Big Ten (again) - Why the SEC, Pac 10, and Big 12 just don't get it.

Firstly, I'd like to say that the SEC, Pac 10, and Big 12 have good football teams. In the case of the Pac 10, just one good football team. I had to get that out of the way that I can appreciate the good teams in those conferences despite their weaknesses (which I will explain). I want to give credit where credit is due, and my point isn't to bash those conferences. They really do have some good football teams, and I am not trying to take that away from them, but what I would like to do is clear up some confusion that they have because, as I said before, they just don't get it.

The new, cool, hip, trendy thing to do in college football anymore is to adopt the spread offense/west coast offense (or some combination thereof). The Big Ten is the kind of conference that bucks the trend and there is a good reason for that.

To answer that question, I will simultaneously explain the answer to those Big Ten haters out there who think that Big Ten football is second rate. I extend a scenario to you:

-It's January.
-Your team is in the BCS national championship game.
-The game is being played in (choose from: Columbus, Ann Arbor, Madison).
-The temperature is well below freezing.
-It is snowing steadily.

What kind of offensive scheme would you use?

If you can't answer the question for yourself, I'll help you out. How well would your SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10 team do if their bowl game were played in freezing temperatures and snow in January somewhere up north... or Big Ten country? Say goodbye to those silly bowl statistics about your conference outplaying the Big Ten and the comparative bowl records. It wouldn't even be a contest. You don't see more spread offenses in the Big Ten because they don't work as well in cold weather and snow which is what happens as you get further into the Big Ten schedule.

That poses a big problem for Big Ten teams. That means that we are more likely to lose to Michigan (if you know anything about OSU, you know we'd rather lose all of the rest of the games in the season and beat Michigan than win all of the games except the Michigan one). That means that we would play poorly from late October through the end of the year if we adopted the spread offense, which is often the most critical time of the season to play well.

They have the bowl games hosted at warm weather sites for one reason-money. They make more money, attract more fans, and attract more advertising revenue by having the games played in warm weather cities. It's just a business decision.

Now, I realize that my scenario is hypothetical, but your precious SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10 teams would have to learn a thing or two about running the ball, holding onto the ball, getting physical, game clock management, and field position. Soon enough, Michigan will chase out Rich Rodriguez. It's going to take a couple more years, but once they realize that they are putting the Michigan v. OSU game in jeopardy every year for this new and hot-for-15-minutes coach, they will fire him. It's the last game of the year before the bowl... something Michigan won't see this year. No program in the Big Ten can afford to sacrifice such an important game each year.

Now, the spread offense has its merits. The spread offense can exploit a slow defense, and it can wear down a defense by tiring them out, but as the weather grows colder and the elements come into play (rain, snow, sleet, etc), it loses effectiveness and sheer size, strength, and power wins football games.

That's just going to be a difference between the conferences. Different weather conditions, different fields (turf/grass), and different stadiums (indoor/outdoor) will heavily influence the offensive style of our teams.

The most frustrating part of my scenario is that the Buckeyes (and all other Big Ten teams for that matter) finish out their season with their Big Ten opponents. So on the off-chance that we are able to schedule games against these opponents from other conferences, they do not get the chance to play the Buckeyes in the weather through which the Big Ten plays builds its teams around.

I just want to close by saying that if we turned the tables (and had bowl games played up North in January), you'd see a lot more programs abondoning the spread offense... or at least for their bowl games. The classic i-formation and running-biased offenses would dominate, and we would really see what happens to these "faster", lighter, weaker defenses when they face the power run game in cold weather. Let's just say that it wouldn't be pretty.

Random thoughts on the Big Ten this year

So we're about half-way through the football season, and I think that we can all say that we're surprised (as usual) at what's happened so far this year. That's a big part about why we all love college football so much.

