If you are anything like me, then Buckeye football is at or near the top of your list of favorite things in life. At the center of this passionate devotion is 39 hours of live football that dictate the tone and direction of countless hours spent reading articles, listening to sports talk radio, watching highlights, debating with friends, and bantering on Bucknuts.
Each year these 39 hours brings us a handful of memories, surprises, and sometimes even ulcers. They solicit almost all of our emotions including optimism, excitement, nervousness, joy, apprehension, heartbreak, and when lucky exuberant pride and zeal.
This past weekend we got our first three-hour installment of Buckeye football in what will no doubt be another memorable year. While there were tense moments a plenty, overall it was a positive performance that will hopefully generate momentum going forward.
The Week Ahead
The Ohio Bobcats come into town at 0-1 after suffering a tough one-point defeat at Wyoming last week. The Bobcats are a middle of the road MAC team and will hope to start fast and stay competitive with the Buckeyes.
Outmanned across the board, staying competitive will be difficult for the Bobcats. While victory is extremely likely, below are some keys items to watch for as the Buckeyes look to ramp up for the showdown vs. USC.
Koo’s Keys to Victory
1) Getting That Swagger Going
USC is now your number one-ranked team in the country after one very impressive performance. The voters clearly saw a team consistently dominant on both sides of the ball playing at a very high level despite it being only the first game. Most likely Pete Carroll really pressed for an optimal performance with only one game before the showdown against the Buckeyes rather than taking the foot off the gas with the game in hand.
The end result of the carnage in Charlottesville was a loud statement to the rest of the college football world that USC has not slipped a notch and is confidently looking forward to do battle with the Buckeyes.
While Jim Tressel is more reserved and conservative in his coaching in blowout games, it’s critical that the Buckeyes first stringers have a dominant and confidence building performance against the Bobcats.
Last week, Tressel was content in rotating in different players, controlling the clock, and settling for field goals when in range.
Although it’s tempting to play this one safe and start looking ahead to USC, it’s essential for this team to get some swagger and continuity especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Offensively, teams improve and peak later in the season, so it should be put a point of emphasis to get the first stringers hitting on all cylinders before giving way to the reserves. Sure, it would be nice to get a lot of the second string guys reps, but with the biggest challenge of the year looming nine days away, it would be beneficial to keep the foot on the accelerator for two or three quarters.
2) Open Field Tackling
Ohio doesn’t have the abundance of playmakers that the Trojans have but are similar in regards that they like to find their guys underneath and in space. The Bobcats will look to run, dink, and dump down the field to keep the chains and clock moving.
If the back seven are able to tackle in the open field, we should see a good amount of punts from the Bobcats. However, if the Bobcats are able to elude Laurinaitis and company, it will elongate drives as well as create reason for concern the following against USC.
3) Big Plays on Defense
Major kudos to the defense for pitching an impressive shutout against the Penguins last week. Although the performance was dominant all the way around, it somewhat lacked big plays on passing downs with no interceptions and only two sacks tallied.
While that’s being somewhat picky, a quick look at Tressel’s biggest wins during his tenure will show a consistent pattern of high volume amounts of interceptions and sacks in big games.
Just as it’s imperative for the offense to click on all cylinders against the Bobcats, it will be critical for the defense to log some big plays of their own. The Buckeyes showed a whole slew of new pass rushing looks last week with modest success getting to the quarterback.
This time around it will be key to see more consistent pressure on passing downs as well as dominant coverage in the secondary.
4) Stay Healthy
This one doesn’t need to be explained. Although I would like to see an extended period of time with the first stringers in the game, Tressel will look to put this one away early to ensure that a healthy team travels across country.
5) Finishing Drives
The Ohio State offense had to settle for four straight field goals in the first half against Youngstown State. At the end of the day the offense tallied five field goals compared to only four touchdowns. Although it’s encouraging to see a great kicking game, the offense seemed to be a gear away from hitting full stride through out the game.
Saturday’s emphasis should be on finishing drives and executing in the red zone. Tressel has a diverse talent pool to spread the ball around and should look to find his play-calling groove when deep in enemy territory.
