, you’re not alone. Cheers, folks.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
The Bucks go on top with a field goal. The drive was looking good, but stalled with two mediocre plays in a row, including one with Boeckman running the option. All in all a good drive if for only a field goal.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Two touchdowns for USC gives them the lead. The Buckeyes looked anemic the last drive when they weren’t alternating Boeckman and Pryor. We will see if the sweater vest wants to keep pushing the envelope in this big game.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Jim Tressell lines up in the I formation on 3rd and 1 daring the Trojans to step up and stop them. The Trojans did easily, except they got called for a facemask. The Bucks are VERY fortunate.
This game is looking bad.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Not so sure about the holding call that just got the touchdown called back. Seemed ticky tack.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The green screen cartoon / powerpoint background behind Herbie is freaking me out.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Boeckman isn’t making a strong case to play in this game. He throws a pick 6 while alternating plays with Terrelle Pryor.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Carson Palmer’s prediction might be correct.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Not sure that should have been a pick six and we definitely recovered that fumble – glad we were able to return the favor sans TD at the end of the half. I agree about Boeckman… The second half is all about adjustments.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
And my wife says that Beanie Wells looked fine running into the tunnel at half time…
September 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
If Terrelle Pryor doesn’t play the majority of the second half, the Buckeyes are in big big trouble. Is it finally time to face the fact that Boeckmann is just not an elite QB who can handle the big games? At least with Pryor there might be a chance that he can be the best in the nation.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Would it be one of the most exciting moments in Cleveland / Ohio sports history if Beanie Wells came out suited up for the second half? Not to go all Bill Simmons, but would that be the biggest “Daniel Larussa’s gonna fight?” moment of all time.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
OHMAHGAWD….That’s Beanie’s music!!!!
September 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Change the headline on this website to Waiting for next year: when terrelle pryor starts
September 13th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Scott, I love the wrestling reference. “Erin Andrews just hit Beanie in the knee with a chair! That JEZEBEL!!!”
By the way, who ate my volcano taco?
September 13th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Beanie or no Beanie – no way were they winning this game. Bad showing.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Alright… I am watching the rest of this one in bed so I can fall off into nightmares.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Two things:
A) Start Pryor for the rest of the year. Boeckman looks absolutely lost and has no fire whatsoever, and that’s not the first time he’s looked that way under pressure. Not the guy you want leading a team.
B) Fire Jim Tressel. I’ve seen enough of the underachieving and failing under the spotlight. The Buckeyes came out flat and gave up early, and that speaks volumes about the leadership of this program. Is USC good? Absolutely. But this was pathetic. I appreciate all the wins against the school up north, does that really make up for falling flat every time we face the elite teams?
September 13th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Woah there B-bo… let’s not overreact here by calling for Tressel’s head. I’ll agree with you that Boeckman looked lost and is not an elite QB. But the problem is not Boeckman, it the OFFENSIVE LINE. In every game against a defense with speed, the incredibly overrated offensive line has been completely overwhelmed. A large part of the reason Pryor looked better was that he could escape from the USC players getting into the backfield.
I think you’ll see a good bit of Pryor as the season progresses and as he’s groomed to be the starter next year, but Ohio State will not face the same type of challenge they got today at USC against any of their Big Ten competition. Let’s face it… playing in that conference just does not prepare Ohio State to compete with the elite teams in this county.
As for Tressel, the man is 7-1 against Michigan, won one national title game, 3 BCS bowl games, and led the Bucks to the national title game 3 times. Now, they did lose two of those games, but name me another coach out there who is available who could bring you those results. The team did not look flat – in fact the offense looked very productive on the second drive where they made the field goal. I thought the defensive was overwhelmed by USC’s speed, especially McKnight and the o-line looked completely overwhelmed again. That wasn’t a coaching issue (maybe a recruiting one). I’d take Tressel over anyone coaching today except Carrol and Urban Meyer (and maybe Bob Stoops).
September 13th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
But, again, what does all that past record mean when you get waxed repeatedly in the national spotlight (and yes, three losses of this magnitude are too many)? I’d take Tressel RECRUITING over just about anyone today (though maybe it’s time to get outside of Ohio every now and then, and I don’t just mean PA or Indiana), but not coaching. And how much longer will that “wall around Ohio” that he put up when he got the job last with losses like this one? Outside of the Midwest, this team is becoming a laughingstock. You don’t think Rich Rod or Ron Zook will be saying to recruits, “Why go to Ohio State and get embarrassed when it counts?” Teams like Michigan and Illinois have the jump on the transition to a spread-style offense, an offense the top teams are moving to or are already using. By 2010-11, those will be the teams at the top of the Big Ten, the teams that evolve. Ohio State has Pryor to build that kind of system around, and alot of the starters will be gone after this year. It won’t be a success overnight, but the change is inevitable, and it won’t happen under Jim Tressel. It may mean growing pains in the short term, but the long term is more important. I appreciate what the man has done, but the fact is time moves on. He needs to either make some serious system changes or step aside altogether.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Tressel recruits from all over… including the midwest and lots of kids from Florida. The spread may be the future for college, but it’s certainly not for the NFL. Look at what OSU grads in recent years have gone on to do in the NFL compared to USC or even Florida or LSU. Tressel’s going nowhere.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I’m depressed.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Along the lines of Tressel – honestly, Bollman has to no longer by OC. I know that the run is important, but seriously – we put Pryor in on second down, took him out – and tried to QB draw Boeckman. Really? Come on – we need a more agressive offense. Every time SC ran a pass on first down, or a run on 2nd and long it worked. Ever time we tried the same, it was blatantly obvious that’s where we went. Maybe it’s our D but still.
