Dispatch
COMMENTARY
OSU head coach has proved very heady
Monday, September 11, 2006
ROB OLLER
The Boy Scouts have been reinvited to the Horseshoe, but it?s not like their spirit ever left.
Even when the scouts were absent from Ohio Stadium in August, bounced by university officials who decided football games no longer needed their services as volunteer ushers, Jim Tressel carried their motto in his manicured manila folders: Be prepared.
If there?s an overriding message from the 24-7 win over Texas on Saturday, it?s that Tressel teams thrive on preparation. Give the
OSU coach a month or so to ready his players for an opponent and the results usually will favor the Buckeyes, who are 4-1 in bowl games the past five seasons.
With few exceptions ? the Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina in 2001 and the Texas loss last season ? Tressel tops the competition when he has time to outline an opponent?s every weakness.
The Longhorns? weaknesses were manifold, so in hindsight, with all summer to prepare for Texas, it really was no contest. Mack Brown is a master recruiter who won a national championship last season, but the whispers continue even in Austin that the UT coach clenches in big games and that Vince Young?s talent masked his coach?s lapses last season. That may be a bit harsh, but it did appear that Tressel vs. Brown was a mismatch. Texas experienced numerous coaching gaffes, including oneon-one coverage of Ted Ginn Jr., failing to continue running the ball despite a 5.5-yard average, and the odd decision to challenge a fumble ruling despite clear replay evidence that the officials called it correctly.
Tressel can be accused of conservative play-calling, although he has shown a more wide-open side in the past two games, but don?t confuse his low-risk approach with low aptitude. The guy knows exactly what he?s doing. If there?s one thing he loves more than a successful ground game, it?s strong groundwork. He seems like a coach who most enjoys exposing the other team?s fault lines, also known as the game within the game. He also has an answer for nearly everything ? even when his answers don?t sound like answers ? except when a Vince Young crosses his path. But Texas didn?t have Young, which means it didn?t have a chance. Not against Tressel. Scout?s honor.
Lamb chops on OSU schedule ?
As if defeating No. 2 Texas wasn?t enough good news, the Buckeyes had to be smiling to see that other Saturday games had Notre Dame thumping Penn State, 41-17, California crushing Minnesota 42-7, Rutgers embarrassing Illinois 33-0, New Hampshire hammering Northwestern 34-17 and Ball State defeating Indiana 24-23. The Buckeyes face all of those losing teams this season.
Ohio State also had to notice that Iowa showed what it becomes without quarterback Drew Tate, who didn?t play in the Hawkeyes? narrow 20-13 double-overtime win against a Syracuse team that wasn?t supposed to be about to fight its way out of a wet paper bag. Tate, who played in the Sept. 2 opening win against Montana, missed the game because of a nagging abdominal strain suffered during preseason camp. The Hawkeyes play host to
OSU in a night game on Sept. 30.
There were, however, a couple of Big Ten scores that might sober the Buckeyes. Michigan defeated Central Michigan 41-17, and Michigan State defeated Eastern Michigan 52-20. Then again, maybe not. Penn State crushed Akron 34-16 in its opener, then came the wake-up call against the Fighting Irish.