With the first Buckeye loss of 2011 behind us – which only counts as our 18th loss in eleven regular seasons – one can only think that there are more losses to come this year, considering how poorly we played.

If you didn’t notice, our beloved Buckeyes only completed 4 passes throughout the entire 60-minute game. To add salt to that wound (or should I say, carnage), Miami’s defense spent a good portion of the game sticking 8 and 9 in the box, which left our receivers in one-on-one coverage.

How can you win football games when your first, first-down completion through the air occurs on the last play of the game? Well…you don’t. One Heisman Trophy winning Troy Smith threw only 4 completions in the 2007 loss to Florida in the BCS National Championship Game. Ironically, the 35 total yards thru the air, that horrible game in Arizona, came in coincidentally equivalent to Ohio State’s 35 yards against Miami on Saturday night.

Rather than beating this up (and depressing myself) any further, let’s discuss a little about what’s going wrong, from a big picture standpoint…because, well…it could’ve been worse, right? Man…it could’ve been a lot worse.

Like any corporation, success starts at the top. Look at Steve Jobs, for instance, who took a struggling Apple, Inc. from average sales to a company that has more income than the US Government. Fortunately for Apple, Steve Jobs, as the Chairman and CEO, was allowed to do whatever he felt best for the company, consumer, shareholder, and ultimately profits.

At Ohio State, Fickell can’t even dictate what shirt he wants to wear (I’ve received inside information that Fickell can’t stand the new coach’s polos, which is why he keeps wearing the black jacket you see him in, on the sidelines each game….even when it was 99 degrees against Akron).

Point being, Fickell is handcuffed by Gene Smith, Ohio State, and the overall athletic department. Why can’t he choose his own shirt? Well…because he’s the “Interim” Head Coach. It’s the same reason he can’t pick his own assistant coaches or make any other more/less important decisions on his own.

You make a coach “have to win” in this manner, and it adds a new facet to how the game is played. Who do you start at quarterback? The 5th year Senior, who will be gone after this year, no matter what…or the true freshman, with more athletic ability – the QB of the future? In practice, Braxton Miller has been turning the ball over significantly more than Joe Bauserman – which is likely the single biggest deciding factor why Miller has spent most of his time on the sidelines.

So…it doesn’t matter how much energy Braxton brings to the game and thus, the “chances” of making big plays with his athleticism or uncanny arm. What matters most is to NOT MAKE MISTAKES! Sound familiar?

Bauserman, being the more conservative QB, might’ve been the better mistake-free choice, but you have to wonder. When things get as bad as they did on Saturday night, why not let the QB of the future take over. Again, Bauserman’s out after this year – why not get the new guy some experience so that we can start next year, screaming up the AP Poll? The answer, again, is job security. I don’t blame Fickell – he’s in a tough place.

Imagine trying to replace a car engine with no power tools – just a wrench & screwdriver – it would be a tough, long project, no doubt. This is like a coach trying to win with a young team and suspended players, all the while with his hands cuffed from the top of the food chain.

What would YOU do to keep YOUR job? One thing is for certain…it’s going to be a long year for Buckeye players, coaches, and fans alike.

Caught with our pants down…that’s what today’s game looked like. It took me back to the OSU vs. Cincinnati game a few years ago, except that game was much, MUCH more stressful. In fact, my life insurance company is still pissed off that I watched that game. The probability of my death occurring before my insurance policy expires, increases…with every one of these games I watch. However, now that I’m at home, sitting on the couch, thinking about bedtime already (at 8pm), now is as good a time as any to analyze this game, answer some questions, and see if we can figure out what went wrong.

In the spirit of good psychology, let’s first talk about what went right. We ran the ball well – at least, until we put it on the ground during that crucial point in the 4th quarter with 3 minutes to go. Carlos Hyde has been impressive, considering most never expected to see him on the field (except maybe on Senior day in a couple yrs with his parents). There’s no doubt, the suspensions the Buckeyes have incurred have caused some of the young guns to step up and find some new fire. But…other than running the ball pretty well, the only other thing I liked was the “W” a the end of the game.

Okay – so what went wrong? First off, our offensive line didn’t really seem to stand up to a Toledo d-line that we clearly out-weighed. Being man-handled like rag dolls was a little embarrassing, considering we’re a D-1, Big Ten school playing a MAC Toledo.

Secondly, when we the O-Line was given their coffee and decided to join the party, Bauserman had a really tough time finding an open receiver. Don’t get me wrong, he really impressed me last week – and his improvement was impressive, even just since the Spring Game in April. I’m just not sure he wasn’t shaken up a bit by being hurried so much those first couple quarters…because when given time (and I mean, a lot of time on quite a few snaps), he didn’t check off his receivers like he did last week.

Third, our Special Teams stole a little from the O-Line’s bag o’ tricks by letting a linebacker fly thru the middle of our punt team. Tressel, if he was watching, would not have been proud of this disappointing play.

