End of first half

Score: 28-3

Complete domination. What else is there to say?

Lewis is a speedy, dangerous QB who looks to be covered in axle grease. Looks like IU has found another Randle El. He’s fun to watch.

The Bucks started a bit flat, they dropped three sure interceptions. Smith missed his first four passes, but has still managed to throw four TDs in the first half, and has about 40 yards rushing himself. One of the TDs was a spinning, hurdling, Heisman-highlight-reel pass to (who else) TGII in the end zone. Another touchdown was to (who else) Gonzo, who was so wide open that he actually told Troy to hold off on throwing the pass for a moment so that he could finish the crossword puzzle he was working on. Another stellar day so far for the G².

Lots of TFLs and sacks, including one before the half ended that dropped Lewis back over 20 yards, and that was before his intentional-grounding penalty. Troy took over, and got a cleanup TD right before the half, to the 6’7″, 255 lb third-string freshman TE Ballard. The coaches said that they were going to get Ballard into the game this week, and he sure paid off with a fantastic one handed horizontal grab in the end zone.

The Hoosiers are a second-half team this year, with two comeback victories (one against Iowa), so the second half should be even more exciting than the first.

End of game

Final score: 44-3

What to write about? TG II throwing a TD? Smith passing for four TDs in a single half, something not done since Bob Hoying in 1994? The OSU TEs outscoring G²? Antonio Smith’s “antoine winfield”-like day? Two more INTs for the defense? Holding IU to 3 yards rushing, and ~180 total?

Most complete game of the year. Throw your own analysis in the comments.

The Ohio News Network (ONN) has reached an agreement with ESPN to rebroadcast Saturday’s OSU game against the Indiana Hoosiers.

The game will still be carried live only on ESPNU, but will be repeated in its entirety at least twice on ONN: Saturday at 11 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m.

It’s not a perfect solution, but ESPN is clearly throwing a bone to the several million people they were initially willing to alienate. Since all cable companies in the central Ohio area carry ONN as part of their basic cable package, it seems ESPN wasn’t willing to risk the negative publicity without having done something “magnanimous” in return.

The folks over at the M-Zone have posted an interesting article on the inherent faults in using score to determine rankings.

They argue that, to a superficial poll voter, UM’s 17-10 victory over Penn St. “looks” worse than OSU’s 28-6 victory over the same team, even though UM played a more thorough game against the Lions than OSU did. I believe they have a valid point on the rankings issue.

However, comparing OSU to UM by their performances against Penn St. is comparing apples to oranges. The OSU/PSU matchup occurred during a mini monsoon. Over half an inch of rain fell during the game, mixed with 24 mph winds. Not exactly conducive to OSU’s spread offense! Something else to consider is that UM didn’t play against Morelli for a full game. Who knows what might have transpired if Morelli had been behind center, during PSU’s fourth-quarter rally?

Instead, an “apples to apples” comparison of OSU/UM should use the Spartans as the common opponent. Both teams have a long history of tough, close games against MSU. The weather was a non-factor for both games. And, both games occurred in back-to-back weeks for Sparty. The only major difference was that UM had the game at home, while OSU travelled to East Lansing. Other than that, it’s a pretty fair comparison.

So, with that in mind, here are some relevant stats:

Offenses vs. MSU defense

OSU’s offense rolled up 421 yards, UM got 351. Also, the Buckeyes got their standard four offensive touchdowns. Carr’s offense was credited with four TDs, but for the purposes of comparing OSU and UM, we can all agree that UM only managed three “real” TDs (no, it’s not a touchdown when you catch the ball and half your body lands out of bounds). OSU rushed for 182 yards, UM for 211. Smith passed for 234 yards at 68.2%; Henne, 140 yards at 64.7%.
— Advantage: OSU —

Defenses vs. MSU offense

Both allowed ~60 yards rushing (UM 60, OSU 63), but UM’s pass defense was exploited for over 250 yards. As a result, UM allowed a total of 312 yards, while OSU allowed 198. The Bucks forced eight punts; the Wolverines forced four.
— Advantage: OSU —

Special teams vs MSU

Both teams went 1 for 1 on FGs, but TGII returned another punt for an OSU TD.
— Advantage: OSU —

In summary, OSU played a much more impressive game against the Spartans than Michigan did. UM was impressive against MSU, but it wasn’t the utter domination that the Bucks employed the following week. Also, it’s worth repeating again that UM had the Spartans at home, a luxury that OSU did not have.

