Leave it to Beavers

OSU 27, U$C 21

The problem? Wrong OSU. It was great to see a team actually run effectively against the Trojans, so it makes you wonder how much a healthy Beanie would have impacted the game.

The reality, though, is that this is so typical of Surfer Pete's teams- They are incredible in the big games, but always find a way to choke against some conference foe. Sound familiar?

So, I tip my hat to the men of Troy, and hope that they win out and pound either Oklahoma or an SEC team in Miami in January. And find some way to keep from choking in conference against tooOSU or Stanford or UCLA like they always seem to do.

Texas in the Rose Bowl, Oregon State two years ago, UCLA two years ago, Stanford last year... Shows a historic lack of focus.

And, before you think I've forgotten 35-3, let me remind you that I've also remembered that Ohio State has only had one season where they lost a game to an unranked team since 2002 (2004, lost to Northwestern, Iowa, and Purdue). Since then? Their losses have come to BCS Bowl teams, including to three eventual national champions.

So, what do we know? Well, there's a lot of football still to be played, but here are a couple of things:

• We're about to see the BS of the poll system in action. #1 U$C beats #5tOSU, and the Buckeyes fall 10 spots. Unranked Oregon State beats #1 U$C, so...
• Home field advantage is amazing, and any given team can beat any given team.
• The Transitive Property does not apply to football. State Penn pounded Oregon State, who beat U$C, who soundly defeated tOSU. So, no need to even play on the 25th, right?
• It's really difficult not to make inappropriate jokes about these two teams' mascots.
• It is possible to get pressure on Sanchez and to run the ball on Maualuga.
• I'm not going to the Rose Bowl. The only chance I had was that $outhern Cal would go to another bowl (most likely the Orange for the MNC) and a team from the Big 12, ACC, Big lEast, or SEC would be in Pasadena- making affordable tickets easy to get.

And there's a pretty good chance we're headed for another BCS meltdown.