I've touched on this a couple times, but it's worth some reinforcement: nothing is quite as odd as being displaced from Columbus football for an extended period of time.  I can't recall the last time I saw an OSU car flag, or even an OSU flag in general for that matter.  I can't yell "O-H!" down Court Street on a Saturday afternoon and expect an equally enthusiastic "I-O!" in return.  Not saying that there aren't any Buckeyes in Athens (there are plenty), I'm just saying that it's absolutely nothing like Columbus.

Which is why I couldn't be happier that my ungodly winter break will begin on Thursday afternoon, meaning that I'll find myself in the midst of the 'Shoe's student section on Saturday afternoon, ready to finally experience some Buckeye football in all its glory.  Who knows, maybe I'll even get amped up enough to post some pre-game thoughts.

The last Ohio State football game I attended, the Fighting Illini knocked off the then unbeaten Buckeyes and (at that time) derailed Ohio State's national championship hopes.  This year, it's my birthday.  So let's not let that happen again, or I will be sorely upset.

What are your picks?  I got the Buckeyes shutting down Juice en route to a two touchdown, 34-20 victory.

It has been 13 days since I have been exposed to Ohio State football.  Furthermore, it has been 20 days since I have been exposed to Ohio State football in its purest, most successful form.  Any other year, a lack of exposure to the Buckeyes such as this one would be enough to drive me crazy.  Yet, as the clock is ticking on one of my longest in-season Buckeye dry spells, I find myself not all that antsy over tomorrow's showdown with a very dangerous opponent that could conceivably send us to the Outback bowl, and I'm not very sure why.

The only thing I am sure of, however, is that my newfound apathy towards Buckeye has absolutely nothing to do with "jumping off the bandwagon" on what has been a rather unsatisfactory season.  If anything, history should prove this point.  In 2004, we faced a very similar situation.  A preseason top 10 ranking that absolutely plummetted with questions abound regarding the quarterback play, and a head coach under fire.  Yet, back then, I based my entire Saturday social life around when kickoff was, and I made sure that nothing interrupted those three or so hours.  From 1999-2001, I don't think I missed a single Buckeye game, and all three of those teams reeked of mediocrity.  Of course, I will still take the mandatory time out of my schedule to glue myself to ESPN2 tomorrow afternoon; the only difference being that it won't be the focus of my Saturday.

The most logical explanation I can think of is that recently, I've been thrown into a completely new lifestyle, and I have to renew all of my relationships, responsibilities, and my ways of day to day living, all the while enhancing my education.  As a result, Buckeye football has been put on the backburner for some time now.  I have no choice but to keep busy and keep an open mind to all my neighbors (as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a friend's room across the hall, listening to the loudest, most obnoxious death metal bands with people I never even would have associated with in high school).  I've been so busy with my new life that I when I think in my free time, it's not about how Jim Tressel should best utilize Terrelle Pryor, but rather about how I can enhance the relationships around me.

Even still, I feel as if this feeling of indifference is slowly becoming a widespread epidemic throughout Buckeye nation, and my explanation doesn't help to solve this problem for everyone.  Maybe we all realize that we have (at least) two more full seasons to watch Terrelle Pryor blossom into the legend that he seems destined to become.  Maybe we're just completely sick of the current group of seniors who, for the most part, have shown their true colors this season.  Maybe it's because the one player everyone was excited about entering the season just hasn't been himself of late. 

It's hard to put a finger on any exact reason, but it seems to me that, as fans, we're all sort of just going through the motions this season, and there's nothing we can really do about it.  It's a shame, too, because we still have a shot at sweet, sweet redemption in the Grand Daddy of them All, a place we haven't been in over a decade.  Luckily, I was able to score tickets to go to the Michigan game, and even if they won't be the Maize and Blue of old, the rivalry and atmosphere on that Saturday should unquestionably get my scarlet and gray juices flowing once again.  Hopefully it's not too late.

Yes, I do realize that over the past six or so weeks yours truly has been, quite frankly, not posting.  But instead of listenting to my long list of excuses (Increased college workload, balancing school and play, the long hours dedicated to the fraternity pledging process, etc.), let's just act like I'm still a loyal poster and forget about the past.  In all seriousness though, I'm going to make a conscious effort to make at least one, thoughtful post a week until around Thanksgiving time, at which point I'll have nothing to do for six weeks, so I can resume posting on a semi-daily basis.

