Redemption. That’s what the Ohio State Buckeyes are looking for tonight in the BCS Championship Game. Redemption. It was another Buckeye team that went to Phoenix a year ago, heavily favored against Florida, and went home embarrassed. That one game has changed the perception of Ohio State football throughout the nation. The players who were part of that game want it, they’ve been waiting an entire year for it…redemption.
Ohio State isn’t the first team to be blown out in the BCS title game; in fact, games decided at the end have not been the norm. The Ohio State-Miami game went to overtime, and the USC-Texas match-up was an instant classic. However, there have been several colossal hammerings in this contest. In 1999, Florida State beat Virginia Tech, 46-29. In 2001, Miami (FL) walloped Nebraska, 37-14. And in 2004, USC spanked Oklahoma 55-14. Yet, none of those defeated teams have heard the criticism of their program that Ohio State has endured.
What would people be saying had the scarlet and gray defeated Florida last season? They would be talking about Jim Tressel and the Bucks in the same reverent tones reserved for Pete Carroll and USC. It would have been OSU’s second championship in five years, a claim that only the Trojans can make because of the so-called split title (the BCS doesn’t recognize this) in 2003. Instead, the Bucks have to explain why they are in the game at all. Can one game discredit a great program like Ohio State? Apparently, the national media thinks so.
I believe that people dislike Ohio State because the dislike the entire BCS system. The Buckeyes simply worked the BCS to perfection. If you are in a BCS conference and go undefeated, you will get to the championship game. So, you play a soft non-conference slate. Now, Tressel doesn’t do this on a regular basis, but he did this year. To those who don’t believe this to be true, remember, OSU played Texas in 2005 and 2006, and will play Southern Cal in 2008 and 2009.
The people who run the BCS took strength of schedule out of the equation a couple of years ago. So, they get a team from a weak conference (at least this year) with a less than stellar non-conference schedule in the title game. Ohio State could only play the teams they have on their schedule and they defeated them all, aside from Illinois. However, that doesn’t mean the OSU defense is weak. They held Michigan to less than 100 yards in total offense in November. The same Wolverines that shred a Florida defense on New Year’s Day.
If the Buckeyes’ defense plays up to par tonight, they will come back to Columbus with another BCS title. The LSU defense might have the first player to be selected in the upcoming NFL draft in Glenn Dorsey, but several teams have lit up the scoreboard against them. Even in the loss to the Illini, Ohio State gave up just 28 points.
I also have to think that any Buckeye who was on the field against the Gators a year ago has been thinking about making up for it for an entire year. Therefore, a very motivated scarlet and gray squad will be playing tonight. I think Ohio State will be able to run the ball, and control the LSU offense enough to come away with a victory. Redemption will be theirs. And the national media will need to find a new subject to discuss regarding college football.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 