Tressel and Boeckman to Blame for USC Loss: Playing the Blame
Game
After Saturday night’s embarrassing loss in the Coliseum, I’m
sounding off.
By Eric Geier
Jim Tressel
Its official, the vest has become bigger than the man. In my
opinion Columbus was far too quick to anoint Jim
Tressel the pope of everything football in Columbus. He came in, he beat Michigan, he won a
national title and suddenly he could do no wrong. He was on the streets signing
autographs and kissing babies. But how much do those wins against Michigan and the
national championship really mean? Since then, the Buckeyes have routinely
gotten demolished in big games on national television? To me, those games mean
nothing after getting embarrassed again on Saturday night.
The Buckeyes are consistently getting top recruits from around
the country, and they continue to get stomped by teams like Florida and USC. It’s not like the Buckeyes
are plucking kids out of division three schools. The problem is not with the
players, it’s with the coaches. With so many top recruits, the Ohio State
program is failing to prepare them in the offseason for the big games.
I guess the thing that really disappoints me is that Tressel
is getting babied. He loses the big games and everyone pats him on the back and
tells him it’s O.K. Sorry, but it’s not O.K. For the first time in a very long
time, more so than the last two years, I was embarrassed that I was from Columbus.
If you recall the John Cooper era, even if he won a close
game they ripped him in the Dispatch. I see no such criticism of Jim Tressel,
however, there have been from some of the fans. When there is no criticism,
there is complacency, and depending on what happens the rest of the season, I
expect Tressel’s vest to start getting a little warmer.
From here on out the season doesn’t get any easier. The
Buckeyes still have to play a Penn
State team that is
putting up a ton of points, a Badger squad that looks tough and a high-powered
Purdue offense. There is a very good possibility that the Buckeyes could lose
two more games.
Todd Boeckman
Watching senior Todd Boeckman scramble for his life Saturday
should have made all of America, especially Columbus realize one thing, Todd
Boeckman is not a starting quarterback. Boeckman is a senior, he has that
leadership, but leadership means nothing if you can’t go out and perform on a
national stage.
Jim Tressel’s play calling was flat out terrible. I don’t
know if he was calling all of those plays, but seriously, he tried to run the
option more than once with Todd Boeckman. Nobody on USC’s defense was fooled
with that slow-developing play and they crushed it without any hesitation.
Boeckman rushed eight times for -27 yards. Even after Boeckman threw a pick-six
and got sacked, he remained in the game. When Pryor had a big gain or seemed to
be getting something together, Boeckman was right back on the field, disrupting
the flow of the offense. Pryor needs to start and he needs to start now, its
time for the Buckeyes to cut ties with Todd Boeckman as the starting
quarterback.