Bittersweet Ending in the Desert
The Buckeyes lost a heartbreaking decision to the Texas Longhorns 24-21. For a team everyone, outside of Ohio, thought would get run out of the University of Phoenix Stadium, I thought the Buckeyes showed well. No one else even gave us a chance to win and we were thisclose. Well, except for that horrid 3rd quarter. I’m still trying to purge that from my memory. That quarter ultimately cost the team this game, IMO.
Now, there are quite a few gripes about playcalling (which will continue until the end of Jim Tressel’s tenure) and the defense’s inability to jump into predictable passing lanes, but I find those secondary to that atrocious 3rd quarter showing. Texas had 14 1st downs and we had none. Yes, zero. And why couldn’t Tress call a timeout when they were killing us with the hurry-up offense? Give our fatigued ‘D’ a minute to collect themselves, JT!
Terrelle had a tough night passing the ball. Some were his fault as they were poorly thrown balls, but quite a few times, his Oline didn’t give him any time to set his feet and get the ball out. I’ll be watching the progression of what will be the 2009 Oline with much anticipation as they hold much of the key to TP’s development as a passer. His role as a receiver and runner impressed me. There were several times I thought he’d be tackled or sacked and he escaped for a large gain. More ‘wow’ moments that you just don’t get used to. I love that.
I didn’t think we’d see Terrelle and Boeckman on the field as much as we did. I really liked seeing TP2 go up against those tiny DBs. Terrelle is 6’6″. I’ll take that matchup every time. Too bad we’ll probably never see that formation and play again.
There were 2 Buckeyes who were too incredibly hard on themselves in the locker room after the game. They were Anderson Russell (who missed the tackle of Quan Cosby’s game-winning TD) and Terrelle. It’s moving that these players are so quick to place so much of the blame on themselves, but it isn’t warranted. There were many, many things that went on that could have changed the outcome of this game; like converting one of those early field goals into a TD, or not missing one of the field goal attempts. You can’t play the what-if game. It will drive you mad.
I know TP takes losses hard and wanted nothing more than to send out his seniors with a win. He did all he could, and Buckeye fans should be absolutely stoked for the future!
I said that I wanted the team to come out and fight and be competitive on the National stage. I said I would be ok with a loss if they left it all out on the field. I stand by that. Some will question my fanhood that I am settling for the team “showing up” and I should expect that — plus a W — every game out. But after some of the recent big games where we got outclassed, Ohio State proved it had a ways to go to get its rep back. To me, the first step was playing tough until the end and this team did that. There was a time in that 3rd quarter where they could have rolled over and given up, but they kept fighting. The 2009 Fiesta Bowl easily could have turned into a performance from January’s past. But it didn’t and that’s what I wanted to see from the Buckeyes tonight. You have to crawl before you walk.
We are losing a lot of senior leadership, but I think the 2009 version of the Ohio State Buckeyes will be just fine and I for one and excited!
Only 3 1/2 months until the Spring Game. Let’s take down Bama’s record 
IN A NUTSHELL: My heart broke when Shaun Lane was taken off the field. Keep him in your prayers, please. I’m sure Beanie didn’t want to end his OSU career by sitting on the sideline with a head injury. Bummer.
Related Posts:
You must be logged in to post a comment.