Anyway, I'll spare you the recap details. What I really want to talk about today is the Big Ten conference (and the Buckeyes, of course). First, some random observations:

• Javon Ringer looks like a beast. He is currently my pick for the Heisman trophy. Here is a guy who is averaging something like 160 yards per game and 2 touchdowns per game through the first 7 games of the year. If the voting for the Heisman took place today, he is my runaway pick. He is consistent, and he is a work-horse back there for the Michigan State Spartans. Why is he barely even being mentioned during the press' early Heisman trophy talks? If that's not a hardcore anti-Big Ten bias, I don't know what is. If Javon Ringer were putting up those numbers at USC, LSU, or Florida, you can bet your paycheck that you would be hearing his name all over ESPN, FSN, and the sports world blogs. With that being said, I think that this weekend is a much scarier matchup for the Buckeyes than most might think. We're playing at Michigan State and Javon Ringer has not skipped a beat all year. Here's hoping that the Bucks knock him out of Heisman contention.
• Penn State. Just writing that scared me a little bit. Penn State looks like the best team in the Big Ten right now. Notice that looks is the key word in that sentence. The best team in the Big Ten is The Ohio State University Buckeyes. But back to PSU. I think the Buckeyes will have its hands full against MSU and PSU. These will be extremely close games, and I think that winning them will require us to play turnover-free (or near turnover-free) football and a strong kicking game (both punting and field goals). We will need to win the field position battle which I think that we can do. PSU does not look weak on either side of the football. On offense, their Spread HD works like the posi-track rear end on a Plymouth... it just does. On defense, they're not making headlines, but they are playing very well. They don't seem to miss many tackles (a rarity these days), and they have held their opponents even when they haven't needed to... which is a lot. The Nittany Lions are putting points on the board, and you typically see defenses which loosen up a bit when that happens, but for the most part, they aren't giving away much.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes have this weird tendency to play to their competition's level (except for a certain game against a certain team that shall remain unnamed). I think that our offense has looked somewhat anemic lately, but my gut tells me that the Buckeyes are just doing what it takes to get it done and nothing more. Obviously, we'll have to wait and see, but I wouldn't be surprised to see us squeeze out a couple of close victories against MSU and PSU in the coming weeks. I am also hoping for the rankings to shake up a lot like they did last year. As good as USC looks, I'd really like to see the Buckeyes get another shot at the Trojans (with a healthy Wells and Pryor at the QB reins) whether it's in the National Championship game or not.
  

Do you remember the Pledge of Allegiance?

It's funny, but we (most of us) started off our days for years by saying the Pledge of Allegiance before/after morning announcements at school. While we were still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (yeah right), we were supposed to profess our oath to our country.

Recently, I ran across this saying that someone from a news forum had in their signature (and I'm pretty sure that they didn't come up with this, so I won't even bother giving them credit). I don't consider it political, but I just thought that it was funny enough to share with everyone:

I plead collusion to the fraud of the United Socialist States of Amnesia and to the recession for which it stands, one Notion under Debt, unforgiveable, with sub-primes and bailouts for All.

What are your thoughts on this?

Stay Tuned...

I will be updating this blog soon. I have all kinds of stuff that I want to share with you. Everything from:

-More thoughts on OSU Football
-My hilarious Italian Festival charicature (I will scan it and post it too!)
-Reusable grocery bags
And much, much more!

(Yeah, I love reusable grocery bags that much that I'll write a whole blog entry about them! Now you know how boring my blog is.)

I'll delete this stupid temporary post soon and give you something worthwhile. Thank you for reading!

My Blog - Where is the dedication?

I would like to start with a sincere apology for my lack of dedication. I should be apologizing to myself, but I noticed something really surprising. Someone actually mentioned that they have been checking my blog regularly for updates, and that they were disappointed that I hadn't done so recently because they enjoyed it. *ahem, Nate, ahem*

Well, thank you, whoever you are that actually cares to read what I've typed. It's both flattering and inspiring... enough so that I am actually updating my blog with a new entry specifically because of their motivating flattery.

For now, I just had to get that out there. I hope that whoever reads this finds some redeeming value in it; whether it's keeping up on my life, keeping up on random events, or keeping up on random blurbs that I just have to share with someone.

This is my way of saying thanks, and I hope that if you have any inkling to start a blog of your own, that you'll do so because chances are, I'm interested in what you have to say too. You wouldn't be my friends if I didn't care to know.

