Ohio State Football 2K8 Week Three: Good Todd versus Bad Todd

In both games, Boeckman has gone 30-45 in pass attempts for 297 passing yards. He's also had 12 carries for a total of 36 yards. In comparison, Mark Sanchez has 26-35 for 338 passing yards but only one carry for six yards.

Lets not forget that Bad Todd tends to show up against highly-ranked opponents, but it appears he's a lot more mobile than Sanchez, which works to the Buckeyes' favor if that's really true (if you know for sure, based on one lousy game, please let me know).

I'm leaving Beanie off the running backs comparison once again since its doubtful he'll be in the game, leaving us with Boom, Mo and Zippy. Joe McKnight has only gone 6-60 in rushing and 4-24 in receiving. C.J. Gable is 9-73 with one touchdown. Mo is 14-80 after two games and 2-14 in receiving, Boom is 17-67 in rushing with one touchdown, and Zippy is 10-35 with one touchdown.

Damian Williams is (so far) USC's top wide receiver, going 7-91. Ronald Johnson is 3-78 with one touchdown reception. In comparison, Brian Hartline is 4-73 in two games, and Brian Robiskie is 6-49 with one touchdown.

I figured the Dispatch would've had links to USC stories in the LA Times, but instead, they're running stories from my old stomping ground, the Orange County Register.

An article by Mark Whicker evaluating Ohio State's reputation, can be read here.I tend to agree that more than just a victory is on the line for the Buckeyes in this game. If they lose, the hole they'll have to crawl out of to gain respect will be even bigger than before, and I'm not sure Tressel, Heacock and Bollman fully realize that.

On the other hand, Jeff Miller apparently doesn't follow college football as much as the rest of us, criticizing the Bucks for their allegedly "weak" scheduling the past few seasons. Those three #2 teams we played in 2006 don't count? Granted that Florida game sucked, but really, Jeff?

Needless to say, I was way off with my game prediction last week. Lets hope the same thing happens again this week. The line in Vegas is currently USC by 10.5 points. I think it'll be closer than the spread (IF they make the necessary adjustments and let Pryor and Boom run the ball), but the advantage goes to USC for hosting the game in a typically hostile Coliseum and the defensive strength of Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing.

My prediction:
USC 25, Ohio State 17

The 1998 Arizona Cardinals were known locally in Phoenix as the "Cardiac Cards" for several nail biter games that season (but got into the playoffs as a wild card team and defeated long-time NFC East foes the Dallas Cowboys).

Given the two or three near-misses I've had the past few weeks with heart attacks, I'd love to give the Buckeyes some sort of nickname akin to the "Cardiac Cards" but can't really think of anything.

A gold star to anyone who can devise a clever nickname for this year's team. Remember in 2002 they were known as the "Luckeyes," so lets try to be creative here and come up with something different.

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