Too…much…happening…

Wow. So the Buckeyes have knocked Lloyd Carr out of a job, the Browns swept the season series against the Ravens, and I get to write a guest post on a Michigan site. Things are looking pretty good today.

So I wrote the wager post for Ghosts, we’ll send along a link when we see it up there. John is itching to write a Browns post, so we’ll defer to him. I will say this team is still quite immature. How scary will they be when they get it together?

The Buckeyes appear headed to Pasadena for only the second time in 20 years. Can that be right? It jut doesn’t seem possible that the last time we went to the Rose Bowl was Joe Germaine and the gang against Jake the Snake Plummer. I’m looking forward to it. And we’ll let Jeff from the Buckeye Battle Cry be the team cheerleader for the BCS title game. I prefer to be pleasantly surprised if they get there.

Lloyd Carr has stepped down. What will his legacy be? Well, I think it is quite simple really. Lloyd Carr > John Cooper. Jim Tressel > LLoyd Carr. That about sums it up I think. In the history of The Rivalry, Lloyd will now be linked with John Cooper. As good as Lloyd Carr looked when Cooper couldn’t get the job done, he looks that bad today. This group of seniors even came back to ensure that Carr’s legacy wasn’t tarnished. He had the more experienced group, playing at home, and he still lost. Todd Boeckman looked absolutely terrible. You can blame the weather if you want, but truth is he had that deer in the headlights look. No way he was going to make plays to win that game. He attempted 2 passes in the second half. His longest pass of the day was 15 yards! Despite that, the Wolverines couldn’t beat the Buckeyes.

What they are saying about Ohio State vs Wisconsin

It appears many of you appreciated the round-up from last week’s match-up, so I figured I’d give it another go. Certainly there are fewer detractors this week, as many were convinced the Buckeyes are at least worthy of a top 5 spot if not #1.

Todd McShay wrote a quite favorable piece on Todd Boeckman and the O-line, but I see that it is an insider piece, so linking to it won’t help. I’ll give you a snippet of the piece here-

“Size can be an overrated characteristic, but it definitely plays a role in Boeckman’s success. He has no trouble seeing over his massive offensive linemen, and his passing windows often are unobstructed. Boeckman shows no fear of taking a hit while his body is exposed during delivery, and he is sturdy enough to throw while defenders dangle from his legs.”

And about the line-

“The lesson learned is that Ohio State has very little trouble dealing with perimeter pass-rushers. First off, OTs Alex Boone and Kirk Barton are borderline impenetrable — just ask Penn State DE Maurice Evans.”

Bruce Hooley breaks down the Badgers and what they will have to do to beat the Bucks. When asked what the plan was to stop Ohio State, head coach Bret Bielema offered this-

“We’re going to try to play with 12 guys”

That might work coach.

Tribe Falters, Bucks Roll

ALCS game one, not pretty. C.C. had all kinds of control problems while Josh Beckett had a decent night giving up only 2 runs on 4 hits with 7 strikeouts. Sebathia only worked 4 and a third giving up 8 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks. So the Indians trail the Sox 1 game to none. Bottom line: it is one game in a long series, the Tribe has looked pretty good so far in the playoffs so I am not that worried.

Buckeyes defense rises to the challenge

It was supposed to be the best offense the Buckeyes have seen this season. Purdue came into the game ranked first in the Big Ten in total offense, and passing offense. It was also the first ranked opponent Ohio State has played this year. I’d say the Buckeyes passed this test. The defense pitched a shut-out with the exception of a garbage time TD in the last minute by the Boilermakers. Purdue put the ball in the air 60 times, completing only half of those. The outstanding player of the game wasn’t Lauriniatis for a change. Marcus Freeman roamed the field making tackle after tackle. Not that James had a bad game, but Freeman really stepped up and made some nice plays. Anderson Russell had 2 sacks and played tight coverage as well.

Ohio State dominates…Chris Wells injured

It was the kind of thing you hate to see happen in a blowout win. RB Chris Wells went limping to the sideline during the Buckeyes first possession of the second half, leading 45-7. He did not return to the game, but Tressel’s report after the game was that Chris could have returned to the game, but wasn’t needed. Whew.

As for the game, it was over long before Wells limped off the field. The Buckeyes came out of the tunnel and absolutely dismantled the under-powered Wildcats. In all fairness to Northwestern, their best player, Ohio native and star running back Tyrell Sutton was a pre-game scratch. The rest of the offense was a scratch too, they just didn’t know it. The Ohio State defense knocked them into next week. Already up 7-0 on touchdown pass from Boeckman to Robiskie, James Lauriniatis made his presence known with a sack on third and eight. The offense would score again in three plays on yet another TD pass to Robiskie.

Weekend Recap…Buckeyes win, Tribe takes 2 of 3, michigan still sucks

Wow what a weekend! The Indians take 2 from the White Sox, and maintain their lead in the Central. A gem of a game pitched by Paul Byrd Saturday night. Complete Game shutout, and the offense wasn’t bad either scoring 7 runs on 11 hits, with homers from Shoppach and Gutierrez. I didn’t get to see much of the game, so I won’t pretend like I know what happened. It was good to see the Tribe not let up after consecutive late inning wins. The eight game winning streak came to end Sunday against the Sox. It was a good streak, hope they start another one tomorrow in Minnesota. As we’ve talked about all season, the Tribe needs to keep winning series. They won the series with Chicago, and now we go on the road for a series with the Twins, the Angels, and the White Sox. I’d like to see the Tribe go at least 6-4 on this trip, though 3 of 4 from the Angels would be sweet as well.

On Saturday the Buckeyes opened their season with a win over Youngstown State. In my Buckeye preview part 2, I questioned why play a Division 1AA school; saying simply that nothing good can come from it. Well, for the Buckeyes they get some tape to review, and some areas to concentrate on. (Like the short yardage running game.) But the stunner of all was what happened to michigan. That is exactly what I meant by nothing good could come of it. Had the ground hogs made that field goal to win the game, what would have been said about them? How much respect would they have lost in the polls? Surely not as much as they are destined to lose now. For the Buckeyes they also lost a key player. DL Lawrence Wilson fractured his leg in the second quarter, and his status for the remainder of the season is unclear.

100 Reasons I’m Pumped About the Buckeyes Season…part 1

Here are some things about the upcoming season that get me all tingly.

• No stickers on the helmet for the first game. I’m a Uni-nerd. The stickers just do it for me.
• # 33 James Laurinaitis. Stepped in last year and made a seamless transition from A.J. Hawk. And that was no easy feat.
• This YouTube video.