Football
Buckeyes Noting Words from Evanston
By John Porentas
Words, it turns out, are just like bullets. Once you
let them loose, you just can't get them back no matter how much you
might wish you could, and they do their damage.
Earlier this week Northwestern defensive lineman Luis
Castillo described the upcoming opponent (the Ohio State Buckeyes)
as having very good defense but a mediocre
offense.
This week's Big Ten statistics pretty much bear out
Castillo's conclusion. The Buckeyes rank seventh in the conference
in scoring offense (24.3 ppg), fourth in passing offense (213 ypg),
ninth in rushing offense (121 ypg) and seventh in total offense (334
ypg). Mediocre just might fit those numbers, or may even be charitable,
but that's not the point.
The problem that Castillo and the rest of the Wildcats
have is, that right or wrong, Castillo's words got the attention of
the OSU offense.
"We heard that," said senior fullback Brandon
Joe.
"We hear it. We've got bulletin boards in there,"
said Joe pointing to the OSU locker room.
"Our goal is to not have them say that after the
game.
"They can say anything they want before the game,
but at 12:00 AM when the game is over, if they're still saying we
have a mediocre offense, then we did something wrong."
Before you start thinking that the Buckeyes are spending
too much time reading the papers or listening to the radio, rest at
ease. It turns out that the Buckeyes didn't really have to do much
research to find out about Castillo's remarks.
"Coach Tressel brought it up to us," said
junior wide receiver Santonio Holmes.
Castillo's remarks may have been accurate and even innocent,
but the Buckeyes we talked to say they want to know what Luis thinks
after the game, not before the game.
"As far as us being mediocre, I want to see what
he says after the game. After the game is what I want to listen to.
What does he say after the game," said senior wide receiver Bam
Childress.
Castillo's comments seemed to have hit a raw spot on
the OSU offense's collective hide. Basically, the players on offense
are tired of hearing how impotent they are. Castillo's remarks are
hard to ignore for a group that is getting tired of being labeled
as inadequate.
"We definitely listen to it because we definitely
have the talent and we're definitely capable of having a good offense,"
said Maurice Hall.
"I definitely think we can show them this Saturday."
Words. Just like Bullets. It will be interesting to
see whether it's Castillo's or Hall's words that hit the target when
the game is over on Saturday.
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