Six Reasons Why the Buckeyes Will Lose

I don’t want to do this, but I must.

Contrary to what the rest of the country would have you believe, the Buckeyes have a chance against USC on Saturday. But as delusional as we Buckeye fans can be, we can’t ignore the 295 pound Samoan in the room. There’s a good chance Ohio State will lose to USC. AS much as it pains me to do this, here’s a list of reasons why the Buckeyes will lose on Saturday.

Blech, this is making me sick to my stomach, so let’s get this one over with and move on.

Reasons why OSU will lose to USC

The two headed hydra of Cushing and Maualuga go off – The entire USC defense is good, but Maualuga is a manimal and Cushing is no slouch. If Maualuga is having his way with Beanie & Co., blowing up everything in sight, that most certainly spells certain doom for the Buckeyes. No running game means game-over for the Buckeyes.

Then again, there is this:

So maybe there’s no cause for concern? Right…

LSU Boeckman shows up – The monkey and I are firm believers that there are two Todd Boeckmans — the one who looked every bit the part of an OSU QB against Penn State last year. Crisp passes, great decisions, and leadership. Then there’s the Todd that crapped the bed against LSU. If that Boeckman shows up, we’re done for. If the game is in his hands and his head isn’t where it needs to be, cry in despair. He’ll be winging it downfield with abandon, but this time USC has the type of athletes that will make him pay.

Can’t stop the run – This goes without saying. USC has a stable of running backs that would make most breeders in Kentucky jealous. Carroll can throw out the horses without much drop-off in performance. If OSU can’t stop the run, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Kaiser household.

Beanie can’t perform – I almost hesitate to even insinuate that Beanie won’t be able to perform at an acceptable level. This is another no-brainer. If he can’t plant on his gimpy toe, no amount of the Stiff Arm of Justice is going to help.

Players are still hungover (shellshocked?) from the OU game – I think it’s foolish to think that the OSU players are unaffected by their performance last week against OU. If they come out flat again and dig themselves an early hole, it will take a miracle to climb out of it. Someone needs to come out early and absolutely annihilate someone. I’m looking right at you, Mr. Wilson.

A vanilla game plan – I-formations and Maurice Wells off-tackle aren’t going to cut it. We’re not asking for double-reverses and Annexations of Puerto Rico. But mix things up. Pass on first down. Stop trying to hit the fly routes 257 yards downfield. Bootleg with a TE dragging across the middle. Screens with Beanie. Use Terrell Pryor. Anything to make the game exciting.

There are plenty more reasons, but let’s not dwell on the negatives. Remember, Buckeye fans, it’s us against the world. We need all the positive energy and karma we can muster. Let’s move on and think about actually winning the game!

Comments

  1. Ok, read your last paragraph. You just contradicted your entire post. Let’s muster all the positive energy we can, and let’s write how our team is not going to win. Real nice. I was having a pretty good day too.

  2. Annexation of Puerto Rico…Is that a Little Giants quote? I think it is…

    +1 to you good sir…

  3. I’m glad you brought up conservative play calling. Heacock must let the reins loose on defense. Sanchez is a unique athlete for Pete Carroll. A far cry from pocket statues like Palmer or Leinart, Sanchez has decent mobility, and I would not be surprised if Carroll designated a few running plays for him, given OSU’s troubles against mobile quarterbacks. This is not to suggest that he cannot throw; clearly he can be lethal when he has the luxury of time in the pocket.

    I’m not sure the OSU staff can assess Sanchez based on his performance against a Virginia team that was clearly outmatched at every position on both sides of the football. They could review the film on Sanchez against Oregon last year; it becomes apparent that the most effective way to stymie that Trojan passing attack is to bring pressure on Sanchez and force him into poor throws or, better yet for the Buckeyes, inept decisions.

    I am pretty confident that if OSU rushes 3 and drops back 8 into zone coverage, Sanchez will torch them with underneath routes and move the chains all game long. I do believe the best way to stop a spread offense or a mobile quarterback is to attack, attack, and attack. The past two seasons, Heacock has clearly implemented a “read and react” defense; it is apparent that by the time the linebackers and secondary have “read” the play, that the ball carrier is already 5-7 yards past the line of scrimmage. I do believe that OSU has the best secondary in college football, especially this weekend with the return of Donald Washington (who, btw, I think should start in place of Chekwa-see Illinois game last year). With that kind of talent in the defensive backfield, Heacock must take risks and send pressure early and often and contain Sanchez in the pocket.

    Of course, the best counter to undisciplined blitzing is a strong running game; the Buckeyes must stop the rushing attack of McKnight, Gable, and Co and force Sanchez into throwing situations. Accordingly, the interior D-line must step up and drastically improve their play in order for OSU to have a fighting chance. If guys like Worthington, Denlinger, and Abdullah step up and attenuate the running threat, the pressure is on Sanchez to convert third and longs. If this can happen, the Buckeyes better send the wolves and trust the secondary.

  4. ysmbuck:

    all good points, but don’t expect any of the following

    1. an aggressive game plan out of the D, it just is not in the nature of Heacock and his mentality has unfortunately permeated the entire D. The D simply doesn’t have an attack mentality at all.

    2. Worthington, Delinger or Abdullah to do anything. I don’t think these guys all of a sudden developed any talent. They are what the are: so-so at best. It’s up to Wilson and Heyward … those are our only hopes of putting pressure on the QB b/c our brilliant Coordinator is afraid to leave our Db’s by themselves

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