and stupid Roy Hall, Phoenix’s abundance of In-N-Out Burgers, the state of Michigan, and the state of Israel, just to name a few.
But there is one thing all Buckeyes fans can all agree on: it wasn’t because Florida was the better team. Of course, that is an impossibility.
Luckily for Buckeye fans Coach Tressel finally broke his extended silence on the matter and released the team’s official excuse for losing the national championship game: they found themselves looking past Florida and ahead to the Spring Game.
On April 21 the Buckeyes held an inter-squad scrimmage in Ohio Stadium pitting the Grey team against the Scarlet team. As always, the stakes were high as the players knew that facing themselves in a scrimmage would be the biggest challenge they will face all year.
Tressel stated, “I take the full brunt of responsibility for our loss. I did not have our team focused on beating Florida.
“We caught a couple of their games on tv during the season and, frankly, they didn’t look all that good. They won ugly, not pretty like us.
“We all just sorta figured it was in the bag and we were already looking forward to the Spring Game. We got a heckuva team coming back next year, and I was losing sleep trying to figure out blocking schemes to slow down Laurenitis and how to handle Chris Wells. I simply didn’t have enough time to worry about a team as harmless as Florida.”
When asked if he would do anything differently, Tressel responded:
“You know, hindsight is 20/20. But perhaps my time leading up to the game would have been better spent watching tape of Florida, trying to understand their offensive schemes, getting to know their personnel, things of that nature. But I was just so daggone confident we would steamroll them.”
Then Tressel dropped another bombshell, one that may explain the Buckeyes mere three point victory over Michigan:
“We had been preparing for the Spring Game since Michigan week. We’ve never started so early, but we honestly thought the final two games of the season were just a formality. I mean, you heard the media and the fans. Everyone knew we had the best team. Frankly, I think it was stupid to even play those last two games.”
Of course, the coach’s, media’s, and fan’s confidence couldn’t help but rub off on the players.
Nagurski Award-winner James Laurinaitis said, “The national championship game wasn’t a concern. At that point, we all thought that Ginn, Gonzalez, and Pittman would all be back for their senior season. Well, Gonzo and Pitty at least. Anyway, we had a lot of preparing to do as a defense.”
Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said, “I’ll be honest. I was sitting in the locker room right before the national championship game sick with nerves. All I could think was, ‘How on earth am I going to cover Ted Ginn this Spring?’
“But as it turned out, he left early. So I was worried for nothing. I guess I could’ve been using that time to think about the game, but c’mon. It was only Florida.”
But it seems that the team and the coaching staff see things differently now.
When asked whether he'd learned his lesson from last year, Tressel responded. "Oh, heavens yes. This year we're going to start preparing for the Spring Game right after the season opener."
Tressel Finally Explains National Championship Debacle: "We Were Looking Ahead To Spring Game"
Tressel: “With all the players we thought we had coming back this year, I simply didn’t have enough time to worry about a team as harmless as Florida.”
By MATTHEW MONROE
CAMPUS—Many fans of the Buckeyes have been scratching their heads for months over Ohio State’s embarrassing loss to the Florida Gators in the national championship game. How could a team so experienced, so together, and so ripe with talent lose so badly to a seemingly innocuous Florida team?
CAMPUS—Many fans of the Buckeyes have been scratching their heads for months over Ohio State’s embarrassing loss to the Florida Gators in the national championship game. How could a team so experienced, so together, and so ripe with talent lose so badly to a seemingly innocuous Florida team?
Fans have not been short of reasons. Many excuses have been offered including: the 51 day layoff, Tressel’s offensive gameplan, Heacock’s lack of defensive adjustments, the underdog factor, the poor condition of the field, the Heisman curse, the media hype, Ginn’s injury
Buckeye Football
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January 24, 2008
