QB Terrelle Pryor after Ohio State’s the 2008 home loss to Penn State

I saw a story on ESPN last night about Ohio State’s QB Terrelle Pryor being the key to the OSU/USC game, and how the last time USC played against a QB like Pryor, Vince Young in a National Title game, USC was unable to stop Young, and lost the game.  In the comments on that page was a guy, an OSU fan, calling the other OSU fans “pussies” for saying OSU would most likely lose, or if they did win, that it would be close, and not an out right ass-kicking of USC.  Basically saying these people aren’t true Ohio State fans, or something to that nature, because they apparently don’t think OSU will always win, every game, ever.  Someone did call the guy out, telling him something along the lines of “it’s called being realistic.”  It kind of reminded me of a friend of mine, and his die hard approach to saying OSU is going to easily beat USC.  As much as I’d love to believe that, it’s just not that realistic.

Dear God, if they get blown out again, can you imagine how bad that will be?  Not just for Ohio State, but the entire BigTen.  Not only will any national respect for OSU be completely gone; for the team and the program, but for the BigTen as well.  Do you realize Ohio State has lost three straight bowl games?  Christ.  That’s simply not acceptable.  Couple all that with Iowa’s by the teeth “win”* over Northern Iowa, whom they should have destroyed, and Illinois’ embarrassing loss to Missouri (again), when their QB, Isiah John ‘Juice’ Williams, is supposed to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, not just the BigTen.  People are going to start looking at the BigTen like they do the MAC or Mountain West Conference (except the MWC actually has a few teams on the rise!).  No one will think the BigTen is worth their time.
* I put win in quotes because I think that even in losing, that game was more of a victory for Northern Iowa, than Iowa.

Also, if Ohio State loses to USC again, I give [coach Jim] Tressel two years tops, before he’s ousted by the school, as I’m sure the backlash from the fans, alumni, and the media will be huge.  Think about it; former OSU head coach John Cooper won games, sure, but he couldn’t beat Michigan: Fired.  Coach Tressel wins games and beats Michigan, but can’t seem to win big non-conference games: Hot Seat?  Fired?  If OSU loses to USC, then loses another bowl game this year, I’m not entirely sure Tressel will still be the head coach at Ohio State next year.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Jim Tressel, but people are going to look at him like he’s not getting the job done when it counts.  This is a very important season for coach Tressel.

On top of that, people can even start making the argument that a lot of the recent wins over Michigan don’t mean as much as once thought, as the last three or so seasons have shown (with exception to the 2006, #1 vs #2 meeting) Michigan’s program has been falling apart, and they may not have been as good of a team as everyone had thought at the time.

Taking a look at the rest of the BigTen, there are still some other question marks floating around.  I’ll start with Michigan, as I already touched upon them above.  They had a great season opener, the first win in a season opener in three years, a dominant victory, and great play on both sides of the ball, but that’s one game.  This “new” Michigan team has only played one game, only looked good in one game, and only won one game, so far.  The uncertainty shouldn’t last long, one way or the other, as they will be playing a newly invigorated Notre Dame team, in the unofficial “Best of the Former Worst” game of the week.  Next we’ve got Illinois, with a QB that had a legitimate argument about being overlooked as the preseason BigTen Offensive Player of the Year (which went to Ohio State’s Sophomore QB Terrelle Pryor), until this past Saturday after losing to Missouri, in a pathetic showing.  Penn State, Michigan State, and Purdue all look promising, but like Michigan, they have yet to really be challenged.

Finishing up my thoughts on Ohio State, I don’t want to be all negative, because there really is potential there.  OSU has a lot of talent, but they’re still a young team, without a great deal of experience as a whole unit.  Ohio State also doesn’t get enough credit for what they did in the Fiesta Bowl last season against Texas.  Texas had a strong argument to be in the National Title game, but instead got lowly Ohio State for an opponent.  An Ohio State team who was embarrassed by USC earlier that season, and lost to Penn State at home, for the first time since Penn State joined the BigTen, in a game where OSU was favored.  Not only did Ohio State show up to play in the Fiesta Bowl, but they damn near won.  One could even argue that OSU should have won that game, if not for one small breakdown on defense, which lead to a big play.  Sadly though, a lot of the talent OSU had in that Fiesta Bowl is gone, replaced with new, unsure talent.  Honestly I think this will be a rebuilding year for Ohio State.  There’s a lot of young talent that needs time and experience to improve, and that’s going to be over the course of this season.  With that said, if OSU can somehow beat Southern Cal, that will be a huge step forward for the team, the program, Terrelle Pryor, and coach Tressel.

I am keeping my fingers crossed this weekend, hoping that the BigTen comes out of Saturday still breathing, strong, worth the attention of the rest of the country, and not little more than a polished turd.  In two day’s time, we will see.  God help us all.

In the Navy