It’s good to be 2-0. Blood pressure and heart rate are returning to normal. Or at least as close as Tresselball allows. The field goal is the new “most important play in football”. Marshall misses a field goal, then blows a scoring opportunity with an attempted fake field. Nuuuuuug nails a 55 yarder and we win and the Herd thunders back across the river 0-2. A lot of good and bad with this game. Our vertical passing game looked great, ….mostly. JZ got his first taste of pressure and responded in Krenzel-like fashion by leading his team into field goal territory with time expiring. Santonio Holmes continues to impress. And of course Mike Nugent came through in the moment of need. On the negative side of the ledger are turnovers. We continue to give the ball away. Lydell’s fumble dramatically changed the game. JZ really needs to read the safeties. The long interception was almost predictable. The running game was not what it had been in game one, but wasn’t all that bad. It will be interesting to see what effect the return of Brandon Joe has on the offense. Also, Tony Pittman might add a spark. The defense continued to play well….mostly. The defense’s inability to create turnovers has me concerned, and Marshall’s ability to run the ball in the second half was puzzling. Still, if the offense would quit giving away the ball and field position, the defense would have looked pretty good. Our offense needs some short fields. I know he had his critics, but I think the loss of Dustin Fox hurts. Fortunately, we are deep in secondary talent, but his leadership will be missed. I’m not sure I like our DC on the sideline and not up in the box. Under Coach Dantonio, our defense adjusted remarkably well. Whatever may have worked against the Bucks in the first half was always taken away in the second. It remains to be seen if Coach Snyder will be as effective, especially from the sideline. This week it may be important to get our best minds a good view. The Wolfpack run more bizarre formations and trick plays than a midget circus. We knew this was a young Buckeye team and it is playing like one. This is going to be on severe road test. How can NC State not be ranked? They have 17 starters back. Yes, Phillip Rivers is in San Diego, but T.A. McClendon, when healthy looks like the second coming of a certain tailback from our recent past. This is a talented and dangerous team. They have several players who committed to the Buckeyes, but for one reason or another are now doing their thing in Raleigh. Chuck Amato, still sounds like the Godfather and wears Madonna’s sunglasses. That aside, he has really built the NC State program. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their growth now that the ACC has become such a powerhouse.
I really don’t have a feel one way or another on this game. The Buckeyes are still an unknown quantity in my eyes and NC State has only beaten 1AA Richmond in the post-Rivers era. Both teams have good speed, and good defenses. Both offenses are unproven. The Buckeyes are a bit more battle tested having played two games against decent competition. Can that overcome the home field advantage? Can the Bucks be intimidated by a stadium, which only holds 58,000? I don’t know whom the rain helps or hurts the most. The wildcard in my eyes is T.A. McClendon. If he is effective, we may struggle. If we can make the Wolfpack one dimensional, as we have so many other opponents in the Tressel era, we should win. But then there is the turnover deal. I’m sure we will give 2 or 3, but we need to force at least that many. So it may come down to whether the T.A. in oft-injured tailback’s name stands for Tough Ass or Too Achy. Lastly, we have Nuuuug and they don’t.
Two people were shot dead at a tailgate party before NC State’s first game this year. I know southerners take football pretty seriously, but I’m almost certain if a dispute required gunplay, it had to do with barbeque. Speaking of tailgating, Karen Holbrook and her morality Gestapo have reached a new low. Last weekend following the wonderful Buckeye victory, we got to watch as undercover cops wrote open container citations to 3 folks in the Fawcett Center lot. How despicable! It was so depressing we cancelled our plans to riot and burn cars on 12th Avenue later that evening. Hey, “family friendly” does not need to include the use of undercover cops harassing alums. If people are disorderly, arrest them. Leave the rest of us alone! If some areas need to be toned down, this is not the way to do it. The paranoid conspiracy theorist in me thinks Hope Taft is somehow involved in all this. Didn’t that experiment with the 18th amendment teach us anything? Please, readers, take action. They are coming for you and they want your beer! Write a letter to Ms. Holbrook, write Archie, write the mayor or your congressman. This temperance movement has gone too far and needs to be stopped.
Thank you Irish, for beating the Weasels. Finally, Coach Tyrone seems to have found somebody he can out-coach. Just don’t let it go to your head TW. Out coaching Lloyd is not exactly like knocking Ken Jennings off Jeopardy. Just see if you can get the Michigan perfecta by knocking off the Spartans this week. Irish should win.
Indiana has won to in a row! Longest streak since basketball season. Most impressive was knocking off Oregon on the road. Do you suppose Mike Bellotti wishes he could reconsider some of the job opportunities he had a few years ago. Let me think, in Buckeye years that was 34 wins and two top five rankings and one national championship and 2 out of 3 over Michigan ago.
Florida at Tennessee. Chris Leak vs. the two-headed orange QB monster. Phillip Fulmer vs. Ron Zook. Two good recruiters who couldn’t out-coach uh…..Lloyd Carr. I’ll take the home team on this one. I only say that because it is more fun to watch the Gator fans try to lynch Zook every time he loses a game. In their minds, as well as in his own, Spurrier was undefeated.
Maryland at WVU. The Mountaineers were crushed twice by the Terps last season by a total score of 75-14. However, this is in Morgantown and it is THE GAME for the Hilligans. Once again I like the home team.
LSU at Auburn. The Tigers have a QB controversy of their own. Coach Saban needs to decide whether to go with JaMarcus(Russell) for Plainmarcus (Randall). A wise man once told me never to trust anyone with two first names. I don’t know what to make of this; we have 2 QBs and 4 ½ first names. Two weeks ago LSU looked like crap in the rain, getting a zebra-assisted win over Oregon State. Last week they buried Arkansas State proving absolutely nothing. Resisting the urge to just take the Tigers in this one I’m leaning toward Auburn despite the fact that they are coached,(barely) by either Tommy Tubberville or one of the young Bowdens. I’m taking Cadillac Williams as the difference maker in this one. Mostly because I like the music in the Cadillac ads.
Bucks win another nailbiter, but keep your ponchos on til the clock hits zero.!