October 29 - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - Minnesota Recap

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It’s my weekly critique of The Ohio State University football performance.

Ohio State held a good old-fashioned Homecoming for Glen Mason and his Minnesota Aluminum Gophers last Saturday. Ohio State’s potent offense put up 44 points for the second straight week rolling to an easy 44-0 victory. It was over early and could have been even more of a mismatch if not for turnovers and restraint.

OSU improved their record to 9-0. They maintained their #1 ranking in all major polls including the BCS. &ichigan solidified its #2 ranking (for now) as time and eventuality caught up with USC as they lost to Oregon State.


THE GOOD

• Scoring Defense – OSU finally pitched a shutout after many near misses. It is now ranked as #1 in the country at 7.3 points per game.

• Scoring Offense – OSU put up 44 points for the second week in a row. They now rank 10th nationally in scoring offense.

• Turnovers – OSU ranks 2nd nationally in interceptions with 18 on the year.

• Troy Smith – 14-21 and 1 TD. Smith could have inflated his numbers, but it was clear the team wanted to showcase their ground options. He REMAINS the Heisman frontrunner.

• “SPREAD OFFENSE” – The Buckeyes redefined a Spread Offense by having five different players score their six touchdowns.

• Punt Team – OSU went the entire game without a punt. Three fumbles helped accelerate the change of possession.

THE BAD

• Fumbles – Freshman Chris Wells put the ball on the turf AGAIN. Smith and Jenkins joined him.

THE UGLY

• The Turf – The grass may not only be greener but firmer on the other side. Ohio Stadium is on his third rug this year. Brent Musburger’s rugs hold up better than that.

A great shout out to the Ohio State folks for inviting Jack Nicklaus to become only the fifth non-band member to dot the "I" in the halftime Script Ohio. It opens up the possibility for the rest of us.




My WTF moment came when I reviewed the defensive stats for the game. Twenty-one Buckeyes registered tackles in the game, 21! If OSU had a Rudy, I’m sure he would have entered the game, probably in the third quarter.

I would love to have the contract for the Buckeye Leaf sticker sales to the Ohio State football team.


This week’s early line has OSU favored by 26 points over Illinois. The Bucks covered the last two weeks handily. Illinois, with calm weather, should be a speed bump on the way to &ichigan.

GO BUCKS.