Ohio State is good at everything we are bad at. It sucks that it wasn't a media seducing blowout, and that Colt is following Brett Farve's career path (he's in the lose-it-for-you-no-win-it-for-you phase), but as cynical as I normally am I don't think I could be more pleased.
- This game was the first time we've asked our linebackers to be linebackers. Normally we play with 5 safeties who only need to find the ball and run to it. Ohio State is old school. They use a fullback. A scholarship one.
Needing to fight off blockers, locate and protect your gap, and tackle the ball carrier with people around you is not easy to do, and Texas has a long tradition of reminding people that it isn't.
-tOSU has big, fast, talented receivers. They took a back seat because their QBs were roughly as effective as a fishnet condom but good luck covering them man all game. Can't be done. We did as good a job on them as you really can, particularly after the young guys remembered we had a game today. Even that diving catch was pretty much a perfect throw on perfect defense.
- Texas put up almost 470 on the best defense they played this year. Mistakes cost us points, and we started slow but tell me we can't play with anyone. Do it. I will smack you. Virtually. You will have a backwards Apple insignia on your forehead. An iSlap, I call it.
We aren't an offense that tries to create downfield opportunities, necessarily, we take them as they come. Against tOSU, they rarely do. Jim Tressell would rather play a 6 deep zone than blitz. They prefer to close and tackle, and they do that better than anyone else. Tackling well is their lifeblood. You have to play really well to accumulate that kind of yardage. Hit your passes, catch your balls, break tackles, and run. We didn't always do all of those all the time but you can't argue with the numbers. Factor in how willing Greg Davis was to go along with it and Colt might as well have had 800 yards.
A few other quick notes:
When the season started our two freshmen safeties were pretty much the same player, at least as far as effectiveness goes. Now there couldn't be a bigger gulch between the two.
Sergio Kindle played, right?
Charlie Tanner, Peter Ullman, Rashad Bobino and Chris O are all guys who I appreciate for a number of reasons but we are better off now. At least on the field.
I don't even want to think of this team without Roy Miller on it. So I won't.
Gulch is a word, isn't it?
We need Malcolm Williams or Dan Buckner to have a big offseason. We can't punish anyone for single coverage. To accomplish what we did Colt pretty much had to break the all-time completion percentage mark. Good news, though.
When I play NCAA football on the PS3, I don't scout. There is no reason to. Every defense runs the same playbook so I know I'm going to see roughly the same thing every game. I think Greg Davis and I have roughly the same work ethic.
OK, let's all hope that the Big 12 was wildly overrated now.