With four minutes and forty-six seconds to go in the third quarter Saturday night, Ohio State was up 27-13 against Nebraska.  The game was almost exactly two-thirds over when starting QB Braxton Miller went down with an ankle injury.  For no readily discernible reason, Joe Bauserman was still considered the next best option and suddenly, the game was turned upside-down.

Don’t worry, People Who Are Concerned About The Fragile Emotions Of A 26-Year-Old, this isn’t about Bauserman.  Yes, he is completely ineffective as a quarterback, striking fear in no one besides the sideline photographers and random passers-by who find themselves dodging, Neo-style, his weapons of mass incompletion.

No, this is about the remarkably bad play-calling put in place in Miller’s absence.  Play-calling that was even more maddening in light of the downright inspired gameplan up until that point.

This is about 99% of the offense being controlled by 1% of the coaching staff’s brain power.

This is Occupy Walrusball.

Now, you may be tempted to blame the defense for the poor tackling and bad coverage that fed Nebraska’s furious comeback.  And that’s valid; the D certainly had their fair share of missed opportunities.  But when you look at that nightmare sequence again, you’ll see that Ohio State had three consecutive drives that each took just a minute or less off the clock in the fourth quarter.  Two of those drives occurred when the Buckeyes either had the lead or were tied.

With 11:35 remaining in the game and a 27-20 lead, Jim Bollman called a drive in which Bauserman (who was 1-5 for 13 yards at that point) threw the ball twice, including on first down.  The running back on that drive was Jordan Hall, despite the fact that Carlos Hyde had been far more effective the entire game and already had a huge TD run under his belt.  Hall gained 2 yards on second down.

Had Bollman done what first-year Husker OC Tim Beck did when his team finally took the lead and ran the ball on every play, he could have at the very least run an extra two minutes (give or take, depending on actual snap time and play duration) off of the game clock.  If it’s Carlos Hyde doing the running, then it’s a safe bet that he even converts a first down or two (his first rush on the next drive went for 12 yards, his next for 4, then Bauserman threw the pick) and the drive is extended further, perhaps even resulting in some points.  Even if we failed to score, it would have put a serious damper on Nebraska’s comeback, forcing them into more predictable play-calling.

It’s unfathomable to me that anyone with a two touchdown lead would be calling pass plays late in the game at all, let alone calling pass plays for a quarterback who lost his starting job because of ineffective passing.  How can any defense be expected perform to their potential with virtually no time to regroup or strategize?  How much more can we take?

What Is Our One Demand?

Fire. Bollman. Now.