The National Scene
Before looking at this weekend’s slate of games, let’s do a quick rundown of some the winners and losers of week one.
Five Losers
Tennessee- Despite being spotted four first half interceptions, the Volunteers were never able to pull away and fell victim to a fourth quarter Bruins comeback in what was the most entertaining game of the weekend. Thought to be a dark horse contender in the SEC, it’s apparent that the Volunteers lack of a passing game will likely relegate them to a 1-3 to open the year.
Pitt- It’s pretty easy to end up on this list when you lose three fumbles, don’t score in the second half, star player is held to 71 yards rushing, and lose to an unranked MAC team at home by two scores. The loss stings even more when you consider the momentum that was building for the Panthers going into this season.
Virginia Tech- Leading by two scores in the fourth quarter, the Hokies weren’t able to hold on against East Carolina. The loss is more substantial as it reopens the quarterback controversy between Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor as well as cast an ominous shadow above a program that seems to be slipping away from being a national powerhouse.
Clemson- It’s quite the rarity that a top ten team known for its running game is held to a ridiculous zero rushing yards. The Tiger offense managed only one field goal and was just flat-out bullied around on both sides of the ball in all four quarters.
Rutgers- It took more than three quarters for the Scarlet Knights to put points on the board, and when they did, their defense answered by allowing two straight lengthy scoring drives to put the game out of reach.
Five Winners
UCLA- Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow have their work cut out for them but earned a huge win in front of the home faithful on national television. Getting off on the right foot will go along ways into helping build the Bruin program back from the ground up.
Alabama- The Crimson Tide were so dominant on both sides of the ball, they had the look of a top ten team on par with their SEC peers. On the horizon is a road trip to Athens before a soft middle of the season. You may want to keep tabs on the Crimson Tide going forward as they miss Florida on the schedule and get Auburn at home.
Missouri- The defense didn’t do much but the offense looked like the most explosive in the country. Sure, Chase Daniels looked great shredding the Illinois defense, but a more encouraging sign was a revamped running game that ran for 226 yards.
USC- As seen last year, jockeying for position within the top five is a vital part of any team’s quest for a top tier bowl game. This past week, the Trojans’ impressive performance helped them leapfrog Georgia and the Buckeyes to gain the number one ranking. While somewhat questionable, the Trojans racked up yards and points through the air and on the ground while also holding to Cavaliers to under 200 total yards on the day.
BCS Busters- Every year, the media adopts one or two non-BCS conference schools to tout as possible BCS busters. Week one had a trio of candidates earn big wins with Utah surviving a late Michigan comeback, Fresno State spanking Rutgers, and East Carolina rallying in the fourth quarter against Virginia Tech. While it’s a little early to anoint any of these teams as a BCS Buster, all three weathered one of their toughest games all year away from their home stadiums.
National Viewing Guide-
I hate to break it to you, but this is the worst slate of games we will see all year. In fact, no two ranked teams play each other with only a handful of interesting games to keep an eye on.
Georgia Tech and Boston College kickoff noon eastern in a conference showdown that looks a lot better on paper than it will be to watch.
Penn State will look to carry the flag for the Big Ten in what should be a pretty lopsided affair in Happy Valley against Oregon State in one of many mildly intriguing afternoon affairs.
Washington head coach Tyrone Willingham is on thin ice and will begin to start hearing it crack if BYU blows out the Huskies at home.
Oklahoma will look to win over some AP voters when they host Cincinnati.
Houston Nutt has his work cut out for him as he leads Ole Miss to take on Wake Forest in what is a stop-the-bleeding game for the ACC.
Notre Dame has three Big Ten foes in the coming weeks but will open up against San Diego State at home.
East Carolina will look to cement their title as BCS Buster with what should be a very telling game when the Mountaineers come to town.
In what’s being billed as the top game of the week, Miami will go to the swamp hoping to not be thoroughly embarrassed on national television in the ESPN night game.
Closing out the day is a conference showdown between Arizona State and a seemingly improved Stanford team.
All in all it’s a pretty tame day across the college football landscape, but beware – a handful of big game showdowns lurk next weekend in addition to the historic meeting between USC and the Buckeyes.
