Does the rest of the country know something we don't?

Well, we’ve reached the end of the regular season for our beloved Buckeyes. It feels like just yesterday USC was crushing our collective pelvises with repeated knee kicks to the groin. Tomorrow the Buckeyes welcome a free-falling Michigan Wolverines team that so badly needs this win to bring some sort of respectability back to this season. Hmmmm, about that…

According to Bodog, the Buckeyes are 21 point favorites. I never thought I’d see the day that this rivalry would have a 21 point favorite. But, with Pryor and Wells running wild the last few games and Michigan banged up at QB and RB, that’s where we stand.

Over the last week reports have been coming out that Rodriguez may be out after one season and some key players may be contemplating transferring. I personally feel that all of these reports are a little far fetched, but if the Buckeyes do lay a 21+ point ass whooping on the Wolverines, we may just see some of those stories come to fruition.

Because the Little Mime of Hate is such a die-hard Wolverines fan, I figured we’d get his take on this, a little two-for-one action.

LMoH: Is it possible that Uncle Rico is playing possum? Sure it is. Is it possible that he has a whole new playbook to unveil Saturday that will throw the Buckeyes off their game? Sure it is. Let’s all step back into reality now. Michigan is in trouble. I’ll save the majority of my editorializing for the year in review and try to stick to Saturday’s game. In order for Michigan to win they are going to have come out and play the perfect game. We’re talking eight guys in the box, shut down Wells and force Prior to throw the football. They’ll have to run the ball well early and eat some clock. Hopefully they can get out to one of their early leads and maybe maintain it this time. Again, let's step back into reality. A reality that I don’t even want to think about.

I love the defeated tone in the LMoH's writing. It's good to be an Ohio State fan right now.

..."Random Thoughts" may be the most unimaginative title for a blog post, but it's done me well so far, so I'm gonna roll with it.

...That's right Jim Tressel! Going for the fake punt in the fourth quarter up 21 points. That's how you get some respect in the eyes of the bowl voters. Run up the score!

...Troy Smith who?



...and finally a tribute to Richard Riehle, the hardest working man in Hollywood. He's not dead or anything, but holy shit give it a rest son. Not every movie made over the last 20 years needs the walrus mustache.

Tom Smykowski: Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

I have no less than three versions of this post saved on my computer with each one going off in completely different directions. The first one I is about how the game tomorrow night scares the shit out of me, which in turn leads me to talk about how Tressel has lost the trust of every Buckeye fan. The other is about how if Ohio State wins tomorrow night they won’t move more than two spots in the rankings. Of course from there I go on about Oklahoma’s easy schedule up to this point and how Penn State plays virtually the same opponents as OSU but get more love. Needless to say, there are a lot of things about this season that have me fired up. Oh, and let’s just go ahead and get this out there. The Big Ten from top to bottom is not soft. At the beginning of the year I would have agreed with you, but take a look at the Big Ten standings. Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Northwestern all have 6+ wins. Follow those up with very dangerous Illinois and Wisconsin teams and you have a respectable conference. Let’s move on.

This game tomorrow is huge for the Big Ten. It showcases the two best teams from the confrence in prime time.



Ohio State wins, they jump back into the national championship talk and you’ll hear a lot of stories about how this is a very different OSU team with Pryor at the helm. If Penn State wins, they’re a virtual lock to make the championship game. The only speed bump may come from a finale at Michigan State.

I know this is tough to hear, but as an Ohio State fan you should be happy no matter what the result of this game is. The Big Ten needs to start earning some respect back and I don’t care if it’s Ohio State or Penn State representing the Big Ten in the title game. A strong showing in the National Championship is going to pay off in the long run for all Big Ten teams.

Admit it, deep down you’re worried the Buckeyes aren’t going to win on Saturday. I can admit it…when I’m alone, huddled in the corner of my closet with a blanket over me I see the Buckeye players on one knee looking up at the scoreboard with that defeated look. But when I'm out in public and someone wants to debate the finer points of why USC will win, my response is “You can’t stop the Buckeye defense”. Normally a good rebuttal, it's safe and has been the answer of choice since "You can't stop Troy Smith". That is unless the person you’re debating said topic with has watched the OU game from last week. But that's why I'm here. We’re going to break this down position by position and see what shakes out.

