This should help you get excited for Monday. What happened the last time Tressel went to AZ for a championship?
This:
Announcers are Paul Keels and Jim Lachey.
H/T to (who else?!?): Jeff
Archives for January 2007
Wells to transfer?
January 6, 2007 by 3 Comments
I noticed people are coming to the site in search of information about Maurice Wells transferring to another school at the end of the year. Wells is apparently struggling with the transition from being a prep school all-star to being relegated to the third string. He’s considering a transfer to an ACC or SEC school. He’s done the right thing and said he won’t make a decision until after Monday’s game, but I think it’s a foregone conclusion, especially with Brandon Saine coming in next year. Maurice sees the writing on the wall.
Maurice is quoted in the Columbus Dispatch as saying:
“But just being on a team is not all I want. I want to play and hopefully make it to the next level, or at least have a chance. And if I feel I can’t do that at Ohio State I would definitely leave.”
This would be the second running back to leave this year. Erik Haw left before the season started.
No overconfidence here
January 6, 2007 by 4 Comments
If you haven’t heard, Florida is supposed to win on Monday.
Have you got that yet? Flip on a BCS (or any other bowl) game during halftime, or visit internet articles and forums, and you’ll hear prognosticators running through the same drill:
- Florida will win because OSU can’t handle the Gators’ speed
- Florida will win because they are the equivalent of the underdog 2002 OSU Buckeyes squad
- Florida will win because of the superiority of the SEC
- Florida will win because Heisman winners rarely perform well in bowl games
- Florida will win because it has the best defense that OSU has ever seen
- Florida will win because OSU had 51 days off
- Florida will win because everyone is assuming OSU will win
Wait, what?!? So… the media wants it both ways? They all want to pick Florida to win, but justify it by saying that there’s an “assumption” that OSU will dominate the Gators? Oxymoronic, if you ask me.
Let’s do the rundown.
Speed
…is present in both teams. Florida has some turf burners, that’s for sure. But OSU’s known for its uncanny speed, too; for example, the combined speed of G2, both of which are on the field at the same time. Running a 4.3 is running a 4.3, whether you’re from Cleveland or Florida.
Underdog status
…doesn’t exist here for either team. This game is not a mirror image of the 2002 championship game, mostly because 2006 OSU isn’t anywhere near as dominant, overconfident, and cocky as the 2002 Hurricanes were. That game truly was David vs. Goliath. Coker’s boys trickled into Arizona, having won about three dozen straight games, with a very laissez faire attitude, guaranteeing victory and mocking the pitiful Buckeyes. No way Tressel allows his players to think or behave that way. Trust us: it’s been all business for six weeks straight. Also, the Buckeyes entered that game 13-0; while Florida has a loss.
And this year, Florida is a powerhouse; no question about it. Both teams match up against one another very, very well. Specifically, both teams happen to be strong in areas in which the other is weak. This indicates that the game might be a high-scoring affair. For instance, OSU’s defense has had difficulty with mobile quarterbacks and the spread option this year.
There are absolutely no similarities between these teams and the teams from the 2002 game, no matter how much some Gator fans want to play the underdog role.
SEC is better!!
Nope. Where did this argument come from, anyway? From a bunch of ten-year-old boys on a schoolbus? The best teams of the major conferences are always pretty similar in strength. Parity is too widespread nowadays, and most big programs use similar practicing and conditioning techniques.
At any rate, the SEC is 0-3 against Big 10 this season. The Big 10’s #3 & #4 beat the SEC’s #3 & #4 in last week’s bowl games. Head to head, that’s pretty telling, but I still maintain that you can’t use the “conference is better than yours” argument to predict victory or defeat. Not when you give two great teams a month to get ready for each other.
Heisman winners underachieve in bowl games
The logic goes like this: Because the Heisman winner is running around to awards ceremonies, staying in hotels while his teammates practice without him, the team’s performance suffers. Maybe so, but as was reported earlier this week (no link yet), Smith has only missed one day of practice. And there’s no way Tressel would keep Smith off the practice field; it’s the only way his first team defense can get ready for Leak & Tebow.
OSU hasn’t seen a defense like Florida’s
Now we can get into some real analysis.
OSU’s offense has played against the following great defenses:
- Michigan (1st in rushing defense, 8th in scoring, 9th against first downs), Texas (2nd against the rush, 16th against first downs), and Penn State (10th against the rush, 11th in scoring).
Against those three teams, OSU racked up 1,104 yards of offense and 11 touchdowns. And this includes its worst-of-the-year performance against Penn State during a heavy downpour that slowed both offenses. Including that game, OSU’s offense averaged 368 yards in those contests; without it, 425 yards. Florida’s defense (statistically) matches up relatively close to these three teams.
