Wow! What a guru...I actually agree with that... What got OSU into that game last year was that every other team in the country had warts on their resume as well. They said the same thing last year (it was true)...after that Illinois loss we'd never get in...unless every other team choked the hell out of their remaining season...they all did...and now there is antipathy to us...like it was our fault they all tripped over their own shoelaces...big deal. I just want to play the games...why invent some controversy?...you act like you're afraid that all the SEC teams will fold like cheap suits...that's the only way we got in last year, and the only way it would ever happen with your scenario (not to forget ND and the other conferences as well).
Priceless.....I suppose if you take away the fact that we outgained them in total yardage and held them to their lowest total yardage output of the year and take away all the gifts they were given by our carelessness one could probably argue that we were completely manhandled.....just like if you took the testicles off of my uncle you could argue that in fact he is my aunt.......makes sense. I see your logic......because your loss to LSU in Baton Rouge was superior to our loss in the National Championship game in New Orleans and our victory over the Stripeheads in Ann Arbor doesn't count vis-a-vis your loss to the Stripeheads in your own backyard that gives you some comfort.....sure thing, why not. Dude, get over it.....you lost in your own backyard to an also-ran from the lowly Big 10. It's ok, we lost to them too......about 5 years ago.
He does many things including but not limited too manufacturing his own reality and then feeling compelled to thrust it upon others as fact......as one ages, recall can get fuzzy and selective. I am just helping a brotha out in his time of need. :lol: Must be the trauma that induces selective recall.....in truth, the Gators have lost to the Stripehead more times in the last 6 years than we have.....that can't be fun for a fella from the Motor City. :lol:
"I just want to play the games...why invent some controversy?...you act like you're afraid that all the SEC teams will fold like cheap suits...that's the only way we got in last year, and the only way it would ever happen with your scenario (not to forget ND and the other conferences as well)." That makes sense because you do have to play USC....and win....but believe me this budding controversy isn't my invention. Yeah I did see the Buckeyes run up and down the field for a measly 14 points on a day when Michigan fielded the most anemic offense due to injury that I can ever recall and repeatedly gave the Buckeyes the ball back in good field position. Hell UF managed 35 points vs. Michigan on a day when the Florida defense took the day off and went to Disneyworld instead of the stadium. :cry: Should I state the numbers of Henne and Hart vs. Florida? One didn't play at all vs. OSU and the other was a shell of himself with a very bad throwing arm and shouldn't have been on the field that day. Again though....Florida lost three games before the bowls and didn't deserve a BCS game and defensively proved it vs. Michigan. Ohio State did win it's conference and certainly should have been in the Rose Bowl. That would probably have been another big bowl loss though because the Big Ten replacement that beat OSU in it's "own backyard" got clobbered itself by the Trojans.
Hart ran the ball 18 times for 44 yards. He is the only M running back that had a carry all game long......obviously you were watching closely. I would have loved to see the Gators playing in the Big House that day on the 3rd Saturday in November....temps in the 30's, sleet, ice and snow. Don't be ridiculous..... Nobody said we "ran up and down the field". I did say that Beanie "sputtered" - your word - for 222 yards which is pretty damn effective in those conditions and precisely the performance necessary to beat a hated rival in their last game at home in an emotional battle under terrible weather conditions. There is no minimizing that great performance by a great running back. It would seem to me that one cannot "sputter" for 222 yards. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.....
Do you remember Mich State RB named Lorenzo White? He was pretty good college back, drafted by the Oilers had a mostly forgetable career except that he was a good mudder and Jerry Glanville used him when we went to Cleveland back when the old Browns used to play in that hell hole they called a stadium. He was good at sliping and sliding his way to a lot of yardage on bad wet/slipper/muddy fields which was the standard Browns field in late season. So it's possible!!
I remember him well....he was a helluva college back. He finished 4th in the Heisman balloting the year Bo Jackson won it in 1985. And what is this business calling Municipal Stadium a "hell hole'?! A great place to watch a ballgame but the late season weather could be problematic! The birthplace of the "Dawg Pound"! I saw many a game at that place. I have some great memories and some times I attended, I have no memory besides the legendary antics of which I've been told! :wink: Yes, to your point, one can slip and slide to great games on a sloppy track, but one can not "sputter" his way to a great game! :wink:
I saw an April baseball game there in the mid 80's. Yankees were in town, and there was talk of a battle of the Niekros. It had been in the 70s the day prior, but that night it was so freaking cold I took a blanket from the hotel with me. It was miserable. The next day they rained the game out since the field was covered with snow.
Glanville used to say that they had to pack hammer and nails on the trip to Cleveland other wise they wouldn't have anything to hang their clothes on during the game!!
