October 14th, 2007
by PJSBuck

Wow!  I would have lost money if someone had bet me we would be sitting atop ALL polls in college football and that TBGUN would have two non-conference losses at this point in the year.  Just shows how much fun and unpredictable college football can be.

I had plenty of time to reflect on the past two weekends of college football and have just a variety of thoughts I want to share.  Please be patient, my thoughts, much like this college football season, are all over the board”

  • I realize am still suffering the lingering effects of the last national championship.  I think the only way I can put it sufficiently behind me is just to simply win another one
  • We have a great defense this year, maybe better than last year.  HOWEVER, they have not really been tested by anyone great so far.  Let’s just keep this in perspective
  • Our situation at tailback is somewhat precarious; Beanie is one play away from a major, season ending ankle injury, Maurice Wells can only run outside and on screen plays, and Brandon Saine is still recovering from surgery and could NOT play 100% if needed
  • Todd Boeckman has not yet seen a superior defense – I am curious how he will respond to one
  • The coaches have not had to make a lot of adjustments at halftime yet.  I hope they got their NC halftime problems solved (and believe me, they had MANY).
  • The fall-off between Boeckman and Schoenhoft is massive
  • We have two extremely difficult games left (primarily): @ Penn State at night, and @ TBGUN
  • Don’t look now, but TBGUN is getting better VERY quickly
  • I just don’t know what to think about this year around the country unless parity is finally kicking in after all these years.  On the other hand, maybe this is just a fluke year.  But is South Florida REALLY this good?  Did Stanford REALLY beat USC at their home?  Why/how could Kentucky hang with LSU and pull that out at the last minute?  Oregon State over Cal – maybe, but doesn’t make much sense.  Are we seeing the end to dynasties (except in Columbus)?
  • Our entire team is getting progressively better every week, at virtually every position.  Something few teams around the Big Ten or the country can accurately state
  • The last time we took Michigan State too lightly was in 1998 – Tressel should remind this team about THAT “Alamo” so as not to let down this week
  • Back to that similar question that we faced last year, and ultimately flunked in spades: avoiding the big head and complacency that lead to the second worst defeat in OSU history?  For me, the first was when John Cooper lost to the Air Force Academy in the Freedom Bowl in Tenn.  It turned out to be the first of many record setting lows for him.
  • I REALLY like this team.  It is a true team.  A new star emerges every week and so far they seem to be remembering their Alamo of last January.

So where does this leave us?  I hope the bowl game has left us all with a stomach that is still empty, and there is only one way to fill it – win the Sugar Bowl, but focus on the bottlenecks of each game for the rest of the season.  It is just too wild and wooly this year for me.


I would love to hear any feedback from our readers.  Please drop
your comments to PJSBuck@buckeye50.com.




Click B50 Logo to return to Home Page
Buckeye 50 Editorial -
2007 Mid-Season Thoughts?
10/15/07