Live Blog: Ohio State vs. Colorado

Today starts a new era in Buckeye football. Braxton Miller is getting his first start as the OSU QB, and it comes against the Buffaloes of Colorado. Once again the Buckeyes will be tested at home, but if the defense can step up and Miller provides the spark needed to light a fire under the offense, then Ohio State will come out of defeat with a victory.

Join us at 3:15 PM EST for the Live Blog. Hope to see you on the chat!

Thoughts On Fickell: My Take

Saving 1 timeout at a time.

First of all let me remind you all I am a 1997 graduate of The Ohio State University. For those of you who may not realize this, 1997 is the same our current Head Coach Luke Fickell graduated from the great university. I did not know Luke Fickell personally, but I went to every home game, a couple of road games, and the 1997 Rose Bowl, a game in which Fickell showed his unbelievable toughness by playing the game with a torn pectoral muscle. He was “the man”. Because of our going to OSU at the same time I can honestly say I feel a kinship to Coach Fickell (though I am sure he does not feel the same way about me), and I hoped he would succeed as a coach, and one day become our head coach, I just don’t think that one day is now. Coach Fickell was a very good linebackers coach and a good co-defensive coordinator. However, he has never actually been in charge of a side of the ball by himself. As co-defensive coordinator he was basically in charge of linebackers, and worked with Jim Heacock on calling plays for the defense. I believe he needs more seasoning as an assistant coach, or if he is going to be a head coach right now or next year, it needs to be at a smaller school, not a school the size of and with the pressures of The Ohio State University.

Let’s take a look at how he has looked so far. Against Akron, he looked like Cooper. I say Cooper because like in the Cooper years we crushed teams that we were supposed to crush. Even with the suspensions Fickell looked to be making all the correct calls (though I thought maybe we would see a little more Braxton Miller in the game). It seemed people began drinking a little of the proverbial kool-aid. Then came Toledo. Make no mistake they are a good team, but elite they are not (look at their Boise State game as proof). We had the same suspensions, nothing new, and we looked awful. In the end our talent and depth was too much for Toledo to handle and we squeaked out an all too close win.

Week Five Big Ten Wrap Up.

"What did you say about my play calling??"

HOORAY FOR BIG TEN PLAY!!! OK, now that that's out of my system I can focus on the task at hand, telling you about games that you probably watched. There were a few surprises and a few things that we saw coming.

Northwestern vs. Minnesota: Northwestern beat Minnesota 29-28. Minnesota remembered how to play offense all of the sudden. This was the game I was watching on the TV next to our game yesterday morning. I was impressed by how Minnesota showed up to play and how Northwestern refused to lose. Both teams' offenses looked pretty good. I'm wondering how real that is though, meaning is it a product of playing each other or not? Don't look now, but Northwestern is 5-0. Up next for the Wildcats a home game against a depleted Purdue team. Up next for Minny is a road trip to Wisconsin.... tough draw after what happened to them this week.

"F it, I'm goin deep"

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin: This was the surprise of the week for me. I thought Wisconsin was easily the 2nd best team in the Big Ten, but their line play was ugly. Michigan State simply outplayed them in all phases of the game. Cousnins still needs to work on throwing the ball to his own team, but still had a decent game, going for over 250 yards and 3 TDs and 2 picks. UP next for Wisconsin: Minnesota. Up next for Sparty: a trip to A.A. to face off against the fightn' Velcros.

Michigan @ Indiana: This game went about how I thought it would. It was an obvious offensive showdown as neither team bothers to field a defense. What this game came down to for me was a Ben Chappell interception inside the 30 yards line when Indiana had a chance to take the lead in the first half. Denard did the usual Denard thing and ran a lot, managing not to get too nicked up. Up next for Michigan: home against Sparty and an actual defense(This is my game of the week. Everyone should watch because it's fun to root against UM.) Up next for IU: @ OSU.

It's going to be a long year, Evan.

Penn State vs Iowa: This went about how I thought it would. PSU just doesn't seem to be the team we've come to know from 2005 until now. They're at least a step slow on defense and the offense is too one dimensional in relying on Evan Royster. When a team with a defense like Iowa faces a run first/only team like PSU it's not a good day for PSU fans. On a hapier note for non-Iowa fans, Stanzi still threw a pick to go along with his TD. Up next for Iowa: BYE WEEK. Up next for PSU: Home against Illinois. That could be another good game. Right now, I'd take Illinois over PSU in a close game.(Hooray for destroying my pre-season picks!)

We hope to see you continue to do this next week.

OSU @ Illinois: We all know that Illinois plays us tough every year, especially when it' at their house. The Buckeyes came out with the ball first and didn't seem to be on the same page. I know that the Illinois defensive line is a veteran group, but the OSU offensive line didn't play so hot. The one bright spot for OSU was Terrelle's long runs, one of which he could have taken for 6 if he stayed ont he sideline rather than cutting inside, but hey, maybe he just wanted to pass for a TD instead. Which he did of course. Personally, I'm chalking this game up to a few things: A win is a win, and it's nice to get the ugly game of the 2010 season out of the way. First road game of the year, and it looked like it. Next week our guys will be ready. Teachable moments; this is what football is all about, and we're lucky it came in the way of a win. There are things to show int he film room, missed assignments and things that need obvious work(cough, punting cough). Up Next for OSU: Home against Indiana. Up next for Illinois: a trip to Happy Valley, which could become very unhappy very soon.

I'd like to take a moment to vent on something: The OSU LA Alumni club who gathered at On the Rocks in Redondo Beach yesterday. This isn't meant for all of you, but you know who you are. Nobody likes arm chair coaches/QBs/etc. Just because you played a few downs of pee wee bal doesn't mean you're smarter or better than the coaching staff or current players. I can't tell you how annoying it is to hear a bunch of 50 years olds screaming how much "typical Tressel" sucks. I swear some of you were close to going back to "put Bauserman in" and "move Terrelle to WR". With that said, I won't be paying dues this year because I don't want my money going to support a group of babies. The OSU bandwagon is full, and has been for years. We don't need fair weather and idiot fans. That's what USC is for.
OK, I'm done bitching. Happy thoughts from here on out.