Happiness and optimism abound in for all things Ohio State football, and recently Tim May and Ken Gordon indulged a little bit in that revelry. Is all the talk about what is to come justified? Should you expect to be high-fiving your buddies this time in 2011?
Vegas thinks Ohio State’s odds are pretty good (at the moment). Let’s talk about it.
According to the gurus at Bodog, the Buckeyes’ are a better bet than everyone except Alabama. Other oddsmakers have slightly different interpretations, but they are all relatively similar. Here is the Bodog Top 15:
2011 BCS Championship Odds
| TEAM | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 3:1 |
| Ohio State | 13:2 |
| Oregon | 12:1 |
| Southern Cal | 12:1 |
| Oklahoma | 15:1 |
| Texas | 15:1 |
| Nebraska | 15:1 |
| Boise State | 15:1 |
| Virginia Tech | 18:1 |
| TCU | 18:1 |
| Iowa | 20:1 |
| Penn State | 20:1 |
| Miami | 20:1 |
| Florida | 25:1 |
| LSU | 25:1 |
Other odds of note:
Other Notable 2011 BCS Odds
| TEAM | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 50:1 |
| Notre Dame | 75:1 |
| Illinois | 100:1 |
| Michigan State | 100:1 |
| Northwestern | 125:1 |
The field’s odds: The Tide is an top obvious selection as they are bringing back a cadre of starters and stars - Ingram, Jones, McElroy - but I found it slightly surprising that Boise State was not considered to have as good or greater odds than Nebraska, Oklahoma, and/or USC, all teams that lost a significant amount of firepower, including a Heisman winner and future no. 1 draft choice. As you probably know, I am not supporter of the non-AQ field, but I thought the Broncos may have generated more gambling buzz.
Another surprise for me was Virginia Tech’s relatively low odds considering the league they play in sucks on ice, while they are returning a reputable amount of talent. Finally, Ohio State plays three teams with odds of 20:1. By my count, they are the only team to play such (theoretically) contending teams.
OSU odds: While, I share the optimism for 2010 and I agree with most fans that Pryor looked far, far better in the Rose Bowl than he did at any point during the year, we should be cautious about getting too carried away about him. I thought that the main difference in his Rose Bowl play was that he had time to operate, which I attributed to four things: (1) improved o-line play, (2) balanced play calling that kept Oregon’s defense guessing, (3) a small, average Oregon defensive front, and (4) Oregon’s coaches’ inability to adjust to OSU’s pass-heavy gameplan. Pryor’s mistakes in the Purdue debacle almost all came when he panicked under the pressure that Purdue brought. He only faced pressure in his face three or four times against the Ducks and, frankly, he still didn’t handle it well. On one occasion, he badly missed a wide open Sanzenbacher on an almost certain TD and the other was the Holy Ballard catch. I realize I seem far more skeptical than most, but I just question whether the improvement in his decision-making and game-management has been as drastic as everyone has declared. I really want it to happen for him — and the entire offense — but he won’t succeed unless the entire offensive operation (blocking, scheming, play-calling) improves.
So, are the 13:2 odds justified. If they play as well in every game as they did against Oregon. The real question is, what are the odds that another Purdue disaster is on the schedule?
Its game day. Post your hate here. I’ll be the first to say it, I hate the State Penn of Pennsylvania and I hope my roommates survive the trip to Happy Valley.
I said in my last post that we were definitely going to beat Purdue and there was no chance of an upset. But that is just the game that college football is. The intangibles mean more to college football than any other sport: turnovers, momentum, home/away.
So now many of you are asking: now what? I read comments saying that its only a matter of time before we as Ohio State fans realize that Tressel is only a glorified version of John Cooper, that he’ll never win the big game (Cooper’s being Michigan, Tressel’s being Top 5 opponents obviously). Ohio State is no longer the highest rated team from the state of Ohio, and that is something that some of us never dreamed we’d see. Terrelle Pryor seems to be taking two steps forward and three steps back, week after week. So that leaves many of us scratching our heads, where does the Ohio State program go from here?
Forward. As a fanbase, as a team, as a coaching staff. I know we can still win the Big Ten this year and it could still realistically happen. And if we do, we’re going to the Rose Bowl where maybe, just maybe we’ll be able to beat a big name team for the first time in a long time. And if that happens, hallelujah, all is saved. But in all reality, if this team plays every week like they did last weekend at Purdue, they’re not going to come close to winning the Big Ten. But there’s still hope for this team. I know you’re saying that this team has a lot of potential, and a lot of talent, and that a lot of it is being wasted. But there’s still a lot of growing left to do on this team. Hell, Terrelle Pryor is younger than I am.