So, exactly how different are these Buckeyes than those who got pummeled in SoCal?  It's amazing how drastically perspectives can change in the college football landscape.  Just six weeks ago, the Buckeyes epitomized all that the Southern powers have grown to despise in recent years: as fans, we were forced to consume a group of overachieving, dispassionate seniors that seemed more interested in their NFL Draft stock than winning a championship.  The catalyst behind an already vanilla offense was crippled, the supposedly vaunted defense had finally been exposed as fradulent, even the lynchpin of Tressel Ball -- special teams -- left much to be desired.  Even still, following a 45-7 win in East Lansing against a dangerous, then top 20 Spartan football team, things couldn't look look Rosier for the Buckeyes.  Suddenly, with the implementation of one player the offense has gone from a being one-dimensional to dynamic, even though that second dimension (a viable, efficient passing game) has yet to present itself.  The defense, despite regaining their reputation after a recent rejuvenation along the defensive line (they have actually managed to record three official "QB Hurries" in the statbook in the past three weeks, compared to the lofty gooseegg the guys up front were flaunting in games 1-5) has not stopped an opponent from scoring in the redzone and are allowing nearly 70 more passing yards a game since losing to USC (although to be fair, the first three games of the season featured a FCS quarterback starting his first career game, a backup MAC quarterback, and a team that had no need to throw the ball in the second half).  Even the so-called "resurgence" has made a statement in the Special Teams department.  Aaron Pettrey is now the full-time kicker, and while he has been a definite improvement, the Buckeyes' return games have lacked any significant improving, often leaving the offense with long fields to work with.

Now although the statistics don't necessarily support a resurgence as strong as the media and public would leave one to believe (in a recent ESPN poll, Ohio State was voted the second best 1-loss team in the country, ahead of USC, who, you know, kind of kicked our butts), I don't think anybody would argue how the factors that can't be measured -- things like chemistry, confidence, momentum, and the very threat of having a single man who can both run and throw lining up under center, has payed huge dividends for the Buckeyes.  Although we've all heard rumors about a potential civil war brewing in the locker room between those who have embraced the radical changes brought on by Senator Tressel and those who feel there's still a place for  Todd Boeckman in the offense, it certainly has not shown on the field.  I have no idea how to support this claim without numbers or statistics, but watching the team work together on all sides of the ball, there's no way this is the same squad that thought it could compete in Los Angeles in September.  Perhaps such a devastating loss was what this team needed the most: a reminder that despite what you've accomplished in the past means nothing now, and it gave a swift kick in the pants to guys like James Launrinaitis, the Brians, and the rest of the seniors who thought that just by coming back for another season that they were "team leaders."  Obviously, these weeks have proven that seniority means nothing when it comes to being a leader.  If one lesson can be taken out of this season that we can apply to our daily lives, it's that true leaders are those who aren't afraid to take a chance, that true leaders know when and how to challenge others, and that true leaders visibly give a crap when nobody else seems to.  A cookie goes to the first person to pick out the three men I'm referring to in these lessons, because as of now, they're the only leaders that I can pick out.

"When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you."

Bad, bad news today for Buckeye fans.  It looks like Beanie Wells' foot swelled up mightily after taking 20 or so carries in practice yesterday.  He did not practice today, and is now listed as doubtful for the showdown against USC, but will still be evaluated later on in the week and will make the trip.

Not good.  Not good at all.

Ever since the Buckeyes' no-show offensively against the Bobcats Saturday, journalists have been hustling about in search of answers.  Is the offense so dependent on one player that his absence turns a national championship-caliber team into an also-ran?  Can Todd Boeckman and Co. really afford to ride a star studded defense to the MNC?  The coaches, who so often preach the importance of taking attacking season one game at a time, couldn't possibly be keeping the dynamic characteristics of the offense under wraps in preparation for the season's biggest game, could they?  Well, as it turns out, the answers to these questions may not show themselves until the season plays out, but the level-headed optimist in every one of us prays that there is some sort of hidden gameplan that Jim Tressel and Jim Bollman are keeping under wraps to unleash at the perfect time. 

Obviously, when asked about the prospects of having a much more diverse offense in week three, the coaches kept their clipboards close to the proverbial vest.  Yet, we were fortunate enough to pick up on a little slip by Brian Hartline.

"Personally I felt like we might have held some things back," OSU receiver Brian Hartline said. "We didn't feel that during the game, but thinking about it after the game, we might have."

