COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This was revolting. Ohio State won the game, the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl -- but what did the Buckeyes lose? And can they ever get it back?
Ohio State blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, then was too spooked by its own shadow to go for the win late in regulation, or to go for anything but a long field goal in overtime. Luckily for the Buckeyes that field goal, a career-long 39-yarder by replacement kicker Devin Barclay, was good. Luckily for the Buckeyes, they beat Iowa 27-24 on Saturday.
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| Jim Tressel's skittish play-calling is difficult to watch. (US Presswire) |
Suggestion for the Big Ten banner: a white flag.
Because both teams -- but most egregiously Ohio State -- quit.
And I'll give a pass to Iowa for quitting late in regulation, although that's exactly what the Hawkeyes did. They had the ball at their 33 with 52 seconds and two timeouts left, and they were on the road, and they had a kicker who already had missed a 22-yard field goal and therefore was no sure thing to make a kick in overtime -- and still they didn't try to win in regulation. On first down Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz called a run up the middle, and when it went nowhere, he chose to run out the clock.
Disgusting, in most circumstances -- but again, I'll give Iowa a pass here. The Hawkeyes had come too far, rallying from a 24-10 deficit in the final 11 minutes, to risk a loss in regulation, especially with previously reliable fill-in quarterback James Vandenberg channeling his erratic inner Ricky Stanzi in the fourth quarter. After playing so solidly for three quarters, Vandenberg couldn't be trusted by his coaches, not even to move the team 35 or 40 yards to get Iowa into possible field-goal range. Iowa quit late in regulation, but I'm not offended by it.
Ohio State quit, and I'm disgusted by it.
After regurgitating that 24-10 lead in the fourth quarter -- first on a 99-yard kickoff return by Iowa's Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, then on a 70-yard Iowa scoring drive in which Ohio State blew two golden interception opportunities -- Ohio State had the ball on its 18 with 2:37 and multiple timeouts left. And the Buckeyes didn't try to win it.
OSU coach Rush Limbaugh Jim Tressel called for three conservative running plays, then two passes that netted a total of zero yards. Between plays, the Buckeyes were in no hurry to snap the ball. Part of me wondered if Tressel knew the score. Did he think his team was winning?
Apparently not. Tressel described his thought process entering that drive like so:
"We knew the one thing we couldn't do was turn the ball over and give them the chance to beat us in regulation," Tressel said. "If we could pop something, so be it. But otherwise, we'd have to go beat them in overtime."
If we could pop something, so be it?
So be it?
Rousing words. Sign me up to play for Jim Tressel. Or better yet, let me use my training as a writer to join the OSU team as a slogan writer:
Play for Ohio State, where if we win a game late in regulation ... so be it!
Disgusting. And don't attack me now, Ohio State fans. Don't go there, because I'm onto you. I heard you. You were booing on Saturday, all 105,455 of you. That was the attendance at Ohio Stadium, and you were in agreement that Tressel's strategy in the final 2½ minutes of regulation was an embarrassment. So don't tell me I'm being mean here. You hated Tressel's strategy as you saw it unfold. Don't defend that gutlessness now.
The Buckeyes' strategy in overtime was every bit as gutless. After the OSU defense drove Iowa backward on its overtime possession -- forcing an up-for-grabs interception by Vandenberg on fourth-and-26 from the 41 -- the OSU offense basically took a knee three times before kicking the field goal. Three snaps, three dives into the teeth of the Iowa defense. Net gain: three yards.
Clearly, Tressel doesn't trust sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was compared to Vince Young out of high school. I'm finally beginning to see the comparison -- but at least Vince Young waited until he got to the NFL before he got yanked. At this rate, I'm seriously wondering why Tressel bothers to let Pryor play at all. I see that Tressel has signed a quarterback in each of his past two recruiting classes. Maybe he has already recruited over Pryor. After watching the final minutes Saturday, it wouldn't surprise me.
As for Tressel's strategy to put the game on Barclay's foot ... Barclay had already missed Saturday from 47 yards, and for the season he was just 3 for 6 with a long field goal of 37 yards after replacing injured stud Aaron Pettrey two games ago. So by playing for a 39-yard field goal, Ohio State wasn't exactly making the percentage play.
Ohio State was playing for a second overtime, basically. I didn't think to ask Tressel about his OT strategy after the game, but I have a feeling I know exactly what he would have told me:
"If Barclay could make the kick," Tressel would have said, "so be it."
andrew1316 