It’s also worth noting that Michigan’s earlier game against the Gophers also revealed some weaknesses in the UM defense and game plan. Big Blue gave up more rushing yards against the Gophers than all of their previous opponents combined, and Payne had a big day against the UM secondary. Most importantly, though, was Carr’s refusal to put Minnesota away, which allowed Minnesota to rally late in the game. (Yet another team that UM has allowed to rally in the fourth quarter!)

IMHO, UM is one of the three most consistent teams in the country, along with OSU and Texas. UM has shown itself to be beatable, though. The rushing defense is among the best, but hasn’t yet played against a team that moves the pocket, has a mobile QB, or has a speedy “scatback” type of tailback. Also, the secondary is giving up way too many yards (they’re 74th in pass defense).

To prove my point, consider the following question: Would fans of Big Blue feel confident heading into a fourth quarter tied with an Iowa or Ohio State? As an OSU fan, I know I would. What happens when Michigan plays a team that has success against Hart? (Yes, it will happen sometime.) Would fans feel confident putting the game into Henne’s hands? The 50% CPR performance he put up against PSU is not enough to cut it against a good defense, and definitely not good enough to challenge whatever team makes it to Glendale.

Lloyd Carr, Ron English, and Mike DeBord prepare the game plan for Ohio State.

Clearly, some of the coaching issues that were present last year are still there. Right now, UM’s talent is winning games, not the coaching. Consistency from the defensive front four and from Hart is what’s currently keeping the UM season alive, but Carr and his assistants are making the same mistakes all over again. If I was a UM fan, I’d worry about what will happen when the team encounters a defense that can corral Hart, or that has no problem moving the pocket for the entire game.

Plus, keep in mind that Carr hasn’t had any of his regular-as-clockwork “big chokes” yet… which should make any UM fan nervous enough. The longer they take to happen, the more likely they’ll happen against the good teams UM will face at the end of the season.

No… this is not just an opinion. With his most recent effort, Troy Smith’s career QB rating is 158.1, making him the all-time Big Ten leader among quarterbacks.

Smith’s rating has been leading all along, but only in the past few weeks has he surpassed the career 300-completion benchmark recognized by the NCAA for record consideration.

Smith completed 85% of his passes against BGSU last Saturday, including three TDs and no INTs. All of that even though he only played for two quarters, and a single series in a third.

Here are a few relevant stats of his season so far:

The PSU game is the only aberration in the above table. However, those who saw the OSU/PSU matchup remember the flooding rains that occurred during the game (and no, we’re not just talking the flood that came from Joe Pa’s pants). I’ll let your level of OSU love/hatred determine how much slack you should give Smith for that game — but you’d be lying if you said OSU’s opponents aren’t doing rain dances every Friday evening.

As someone who’s been watching Smith since he was a young’un, his most impressive stat to me isn’t available via ESPN or CFBstats.com. The most impressive thing about Smith is (1) that he doesn’t make bad decisions, and (2) he plays his best in big games.

To me, Smith is an amalgamation of the best parts of all the OSU quarterbacks from the past decade. He’s got Stanley Jackson’s feet, Joe Germaine’s arm, Craig Krenzel’s leadership, and his own unnatural football instinct and athleticism. Watching him is, well, just plain “satisfying.” I don’t worry about him making some stupid decision to throw the ball into triple coverage, or pounding into a linebacker headfirst, or taking a 20 yard sack instead of throwing the ball away. One gets the impression that the entire game moves in slow motion to him.

And it seems like #10 is just hitting his stride. In 2004, he flipped the switch at the end of the season. In 2005, he also peaked at the end of the season. And, as OSU prepares to head into the last half of this 2006 season, check out the numbers from his most recent games:

Number of TD passes in the last two games: 7
Total rushing yards in each of the past three games: 18, 20, 54
CMP %, past three games: 54.5, 64.0, 85.0
Rating (again, for emphasis), past three games: 95.27, 179.3, 214.72

Still half a season to go!