Some people have said that Pryor should be benched, or maybe he should be moved to wide receiver. Doing either of those, in my opinion would be a big, big mistake. Pryor is not the only guy on this team who has not stepped up this year. There’s the offensive line who hasn’t provided and adequate blocking game in what seems like my lifetime. There’s a young wide receiver corps from which no go-to guy has really emerged yet. But I think worst of all is the fact that the stigma that is haunting this team is really starting to get to the players. Tressel would never say it and neither would any of his players, but I think this Ohio State team is really feeling like they’re in a make-or-break situation in terms of national perception. So maybe the best thing for this team would be to finish third in the Big Ten. Try their luck in a bowl game in which they don’t have to play a Top 5 team, where there’s not a large national audience watching them and try to build some momentum for next year. I feel like this year is starting to become comparable to 2004, an 8-4 year ending with a trip to the Alamo Bowl, but one that culminated with an offensive explosion against both Michigan and Oklahoma State (even without Troy Smith). What happened the year after that? A Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame. And the year after that? A trip (albeit a forgettable one) to the National Championship Game.
So maybe it takes a step back year to provide real progress for the future. Hell, it worked for the 2004-2006 teams. And knowing Tressel, he’s not going to let guys quit this year or any year in the near future when things look bleak. Eventually, he will find a way for this offense to truly click on all cylinders with the guys he has now, the guys he will get in the following years, and without those who are leaving. He’s done it before, but college football is a team game that can take a year or two to perfect with personnel. Even I’ll admit that a loss to Purdue last weekend was unacceptable. But if it helps take this team to a more positive place with a more determined work effort, then it was a good loss.
It's all happening.
The great majority of Ohio State fans and observers - and national observers, for that matter - are expecting Terrelle Pryor to an order of magnitude better than his baptism-by-fire, freshman season. While there are those that have lower expectations and reasonable doubts regarding his reported eye-popping 40 time, it seems the masses are going to have their dreams turn into reality. At least, Jim Tressel seems to believe they will.
“It’s like he’s two different people right now,” Tressel told Columbus radio station WBNS FM/97.1 on Friday, the coach’s first interview since the Buckeyes started hitting in practice this week. “He’s the same athlete he was, maybe then some, but he’s 10 times the quarterback he was.”
I admit, as Pryor and the rest of his teammates take the field today for the jersey scrimmage today, I have expectations for Pryor’s performance this fall that evoke Vince Young, circa 2004. Is that unfair? Probably, because does not play in the system and is not surrounded by the same cast but I do expect a breakthrough performance akin to Young’s.
And, I do not seem to be alone. Doug Lesmerises’ piece indicates that the coaches, players, and even Pryor himself, believes progress has been made and big things are merely days away.
Ah, Mondays: The beginning of the work week, the beginning of the school week and…football? Yes, football, that glorious sport that we’ve all been waiting oh so long for. And not that No Fun League preseason football, I’m talking Ohio State Buckeyes football, well, kinda. The 2009 Buckeyes will be holding their open practice this Monday at Ohio Stadium. If you’ve been too lazy to already click on the link and read the details, here they are. Gates will open to the public at 6:30 and admission is free. The team is expected to arrive around 7:15 and practice will commence at approximately 7:30. I imagine that there will not be any photography allowed (I haven’t heard anything to the fact, that’s just my guess). Get your pre-game on by checking out the newly renovated William Oxley Thompson library where Tressel will be signing your framed/bronzed copies of The Winner’s Manual. Besides that, there will be no autograph session. Your’s truly will be in attendance and I will be taking detailed hastily scribbled notes for all of you who aren’t able to make it out.
Don't expect a full stadium
But wait, there’s more!: This open practice will also serve as your first opportunity to check out the renovations that have been going on on the north side of the stadium. The long and short of it is this: retired numbers will be moved to the right to make room for a new LED scoreboard so that all of us in the south stands won’t have to break our necks trying to check out the replay of the most recent controversial plays, and a new tribute board to all of the national championship years will take its place to the right of the scoreboard to round out the ensemble. Also, new digital ribbon advertising boards will be going up along the east and west facades.
It’s like clockwork. Every year around the same time, new Buckeyes start arriving in Columbus for Fall Camp. This year, Ohio State will be welcoming the #1 rated class in the nation. Here’s a quick rundown of every member of the Ohio State’s top ranked 2009 Recruiting Class. Give us your thoughts.
