Under the Vest’s tenure, OSU has fared quite well in games following regular season losses.
Since 2001, OSU has lost 14 regular season games (four of those were from Tressel’s inaugural season). Of the 14 games that followed, the Buckeyes won 12 of them.
The two losses were the last two of a stretch of three straight losses in 2004. The average score for those 12 wins was 27-15. They came against a variety of teams, from weakling non-conference opponents, to middle-performing Big10 teams, to conference leaders, and even Michigan.
Now, before OSU fans get too confident at Tressel’s 12-2 record in these circumstances, consider that aberrant year (2004) again. If you remember that “dark year” under Tressel, those three straight losses were the catalyst that caused the coaches to give Troy Smith the nod as #1 quarterback (which Zwick’s hip injury later helped seal). New quarterback, behind a terrible offensive line. Sound familiar?
So while the stats bear out confidence in a likely OSU victory against the Wildcats this weekend, the team’s circumstance seems to mirror that of the 2004 squad.
And you know what else happened in 2004? OSU lost, at Northwestern.
However, before el Kaiser bursts a blood vessel at my perceived pessimism, I will close by reminding everyone that NW’s 2004 victory was the first against OSU since 1971, and first at home since 1958. It is just Northwestern, after all.
“Just” Northwestern? Show some respect, bud. While we’re not an OSU-style powerhouse, we have more Big Ten titles since the league expanded in 1993 than any other non-Ohio State/Michigan team (3, tied with Wisconsin).
Depending on how you look at it, since 1993 we’ve CLEARLY been better than Illinois and Indiana, better in terms of “best seasons” than Michigan State and Minnesota, and better head-to-head than Iowa. And before this season, we had the same Big Ten record since 2000 (I think) as Penn State.
If you wanna say “Just” _______, may I suggest you pick Indiana, or Illinois.
ouch, though chad has a point. northwestern has found a way to win against a good minnesota team despite losing their starting quarterback and running back. i hope our boys are fired up for this game, i think that it will be down to the wire. (lets face it, the bucks haven’t given us cause to expect anything else this season)
that being said, i think the emergence of a good backup qb could do more harm than good if not managed properly. tOSU doesn’t know anything about that…
I just want to clarify — I by no means think Northwestern will beat OSU, so don’t take my comment as any form of “smack talk”. (I’m rooting for the Cats and think they could be competitive, but OSU is still OSU after all).
I just think Northwestern deserves a little more respect for being an extremely competitive and occasionally downright good football team over the past 15 years or so. Especially when you compare NU to Indiana or Illinois (or, arguably, Michigan State and Minnesota) since 1993 — it’s not even close as to who is the better team (answer? Northwestern).