I guess it seemed as if Hart didn't play he was so ineffective...my bad. Here was Carr's take on the game: "Henne, whose throws were usually high or wide, left the field for one series in the third quarter and returned in the fourth. When he made accurate passes, star receiver Mario Manningham and teammates didn't hold on frequently enough. Henne finished 11 of 34 for 68 yards and didn't speak to reporters after the game. Hart had 18 carries for 44 yards, his first game this year under the 100-yard mark. He seemed to be relatively healthy after being sidelined with a badly sprained right ankle. "We have no excuses here," Carr said. "But I think it's fair to acknowledge Chad didn't throw the ball like he has and Mike Hart was not at full speed." I remeber Henne to be absolutemiserable in this game and his injury played a great part. I do think OSU played very good defense as well so they did what they had to do but the OSU offense was not the same offense it will be next year or was in 2006.
Dude, it was freezing cold, the field was icy, it was sleeting/raining/snowing all game long and windy thoughout....the weather conditions were horrid.....you're expecting an offensive shootout? Beanie was magnificent, the Buckeyes dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage and the Stripeheads couldn't score if they played 8 quarters....under those circumstances and in those conditions, with a RB like Beanie Wells, Coach Tressel is going to grind it out...btw, Beanie played that game with a broken wrist and a bum ankle that required surgery in the offseason. He's a much better back when he's healthy!
BT...I see a scenario where OSU wins over USC but loses to a Big Ten opponent and still makes the NC. This scenario is possible but a loss to USC and it's Rose Bowl or bust for the Buckeyes.
RE the weather BT for the OSU-UM game>>>> It was blustery and cold that day but with no icy precipitation that I recall that would impede play although the conditions as you say did not lend themselves to high scoring to be sure. The 14-3 score was identical to the coldest day as a fan in the stands that I can ever recall when I attended a Gator Bowl game in Jax at night in the early 80s and UF defeated a Chuck Long led Iowa team by that same 14-3 score. The actual temp was about 22 and the winds were howling and no amount of whiskey was going to make up for it. Man was it cold and it should have played right into Iowa's hands but it was the Gators who withstood it better that night.
That makes no sense at all.....a loss to a lesser opponent later in the season provides a superior resume' than does a loss to a stronger opponent - USC - on the road earlier in the season? Sorry, but that defies all logic... To be clear, a one loss Big 10 champion Buckeye team will NOT get leapfrogged by any two loss team. Period. Will not happen in my lifetime no matter how loudly our critics squeal....there are more thoughtful voters than there are squawking critics that will talk with their ballots to be sure. About the game in Ann Arbor.....there is no reason to continue the debate about offensive execution and playing conditions. I don't know what comfort that it can possibly provide you and your Gators re: your bowl loss in FL. I have watched the video of that game a dozen times and watched it again last night.....preciptiation was coming down virtually the entire game in one form or another "impeding play" in the form of drops, slips, slides, errant throws, etc. to a very large degree. It is what it is.....
BT...a road win over non-conference powerhouse USC would carry so much more weight at the end of the season than would a mid-season Big Ten slip up loss. That's my logic. And I will contend till the final votes are in that if OSU loses at USC but wins the entire Big Ten slate they would be the last one loss team to be considered for the NC but you're right in that a two loss team would have to be extremely impressive to jump the Buckeyes. That last scenario is possible....but not likely. Oh...and not looking for comfort in the Gator's loss I was just pointing out that the win over UM last year was deceiving and should not have been that much of a factor in sending Ohio State to New Orleans especially considering the Illinois loss and the fact that the rest of the Buckeye schedule was mediocre or worse. To never admit that you caught UM at an opportune time because of injuries especially to Henne is curious at best.
You're fabricating again....I have said repeatedly that it was unfortunate for the Stripeheads that Hart and Henne were not a their best....that said, it was also unfortunate for the Buckeyes that Beanie was not at his best and our best d-lineman was sidelined with a broken leg and we had to start a true freshman on the d-line. In spite of that, I would contend to you that the game was won in the trenches. The Buckeyes dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage as evidenced by a wounded Beanies stat line and the amount of time our dline spent in the M backfield resulting in the fact that almost 2/3 of all the snaps they took on offense resulted in zero or negative yardage. It would not have mattered if Joe Montana and Barry Sanders suited up for the Stripeheads that day......take a look. http://bp2.blogger.com/_l4ZZFzs7VIs.../47888b512dadd3370a975c03bb3334cbfa524dd7.png The pic and the following quote are taken from MGoBlog - an M football blog. Use your own judgement or just take it from the source.....