Fiesta Bowl Bullet Preview
Ohio State and #3 ranked Texas square off tonight in Tempe, Arizona. Otherwise known as Buckeye Land, Southwest.
Before the season began, the media and college football experts had tapped Ohio State as the only decent team in the conference. It was supposed to be a cake walk through the Big Ten. Should it really surprise anyone that the conference is 1-5 in bowl games leading up to tonight? (That lone win was Iowa’s 31-10 thumping of South Carolina.) Life is cyclical. Right now, the Big Ten is down. It will rise again. But let’s stop trying to make Ohio State carry the load for the entire conference. The Buckeyes should have enough motivation already, and certainly don’t need the added pressure.
It appears that WR Brian Hartline got into a little trouble with the team. Reports are that Hartline violated the team’s curfew on New Year’s Eve and won’t start. Ken Gordon has the story. What really smacked me in the face reading that piece was Hartline’s season numbers. He leads the team with 479 receiving yards, and is second with 21 receptions. Wow. Has our passing game really been that terrible? Don’t answer that. I know.
Not many people are giving the Buckeyes a chance in this one. I saw an ESPN poll where 91% of fans had picked Texas to win. More than anything, I think this shows some serious apathy by Buckeye fans. Sure, there are reasons to think that the Buckeyes won’t win tonight, but even so I just don’t see any excitement or enthusiasm about tonight’s game. For the fans, what are we playing for anyway? Pull off the upset and get ranked what, fourth or fifth? But obviously the players, and especially the upperclassmen have some redemption to play for. Whether or not Jenkins, Laurinaitis and the rest of the Senior class go out as winners will more than likely depend on the play of Alex Boone and the offensive line. If there is one unit that has been consistently bad in these big game losses, it has been the O-line. Unfortunately, the regular season doesn’t give us much confidence in their ability to give Pryor time, and open holes for Beanie.
“People will remember how you leave,” senior linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “If you look at the ‘05 class, they are remembered as a great class, even though they had an off year, they lost two games their senior year. They won the last one, the Fiesta Bowl. We will be remembered on how this game comes out. It’s just a real fact.”
Actually James, even if you do pull off the win tonight, I can’t imagine that this class will be remembered for anything other than the two National Championship losses. I will say that a loss would add to the disappointment of the class however.
Much has been made about Tressel’s decision to hold Pryor (and Brewster) out of Media Day. In case you missed it, the Buckeyes are required to bring 30 players to media day to talk to the press. They are asked to bring all of the starters, but there is no rule or way to enforce the policy. The school submits in advance a list of players attending and Ohio State complied as they were required. Pryor’s name was not on the list. All the Buckeyes that were on the list attended the sessions, including senior Todd Boeckman. I join those in applauding Tressel for his shrewd move. No reason to give the other team potential bulletin board material, and Pryor has a habit of doing just that. Besides, The Vest loves to reward his seniors for their dedication to the program. (Except maybe for Boeckman…)
Completely unrelated to the Fiesta Bowl- I saw Chris Carter’s son Duron in highlights of the Under Armor high school all star game. In case you missed it, he is Ohio State bound. Interestingly, he was wearing his dad’s old number two. Obviously, Ohio State doesn’t have a problem with having Malcolm Jenkins and Terrelle Pryor wearing the same number, but I doubt that Pryor could share the number with a wide receiver. Of course, Pryor was #11 in high school. It isn’t that unusual for a Buckeye to switch numbers after their freshman year, but would Pryor make such a switch? I saw a lot of Buckeye jersey sales before Christmas that didn’t include uniform #2. For whatever it’s worth.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:46 am
I am something of a bullet expert and while I see points here, I am missing actual bullets.