Kate and Brian's combined blog

I started my own blog in order to keep my ramblings separate from the stuff Kate wants to keep exclusive on our combined blog. You can check out our combined blog (Kate's and mine) at:

http://brianhkates.blogspot.com/

Jim Tressel - OSU Football

After watching the OSU v. USC game on Saturday September 13th, I've had a lot on my mind about OSU Football. My concern is that the tradition of Ohio State football has been lost on Jim Tressel.

Don't get me wrong, I like Jim Tressel a lot. I think that he is a relatively good coach, and I like the class with which he conducts his on and off-field activity, but the problem is that Ohio State has always been a rushing team (or at least a rush-first team). There is a reason that we consistently recruit some of the biggest and best offensive linemen in the country, and there is a reason why we consistently recruit some of the best talent at the halfback/running back position every year. Think about some of the great names in our past such as:
Vic Janowicz (RB)
Howard Cassidy (RB)
Archie Griffin (RB)
Keith Byars (RB)
Eddie George (RB)
Orlando Pace (OT)

What we've seen lately is a trend in the NCAA which is moving toward the spread offense or west coast offense. Tressel seems to think that we need to move toward that trend, and although it has its merits, it needs to be employed more effectively against our opponents if we are going to use it. Part of that involves the caliber of team whom we are playing against. Since the passing game isn't our forte, why would we put our 2nd best option as our first choice against our best opponents? The better the team we are playing against, the more crucial it becomes to stick to the run. If you disagree, hold tight, and I will give more specific explanations why Tressel's offensive play-calling decisions have been embarrassing us in the national spotlight. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of watching my beloved Buckeyes get embarrassed, and I know that they are better than that. Give Florida, LSU, and USC their due credit, but we didn't help our own cause.

The problem Tressel has encountered is an unwillingness to bring our bread and butter run-first brand of football to the big games (ie: Florida in 2006, LSU in 2007, and now USC in 2008). Now, a lot of people are thinking, "Beanie Wells was injured, so we had to resort to the pass." That's why we recruit multiple All-American, highly skilled running backs every year. We're The Ohio State University, not Xenia Community College (if there is one). If Beanie is hurt, play one of his highly talented backups and play him often.

Now, let's review why an effective running game (or even mildly effective running game) is such an important factor for a lot of teams, but particularly, The Ohio State University Buckeyes:

• Running the ball minimizes turnovers. Yes, fumbles happen, but I firmly believe (and statistics would back me up) that fumbles per carry are far less likely than interceptions per pass. Furthermore, fumbles are often recovered by the team who fumbled the ball in the first place.
• Running the ball controls the game tempo. When a team runs the ball, it eats away at the clock, not to mention the fact that a running play takes a longer time for reset because of players piling up on the ball carrier. The effect of eating up more of the clock is that the opposing team has less time over the course of the game to score its own points, and it keeps the scores much closer and more manageable. Naturally, I have made the assumption that you have a pretty good defense to count on stopping the opponent on a regular enough basis to get the ball back (via punt, not kickoff). Also, a long offensive drive with a lot of running takes a lot out of the opposing offense because they lose rhythm and they get cold.
  
• The results of running the football are more consistent than the results of passing the football. If you have a bad game running the football and compare it to a good game running the football, it's typically not nearly as bad as the difference between a bad game passing the football compared to a good game passing the football.
  
• Running the football early and often helps open up the pass later in the game. If I were the coach of the OSU Buckeyes, I would run the ball more often than not in the first half of every game. I have no doubt that this would also be a smart strategy to follow in the 2nd half as well for most games.
• Running the football also helps field position steadily. Even if running the ball doesn't get the first down, more than likely, you're getting some yardage which is helping you with field position (something OSU does particularly well because we consistently have one of the better defenses in college football each year in addition to having world class kickers who regularly punt 50+ yarders).
• Running the football wears down heavily on opposing players. This is probably the single most important factor about the run. Defenses have to work significantly harder to stop the run than the offensive players are working to help block. The defense doesn't get to choose where it wants to meet the opposing players... they have to adjust and are often reacting to the ball carrier/blockers. Now this is truly where OSU shines. I couldn't imagine trying to get around blocks by 6'4"+ 300+lb offensive linemen while simultaneously trying to tackle a running back who is likely to be carrying a lot of speed when I try to tackle him. Over the course of a football game filled with running, defenses get tired, they get sore, and they just fail to keep their ability to keep up. If you combine this with bringing in fresh legs at the halfback position, you're probably going to make those defensive linemen and linebackers wish their athletic departments hadn't agreed to play the Buckeyes.
  

