Has Jim Tressel Given into the Dark Side?

Jim Tressel has become known for a lot of things. 

He is a great coach.  An outstanding recruiter.  A calm presence on the sideline.

For those who cover the Buckeyes, Tressel is known for his dry sense of humor.  For answering a question with a question.  For giving the most politically correct answer possible, even if it means he didn't actually answer the question.  He has earned the nickname "The Senator" for a reason.

But, last week, in the build-up to the game with the Northwestern Wildcats, I saw a side to Jim Tressel I hadn't seen before.

Last Thursday, after his weekly radio call-in show, the coach met with reporters, as he usually does.  The questions were not about football though.  The media was intent on getting an answer as to why receiver Ray Small had been suspended.

It has been well documented that Small had been in the Coach's doghouse since the spring, although he hadn't been suspended until now.  There have been numerous reason's given for Small's trouble with the coach.  Small was late to team meetings and hadn't gone to classes.  All viable reason's to be in hot water.

And now, enough was enough.  Small would be suspended for the Northwestern game for "breaking unspecified team rules."  Fair enough.  But, Small's father decided to make it national news by saying Tressel was intentionally trying to ruin his son's career.

The notion that Jim Tressel or any coach would intentionally try to ruin the career of one of their players is ridiculous to say the least.  But, I digress.

At the press conference, Tressel took a total of five questions, all of which were about the Small situation.  After the fifth question the coach was visibly disgusted by the line of questioning.

"That's it," he said. "I thought we were going to talk about football.  I thought we were going to talk about Northwestern."

And that was that.  He broke through the huddle of reporters and walked down the hall of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center shaking his head in disgust.

This was a side of Tressel that is rarely seen, if ever.  And although it was unlike the coach to just walk away, it wasn't the only uncharacteristic move of the week.

Skip ahead to game day.  The Buckeyes were in Evanston to take on Northwestern.

The Buckeyes began like they have begun so many games before.  They ran the ball.  But after the first quarter ended in a seven all tie, Tressel turned the freshman phenom Terelle Pryor loose.  And the Buckeyes never looked back.

Pryor was spectacular on third down, and Tressel's play calling became more agressive.  The Buckeyes found themselves leading 31-10 going into the fourth quarter.  Now it was time to pull in the reigns and play Tressel-ball, right?

Wrong.  In most uncharacteristic fashion, the Sweater Vest wasn't done quite yet.  On fourth-and-seven, with about nine minutes left in the game and leading by 21 points, the conservative one did the unthinkable.  He called for a fake punt.  And after the fake worked, the coach on the very next play, called for a deep pass.

The drive ended with 34-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie to put the Buckeyes up 38-10.  And though Tressel did take out his starters after this play, he called for a predictable off tackle run with 12 seconds left in the game instead of taking a knee.  That play ended with a 16-yard run by Daniel Herron for the games final score.

Has Tressel finally figured out that winning by 35 looks better than winning by 21, no matter how you get to that total?  Has he finally bought into the style points factor in the rankings system?

Maybe.  Hopefully.  But, most likely the coach has realized that this season was a wake-up call for his program.

No longer can he rely on the reputation of the Big Ten or The Ohio State University to get the best post-season game.  Both have taken severe hits over the last few years.

Couple that with the fact that he has outstanding talent on both sides of the ball that would be wasted if he didn't "let them scrap it out" and the coach may have found his dark side.

Buckeye fans are ready for the new Tressel.  We love the Sweater Vest, but there is nothing better than seeing the Vest pump his fist on the sideline after a huge play.

Perhaps the dark side isn't so dark and maybe, just maybe the Buckeyes have been let loose by the Senator.