GAME 4
Over the
protests of my cardiologist, I’m back and ready for more Buckeye football. But wait, just when my heart rate is nearing
the normal level or as normal as it gets in football season, I learn the
Krenzel may not play this week?? Keep
the little pills handy. But this should
be a breather, right? We are playing Bowling Green, from the MAC,
correct? We do have the #1 offense going
against the #100 offense right? Oh,
sorry, BGSU has the # 1 offense in the country and OSU has the #100. Ouch. Bowling
Green, the name sounds like a
paint color for double-wides. “No, Cletus, the lime green would be too gay, and
with forest green we might not be able to even find the dad gum trailer at
night.” “Lets go with
the bowling green.” Normally this game
should have all the appeal of a Roseann vs Oprah mud wrestling contest. The way things are supposed to work is that
these in-state schools act as interchangeable punching bags. Take their beating, take their money, go home
and aspire to
mediocrity. It was the natural order of things. However some
geniuses within the NCAA decided to limit scholarships to 85 and suddenly a lot of very good
players are forced to actually play for the mid-majors as opposed to creating
depth for the big boys like God intended them to do. This may seem like a good
idea to some, but wait until we have Central Michigan playing Southern Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. See how many TV set that match up turns
on. It violates the natural order of
things. It is like Darwin
rethinking natural selection, Karl Marx comes back to KO Adam Smith, like
evolution spotting the dinosaurs two touchdowns. But this is 2003 and times are weird. The Fighting Falcons, wearing the imitation
Cleveland Brown uniforms, are in town. If the Falcons would just imitate the
Browns on the field, we should be OK.
Speaking of uniforms, this Saturday we have the battle of the truly ugly
uniforms. Representing traditional bad taste are the Wolverines in their always-hideous maize and
blue. On behalf on new-age
tastelessness, we have the Fighting Ducks of Oregon. Their new unis look like the day-glo version
of a Sprite can. This game will make us all yearn for the days of black and
white TV. Continuing along without absolutely no focus or orderly thought
process, let’s look at OSU’s
offensive offense. I
think this some how ties in with the previous discussion of ugly. Just because this year’s O-line, dresses
like Korey Stringer and Orlando Pace doesn’t mean they play like them. I can’t place all the blame on the line, some
must go to Modell Rosshall and a large amount must go to Coaches Bollman and
Tressel. I’m not sure what we are trying
to do on the ground. It would seem that
we are trying for a power attack, since we 1.) never run wide; 2.) lead with the
FB every time; 3.) Insert more TE’s and
narrow the line splits when things really get bad; 4.) run
only slowly developing plays. The I-formation is great when you can knock the other guys
off the ball with your superior offensive line and fullbacks. The I-formation is
also great for a defense trying to determine where the ball is going. The fullback or the H-back will take you to
the ball every time. Keying the guard to
the near back is simple and absolutely what opposing defenses are doing. It is not so much that they have 8 or 9 men
in the box as it is that they have 4 or 5 men in the hole.. Our longest run by someone other than the the
QB was the fullback’s one carry. A quick hitting play.
We ran wide one time, that I counted, and it nearly went all the way,
but was nullified by a holding call. My
last criticism is that if we are going to run the ball(and
maybe we should just concede the point) we need to commit to it. We seem to be calling plays for the series,
not for the game. If we don’t make
yardage (and we don’t ) on first down them we switch
to the pass on 2nd and third.
Why not commit 2 or 3 series where we are going to run on most (not
necessarily all) downs and punt if need be.
With our defense, this is not the end of the world. We run on first down and give up. It is hard to get anything established with
that lack of commitment. Running wide and trying some mis-direction (didn’t we
run Gamble on a reverse vs the Huskies?), might help. The passing game looks good, except when our
brainiac QB, thinking of
his molecular genetic homework due Monday, throws costly
interceptions. We should temper our criticism by realizing that, however ugly,
we have won 17 straight games with this offense. My suggestion, however is that
we run from the spread, which we utilized so effectively in three
overtimes. Pass first, and run
second. An effective passing game will
create some running lanes. And we do
seem capable of moving the ball through the air, which should set up the
run. Please Coach Hayes forgive me for what I just said.
This
game could play out in several scenarios.
The nightmare one would have the BG defense stymie the already-lethargic
Buckeye offense. It might see a flustered Scott McMullen, be not only
ineffective, but also create turnovers.
Is it just me, or does it seem that McMullen
has never had much interest in actually playing in games? He looks pretty good when he has played, but
I have never been impressed by his burning desire to get on the field. Josh Harris could elude and wear out the
Buckeye defender , and make plays down the
stretch. If BG pulls ahead late in the
game and Krenzel is not available, it could be scary.
A more
likely scenario, is that the Bucks defense creates
turnovers and the offense finds enough mojo to score some points. I know BG says they won’t be intimidated, and
maybe they won’t, but they have never faced a defense this good, this fast and
this physical. It will take its toll. My
bet is that Will Smith is fast enough to catch Josh Harris. What he does with
him at that point is entirely up to him.
Our receivers are too big, fast and good. Yes the Falcons,
went into Ross-Aide and beat a good Purdue team. But Ross-Aide is not the Shoe and Purdue is
not Ohio State. The Boilers have a long and ugly history of
losing to MAC teams. The Buckeyes do
not. Many have said that sooner or later
the Buckeyes will lose to a MAC team or an in state rival. Maybe they will, …sometime…..just
not this year. Bucks 35 – Falcons 14.
.