Weekend Wrapup

I did not get the opprotunity to blog my thoughts on the first full football weekend but I am contributing to another blog - see it here - http://thegreatohstate.wordpress.com/


Here are some of my thoughts on this past weekend's action:

OSU/Miami
OSU probably should have won by at least 5 tds. Im gonna be the Ohio State fan that wakes us up from reality - there were plenty of problems that I saw. Starting with the obvious - this is the worst special teams performance of the Tressel era (this is year 10 folks!). Last week agianst Marshall they not only allowed a blocked kick but the kick coverage was poor. Against Miami, the kick coverage was nonexistent. 1st I must say, maybe Ohio State has always been bad with kick coverage we have just had exceptional kickers who boom kicks for touchbacks every trip down. This kicking game is pathetic and needs to get cleaned up or it will cost us.


Offensively, I think this team is talented but it always seems to come down to offensive line play. They could not generate a push to save their lives. Can this team run the ball when the defense knows its coming? I know the schedule is favorable from here on out but I dont know if they can...


Pryor certainly saved us by making plays with his legs. I could care less about his completion %, but some of his decision are still questionable. Miami certainly did us some favors by not capitalizing on the mistakes Pryor made the way that OSU capitalized on Harris' mistakes. He needs to stop caring about his NFL draft stock and just focus on winning games. My opinion is hes playing like hes wants to (needs to?) leave after this year (which would undoubtedly be a mistake).


Coaching wise - I was not surprised but I wished Ohio State would have had the same killer mindset that they seemed to have against Marshall where we out to bury them. The coaching staff seemed ok with settling for field goals which is definitely better than no points, but sometimes settling hurts you in a close game. If OSU doesnt force all the turnovers it would have been a different game.


Bottom line - OSU is the #2 ranked team in the country and with the schedule they have nothing will change that no matter how unimpressive we are as long as we win every game on our schedule. In a sport where each win is not counted equally OSU is afforded that luxury to just win baby.


Elsewhere in college football:

BYE BYE BOISE!!! Withouth playing a game you lost! Cant hang your hat on that Va Tech win UHOH! ACC is garbage - FSU is still giving up points to Oklahoma. The U should have lost by 40. Va Tech loses to 1AA school. Ga Tech loses to Kansas. UNC has players still suspended. Conference play should be fun.


Michigan beat Notre Dame. Why is this game such a big deal? Yes UM's QB is fast. If he does what he has been doing against Michigan St, Iowa, Penn St I will be impressed. Right now, they are playing nobody's. Sorry ND fan, maybe Brian Kelly isnt Christ reincarnated.


NFL Thoughts

Jake Delhomme is who we thought he was - a turnover prone QB at the end of his career. He will most likely cost us more games than he will win us. Strong defensive performance ruined by turnovers. This team is built on the run - where was Jerome Harrison? 9 carries isnt enough. Browns will still be competitive because of D but must avoid turnovers.


Steelers and Falcons were 2 solid teams playing each other. If Pitt can grind out wins like that without Roethlisberger they will be tough down the strech.

The Bengals are who I thought they were - BAD. I know its 1 game, against a good team but they had no answer defensively and they didnt do anything offensively until the game was already decided. It is back to business as usually in Cincy.

The Ravens looked great last night - better than I expected. Offense made mistakes and the D still picked them up, even withouth Ed Reed. Jets D played great too, but their offense isnt ready to take that step forward.

Cant wait for more football action the rest of the way.