Finally, all the
distractions of the first 11 games are out of the way and we can concentrate on
what truly matters. THE
GAME. Oh sure there is a lot at
stake, but I really do not want to hear about the BCS, the Sugar or Rose bowls,
the national championship, or even the Big Ten title. It is Ohio
State and Michigan
and that is ALL we need. It is the team
with the ugly and antiquated helmets versus the beauty of our gray(silver) helmets.
It is the school with colors similar to something produced by a baby
with gastronomical issues against the pulchritude of our Scarlet and Gray. It is good versus evil, Darth Vader versus
Luke Skywalker, Louis versus Schmeling, it is Buckeyes versus weasels.
The weasels
look to be on a roll and are sooo talented that no mere college team dare dream
to beat them. They have won FIVE games
in a row!!! All the national pundits are
drooling over the inevitable demise of Ohio
State. Michigan
has great wide-outs, a good defense, a veteran
quarterback, a great running back, an awesome line. They are so talented they should probably be
ranked number one…….. in the NFC North. Those poor Buckeyes have not faced such a
juggernaut since they played Miami
in the Fiesta Bowl. Wait a minute, didn’t the Buckeyes win that game? Didn’t they defeat an unbeatable team in Tempe? You get the picture? The same formula must be used in Ann
Arbor on Saturday.
Play with great patience on offense.
Play great defense. No big plays
early in the game for the weasels on offense or defense. Send the message that this is going to be a
60 minute war(No, Kellen, not a real war!). Stuff Perry.
Watch out for the screen pass.
Pressure and hit Navarre. Punt and cover. Breaston is a terrific punt returner. On offense, be
patient. Run the ball, throw short. No sacks, get rid of
it in a hurry Craig, run if you can.
Punt. Play defense. Stop Perry.
Watch for the screen pass.
Lineman, when not
hitting Navarre,
get your hands up every time. Every
time! A tipped ball, and Navarre
has had a surprisingly large number of them, may win this game. Tackle in space. When Edwards and Avant make catches punish
them, every time. We do not need a
miracle transplant on offense to win this game.
The offense needs zero turnovers, and to get some first downs. Play for field position. Capitalize on
turnovers and weasel mistakes. Make
every field goal. Michigan
will be higher than a kite at the start.
Survive their initial wave of emotion.
Keep playing hard and physical.
Let’s see who can last the longest in a tight physical game. Hit and harass Navarre,
stuff Perry, punish the wideouts, watch for the screen pass. Create turnovers. Dominate the LOS on defense. Great tackling. Yes, the weasels have several great athletes
on offense. The Buckeye defense has
great athletes also. Oh yeah, Mr.
Referee, when their O-lineman tackle Will Smith, that is holding. Call it.
Throw the flag when their DB’s grab Jenkins and Holmes and try to pull
their jerseys off, and
for crying out loud keep that damn Lloyd Carr off the field and in the coaching
box. He should not be allowed to coach
from the hash marks, just because you let Bo get away with it for twenty
years. And finally, Mr. Referee, don’t
just assume that every time Dustin Fox breaks up pass play that he is
interfering. I know Dustin looks pale,
but he really is one of the faster players on the field. Let him play.
Quick -
name the last big game Michigan
won? Answer: The Rose Bowl following the
1997 season. Since then they have lost
early and often enough that they really had no pressure on them. The previously
mentioned five game winning streak happens to be the longest the weasels have had since 1998. We’ve won five in a row since Wisconsin
and the 19 before that!!! Let’s just get the game into the last ten minutes and
see what transpires. Our guys know how
to make plays under pressure, the weasels have not had
that experience. Coach Tress is going for his gold pants hat trick. The pressure is squarely on the weasels. We need Lloyd to be Lloyd and out coach
himself. We need Navarre
to be Navarre. Navarre
is in position to be the only UM QB I can think of to lose to OSU 3 times in a
row. He has had 7 turnovers against the
Buckeyes in his career. Can he make it
into double-figures? Can he again demonstrate his uncanny knack for finding and
throwing to the open defender? History
lesson on the origin of the ugly helmets:
Originally, the winged helmet was so the UM quarterback would be able
differentiate his receivers from the defensive backs. Pretty
clever, huh? Obviously Navarre
hasn’t caught on. We need Braylon
Edwards to run his mouth and drop more balls than a one-handed juggler. The Buckeyes are underdogs and the whole
country cannot wait for us to lose. The
media has been waiting for 25 games.
Some, though not many, are beginning to understand Tresselball. I have
heard some rumblings of respect.
Grudgingly, some are realizing that this Buckeye team is pretty
special. Think what this team has
endured and what they have achieved.
They have played the entire season with the target of being defending
national champions on their chest. They lost their best offensive player before
the first game was played. They lost the
best offensive lineman for several games.
They lost their 2nd best and statistically, their best
receiver, for the season in the 7th game. They lost their QB and
leader for 2 and ½ games. The only time
they came up short was in a nighttime monsoon in Madison
against an inspired Wisconsin team in front of drunken 9:00 PM crowd.
Yet, even then, they got off the mat to win the next five games and put themselves back in the race for everything. Why is that no big deal? Michigan
wins five in a row and you’d think they had conquered Europe. Still, most media types, await these frauds, these pretenders these
Buckeyes, to be exposed. Well go ahead,
expose them. Peel away the scarlet and
gray, remove the helmets and the shoulder pads, strip away the flesh and bone
and do you know
what will be found? Hearts,
……great big scarlet and gray
Buckeye hearts. Hearts that play
every down like their teammates depend on them.
Hearts that play every game like it matters, hearts that think college
football is more than just a step to the NFL.
Hearts that will never quit, because they know that the Buckeyes who
built their legends before them never quit.
They just line up and play as hard as they can. Every game, every down. Is that enough? It has been enough 24 out of the last 25
times. It has been enough in the last
two contests against the weasels. Still,
will that be enough on Saturday? No one
knows. What is known is it is enough
to keep us from ever, ever doubting this bunch of Buckeyes.
OK, class it’s test time. Yep,
you get to take the same quiz Woody gave the boys before our great victory in
1970. There is just one question and it
is open book.
Take out your paper and pencil and here is your question:
What are you, personally, going to do to help us beat Michigan on Saturday?
WOLVERINE.
IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER