NAtional Title Game thread

[b bulldog]

i SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT. Herby and the boys were just on ESPN and they were saying that the B10 is one of the biggest backers of the status quo and they felt that htey were because a team can go through the conference unbeaten and then in a playoff system, the conference would really struggle to place anyone in the championship game. I see their point, the B10 is terrible, USC, Georgia and a Dixon led Oregon team would steamroll any B10 team at the moment. The Wr talent at O St is awful and the Bucks were the best team in the conference.

[b bulldog]

The Bucks were once again out of their league tonight but if they can keep their nucleus together and get some outside talent, they will be strong once again next year although UF and USC hopefully will get to play each other in the BCS next year.

[HarveyWallbangers]

These last two Ohio St teams have been weak on defense compared to the 2005 team.

Agreed. That 2005 team had the horses to compete. The last two teams have done it because of good coaching. Tonight, I felt that coaching let them down, but the better team won. Hopefully, I won't feel shitty like this on Saturday. I'm going to puke if I here about team speed again. OSU recruits with the best of them. They have speed. Last year, Florida was really good. This year, they lost to a team that was comparable in talent.

[b bulldog]

Disagree, the Bucks are very weak compared to the elite at the skilled positions. The Wr are awful to compete at this level that the Bucks do. Tressel should have run Wells more when the game was still close. LSU's Db's are very good but the Bucks WR's made them look better than what they actyually are. Beating a dead horse but we need a playoff system so we can get the two best teams on the field. SC would beat both of these teams imo.

[b bulldog]

One thing I'd like to say is that I would like to give Tressel and his university a great deal of credit for having the fortitude to play a home and home with USC, starting next season. I think they are the only B10 team that has the guts to do this.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The Wr are awful to compete at this level that the Bucks do.

This year, but what Ginn and Gonzalez last year? Two dudes that were drafted in the top 32 picks. Ginn is about as fast as they come. Robiskie and Hartline aren't a bad set of WRs, but it's not a strength like in the past. I don't think LSU's WRs are much to write home about either. Team speed did not do the Buckeyes in this year. Ohio State's defense is just fraudalent. Not slow. Just fraudalent. Of course, they've been better than Michigan for a LONG time.

Size had as much to do with this loss as anything. OSU's undersized DL was no match for LSU's mammoth OL. I have no idea the measurements, but you could see LSU's OL was much bigger than OSU's DL. OL vs. DL, below average QB play, and poor coaching did the Bucks in as anything else.

[b bulldog]

I meant this year, not last. You brought up UM and their D is crap, never said they were better Harv but the Bucks may be better than UM but they are no where near championship level. Their D gets the numbers by playing crappy offenses in a bad conference at the moment.

[b bulldog]

They've been better than UM since Tressell has been there , is that a long time??? I also think UM leads the all-time series yet At least this year, UM played well in their bowl game against a tough SEC opponent but than again, the Bucks always get blasted by the SEC.

[The Leaper]

I didn't see much of a talent difference between LSU and OSU last night. LSU is better on the defensive front...and I thought LSU was better coached as well. The QB position hurt the Buckeyes last night...man, talk about happy feet.

To me...the difference in that game last night was twofold:

1. Penalties...which certainly isn't an issue of talent. The Buckeyes committed too many crucial ones, and LSU...the NCAA's 2nd most penalized team in the regular season...rarely committed one at all.

2. Schedule...LSU played more big time teams, and it paid off because they performed better in the clutch as a result. OSU didn't look as ready to trade blows...and I think that is less due to talent and more due to the fact they didn't play any other top tier teams this season.

[Deputy Nutz]

The Quarterback play and offensive line play is what separated the two teams tonight. Boeckman was terrible, and you can credit that to the pressure that LSU was creating with their blitz package. Nebraska might rise up out of the ashes with Bo, he knows at least how to coach defense. The LSU line protected well all night and the LSU QB took what was given to him all night long.

When you look at the Wide Receiver position on both teams it was plane as day that LSU had 5 guys that could get open, while Ohio St regularly had one, maybe two with Hartline.

[Rastak]

I should root for the Big 10. But I can't bring myself to root for OSU given that they annually have a top 2 recruiting class.

Best players money can buy.

[Scott Campbell]

I should root for the Big 10. But I can't bring myself to root for OSU given that they annually have a top 2 recruiting class.

Best players money can buy.

I wish it were that easy. Then non BCS conferences could compete just by finding rich alumni to fund their mercenary recruiting.

As it stands, if you're the cream of the national HS crop, you're going to go play at a BCS school.

It's a corrupt system.

[Cheesehead Craig]

IMO, Tressell is not a good big game coach. This is 2 years straight his team has laid an egg in the title game. He's good at beating the Purdues, Northwesterns and Indianas as he simply has far more talent. He beats MI as Carr was a bad coach.

He got out-coached last night and his offense was nothing new from what we saw during the season. Compare that to what LSU threw at them.

[b bulldog]

I think Tressel is a great coach, he just doesn't have tyhe horses to compete at the elite level on a yearly basis.

[Carolina_Packer]

He's a good coach, he just faced superior opponents the last two years. I hear some comparing them to the Bills, and I don't think that's fair on both accounts. It's still an incredible achievement to get to the championship game. How many teams would love to be in that position to have a chance to compete for a Super Bowl title or a national championship? Every single one who didn't make it.

I am not an OSU fan, and I somewhat agree with those who say OSU padded their schedule to get to the Big 10, and the conference opponents, save Michigan (not the greatest year) and Illinois (who beat them) were their biggest competition (sorry Badger fans).

They need better protection for the QB and receivers who can get open faster, but in this one game, they were outplayed by a better opponent from a better conference.