Something’s gotta budge.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Ohio State’s 112-man roster includes:
OH: 71 players
Midwest (non-OH, includes MO and MN): 18 players
FL: 8 players
You can check out the remaining numbers here:
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=87746&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300
No rational person would try to claim the spread offense as a pro-quality system. In fact, I think it’s BECAUSE Michigan is moving to the spread that Pryor ultimately chose tOSU–he wants to be in a more pro-style offense. But the spread is providing alot of college-level success, and Ohio State is a college team. If the Buckeyes are content with not being able to compete with other conferences because the Big Ten is a more “pro style” conference, well, those days are numbered. If the program wants to be at the top of the NCAA food chain as far as winning titles, it’s time to evolve.
And asking anyone to compare the results for tOSU players versus SEC or USC players at the next level in recent years hardly validates Ohio State’s position:
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87743&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1180286
Who jumps out at you as “elite” NFL talent on that active players list? Hawk, Pace, Will Smith, Vrabel? Maybe Gonzalez, Santonio, and Galloway? And that list goes back to 1990! Sure, Eddie George, Robert Smith, and Terry Glenn aren’t active and were good, but what years did they come out agaun? How are we defining “recent”?
If you really want to go deep comparing Ohio State’s successes to Florida, USC, etc. at the NFL level in “recent” years or any years, check out this site:
http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerbycollege.htm
Point being: I think those spread schools’ players are doing just fine at the next level AND having current success in college as well.
I just want to see this program remain nationally competitive, and these weak performances when it counts do nothing to help that goal. Ohio State is a proud and storied team, but so was Notre Dame once. I’d hate to see us go the way of the Irish–living off past glories while refusing to adapt to the times.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:03 am
talking to my brother and some cohorts and the consensus indeed does seem to be tressel.
this game seriously made me reconsider everything in terms of why the buckeyes cant win against the big teams from other conferences. first i was questioning the talent. i mean, florida, lsu, and now usc, it seemed that all those teams were stacked at each position while it always seemed like the buckeyes were just straight up overwhelmed in almost all aspects. but then the notion that the buckeyes, as b-bo pointed out, have recruited like no other, and at that point you would consider the coaching and not the players.
the talent is there, theyre just not being coached the right way.
looking back at the 2002 bcs game against miami (my how that seems like years ago), tressel, with the help of one maurice “ive gotta get my goose on” clarett, beat the u mostly with coaching. and to me, it seems like thats set an unhealthy trend in tressel’s mind. “stick with the gameplan and things will work out.” however what tressel was initially known for in his first couple of seasons was his adjustments and his constant assessment of the game. but now, it seems like he may be dare i say cocky in that he seems to make no adjustments and thinks that sticking with the gameplan will be the way to go, when they’re getting their asses handed to them. and it doesnt work. it didnt work against florida, it didnt work against lsu, and it definitely didnt work against usc.
boeckman looked like crap, pryor should start the rest of the season, and i dont think beanie would have mattered. and as amc put it, the offensive line was pretty much non existent.
i guess im just saying that taking a step back, in the last 3 seasons of ohio state football, we have seen some solid teams. from heisman winners to butkus award linebackers, yet they have sh_t the bed 3 years in a row when it counts (michigan aside). players came, and players went, yet the one constant? jim tressel. i hate to say it but hes the one constant.
up to this point, the past year has been a “back to square one” season for all things northeast ohio sports. all these high expectations and none of them met.
waiting for next year indeed.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:06 am
rereading that post, i hate the fact that i say “constant” twice in on statement.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:34 am
I grew up 3 houses away from him playin football in the lot at the end of out street, and his name is Alex Boone, not Josh
September 14th, 2008 at 3:41 am
You know that this thing’s embarrassing when one of my boys out here in Oregon gave me the Bucks +14 even though the line was USC -11…and I still lost. Wow…what a waste of a night. I could have done so many other productive things.
September 14th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Tressel needs to make changes. I know everyone loses games and I know that Ohio State has had a lot of respect in the last few years, but this feeling that I have today needs to be far less frequent. Even suspecting that it is going to come doesn’t really help. The Buckeyes didn’t just get beat. Boeckman and the offensive line looked LISTLESS. Where were the elite wide receivers? Where were the tight ends?
I am still trying to wrap my head around it.