Up until the middle of the third quarter on Saturday, it looked like the Ohio University Bobcats were going to become this year’s Appalachian State:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After barely beating Ohio University, No. 3 Ohio State was not a happy football team. The sluggish victory felt more like a loss.
“That was pathetic; it was a pathetic performance,” Buckeyes wide receiver Brian Hartline said after Ohio State rallied in the fourth quarter on Saturday for a 26-14 victory over Ohio, a 33 ½-point underdog. “O.U. should have won the game. I don’t know how we came out with it.”
Maybe Ohio State (2-0) had next week’s opponent — No. 1 Southern California — on its mind. Or maybe it was the loss of running back Beanie Wells to an injury.
Lightly regarded even in its Mid-American Conference, Ohio (0-2) was poised for a stunning upset until the Buckeyes scored the last 20 points. With a little more than 14 minutes left, the Bobcats led, 14-12.
As Wells watched from the sideline with a foot injury sustained Aug. 30, the Buckeyes struggled to move the ball until Brandon Saine’s short plunge on the third play of the final quarter finally put them on top. Ray Small added breathing room with a late 69-yard punt return for a touchdown.
This was not the tuneup the Buckeyes needed before meeting the top-ranked Trojans.
“I guess we move on and get ready for U.S.C., but over all, that’s not good football,” Hartline said. “That was just one of those ones where you want to crawl into a hole and get ready for next week.”
Thanks to that worse-than-expected performance, the Buckeyes fell to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The truth, of course, is that Ohio State’s entire season rides on next weeks matchup with No. 1 USC. If they win, they have a pretty much guaranteed spot in a third national championship game unless they falter against one of their Big Ten opponents, which seems unlikely this year. If they lose, then the best they can hope for is another Big Ten Championship and another trip to the Rose Bowl.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
This may be an indication that Ohio State is overranked this year … not to say that we Penn State fans can legitimately complain that our boys are underrated, having kicked the snot out of two entirely uninspiring teams so far. However, I expect that JoePa will do what he frequently does, and move up slowly but surely the old-fashioned way.
Should be an interesting season. I plan to watch your boys this weekend. And root against ‘em!
September 8th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Or, it may be an indication that they were looking past OU at USC.
Something like this happened a few years ago when my wife and I went to see OSU play Marshall in September. Everyone thought the Buckeyes were going to blow the Thundering Herd away. As it turned out, Ohio State only won thanks to a field goal with 2 seconds left in the 4th Quarter.
Those small-school teams can surprise you sometimes.
Next week will be tough, but I honestly don’t think OSU is over-rated when it comes to the rest of the Big 10, at least not this year.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
We’ll see. One reason I love college football is that it’s generally pretty difficult to predict the winner. And sometimes you can find something nice to say about a much-hated rival. Particularly when they’re playing an even more-hated rival!
September 12th, 2008 at 6:53 am
[...] how the Buckeyes did without Wells last week, this does not bode well. Related PostsOhio State’s Beanie Wells To Sit Out [...]