Columbus Sleepwalking

Thursday night football has not been seen in Columbus, Ohio since late August of 1997. I know I was there when the Buckeyes defeated the University of Wyoming 23-10 on the banks of the Olentangy where hundreds of thousands of rabid Buckeye fans tailgate with the best of them. I have been to a lot of tailgate parties and the Buckeyes are right there at the top. This Thursday is another celebration for Buckeye fans as the season it's the kick off of the 2010 football season with aspirations of a National Championship not tasted in Columbus in 8 years.

This year's opening foe is Marshall. Another second tiered school in a long line of season openers for the Buckeyes where they are expected to win handily. The Buckeyes do win these games handily but they tend to put a scare in their fans early in the year as coach Jim Tressell tell his players to not think ahead to the next game but doesn't usually practice that as he keeps a tight lock on the playbook running just the basics on their out manned foes.

This is an ongoing trend that you can predict. The last time Ohio State faced Marshall early in the year prior to a big out of conference game place kicker Mike Nugent of the NFL needed to save the day with a 55 yard field goal as time expired to give the Bucks a three point victory in 2003. This was just one year removed from winning a national championship and with all the talent the Bucks had returning they found a way to keep it close to the discouragement of Buckeye fans and sports gamblers.

If anything was learned from that 2003 game against Marshall it was re-enforced the last three years. The past three seasons the Buckeyes have opened up with Akron, Miami of Ohio, and Navy. In each game the Buckeyes were huge favorites including 33 point favorites last year against the Midshipmen and were lucky to escape with a 31-28 victory. Granted the Buckeyes had every opportunity to blow the game wide open but coach Tressell never bothered to get too cute with the play book that allowed Navy to get back into the game along with some scarlet and gray sleepwalking as turnovers and failed fourth down conversions put the 1st string back into the game as Tressell did put in second stringers early in the 2nd half. There wasn't much difference in games the previous two seasons as Ohio State's bland playbook and lethargic play kept games close on the scoreboard with Akron 20-2 and Miami of Ohio 28-17. In both instances the Buckeyes were huge favorites.

What can be expected of this year's opener against Marshall. We can expect much of the same as the Bucks will not be showing much offensively or defensively on film much to the dismay of the high powered Miami Hurricanes who visit the Horseshoe on the Olentangy September 11. If the Buckeyes are going to win a national title they need to win all of their games which leaves no room for error. A team like Miami with it's tall, fast receivers, athletic defense and modern day mad bomber in Jacory Harris can pull off the upset in Columbus but they will not be getting any decent scouring reports with what I expect will be a very tight game not indicative of the 28 point spread.