Let’s also consider individual talent. OSU’s offense has played against the following defensive superstars:
- All three finalists of the Bednarik Award (Posluszny, Connor, Woodley); two finalists of the Jim Thorpe Award (Leon Hall, Aaron Ross); one finalist of the Butkus Award (Posluszny); three finalists of the Lombardi Award (Posluszny, Woodley, Blalock); and one finalist of the Nagurski Trophy (Hall).
After Monday’s game, OSU will add Reggie Nelson to that list. And this doesn’t count the finalists/winners on OSU’s team (Pitcock, Laurinaitis, Smith, et. al) that the OSU offense practices against every day.
Ohio State had a crippling 51-day layoff
This argument might have a smidge of meat to it. However, I’m not thinking that any “rust” OSU might have come Monday is going to be enough to ensure a Florida victory, for two reasons:
(1) Tressel. He has repeatedly shown time and time again an ability to get a team ready for a big game. OSU teams are never over- or under-prepared. It’s enough of a track record to have confidence, at any rate. Besides, earlier this year there was a nine-month layoff between the Notre Dame and Northern Illinois games, and the OSU offense picked right up where it left off in January.
(2) When people speak of “rust,” they actually mean “timing,” which is more important in the rushing game than the passing. Expect Tressel, like he has all season long, to use the pass to set up the rush.
Final Thoughts
The OSU squad, full of veterans, is not as likely to be nervous or intimidated at the colossal hype & emotion of the game. This is the third #1 vs. #2 game OSU has been in this year alone.
Florida has an impressive defense, but it will not stop OSU from putting up a significant amount of points on the board. Reggie Nelson cannot cover Ginn, Gonzo, Hall, Robiskie, Hartline, Small, Pittman, Wells, Nichol, and Ballard, seven or eight of which are on the field for every play. (And that doesn’t count Troy Smith’s own feet, either). OSU will score some points.
The “unknown” of the game is how well Florida’s offense and OSU’s defense match up. Turnovers will be a huge factor… and I think the game’s outcome could hinge on them. Florida is 78th overall in throwing interceptions, and OSU is tied for second in the nation for most interceptions gained.
Therefore, whether or not the Gators earn a second national title will totally depend on whether or not Chris Leak and Tim Tebow can (1) avoid mistakes and (2) outscore Troy Smith and his countless offensive weapons. Period.
Enough for now! We’ll be doing our predictions on Monday’s Open Thread, so check back then. In the meantime, you might find it interesting to peruse Vegas’ considerations on the teams’ trends going into the game.
Dagnabbit*$@!!
January 6, 2007 by Leave a Comment
I blame Drew and TruthSerum.
Too many times, I’ve gotten burned. Stayed up past midnight to watch the Jackets lose.
Last night, I was a bad fan. “Oh, I’ll keep an eye on the score, but I am not committing 2-1/2 hours to another west coast game, especially when it starts after 10pm and is against the NHL-leading Ducks.”
So, I lazed in bed, flipping back and forth between the Jackets/Ducks game and Young Frankenstein, keeping an eye on the score but refusing to get “into” the game.
- “He would have an enormous svwahnshtuger. Woof.”
Period 2: Ducks 1, Jackets 0
“It was Abi… someone. Yes… Abi… normal. I’m almost sure that was the name.”
Period 2: Ducks 2, Jackets 0
“Come back!! Aw… I was gonna make espresso.”
Period 3: Ducks 3, Jackets 0
Sheesh. So not only are the Jackets gonna lose, but looks like another shutout. I felt bad for those folks that were going to stay up until 12:30 to see another embarrassing collapse. I’ve learned my lesson.
So, I turned the TV off, just moments before the most exciting comeback in recent CBJ memory. Apparently, within ten minutes, the Jackets scored four goals to win the game, the last with only 1:20 left on the clock. The period even included Norrena turning away a dramatic penalty shot with 21 seconds remaining to keep the victory assured.
Curse my remote-control-pressing thumb.
I feel bad for missing the victory, of course, but I feel a little ashamed of my desire to not stay up late watching the Blue Jackets get burned again. I guess it bordered on bandwagon-ish behavior. Are you a fan, or not? I ask myself. Ah, well. I suppose I now realize that one of the “pros” of the possible realignment is that we won’t have to deal with this on a regular basis anymore. Almost all our games would be against teams in the UT-5 zone.
As for me, I’m off to watch the highlights now.
Who will stand with us?
