Ohio State Redeems Themselves and Dismisses the "Speed" Myth
The past few years have not been kind to Big Ten and Buckeye fans alike.
While it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when the recent downfall began, I think most would point to the 2006 national championship game where Ohio State played Florida.
Ohio State came in favored, and had been ranked number 1 all season long, and went on to get hammered 41-14 by Florida.
At the time Tim Tebow was a freshman, and Florida's offense went through senior quarterback Chris Leak.
There are many arguments or reasons given for why Ohio State lost the game they way they did.
Tedd Ginn Jr.
(the team's star speedy wide receiver) returned the opening kick for a touchdown, but was injured on the play and sat out the rest of the game.
Jim Tressel abandoned the run too early in the game and got too pass happy.
Troy Smith, the Buckeyes Heisman winning quarterback was affected by the layoff and came to the game out of shape and over confident, which ultimately backfired.
It doesn't matter.
The Buckeyes lost.
The next year was more of the same.
Smith was gone, and so were most of the offensive stars of that 2006 Buckeye team, but they had been replaced with players who would go on to be drafted into the NFL as well.
Ohio State backdoored their way into the national championship game against LSU that year.
While the pundits and analysts were happy to say that Ohio State wasn't fast enough to compete with LSU, and LSU simply had better players, I saw things a bit differently.
While I felt that this Ohio State defense was soft, they were still talented.
10 players from that team went on to be drafted in the NFL, with five going in the first two rounds of the draft.
Many would argue that James Laurinaitis, the star linebacker on that Buckeye team would have been a first round pick had he come out after the loss to LSU, but he stayed in school for another year.
Either way, Ohio State was a young and undisciplined team.
Their defense, which put up good numbers against bad teams, was too soft.
Time and time again they gave up first downs in crucial situations.
They also had a tendency to give up scores in big games (Think back to the Illinois game when Juice Williams controlled the ball for the final 9 minutes of the game at Ohio Stadium).
Against LSU, this same defense had five personal foul penalties for 75 yards.
Many of which occurred in crucial situations when the game was still within reach.
One specific penalty occurred in the third quarter then the score was 24-10.
Ohio State had forced LSU to punt, but the drive was allowed to continue when Ohio State was hit with a roughing the kicker penalty.
LSU went on to score and extend their lead to 31-10 and went on to win 38-24.
Last year Ohio State played a Texas team (the same Texas team many people thought was the best in the country) tough and almost pulled out a victory when Dan "Boom" Herron scored a touchdown with just over two minutes left to put Ohio State up 21-17.
Texas and Colt McCoy drove down the field for a game winning touchdown to beat Ohio State 24-21.
This loss was sandwiched between two losses to USC (one a 35-3 blowout at USC, the other a heartbreaking 18-15 loss at Ohio Stadium).
Enter this year's Rose Bowl.
The Oregon Ducks turned themselves into the media darling this year with a high powered offense that was capable of putting points up on anyone.
Make no bones about it: This Oregon Ducks offense is very, very good.
In, fact this Oregon team is very good.
But at no point in time did I ever feel that this Oregon team would single handedly beat this Ohio State team.
After watching this defense play all year, I truly believed this team could hang with any offense in the country.
The difference between this Buckeye team and the Buckeye teams of the past few years was that this team played with more heart, desire, and determination than the 2006 and 2007 teams.
Not only that, while you won't hear this in the national media: this team has a lot of speed.
Just as much speed as any team in the SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10.
Ross Holman, Brian Rolle, and Austin Spitler led this defense all year and flew around the field making plays that "slow" guys aren't supposed to make.
Ohio State wasn't supposed to be able to hang with Oregon today because Oregon was too fast for them.
It turns out that wasn't the case.
Ohio State was too strong for Oregon, and fast enough to keep up.
In fact, one of the only reasons Oregon was even able to stay in the game was their ability to make plays on special team.
Kenjon Barner made a number of big plays on special teams to give Oregon good field position.
But without those plays and a short field, Oregon had a hard time moving the ball.
Simply put, Ohio State proved that the "speed" argument doesn't hold water, and that the spread offense can be overcome.
But this game wasn't about the Ohio State defense.
They certainly made plays and if they hadn't shown up, than Ohio State likely wouldn't have won this game.
But this game was about Tyrelle Pryor.
Pryor has been much maligned for most of this season, and rightfully so.
He's made bad decisions, shown a lack of composure in the pocket, and turned the ball over far too many times.
After the Buckeyes loss at Purdue mid-season Pryor essentially had the ball taken out of his hands.
The Buckeyes opted to rely on their defense, run the football, and play good special teams.
That is the formula for Tressel-ball.
It seemed to be working.
But their were questions as to whether or not this formula would be enough to win against Oregon.
Turns out it wasn't - Jim Tressel surprised us all by running his version of the spread offense.
Pryor set career highs in completions, attempts, and yard passing tonight.
He stood in the pocket, protected the football, and made plays.
His touchdown pass to DeVier Posey with around 7 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter essentially sealed the game for the Buckeyes.
That pass was indicative of everything Pryor accomplished in today's game.
He threw it where only Posey could catch it.
He stood in the pocket with poise and did not immediately lock on to one receiver.
He looked composed.
He looked like a quarterback.
He looked like a leader.
This game may be a fluke for Tyrelle Pryor.
Or maybe it's a sign of things to come.
Either way, this Buckeye team showed they are capable of handling "speed".
They showed that they are still relevant.
They showed that they belong in the discussion with Oklahoma, USC, Florida, LSU, and Texas as the top programs in college football.
I hope this game is a sign of things to come.