Now, it's unlike any player who is coached under Tressel -- especially one as experienced and sensible as Hartline -- to express his frustrations with the offense in a particular game that should be well in his rear view mirror, which leads me to believe that the players are beginning to take notice of the dynamism all of the offensive playmakers bring to the table.

I think everybody is expecting some sort of tricks up The Vest's sleeve this weekend.  After all, there isn't a team under more pressure to win a game this season than with Ohio State on Saturday, and Tressel knows that if he wants to maintain his program's dignity, he'll come out firing.  It doesn't take quotes, articles, or even evidence in past games to know that.  All it takes is the constant, nagging memory of a failed past and every fan of football in the nation giving them zero chance for victory.

Then why do I still find myself doubting?  Perhaps it's the feeling that weeks one and two still left so much to be desired, that much of what Tressel is "experimenting with" may not necessarily guarantee positive results.  When Ohio State went to Texas in 2006, Troy Smith and Co. were fresh off of a thrashing of Northern Illinois, which demonstrated every single way that year's Buckeye offense could dominate a game.  Sure, the domination against Youngstown State was nice, and the efficient fourth quarter play against OU without the team's most productive player was nice, but I think anybody would agree that the offense left us all with a lot more questions than answers, which is something we haven't had to deal with since 2004.

I sincerely believe that this weekend, we will all learn much more about Jim Tressel as an offensive playcaller than anything the past six seasons have shown us.  Assuming Beanie Wells is full go (or as close to full go as a running back can be) by Saturday, which I feel he will be, then there will be a whole lot of pressure on Tressel to do something that he hasn't done yet this season: incorporate all of the talent this team has into a fluid unit which won't be stalled the first time they have to face a 3rd and 9 on their own 21.

Unsurprisingly, through the first two games of this young season, the Buckeyes' seventh ranked pass defense from a year ago has been, well, stellar.  To date, the Buckeyes secondary has allowed only 194 passing yards, is yet to give up a touchdown, and had as many interceptions in one game (four) than it did over their final seven games a year ago.  Yet, as the Bucks' third "game of the century" is inching forward day by day, there looms a cloud of uncertainty over one of the most talented, experienced, and tested secondaries in the entire nation.

After serving two game suspensions for undisclosed violations in the spring, both starting cornerback Donald Washington and backup safety Jamario O'Neal are set to return to the field this week, and there has been little to no indication as to how either player will be utilized against the nation's top team.  The situation is particularly pressing in the case of Washington, who has started 22 games over the past two seasons and was the unquestioned #2 CB behind Malcolm Jenkins before his infraction.  Yet, the solution to the problem is much more complex than simply plugging him back into his old spot.  Sophomore defensive back Chimdi Chekwa, who first made a name for himself playing in nickel and dime situations last year, has performed beyond the level of replacement this season (as is evidenced by the overall performance of the secondary to date), and has done nothing to warrant being benched.  Yet, the coaches may have no other choice if Washington's improvements from year two to year three are as good as advertised.  The simple solution would be to have all three on the field at the same time during obvious passing downs, which often times made the secondary dominant a season ago, but the coaches seem intent on getting safety Jer'Male Hines on the field as often possible, and it appears that he will end up as the team's nickel back for at least one more week.

So how do the coaches find enough playing time for both players to contribute like they are capable?  Flash back to the end of the 2004 regular season.  After a miserable season, Troy Smith established himself as the team's starter at quarterback after going 4-1 over the final five games, including an upset victory of archrival Michigan, yet is suspended in the days leading up to the bowl game for accepting money $500 from a booster.  The suspension is later extended one more game (the 2005 season opener against Miami Ohio), meaning that Smith's return would come against the then #2 ranked and eventual National Champion Texas Longhorns.  In the meantime, Justin Zwick -- much like Chimdi Chekwa -- had done absolutely nothing to warrant losing a starting job, yet deep down everybody (including Jim Tressel) knew that Troy Smith gave the Buckeyes the best chance to win.  With Smith on the field, the offense was dynamic, energized, and could move the ball with ease down the throats of the vaunted Texas defense.  Yet, after Texas took a one point lead with 2:37 to play, it was Zwick -- and not Smith -- who found himself under center, and it was Zwick -- and not Smith -- who took the safety with under a minute to go which sealed the deal for the Longhorns.  Over the next week, Tressel's controversial decision which (at the time) cost the Buckeyes a National Championship was scrutinized by fans and media members alike, and as a result, Smith found himself back at starter for the remainder of his legendary career.  Tressel chose the replacement to help his team win the game, and he erred tremendously.

