Expectations couldn't be higher for the Buckeyes when they open up the season in five weeks against Marshall. This year has many folks around the state excited, and for good reason. The offense returns most of its core players and the defense boasts one of the fiercest front seven in all of college football. Add the infusion of young talent from successful recruiting classes and you have the makings of a title contender.
There is one aspect of Tresselball that irritates me and likely has taken a couple years off my life in the process. Close games against inferior teams have been a problem for the Scarlet and Gray.
Contests against Navy, Cincinnati, Ohio U, and Bowling Green have all gone down to the wire in recent years. Conservative play calling and focus are usually the culprits. OSU has a clear advantage in size, strength and skill but continues to struggle at times and play down to their competition. I realize that every team has an off game here and there but it seems to happen with an alarming regularity in Columbus.
Contests against Navy, Cincinnati, Ohio U, and Bowling Green have all gone down to the wire in recent years. Conservative play calling and focus are usually the culprits. OSU has a clear advantage in size, strength and skill but continues to struggle at times and play down to their competition. I realize that every team has an off game here and there but it seems to happen with an alarming regularity in Columbus.
Ah..when Tresselball works.
Some of the problem stems from Jim Tressels personality and coaching philosophies. He always plays for field position, never tries to run up the score and sometimes the playbook appears to take the fourth quarter off entirely. This would be a good strategy if it were still the 1950s. Unfortunately, style points count in this modern era of college football. The Bucks took a step in the right direction in their Rose Bowl victory over the Ducks. They never took their foot off the gas and continued to attack Oregon throughout the game. Obviously, this was against a stronger opponent than the schools listed above. However, this is the blueprint that should be followed no matter who the opponent is.
We learned first hand that first impressions are important.
On Sept. 2, OSU will get a chance to make a good first impression. The football program has taken a tongue lashing from a handful of national pundits the last few years (I'm looking at you Mark May and Pat Forde). It would be tremendous to start the season out with a commanding victory and gain some momentum heading into the showdown with the Canes the following week. Marshall will be pumped up to open the season with a night game in the shoe and will probably hang around for a quarter or so. I think we can all handle that. It will take a little time to knock off the rust and get into a groove. However, after grabbing the lead, I beg JT not to close the playbook. Continue to call the game as if it were in doubt. Nobody will think less of you if we end up scoring some late touchdowns and winning by 35. If anything, it will help keep Buckeye nations collective blood pressure at a reasonable level.
OSU has the talent, speed (yeah I said it SEC) and the star power this year to win a title and continue the restoration project that is the Big Ten. The conference finally achieved a winning record during bowl season last year and took home two BCS trophies. Unfortunately, the wounds left by the embarrassments in 2006 and 2007 are still fresh. The road to recovery begins again in 36 days.
