I hope that she didn't give him a tattoo in return....
Anyway, some comments about the team and the game.
The main problem with this team can best be illustrated by a series that occurred in the fourth quarter. Purdue punts into the end zone, and Ohio State receives the ball at their own twenty with 6:03 left to play. On first down, Guiton throws a nice pass to Devin Smith, who catches the ball at the 28-yard line. If he heads up field immediately, he easily gets the first down and the clock stops with approximately 5:55 remaining. Instead, he immediately heads outside trying to make the big play, and gained one additional yard, leaving the Buckeyes with second-and-one and the clock running.
On second down, Carlos Hyde takes a hand-off designed to go between the tackles, but bounces it outside trying to make the big play; he loses one yard, leaving the Buckeyes in third-and-two with the clock running.
On third down, Hyde goes up the middle for no gain.
On fourth down, Hyde finally finds a seam and goes for nine yards, stopping the clock with about 4:25 left in the game.
So the Buckeyes had to run three plays and burn 90 seconds because Devin Smith tried to make the big play instead of making the smart play.
I have seen many players on both offense and defense suffering from "big play syndrome", and I think that it can explain a lot of the missed tackles, dropped passes, stupid penalties, and that sort of thing. Too many guys are trying to be game breakers instead of just making the routine plays all the time.
Ironically, the biggest offender is Braxton Miller. Of course, Miller is the one guy on the team who really can make big plays out of little ones, but I believe that many of his bad plays - misreads, hesitations, poor decisions, fumbles - come from him trying to do to much, trying to be a hero when all the team needs is a good soldier. Moreover, Braxton's numerous injuries are the result of his fighting for an extra yard or two when the smart play is to head for the sidelines or slide to the ground. Sure, it's nice to turn a 30-yard run into a 37-yard run, but not if you end up in the hospital as a result.
I have to "blame" Coach Meyer for this outbreak "big play syndrome". Coach Tressel emphasized making the smart play, Coach Meyer emphasizes making the big play. There's certainly nothing wrong with Coach Meyer's philosophy, but I think that some guys are having trouble adjusting to the speed of the game under their new head coach, that whole "two steps beyond" thing. Two steps beyond is great, so long as you are headed in the right direction to begin with. Eventually, the players will learn to go hard and be smart at the same time.
As far as the game itself, it was reminiscent of the 2002 season, when five games (Cincinnati, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, and Miami) essentially came down to the last play. Barring something crazy happening, Kenny Guiton and Chris Fields will probably be remembered as the answer to a trivia question, but for that one moment two seldom-used reserves deservedly shared the glory of leading Ohio State to an improbable victory.
Even if the Buckeyes go 12-0 this year, which is a very real possibility, I really doubt that they will be worthy of a top-five ranking. Maybe not even a top-ten ranking. But after the debacle of 2011, it is nice to see the team learning how to win games once again.
As bad as Ohio State's offense has looked at times, the vaunted Michigan attack has been held to 14 points or less on three separate occasions, and twice they have been denied the end zone. Despite Brady Hoke's claim that he wants to run an I-formation power scheme, quarterback Denard Robinson remains the entire offense, and when opponents shut him down, the Wolverines go nowhere. It will be interesting to see how Michigan fares after Robinson leaves the program at the end of the year.