January 5, 2007 by 6 Comments
You’ve probably heard by now that the Michigan bloggers (and fans) are bailing off the Big Ten Bandwagon to shack up with the Gators from the Dirty South, leaving their Big Ten brethren high and dry. We understand they’re still stinging from the brutal drubbings they received from two of the better teams in the country. We know that not beating Ohio State in the last three tries really hurts. And we know it’s going to absolutely KILL THEM to see Troy Smith and Sweatervest hoist the crystal pigskin over their heads in exultation after the dismantling of the Gators. But, guys, can’t we, for three hours on Monday, be friends? Some of our best players are from Michigan (see: Vernon – Gholston’s – Arms). But we understand if it hurts too much. We’ve been there.
(A side note to Wolverine Nation: You think 1-5 hurts? You’d still have to lose another five more before you reach the bottomless pit that OSU fans endured during the Cooper era. So trust us, it can get much, much worse than this.)
So Michigan refuses to be on board, out of spite. So be it. If Michigan fans want to cozy up with the Flavor-of-the-Month, that’s their choice. But who is going to stand with us? Buckeye Nation doesn’t have many friends. We’re mercilessly ridiculed and no one comes to our defense. We’re accused of wrongdoing and crimes against humanity for simply loving our team. Sure, a few Buckeye fans are cavemen, but let me assure you, we’re not all powdered doughnut-winging freaks. So who’s it going to be?
Come on Notre Dame fans! We know there’s no love lost between us, but your enemy’s enemy is your friend, right? That 2005 soap opera between Shrek and Donkey AJ Hawk and Laura Quinn did nothing but give tons of extra media attention to Brady. It was a year ago since the Fiesta Bowl. We can put that behind us now, right? Surely the Michigan game stung more, right? Come join us break the hearts of thousands of Wolverine fans. It’ll be fun!
Where’s the rest of the Big Ten? Don’t leave us hanging. Wisconsin, what say you? You’re the only Big Ten team that totally owns Tressel. Cheer us on, so that we can make sure two Big Ten teams end up in the top five of the BCS standings. This is our league, our legacy. Penn State, we gave your coach his record-setting victory a couple of years ago, and your victory over OSU helped you to finish #2 in 2005. Plus, we gave him a place to change his shorts in his moment of most dire need. Let’s give it up!
We are the Big Ten. OSU’s continued presence in the BCS system is bringing home a crapload of money for all of us to share. Together we stand. We were rooting for you in your time of need, now it’s time to join in the good fight. If Michigan really wants OSU to lose that badly, then maybe we can kick them out and invite West Virginia to join us or something. Enough with Canada’s Alabama anyway, right?
As Rob Van Winkle once said, “drop the zero and get with the hero!”
MotSaG update
January 3, 2007 by Leave a Comment
First off, a big thanks to the sportsMonkey for providing some great stuff while the rest of the MotSaG staff slacked off. Now we’re all back from our extended holiday break, and we’re fired up for a certain bowl game just a few days away. I myself just got a new HDTV so I am eagerly anticipating my first Buckeye game in High Definition.
CSTV.com is doing their “Battle of the Blogs” again, and we’ve been tapped to contribute. Our piece will be going up next Monday, but they’ve already posted the first matchup. Poor Pfef was matched up against the blogging-wunderkind Orson Swindle, but I think we can safely say that Pfef not only held his own, but wrote a pretty darn good piece. We’re hoping to present a good argument ourselves, but our subject is a little more involved.
Besides football, how about those Buckeye cagers? After watching the Florida game last month, it was obvious that the team is still gelling, still finding its identity. One of the commentators last night made a good point about this team versus last year’s team. While this year’s team is probably much more talented than the team last year, last year’s team had great chemistry. Dials quietly led the team while the other players fed off each other. This year’s team has so much fire power that sometimes it doesn’t look like their playing cohesively as a team. I think the Big Ten season will work out those wrinkles, but once that chemistry is established this year, look out.
And enough can not be said about the way Oden and Conley are playing. The whole “Thad Five” are playing up to the expectations, but those two are not playing like freshmen. Oden is a manchild and Conley has some disgusting moves. They are fun to watch, especially when they’re beating Indiana. Oh how I loathe thee, Indiana!
We hope to have some time over the next few days to look at matchup with the Gators. I haven’t been watching the line since this game was set, but it seems like a lot of the talking heads are starting to bail off the OSU bandwagon, shacking up with the Gators. Maybe they seven week layoff has made people forget about what the Buckeyes have done. This is the team who averaged over 36 points a game (Florida averaged 28.8). Did they forget how the OSU defense that had to replace NINE starters only allowed 10.4 points (Florida gave up 13.5). Did they forget who won the Heisman? They can go with who they want. We know who we’ll be backing come January 8th.
