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

Which Todd Boeckman will make an appearance on Saturday?

Good Todd, who went 19-26 for 253 yards and three touchdown passes against Penn State in an always hostile Beaver Stadium last season?

Or Bad Todd, who was 13-23 for 156 yards and three interceptions against Illinois at home?

Bad Todd's been making a lot of unwanted appearances as of late, if last Saturday's unintentional nail biter against the Ohio Bobcats is any indication (Boeckman was 16-26 for 110 yards in that game).

And if you follow the media as religiously as I do, you're probably convinced that Ohio State should:

a) forfeit Saturday's game against USC,

b) remove themselves from the Big Ten (HEY, IT'LL BE TEN TEAMS AGAIN AND NOT AN ODD-NUMBERED 11!) and

c) demote themselves to Division I-AA or Division II since they obviously can't hold their own when the spotlight's on them in big games.

Hell, even Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatchhas resorted to consoling Buckeyes fans doubting Ohio State's upcoming performance on the 13th.

I don't believe all that (and quite frankly, I'm fed up with the SEC and USC homers who reside on ESPN, SI, Sporting News, CBS Sportsline, and every other sports website known to man), but I'm also not convinced that Ohio State can pull off an upset in the Coliseum.

Lets face it: Last week's game against Ohio shouldn't have turned out the way it did, with the Bobcats leading into the fourth quarter. I'm not fully convinced that Ohio State "was looking ahead to next week" as some experts mused, but really guys, what the hell was up with your lackluster performance last Saturday?

Did Beanie's absence really make that much of an impact? Mo wasn't the greatest (why, if it didn't work the first fifty times, did you continue to run up the middle?), and Boom was by far the best running back of the game, going 50 yards on 12 carries, and made the most impact on that thirteen play, 73-yard drive late in the third, but again, questions arose:

1. Why didn't Tressel go for two to at least attempt to tie the game?
2. How the hell could Ryan Pretorious MISS THAT PAT!?

Fortunately, by the time this all happened the Buckeyes realized that losing the game was an actual possibility, woke up, and dominated the rest of the game thanks to a series of short rushing and passing plays.

It helped that the Bobcats lacked the depth of their opponents and were clearly worn out by the time the fourth quarter began. Ray Small's 69-yard touchdown on a kickoff return sealed the victory for the Buckeyes, but it required an awful lot of headaches to get to that point.

The biggest concern, at least in my opinion, was the mobility of Ohio backup QB Boo Jackson, who seemed to make big plays on every third down. Why, after nearly three seasons of getting pounded by teams with spread offenses, hasn't Jim Heacock taught the defense how to stop a mobile quarterback?

With all those questions out of the way, lets take a look at this week's juggernaut matchup, which according to friends (all USC fans) and anti-OSU co-workers and family, will be yet another in the long line of embarassments Ohio State will receive this decade.

This week's theme song is "Distant Early Warning" by Rush:

First, the bad news. You may have already heard that Beanie is listed as doubtful for the USC game because of continued soreness in his toe. Buckeye haters nationwide are probably salivating at the thought of Ohio State once again getting blown out by a superior team in a big game.

A big shout out to the Buckeyes for nearly giving me my second heart attack this season, and we're not even in week three yet.

However, if you're really concerned about the offense, Ken Gordon of the Dispatch offers this for your consideration.

The (potentially) good news is that Terrelle Pryor will see more playing time than he did last week. I don't know why, but it seems if the coaches really want to test Pryor, the least they could've done was put him in the game when Boeckman was faltering.

However, the problem with that, especially going into this week's game, is the doubt cast on Boeckman's ability and the impact that would have on his (already fragile) ego. The last thing the Buckeyes need is quarterback controversy before their biggest game of the season.

That, and the less film USC has to study Pryor, the better. The way I see it is: Besides Boom, he was probably the most enjoyable part of the game last Saturday when he finally got to play.

The kid is mobile (something the Buckeyes have lacked since Troy Smith's 2005 season) and possesses a nearly superhuman ability to take advantage of defensive holes. The best example being his 23-yard run on an Ohio State 2nd and 10 from their own 32-yard line.

Adding some much-needed depth on the defense are corner back Donald Washington and safety Jamario O'Neal. Both return after serving two game suspensions.

That aside, this game has been bothering me ever since the off season, if only because there aren't enough stats to figure out how each team properly matches up to one another. Working to the Buckeyes' advantage is the fact that Mark Sanchez isn't as mobile a quarterback as Juice Williams, Tim Tebow or even Boo Jackson.

But there's trouble when your stable of running backs includes Joe McKnight and C.J. Gable. Factor in that Ohio State will probably be without its best back, and we're looking at a potential disaster for the Bucks.

Statistical comparisons suck when looking at USC, who demolished patsy Virginia (lets be serious here: Virginia isn't the same team it was last year), while Ohio State struggled against the lowly Ohio Bobcats. There are some statistical advantages for the Buckeyes, considering they've played two games while the Trojans have only played one.

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.

In terms of the history surrounding this rivalry, there are several good articles on both the Dispatch and the Bleacher Report

Rob Oller from the Dispatch explains the cause of some of the bad blood between the Buckeyes and Trojans.

Molly Gray from the Bleacher Report has a couple of different articles worth checking out. John McKay vs. Woody Hayes, what USC fans are saying about Ohio State (also seen on Buckeye Commentary), and a different spin on the OSU-USC comparisons seen elsewhere in the sports community the past week.

Kristofer Green offers his perspective on the brush with danger Ohio State experienced against Ohio and why nobody should be surprised by it.

Ben Weixlmann also offers his thoughts on what we'll see in Saturday's game.

Needless to say the biggest advantage the Buckeyes have going into this game is the fact that they're underdogs. There's also a wealth of motivation from bulletin board comments thanks to guys like Carson Palmer and almost every college football analyst in the country. That said, how the Buckeyes will handle themselves and the pressure of this game still remains to be seen.

Lets hope its an upset for the ages.

Stats courtesy of ESPNand CBS Sportsline