How the Dinosaurs Went Extinct

I can only assume that the offensive line was on the field.

I wrote a piece after the USC loss and decided not to publish it because I thought it was overly critical of a young offense and Jim Tressel.

I wrote a piece after the Wisconsin win and decided not to publish it because I thought you couldn’t judge the offense with what little time they had on the field.

The 26-18 loss at Purdue didn’t open eyes, as much as reaffirm beliefs. The game could have and should have been a blowout for Purdue. Luckily, Purdue was confused initially; they thought they needed trick plays to beat the Buckeyes, before realizing it was easier to dominate in all phases of the game.

So how did we get here? It’s not like the recent offensive struggles are an outlier to the Jim Tressel era. Just two years ago, there was a battle to replace Heisman Trophy winning QB named Troy Smith. Todd Boeckman walked away the winner in part because of his conservative play, in stark contrast to the errant Robbie Schoenhoft and young Antonio Henton. In my mind, I imagine Boeckman, Schoenhoft, and Henton at a watch party together, staring in amazement at the current state of the Ohio State offense and thinking that could be them. It’s hard to say that they are envious of the position. Only Todd Boeckman knew what it was like to play behind the blocking schemes and attempt to execute the plays, and at this point, it’s hard to use him as the scapegoat. Robbie Schoenhoft is thinking that the requirements to lead a Tressel offense must have changed. He was the gunslinger with the big arm and all the potential in the world, but lacked the ability to deliver the ball at, near, or around the intended receiver. I’ll take a page from Tony Gerdeman at the Ozone.net and say:

Troy Smith must have been the best damned quarterback in college football history.

The only logical conclusion I can draw from all this is that Troy Smith was actually a Terminator sent back from the future to protect Ohio State fans from Tresselball. Unfortunately, the Troyminator was defeated by the NCAA’s ‘5 to play 4’ rule.

Troyminator

Jim Tressel is like a kid who can’t swim, continuously jumping of the diving board and thinking that getting rescued by the lifeguard each time is swimming. At some point, you have to ask him why he hates offense…yet insists on calling offensive plays. Ohio State did score an offensive touchdown against Purdue, which is actually an improvement over last year’s meeting, the 16-3 cure for insomnia. You can’t expect Ohio State to figure out the Iron Curtain that is the Purdue defense, or at least I didn’t. It’s bad when you get excited by complete passes and first downs.

Now fans can say Ohio State only loses to teams that play in BCS bowls AND Purdue. Congratulate Purdue fans; their team beat a ranked team for the first time since Joe Tiller started growing his mustache. In the past 3 years, Ohio State has managed to score 18, 16, and 23 points against Purdue defenses that routinely get abused by MAC offenses (Toledo, Central Michigan, NIU). We were privileged enough to see the proficient Buckeye passing attack in action in 2007 and 2009, with Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor throwing for a combined 3 TDs and 5 INTs , respectively (0 TDs and 0INTs recorded in 2008).

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