Game Thread Southern Cal 18, at tOSU 15 (Sept 12th, 8 pm, ESPN)

[lightyears2012]

uhmm.. it was one INT starters.. and i thought it was quite evident i was also pleased.. I think either the competition is underrated or A-Russ was simply found out!! otherwise we give up 50 yards or so and 0 TDs...

Personally, I am quite pleased with Coleman's INTs; however, a big negator on any Secondary bliss in this comparison is that SC didn't give up any TD passes whereas we did. Now, that speaks volumes considering the competition.

 

[buckeyemania11]

eh, Im not really concerned about the pass D

they were cheating pretty much everyone in the box to stop Navy's option

when you do that its pretty much asking to get burnt

and I doubt we see the defense playing like that against USC

 

[jwinslow]

I couldn't help but think of Taylor Mays when I saw the new enforcement of unnecessary roughness penalties in the UGA & LSU games. I think the calls were bogus, but if they are called the same way this weekend, Taylor could be hearing his number called more than he'd like.

 

[Gooey Mess]

This will break Ohio Stadium's attendance record.

Can't wait to see Pryor run more.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Line opens at OSU +6

 

[NFBuck]

Line opens at OSU +6

I expected worse...

 

[EDDIE GGGG27]

[they were cheating pretty much everyone in the box to stop Navy's option

when you do that its pretty much asking to get burnt

and I doubt we see the defense playing like that against USC[/quote]


I think we might see something similar to stop U$C's run. I make Brockley
beat me.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Line opens at OSU +6

If I were a betting man I'd wager a great deal on USC covering that spread.

We may well beat them in Glendale for next year's NC, we might even beat them in a re-match in the Rose Bowl this season, but right now I think this Buckeye team is a little too green.

But...

Since 2002, USC has spit the bit at least once every year (except '04) against a team they were supposed to beat. It is possible that this is that game this year. It is possible that they will be overconfident.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I expected worse...

Line makers are in a tough spot when you have a school with a huge fan base like OSU. The "real" number is probably higher but if you put it out there the huge fanbase is likely to hammer it.

 

[NateG]

That's all we need to know....Vegas knows how good a team is and they track games better than 90% of america. They want people to bet on USC for a reason.....to make money. They think it's gonna be close.

 

[Jaxbuck]

If I were a betting man I'd wager a great deal on USC covering that spread.

We may well beat them in Glendale for next year's NC, we might even beat them in a re-match in the Rose Bowl this season, but right now I think this Buckeye team is a little too green.

But...

Since 2002, USC has spit the bit at least once every year (except '04) against a team they were supposed to beat. It is possible that this is that game this year. It is possible that they will be overconfident.

I agree, I said earlier today that I'd need OSU +10 at a minimum to take them.

 

[Jaxbuck]

That's all we need to know....Vegas knows how good a team is and they track games better than 90% of america. They want people to bet on USC for a reason.....to make money. They think it's gonna be close.

No.

They make a line to try and split the betting public as close to 50/50 as possible. They have no interest in educating America on who they think is better.

 

[buckeyemania11]

everyone is down on Ohio State

but what exactly has USC proven?

San Jose State is a BAD team

nobody has really seen if USC's defense is truly great or their offense........

it took them 1 1/2 quarters to score against San Jose State, then San Jose State basically got discouraged and pretty much gave up and USC rolled them

in my opinion Navy would had done close to the same thing against USC, they would had ran on them and scored their points but USC would had won in the end

had Ohio State played San Jose State the result would had been close to the same as USC playing them

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

That's all we need to know....Vegas knows how good a team is and they track games better than 90% of america. They want people to bet on USC for a reason.....to make money. They think it's gonna be close.

Good point.

Jax has pointed out on numerous occassions that Vegas will sometimes put up a number that looks like a sign reading "Free Money"... and in Jax' words that sign is always a trap. He even pointed out a game from this past weekend where he thought that the line was just too good to be true, and waddaya know, that "huge" line was covered by a large margin.

This could be one of those times where Vegas knows something we don't, where they expect the game to be really close and they are begging for people to pick USC.


But I'll be honest with you here, this is my natural optimism clutching for straws. This is as close to a rational reason to believe the Buckeyes have a chance, but it'll have to do.


EDIT:

After posting, I saw Jax' own response:

No.

They make a line to try and split the betting public as close to 50/50 as possible. They have no interest in educating America on who they think is better.

While this is technically true; it doesn't give my natural optimism anything to latch on to, so I'm going to reject it.

[fingers in ears]

la-la-la-la-it's not true if I can't hear you-la-la-la-la
[/fingers in ears]

 

[ttk]

I couldn't help but think of Taylor Mays when I saw the new enforcement of unnecessary roughness penalties in the UGA & LSU games. I think the calls were bogus, but if they are called the same way this weekend, Taylor could be hearing his number called more than he'd like.

Yep, exactly what I was thinking as well. I've been worrying about it all off-season. The fact that some of those hits in the games were just great hits and didn't deserve to be flagged only makes me more concerned.