Simply the best
January 2, 2007 by 17 Comments
Wow. How awesome was that game?
What a courageous performance! Chad Henne continues to prove that he’s the most underrated player in the country. Three hundred and nine yards, punks! In the Rose Bowl. Ha! Remember the “awesome” Vince Young? He only threw for 267 yards last year. In the Rose Bowl. Against the same USC defense. It continues to anger all objective fans of college football that Henne wasn’t invited to New York. Stupid anti-Michigan bias.
And Michael Hart’s two-point conversion was a thing of beauty. And did you see how awesome his first play from scrimmage was?!? Holy cow, his first run alone was good enough for a first down!
Defense-wise, how classy was the UM secondary? In the face of what must have been overwhelming sadness over the loss of Gerald Ford, the “English Majors” wiped away the tears and were able to force a turnover against the mighty Men of Troy.
Crable, sad in rememberance of Bo and Gerald, was all like “im in ur city, forcin’ ur turnovers.”
When it’s all said and done, it’s clear to everyone that Michigan was, in fact, cheated out of a Glendale spot. They are clearly the best team in the country. Okay, maybe the second-best team. But since they didn’t get a rematch with OSU, we’ll never know who was the better team there. Only Glendale could have solved that problem. Stupid poll voters and their anti-Michigan bias.
I know some will point to the fact that USC won this game, but only if you define “win” in the “who had more points on the scoreboard when the game ended” way. So, not so fast, my friend! Consider the following:
The only reason USC won this sham of a game was that crappy field. Anyone else notice that only Michigan players were slipping? I call shenanigans. Someone needs to sneak into the USC locker room tonight and check the players’ cleat length. It’s not fair. I think there should be a new NCAA rule that every team gets field turf like what’s installed at the Big House. Real grass is so… well… real. And it’s soooo “20th century”-ish. Could we all step into the future, please, before any more tragedies occur? How many national titles must be sacrificed until the NCAA steps in and evens the field for everyone?
Besides, Super Mario, Arrington, and Hart are more susceptible to bad grass than anyone on the Trojans’ squad. Those guys don’t make as many cuts as the well-schooled UM playmakers do.
Also, the only reason USC won the game tonight was the terrible weather conditions. USC “somehow” managed to get Michigan driving into the sun during the game’s opening drive. Write it down: if it was a cloudy day, the Heisman runner-runner-runner up Hart would have turned that initial 10-yard scamper into a long touchdown run. Southern Cal just lucked out, there. Who knows what would have happened had the game kicked off three hours later? It could have been a totally different game. Stupid solar system and its anti-Michigan bias.
The physical elements were all like “im in ur stadium, forcin’ ur loss.”
What about that crappy officiating, anyway? Anyone with eyes could clearly see that Morgan Trent wasn’t ready when the ball was snapped on Jarrett’s 65-yard TD catch. Aren’t they supposed to catch those things? Stupid ACC officials and their anti-Michigan bias.
And how come nobody’s talking about all the extra weight the Michigan team was carrying around? Every-single-player was wearing an extra “48/Bo” sticker on his helmet to honor those former team leaders. I saw the assistants carry a box full of those stickers onto the sidelines before the game started. The box looked heavy to me. Five pounds, at least. And we’re not just talking about weight, here; it’s a fact that the drag coefficience of a non-stickered helmet is superior to that of a stickered one. USC players didn’t have to deal with the extra air drag. Stupid stickers and their anti-Mich… well, you see where I’m going, here. At any rate, that’s a Michigan player for you. Willing to risk bad drag-coefficience to honor a fallen comerade.
The sticker is all like “im on ur helmet, ruinin’ ur streamlinin'”
But trust me, the reason the Trojans didn’t wear the stickers wasn’t only to gain the streamlining advantage. It’s just the culture of USC fans to be “anti-Michigan,” instead of “pro-USC.” How classless. Refusing to wear the stickers just proved how much they hate Schembechler and Ford, and the depths they would go to just to win.
Speaking of classlessness, it was also disgusting to see the criminalistic attitudes of USC fans cheering every time the Trojans had a somewhat decent play. Trust me, they weren’t cheering for USC, they were cheering against Michigan. I feel bad for the Michigan fans that had to thread their way through Pasadena after the game, without national guard support or anything. But that’s a UM fan for you, risking his or her life in rough environments to support the winningest team in history. What touching loyalty.
So, that’s my opinion. The University of Michigan Wolverines, the better team on the field yet again, and cheated out of a BCS title, yet again. Just wait ’til next year, baby!!
QED.
