“MaliBuckeye is a stranger in a strange world”. Yeah, that about sums it up.
Yesterday, we chatted about how everyone seemingly has given up on this team and this game. Seems like the Bucks have also heard some of that same spirit, and don’t seem to be taking it very well-
After the Buckeyes beat Navy 31-27 Saturday, several freshmen were perplexed and came to Worthington with questions: We won, didn’t we? We’ve got an awesome game coming up this week with Southern California, right? So what’s with all the negativity around town?
As a fifth-year senior and grizzled veteran of many similar experiences, Worthington only chuckled and filled them in on what to expect from the Ohio State faithful.
“They didn’t really understand it too much,” Worthington said. “A few were talking about USC and (asking), ‘Why do they think we’re going to lose? I was telling them this is the media’s job; it’s people’s job to make stories. We’ve got to prepare and take one practice at a time and don’t worry about what’s in the headlines.”
With OSU not looking sufficiently impressive against Navy, a three-touchdown underdog, and with USC appearing invincible as usual in a blowout victory, here’s what’s in the imaginary headlines:
Page 1: DOOM!
Page 2: GLOOM!
Umm… the headlines aren’t “imaginary”, they’re in your paper.
This game, it seems, means more than the won/loss record and more than a chance at the national title. It, like every other significant game since the Florida debacle, carries with it the “meaning” of the health of the program and even the Big T1e1n.
My guess is…that everyone even remotely connected to the Ohio State football program or even to the beleaguered Big Ten knows that there is more on the line Saturday than usual.
If the Buckeyes beat USC, the tired story line about the Big Ten’s sad-sack reputation dissipates and the media vultures who have been picking away at it for a while now go off in search of another carcass, at least temporarily. Then some friendly media types might even be tempted to say that it all started to turn in that close call against Texas.
“You can’t live in the past,” fifth-year defensive lineman Doug Worthington said.
No doubt about it. But what’s the old saying about those who ignore the past being condemned to repeat it?
And it’s not just Ohio papers- the journalistic excellence of USA Today chimes in:
They beat Michigan five straight years — the Buckeye equivalent of sainthood — and all the outside world has is questions. It’s this big-game … thing. The elephant in the room whenever Ohio State goes against a national power — a pertinent subject since USC comes to town Saturday night.
Anyone here remember the Buckeyes’ dismantling by Florida in the BCS championship for the 2006 season? The wipeout by LSU in the BCS title game the next year? The 35-3 pounding at USC last September?
That’s not history, that’s a rap sheet.
The country looks at Ohio State in Big Ten games and sees a beast. It looks at Ohio State wandering outside the safety of its conference neighborhood, and sees Little Red Riding Hood.
And somehow they managed to string those sentences together without a pie chart or graph of any kind…
Over on Buckeye Planet (look, I know it’s not cool to plug another website on your website. But if you’re an Ohio State fan and aren’t a part of the BP Community, you are missing out), Administrator LordJeffBuck posts an amazing reflection on the state of Buckeye football, and puts some historical perspective on the “weight” of this game-
So we now have four examples of a powerhouse program losing a national championship game – Ohio State in 1979, Florida State in 2000, Nebraska in 2001, and Miami in 2002 – and then falling off of the college football map for the next several seasons. Other similar examples probably exist.4 The question remains – did the same thing happen to Ohio State after the 2006 BCS title game?
Ohio State has certainly seen a decline in fortunes after the Florida debacle, but the Buckeyes still managed to post double-digit wins in both 2007 (11-2) and 2008 (10-3). Of course, it remains to be seen whether the past two seasons mark the gradual start of a long slide, or whether they merely represent those shallow valleys that must be negotiated before one reaches the highest heights. posted with permission
He summarizes, and I concur, that we are not in the midst of a “slide to oblivion” but find ourselves in an amazing time in college football history.
One addition to his work, though- he neglects to include in his comparison another team that, after “choking” in the national championship game, has struggled to get back even though they consistently produce excellence. Their issue is not folding in big games, but dropping matches against teams they should easily overwhelm.
As you can guess, I’m referring to the U$C Trojans.
In other news: The Orange County Register today discusses three reasons the Trojans will be victorious, including:
3. Pete Carroll always wins these games.
Well, almost always. The only time Carroll’s Trojans have lost a “big game” was the Rose Bowl against Texas, which had an unstoppable star in Vince Young. Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor might be Young-like, but he isn’t Young yet. If Carroll’s USC resume has a blotch on it, it’s those conference losses in games in which his team was heavily favored: Oregon State and UCLA in 2006, Stanford in 2007, Oregon State in 2008.
Hmmm… Would you count 7 points in Vegas as “heavily favored”?
In completely unrelated news: Would the odds change if the Song Girls weren’t at the game?
Tomorrow: What happens when an immovable object meets irresistible force?
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