Quarterback
I’ll come out and say right now that I am not a fan of QB-by-committee. I think Tressel is screwing with Boeckman’s rhythm and it might cost us the game if he inserts Pryor at the wrong time. This situation brings back memories of 2005 when Tressel decided to play both Troy Smith and Justin Zwick against Texas. Neither one got into a rhythm and it showed. Even with all that though, Mark Sanchez is making his first start against a quality opponent. Yes he “torched” the Virginia defense two weeks ago, but do you really think Virginia’s defense is anywhere near Ohio State’s?
When it comes right down to it, Boeckman led this Ohio State squad to a National Championship last year. So he gets the edge in this battle.
Edge: Ohio State

Running Back
If Wells was healthy there wouldn’t even be a debate. Unfortunately, he’s not and is now listed as doubtful for the game Saturday. That leaves us with Maurice Wells and Daniel Herron who were adequate against Ohio last week. USC has four running backs that will likely all see time in some capacity. Each one has their strengths, much like the Ohio State running game. If you want speed, insert Player X. If you want power, insert Player Y. If the USC running game gets off to a good start against the Buckeye defense, it’s gonna be a long day.
Edge: USC

Wide Receiver
Between Small, Hartline, and Robiskie you’re not going to get a receiver that’s going to set the world on fire. What you’re going to get is three guys that play their position extremely well and can make plays when it counts. For the Trojans, they have two solid receivers in Vidal Hazelton and Damian Williams. I don’t know much about either of these guys except to say that Damian Williams is a transfer from Arkansas who had to sit out last season because of the transfer. As for Vidal, you could say that he is the Trojans version of Brian Hartline. The Buckeyes get the edge in this because of the chemistry with Boeckman and they know what it’s like to play in big games.
Edge: Ohio State

Offensive Line
Let’s not bore anyone with this. The Buckeyes didn’t lose anyone and the Trojans lost four starters. Yes the Buckeyes O-Line looked terrible last week, but I think that was a result of looking ahead too much.
Edge: Ohio State

Defense
I’m going to just look at defense as the whole package for this one. Trying to break down each position will ultimately prove futile since the defensive unit acts as one. That being said, I really feel both teams are pretty evenly matched. The linebackers cancel each other out, as do the D-Line’s. That just leaves the DB’s, of which the Buckeyes steal the show. If only for the simple fact that Malcolm Jenkins returned for his senior year, I’m giving this edge to the Buckeyes.
Edge: Ohio State

Yikes, Ohio State dominated almost every category. Maybe I’m a little biased, but in my defense I just don’t put a lot of stock into any of the games that either team has played up until now. Virginia is terrible. They lost their best defensive player, Chris Long, and their best Offensive player, Jameel Sewell, from last year. Did anyone expect them not to get stomped?
I’m not buying into USC as this huge power-house after they blew out a shitty team.
My prediction for this game, Ohio State Wins 27-24.

Here are some quick hits from this weekend’s football weekend.

*The Steelers looked REALLY good.
*Ohio State and the Browns did not. I’ll touch one the Brown’s a little more later.
*Washington/BYU - How is flipping the football over your head a 15 yard penalty?
*Notre Dame, despite their victory, continues to be a joke. How does Weiss continue to get the benefit of the doubt?
*Michigan played just good enough to win.
*So did Ohio State.
*Is ECU really that good?
*I am still sick and tired of Brett Farve. Come on people! It was the Dolphins! By the way, how good does my prediction of this game look now? Not quite 100%. But I damn near called it. Allow me to pause while I pat myself on the back.
*Starting Schaub instead of Rivers in my Fantasy League was not as smart as I thought it would be.

The Browns *UGH*
Where to begin. For the moment I am going to overlook the dropped passes by Edwards and Winslow. I am also going to overlook how poorly the o-line played. I am also going to overlook the fact that on any given play, Romo had 45 seconds to get rid of the football. You have 4th and 3 with 10 minutes to play. You are down 21. I have 2 questions. 1. Why the hell didn’t he go for it? 2. Why the hell didn’t he go for it.

The Wolverines
As I mentioned earlier, they played just good enough beat a bottom feeder MAC team. Here is what I took out of the game. The defense is coming around and looked pretty solid save for a couple of late drives by Miami. I’ll take it. Steven Threet has potential. But wait, what do they say about potential? It means you suck now. While I wouldn’t go that far with it, he does need to work on his decision making and accuracy. Given that he is facing the fire for the first time, I can live with it. What I love about the guys is his elusiveness. Granted, it was Miami (OH), but he seemed to have a knack for making guys miss when he scrambled. While I am not promising victory just yet, I do believe he is the kind of quarterback that could cause Ohio State problems. IF, he works on his decision making and accuracy.

