I’m mostly-AFK this holiday weekend tending to family business, but that’s no reason we can’t have a non-Ohio State playin’ Open Thread. If nothing else, make sure you catch the OU/Okie State game and have a third helping of turkey and stuffing!
Archives for November 2008
U of M? More like U of Meh
Random BuckNotes about last Saturday’s de-pantsing of the Worst Team in Michigan History:
Most Buckeye fans knew that the 21 point line was an underestimation of some sort (most of our predictions here at MotSaG were in the 40s to 10-ish range), but no question the betting lines were equalized at three TDs because of (1) the sheer size of, and (2) the optimism of, Wolverine Nation. UM fans were desperately hoping for a repeat of Bo’s first year. Alas, reality arrived in the third quarter. |
Between the number of interceptions thrown by UM’s "quarterbacks" (heh), and OSU’s ability to get them, I went into the game personally confident in a defensive score. If you have to find something positive to say about Rodriguez, it would be for keeping his QBs from challenging OSU’s secondary. 8 of 25 is pathetic, but that’s 8 of 25 with no interceptions/pick sixes. Still, it would have been nice to see Jenkins score one more TD as a Buckeye. | |
Having just given RichRod a compliment, let me give him some grief: some UM fans continue to give him a generous pass on the year, as if 3-9 has nothing whatsoever to do with coaching. I know UM has some bad players, but coaches and players fistfighting with each other on the sideline during a game? That’s a lack of institutional control, there. Tim Brewster only won a single game last year, and I don’t remember seeing Minnesota coaches and players going at it on the sideline. And wasting Feagin’s redshirt on a kick return a couple of games ago? Inexcusable. | |
Speaking of 3-9, You know your team stinks when your “little brother” rubs it in a little. “Embarrassing,” indeed. | |
Seeing a Michigan quarterback crawl off the field after a hit made me all warm and fuzzy inside. | |
Zoltan The Magnificent should have his nickname changed to Zoltan the Rockette. His freakin’ leg was up in the air more often than a Broadway show dancer’s. | |
A little more of Sam McGuffie’s entrails were just found on the OSU 22 yard line. Could someone from the UM Athletic Dept. please come and pick them up? Bring a small cooler. And give his mother some aspirin for the uterine pain. | |
THAT WAS A SAFETY. The officials gave UM a "pity spot," which kept Tressel from breaking Woody’s record for biggest margin of victory. Ah well. | |
Speaking of the officials’ pity for UM, Robo was definitely interfered with on that fourth down conversion attempt. If that had been called, UM wouldn’t have scored on the following drive. Result: Shutout. However, all in all the refs did a good job of letting the players play. They knew what game they were officiating. | |
Would someone please take Bob Griese into the dirtiest bathroom in the Horseshoe and give him a swirly? Seriously – I hope ESPN finally gets his bias and sends him to Foutsville. We get it, Bob – Woody didn’t want you playing for him, then your son played for UM, so you hate OSU. Enough already. Go away. You stink as an analyst, anyway. | |
Guess what? Mike Hart is now 0-5 against OSU. "But he didn’t play on Saturday." Yeah but he really didn’t play in 2007, either. | |
Attention Todd Boeckman: I gave you a standing ovation in my own living room. I wish I could remember you as being one of the best OSU quarterbacks ever, but I honestly can’t say that. I will instead say that you absolutely personify everything that’s wonderful about leadership, sportsmanship, and teamwork. I wish things worked out so that you had had a better offensive line, like Krenzel enjoyed. No matter what, though, I hope you have a fantastic career, wherever you go. | |
Beanie’s gone. *sniff* We want you to stay, but nobody is going to give you grief for going. Stay healthy & run angry in the NFL, dude. | |
Next year’s WRs: Hartline/Sanzenbacher/Small/Posey/Thomas. NOT BAD. Not bad at all. | |
Finally, some closing words for the Little Animal. We’ve anointed several OSU stars as "Wolverine Killers" in recent years, and his legacy deserves no less. Stars like Troy Smith, Beanie, and Ginn beat them three times. But Laurinaitis beat them four. His legacy started when he stepped in after |
And with that, we sit back and wait to see where OSU will end up on January 1st.
