Taking a look at the Buckeyes, the Big Ten and the rest of college football through numbers and facts, with a touch of twisted logic. Setting the record straight since 2007:
The push for 800 wins: A poster in the Front Row this week mentioned that Ohio State was just three wins away from 800 wins in its football history. The Buckeyes would become only the fifth team in major college football history to reach that plateau. Michigan (869), Notre Dame (824), Texas (823) and Nebraska (815) are the others. Ohio State sits at No. 4 on the all-time list for winning percentage (.714) behind leader Michigan (.745), Notre Dame (.739), and Texas (.718).
Of note though is that Ohio State’s strong run under head coach Jim Tressel has launched the Buckeyes to the top of the list in winning percentage since Babe Ruth made his Major League debut; that’s 1914 for you folks not up on the Sultan of Swat’s career. From the beginning of the 1914 season through the end of the 2007 season, there is no major college team that has a better winning percentage than Ohio State (.736).
Also mentioned by the poster was the fact that if the Buckeyes start out at 3-0 this season, then win No. 800 will have come at the hands of Pete Carroll and Southern Cal. That would add a little spice to the win for Buckeye Nation.
No respect: Obviously, the Buckeyes and the Big Ten took another hit in the nationwide perception of the level of ability and play for the team and the league. It is well-documented that the Buckeyes have trouble with the SEC. The “oh fer” against the SEC by Ohio State in the bowls has been screamed by slack-jawed yokels from Tuscaloosa to Columbia and everywhere in between. At the risk of hyping up the SEC even more, it’s also important to mention that Ohio State has a losing record against only one conference: the SEC. The Buckeyes are 7-11-2 against those semi-pros from Dixieland.
Rose Bowl wishes: It was just over 10 years ago that Ohio State won the Rose Bowl in dramatic fashion with a last minute comeback against Jake Plummer and Arizona State. In that game, Joe Germaine was the leading passer for the Buckeyes (ahead of the Stanley Jackson), going just 9 for 17 for 131 yards. Last year, in the BCS Championship Game, Todd Boeckman went 15 of 26 for 202 yards in a 14-point loss to LSU. The difference? The handful of turnovers that Boeckman was responsible for in the contest in New Orleans.
More on Boeckman: The quarterback led the Buckeyes with a .639 completion percentage last season, good enough for the second best single season mark in Ohio State history. When you look at his last three games in the 2007 season though, it paints a different picture. Boeckman completed just 54 percent of his attempted passes and threw six of his 14 interceptions on the season in those games against Illinois, Michigan and LSU. He did that while only connecting on two touchdown passes in the same span. Given just those stats, it’s not surprising that Ohio State won only one of those three contests.
Sack Attack? With the early departure for the NFL by Vernon Gholston, the Buckeyes defensive line lost 14 sacks (along with a physique that would scare many opponents). The top returning sack total on the defensive line is sophomore Cameron Heyward with a paltry 2.5 quarterback sacks. Ohio State has never had a gap that large between the departing sack leader and the best total of any returning player the next season. Considering that Ohio State was sixth in the nation in sacks per game in 2007, there is a lot to make up just to be at last season’s levels.
Tressel Ticker: Jim Tressel currently sits at 208 wins against 72 losses (and 2 ties) as a head coach for a .741 winning percentage. At Ohio State, he stands at 73-16 (.820), good enough for fifth in Ohio State history for wins. With a 10-win season, Tressel jumps past John Wilce (78 wins) and Earle Bruce (81) into third place. Additionally, Tressel is currently tops in Ohio State history with that .820 winning percentage among Ohio State coaches that coached three or more seasons. (As a “gee whiz” side note, Tressel is the winningest head coach in college football history with a last name that starts with the letter “T”.)
Reasons why Ohio State will go undefeated on the regular season:
· The two-loss connection: The last time Ohio State lost two games in a season (2005), they went 12-0 the next regular season.
· The passing connection: The last time Ohio State returned a quarterback with at least 2,200 passing yards was 2006 and Troy Smith led the way to an undefeated regular season. Todd Boeckman finished last season with 2,379 yards in the air.
· The All-American connection: The last time Ohio State returned a two-time All-American for his senior season, it was Michael Doss in 2002 – a 14-0 season. Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis returns this season as a senior with two All-American seasons behind him.
· The Illinois connection: The last time the Buckeyes lost to Illinois before 2007 was 2001. The next year, Ohio State went undefeated. The Buckeyes, under Woody Hayes, lost to Illinois in 1953 as well. The next season, Ohio State was undefeated in Woody’s first national championship season in Columbus. In 1967, Ohio State again lost to Illinois and in 1968, the Super Sophomores swept through their schedule and captured the national championship. And going back all the way to 1915, Ohio State tied Illinois (3-3) and went undefeated the following year as Chic Harley won All-American honors to help put Ohio State on the football map.
