Suffice to say: this should explain my sour mood today.
All I can say is: you can talk all you want about Florida's speed, the "SEC style" of football, and their dazzling play calling, but this game came down to three things:
- The front lines: This game was won and lost on the lines. The OSU offensive and defensive linemen got owned for the whole game. Florida manhandled them on both sides of the ball. They never put serious pressure on Chris Leak and Troy Smith never got to be comfortable in the pocket.
- Bad Play-Calling: This was the worst game the Buckeyes played offensively all year. They ran when they should have passed, passed when they should have ran, and they definitely ran when they should have punted. You can conjecture that the loss of Teddy Ginn cost them their play-maker, but they were just plain flat all around. Half of the credit goes to the FU defenseive line for being in the backfield every freaking play, but OSU was clearly running bad plays.
- Troy Smith's refusal to flee: Troy Smith is a very mobile quarterback, which is what makes him so dangerous. Yet almost every time a Florida lineman or blitzer was in the backfield, he ran... backwards. Many, many times, he had a lane open to run and gain yards, but instead he retreated and ended up making bad passes or getting sacked (five times).
So there it is: bad play calling, an inability to execute those bad plays due to disruption by the FU line, and Troy Smith's refusal to leave the pocket led to OSU not scoring while Florida's offensive line gave Leak all day to find the open receiver and gave ther runners wide open lanes.
And just to make the bitterness complete: Teddy Ginn's fiirst quarter injury was caused.... by his teammates. After he returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a score, he was mobbed by his teammates and broke his foot. Congratulations Buckeyes!
