I will start off by saying this a blog of my opinion. I am in no way trying to insult anyone’s talents or coaching skills, it’s just my perspective. Now with that said, let’s begin.
Last Saturday I sat down to watch my Buckeyes against the Miami Hurricanes, with a gut feeling that both teams “came to play” and that it would be a close hard fought game. What I witnessed was very different. I can sit here and type you the stats of the game but the i won’t waste your time. Instead I will type the stat that stuck out like a sore thumb – Bauserman and Miller completed 4 of their 18 combined pass attempts for 35 yards. Joe Bauserman (our starter) took 37 snaps, and the Ohio State offense gained 94 yards (2.5 avg). Bauserman’s rushing yards were minus 3 and he threw 2/14 for 13 yards. No that is not a typo, 13 yards!
At the start of Game 3 most of Buckeye Nation had figured a “sure starter” would have been announced and we would be moving ahead with certainty. The Miami game proved otherwise. Most were hearing that Miller got the nod to play, and the with look on his face on the sidelines that appeared to be true. They started Bauserman who was unable to do anything but 3 and outs, and Miami took a quick 14-0 lead. Then the real madness began. They would throw Braxton in for a series, he moved the ball then threw an INT. No biggie, freshman mistake, has to get settled into the big game under the lights. Only problem was when the next set of downs came Joe Bauserman was back in. They threw Braxton in for
one play they would take him out for 10 and throw him back in for two. I am not a quarterback coach or an offensive coordinator, but even I know that is not the way to handle a freshman “your future quarterback’ in a big game. I was unsettled watching it, yet people expected a true freshman to be able to just “roll with the ridiculousness”. Being a quarterback you have to have certain physical qualities but everyone knows that it is a lot mental as well. How did they expect his head to be in the game (and not make mistakes) when you are throwing him in and and out expecting him to create a spark or get comfortable with his surroundings. We all witnessed how that worked out for us as we suffered and embarrassing loss of 24-6.
I love Coach Fickell and I want him to succeed, but the way that game was handled and commanded the outcome was inevitable. He seemed shell-shocked at times, his eyes were focused on the game, but it didn’t seem like he knew what to do to stop the bleeding. This is his first year as a head coach so I can understand being overwhelmed, but it was clear early on that the team was not prepared to play against the Hurricanes. The last two plus minutes of the game made me the most concerned. We had three timeouts left and sure the game was 17-6 and the Canes had the ball, but how or why do you not use your timeouts . What bothered me the most was when the announcers and Golden were waiting for Fickell to call a timeout and he didn’t . Only then to have Al Golden call one and punch it into the endzone on 4th down to take the lead to 24-6. It was almost as if I could read Golden’s mind saying “hey if you don’t care, then I guess I will call a timeout and get myself another touchdown”
Fans were outraged at that decision-making of that game, and in my opinion we had every right to be. We haven’t experienced a loss that embarrassing early in the season since the loss against USC in 2008. Ironically enough there was a quarterback situation in that game as well between starting Boeckman, and only playing Pryor for a few snaps than letting Boeckman go nowhere for the rest of the game. What resulted in that game was a horrible loss, but it forced Tressel’s hand and he went with Terrelle Pryor next game versus Troy and we never looked back. That year we went on to go 10-2 to give us a BCS birth to the Fiesta Bowl against Texas and Colt McCoy only to lose by 3 points in the final seconds. Pretty impressive for a freshman quarterback.
Well it looks like we find ourselves in a similar situation as Braxton Miller was named the starting quarterback for the game against Colorado this Saturday in The Shoe. A move that a lot of Buckeye fans were screaming for Fickell to make. Miller went to Wayne High School in Huber Heights, unlike Terrelle Pryor, Miller was recruited not for his athleticism, but his pure talent at the quarterback position. Miller was thrown onto the field in his high school year as a freshman too, and he took the reigns like a pro. Miller heard from nearly every major school to play college football, however it was really only a one-school race. Braxton had attended Ohio State’s summer camp since sixth grade, stayed at the overnight camp going into eighth grade and always had his eye on Columbus. Well now all eyes are on him, but I have a feeling with his ability and success at playing football since he was 6 years old that Braxton is pretty used to that feeling. Some people have doubts, saying high school doesn’t always translate into college. This is true, but trust me he may be raw but this kid has an amazing ability to make plays happen and extend the play. Two things essential in a college quarterback. I would love to have our veterans around him Posey, Herron, Adams, and Thomas but he has 2 more games until that will happen. If he is allowed to stay in long enough, I believe he will find that offensive grove quickly. He is a smart young man, and the fact that he was able to enroll into OSU early only gives me more confidence . He just needs to be given a fair chance, an honest fair chance to show what he can do. In my opinion, it should be handled the same way it was with Pryor. Hand Braxton the ball, and don’t look back.
I understand we die-hard Buckeye fans that don’t like to see what happened on Saturday, but there is a lot of football left. There is a lot of time to still finish this season impressively. We only need to win by one point. I know as fans we are spoiled with huge leads against teams like Toledo, but we knew going into this season that it was going to be about overcoming adversity. The fact that we are all still standing and fighting about the season, is what proves Buckeye Nation to be so special. Most fair weather fans would have jumped ship back in November or even May when we lost Tressel. The fans I know, Ohio State football means more to them than just a football team or a football game. That is why we get so passionate about our losses or our mistakes. Win, lose or draw we need to stand by this team and our coach. That doesn’t mean we can’t yell at them or express our anger, but booing players in the stands really doesn’t show unity. Thinking that because we had ONE bad loss that our season is over, is not standing behind your team. So RISE UP Buckeye Nation and look ahead to Colorado this Saturday as our 2-1 Buckeyes take on the 1-2 Colorado Buffaloes at 3:30 PM.
I know some of you may be reading this thinking “this girl is way too optimistic and not realistic” , and you are entitled to your opinion. My answer to you would be “I am a Buckeye fan born and bred, bleed scarlet and gray till I’m dead”…….GO BUCKEYES
This post was re-posted with permission from The Dugout Sports Show