Fourth, my boy Rod Smith (as mentioned earlier) put the ball on the ground for the second week in a row…his second game as a Buckeye. What’s annoying about this stat is that he actually looks to have better field awareness than Hyde. But, there was no excuse for dropping that ball. With that said, I can’t beat him up too bad. I remember a certain player who had a lot of trouble back in the 90′s as a young running back with just this kind of thing. After keeping focused, improving his game, and sticking with the Buckeyes for 4 years, Eddie George became a Heisman Trophy winner and one of the NFL’s best running backs – probably one of the best, ever.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, our defense looked like anything but the Silver Bullets. I’m not taking anything away from Toledo here. They threw the ball well, ran some good plays, and they’re pretty fast for a MAC school…but there was no excuse for the mass quantity of missed tackles we experienced throughout the game. Again, embarrassing – film tomorrow is going to suck for a lot of players.

The only other glaring question on Buckeye fans’ minds is, “Where was Braxton Miller?” There has been talk since before the season started, that Bauserman and Miller would be splitting snaps behind center…but last week, Miller got one series in the first half (which consisted of some poor blocking and a bad snap) and then a little tick with the 2′s. Today??? Nothing… So, why? We know he’s not injured. He’s obviously a good athlete. I only have two possible answers. Either he has an attitude problem and the coaches are having a hard time putting him in the game because of said attitude…or, Bauserman, in practice, has shown himself to be the better of the two Ohio State QB’s. The only reason I mention the possibility of a “Braxton attitude problem” is because, for the second game in a row, I’ve looked for him on the sidelines and have a hard time finding him. When I do finally locate the offensive #5, he’s usually on the bench or off to the side, away from the action, rather than standing next to the other two QB’s calling plays into the game, like he should be. Very strange…

We’ll just have to see what happens at Miami. Fickell mentioned today in the post-game press conference that, contrary to original plans, he still considers the team to have 2 QB’s going into Miami next week. He said that today’s game was “flowing” in a manner where he didn’t want to take Bauserman out of the momentum of the game. We’ll have to see what happens.

Looking into next week, while the Buckeyes aren’t playing a Miami of the early 2000′s, they’re still a bigger, quite possibly better team than we saw in Toledo today. Furthermore, we’re going to be playing them on their turf – which will be a big test for our very young team. Hopefully, Fick can teach these kids a thing or two about keeping their heads up and learning from their mistakes. I certainly hope today’s game isn’t going to be the level of performance we can expect for the rest of the season. Still, I remain optimistic, and with that said, I say, “GO BUCKS!”

Where were you on 9/11/2001? You have to take a step back when looking at a Buckeye football program on Saturday morning when noticing the birth dates of most players. The incoming freshmen, for instance, were a mere 8 yrs of age when the two towers collapsed on that somber day in September, 10 years ago. Maybe they can remember how they felt, where they were, what they were doing when their school all-but-shut-down while everyone – teachers and students – stood, plastered to their television sets.

I remember just being hired out of college (at Ohio State, of course) for my first job. Being a financial advisor, I was told by those hiring me that this was “the best time to get into the business.” The market had been plunging for over a year & a half at the time and most analysts figured the bottom was any day around the corner. My employer at the time thought, “You guys coming into the field now – everyone you work with will be buying in, low…you’ll make everyone money and you’ll look like a hero.”

It wasn’t 2 months after being hired that Sept 11th came. I was up already and after the first plane hit, I was glued to the TV. The second hit as I watched and something in my gut told me that “this had to be a terrorist attack.” The next thing on my mind was the fact that, with such large planes (and fuel capacity) that hot fuel could potentially melt the support beams holding the buildings up. My wife (then girlfriend) were glued to the TV, watching all those brave men and women rush into the towers to help all they could reach safety on the ground….and we all know what happened next.

I’ve heard some folks complaining about all the 9/11 coverage this week on TV and it bothers me. I think you can skip a week of Modern Family or Jersey Shore. We need reminders like we’re seeing on primetime this next few days. We all forget too soon, the things that hurt us most, and I think we need a reality check from time to time – just to remind us of how mortal we are, who our friends are, and of course, knowing who our enemies are and what they still think of us today, even after killing so many people.

So, while we watch tomorrows shalacking of Toledo, let us not forget the men, women, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and friends that were lost 10 years ago, Sunday.

GO BUCKS…

Okay I remembered I didn’t really like the frog but couldn’t pinpoint why.  Then after hearing its name I knew.  m*ch*g*n J. Frog, WTF? Who names a frog that ridiculous name? Then I began to chuckle at the parallels that between this frog and m*ch*g*n’s current football program. Lets examine further.

The two both seem unassuming at first glance. Then amazingly early on they sing and dance and look quite incredible, when no one is watching (IE when the games don’t really matter as much) Then you move into the time when you get to show your worth and earn a conference championship or bowl berth for that matter.  And the frog fails to perform for anyone to see, and the football team for three years at least seems to follow suit.

Sad conclusion to my idiotic thought process.  I hated m*ch*g*n J Frog a lot more ten years ago than today.  Now he seems a mere laughable ironic comparison point.

