Sometimes you just know....

Every once in a while,you have a bit of total clarity.
Mine came last night in the fourth quarter of Ohio State's 18-15 loss to USC.
I thought things were looking up with a 15-10 Buckeye lead and the Buckeyes driving with a third down coming up inside Trojan territory.
But a conservative call lost four yards on a quarterback draw and as soon as I saw the punting unit on the field instead of Aaron Pettrey attempting a 53 yard field goal,the moment hit me-USC was going to pull the game out.
As I screamed at the television at work,it was so clear-Playing not to lose instead of to win.
And the result was 18-15 USC.

Buckeye Branches

1) I think the world of Jim Tressel,but last night was the chance to rip up the "safe" playbook and roll the dice.
Tressel did neither and as a result,a win turned into a loss.

2) The Buckeye defense did its job for sure as they held the Trojans to 18 points and seven of those were handed to them with a drive that started at the Buckeye five.
The Buckeye pass rush was effective until the final drive and I think things will only improve on the defensive side of the ball.

3) Wish I could say the same for Terrelle Pryor,who seems to save his worst for last.
The Buckeyes had little time and no timeouts in a dire situation,but Pryor didn't seem very poised on the final drive and his start was not much better when an interception was thrown right to a USC linebacker that led to a touchdown.
Pryor may be the most electrifying player in the game,but electricity can get you shocked if you don't use it properly.

4) The lack of a true top notch runner bit the Bucks and I would wager that will happen again over the course of the season.
Boom Herron is not the guy to carry the mail as a number one back as his 44 yards on 18 carries with a long of eight yards shows.
Brandon Saine had one carry and Jamaal Berry sat for the second week in a row.

5) Had to love the continued great play of linebackers Brian Rolle and Ross Homan.
Both of the two seemed to be in on every play.

6) Ohio State kept Joe McKnight under wraps until the final drive.
Ignore all the hype of Matt Barkley,this game was won by Mcknight.

7) Another just missed it moment came early in the 4th when Ohio State had a rusher in the face of punter Billy O'Malley but overshot the spot and missed what would have been a sure two points and maybe seven.
The little things that add up.

8) More Pryor,watching the game reminded me of when Donovan McNabb decided to prove that he could be a passer from the pocket and refused to run as often.
I got the feeling that Pryor is doing the same thing and his effectiveness is falling as a result.

9) I railed against the Ohio State secondary last week,but I thought they played reasonably well last night.
They were able to avoid the big play that happened so often against Navy and kept the USC players in front of them.

10) Finally,this game showed once and for all that Ohio State needs someone new to call the plays on offense.
Too much Vanilla considering the average running game.
Is it too much to ask Jim Tressel to give up a little control in order to win these games against elite competition???

11) More Tressel, as the play calling at the end of the first half went into the other direction.
Up 10-7 and USC with no timeouts,OSU threw two passes instead of running into the locker room,that resulted in a USC field goal in a three point loss.
That was the time to be conservative and yet they were not.

Bullpen Notes

I know I have bias here,but sorry if I am not screaming about the Michigan "Big win" over Notre Dame at home?
Wow,you beat a team that was 3-8 last year and was only ranked 22nd because of their name.
If Notre Dame would have ranked where they deserved to be,this would be just another win...

Guess these two teams don't look as good as they did last week.
Oklahoma State went out and followed up a win over Georgia with an inexplicable loss at home to Houston and to one person out there in particular-Does Miami's win over Florida State lose some gloss after almost losing after trailing the whole night to Jacksonville State?
I think so,I didn't even know Jacksonville State's mascot (Gamecocks) until I did a Google search,that is how non-descript they are!

The New Jersey Devils opened camp and a surprise player showed up.
Former Buffalo enforcer Andrew Peters arrived at camp and will be attempting to take the enforcer role for Pierre Luc LeBlond.
Shapes up to be an interesting battle....

Photo Credit
AP Photo-Terry Gilliam