The first installment of the USA Today Coaches Poll has been released and the Buckeyes find themselves at #1. The national media articles I have read today all begin with a similar sentence: Despite having lost 9 starters on defense, the Buckeyes are #1 in the coaches poll. After reading all three parts of our defensive preview, in which we previewed the linebackers, secondary and D-line, it is apparent that we are not too worried about the defense stepping up this year. The coaches showed me that they agree by voting the Buckeyes #1. As the old saying goes, OSU does not rebuild — it reloads.
You don’t have to look very far down the poll to understand how big the game Sept. 9th in Austin, TX will be this year. In fact, you can stop at #2. Amongst ourselves here at MotSaG, we think Texas is slightly overrated, but we understand they are garnering respect for being the defending National Champs. Losing a star QB is huge (especially when your new QB has never played a game in college), and let’s face it, Vince Young single-handedly won Texas the championship.
Does it get any better than this?
With all do respect to Northern Illinois and North Texas, only in their wildest dreams are they going to upset the Buckeyes or the Longhorns in week one. We are going to see a showdown of #1 OSU vs. #2 UT on 9/9. The game, as it did last year in Columbus, will go a long way in deciding who plays in the national championship game this season.
Needless to say I know there is a link to the rankings in the story but I love to see this in Black and White of you know what I mean
Week 1 USA Today Poll
1. Ohio State (28) 0-0 1,487
2. Texas (11) 0-0 1,378
3. USC (1) 0-0 1,348
3. Notre Dame (9) 0-0 1,348
5. Oklahoma (13) 0-0 1,320
6. Auburn (1) 0-0 1,206
7. West Virginia 0-0 1,202
8. Florida 0-0 1,054
9. LSU 0-0 1,037
10. Florida State 0-0 874
11. Miami (FL) 0-0 839
12. California 0-0 798
13. Louisville 0-0 785
14. Georgia 0-0 784
15. Michigan 0-0 778
16. Virginia Tech 0-0 591
17. Iowa 0-0 519
18. Clemson 0-0 493
19. Penn State 0-0 406
20. Oregon 0-0 373
21. TCU 0-0 270
22. Nebraska 0-0 261
23. Tennessee 0-0 216
24. Alabama 0-0 210
25. Texas Tech 0-0 198
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Arizona State 182, Boston College 87, Utah 84, Arkansas 64, South Carolina 55, Boise State 46, Wisconsin 37, UCLA 29, Georgia Tech 28, Fresno State 14, Tulsa 11, Iowa State 9, Minnesota 9, Maryland 8, Purdue 7, Texas A&M 6, Memphis 5, Nevada 3, UTEP 3, Rutgers 2, Northern Illinois 2, Northwestern 2, Oregon State 2, Arizona 2, Brigham Young 2, Colorado 1, Duke 1.
Overrated?? Are you kidding me? Losing VY is a huge loss, but he was one of many talented players on last year’s team, most of whom are back this year. The running backs and receivers will pick up the slack created by the VY void. Our O-Line will be the best in the country and that will take the pressure off of both Colt and Jevan. One of the single biggest components for Freshman errors is no time to make good decisions. These guys will have all the time they need when they drop back to pass.
Don’t worry, there will still be time to make a BCS bowl, with the early loss, just like last year.
Hook’em.