Three Reasons to Blame Jim Tressel for Ohio State's Early Struggles

I. Be a "Wiseman"—don't play your star in a blowout just to win the "Heisman."

It's the third quarter, and you're blowing out a I-AA school. Your leader/star on your offense (maybe the whole team) has already scored his signature 43-yard TD and has rushed for 111 yards.

Time to start thinking Ohio (and a little bit of USC). Let's give the freshmen/backups some playing time to get their feet wet.

That's what most coaches would be thinking...except Jim Tressel.

Does Beanie make a 32-point difference? No. But he sure does help out with a team's confidence.

"Learn from other mistakes..." After that injury, I think all college football coaches learned something: Never put your star RB in just so that he can have more national attention. Put the team first and yank his tail out of there.

II. Game Plan

Looking back at those last two national championship games (and the recent loss to USC), there's one thing I notice among the three.

Blowout? Yeah. Better team? Yeah.

But what I noticed is this: After the first quarter, the offense can't move the ball worth anything. They move it well the first couple of times...but then they become predictable.

Example: In that first quarter of the USC game, OSU seemed to have something going on those first couple of drives (maybe not the first).

But as time progressed, USC began to quickly figure them out, and Jim Tressel had no extra tricks up his sleeve.

When Pryor came in, you might as well have put a big sign around his neck that said "QB DRAW." I know, he had a little success throwing early on. But once again, that success was shut down quickly.

Yes, USC had an extra week to prepare, but I'm sure that if they only had one, they would still easily be more prepared than OSU.

III. Lack of motivation

Georgia, LSU, USC, and all of the other NCAA powerhouses do a great job of getting motivated.

OSU looked like they could care less. They played like they didn't even believe in themselves. If they want to make their way back to the top, they have to have a little bit of motivation.

Need help finding some? Here you go: Prove to everyone that you can compete with the best of the best—and turn this season around.

I know that 2-1 isn't horrible, but it's not good for a team who thinks NC year after year.



So there you go: my three reasons to blame Tressel.

Don't agree? Sorry. We all have our own opinion.