Kaptain

As if that wasn’t enough, after spending the night in Chicago only to walk away with not-a-single award, he complains about how much worse the other QB’s in the Big Ten are….talks about how, since he didn’t make 1st or 2nd team All-Big-Ten, that he’s thinking about quitting football. 

Never fail – that brief, dramatic look into the insecurities of Terrell Pryor didn’t last long, as he went on to say (when talking about the QB’s who DID win 1st or 2nd team for either of the Big Ten All Conference awards), “You put me in any of their offenses – any of them – and I’d dominate,” Pryor told the newspaper.  “What those guys do, that’s what they’re supposed to do in their offense.  They carry the ball 30 times a game. I carry the ball maybe five times.  There are times I didn’t even run the ball in a game.  You put me in any of their offenses, where I can run the ball and have a choice to throw, I would dominate college football.”   

Wow…

And this is after (but before he was caught) exchanging autographs for tatoos, selling his Big Ten Championship Ring, and (I’m not sure if this is worse, but) selling one of his 2 pairs (at the time) of the coveted Gold Pants for one of the two years he beat m*ch*g*n. 

So now, he, Davier Posey, Boom Herron, Mike Adams, and Solomon Thomas make a so-called “pact” and walk into Athletic Director, Gene Smith’s office to say that they’re all coming back.  This is right about the time where this article could quickly turn into a “Choose Your Own Adventure Story.” 

1) If they all come back, what then?  Well, of all the players, I suppose Boom, Thomas, Posey, and Adams could all be impact players that could instrumentally help the team to the first ever Big Ten Championship Game….even if they aren’t joining their teammates till 1/2 way thru the season.  Ohio State has a great D & O-Line and a stacked roster at RB.  So, one could make the argument that it might be tough for Thomas, Adams, & Herron to step right into the flow of things and expect to start.  Posey on the other hand is a shoe-in, assuming he doesn’t let anymore perfect passes fall thru the apple basket while he runs, unguarded, into the corner of the endzone (man…that’s a highlight – or lowlight – that I’d never want on my reel).  Bottom line, all four of these players have a good chance of playing because it would “make sense.”

2) Pryor on the other hand…what do you do here if you’re Jim Tressel?  First off, do you even start him (or the other above-named players) in the Sugar Bowl?   Do you allow the other four to play after the 1st quarter…but maybe sit Pryor the entire game…for his arrogant comments and actions that have easily embarrassed the program, coaches, and the school? 

Then comes the tougher (or toughest) question.  He says he’s coming back.  True, he also says he’d dominate college football if he was on any other team.  But after all the self-indulgence, now he’s coming back to finish out his senior year?  Could it be because he’d never succeed in the Pay-for-Play league without another year of training?  Or maybe he realizes that, in the NFL, QB’s don’t get to choose the plays, nor do they run all over the field – that’s the RB’s job. 

In LeTraitor fashion, “What should Tressel do?”  Ohio State has a seemingly cool & collected #3 QB in Kenny Guiton.  Potentially a bigger star, the class of 2011 #1 recruit in Braxton Miller out of Huber Heights.  Regardless of who starts at the beginning of the 2011 regular season – and takes the Buckeyes thru the first five games of the season (Akron, Toledo, Miami (Fl), Colorado, & M*ch. State) – should that starter be allowed to play throughout the season, even if Pryor does come back and becomes eligible for the inagural game vs. Big Ten Newcomer, Nebraska?

Maybe it’ll be a game-by-game decision, where we see how Guiton or Miller plays out the first five games?  Maybe Tressel will plan on starting Guiton (or worse yet, Bauserman), red-shirting Miller, and just waiting on Pryor to come back.  The question then becomes, can the Buckeyes beat those first 5 opponents while simply “waiting for the first half of the season to finish” while they wait for their self-proclaimed dominator? 

Time will tell, Buckeye Fans will just hope Pryor can dominate at Ohio State – and that he won’t spend the rest of his life preaching how much better off he would’ve been at any other school in the nation.

If you know where I was this week, don’t comment.

This year I am thankful for Rich Rodriguez. I would also like to give thanks to everyone who came out to party with us before and sometimes after games. This year was really fun and the m*ch*g@n tailgate was especially a sweet success. We started off early and finished strong. The game went about as expected as Denard “injury” Robinson broke a toenail early and took any chance m*ch*g@n had of making it a contest with him to the locker room. He returned briefly, but somebody looked at him wrong, which hurt his ego and forced him back to the sidelines. Anyway, enjoy the photos and video:

6:30 AM:

 
 
That music was from some DJ the tailgate next to us hired. Actually, I hope they didn’t pay him anything. I saw them tailgating at 7:00 PM on Friday night when I dropped off my car and tent and I’m pretty sure they didn’t go to bed. We, however, are a little old so the first people in our crew got there around 5:30 AM.
 
 
The rest of the day went a little like this:
(if the youtube video covers the pictures, close the picture window, scroll down, and click on the picture again. If this doesn’t make sense to you, pretend you didn’t read it)