The Portland Buckeyes

Tressels,

Yes, I threw something across the living room when Purdue kicked a FG to take the lead before halftime. I threw Baby Jake’s burp cloth. Our eldest son went into the other room to play. Did I feel small? Yes. Did I feel better? Yes. By the fourth quarter, I resigned myself to the fact that IF the Bucks had pulled out a victory, some sort of social injustice would have occured. Purdue deserved to win. That was what it was.

I didn’t watch the post game press conference, or any college football for that matter, after the debacle ended. I built a marble run with our eldest. We went to a family get-together Saturday evening and had really good smoked ribs my uncle made. On Sunday, I read the paper before sunrise woke up the rest of the family (spending much more time with any section other than Sports); I went into work for a little while; watched the marathon go by the end of our block thinking that I’d like to run another; and visited Leeds Farm with the family to get pumpkins and play in the haybarn. After immersing myself into my real life, is it hard to think about the game and write this email? Yes.

With our 3-year-old son, you never symptom prompt. If he’s crying and something is wrong, you never ask “does your tummy hurt?” – the answer will always be “yes” through fat tears. Symptom prompting is unproductive. You could ask, “does your arthritis hurt?” and he would say “yes” and sob even more loudly. Usually, his “illness” is everything and nothing all at once.

What’s really wrong with the OSU offense?…we’ve been symptom prompting. Last year, “is it tough to win with a freshman quarterback?” — the easy answer follows: “yes.” This year, “is it tough to win if you turn the ball over?” — “yes,” that’s it, turnovers are the issue. Or, “is the team inexperienced at key positions?” — “yes,” that’s a nice tidy label. “Is the QB coach too green?” – “yes,” he’s an easy target, that must be it. “Should Coach Tressel hire someone to call the plays?” – “yes,” Ohio State can only win if they have the right play called. “Is the offensive line slow and underwhelming? – “yes,” that sounds like a good reason.

Whatever’s wrong is everything and nothing all at once. I don’t think the symptom is that simple, nor the cure that easy. If I had to make a guess, I think the symptom is something a lot less tangible, but more real than the play calling, game experience, turnovers, QB coaches or speed of the offensive line. To me, it looks as if the correct symptom-prompt question should be something along the lines of, “Do you really care about your teammates?” Until the offensive players can honestly say “yes,” nothing else really matters. It’s just noise. If you care about something bigger than yourself, “things” don’t get in the way and you just go out and play.

That’s just my opinion as an outside observer…I could be way off. I hope I am because that’s the worst symptom you can have. If it is the issue, the coaching staff can only do so much. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it pick up the blitz to protect a teammate’s blindside. Also, eventually the players on the defensive side of the ball will be ticked that the horse isn’t drinking.

Keep in mind, this year’s theme at the outset was “embracing uncertainty.” The defense began the season as an unknown, but plays as a team and is still among the best in the country (despite the debacle in West Lafayette). It’s safe to say, so far, the offense kept last season’s identity. The coaches may need to do something drastic and make some extremely difficult decisions. The chemistry needs to improve quickly or this season will be forgettable.

Touchdowns: Rolle, Saine, Posey

OSU 24 Minnesota 13

Go Bucks! Beat Minnesota! Thaddeus Gibson for Heisman!

Girthy Originator