Archives for November 2009

In heavy rotation on Columbus sports talk radio, this sound byte from UM center David Mooseman*:

“There’s no one on that [Buckeye] defense that’s that special or better than anyone else.”

Worthington: “Moosebrains said what?!?”

Uh… hey, David: Remember what happened to the last UM player who said the exact same thing? Have fun apologizing to your hospitalized quarterback, dude.

Meanwhile, UM fans who lack reading comprehension skills and a sense of humor are so desperate for bulletin board material that they are questioning the legitimacy of Mandel’s obviously fake quote.

*At the time of this posting, a brief scan of the interwebs has failed to produce the source of Mooseman’s quote. Chime in with a link when it hits.

Gregg Doyel says Everybody a loser in Ohio State’s disgusting ‘victory’.

At this point, I don’t have the mental or physical energy to rip this piece of written fecal matter to shreds. Maybe later. Maybe someone else will do a better job than I would. But I will remind you, Mr. Doyel (can I call you that, Greg with two g’s?), of one thing. Those “quitters” as you referred to them as, are kids playing amateur sports for your enjoyment and entertainment. They owe you NOTHING in terms of their effort or lack there of. To call them quitters is weak-minded and ultimately mean-spirited. Maybe you’ll think twice before you sling words like “disgusting” and “quitters” at a bunch of kids doing their best.

I think Doug Worthington and Austin Spitler might have a beef with you calling them quitters.

I had the distinct pleasure to see off this group of seniors in their final game as Buckeyes in the Horsehoe. It was a beautiful performance and everyone here at MotSaG congratulates the seniors and thanks them for four (or five) great years of Ohio State football.

Oh, and congratulations for heading to the Rose Bowl for the first time since I became a Buckeye in 1997.

Here are a few thoughts I had while sitting up in Timbuktu in C-Deck:

I am no longer a student. Haven’t been for a few years now. But sitting in the student section, I was underwhelmed at the energy of the stadium for the first three and a half quarters. Whole sections were sitting on their hands, barely into the game. I’ll have to say I was not impressed. But, to its credit, the crowd did make its presence felt in the overtime.

Going into overtime, I thought to myself, if we win the coin toss and go on defense in the closed end of the ‘Shoe, it was over. Done and done.

I couldn’t tell why, but it seemed like Iowa really nullified our D-line. It didn’t seem like they could get any pressure on Vandenberg. Kudos to Iowa for moving the pocket and coming in with a solid game plan. Iowa and Adam Robinson were able to do something no one else had really been able to do — run the ball on the OSU defense. Sure, they ended the game with something like 63 yards, but Robinson busted some nice runs.

I addition to the lack of pressure, there also seemed to be a lack of blitzes. Maybe I missed something, but it didn’t seem like OSU tried to bring too much heat against the freshman QB.

Finally, Tressel ball in full effect. I wasn’t a fan of a lot of calls in the second half, but man, it’s hard to argue with the results (at this junction). Try that nonsense against Oregon, however, and things could get ugly. But a victory and a berth in the BCS, heading to the Rose Bowl is something we can get behind.

It’s smelling like ROSES!

Tomorrow, OSU’s departing seniors will trot onto the field turf for the last time at the Horseshoe. If Cameron Heyward has his way, new Iowa QB James Vandenberg will share that same experience.

I won’t spend too much time on Iowa this week, other than to caution overconfidence on the part of Buckeye players and fans. Unlike the paper tigers from State College last week, Iowa has proven itself to be a good team, certainly the best- or next-best in the Big 10. “Team” being the best descriptor of the Hawkeyes; they’ve been behind in all but one game this year, and come from behind to win in all but one as well. That doesn’t happen to teams that aren’t unified.

Regardless of who starts under center tomorrow, the Hawkeyes will be entering a hostile environment, playing for the outright Big Ten title, and playing for the Rose Bowl berth, which gives them plenty of reasons to come out motivated. There’s a lot of pride on the line for them as well, after being told all week long that their season is over and they have no chance against the Buckeyes. All these factors, along with a QB that had a full week of practice reps for the first time in his college career, means that we shouldn’t be surprised if Iowa pulls off a surprisingly competitive game.

Having said that, though, we shouldn’t give the Hawkeyes too much credit. Iowa peaked early in the season, and had been playing with fire in the weeks prior to their loss. Check out the super-duper-canned-spreadsheet scoring margin chart (dotted lines show the computed trends):

According to the trendlines, anyway, it looks like the most competitive game for these two teams would have been in week 2.

Okay, we’ll cut this one short. This week’s questions:

Will Hurt Coleman get his last INT in the Shoe tomorrow?
Total TDs by Pryor?
Will Daryl Clark suddenly appear on the field at 3:47 p.m., having been knocked by Heyward into next week, last week?
Final Score? (Alternate: ROSES!! or No Roses!)

(el Kaiser here, letting you know about this week’s contest) The person with the closest prediction of the final score of the OSU/Iowa game will win a copy of Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State (link opens iTunes) from the iTunes Music Store. (Yes, you’ll actually have to predict a final score, not just ROSES/NO ROSES)

Released in 2004, Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State is a must-view documentary for Ohio State fans. It’s a fairly balanced look at the rivalry through the years. Former players, coaches and journalists all discuss the greatest rivalry in college sports. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it. Over and over again.

Please note: this contest is available only to U.S. residents. It is not necessary, but helpful, if you already have an iTunes account, otherwise you’ll have to make one to redeem your prize.

sportsMonkey’s predictions:
Hurt’s INT: Yes, and he’ll return it all the way to the first round of the NFL draft.
Pryor TDs: 3
Clark: Will show up confused, then immediately get sacked again.
Score: ROSES!!

el Kaiser’s predictions:
Hurt’s INT: Coleman is a ballhawk. He gets two INTs as Vandenberg does his best Stanzi impersonation.
Pryor TDs: 2
Clark: Shows up in a ball of energy, naked, and asks Coleman if he’s the legal guardian of John Connor.
Score: OSU: 31 Iowa: 15 (ROSES!)

Presented without comment:

Okay, just this comment: Yes, OSU’s defense gives up scores 81 percent of the time in the red zone. They’ve only allowed opposing offenses into the red zone 16 times. That’s less than twice per game.

Art professor Hoyt Sherman works with Pandel Savic to improve the Buckeye quarterback’s accuracy.

From the Nov/Dec 09 Ohio State Alumni Magazine:

“Sherman conducted classes for the passers and receivers designed to increase their field of vision and sharpen accuracy.

The players would sit in darkness while an abstract figure was flashed on a screen, then copy the figure from memory.

Next they took their improved perception to the practice field. Quarterback Pandel Savic was outfitted with a visor that Sherman would raise for a second to allow Savic identify his receiver, then lower, forcing him to throw blind.

The exercises dramatically improved the Buckeye’s percentage of completed passes during the season.”

An Art Professor working with the football team? What would Woody say about that?

Maybe Siciliano could learn a thing or two.

….

Tugg Speedman: No, a panda. I killed a panda
Rick Peck: Amanda?! Come on dude, I mean… tha.. that’s probably not even her real name…
Tugg Speedman: No, a PANDA!
Rick Peck: A panda?
Tugg Speedman: A sweet, cuddly, vicious, little panda