Tressel and Boeckman to Blame for USC Loss: Playing the Blame Game

After Saturday night’s embarrassing loss in the Coliseum, I’m sounding off.

By Eric Geier

Jim Tressel

Its official, the vest has become bigger than the man. In my opinion Columbus was far too quick to anoint Jim Tressel the pope of everything football in Columbus. He came in, he beat Michigan, he won a national title and suddenly he could do no wrong. He was on the streets signing autographs and kissing babies. But how much do those wins against Michigan and the national championship really mean? Since then, the Buckeyes have routinely gotten demolished in big games on national television? To me, those games mean nothing after getting embarrassed again on Saturday night.

The Buckeyes are consistently getting top recruits from around the country, and they continue to get stomped by teams like Florida and USC. It’s not like the Buckeyes are plucking kids out of division three schools. The problem is not with the players, it’s with the coaches. With so many top recruits, the Ohio State program is failing to prepare them in the offseason for the big games.

I guess the thing that really disappoints me is that Tressel is getting babied. He loses the big games and everyone pats him on the back and tells him it’s O.K. Sorry, but it’s not O.K. For the first time in a very long time, more so than the last two years, I was embarrassed that I was from Columbus.

If you recall the John Cooper era, even if he won a close game they ripped him in the Dispatch. I see no such criticism of Jim Tressel, however, there have been from some of the fans. When there is no criticism, there is complacency, and depending on what happens the rest of the season, I expect Tressel’s vest to start getting a little warmer.

From here on out the season doesn’t get any easier. The Buckeyes still have to play a Penn State team that is putting up a ton of points, a Badger squad that looks tough and a high-powered Purdue offense. There is a very good possibility that the Buckeyes could lose two more games.   

Todd Boeckman

Watching senior Todd Boeckman scramble for his life Saturday should have made all of America, especially Columbus realize one thing, Todd Boeckman is not a starting quarterback. Boeckman is a senior, he has that leadership, but leadership means nothing if you can’t go out and perform on a national stage.

Jim Tressel’s play calling was flat out terrible. I don’t know if he was calling all of those plays, but seriously, he tried to run the option more than once with Todd Boeckman. Nobody on USC’s defense was fooled with that slow-developing play and they crushed it without any hesitation. Boeckman rushed eight times for -27 yards. Even after Boeckman threw a pick-six and got sacked, he remained in the game. When Pryor had a big gain or seemed to be getting something together, Boeckman was right back on the field, disrupting the flow of the offense. Pryor needs to start and he needs to start now, its time for the Buckeyes to cut ties with Todd Boeckman as the starting quarterback.