Within a day of being at Wooster, I realized that I had been dropped into college football country. Despite having decent basketball and baseball teams in the Cavaliers and the Indians, people in Ohio only seemed to care about Ohio State football. Coming from a family that spent its Sundays watching the Patriots instead of the preacher, I was unfamiliar with this level of dedication to college football. In New England, college football holds about as much weight as lumberjacking competitions or chili cook-offs. So I watched, and learned, and began to appreciate the sport a little more. And as I watched, I picked up on one little, inevitable fact that the rest of the state of Ohio seemed to be missing out on ó in a big game, Ohio State will not win.
Honestly. Bet your tuition ó then you might actually be able to pay tuition next year. Despite being Big Ten champions five times in Jim Tresselís eight-year tenure as the teamís head coach, the Buckeyes have only won one national championship, which itself had enough highly disputed calls falling in the Buckeyesí favor some people began to call them the ìLuckeyes.” The other two times the Buckeyes made it to the national championship, in 2006 and 2007, they lost pitifully to teams they were supposed to have no problem with.
As far as this weekís game, youth will dictate the game. For the Buckeyes, the main attraction is Terrelle Pryor. Pryor, who is in his second season as a starter after an over-hyped freshman year, comes into the game after a shaky performance against Navy. The only excuse a team can make when playing Navy is that offensive schemes they faced were so confusing or so outlandish that they were not prepared. Navyís defense is not even worthy of discussion. At best, you could give them a B. Ohio State, which is supposed to be one of the most explosive offenses in the country, could only manage the score 29 points. Other teams that were supposedly of the same caliber were scoring 56, 59 or even 62 points against their opponents.
On the side of USC, there is the true freshman Matt Barkley. Barkley, who threw one touchdown and completed over 75 percent of his passes, did exactly what his team needed him to do as they ran for 342 total yards, completely outpacing San JosÈ State. What was more important is that Barkley made no mistakes. Yes, he missed four passes, but none of them went to players on the other team.
Another key point to look at is the defense. As mentioned earlier, the Buckeyes looked terrible against Navy, with the only redeeming defensive play coming near the end of the fourth quarter to prevent the Midshipmen from tying the game. USC, on the other hand, is entering this weekís game with a relatively new front seven. The Trojansí heralded linebacker corps from last season is now gone, and has been replaced by sophomores and juniors who, from a first look, seem prepared for the season ahead. The key for USCís defense facing the Buckeyes tomorrow is that their secondary are all seniors, and all played against the Buckeyes last season. They will most likely force the Buckeyes to turn to the ground game, allowing the defense to focus on one area and prevent the run from becoming an effective tool.
When all is said and done, the game this week comes down to preparation. Both Tressel and Pete Carroll are heralded as geniuses in their field. Both know how to beat the other team. Both will try and exploit some weakness they believe they have found. This makes the game a lot more evenly matched than it may seem. Some people are saying this is the win to help turn the Buckeyesí luck around.
I wouldnít bet on it.