If you look at the Florida, LSU, and USC games, you should see a broken record. I distinctly remember agonizing over the play-calling in the National Championship game against Florida in 2006. I couldn't get over that game. I had countless conversations with my some of my best friends and biggest OSU football fans, Tony and Mike, about how we abandoned the run from the very beginning of that game and allowed ourselves to fall behind on the scoreboard very quickly. I couldn't have cared less that we had Troy Smith playing quarterback. I only wish that we could've played that game again and run Michael Pittman 3 or 4 times more often than we did. In that hypothetical situation, I'd be willing to bet a significant amount of money that we would have AT LEAST made the game very close, if not win the game. How do you beat defensive speed.... how do you beat that "SEC-speed" crap? You beat it by walking over them because you weigh 30+ lbs more than them! Run the damn ball!! Then rinse and repeat.

The LSU game was a mirror image of what is wrong with Jim Tressel's offensive play calling. He's trying to keep up with the Jones' of the league. He wanted to say, "Hey, we can throw the ball too!" Well Jim, let me tell you a thing or two about how OSU fans feel if you didn't notice in 2002 - we could care less about how we win ball games... we just want the W. If we're one dimensional, so be it. We can't stress that enough.

The USC game was another mirror image. Do I sound like a broken record yet? I feel like Jim Tressel is one of those monkeys that they perform the experiments with. There's a banana on the left and a button on the right. He keeps reaching for the damn banana even though it shocked him the last time, and the time before that. You get the picture.

The USC game was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I still "like" Jim Tressel, but I am losing my faith quickly. At a certain point in the game, it was obvious that the team lost faith in Boeckman and Boeckman had lost faith in himself. The offensive line started breaking down like an old Dodge Neon and Boeckman was delivering stat-padding gifts to the USC secondary if he wasn't being sacked first.

Anyway, I've said what I wanted to say about Tressel's inability to recognize his own team's strengths, his inability to adapt, and his persistence in trying to keep up with the Jones' of the NCAA. Let's learn from our mistakes.

Stay tuned for my next couple of OSU football blogs regarding:

1. Our bad defensive schemes (ahem, Jim Heacock)
2. Bad/stupid penalties
3. Feeling bad for Boeckman - Here's a senior who was pretty much booed off the field. I don't like Boeckman necessarily, but he was the fall guy for Tressel's bad decision. I don't think Boeckman deserved to get booed at home against Troy, but it had to happen so that Tressel could understand what the fans want and expect from him. The fans were merely expressing their hangover from their discontent with Tressel's decision to keep Boeckman in the game against USC. (I think) Boeckman was the fall guy, and it was necessary for the fans to tell Tressel that they don't care if he's a senior... we want to see our young, superstar-caliber quarterback who shows promise as a runner and passer. If the fans hadn't reacted to Boeckman's incomplete pass with such rampant booing, I have no doubt that Tressel would have played him more in the Troy game instead of keeping him out for the rest of the game. Tressel didn't have much of a choice after the booing. That must have been very embarrassing for Boeckman, and I bet that Tressel felt guilty for having played Boeckman at all. On the flip side, I am acknowledging that we (OSU) fans are ruthless about our Buckeyes, and we are extremely critical if you couldn't already tell. I feel bad for Boeckman. I hope he understands that he was just collateral damage. He was the victim of OSU fans needing to have their desires recognized by a coaching staff that may not understand it based on their primary outside contact - namely, the media.

First Blog - Woohoo!

I've been meaning to start a blog for a very long time. I always loved the idea of blogging because I have a hard time keeping track of my random thoughts, and it would be nice to have some sort of journal and share them through a medium that would be easily accessible for my friends and family.

Anyway, welcome to my blog, and please do not hesitate to contact me or give me your thoughts and feedback.