Congrats to Little Animal and Terrelle Pryor
A couple huge MotSaG congratulations go out to James Laurinaitis and Terrelle Pryor, who were named the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year, respectively. The awards were announced Monday night.
This should be the beginning of a plethora of awards thrown in the direction of the Ohio State players this year, and just the beginning of what Pryor will eventually be crowned with (three Heisman trophies, if you were wondering).
We’ll miss Little Animal, and welcome him into the Pantheon of Ohio State Linebackers of Destruction.
Columbus Crew – MLS Champions
While we may be Buckeye-heavy this time of year, MotSaG is still an Ohio-themed sports site and we’d be remiss if we didn’t congratulate the Columbus Crew for winning the MLS cup.
Way to go, Crew!
I wanted badly to cover the Crew last week, but since (1) we were shorthanded at MotSaG, and (2) it was Michigan week, I never managed to put a few posts together about the conference championship game against Chicago last Thursday, nor the preparation for Sunday’s title match.
The Crew won their first-ever title by beating the New York Red Bulls, behind their leader and the MLS’s best player, Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto’s three assists and fantastic play earned him the MLS Cup MVP award.
So, all in all, between the Crew’s MLS Championship, the Buckeyes’ record-setting spankification of Michigan, and Mason’s first career shutout, it was a great sports weekend in Columbus.
The only thing that would have made it better would have been for the Crew to have won the title at home. I wish the MLS would abandon this desire to make soccer look and feel like the NFL. We don’t need a neutral site for the title – let the best team with the winningest record have the home-field advantage. But that’s nitpicking at this point. Congratulations, Crew! Enjoy a well deserved winter off.
2008 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #13
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | Alabama | 25 |
2 | Oklahoma | 24 |
3 | Florida | 23 |
4 | Texas | 22 |
5 | Penn State | 21 |
6 | Southern Cal | 20 |
7 | Texas Tech | 19 |
8 | Utah | 18 |
9 | Boise State | 17 |
10 | Ohio State | 16 |
11 | Oklahoma State | 15 |
12 | Georgia | 14 |
13 | Missouri | 13 |
14 | Ball State | 12 |
15 | TCU | 11 |
16 | Cincinnati | 10 |
17 | Oregon State | 9 |
18 | Georgia Tech | 8 |
19 | Boston College | 7 |
20 | Florida State | 6 |
21 | Brigham Young | 5 |
22 | Michigan State | 4 |
23 | Oregon | 3 |
24 | Northwestern | 2 |
25 | Mississippi | 1 |
We missed last week’s Blogpoll due to my being out of town, but here is our submission for this week’s Blogpoll. It was very satisfying dropping LSU from the ranks. Also, making an appearance as the only 4-loss team, Ole Miss gets a nod for beating the current #3 team and LSU in the same season. The rest is here for your perusal and advice.
Week #13 Open Thread and OSU/Michigan Semi-live update
I’m giving Monkey the day off (though I know he’ll be active in the comments) and I’ll handle the semi-live update today. I’ve noticed that in previous semi-live blogs, I haven’t given much context to what elicited whatever comments I make, so I’ll be making an effort to giving a little more background to each comment.
(Also, I’m awaiting for some people to show up for the party, so I’ve got the game paused. I’ll catch up live as soon as I can, so this is, quite literally, a semi-live game update)
First Quarter
On 1st-and-10 Pryor rolls out to the left and throws an interception, returned to the 12. Blech.
Laurinaitis just knocked the stuffing out of Sheridan on 3rd-and-15 and then KC Lopato missed a chippy. LOL
Okay, right now the OSU offense is stuck in neutral but the turnover off the punt needs to be the little jolt that kicks it in gear. Let’s go, Pryor.
One word to describe Ohio State’s effort thus-far: Uninspiring.
Until Beanie Wells, ONCE AGAIN takes this team on his shoulders and takes care of business. He even gave a Michigan defender a mini SAoJ after the play.
Second Quarter
Pryor seems to have settled down, as he just hit Hartline, in stride, for a beautiful touchdown on 1st-and-10. That was the kind of play that was just waiting to happen. The beatdown is on.
