Now,I know that the Buckeyes have lost some prestige with their less than glowing BCS title game losses in Florida and LSU (although
to this day,I fail to see the big hate on the LSU loss,the Tigers were clearly the better team) and last years pounding at USC.However,I would have thought that last seasons Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas in a game that could have went either way would have gotten a piece of that back.
So it appears that a win tonight is needed to relieve some of the national criticism that Ohio State and therefore the Big Ten receives.
Can this happen?
Sure,USC does start a freshman quarterback coming into his first road game into a hostile environment and they did suffer many losses to the NFL on defense,but all the offensive starters other than QB Mark Sanchez return and against a Buckeye defense that looked pretty slow against Navy could speed right on by.
Ohio State is going to need to run the ball effectively enough to set Terrelle Pryor up to mix up his runs and passes and that may be a problem.
The Navy game showed some issues for OSU and I am concerned.
Sometimes,teams play poorly prior to a big showdown and bounce back strong in a surprise effort,but just as many times it is a precursor to major problems.
Ohio State appears to have secondary concerns other than Kurt Coleman and a pass rush that will need to pick things up tonight after an average game against an undersized opponent.
The Buckeyes will need to rush Matt Barkley and attempt to fluster him and in order to stop Joe McKnight (I REALLY like McKnight a lot),OSU may have to put eight men in the box and gamble on their questionable secondary.
Our prediction
I don't think this is a blowout and it could be closer than the morning line (7 pts).
A week ago,I might have picked OSU,but last weeks performance worried me.
I hate to do it,but USC 21-16.
Bullpen Notes
Just a word on the lack of Pirate coverage.
With their games being shown less in the month of September and pretty much no real news to be found after the rosters enlarged,it has become hard to find things to write about.
Considering that with football kicking off and hockey opening camp,it is just a little slow.
I will try to catch a game or so soon in order to keep things going.
I am hoping to sometime in October,do a "State of the system" address for the Pirates and Indians.
This would cover not only 2009 in review,but also look at positional strengths and weaknesses that each team should be attempting to address over the next season...
Boxing doubleheader on Showtime as the final prelude to the "Sup
er Six" Super Middleweight tournament occurs with WBA champ Mikkel Kessler defending his belt against Gusmyl Perdomo in Denmark,while Andre Ward tunes up for his fight with Kessler with a bout against Tocker Pudwill in Oakland.The Super Six is a great idea,but it could have been even better with either of two changes.
One is the inclusion of Jermain Taylor,who has lost three of his last four major fights and seems to have gotten into "not wanting to get into top shape" mode.
Taylor fades down the stretch of his tough fights,often costing him wins.
I would have replaced Taylor with the winner of the upcoming IBF title rematch between Lucien Bute (Champ) and Librado Andrade or Tulsa,Oklahoma star Allan Green instead.
But,if Taylor was a must have,I would have made it tournament an "Elite Eight" and added those two fighters anyway.
In any event,it is a innovative idea and one that shows a lot of potential in changing the way Boxing does business.
One final note-do you know what our highest search has been for lately?
Sal Amato from the last things that make us laugh!
All these work and Sal Amato is what gets people here???
Now THAT makes me laugh!
Back tomorrow with Buckeyes-Trojans and our picks for the first week of NFL Action.
Photo Credits
Helmets:Helmet Project
Kessler:Scanpix
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