Author: Bob (Page 17 of 39)

The Ohio State Buckeyes will start the season today ranked number one in most poles. As much as Coach Jim Tressel enjoys defense, this year has to be different. Ohio State will have to open up the offense and put points on the board. The Bucks need to start today with Northern Illinois.

Troy Smith and Ted Ginn have the speed and talent, Coach Tressel will have to let them loose. This team has the ability to put a lot of points on the board and they will need them with the inexperience on the defense.

If Ohio State can make it through September without losing, they should be able to run the table.

The Michigan Wolverines and Lloyd Carr have to feel like they’ve traded places with Ohio State and ex head coach John Cooper. The Wolverines and Carr are 1-4 against the Bucks and have to play on the road this year. Michigan played in their first non-January bowl game in nine years last season and had an embarrassing lose to Nebraska.

These types of numbers are not acceptable to a school that is still trying to recover from basketball violations that have set the team back at least 5 years. Michigan is a school that believes in winning and will only be so patient if it doesn’t happen soon.

Carr, the nation’s fifth-winningest active A-1 coach, will get some slack when it comes to turning this program around. They won a National Championship in 1997 and have five Big Ten titles. If the Wolverine don’t win at least 10 games this year and lose to the Buckeyes again, don’t be surprised if Carr doesn’t get a seat in the press box sooner than he expected.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have named the captains and as expected Troy Smith is one of them. Smith, Doug Datish and Quinn Pitcock are all red shirt freshman from the National Championship team. The last one is David Patterson, who came in the following year and has been a factor ever since.

This statement is exactly what Smith needed and deserved. Smith is a senior this year and if the Bucks plan to run the table, Troy will have to lead them on and off the field. Ohio State has a ton of offensive experience, but it will be important for Smith to support the youth on both sides of the ball.

I continue to hear people say the Buckeyes are the best team in the land, but if Smith doesn’t show up for one game, Ohio State will lose. When the Buckeyes won the Championship last time, the offense and defense could cover each others ineffectiveness in a game. This year the offense will have to carry the load.