https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2nfWXwmsYHello everybody and welcome back to the Mid-American page. This last week has been a very tough one for Ohio sports fans, such as myself. Not one single professional team recorded a win, nor did the beloved college football powerhouse. The professional teams losing is fine, but the loss for the Buckeyes had some pretty tough implications but some pretty cool things.
The formerly ranked #2 Buckeyes strolled into West Lafayette to take on the Perdue Boilermakers in what seemed to just be a routine road trip. However, Ohio State put out the most pitiful performance of the season. The backfield only rushed for 76 yards all night, and we threw the ball 72 times. Yeah, you heard me. 72. Times. On top of it all, our defense continued to look lost without standout defensive end, Nick Bosa. The overall performance was just soft.
The Buckeyes have become extremely one dimensional since the return of Urban Meyer despite preaching how the team needs to be more well balanced. Even though the Ohio State got smacked, they also lost wideout, Austin Mack, for the remainder of the season. Things are getting tough for Buckeyes heading into the balk of the season and every fan is riding on the November 24th game.
After the loss, the first thought of the Ohio State faithful was, “What about playoffs?” Well, I try to see the glass half full and I think it’s gonna be tough. The Buckeyes are now forced to play stellar football for the remainder of the season and pray to the football Gods that one of the top four teams drop one. However, if the TTUN is still going strong and is in the playoff talks and we win and keep them from it, the season was well worth it. Also with pressing health issues surrounding Urban, I do not see him returning next season. I think he will resign, unfortunately, and Ryan Day will take over. I am not complaining about Coach Day becoming the guy, but Urban is a genius and an amazing recruiter. Gonna be hard for the fans if decides to step down.
Another thought was, “How is a top program getting out coached by Perdue?”. Well, the answer is simple and it is loyalty. Urban Meyer is one of the greatest coaches of all-time, but everybody has their flaws. Meyer has shown time and time again that his loyalty can lead a team downhill like what happened with J.T. Barret. I am not saying bench Haskins or anything crazy (dudes the best QB in the nation), but on short yardage situations, we need to switch it from running it up the gut. Teams are stacking the box and we ignore it. Let’s get some of the old bread and butter back in the game and run the read option with Tate Martell and keep this dude happy. Martell opens the game in so many ways. He can throw the ball a country mile and running ability is just like a running back.
The final thing is, that game is what sports are all about. To start the game it was made known about the one kid who chose Perdue over Ohio State and Alabama because he could not make an immediate impact but turned out to be the main difference maker. Another story about another kid in the Buckeyes backyard that they passed on, but made several key tackles, a pick-six, and recovered the onside kick. However, all that gets passed over for a hero by the name of Tyler Trent. Tyler is a student at Perdue who has a ton of school spirit, but battles with aggressive cancer. He went from not knowing if he was gonna live that night to watching his team take down a national powerhouse. This stuff is truly worth a movie.
Mid-American Culture 