Surest Bet: Dorian Bell
Fastest: Dominic Clarke
Quickest: Jamaal Berry, James Jackson*
Biggest Sleeper: Reid Fragel
Biggest Rivals/Scout Discrepancy: Chris Fields
It’s a Family Thing: Zach Boren, Adam Homan*, Duron Carter
Current Players Watch Out for: Corey Brown
Corey Brown Should Watch Out for: CJ Barnett*
Offensive Line Depth = Good: Corey Lindsay, Sam Longo
Name Best Describes Play on the Field: Jamie Wood*
Best Football Name Ever: Storm Klein*
Nice Name, Mean Dude: Melvin Fellows
Jeanette Part Duex: Jordan Hall
Ate Your Children and Isn’t Sorry: Jack Mewhort*
Steepest Learning Curve: Kenny Guiton
Was There a Question?: Marcus Hall
Offense or Defense: Adam Bellamy
Courtesy of the Most Active Pipeline in North America: Jonathan Newsome
Passes the Look Test: John Simon
Could Take John Simon: Jordan Whiting
*Denotes Early Enrollees Who Participated in Spring Practice
As a lead in to the 2009 Ohio State football season, Buckeye Commentary takes a look back at the 2008 Ohio State Buckeye football season. Poe lays down the law and delivers 6 very, very real awards for the 2008 season.
OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS ARE OVERRATED AWARD
Malcolm Jenkins Blocks a Punt vs Purdue
Why It Was Nominated: The only play really worth watching in the 16-3 snoozefest. Just 1 week after scoring the winning touchdown in Madison, Wisconsin, Terrelle Pryor led the anemic Buckeye offense to 222 yards of offense, or roughly one quarter of a Big 12 football game. Malcolm Jenkins proved he was the game changer everyone knew he was and freshman Etienne Sabino was able to capitalize for 7 points. It happened in the first quarter, before you fell asleep.
Why It Won: At least the box score recorded a touchdown of some sort.
Also Nominated: Games against USC and Penn State.
WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP AWARD
Chris Wells Hurdles Illinois Safety Donsay Hardeman
Why It Was Nominated: In the sequel to “Beanie Wells Hurdles Minnesota Defender”, Beanie Wells stars as high flying self. Wells turned what was a quality run into a screenshot for the ages by hurdling over a Hardeman. Hardeman would have had a shot had he not closed his eyes like he was peering into a solar eclipse. After the run, Hardeman jumped on a tackled Wells and congratulated him* for being nominated for this award. The only thing more embarrassing would have been if the announcers could have got the right player. [*may or may not have happened]
Why It Won: The Boeckman Bounce off the turf against USC was a close second.
Also Nominated: Beanie Wells Hurdles Minnesota Defender, Beanie Hop Against MSU.
THAT WAS A QUARTERBACK?!? AWARD
Terrelle Pryor Give Minnesota Linebacker a Free Ride
Why It Was Nominated: After being accused of running “soft” by the Minnesota bench, Terrelle Pryor launched Minnesota LBer Rex Sharpe 10 yards out of bounds. Offensive players around the nation realized that they are lucky he’s on offense. Pryor finished it off with a couple Thank You’s and You’re Welcome’s. Sharpe could not be reached for comment, nor did we try.
Why It Won: As Glenn Mason noted, it’s possibly the first time a QB could have been called for unnecessary roughness. Fire, passion, and the desire to prove people wrong are good qualities of a QB.
Also Nominated: Todd Boeckman to Terrelle Pryor, Terrelle Pryor Blocking Downfield.
ANNUAL BEATDOWN FO NORTHWESTERN AWARD
Ohio Beats Northwestern 45-10
Why It Was Nominated: In the almost annual thumping of Northwestern, Ohio State proved that not even an anemic offense could be stopped by Northwestern. It was more shocking this year because Northwestern was above average (and should have beat Big 12 Title Contender Missouri). Jim Tressel obviously despises Northwestern for beating OSU in 2004 and will not stop until reparations are paid in full. Unfortunately, the Cats aren’t on the schedule in 2009, so how can we present the award? One word: Indiana.
Why It Won: Unfortunately, Ohio State plays Northwestern only once per year. This year wasn’t quite as laughable as the 45 first half points administered by OSU in 2007.
Also Nominated: Michigan State 45-7, Youngstown State 43-0.
HEY, AT LEAST WE’RE NOT MICHIGAN
Ohio State Survives Ohio
Why It Was Nominated: The “Jim Tressel Doesn’t Want to Open The Playbook for USC” excuse worked for at least a week, until OSU actually played USC. The second game of the season (and first game without Beanie Wells) proved that maybe the Big Ten doesn’t understand offense all that well. Trailing 7-6 at half time, Ohio State was engaged in a battle with the Bobcats from Athens and Boo Jackson, their QB, who seemingly only made plays when he had to. A Brandon Saine TD a Ray Small punt return for TD, and the Play of the Season Award nominee fumble recovery by Shaun Lane sealed the deal for the Buckeyes.