Put for tonight, I am going to enjoy the moment and enjoy what Tyrelle Pryor did on the field in this game tonight.
While it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when the recent downfall began, I think most would point to the 2006 national championship game where Ohio State played Florida.
Ohio State came in favored, and had been ranked number 1 all season long, and went on to get hammered 41-14 by Florida.
At the time Tim Tebow was a freshman, and Florida's offense went through senior quarterback Chris Leak.
There are many arguments or reasons given for why Ohio State lost the game they way they did.
Tedd Ginn Jr.
(the team's star speedy wide receiver) returned the opening kick for a touchdown, but was injured on the play and sat out the rest of the game.
Jim Tressel abandoned the run too early in the game and got too pass happy.
Troy Smith, the Buckeyes Heisman winning quarterback was affected by the layoff and came to the game out of shape and over confident, which ultimately backfired.
It doesn't matter.
The Buckeyes lost.
The next year was more of the same.
Smith was gone, and so were most of the offensive stars of that 2006 Buckeye team, but they had been replaced with players who would go on to be drafted into the NFL as well.
Ohio State backdoored their way into the national championship game against LSU that year.
While the pundits and analysts were happy to say that Ohio State wasn't fast enough to compete with LSU, and LSU simply had better players, I saw things a bit differently.
While I felt that this Ohio State defense was soft, they were still talented.
10 players from that team went on to be drafted in the NFL, with five going in the first two rounds of the draft.
Many would argue that James Laurinaitis, the star linebacker on that Buckeye team would have been a first round pick had he come out after the loss to LSU, but he stayed in school for another year.
Either way, Ohio State was a young and undisciplined team.
Their defense, which put up good numbers against bad teams, was too soft.
Time and time again they gave up first downs in crucial situations.
They also had a tendency to give up scores in big games (Think back to the Illinois game when Juice Williams controlled the ball for the final 9 minutes of the game at Ohio Stadium).
Against LSU, this same defense had five personal foul penalties for 75 yards.
Many of which occurred in crucial situations when the game was still within reach.
One specific penalty occurred in the third quarter then the score was 24-10.
Ohio State had forced LSU to punt, but the drive was allowed to continue when Ohio State was hit with a roughing the kicker penalty.
LSU went on to score and extend their lead to 31-10 and went on to win 38-24.
Last year Ohio State played a Texas team (the same Texas team many people thought was the best in the country) tough and almost pulled out a victory when Dan "Boom" Herron scored a touchdown with just over two minutes left to put Ohio State up 21-17.
Texas and Colt McCoy drove down the field for a game winning touchdown to beat Ohio State 24-21.
This loss was sandwiched between two losses to USC (one a 35-3 blowout at USC, the other a heartbreaking 18-15 loss at Ohio Stadium).
Enter this year's Rose Bowl.
The Oregon Ducks turned themselves into the media darling this year with a high powered offense that was capable of putting points up on anyone.
Make no bones about it: This Oregon Ducks offense is very, very good.
In, fact this Oregon team is very good.
But at no point in time did I ever feel that this Oregon team would single handedly beat this Ohio State team.
After watching this defense play all year, I truly believed this team could hang with any offense in the country.
The difference between this Buckeye team and the Buckeye teams of the past few years was that this team played with more heart, desire, and determination than the 2006 and 2007 teams.
Not only that, while you won't hear this in the national media: this team has a lot of speed.
Just as much speed as any team in the SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10.
Ross Holman, Brian Rolle, and Austin Spitler led this defense all year and flew around the field making plays that "slow" guys aren't supposed to make.
Ohio State wasn't supposed to be able to hang with Oregon today because Oregon was too fast for them.
It turns out that wasn't the case.
Ohio State was too strong for Oregon, and fast enough to keep up.
In fact, one of the only reasons Oregon was even able to stay in the game was their ability to make plays on special team.
Kenjon Barner made a number of big plays on special teams to give Oregon good field position.
But without those plays and a short field, Oregon had a hard time moving the ball.
Simply put, Ohio State proved that the "speed" argument doesn't hold water, and that the spread offense can be overcome.
But this game wasn't about the Ohio State defense.
They certainly made plays and if they hadn't shown up, than Ohio State likely wouldn't have won this game.
But this game was about Tyrelle Pryor.
Pryor has been much maligned for most of this season, and rightfully so.
He's made bad decisions, shown a lack of composure in the pocket, and turned the ball over far too many times.
After the Buckeyes loss at Purdue mid-season Pryor essentially had the ball taken out of his hands.
The Buckeyes opted to rely on their defense, run the football, and play good special teams.
That is the formula for Tressel-ball.
It seemed to be working.
But their were questions as to whether or not this formula would be enough to win against Oregon.
Turns out it wasn't - Jim Tressel surprised us all by running his version of the spread offense.
Pryor set career highs in completions, attempts, and yard passing tonight.
He stood in the pocket, protected the football, and made plays.
His touchdown pass to DeVier Posey with around 7 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter essentially sealed the game for the Buckeyes.
That pass was indicative of everything Pryor accomplished in today's game.
He threw it where only Posey could catch it.
He stood in the pocket with poise and did not immediately lock on to one receiver.
He looked composed.
He looked like a quarterback.
He looked like a leader.
This game may be a fluke for Tyrelle Pryor.
Or maybe it's a sign of things to come.
Either way, this Buckeye team showed they are capable of handling "speed".
They showed that they are still relevant.
They showed that they belong in the discussion with Oklahoma, USC, Florida, LSU, and Texas as the top programs in college football.
I hope this game is a sign of things to come.
Put for tonight, I am going to enjoy the moment and enjoy what Tyrelle Pryor did on the field in this game tonight.
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