What Should We Expect From Ohio State Against Penn State?

It's Penn State week. In previous years people would be clamoring for this game. Media demands would be huge. You would have Jim Tressel battling with Joe Paterno. The Senator verses The Legend. I think it is safe to say that things have changed over the last 12 months.


First, you have the NCAA mess at OSU.This mess was precipitated by players and worsened by the head man himself. So in late May this rivalry lost Jim Tressel to a forced resignation. Okay so we lost Tressel and Pryor, but this game could still have had the winningest coach in college football history, coaching for a division title against a young, inexperienced, seemingly talented team playing at home for the final time this season. But then, all hell broke loose at PSU. 


I don’t want to get into the scandal, we all know what happened, and now this rivalry has rightfully lost Joe Paterno on the other sideline. I can truly say that a Luke Fickell vs Tom Bradley battle does not have the same classic ring as to what could have been. Now on to the game.

Hopes And Fears: Indiana

Wow! What a win! Oh wait, it's already another week in the college football season and as we enter the month of November, we don't have time to keep looking back!

Going 2-2 in the month of October was expected, but it is now November and to get to a bowl and maybe even the first ever Big Ten title game, our Buckeyes must go undefeated. Which means a win against IU this up-coming Saturday.

Here are some of my hopes and fears as our Buckeyes face the Hoosiers:

Hope - The celebration from last week's win did not go to anyone's head and they work just as hard this week in practice as they did in the two weeks leading up to the Wisconsin game.

Fear - Our offense, while showing great thought and better play calling this past week, will revert backwards and play to the level of our opponent in IU.

Hopes And Fears: Illinois

Wow, that Nebraska game was an ugly loss. We looked so good in the first half and so bad in the second half. I understand how important a QB is, especially a starting QB having a good game, but losing him should cause the defense to completely fold, and yep in the second half the silver bullets were more like empty blanks. Now, it is on to Champaign to play Illinois, a game that I really want to win. First of all my wife went to U of I, so we have house bragging rights, and I live in Chicago, so I deal with all kinds of Illinois fans, I really don’t want to lose!!

Now on to my hopes and fears for the game. I believe that my hopes and fears are essentially the same thing in this game. First of all, I hope Miller does not get hurt again, because I fear we will have to see Joe Bauserman again. 

Hopes And Fears: Nebraska

Eerily similar to Camp Randall

Tough week and a tough loss!

But it is now time to focus on our next opponent, the Big Ten newcomer, Nebraska. Nebraska didn't have a great showing against Wisconsin in their conference opener, but I chalk that up to a big stage, a big time crowd and 3 INT by their quarterback, Taylor Martinez. The Nebraska defense didn't show up as well as I thought it would either.

The big fear of mine leading into this week is that Ohio State will not take a step forward with the returning members of the team, but allow them and the lack of their presence so far, to slow us down. It so far hasn't been a consistent season and I hate to say it, but we've missed Terrelle Pryor. The rust these players bring to the table will add to a machine already needing oil.

Playing Nebraska at home will be interesting. Not because of the stadium size, but because of a new fan base, a fan base also coming off a loss but one that is just as passionate about their team, as we are about ours. There will be a lot of red in the stands on Saturday in Lincoln!

My hope is, we come out and play a good game. We may not win, but I hope we are not flat footed or distracted. Lacking intensity is something I thought I wouldn't say about a Luke Fickell led football team but that so far has been the case. To beat Nebraska, we will have to break that trend.

Hopes and Fears Come With the Start of Big Ten Play.

It's on

The game against Colorado opened some eyes and quelled some fears. It also raised some questions for me.

Here is what I am hoping for and fearing for on Saturday as the Buckeyes open the Big Ten season:

Hopes

- That film room time for the offense and Braxton Miller is plentiful this week. With the first full week of classes upon them, our student athletes better start working on their time management, inside and outside of the WHAC.

- That the turnovers stop! I know we didn't lose any against Colorado, but that will not always be the case, especially against a team like Michigan State and as we get further into league play.

- The offense finds a balance in both play calling and effectiveness. The stats seemed pretty even at the end of the game but at the beginning they were quite lop sided. I know Miller has the ability to make a broken play into something but he needs to learn the system first and then create, not create then learn.

OSU v Miami

Round 2

OSU vs Miami (Fl). This is a game that matches two of the great names in college football. A rematch of the classic 2002 National Championship game. A return game from last years early season Top 25 matchup in the ‘Shoe. Oh yeah it is also a matchup of two teams that have had extremely bad off-seasons. Putting all of that aside, this is also a matchup of two teams with plenty of talent. These are two teams that could and should compete for conference championships and big time bowl appearances (unless the NCAA nixes those ideas).

 This is a matchup of two teams with new coaches, the highly respected Al Golden (who brought Temple to respectability) at Miami and the lessor known, but not lessor respected, Ohio High School Legend and Ohio State great Luke Fickell with the Buckeyes.

Spring means Football.

Finally, the time has come around that football gets to be talked about again. I mean, did we ever really stop talking about it? The date and time is set for the Spring football game, and it will be hosted by the Big Ten Network and all their Ro-Tel commercials. The game will be Saturday, April 24th, at 1 p.m.. Of course, if your a Buckeye lacrosse fan, then they are covering the game that day on the Big Ten Network as well, right before the Ohio State spring game. All of spring, we won't be the only ones keeping you up to date with what's going on with the Buckeyes and our neighbors in the Big Ten, as the Big Ten Network is hosting everything spring football that they can possibly take up. They are holding all spring games, and will also be having in-depth analysis of all the practices, and keep you up to date on everything Big Ten. A big reason is because the Big Ten is just coming off a huge bowl season, doing pretty good, with a 4-3 record. Of course, the go-to place for everything Buckeye would be, ahem, Inside The Shoe.

The Buckeye Battle Cry and Eleven Warriors are already jumping on the Spring fever. tBBC posted an article on the upcoming offense, which is going to be deadly to any defense that faces them. 11W talks about having Carlos Hyde and company in the backfield this season, and what it will mean.

A huge thing this spring will be, for the third time, Young Terrelle Pryor, who is entering his junior year, and is not "growing up in front of our very eyes, folks", as much as Brent Musburger would like to think so. Seriously, though, the big question will be was the Rose Bowl a one time thing. Can he continue on in his ability to run and throw the football. All will be answered. Maybe not this spring, but certainly this fall. Of course, the depth of running backs is another huge story. We have 5-6 capable backs. Of course, number 4 in your program and number 1 in your heart, Jamaal Berry headlines the new backs to feature this spring. Berry wasn't able to play last year due to an injured hamstring, but reportedly, he is firing on all cylinders, proving to the coaches he can compete for a third slot. Hyde and Rod Smith are coming in with huge expectations, as Hyde is hoping to be the next Beanie, and Smith is looking to be the next Eddie George. Don't get caught up too much into that, but these guys are good regardless. Tressel is going to have a fun time whipping these guys into shape for a championship run.








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