SB Nation User Blog: Pfef

Figuring Out This Bowl Mess

Pfef — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:10:50 -0000

With Penn State's victory over Michigan State on Saturday, the Nittany Lions secured their automatic berth into the Rose Bowl and left the Buckeyes hoping for a shot at a BCS at-large bid. With Oklahoma's pummelling of Texas Tech last night, the entire BCS picture was shaken up at the top, most notably with the deadlock between the three Big 12 South contenders, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. What does this mean for Ohio State's BCS chances? Not a whole lot, since there is a two team per conference maximum to play in BCS bowls, but what is concerning for the Buckeyes are the vast number of automatic bids going to lower ranked teams, meaning that the higher ranked teams are taking up at-large slots.

So, let's get to work on painting the bowl picture for the Buckeyes. First, remember that there are 10 possible slots for the BCS bowl games. Six of these spots will be filled by conference champions, leaving four potential openings for the Buckeyes. Since Utah finished the season undefeated, they have essentially clinched one of these four spots. This leaves Ohio State, USC, the loser of the SEC Championship game, and one of the three Big 12 South teams fighting for three bowl spots.

Now, if everything goes according to plan (meaning that all of the teams in the BCS mix continue to win), then in all likelihood Ohio State will be the odd man out. After all, it's been a foregone conclusion that there will be two Big 12 and SEC teams in the BCS, and since Ohio State decided to embarass themselves on national TV against USC last September, there's no chance that the Buckeyes would be picked to go to a bowl ahead of the Trojans.

Luckily for us, nothing ever goes according to plan in college football, meaning that Ohio State still has an excellent shot of going to the Fiesta or Sugar Bowls. Any of the following should guarantee Ohio State a BCS bid, in order from most likely to happen to least likely to happen:

1. Oregon State loses to Oregon next week. If the Beavers fall to the Ducks next week, they will be eliminated from the BCS discussion, and USC will receive the automatic PAC-10 bid, meaning that instead of four teams fighting for three open at-large bids, each team will find a way in.

2. Florida loses to Florida State next week, then again to Alabama in the SEC Championship. Two straight Gator losses to end the season would not only leave a terrible taste in the mouths of voters across the country, but it would also give the Gators a total of three losses on the season, whereas every other team competing for a slot would have zero, one, or two losses. Alabama could potentially be eliminated with two consecutive losses as well, but the BCS selection committe would probably be much more willing to put in a 2-loss SEC team over a 2-loss Big 10 team.

3. USC loses two in a row. Very unlikely to happen, considering the Trojans have games against Notre Dame and UCLA to finish the season. If USC only loses one of its next two games, OSU still has a slim chance to receive the benefit of the doubt of the selection committe since they finished the season on such a high note and their two most productive offensive players hardly played (or didn't play at all) against the Trojans, but it is doubtful.

4. The men behind the BCS come to their senses and issue a radical new rule change that states that if every single team in one (or two, in this case) of the six major conferences absolutely blows, then the conference champion does not deserve an automatic BCS Bid. This will not happen, mainly because the season is almost over, but also because it just makes too much sense for college football to do it. Chances are good that Ohio State will be left out of one of the "Big 5" bowls, despite the fact that the general consensus is that they are better than at least three of the teams (ACC Champ, Big Least Champ, and Utah) that do get bids.

So, Buckeye fans, prepare to complain. Because odds are, we're going to get screwed and have to watch our team play in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's day. At least we can take solace in the fact that we'll have a pretty good shot to take out an SEC team along the way.

Well, That Went Better Than Expected.

Pfef — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:03:49 -0000

After a slow start which featured a Terrelle Pryor interception and three consecutive three-and-outs by the Buckeyes, it appeared that regardless of what some of the other blogs thought about Rich Rodriguez "Getting It," the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry would remain a relatively even battleground, despite the fact that the Wolverines had come in to Columbus about to wrap up arguably their worst season in school history. Although Beanie Wells' third consecutive OSU-UM game with a 50+ yard touchdown run, the offense was unable to sustain any sort of continuity, and as a result could only muster up 14 points in the first half. The defense played nearly flawless in the first two quarters, but it only took one poor drive late in the second quarter to bring Michigan back within a touchdown. After a November where the Buckeyes demolished two conference foes on the road by a combined score of 75-30 and the Wolverines converted just 37% of their third downs, a blowout seeed inevitable. But after one half of football, one thing was clear: Michigan was out to salvage their season and restore order to the rivalry.

