DS in the House; OSU; and Sore Losers
Today is Ashley’s 7th birthday and we got her a pink DS-lite. She really digs it; we got her the High School Musical DS game and she’s getting better at it. She’s a huge fan of that movie (like every 7 year old girl I imagine) so this is right up her alley. I am curious as to other DS games I should look at for her. Thing is…I can now see why this system is such a huge hit. It’s an addictive little sucker.
The Buckeyes won yesterday against Michigan State 24-17. If there was a ever a score that did not reflect the game…it’s that one. OSU completely dominated the Spartans. MSU came in with the #1 offense in the B10 and the #7 rushing offense in the nation and only managed 185 TOTAL yards, 65 of that coming on a 4th quarter drive which led to a FG. Think about that. With 5:00 to go MSU had a total of around 120 yards of total offense. Javon Ringer, a damn good back who couldn’t get into OSU due to a low ACT score (we wanted him bad) came in averaging 7 yards a carry for the year — he had 18 carries for 49 yards Saturday.
It was 24-0 until we took a trip to crazy town. With the ball on the 50 and OSU in complete control, Boeckman was pressured and made a bad decision and threw a pick that was returned for a TD. Our next play, Boeckman was sacked by an unblocked blitzer and fumbled, which was again returned or a TD. 24-14. On the NEXT play Wells fumbled and we somehow recovered it on our own 12. It was 1:08 of pure bizarre-ness. After that, MSU was out of magic tricks and we went on to secure the win, but it was a very, very odd game. A game that OSU dominated but it just goes to show how turnovers can make stats moot.
I do wish Chris Wells was 100%. He had a HUGE game Saturday, carrying the ball 31 times for 221 yards…on one ankle. Wells has had a bad wheel since spring ball and is right now at about 75% effectiveness. Not bad for a gimp. On two good ankles…well next year you’ll see what I mean. He wasn’t the #1 recruit in the country for no reason. He’s a beast, and we’re just now starting to see it.
So, is OSU legit? Yes and no. The defense is remarkable and anyone who questions that just isn’t paying attention. It’sa much bette defense from last year in almost every way. They’re faster, and more experienced. I thought Laurinitis was highly overrated coming into the year and benefited from some big plays, which lead to him winning all those awards. This year, he’s taking over games. This is in no way the same defense from 2006, which was also great until the final two games. Through 8 games, the first team OSU defense has allowed *23* points–TOTAL.
Anyway, OSU is #1 in the nation. Are they the best team? Well, we don’t know that yet. OSU’s schedule has been less than brutal thus far. But there is two ways to look at that. Everytime a team plays OSU, it’s supposedly the “first big test.” Washington on the road was a “test.” Washington has a legit offense, ask Oregon–and USC. OSU dominated that team. Purdue and Michigan State, (two more “tests”) when they played OSU had the #1 offense in the Big 10. Neither can say that now.OSU dominated Purdue, on the road at night. It was never even a game. Michigan State needed two miracle plays to avoid a 24-3 beatdown.
But it is hard to say OSU is really #1 because while there have been “tests” there has yet to be a truly TOUGH test. Is that OSU’s fault? Nope. They play who they play and this year their big OOC game happened to be against a good but not particularly threatening team like the Huskies. As for playing YSU, Akron and Kent State? People that rip OSU for that need to due some fact checking and then promptly shut the hell up. The Big10 IS down this year, bigtime. Is that OSU’s fault? Nope.
Like Steve Spurrier, who amazingly called out Ohio State after losing 17-6 to VANDERBILT. Spurrier said something to the effect that, “we didn’t overlook Vanderbilt…Vanberbilt lost to 3 good teams, if Vandy played nobodies, they’d be at the top of the BCS standings like Ohio State.”
Vandy’s previous wins coming into the game against #6 South Carolina? Richmond, Ole Miss, and Eastern Michigan. If you are the #6 team in the nation, you don’t lose to Vanderbilt. But Spurrier continues to be perhaps the sorest loser in sports.
South Carolina’s OOC schedule this year includes: South Carolina STATE and Louisiana -Lafayette, North Carlona, and yearly underacheiever Clemson. Washington is better than ALL of those teams. So instead of just taking care of business and beating a team that a real contender would hammer, Spurrier jabs OSU. He’s like the cry baby 10 year on the playground who when he doesn’t get his way tries to tear down the other guy. In short, Spurrier’s a douche-bag. He always has been one. Will he be singing that tune when OSU plays home and home games with USC, Oklahoma, VTech and Cal over the next several years? Who is South Carolina scheduling down the road?
Teams schedule games against small schools. It’s the way this thing work. Look at any team — think Michigan thought Appy State was going to be a challenge? Wisconsin played The Citadel, Oklahoma played North Texas and Tulsa, Utah State and a very down Miami. These things are scheduled so far in advance that you never know when an OOC game like that will be tough. Washington, when that game was scheduled was a top 20 team. Think Oklahoma thought the Hurricanes would suck when they added them? USC played Idaho, a SHITTY Notre Dame, and a very weak Nebraska team. It’s part of college ball.
Anyway, that’s enough for today. I have a party to get ready for. Have a good Sunday.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:34 am
These posts are what I love about Bill. I don’t know anyone who cares more about their team and takes more personally about their team than he does.
As far as scheduling is concerned, I think that the universities shouldn’t have any control over it. There shouldn’t be 20 year in advance scheduling. The way it is now is just plain stupid. I hate seeing Wisconsin playing against The Citadel and Northern Illinois. There is no reason to play them other than a tuneup and a pay day for those schools. I’ll never be happy with the system the way that it is.