| 12 September 2009
I don't know if I would call it must win. I am certain that it is must play well. You don't win a lot of these kinds of games. I cannot stress that enough. At the core of my contention that we need change is that we have not been competitive recently. 0-5 in our last 5 against top 5 opponents is pretty ugly but I think that would be more a matter for the line in Vegas, and an interesting game factoid, than it would be the albatross around the programs neck, if not for how bad we looked in those loses. We must play well. Couple that with the recent performance in the Texas game, and I think we gain some respect in the eyes of football loving America. We can lose the game but how we lose it is going to be the single most important factor. Get back to being competitive in big games. You have to be competitive before you can win one.
If we lose this game big, it is a program changer. It is a defining moment in Jim Tressels tenure. We are all diehards. We live and die with this football team. Some of us reached a point of frustration sooner than others about our big game performance. Tonight is a tipping point. A bad loss is going to send the numbers believing that change is needed into the majority. Never has JT been in such a situation. He restored so much luster to the program that questioning him was something unthinkable. A big loss tomorrow changes that.
Do I think we can win? Yes. Do I think we will win? No. I think Jim Tressel has won 5 national championships doing it this way and it is going to take a lot to make him change. I think if we get after this team that we can win it. Yes. I believe that. We have the single most dynamic player on the field and he touches the ball on every play, unlike Joe McKnight. I think Terrell Pryor can do what Vince Young did to USC in the national championship game. That is what could happen. What I think is going to happen is Tresselball. We will play safe and wait on USC to lose the game. That is the core of Tresselball. No penalties, no turnovers, play field position. Wait on the opponent to give it to us.
What I can't get out of my mind is the subtle hints at a change. The national media does not pay much attention to the little details of Ohio State or any program. That Jordan Hall is playing running back here and that Jim Tressel has not recruited an open field back like Hall since he has become the Ohio State coach is something we notice but they won't. I don't know if it is wishful thinking but I have a sneaking suspicion that JT might be ready to unveil "Tresselball - The Next Century." He has always liked athletic quarterbacks. He is not going to find a more athletic quarterback than the one under center tonight. Give him the reins. I see that little glimmer of light that gives me hope that we are going to see something different tonight.
With that in mind this is what I think we need to do to win this thing:
- We have to be better up front. None of the rest of what I am going to say here is going to amount to a hill of beans if we have the same performance that we saw last year. It will get that ugly again.
- The above comment was about the offensive line. We have to be just as good on defense. We have to get pressure. I don't see Barkley as a real mobile guy. Don't let him find his comfort zone. An interception bodes well. Two interceptions is a good indication of pressure and means we have a real shot at winning it. USC lives by the pass.
- The defensive line must hold the point of attack. We have to let our linebackers cheat outside. Think about USCs backs. Outside of Lendale White they tend to be the open field type. They will always look to get wide. We got hurt last year by their backs speed.
- We need to be good up front but we can't just run the ball and keep them off the field. Ball control = clock control but we are not going to be able to run it right at them and win this game. We can run the ball if we have some room and that means throwing the ball. We can't have their linebackers three yards off the line of scrimmage and coming forward on every snap. We need to back them up and don't let them automatically make their first step forward.
- Run the option. We need to mix that in. Pryor is our best running back. Make them defend him as a runner. That is going to open up things inside.
- Put the ball in the hands of Pryor and just let it happen. We are going to win this game with our best player having the game of his life.
We have to get dynamic on both sides of the ball. JT has it in him. Only a blind man would miss the change in the defense that came out of the loss to USC last year. Attack them. Make them defend the entire field. Make them have to think not just react. I don't think we are as good as USC in the trenches but don't tell me we don't have skill players that match-up well. Let them decide the game.
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