Oh it's coming, the big clash is coming!

Hello there, my faithful readers…

It has been quite a while, hasn’t it? There are several reasons why I haven’t made any updates, but that can wait for another time.

I AM PSYCHED ABOUT THIS SATURDAY, 9/10/05 !!!

It’s gonna be a New Year’s Day championship-quality college football game played in the second week of the season.

The Longhorns of The University of Texas vs. The Buckeyes of THE Ohio State University

8:00 PM, Nationally Televised on ABC

I am so excited about this game, I’m gonna give you my breakdown:

Texas (Rank No. 2 in both AP and USA Today polls)

2004 Record: 11-1
Key Win: Beat Michigan in Rose Bowl
Key Loss: Lost to Oklahoma for fifth straight year
Key Players Graduated: RB Cedric Benson, LB Derrick Johnson

Key Players: Vince Young, QB
Roderique Wright, DT
Aaron Harris, MLB

Offense: Vince Young obviously leads the way. His running ability automatically adds another dimension to the Longhorns’ offense, and changes everything in an opponent’s defensive scheme. Young took much media criticism after last season, because his lackluster passing ability kept him from being a complete, enormous threat. He apparently has worked extensively in the offseason to improve that part of his game, and had a decent game in week 1 against Louisiana-Lafayette (3 TD passes), but still, this was against a bottom-of-the-barrel football team. His first big test will be against the Buckeyes’ secondary.
Cedric Benson is gone now, and so the running game is taking a big hit. Incoming freshman RB Selvin Young racked up 135 yards in the first game, but it was due to the fact that the Longhorns’ big O-Line (smallest lineman: 305 pounds) easily overpowered an undersized LA-Lafayette D-Line. But still, the sheer size of that line will be a factor on Saturday night.
WR Limas Sweed is tall at 6’5”, and the Texas media is trying to label WR Ramonce Taylor as a “poor man’s Ted Ginn”.

Defense: DT Roderique Wright is a stud, very likely a first-rounder in the NFL Draft. Aaron Harris is the leader at linebacker. But what may be the biggest concern is the Texas secondary, which has veterans across the board, with a ton of experience. I would not be surprised if it turned out that the secondary was the difference in the game, even with all the talent the Buckeyes have at WR.

Ohio State (No. 4 AP, No. 7 USA Today)

2004 Record: 8-4
Key Win: Beat Michigan 37-21
Key Loss: Lost to Northwestern
Key Players Graduated: CB Dustin Fox, K Mike Nugent, DT Simon Fraser

Key Players: Ted Ginn, WR
A. J. Hawk, OLB
Santonio Holmes, WR

Offense: This is most likely the best offense Jim Tressel has had in his 5 years as the head coach. It is still a question on who will start at QB, but Coach Tressel plans to use both Justin Zwick and Troy Smith, who is fresh off a suspension for accepting money from a booster. Zwick showed some smarts in the victory over Miami (OH), including a couple of runs that reminded me of Craig Krenzel. But Zwick still has a problem: he still makes a lot of overthrows. Even his TD pass to Santonio Holmes could have been an easy play, but Zwick put too much on it, and Holmes had to lay his body out to grab it. All I can say about Troy Smith is that we’ll see how he does once he gets on the field. Who knows, the game could end up being a shootout between Vince Young and Troy Smith, two speedy QBs.
One Man: Ted Ginn. He may single-handedly create matchup nightmares without even touching the ball once. Holmes and Anthony Gonzalez will see a lot of one-on-one coverage, and that may be where the game is decided.
At RB, Antonio Pittman had a solid game against Miami (OH), needing only 14 carries to rack up 100 yards rushing. What was more impressive, though, was his ability to scrap for another yard or two when getting wrapped up. Last year, he would have just tumbled to the ground. The extra 10 pounds he gained in the offseason seem to help. Plus, the O-Line, with Rob Sims moving to left guard, looks considerably improved from last year.

Defense: Bar none, the best linebacker core in the nation. Hawk, Schlegel, and Carpenter will see dollar signs by this time next year. And backups Mike D’Andrea, Chad Hoobler, Marcus Freeman, and John Kerr could all be starters on almost any other Division I school.
DT Quinn Pitcock is rising as the next solid D-Lineman for the Buckeyes. Against Miami (OH) he was able to manipulate double teams to help stop the run. But that may be it for the D-Line. Mike Kudla is a solid, experienced veteran, but the D-Line will have to step up in order to disrupt the Longhorns’ plans on offense.
The starting secondary looked great last week. Safety Nate Salley ran to the ball well, and Donte Whitner’s interception return for a TD was a good play. When the backups come in, however, look out for matchup problems. The RedHawks scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on the Buckeyes’ 2nd team defensive backs.

The Rundown

When Texas has the ball: Against Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Vince Young dominated with his running ability, because the Wolverines could not make their blitz effective. Young just blew by them, many times cutting to the outside. The Buckeyes have better defensive speed than Michigan, though, and much better tacklers in Hawk, Carpenter and Schlegel. The Buckeyes will need to attack Young from many angles, bringing CBs and Safeties on the blitz. If Vince Young is going to run, why not force him to run up the middle at the Linebackers? The bottom line is, let Vince Young air it out. Bring pressure from all angles. With 105, 106, 107 thousand people screaming in The Horseshoe, it will be very difficult for Young to audible even if he does recognize defensive movement. If Young feels the pressure, it will be advantage Ohio State.

And, in order to focus on that gameplan, the Buckeye defense will have to do what it usually does well: stop the run, and the earlier the better.

When Ohio State has the ball: The storyline is and will remain on how the Texas defense will be able to handle two different quarterbacks. In my book, there is a bigger factor. If the Buckeye O-Line can hold their own in this game, then it will not matter who the quarterback is. If the quarterback gets adequate time in the pocket, the Buckeye offense will pick apart the Texas defense, even if it means more short, screen-like passes to Teddy Ginn. Even if freshman Robby Schoencroft is under center, the offense could nickel and dime its way downfield. If Antonio Pittman grinds his way for 100 yards on the ground, it will be a huge plus.

If Texas can get in the face of the quarterback, especially Zwick, there could be a handful of turnovers given up by the Buckeyes.

What Will Happen: The Buckeyes have never lost a home game at night, and I don’t see that trend being stopped. First off, both defenses have a speedy quarterback to practice against, and all of that will carry over into the game. I don’t see as much flash and dash out of Vince Young or Troy Smith that many people want to believe. This game will be about pressure and passing. Whichever defense can get the quarterback on tilt and off his focus will have the upper hand. And honestly, I don’t think Texas head coach Mack Brown is thinking this way, and will focus more on Ginn and pass coverage. The Buckeye offense will take what it can get after that, and there should be plenty. Slowly but surely, I see the Buckeyes take over this game, barring any blockbuster plays. My final score: Ohio State 31, Texas 20.

And whoever wins this game, I think deserves to jump ahead of USC for the top spot in both polls, but will more likely gain a unanimous No. 2 ranking.