Three seasons later, the Buckeyes are put in nearly an identical conundrum.  An established starter, suspended for two games, returns in time for the "game of the century," only to have his role with the team be undetermined in the days leading up to kickoff.  There lies, however, one major difference between these two scenarios.  Justin Zwick was an experienced starter, Chimdi Chekwa is not.  This week will mark Chekwa's third career start as the field cornerback, it could have been Washington's 26th.  Don't get me wrong, Chekwa deserves to start the game.  I supported Justin Zwick as the starter in 2005 for all the same reasons I support Chekwa as a starter today.  But as a cornerback, perfection is expected.  One misstep can be the difference between an incomplete pass and a 60 yard touchdown, and as we saw against Illinois a season ago, Chekwa can be prone to being burnt deep.  In a game where every point is sure to matter, who do you want on the field in the fourth quarter?  The answer, it seems, may just be a case of history repeating itself.  Let's not repeat the same mistake.

This article may be a few days stale, but time to post has been scarce recently.  Between getting settled in to the college atmosphere, meeting new people, and finding out that, in college, the word "homework" really means, "cruel amounts of tedious reading," the blog had been utterly lost.  Never fear, for I am back, this time with even more marginal writing and untrained opinion.

My first Saturday on campus, however, proved to be an interesting one.  It is often said that all Ohioans are Buckeyes at heart.  This is not the case when the nation's number 5 party school outplays the nation's number 5 football team for three-plus quarters.  I had long known that my first weekend as a collegian would pit my current school against the one I had grown up adoring, and I had also long made the decision that while I may be green and white on the surface, I would always bleed scarlet and gray.  Thus, much to the chagrin of my peers, I donned an outfit that would clearly state my allegiance without being overzealous: a scarlet OSU tee.  Yet, at halftime, when my game-watching locale evolved from the dormitory to North Congress St., drastic times were calling, and I was left without a choice but to throw on my lucky #45 Archie Griffin throwback.  Needless to say, when walking down Court St. and the aforementioned luck hadn't exactly kicked in yet (see: OU's recovered fumble in the endzone in the third quarter), all the Athenian bar-hoppers had their fair share of fun with me.

At this point, I realize that I'm at a crossroads (literally and figuratively): If OU does manage to do the unthinkable, how am I supposed to have the dignity to venture about campus in my finest Saturday attire?  There's no way I make it back to the dorm until the late night (or early morning).  When I finally reach my second half viewing destination, I find to my surprise that I'm still the only one openly supporting the Buckeyes.  Of course, this made the fourth quarter all that more enjoyable, but my early afternoon all the more stressful.  Needless to say, this was an eventful day, but perhaps the most humorous part of it came late at night when I ran into a group of football players out in the street who insisted that I take the jersey off.  Somehow, my frightened logic of, "but it's Archie!" worked on them, and they let me on my way (if you've ever seen me, you know that I would have lasted about 2 seconds against any college athlete, except maybe the chess team).

So in the end, maybe we really are all Buckeyes deep down.

This will be my last post for quite a few days, as I move in to college on Thursday (classes start Monday) and my schedule is bound to be quite hectic for a little while.  I'll get in what I can before USC, and Sean will still be around, and much more consistently than myself.

Now that we've had a couple days to decompress from the fiasco known as Ohio State's opening week thrashing of an opponent they probably should not have been playing in the first place, it's time to look past one certain player's injury and look at the grand scheme of things (okay, I'll touch on that injury, too).  There are also bound to be lots of parenthesis, seeing as how a long summer has killed my attention span (and writing skills, too).

