Pregame Postage: Week 3, Toledo
Maybe I’m just too much of a stan, but I honestly feel that Terrelle just had a bad game last week. Everyone has ‘em. It’s just too bad that it happened to be such a big game against such a good opponent. He never looked “in” the game to me. After that INT, he showed flashes, but overall looked a lot like he did in last year’s Penn State game (e.g. timid and afraid to make a mistake). That’s not a good look for a playmaker like TP.
Flashback to last year. Remember the disaster that was the USC game out West? I’m sure many have redacted that memory, and that’s ok. But those worried about a hangover, need only look to the Troy game to see how the team bounced back. Troy is a quality OOC opponent and TP went off and rewrote the Ohio State record books. Not bad, huh?
While he didn’t get nearly as much of the blame for last year’s loss as people are piling on him this year (which, I think is a tad unfair), TP has a knack to shake off losses and want to prove naysayers wrong. His opportunity lies in today’s game in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Toledo looked good last week, didn’t they? They’ve got a really good QB. However, if a team plays what basically looks like an intramural football team from the Big 12, they should play well, should they not? Toledo will be respected. They’ve got a coach with OSU connections and a personal relationship with Tress. Anyone expecting OSU to just show up and win will be disappointed. They’re going to have to work.
However, after seeing the defensive display last week, I’m not as concerned about Toledo’s offensive numbers (Top 5 in the country) as others. Granted this will be the 3rd scheme the defense has had to prepare for this season, I’m still confident in the Buckeye D. I like that it’s the spread this week, because it’s a good way to get ready for Illinois next week. I expect the game to play out a lot like last year’s Illinois game. Let’s not forget that Purdue played Toledo opening week and hung 50+ points on them. I’m just sayin’…
I think Toledo will rack up a lot of yards, but I don’t think they’re going to put a lot of points on the board; much like Illinois last year. I think the first half will be relatively close, then once OSU gets a solid, multi-posession lead, Tress shuts it down. He’s not going to embarass a friend. He also wants to get the backups reps. So, the final score will end up closer than the actual game because of some later scores against our 2nd/3rd teamers (see Minnesota last year).
I bet you’re wondering how I can have so much faith in the team actually grabbing and holding onto a lead properly. Especially after the first couple of games with questions decisions with regards to clock management and 3rd and 4th down choices. I don’t know why, but I just believe in them. And with all the heat Tress took this week, he’s not going to let that happen for a 3rd consecutive week.
My Prediction: You know I don’t really do score predictions, but I see a Buckeye win. The offense will take a quarter to shake off the stank from last week (which will be frustrating to watch), but they bounce back. I also see a defensive score in there some way.
Wishful Thinking: TP’s high school teammate, Jordan Hall, makes his Buckeye debut and Duron Carter catches scores his first collegiate TD
Watch the game at noon on ESPN Plus, DirecTV, espn360.com, or ABC if you live in C-Bus.
O/T: I heard TP’s fave “analyst” Mark May pop off tonight about how TP hasn’t ever started any games where OSU beat a ranked team. He is, of course, wrong. But what else is new? When we played Wisconsin last year we were #14 and Wisky #18. And when we played Sparty, they were #20 and we were #12. And lastly, Northwestern was ranked #24 and us #11, when we embarassed them on their home turf. So yes, Mark May, TP has beaten ranked teams in his time as starting OSU quarterback. Had he said this season, his statement would hold true, but he said “never”. That is all.
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