My 16-Second Take

I don't want to talk style points or make other woulda/coulda/shoulda comments. The reality is that Ohio State lost. They lost. But in about 16 excruciating seconds, here are my thoughts ...

1. The 2-QB thing. I don't get it. Is Pryor our QB? If so, by putting Todd Boeckman in the game every time a pass is required - isn't that saying Pryor can't throw the ball downfield? And isn't this just a gimmic that says "hey, we can't hang with these guys using our regular playbook?" And what about the reps Pryor missed during the month and a half of bowl practice? Wouldn't the presumed starting QB for next season have benefitted?

2. Pryor's apparent desire to avoid the hits. Did I miss something or is this some sort of a new thing for him? I don't remember him ever avoiding a hit during the regular season.

3. Beanie. Beanie is Beanie. I wonder if he's made of rock or glass. I'm betting a whole lot of the latter. And I'm not questionning his toughness. He's a tough kid because while he winced several times last night after taking hits in the game and appeared to want to come back in after the apparent concussion, is he just somehow more brittle than other football players or injury-prone or ... perish the thought ... a cry-baby? How's he going to fare in the NFL? Not For Long. Better stay with the Bucks Beanie and NOT come out early for the NFL.

Frankly, I hope I'm wrong and Beanie is tough as nails because the prospects of Beanie and Pryor in the backfield excite me about the 2009 Buckeyes.

4. Play calling. What is the H happened in the 3rd quarter. And I'm talking both sides of the ball. We were getting our asses handed to us on offense and on defense. The Longhorns came out determined to run hurry-up and not let us sub on D. They did and we didn't and our D looked completely wiped out. Why no timeout defense on that opening drive by the Longhorns in the 2nd half. The Bucks were gassed and out of position. Tress, I know you don't call the D but you are watching from the sidelines. Call the timeout.

On offense, you ran about 1 screen pass the entire game ... to Beanie ... and it worked. Then, did that page of the playbook like fall out or something? And what about some rushing plays that don't go straight up the middle? Guess what? I don't think we scored going up the middle the entire season! I think we'd all agree that Texas is better than any team we faced this season in our regular schedule! Shesh.

Finally, it's just such a shame that the season didn't turn out better. We had high hopes for this team and this group of seasoned seniors. I'm sure they can't stand that they leave tOSU with this kind of a BCS record too. And it's not a reflection upon what they've done at Ohio State.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!