Bevo'd

Buckeyes lose a heartbreaker. Ugh.

I am vacillating between "moral victory" and "FUCK!"

Let's face it folks, only the heartiest Buckeye fans thought thought OSU was even going to be in that game, much less come within 20 seconds of winning. The conventional wisdom was that Texas would pound Ohio State the way USC, Florida and LSU did in an attempt to prove the BCS wrong. Clearly that didn't happen.

Texas was a heavy favorite, was the better team throughout the season and definitely had the better QB. We are THE Ohio State University and we expect to win every single game regardless of competition. You don't win them all though. No one does. Ohio State lost another game to a very good team.

As the Columbus Dispatch's Bob Hunter pointed out today, this loss is much easier to swallow then the last two title games and the USC game. In those games the Buckeyes looked unprepared, over-matched and uninspired. They took early leads in all those contests and then got summarily pounded through the meat of the contest.

Raise your hand if you thought it was over when Texas went up 17-6 in the third quarter?

[MY RIGHT ARM IS EXTENDED]

Raise your hand if you left the bar you were watching the game at when Texas went up 17-6 in the third quarter?

[MY RIGHT ARM IS EXTENDED]

Raise your hand if you "accidentally" walked down the street that White Castle is on while heading home after Texas went up 17-6 in the third quarter?

[MY RIGHT ARM IS EXTENDED]

Raise your hand if you purchased approximately $16 worth of food from said White Castle in an attempt to soothe your battered soul after Texas went up 17-6 in the third quarter?

[AGAIN]

Raise your hand if you carried the feast home and turned on the TV only to find that the Buckeyes had come roaring back after Texas had gone up 17-6 in the third quarter?

[AND AGAIN]

Raise your hand if you only ended up eating about 15% of the aforementioned "comfort food" while rabidly cheering on the Bucks?

[AND AGAIN]

[SIDEBAR] Is there any other food out there that tastes great while you're scarfing it down and is then followed with IMMEDIATE and INTENSE regret the way White Castle is? I cannot tell you how elated I was to discover that my food had gotten cold and that I was no longer interested in eating it. My insides thanked me when I woke up this morning.

What I will try to take away from the 2009 Fiesta Bowl is that when I thought the Buckeyes would quit, when many thought the Buckeyes would quit, when I quit on the Buckeyes, the Buckeyes did nothing of the sort. They fought back and gave themselves a chance to win the game.

Let's remember also that the Fiesta Bowl had no bearing on the national title. Well, don't tell Mack Brown that, but the reality is the Buckeyes were playing in a bowl game that in the grand scheme meant nothing. They were playing for pride and for the coveted "respect". They did not win the game but I think they at least earned some small measure of both.

Remember, it was not that long ago (exactly two years as a matter of fact) that the Buckeyes were the undisputed kings. After OSU beat #2 Michigan in the 'Shoe, there was not a soul on the planet that didn't think the Buckeyes were the best team in the land. Of course, it all came crashing down in spectacular fashion. The point is, the Buckeyes HAVE won big games and they WILL win big games. And sooner then you think I bet.

Onto some specifics from the game:

- There are some out there today questioning the offensive wrinkles Ohio State installed, particularly the use of Boeckman at QB so much and putting Pryor at WR. My reaction is thank you Jim Tressel for using all the time off to come up with something the other team hadn't already seen. I think we have all had quite enough of the Buckeyes trying to beat presumably superior teams with the exact same offense we've seen all year. Particularly in a bowl game that really doesn't mean much, WHY NOT!?

- As far as the last play where Texas scored the touchdown, I really don't have a problem with the defense they were in. I don't like the notion of sitting back in a zone and letting a great QB like McCoy (and his wagon wheel) pick you apart. Anderson Russell was in position to make the play and he missed. It is unfortunate but I certainly do not blame Russell for the game. In fact, I thought the defense played inspired and held an extremely potent Texas offense well below it's average on the scoreboard.

- In my opinion Ohio State lost the game in the third quarter when the offense couldn't stay on the field and give the defense a breather. Texas exploited this by going with the hurry-up offense and that was good solid coaching from Texas. Two three and outs in the third quarter may have doomed the Buckeyes down the stretch.

- Which brings us to Chris "Beanie" Wells. Sure would have been nice to have Wells more in the second half to try and grind out the clock and shorten the game. Apparently he was on the sidelines with a concussion. I don't think Chris Wells is a quitter, I just think he's brittle. His running style does indeed lend itself to a lot of punishment but too many times he has not been on the field in crunch time. You have to wonder if things would have been different with him on the field in the fourth quarter.

- Obviously the next question for Chris Wells is will he go pro? The standard thinking is that if you're a running back, you get to the next level as quick as you can. If you're going to take that punishment you might as well get paid, right? Given the way things ended up in the Fiesta Bowl, it might be a bit more murky. Would you draft Chris Wells right now? And no, I don't mean you Detroit Lions, you don't count. As I heard Jim Lachey say yesterday there's something special about playing football in Columbus. That may sound corny but it's true. Think about all the guys that came back after last year. I will have nothing bad to say about Chris Wells if he goes pro, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he came back.

- A casual college football fan asked me today about Todd Boeckman saying "he looked good". He was basically asking why we hadn't seen more of TB during the season. All you have to do to answer that question is watch the second-to-last play of the game. The shitty Ohio State offensive line can't stop the defensive lineman from getting to the QB and it's over. Todd Boeckman couldn't have gotten away from him in a Ferrari. Todd played well for the most part last night and it's not his fault, never was, that we had a sub-par offensive line this season.