And then the third quarter started.

After a punt that pinned the Buckeyes inside their own ten line, the Wolverines returned to their form of old, giving up two consecutive runs of 40+ yards on plays that were designed to pick up no more than five. The second of the two runs, a 49 yard touchdown scamper by backup Boom Herron, was particulary devastating for the Maize and Blue defense. From that point forward, the Michigan offense picked up just two first downs (three if you count a roughing the punter penalty), poor special teams play led to two more Buckeye touchdowns, and the defense let a freshman quarterback lead the rivalry's biggest blowout in over 40 years. Terrelle Pryor's numbers were good, but not great (5-13 for 120 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT), but as we have all come to learn over the past nine games, his impact on the game reaches much deeper than the box score. His ability to keep plays alive and throw on the run have proven to be the perfect antitode to an offense that at times struggled to make plays throughout the season. Beanie Wells continued his Wolverine dominance, carrying the ball 15 times for 134 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.

Other points of interest.

It's time for Beanie to go.

Yes, as a fan, I would love to see Beanie Wells come back for his senior season. He is, in my opinion, without a doubt the most talented running back in the nation, and as Demitrius Stanley pointed out in the postgame show, he's potentially the most talented running back to ever don the scarlet and gray. Chic Harley may have made Ohio State football the phenomenon that it is today, and Archie Griffin may epitomize all that it means to truly be a Buckeye, but as far as pure football skills and physical dominance over the opposition goes, there are probably only two running backs in school history that can compete with Beanie. One is Eddie George, and the other Maurice Clarett.

In three short seasons, Beanie has done more than any fan should expect out of an athlete. As a sophomore, he singlehandedly carried the offense into the national championship game despite being a walking bodycast. After battling more injuries as a senior, Beanie has still managed to rush for over 1,000 yards in just nine games played. Despite only playing one full season as the starting running back, he is the Buckeyes' fourth all-time leading rusher. In his brief absence this season, we all saw firsthand just how piss poor the Buckeye offensive line can be at times, and that should only make these achievments more astonishing. Against archrival Michigan, Wells' numbers are astronomical: 59 carries for 412 yards (7 YPC) and four touchdowns. Against ranked teams, Wells has 170 career carries for 901 yards (5.3 YPC) and 11 touchdowns. Very few football players have contributed so greatly to OSU over the course of their careers, much less three seasons, and it would be selfish of us as fans to beg him to stay another year. Additionally, his struggles with injuries are no secret, and running backs statistically have the shortest professional careers of all positions. I think we all want to see Beanie succeed at the next level, and his stock will never be higher than it is today.

Beanie, I'm not about to blame you if you decide to depart for greener pastures, and I don't think anybody else will, either. Maybe you're just like James and Malcolm and you want a championship so bad that you're willing to come back for one more shot at it, and I'm in full favor of that. Just don't think that because you never won a championship or a Heisman that your college career was an unfulfilling one, because it wasn't.

I've decided that the above "point of interest" was enough writing for one post. Stay tuned throughout the week for more.

Does Michigan really have a chance?

Pfef — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:32:47 -0000

As far as rivalries are concerned, games like the 2006 edition of Ohio State vs. Michigan are a rarity. After all, it took 103 tries for both teams to take the top spot in the rankings, and with the current state of parity amongst the powerhouses of college football, nobody should be surprised if it takes another 103 for it to happen again. Chances are, on any given year, one of the two teams will have either failed to live up to lofty expectations, or even worse, just downright stink.

As is the case this year. Michigan, as all Buckeye fans like myself would gladly point out, lost its eighth game in a season for the first time in the program's 128 season history last week. And assuming that all fans are reacting to this season similarly to how my buddy from down the hall handled last Saturday (throwing his remote at the wall), then it's safe to say that not many people on either end of the spectrum are expecting much of a competition come Saturday.

But is the outcome really an inevitability, or are we in for a shock?

Regardless of what your allegiance will be come Saturday afternoon, chances are at some point over the course of your experience with this rivalry you've either heard or thought to yourself a phrase along the lines of, "when these two teams step on the field, all the records can be thrown out. It doesn't matter how bad [your team] is this year, because we always have a chance to beat [the other team]!" and more often than not, that cliché is irritably true. In 2001, the Outback Bowl-bound Buckeyes who were starting their backup quarterback waltzed into Ann Arbor and established Jim Tressel's forté in his first season (2004 also yielded similar results). In the 1993, 1995, and 1996 seasons, the Buckeyes were a combined 30-0-1 entering the final game of the regular season, whereas Michigan had four losses in each of those seasons. Anybody want to guess who won those games?