You have much to learn about the art of bullet point writing. Stick to those more difficult narratives.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Ah… each paragraph is an independent thought, and thus I labeled the post as bullet points without actually using said bullets. Perhaps I should have called it random thoughts Fiesta Bowl preview or something like that.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:52 am
WFNY Secretary: Mr. Rick, there’s a Mr. Clarett is here with your bullets…
January 5th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Related to that unrelated story – those that bought Doss jerseys after he left got quite the bargain…
January 5th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Those that bought Chris Gamble jerseys got hooked up too.
Rick: Two players can have the same number, but both cannot be on the field at the same time. That’s why you see double use of numbers, but they’re always on opposite sides of the ball. Like in 2002, when all of those fans bought #13 Amos jerseys.
In terms of the game tonight, Boone had better show up. A lot is going to ride on his (in)ability to show up in big games, and whether or not he can stop Arakpo. If he can’t, the Buckeyes are in trouble on offense.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:11 am
beaniemichigan09.jpg?
A little presumptuous, aren’t we Rick?
January 5th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Good catch Chris. that is funny.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Um, well, it’s ‘09, and it’s a picture of Beanie against Michigan….
Man, some days you can’t do anything right…
January 5th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I just assumed it was our ninth picture of Beanie torching the Wolverines…
January 5th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Sorry, it was Jacobs in 2002. It was Amos later on. McNutt for Heisman!!
January 5th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Boone is as lazy as they come. I’m afraid he’s going to fail for a third straight year. My biggest fear is having to watch another unimaginative game plan from both sides of the ball. I can deal with a loss, but a blowout with little to no fight from this team is more than I can stand. I may have to kill my TV.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Or my friend’s TV, since I’ll be at his house.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:43 am
The hype for this game in Columbus is non-existent and everyone’s expectations are low. A win would build some serious excitement going into next season and a loss would only add to the reputation of not winning big games. The fact remains that Tress and Co. have put together a top notch program and we are spoiled by the endless BCS games and conference wins. A win tonight would bring the hype back to Cbus and cement pryor as the greatest freshman QB in OSU’s storied history. Im anxious to see how the offense looks tonight…
January 5th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Can’t wait to watch OSU get embarassed again on national television.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Love my buckeyes but I fear they’re going to get another beat-down tonight… Mack Brown is a bad in-game coach so maybe if we keep it close and things fall our way?
As for Boone, I’m surprised that critics went very easy on him for much of his last two-three seasons. Good game tonight he gets in the first day of the draft… he flames out like last two bowl games he’s looking at the very bottom of round five.
I’d say he has a lot of money riding on this game.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Tough spot for OSU. They probably don’t even belong in this game, considering they didn’t even score a touchdown against either of the two top teams they played. But if they lose this game and lose to USC next year, there will be some major soul-searching.
In a perfect world, Ohio State would be like USC: An elite team that dominates a mediocre conference. But Ohio State missed that opportunity by losing the biggest games they’ve played in the last two+ seasons. Tonight will be either a start towards the road to returning to elite status or continuing being a team that beats up on inferior opponents but loses to the best of the best.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Nothing good can come of this game, regardless of the outcome (which, by the way, is unlikely to be positive). Texas, while highly rated and very talented, is neither a) an SEC team or b) USC. The single biggest knock against the Buckeyes is that they can’t hang with the SEC, and this game gives them no chance to change that. Meanwhile, USC is held up by most as the gold standard, and they worked this OSU team over in a major way–a rematch could have helped. A win here is not any form of redemption, and a loss just buries them further in the eyes of all non-fans, not to mention the media hacks. Frankly I would have much preferred a Capital One or Outback appearance, which might have at least had some positive potential.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
The game should be interesting. But there is no hope if our O-Line doesnt show up. I might have to have a few adult beverages to take away the sting. Although after the last two years, its like we are impervious to pain.
As for Duron Carter wearing #2, according to reports on ESPN News during their preview of the game, Terelle Pryor told Duron Carter that if he came to Ohio State, he would give him the #2. There ya go, Pryor even helps out on recruiting!
Go Bucks.