Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John PorentasKeeping Their Heads Up: The Buckeyes came out on the losing end of a terrific football game in the Fiesta Bowl. While there was no real joy in the OSU locker room after the game, the Buckeyes weren't exactly hanging their heads either. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel had particular praise for the Buckeye defense which slowed down the dynamic Texas offense enough to keep the Longhorns within reach.
"Our guys have done a great job all year preparing for opponents and our defensive staff is outstanding. Our defensive players prepare extremely hard and they play hard. And the offense was doing a pretty good job of keeping the ball a little bit away from them (Texas)," said Tressel describing the first half of play against the Longhorns.
James Laurinaitis
Photo by Jim Davidson"I thought we had a great game plan going in. I thought we executed very well. We did a great job the first half," agreed senior linebacker James Laurinaitis.
Though the Buckeye defense stood tall most the game, Laurinaitis lamented their lackluster third quarter and of course the game-winning drive by Texas.
"Obviously you come out of the locker room, we really struggled at it all year. But you got to stop a team," said Laurinaitis.
"The first drive out of the locker room they were able to go down and score," Laurinaitis said.
"But you wish the defense to be put in that situation at the end of the game with a chance to win it and we didn't make the plays. They made the plays. That's all there is to it. There is no perfect call for anything. We had a chance to make a tackle. We have a chance to get to the quarterback or do this and that. We've got to do it."
If You Care About Perceptions: What used to be the joy of simply watching and appreciating college football has somehow evolved into the inane process watching a game and then worrying about what a bunch of talking heads and other "experts" say about your win or loss. The "why" of that phenomenon could fill volumes, but for what its worth, the Buckeyes earned praise from at least one source, Texas Head Coach Mac Brown.
"I also want to congratulate Jim Tressel and Ohio State on the great football team they've got," Brown said in his postgame comments.
"We knew with the pride they've got and the tough games that they've had in the BCS the last couple of years they would come in and play hard and play great. We knew our guys had a tremendous amount of pressure on them and they just didn't quit.
"Things weren't easy tonight. Ohio State's defense was really good. Terrelle Pryor played an unbelievable game, the best one I have seen him. And I think that's a preview of what we will see in him for the future. And it was just a great -- a classic really between Texas and Ohio State and the way it should be."
There will be people who will concerned with the postgame national perception of the OSU program. Buckeye offensive tackle Alex Boone won't be one of them.
Alex Boone
Photo by Jim Davidson"I'll be honest, two years ago when I was here I cried like a little girl, last year I cried, but this year a lot of people didn't think we would win this game," said OSU offensive tackle Alex Boone.
"Obviously, we didn't, but you know what, we showed a lot of people that we don't give a shit what they think and we're going to play to the best of our ability.
"Some things differently and the game goes a different way, you never know, but I'm proud of these guys, they played hard and I love every one of them. I wish the best for all the seniors leaving."
"Ninety percent of the country thought we were going to get blown out, get smoked, so I think for us to play the game that we did, we played a great game, we lost that game by 18 seconds.
"Normally I would say they're a great team and all that, but I just can't say that right now. I say we lost that game ourselves."
The Loss of Beanie: OSU tailback Beanie Wells went out of the game early in the second half with a concussion and did not return for the remainder of the game. After the game he was obviously still having problems concentrating.
Beanie Wells
Photo by Jim Davidson"I don't think I could have gone. I really couldn't see straight," said Wells.
The loss of Wells for most of the second half has been played down some since the Buckeyes rallied to take a late-game lead, but what is lost in all that is that if Wells had been able to remain in the game, the game may have been a bit shorter and Texas may not have had time to make their late game-winning drive. Longhorn Head Coach Mack Brown had said of Wells earlier in the week "To me he's the difference in this ball game on Monday night. If he can do to us what he's done to everybody else when he's healthy then we'll have a tough time getting on the field."
Had Wells been able to stay in the game in the second half and get it going, things could have been very different. We'll never know.
Big Play: Close games usually have a turning point. The turning point play in the Fiesta Bowl was pretty obvious, Colt McCoy's game-winning touchdown pass.
"These are two teams that came together and are equally talented. It all depends on who makes that plan and who doesn't at the end. They came up with the big one," said OSU senior defensive tackle Nader Abdallah.
Marcus Freeman
Photo by Jim Davidson"It's tough to be so close, to taste victory and then achieve defeat, to see Victory 20 yards away," said OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman,
"They made the play and we didn't."
A play that was a close second occurred on Texas' final drive when they converted a fourth down by the nose of the football to maintain possession of the football. The OSU bench thought the receiver on the play had been force out of bounds before he made the necessary distance for the first down, but the officials thought otherwise.
"I wasn't sure," said OSU defensive back Chimdi Chekwa who made the tackle on that play.
"Guys on our sideline started to celebrate, but I wasn't sure.
"I kept looking to see where the referee was going to spot the ball. Guys on the sideline were telling me I had him stopped. Everybody was saying that the game was over."
Linebacker Marcus Freeman also thought Chekwa had stopped the receiver shot.
"I thought he did," said Freeman.
"They originally spotted the ball behind where they finally spotted it. Another official came in and said the ball was up further."
Giddyup with the Hurry up: Texas dominated the third quarter of the game both offensively and defensively. In that quarter they racked up 14 first downs to OSU's none and outscored the Buckeyes 14-0. The key to their success on offense was the use of the hurry up, no huddle offense.
Kurt Coleman
Photo by Jim Davidson"Really throughout the season they hadn't shown it much," said OSU safety Kurt Coleman.
"We knew that they did it, but in this game they did it a lot.
"After every first down they tried to push the ball.
"We knew what they were trying to do with their hurry up, but I think a lot of guys got tired. I'm not sure how long we were out there in the third quarter, but for me I felt like I was out there for a long time."
The Buckeyes had had success pressuring McCoy in the first half, but the Longhorns negated that in the third quarter by making a bit of a change in their passing philosophy.
"One thing they did they got rid of the ball quick (in the third quarter)," said OSU defensive end Thaddeus Gibson who was one of the players who had been able to pressure McCoy early.
"Once the defensive end gets his hips turned the ball is gone. They got it to their playmakers and made plays."
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