• If we're going to discuss the game, it would be foolish of anybody NOT to discuss the one player that Buckeye fans spent 95% of the offseason discussing.  Like Jim Tressel said, all three quarterbacks would play in the first half against Youngstown State (barring any sort of Appalachian-esque disaster), just the order after man #1 would be unknown to the public.  Yet, to nobody's surprise, the highly touted superfreshman Terrelle Pryor somehow managed to leapfrog the true #2 QB (on the depth chart, anyways), and take the field to a standing ovation on the team's third offensive possession of the game.  Terrelle led the second string Buckeyes down the field, but just like the men above them on the depth chart, they were unable to capitalize in the red zone, and had to settle for a field goal.  In my opinion, Pryor's second drive of the game -- the first of the fourth quarter -- better showcased what his role with the offense this season will be.  Most of the plays were run out of the pistol formation with Maurice Wells lined up directly behind him.  More often than not, the called play was a variation of the read-option, where Terrelle would either hand off to Wells, or keep the ball for himself and run with it.  The play selection out of the "Pryor Package" obviously baffled Youngstown State, considering that the average play on that drive went for over 11 yards.  During his first drive, the playcalling seemed to suit the team's general offensive philosophy (remember, the entire second string offense was in for that drive), whereas in the fourth quarter, Pryor was running plays that seemed better suited for him behind the first team offensive line, perhaps another hint that we'll be seeing quite a bit of this freshman throughout the season.
  
• Speaking of which, how will Terrelle Pryor be utilized against USC in two weeks?  Will the Pryor Package be used only on select situations throughout the game, or will Pryor be given full drives to show off his skill set?  Perhaps he won't play all that much as a freshman on one of the biggest stages in college football?  The smart money is on choice #1, but only time will tell.  Either way, it's doubtful that the coaches show off much more of Pryor's abilities against OU in order to deploy him as a sort of secret weapon that isn't so secret after all.
• One last note on Pryor: did anybody notice on his touchdown scamper how he simply refused to be tackled?  He said following the game that when the end zone is in his sights, teams aren't going to stop him, but those final 10 or so yards came out of nowhere.  If USC hasn't learned anything from the 2005 Rose Bowl, Pryor could have a big day come 9/13.
• On the Beanie Wells injury front, it's becoming increasingly apparent that the Heisman trophy candidate will not play against OU, but he continues to feel better every day, and there's no counting him out.  In Tressel's presser this afternoon, he wouldn't go into details regarding his injury, but he would say that if the game were today he probably wouldn't play.  If Beanie is able to practice at all over the next two days, though, his status could change.  From the presser:

"We wouldn't play [Beanie] Saturday if he doesn't get some work this week," he said. "I wouldn't expect him to practice today, but if he could get some work on Wednesday and Thursday -- basically Friday for us is just a walkthrough day. I'm hoping he can get back in there as quick as possible, as early as this week, but I don't realistically think there are any promises there."

Translation: "Don't count on us putting in our dinged up superstar in what should be a cakewalk.  Ask me again in a week."

• As for Beanie's replacements, it's looking like the backfield will feature a tailback by committee, led by senior Maurice Wells, who arguably played the best of the three backup tailbacks on Saturday, to go along with Boom and Zoom.  Obviously, none of the three can do what Beanie can do, but they all seem to be very good at one thing.  Mo knows the offense inside and out, and can go from 0 to 60 like the Floridian that he is, Boom has the power and balance to make himself look like Mike Hart in the opposite uniform, and Zoom will keep defenses on their toes with his dual-threat capabilities.  They may not be able to put it all together like Beanie can do, but hopefully it won't be a problem for very long.
• Although it's far too early to hand this award out, it looks like the most improved player awards have to go to Ray Small and Marcus Freeman.  Small finally seems to have matured into a college athlete, and gives the Buckeyes some legitimacy in the return game.  Freeman, on the other hand, will almost certainly grow out of Laurinaitis' shadow if he continues to play like he did Saturday.  The defensive stud was named defensive player of the game, and was all over the field.
  
• I'm going to reserve judgment on the defense against a spread attack until they face a legit FBS spread, but the 74 total yards of offense was definitely a good thing.
• More good things: Two 50+ yard field goals, great all-around special teams, only turnover came on Beanie's injury, Jermale Hines' play in general.
• Some not so good things: Another dropped interception, only one takeaway, only two sacks, I still don't trust Boeckman to win us a big game without Beanie by his side.
• The Big Ten didn't do much to help it's image in week 1.  UM's upset to Utah was probably the worst of the three losses (although the use of the term "upset" could be debated).  Illinois played close with Missouri, but their defense was exposed and surely won't help the speed myth, and Michigan State was outperformed by Cal.  Everyone else took care of business, and it sure did feel good to see a ranked SEC team lose to an unranked Pac-10 team who's third string quarterback threw four picks in the first half, yet still led his team to an OT victory.  And guess what, Tennessee, whatever Les Miles tries to say, overtime losses are still losses.  This isn't pre-lockout Hockey.