Before getting to the substance of my post, I want to make clear what follows in the next paragraph is in no way an excuse for that inexplicable loss that Ohio State suffered Saturday night in Happy Valley. Despite what some OSU fans say, the blown PI call also wasn't the reason. Note the team and coaches don't blame the ref; rather, themselves. It was the O line (primarily the right side) getting blown up by a 4, occasionally 5, man rush all night long. It was the inexplicable special teams blunders (blocked punt and blocked field goal within minutes of each other in the 4th quarter, but don't forget the missed PAT in the first). It was Curtis Samuel being OSU's leading rusher with only two carries for 71 yards (and the first carry came mid-way through the third quarter and went 74 yards to the house, and he gets his name called one more time). Is it the wrong routes being called or WRs just can't get separation or the power spread? I think it's probably all three. It's the 128th youngest team in FBS, but I thought we'd see that type of performance in week 2, not week 8. Etc. Etc. The only good things to come from this weekend are (a) Franklin will get an extension, (b) I took the carry permit class with my wife yesterday and shooting 100 rounds is cathartic, and (c) I was still able to point out to my Michigan fan neighbor friend the last 15 years of OSU v UM history at the bus stop this morning. Buckeyes have their season still in front of them, I never thought this young team would go undefeated, but they better get some stuff fixed.
With that introduction out of the way, what would you Bama, Vols, or Gator fans say if your favorite team had to stay at a Ramada Inn the night before playing LSU or Georgia or Ole Miss? What if they had to hold their walk through in said ram-it-inn's parking lot? That's State College, Pennsylvania folks. If it's on your bucket list, be sure to take your camper with you. Bobby Knight warned everyone about this and was against Penn State being allowed into the conference for this reason. Bama fans, if you played UT at night and the next week played LSU at night and both those teams had byes before they played your Crimson Tide, would you be on the phone to Birmingham this morning? Vols fans, same for a game at Arkansas followed by at UF and both teams had byes before they played your Vols? Not excuses, but come on man!
With that introduction out of the way, what would you Bama, Vols, or Gator fans say if your favorite team had to stay at a Ramada Inn the night before playing LSU or Georgia or Ole Miss? What if they had to hold their walk through in said ram-it-inn's parking lot? That's State College, Pennsylvania folks. If it's on your bucket list, be sure to take your camper with you. Bobby Knight warned everyone about this and was against Penn State being allowed into the conference for this reason. Bama fans, if you played UT at night and the next week played LSU at night and both those teams had byes before they played your Crimson Tide, would you be on the phone to Birmingham this morning? Vols fans, same for a game at Arkansas followed by at UF and both teams had byes before they played your Vols? Not excuses, but come on man!