Third Quarter
There’s not much to say right now, but Michigan has run 5 straight running plays, and they’re moving the ball rather easily. We need some big stops and big hits on defense right now.
Now we need a sustained drive from the offense. Or rip off 40 yards with Beanie. Or or gash them for 50 with Daniel “Boom Goes the Dynamite” Herron. That was nice.
Good to see that a) Ray Small is back on the field (I know he’s been fielding punts all day) and b) he’s playing well. That eighty yard punt return was smooth.
Fourth Quarter
**MotSaG Standing Ovation** for Todd Boeckman!!
Open Thread and Common Opponent Data – OSU/UM
How’s THAT for a quick season? Is it just me?
Tomorrow the top-10 ranked Buckeyes will play The Worst Michigan Team In History. Seriously. In 111 years, no OSU team has faced a statistically worse UM opponent.
UM fans, if you think that makes Buckeye fans breathe easier or act overconfident, guess again. Games like this always make me nervous. On paper, OSU should have an easier time with the Wolverines tomorrow than they had against I-AA Youngstown. Which is precisely why I’m hoping the OSU team doesn’t think of it that way. If there’s one weakness with this current class of senior leaders, it’s that time and time again they’ve failed to take the big games seriously. Cakewalking into Florida. Infighting against LSU. Choking against USC.
However, if there is a reassuring theme from the Tressel era, it’s that he’s always been successful at getting the players fired up for Michigan. Even in his one loss, the overmatched Buckeyes kept it close into the fourth quarter.
Unlike what you’ve read in the papers, The Worst Michigan Team In History did not miss out on a bowl game this season. Actually, they earned a spot in the “Horseshoe Bowl,” and that’s how the Worst Players in Michigan History are looking at it.
Below are the tables comparing apples to apples between the good and bad guys.
The tables list the opponent(s) in chronological order down the first column, and include the following ‘important’ stats: total points (Pts), total yards (Yds), total first downs (Dwns), and turnovers (TOs); for each team and its opponent (Opp).
Table 1: The Worst Michigan Team In History
Pts | Pts (opp) | Yds | Yds (opp) | Frst Dwns | Dwns (opp) | TOs | TOs (opp) | |
Wisconsin | 27 | 25 | 268 | 384 | 14 | 18 | 5 | 4 |
Illinois | 20 | 45 | 319 | 501 | 17 | 19 | 2 | 0 |
Penn St. | 17 | 46 | 291 | 482 | 15 | 22 | 1 | 1 |
Mich St. | 21 | 35 | 252 | 473 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 3 |
Purdue | 42 | 48 | 300 | 522 | 15 | 25 | 1 | 1 |
Minnesota | 29 | 6 | 435 | 188 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
NrthWstrn | 14 | 21 | 264 | 257 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 2 | TOTAL | 170 | 226 | 2129 | 2807 | 109 | 128 | 16 | 12 |
AVERAGE | 24.3 | 32.3 | 304.1 | 401 | 15.6 | 18.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 |
Table 2: Ohio State
Pts | Pts (opp) | Yds | Yds (opp) | Frst Dwns | Dwns (opp) | TOs | TOs (opp) | |
Minnesota | 34 | 21 | 414 | 268 | 21 | 18 | 1 | 3 |
Wisconsin | 20 | 17 | 327 | 326 | 17 | 19 | 2 | 2 |
Purdue | 16 | 3 | 222 | 298 | 14 | 18 | 0 | 2 |
Mich St. | 45 | 7 | 332 | 240 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 5 |
Penn St. | 6 | 13 | 287 | 281 | 14 | 18 | 2 | 0 |
NrthWstrn | 45 | 10 | 441 | 294 | 23 | 20 | 0 | 3 |
Illinois | 30 | 20 | 354 | 455 | 16 | 25 | 1 | 2 | TOTAL | 196 | 91 | 2377 | 2162 | 123 | 132 | 6 | 17 |
AVERAGE | 28 | 13 | 339.6 | 308.9 | 17.6 | 18.9 | .85 | 2.4 |