First Quarter Buckeye Update

I’ve never been a fan of the preseason ranking. It exists, so even I do it, but without a few games to gauge how the teams are actually performing it’s just a crap shoot. With that thought in mind I decided that I would wait for the first three games to be completed before I began doing any game reviews and previews.

I would say that my plan has paid in spades as I have a much better idea of who the 2008 Buckeyes are than I did in late August. Sadly, this is not a good thing. So, here is the 1st quarter update.

Ohio State 42 – Youngstown 0

A pyrrhic victory that saw entirely too many field goals (what? YSU’s D is too strong to get a TD on?) and the loss of Beanie to the still undiagnosed foot/toe problem. Looking back, the writing was on the wall with this game.

Ohio State 26 – Ohio 14

Without Beanie playing the Buckeye’s looked like shit on offense. What did they have? 6? 7? Three and outs! The defense wasn’t awful, only allowing 7 points (remember a Becker’s fumble in the endzone gave Ohio their other score) but showed an inability to finish on tackles. Buckeye nation consoled themselves with the thought that the team had been looking ahead and that Beanie would be back.

USC 35 – Ohio State 3

Looks like the Buckeyes hadn’t actually been looking ahead. Soft zone defense scheming, questionable offensive play calling and more craptastic play from ol’ Beckers (2 INT, 1 fumble, 0 TD) lead to a smack down. I know many want to look at the play of Boom, Pryor vs Beckers and a few other items as something to build on but the reality is that very little positive can be taken from this game.

Now looking at the quarterly round up you have to ask yourself, if the first ranking ballot came out this week, would Ohio State be in the top 25? I think the answer is no. After 3 games I don’t feel we have a 2007 Michigan style collapse on our hands but I feel talk of 11-1 is misplaced if the Buckeyes don’t turn it around in the next 2 games.