It was a tough weekend for Buckeyes and Browns fans. The losses were devastating for both, but when this State Farms claims adjuster submits up his report …
only one team’s insurance rate is gonna go through the roof.
And that would be your 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes.
When these two guys ruled the sidelines,
OSU had two primary objectives for the season. Beat Michigan and win the Big Ten Conference. Adding on a Rose Bowl win was kinda like getting a DVD player installed in your car. Nice to have, but not a necessity. And contending for a national championship was like getting one of those newfangled sunroofs.
And as for this guy…
I think his only objective was to keep his ‘dagummits’ under 5 per game. While we are on the topic of hillbilly language, at my son’s 8th grade football game a couple weeks ago, the opposing coach, in a moment of frustration, screamed to his team…
DAGNABIT!!!
Sorry, but I just had to mention that.
Anyhow, when Senator Jim Tressel took office, he raised the stakes considerably. Both the Big Ten title (7 in 10 years, including the last 6 seasons) and beating Michigan (9 wins in 10 match-ups) became a given. Contenting for a national championship was the carrot to chase. Tressel ball finished in the Associated Press top 5 rankings 7 of 10 years!
So when Urban Meyer returned to his home state, the bar was already set high. And given the weakened state of the Big Ten Conference, it should be. Speaking of which, let’s do a roll call of the marquee Big Ten programs this week-end.
Unranked Virginia Tech handles the host Buckeyes, 35 to 21.
Notre Dame shut out Michigan, 31-0.
Oregon scored the last 28 points to roll Michigan State 46-27
Nebraska scored a TD in the final minute to win their epic match-up with mighty McNeese State 31-24.
And Penn State got a solid 21-3 W over the Zips of Akron. That’ll get some respect!!!
I won’t even mention the Iowa, Northwestern, and Purdue results. The Big Ten probably needs to quit worrying about trying to catch up to the Southeastern Conference. They need to look in the rear mirror at the Mid-American Conference!
Back to the Bucks. Their 1st home loss to an unranked non-conference team in 65 games pretty much ended their chances for one of the four spot in college football’s first play-off. The only quality wins left on their schedule are of the Big Ten variety. And Big Ten stock right now is about on par with…
So I guess we are back to chasing the goals of Woody and Earl.
What’s more disheartening than being out of the national championship hunt is our appearance on the field. When Urban Meyer was hired, I figured we had a permanent seat at the National Championship Table. The combination of Ohio State’s ability to draw top recruits, a weak Big Ten, and both Urban’s credentials and innovations looked like the perfect storm. But from what I see on the field, one of those ingredients is sorely lacking. And that would be the innovation. To put it simply, it looks like the game has passed Urban by.
Ohio State’s last 5 games have been Michigan, Michigan State, Clemson, Navy, and Virginia Tech. They have been badly outcoached in all 5 of those games. A mediocre Michigan team came within a two-point conversion of beating them, and Navy dominated the first 3 quarters of this year’s match up. OSU lost the other 3 match-ups.
Offensively, their version of the spread offense is about as bland as a rice cake. As the season wore on last year, the pretty much relied on Carlos Hyde to pound over soft defenses and Braxton Miller to shake and bake his way to big plays. Those weapons are gone this year. But where other big time college spread offenses look to have defenses on their heals, opposing teams seem to mercilessly attack the Buckeye offense. It’s glaringly obvious this year with a young QB and offensive line. But I think it’s been a constant throughout Urban’s reign. It’s just that superior talent masked it the last two years.
As for the defense…maybe they can spend the week studying Va Tech’s defensive performance. Someone needs to text the OSU coaches and let them know they have more talent than everyone they play. Less talented teams sometimes choose to play soft and have the bend-but-don’t break philosophy. I just don’t get why the Buckeye coaches play the defensive backs and linebackers so soft.
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Let’s move on to our Browns. I can summarize the first half with one picture…
My dad is from the Cleveland-area. He took me to my first Browns’ game at age 7. I have been hooked ever since. But I truly pondered cashing in my Browns’ fan card at halftime. 27-3!!! Another year of putrid football? I don’t think I can take it.
And I don’t like to use the word hate. I don’t really hate much. But….
I HATE THE STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Taking another beat down by the Black and Yellow (sorry, but that color is about as close to gold as the Jamaican Bob Sled team) is hard enough. Taking one to start the season made me think of one of this guy’s famous lines…
I CAN STANDS SO MUCH, AND I CAN’T STANDS NO MORE!!!
By the way, do any kids even watch Popeye anymore?
Well, the Browns musta got a shipment of Grade A spinach at halftime. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan shook up the play calling with the no-huddle offense, Brian Hoyer slipped on his Brian Sipe shoes, and the defense decided to be the hammer instead of the nail.
The good guys rattled off 24 straight points to tie it up in the 4th quarter. WOW!!! But with Big Ben on the other sideline, I still gave us about a 20% chance of winning. And when we went conservative at the end and played for overtime, that writing was on the wall. Manning and Brady get all the hype, but if the game is on the line, I fear big #7 more than those two pretty boys. And once again, my fears were confirmed by Mr. Roethisberger in the final seconds.
The nice thing about the NFL, as opposed to college football, is that one loss does not break a season. 12 losses, though, can break a fan’s spirit. Let’s hope the Browns can build off their 2nd half so I can proudly wear my Browns’ gear past Halloween!
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