While it's not unheard of for the lesser of the two teams to leave the game with a win, it's hard to find a game in the history of the rivalry in which an unranked team has beaten a top-10 opponent. As a matter of fact, only five times in the 104-game series has a top ten team lost to an unranked foe, and never in the rivalry's history has a team with a losing record defeated a top-10 opponent.

So what makes this year any different? Well, if you're Kirk Herbstreit or Chris Spielman, absolutely nothing. But, there is still some room for concern if you're a Buckeye fan. First off, Ohio State is starting a freshman quarterback, who despite his vast growth over the course of the season, has never played in the rivalry, and has only played in one big game in his collegiate career, and we all know what happened there. In the days leading up to his debut with the rivalry, Chad Henne -- Michigan's proverbial freshman savior (ha!) -- admitted that he had no idea what he was getting himself in to, and he went on to throw two picks en route to one of those five aforementioned top-10 upsets.

And although the reason Jim Tressel will be able to afford a couple of mediocre seasons throughout his career is because he is consistently able to get the most out of his players for one week out of the season, one has to wonder if a diminishing marginal utility will ever begin to form if he keeps on beating Michigan. After all, with each consecutive victory over out hated rivals, could it be possible that an overriding sense of complacency will ever set in with the coaches and veterans on the team? I'm not saying that the team will come out flat on Saturday, I'm just saying that one of these years after beating Michigan so many times, that eventually karma is going to have to set in. Michigan has seen firsthand what can happen when the presumed victor simply goes through the motions while the scrappy underdog plays brings it for a full game, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see the tide of this rivalry turn in the near future.

In saying all of that, however, I just simply cannot see Ohio State losing come Saturday. In taking observations from a fairly large sample size for a freshman, it is becoming more and more apparent that Terrelle Pryor is not your typical freshman quarterback being thrown into the fray. The kid is destined for greatness, and at Ohio State, greatness comes in beating Michigan. Just ask one of these (guy one) guys (guy two). Also, for Jim Tressel to not have his team ready to beat Michigan, I would have to see it to believe it. From what I've taken out of watching Tressel over the years is that every action the man makes over the course of a season is in some way related to the game with Michigan. Finally, this Michigan squad does not appear to have that same ability to come out with a passion for four full quarters and pull the upset on the road. This team simply lacks the talent, organization, leadership to make their mark on the rivalry's rich history.

Of course, stranger things have happened.

This post lacks meaning.

Pfef — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:26:32 -0000

I've touched on this a couple times, but it's worth some reinforcement: nothing is quite as odd as being displaced from Columbus football for an extended period of time. I can't recall the last time I saw an OSU car flag, or even an OSU flag in general for that matter. I can't yell "O-H!" down Court Street on a Saturday afternoon and expect an equally enthusiastic "I-O!" in return. Not saying that there aren't any Buckeyes in Athens (there are plenty), I'm just saying that it's absolutely nothing like Columbus.

Which is why I couldn't be happier that my ungodly winter break will begin on Thursday afternoon, meaning that I'll find myself in the midst of the 'Shoe's student section on Saturday afternoon, ready to finally experience some Buckeye football in all its glory. Who knows, maybe I'll even get amped up enough to post some pre-game thoughts.

Illinois Open Thread

Pfef — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:04:03 -0000

The last Ohio State football game I attended, the Fighting Illini knocked off the then unbeaten Buckeyes and (at that time) derailed Ohio State's national championship hopes. This year, it's my birthday. So let's not let that happen again, or I will be sorely upset.

What are your picks? I got the Buckeyes shutting down Juice en route to a two touchdown, 34-20 victory.

Sorry if I sound like I don't give a damn.

Pfef — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:22:30 -0000

It has been 13 days since I have been exposed to Ohio State football. Furthermore, it has been 20 days since I have been exposed to Ohio State football in its purest, most successful form. Any other year, a lack of exposure to the Buckeyes such as this one would be enough to drive me crazy. Yet, as the clock is ticking on one of my longest in-season Buckeye dry spells, I find myself not all that antsy over tomorrow's showdown with a very dangerous opponent that could conceivably send us to the Outback bowl, and I'm not very sure why.

