All Things Buckeyes

The Chaos That Never Was:

Championship Weekend has come and gone and unfortunately, the Buckeyes did not make the College Football Playoffs to defend it.  We had our chance to set ourselves out, but simply but it wasn’t in the cards on that day.  That still feels like a freshly cut wound that had been in contact with salt or alcohol.  It still hurts but not as bad as the week that we blew our shot to repeat.  I for one wanted to see a rematch of the Sugar Bowl from last years Playoffs, but my dreams were dashed by Geiger’s last second field goal to all but doom our chances at making the playoffs.  I am salty but it won’t ruin or deter me from being loyal to my Buckeyes.

Florida had no chance at stopping the Tide and the Tarheels and the Trojans “tried”.  I love the College game because there is always a chance for someone to get upset or beat.  It is the name of the game.  Unfortunately, it did not happen for the Buckeyes.  I still love this team and I still know that we could play with anyone in the field of four, but let us not focus on the negatives and let us all just focus solely on what we have left for this season.  Bowl Season.

Let’s Have A Fiesta:

Well if you live under a rock, which I seriously doubt, you now know who made the field of four for year two of the College Football Playoffs.  Clemson sits at number 1 and they will be matched up against number 3 Oklahoma team.  Number 2 Alabama will go up against number 4 Michigan State team.  Both matchups are as expected.  The Orange Bowl game has the potential to become a good old fashioned shootout.  The Cotton Bowl game is the opposite and is solely about both defensive units.  It is amazing BUT I will be biased and say that I would’ve preferred that rematch that I talked about earlier.  That is neither here nor there and we did blow it.  So there are and there should be no excuses really.

Now since we finished 7th in the Playoff Standings, we were chosen for a date with the Golden Domers of Notre Dame.  This is an intriguing matchup for me because I pay close attention to the recruiting aspect of things and there are a couple of players on the opposite team that the Buckeyes admired.  Kizer, who is from Ohio wanted to play for the Buckeyes but he never received an offer out of high school.  Another player was a highly sought after Linebacker Jaylon Smith.  I wanted him to be a part of that years class but the lure of the Irish was too strong to overcome and by the looks of it Daelin Hayes will also most likely spurn the Buckeyes for the Irish as well.

This matchup will be intense and hotly contested, but I for one hope that the Buckeyes come out with the rage and the grit that made them so dangerous in the last years Playoffs.  I hope they do what they did to that Team Up North.  A lot of the senior would love to go out with a bang and to topple the Irish on January 1st would be a season saver.  The season was not a complete loss but it could’ve been better.

The Rutgers D-Ash:

Well it happened again, another valuable positional coach was lured away from the Buckeyes to fill a once vacant Head Coaching gig.  I am not bitter but he will be sorely missed.  Coach Ash was our meal ticket into Texas and that will be hard to replace or replicate.  I wish Coach Ash luck and I for one hope that Coach Meyer and Company hit another home run for his replacement.  I thing that it would be cool to have former Buckeyes DB’s such as Winfield and Gamble coach the kids up at Ohio State or at least serve as someone who will teach technique but not have the title of coach.  The word currently escapes me but you know what I mean.  No worries though, Coach Ash will coach the secondary during the Fiesta Bowl.  Let us all focus on the new task at hand.