Circle the Wagons: Digging Deeper into the Upset

Seriously.

After waking up from my Miller Lite induced coma on Sunday, I employed a technique that I often use after a devastating Buckeye loss… a complete sports media blackout. While watching the Browns tank another game I was careful not to read anything on ESPN, check out any Buckeye blogs or read a newspaper (as archaic as that might be these days). This is how I chose to deal with the pain that our beloved Ohio St. Buckeyes had inflicted on me the previous night. Maybe it is childish or immature but it works for me. I am not a glutton for punishment and had no interest in watching the national pundits rake the Buckeyes over the coals with their back and forth “I told you so” banter.

As my ITS colleague Danny so eloquently put it on Sunday, there are three types of college football fans out there and I fall into two of those categories. On Saturday night/Sunday you can throw me into the “Armageddonist” type of fan. I was inconsolable. I wanted blood and would have been happy if every coach had been fired immediately following the game. I was convinced that the Buckeyes’ free fall out of the top 25 was a foregone conclusion. Thank god decisions aren’t made in the heat of the moment or that I have any say whatsoever in the OSU football program.

Additionally, special thanks to my wife for keeping her distance and letting me cool off. Taking the trash out or gathering laundry would have been a task met with an undeserved tongue lashing. Monday morning arrived and cooler heads had prevailed. My blood pressure had dropped, my hangover subsided and I began to think rationally about the beat down in Badgerland. Finally, I had arrived in the “Level Headed fan” zone which is where I like to think I reside most of the season. The Buckeyes did not deserve to win that game and the Badgers did… period.

Sigh

The physicality of their line and the simple, yet ingenious, game plan was more than enough to ensure victory for UW. John Clay and James White ran with authority and Tolzien made his limited throws count. Our defensive line was pushed around like never before allowing holes to open up that Charlie Weis could run through. The OSU secondary could not adjust to the flash screens on the edge and Chimdi Chekwa had one of his worst performances to date letting Toon get the best of him all night. The offensive side of the ball had its problems as well. Can somebody tell me why you would kick a field goal down 21 points on the road with the ball on the 3 yard line? Take the previous 3 plays out of the equation, which were horrendous by the way, and explain how 3 points is a victory down that close to the goal line. I love Tressel and would pick him over almost any coach in the country but that call showed about as much spine as a jellyfish. Whoa, I almost fell back into the Armageddon zone there!

Obviously one loss doesn’t ruin the season or tell us who this team really is. A BCS game is still well within reach although a trip to Glendale looks to be out of the picture now. There are some glaring issues that need to be addressed or we all might have to endure endless commercials featuring capital one mascots in January. The first, and most obvious issue, is fixing the kick coverage. There is no way that A Tressel led team should be allowing TD returns in virtually every game this season. It was only a matter of time before this weakness bit us in the ass. The untouched David Gilreath fired up an already raucous crowd and was the spark that Wisconsin needed against the #1 team in the country. I am not sure where the answer lies for this problem. OSU has inserted a number of starters on the coverage team and I am sure that it has been addressed many times in team meetings. Something has to change. Kickoff coverage is not only about technique and lane assignments but also is a state of mind. Blowing up blocks and sure tackling are a must on special teams.

AP Photo/Andy Manis

A change in attitude is sorely needed in this department before another back breaking return occurs somewhere down the line. The second issue is the soft coverage by our corners, especially Chekwa. I realize that everybody has a bad game and these kids are only human but Chekwa was used and abused all night by Nick Toon. To be fair, it wasn’t entirely his fault. The Badger running game was so successful that the Buckeyes were forced to bring 8 and 9 guys into the box which left our corners exposed on an island. However, CC was constantly missing crucial tackles, playing up to 10 yards (!) off the line and his closing speed looked as if it were taking him through a tub of jello. Hopefully this was an isolated incident because there will be other receivers down the line who are just as talented as Mr. Toon (Johnson-Koulianos comes to mind). Finally, the offensive and defensive lines must be more physical at the point of attack.

JJ Watt is going to haunt my dreams for the next 12 months. This guy is a beast and nobody on the OSU offensive front could stop him. Give credit where credit is due but double teaming Watt should have been more successful than it was. I mean, this is OHIO FREAKIN’ STATE! Talented guys like Watt should be contained by other talented guys on our side, especially when there are two blocking him. It looked like he was going up against a JV squad out there. On the other side of the ball, Nathan Williams was the only one who seemed to have any impact at all. Heyward, Simon and Larimore were contained for most of the game. This was the most surprising thing to me on Saturday. Obviously it had a lot to do with the talent and size of the Badger front 5 but I expected Tolzien to be under way more duress than he was. The size of those holes for Clay and White were alarming as well. I’m going to chalk this one up to having a bad night against a very talented team. I hope the defensive line returns to form in the coming weeks.

We will need the pressure they generate against other Big Ten teams, especially Iowa. Losses like this at Ohio St. are few and far between which makes them tough to stomach. What really hurts is that all of the stars seemed to be aligned for this team to make a title run in 2010. That dream is likely gone but there is still a lot to play for. The Big Ten title isn’t out of question and a trip back to the Rose Bowl is possible depending on what happens the rest of the way in the conference. I hope that the team got this clunker out of their system and is ready to play the rest of the season. The Buckeyes will begin to pick up the pieces this Saturday when Purdue visits the Horseshoe for Homecoming weekend. If I had to guess, OSU probably won’t be in the best of moods considering last year’s fiasco in West Lafayette combined with the loss to Wisconsin. I will be in attendance this weekend so hopefully the road to redemption starts Saturday.