The only thing I am sure of, however, is that my newfound apathy towards Buckeye has absolutely nothing to do with "jumping off the bandwagon" on what has been a rather unsatisfactory season. If anything, history should prove this point. In 2004, we faced a very similar situation. A preseason top 10 ranking that absolutely plummetted with questions abound regarding the quarterback play, and a head coach under fire. Yet, back then, I based my entire Saturday social life around when kickoff was, and I made sure that nothing interrupted those three or so hours. From 1999-2001, I don't think I missed a single Buckeye game, and all three of those teams reeked of mediocrity. Of course, I will still take the mandatory time out of my schedule to glue myself to ESPN2 tomorrow afternoon; the only difference being that it won't be the focus of my Saturday.

The most logical explanation I can think of is that recently, I've been thrown into a completely new lifestyle, and I have to renew all of my relationships, responsibilities, and my ways of day to day living, all the while enhancing my education. As a result, Buckeye football has been put on the backburner for some time now. I have no choice but to keep busy and keep an open mind to all my neighbors (as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a friend's room across the hall, listening to the loudest, most obnoxious death metal bands with people I never even would have associated with in high school). I've been so busy with my new life that I when I think in my free time, it's not about how Jim Tressel should best utilize Terrelle Pryor, but rather about how I can enhance the relationships around me.

Even still, I feel as if this feeling of indifference is slowly becoming a widespread epidemic throughout Buckeye nation, and my explanation doesn't help to solve this problem for everyone. Maybe we all realize that we have (at least) two more full seasons to watch Terrelle Pryor blossom into the legend that he seems destined to become. Maybe we're just completely sick of the current group of seniors who, for the most part, have shown their true colors this season. Maybe it's because the one player everyone was excited about entering the season just hasn't been himself of late.

It's hard to put a finger on any exact reason, but it seems to me that, as fans, we're all sort of just going through the motions this season, and there's nothing we can really do about it. It's a shame, too, because we still have a shot at sweet, sweet redemption in the Grand Daddy of them All, a place we haven't been in over a decade. Luckily, I was able to score tickets to go to the Michigan game, and even if they won't be the Maize and Blue of old, the rivalry and atmosphere on that Saturday should unquestionably get my scarlet and gray juices flowing once again. Hopefully it's not too late.

This Dude is Back.

Pfef — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:56:28 -0000

Yes, I do realize that over the past six or so weeks yours truly has been, quite frankly, not posting. But instead of listenting to my long list of excuses (Increased college workload, balancing school and play, the long hours dedicated to the fraternity pledging process, etc.), let's just act like I'm still a loyal poster and forget about the past. In all seriousness though, I'm going to make a conscious effort to make at least one, thoughtful post a week until around Thanksgiving time, at which point I'll have nothing to do for six weeks, so I can resume posting on a semi-daily basis.

So, exactly how different are these Buckeyes than those who got pummeled in SoCal? It's amazing how drastically perspectives can change in the college football landscape. Just six weeks ago, the Buckeyes epitomized all that the Southern powers have grown to despise in recent years: as fans, we were forced to consume a group of overachieving, dispassionate seniors that seemed more interested in their NFL Draft stock than winning a championship. The catalyst behind an already vanilla offense was crippled, the supposedly vaunted defense had finally been exposed as fradulent, even the lynchpin of Tressel Ball -- special teams -- left much to be desired. Even still, following a 45-7 win in East Lansing against a dangerous, then top 20 Spartan football team, things couldn't look look Rosier for the Buckeyes. Suddenly, with the implementation of one player the offense has gone from a being one-dimensional to dynamic, even though that second dimension (a viable, efficient passing game) has yet to present itself. The defense, despite regaining their reputation after a recent rejuvenation along the defensive line (they have actually managed to record three official "QB Hurries" in the statbook in the past three weeks, compared to the lofty gooseegg the guys up front were flaunting in games 1-5) has not stopped an opponent from scoring in the redzone and are allowing nearly 70 more passing yards a game since losing to USC (although to be fair, the first three games of the season featured a FCS quarterback starting his first career game, a backup MAC quarterback, and a team that had no need to throw the ball in the second half). Even the so-called "resurgence" has made a statement in the Special Teams department. Aaron Pettrey is now the full-time kicker, and while he has been a definite improvement, the Buckeyes' return games have lacked any significant improving, often leaving the offense with long fields to work with.