This is the 2nd best week of the year. My apologies, but the 1st week of the NCAA tourney is still number one. In the span of 8 days College Football and the NFL will kick-off their regular seasons. I love it. There is nothing better in life than being a fan. I would even argue it’s better than sex. Hear me out on this one. Unless you are suffering from some sort of E.D., sex is never disappointing. We always achieve our goal. Your lady however, might feel differently. Anyway, as we all know, being a fan is much different. Look at the different paths Ohio State and Michigan travelled last year. For Michigan it was a championship or bust season. And they busted. In week one. To a high school team. Then again in week 2. Let’s be fair, to a very good football team. Ohio State on the other hand, backed their way into the National Championship. Let’s all be reasonable, last year’s team was not a championship caliber team. It was a good team, not a great team. To illustrate my point look at THE GAME. If Tressell doesn’t take the ball out of the hands of his 35 year old quarterback, Boeckman might very well have cost the Buckeye’s that game. Here’s where the Buckeye fans say “Michigan fans always have an excuse”. To that I say, kiss my grits. It’s not an excuse. Tressell, once again, out coached Carr. That was the difference in that game. Not Beanie Wells or any of the other skill position athletes. I might hear the argument that Vernon Gholstein was a difference maker. My point being, Michigan and Ohio State had the same expectations and disappointment last season, but at very different times. It’s what brings us back, even more excited for this season. Could Michigan one of the 4 Michigan quarterbacks and Head Coach Uncle Rico do just enough to sneak Michigan into the National Championship game like Tressell and Krenzel did in ’02? Probably not. But we’re fans. So of course it can happen. Not only can it happen, but until the Wolverines are mathematically out of the championship game, it WILL happen. Because we’re fans. Our expectations are ridiculous and our hearts will most definitely be split in two. Because we’re fans. A season without heart-ache, is a season you didn’t put enough in to.

Here are some random thoughts about this years coaches preseason joke.

And a joke it is. How can it be taken seriously when the coaches have put West Virginia at number 8 and Michigan at number 24. Let’s go ahead and get this out in the open, THE BIG EAST IS A JOKE. It might as well be called the MAC East. Let’s all be real serious for a minute, if you put Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State or Michigan in the MAC East, is there any reason to think that either of those teams doesn’t pick up the easiest BCS Bowl bid available. Maybe WVU is that good. My problem is, we’ll never know. Same scenario with South Florida. Both schools have one tough game per schedule. USF hosts Kansas and WVU hosts Auburn. Let’s talk again after those games.

What I truly love about the preseason poll is that despite the fact that I’ll have to listen to Buckeye’s apologists bitch about it all year, the Buckeye’s are not number one. I believe the coaches got this one right. Until the Buckeye’s can beat a quality non-conference team on the road, the coaches are correct. I already know what you are going to say, “ But we went on the road and beat Texas last year. Congrats. But as we would later see, Texas wasn’t Texas last year. Let’s face it, OSU has gotten on the shitty schedule band wagon. The reason the SEC can get away with it is because during conference play, they are playing quality teams. For example, the crappiest team in the SEC last year was Mississippi. I still think Ole Miss could beat Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue. The Big Ten is down ladies and gentlemen. Which means the Big Ten has to schedule some better non-conference foes. I am well aware that the Buckeye’s are headed to the Rose Bowl this year to play USC. But they are also mixing in perennial powers Youngstown St., Ohio U. and Troy. Michigan has it’s normal bout with a struggling Notre Dame. They will also mix in Toledo, Miami (OH) and Utah (who some are expecting good things out of this year). Let’s face it, not exactly Big Ten caliber opponents. Penn States schedule might actually be worse than both of them. They don’t have a real game on their schedule this year. They will square off against Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse and Temple. Jesus! My point being, the power in college football still lies in the south. Yes it pisses me off. Football is meant to be played the Big Ten way. But until the Big Ten steps up and does something about it, they will continue to get blasted in big BCS games.

So let’s talk Wolverines. Rounding out the top 25 was Michigan at 24 and Fresno St. at 25. This must be a really down year for college football if Michigan found a way in to the top 25. I still think Michigan goes at least 6-6. I still think they beat OSU to close out the season (I promise you the Mummer and myself will do a nice spread for that game). But let’s face it, with a little luck and some elbow grease, next season they might be a top 25 team.