The BIG Game

Greetings from C-bus:

The buzz about this weekend's game is a bit unusual. And in a minute, I will get to that, but first a bit of news. The honorary captain for this week's game is Jack Tatum who had a measure of success against the Trojans in his day.

And Tressel called out the crowd to be loud this weekend.

Now, for the C-bus atmosphere. There is a lot of distrust, disbelief. Sadly Tressel-ball may have fallen from grace much like Obama-care in his few months in office (I won't tip my politics but I'm a LOT more sad for Tressel). The consensus seems to be to expect a loss, but a closer loss than last season's debacle. The consensus is also that with eight RBs in the USC arsenal, USC brings more firepower than OSU can handle.

And the tide may turn decidedly against Tress if the game is another wide margin defeat. First, tOSU is playing for the entire Big Ten. The Big Ten is big, slow, midwestern. Winning the Big Ten is no better than winning the Big East. In fact, some in C-bus believe that the best football team in Ohio might just be the UC Bobcats. Tressel's approval rating will fall faster than Obama's if the Bucks are soundly defeated.

That being said, the party is ON! I hear that given the 8pm start, there will be no pacing the drinking expected to begin on campus at the usual 4-5 am. Buckeye Nation will represent ... what, I'm not sure ... but Gameday and the crowd of sports talking heads expected in C-bus beginning tomorrow will see the best, and potentially, the worst of C-bus. And no students are on campus yet.

That's a lot of pressure on this young team.

And, by the way, Jim Tressel has said that he is rooting for scUM against ND this weekend. OK, me too ... because it is another potential nail in the coffin that is the proud Big Ten conference.

A few notes from practice - DeVier Posey is full-go. I expect we will hear a lot from him in the coming weeks of the season. Dane Sanzenbacher is the reliable, go-to guy right now, but Posey has razzle-dazzle in him. Also, Anderson Russell has been demoted and expect Jermale Hines to get the start at safety. Russell was burned on the 2 long TD passes vs. Navy last week (and vs. Texas if you recall). The comments from practice allude to him "forgetting" where he needs to be - I decode that to mean that he is not playing disciplined, assignment football. Props to the staff for making the change. And Hines has make-up speed and then some. He's been a regular on the nickel all last season and has the hitting ability of a Michael Doss with better wheels. Also, Ray Small is on the mend. While not listed as a starter due to "illness" last week and prior (hard to tell with Ray whether it is an assigned illness or a real one), the players seem to see him on the field with the 1's come Saturday ... and he's our best, proven threat on punt returns. And, local product Big Mike Adams is serving a 2-game suspension. And yes, many of us know why, but are not at liberty to say because the university is not releasing why ... suffice it to say that Big Mike may go the way of Ray Small if he's not careful. And let's hope Big Mike sticks with it and tries, like Ray Small has, to emerge from the Tressel dog house ... and soon. He has potential.

So, keep thinking good thoughts. The Bucks are carrying the Big Ten flag into battle in prime time Saturday. The Bucks have got to throw some new wrinkles into the game plan, exploit their weapons (TP has got to run the ball and scramble - and there's a difference), and that defense has got to make USC one-dimensional.

Another performance like last week's game and we might think it is 2002 re-dux ... a nail biter, a close call. But hey, if we come out victorious, while older, I can handle another year of "cardiac kids". Just win baby. There are no style points ... ultimately. But nothing short of an undefeated season ... and then some, will get a Big Ten team into the BCS championship game.

GO BUCKS from JennyBucks!