Now although the statistics don't necessarily support a resurgence as strong as the media and public would leave one to believe (in a recent ESPN poll, Ohio State was voted the second best 1-loss team in the country, ahead of USC, who, you know, kind of kicked our butts), I don't think anybody would argue how the factors that can't be measured -- things like chemistry, confidence, momentum, and the very threat of having a single man who can both run and throw lining up under center, has payed huge dividends for the Buckeyes. Although we've all heard rumors about a potential civil war brewing in the locker room between those who have embraced the radical changes brought on by Senator Tressel and those who feel there's still a place for Todd Boeckman in the offense, it certainly has not shown on the field. I have no idea how to support this claim without numbers or statistics, but watching the team work together on all sides of the ball, there's no way this is the same squad that thought it could compete in Los Angeles in September. Perhaps such a devastating loss was what this team needed the most: a reminder that despite what you've accomplished in the past means nothing now, and it gave a swift kick in the pants to guys like James Launrinaitis, the Brians, and the rest of the seniors who thought that just by coming back for another season that they were "team leaders." Obviously, these weeks have proven that seniority means nothing when it comes to being a leader. If one lesson can be taken out of this season that we can apply to our daily lives, it's that true leaders are those who aren't afraid to take a chance, that true leaders know when and how to challenge others, and that true leaders visibly give a crap when nobody else seems to. A cookie goes to the first person to pick out the three men I'm referring to in these lessons, because as of now, they're the only leaders that I can pick out.

The Day is Here

Pfef — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:04:40 -0000

"When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you."

Beanie Now Doubtful

Pfef — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:12:38 -0000

Bad, bad news today for Buckeye fans. It looks like Beanie Wells' foot swelled up mightily after taking 20 or so carries in practice yesterday. He did not practice today, and is now listed as doubtful for the showdown against USC, but will still be evaluated later on in the week and will make the trip.

Not good. Not good at all.

The Importance of USC

Pfef — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:30:32 -0000

Ever since the Buckeyes' no-show offensively against the Bobcats Saturday, journalists have been hustling about in search of answers. Is the offense so dependent on one player that his absence turns a national championship-caliber team into an also-ran? Can Todd Boeckman and Co. really afford to ride a star studded defense to the MNC? The coaches, who so often preach the importance of taking attacking season one game at a time, couldn't possibly be keeping the dynamic characteristics of the offense under wraps in preparation for the season's biggest game, could they? Well, as it turns out, the answers to these questions may not show themselves until the season plays out, but the level-headed optimist in every one of us prays that there is some sort of hidden gameplan that Jim Tressel and Jim Bollman are keeping under wraps to unleash at the perfect time.

Obviously, when asked about the prospects of having a much more diverse offense in week three, the coaches kept their clipboards close to the proverbial vest. Yet, we were fortunate enough to pick up on a little slip by Brian Hartline.

"Personally I felt like we might have held some things back," OSU receiver Brian Hartline said. "We didn't feel that during the game, but thinking about it after the game, we might have."

Now, it's unlike any player who is coached under Tressel -- especially one as experienced and sensible as Hartline -- to express his frustrations with the offense in a particular game that should be well in his rear view mirror, which leads me to believe that the players are beginning to take notice of the dynamism all of the offensive playmakers bring to the table.

I think everybody is expecting some sort of tricks up The Vest's sleeve this weekend. After all, there isn't a team under more pressure to win a game this season than with Ohio State on Saturday, and Tressel knows that if he wants to maintain his program's dignity, he'll come out firing. It doesn't take quotes, articles, or even evidence in past games to know that. All it takes is the constant, nagging memory of a failed past and every fan of football in the nation giving them zero chance for victory.

Then why do I still find myself doubting? Perhaps it's the feeling that weeks one and two still left so much to be desired, that much of what Tressel is "experimenting with" may not necessarily guarantee positive results. When Ohio State went to Texas in 2006, Troy Smith and Co. were fresh off of a thrashing of Northern Illinois, which demonstrated every single way that year's Buckeye offense could dominate a game. Sure, the domination against Youngstown State was nice, and the efficient fourth quarter play against OU without the team's most productive player was nice, but I think anybody would agree that the offense left us all with a lot more questions than answers, which is something we haven't had to deal with since 2004.

I sincerely believe that this weekend, we will all learn much more about Jim Tressel as an offensive playcaller than anything the past six seasons have shown us. Assuming Beanie Wells is full go (or as close to full go as a running back can be) by Saturday, which I feel he will be, then there will be a whole lot of pressure on Tressel to do something that he hasn't done yet this season: incorporate all of the talent this team has into a fluid unit which won't be stalled the first time they have to face a 3rd and 9 on their own 21.