This series always seems to be close with low scoring games. Possibly heavy afternoon rains and poor grass conditions on the field, could produce a nightmare situation for both teams. Gene Smith, OSU AD, is saying there is a 95% chance the sod will be replaced after this game, due to the fact Ohio State will be on the road for the next two weeks. We are favored by 17 points, which I think is very generous by the odds makers. Don
What happened with the grass? It was pristine when I was there last year. But no doubt bad weather can be an equalizer. Terry
Terry, A combination of things on the turf. One, hot weather and a lot of rainfall in late August and September. The root structure is not holding and thus big chunks of sod are being ripped out. Attempts to salvage the existing turf has not proven to be the answer. Don
Nit's up 3-0 at half time. I'm surprised. I respect the PSU defense they aren't nearly as bad as that 41 pts that the Irish scored on them, just as the Irish aren't as bad as the Mich score made us look. But I figured your offense would feed off of turnovers by the young PSU offense. But hasn't happened yet. I wonder if JoePa will be out of the can for the 2nd half!
8) Ohio State was very, very fortunate to win this game. They were outplayed for much of it. The Buckeyes, Irish and Georgia Bulldogs all dodged a bullet this weekend. Even USC had its hands full at Arizona. These teams are closer than you think in the era of limited scholarships... .................JO'Co
It seems like once the conference races begin, things tighten up a bit. The Nits came ready to play and did an excellent job against us on the long ball. Troy Smith's first interception in 153 attempts was just a bad throw and to the right of Ted Ginn, where it was intercepted by a Penn State player, who was actually ahead of Ginn. Both teams struggled offensively and PSU up by three, with a field goal on the last play of the first half. JOPA runs pretty goood for a man his age, headed back and forth to the restrooms with flu like symptons. The game turned out to be a defensive struggle with two late interceptions for TDs, that ended in Ohio States favor and 14 additional points. Not a pretty win for the Buckeyes, but I am not complaining. I think our young defense may have come of age in this game. We will see next week when we visit Iowa and Drew Tate! Don