Why It Won: Ohio State’s line might have been in a pillow fight against Ohio, but at least Ohio State wins games against the MAC. Michigan? Notsomuch.
Also Nominated: Northwestern Beats Michigan, Toledo Beats Michigan, Michigan Goes 3-9 and Bowl-less.
PLAY OF THE SEASON AWARD
Quan Cosby Takes It To The House For The Win With 16 Seconds Left
Why It Was Nominated: Hardly satisfying, isn’t it? In a way, that’s the perfect description for the season. From preseason Top 3 to tainted by USC and Penn State, the 2008 will always be described as “well, it happened”. There were plenty of great plays and some not so great plays. Rather than lay down as they had several times before, Ohio State came roaring back to take the lead against the ‘Should Have Been Playing for the National Championship” Longhorns on a Terrelle Pryor TD Catch, and an all too easy Boom Herron TD run. With aid from a few interesting calls from the referees, Texas was creeping down the field with the clock wearing down. Then, as decried by the football gods, Ohio State’s last line of defense Anderson Russell was struck down by the Ghost of Vince Young. Jim Tressel could easily be 3-0 against Mack Brown but, alas, he’s not.
Why It Won: Would it have felt good to beat Texas? Sure. Would it have made sense? Hardly. After Florida, LSU, and USC, sending the seniors and juniors out with a win just wasn’t in the football gods’ plans.
Also Nominated: Shaun Lane Wins the Battle of Ohio, Terrelle Pryor Becomes a Man in Madison, Terrelle Pryor TD Catch, OSU Goes up 3-0 on USC.
I know most of you thought Buckeye Commentary was gone for good, but our absence has a perfectly good explanation. We all had commitments and there was the issue of ironing out the new features and protocols associated with the new design. But, you don’t need that crap. You want to hear about the Buckeyes. So do we.
Despite our over-extended absence there was not a whole hell of a lot of OSU-centric news. Ohio State gained four new players and may have lost two experienced guys. In between those events, Tressel and Co. managed to hang on to its best recruit (arguably). Oh yeah, it lost another celebrated recruit, at least for a little while.
That was about the extent of the unexpected news but there was plenty of the usual: Ohio State named preseason favorite by the fancy-writing pundits, an Ohio State player named preseason offensive player of the year, along with a handful of preseason All Big Ten players.
Amidst all of that, Terrelle Pryor took up golf.
What time are we playing this week?
The Big Ten recently announced that Ohio State and Minnesota will square off at high noon. Big deal, right? I tend to agree with that sentiment, but it did get me thinking about one thing: does Ohio State have a regular schedule? I know only three games have announced start times but from the looks of it Ohio State will be lucky to have more than two games in a row at the same time.
For argument’s sake, let’s assume that the Navy and Toledo games start at noon. Illinois looks like they will be marginally successful early on, so it is not unreasonable for that game to kickoff around 3:30pm. Plus, the Saturday night games that day already include Big 10 squads. We already know Indiana is at 7:00pm, and the games against Wisconsin will be either be noon or 3:30pm (Michigan v. Iowa is already scheduled at night). So, through 6 games the Buckeyes will not have played two games in a row at the same time.
The four-game stretch of Wisconsin-Purdue-Minnesota-New Mexico State offers the best chance for the Buckeyes to experience any regularity. At the very least, they Scarlet and Grey will probably play back-to-back nooners at home against the Gophers and Aggies. I think it is unlikely that any of the last three games will be at the same time. Penn State will most likely start at night while the Michigan game has been known to begin at 1:00pm.
When I was a kid going to Ohio State games, virtually every game kicked off at noon. Now, some teams do not know the kickoff time until the week of the game. This is not to say that other elite teams don’t face the same type of scheduling fluctuations and I am not sure how I would quantify the effects of different kickoff times, including the different time zones.
Does this matter? I don’t know, but in a game of inches inspired by a military aesthetic, you would imagine a defined routine would yield considerable benefits. So, this varying schedule has to be considered a slight - perhaps minuscule - handicap. (If anyone has the time and inclination to perform a little research regarding the Buckeyes’ past schedules I would be very interested to see if any patterns appear to support my random supposition.)
Sleep schedules, pregame meals, and fan “participation” vary greatly based on something as simple as a kickoff time. So, I don’t find it is ridiculous to consider the impact on college players, especially for younger players still adjusting to college and a new city/campus.
The question for OSU, will results vary?
