OSU and USC

Here are some good little articles from www.msnbc.com and www.espn.com about Ohio State and USC! Enjoy!


Ohio State hosts USC on Saturday. It’s a mega clash of titanic proportions, college football’s showcase event of the year. O.K., maybe just the month. All right, the week.
There is always increased interest whenever two nonconference heavyweights tangle because of their national prominence. But the most fascinating aspect of this pairing is the different paths the Buckeyes and Trojans seem to take to achieve that recognition and position at season’s end.
With Ohio State, the focus always seems to be on conference play. Whether the Buckeyes play patsies or powerhouses, the nonconference portion of their schedule doesn’t seem to inspire them as much as the Big Ten slate. It may be subconscious, but their attitude appears to be, “As long as we sail through the conference and beat Michigan, we’ll be in the mix for the national championship at the end.”
With USC, it’s just the opposite. The Trojans seem to derive their national mojo from national displays of might. They get riled up for teams like Ohio State and Notre Dame, and for their eventual bowl opponent. Where they trip up is taking their Pac-10 schedule for granted. Last year Oregon State shocked them. The year before that it was Stanford, then Oregon. The year before that it was Oregon State and UCLA.
That all would suggest another USC victory over Ohio State on Saturday. And indeed, that’s likely what will happen.
But it seems to me that each team might have to adopt a bit of the other’s attitude and thinking if it expects to contend for a national championship.
The Trojans should guard against building up so much for the Buckeyes that they let down for Washington, or Cal, or Oregon State. And instead of mailing in a so-so effort like they did last year against Ohio University and this year against Navy, the Buckeyes should confront USC with the same fire that they have against Michigan.
The bottom line: What USC and Ohio State have lacked – and what they need to show, starting Saturday – is consistency of effort and focus. Maybe then they’ll actually win a national championship rather than just appear on the periphery of the picture.

To: Ohio State coach Jim Tressel (9)
From: Jim Delany

This is your week, Tress! I can feel it! USC is sooooo overrated it's not even funny. The Trojans might be the most overrated team since you guys last season -- wait, no, I didn't mean that. It's a joke! Love your tie, really.
You survived a knuckleball offense Saturday, but now it's back to good old fastballs. Your guys can hit fastballs, right, Tress? Or at least fast running backs? Because USC has a lot of those. But I don't want to get into the whole speed thing -- such a tired topic. I'm sure you agree.
And I don't mean to get negative here, Tress, but you know you've lost four straight games to ranked nonconference opponents -- and three of those were not close. And you know USC hasn't lost a regular-season game to a nonconference opponent since 2002. I bring that up because, well, we need those trends to change. Badly.
You've been our best program for most of this decade, and we appreciate that. But it's kind of vital for our flagship football school to stand up and win a huge nonconference game every once in a while. No pressure or anything, but please beat USC.

Sincerely,

The Commish





To: Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo (7)
From: Jim Delany

Let me join the congratulations that have poured in from sea to shining sea for your team's courageous effort against Ohio State on Saturday. Even though your Midshipmen were at a distinct size and speed disadvantage, you never buckled. That fourth-quarter comeback was service academy football at its finest.
However, the part that particularly made my day was your attempted two-point conversion while trailing 29-27 in the final minutes. To say the least, I was shocked when you spread the field and attempted to throw for the conversion instead of running it with your trademark option attack from 3 yards out. Quarterback Ricky Dobbs said Ohio State linebacker Brian Rolle "came out of nowhere" to intercept the pass and return it all the way down the field for the clinching two points -- but even if Rolle had fainted dead away on the play, there were two other Buckeyes well positioned in the end zone to break up the ill-conceived pass. If you ever again are in position for one of the biggest victories in school history, please go with your strong suit and run the ball -- unless you're playing another team from our league, of course. Thank you for your support of Big Ten football.
Sincerely,

The Commish