Eleven Warriors

Back in late October, I compared Evan Turner to that of a young Jimmy Jackson and said Matta would lean heavily on him with the game on the line. So far, Turner is doing his part to uphold that projection. Not that many of you went out of your way to disagree but it's definitely a lofty comparison.

Jackson was an absolute magician on the floor. The guy could do everything. To this point, the main difference I see between the two is JJ played with more seasoned teammates, had better handles and was a little more heady leading to about one less turnover per game.

Trust me, I'm well aware of the fact OSU has played exactly five games in a long season but I see no reason to think Turner can't continue to blossom into a college star and future NBA performer. Even with the six TO's against the Irish, he still flashed the same ability Jimmy had of being in the right place at the right time. One example that sticks out is when he jumped from under the OSU basket, saved the ball and dished a perfect bounce pass to Lighty leading directly to a layup all in one motion in a possession that was otherwise lost.

If anything, Turner's progress could be slowed by the fact exactly zero of his perimeter teammates have shown any type of scoring consistency meaning teams will soon dedicate double teams to make other Buckeyes beat them.

Many were quick to jump on the Diebler bandwagon but just as quickly, he reverted back to his three-point-only-shooting alter ego while Lighty and Simmons struggle with consistency issues of their own. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see Buford emerge as the second consistent perimeter scorer but we'll cover that another time.

For now, let's just take a look at how Turner's freshman numbers compare to Jimmy:

Frosh	MIN	PTS	REB	ASST	STL	TO
Turner	27.1	8.5	4.4	2.6	1.3	2.7
Jackson	34.5	16.1	5.5	4.3	1.3	3.2

As you can see, JJ stepped on campus and immediately became the second best player on the team behind Perry Carter. That said, he played on an underachieving team featuring solid players Jamaal Brown, Mark Baker, Treg Lee and Chris Jent that were one season from putting it all together.

Jimmy was essentially the point forward similar to Scottie Pippen. Interestingly, he struggled with turnover problems of his own that freshman season averaging 3.2 per contest (1035 minutes played) compared to 2.7 miscues per game from Turner (1004 minutes). That said, JJ's scoring average blows away Turner's as he typically defaulted to Butler, Koufos, Hunter and Lighty, all of which averaged more points per game.

Bottom line, JJ was at an entirely different level as a freshman though I think it's fair to say Turner showed glimpses of things to come (@ Tenn, Minn, @ Mich and Purdue come to mind), he just couldn't sustain any consistency.

Fast forward to 2008 and Turner has done some special things thus far putting up numbers rivaling those of Jackson's First Team All-American sophomore season:

Soph	MIN	PTS	REB	ASST	STL	TO
Turner	27.1	16.6	7.8	3.4	3.0	4.0
Jackson	34.5	18.9	5.5	4.3	1.8	3.2

Annoyingly, the turnovers are up but every other category has improved dramatically comparing very favorably to Jackson.

Again, it's just five games but the 6'7" wing is shooting a blistering 56% from the floor, including 50% from distance leading to an extra 8.1 points per game. And check out the boards, he's raking 7.8 per game, an increase of 3.4 per game and 2.3 more than Jimmy pulled down. Sure, those numbers will tumble a bit as the season progresses but I don't think anyone can knock Turner's rebounding ability from the wing.

Even more staggering so far are the 3.0 steals compared to Jimmy's 1.8 per game. Those numbers will decline over time but there's no denying Turner's ability to create steals with his length on the 2-2-1 making him a cornerstone of Thad's defensive approach both in the full and half court.

The one thing that scares me is if his teammates don't step up, not only will other teams key on him but it could slow Turner's basketball IQ growth if he feels the need to try and do too much to compensate. To some degree, it's on him to make his teammates better but he can't physically shoot the ball for Lighty nor force Simmons and Diebler to shoot something other than a three. (Diebler's up to 33 of 44 FGA's coming from deep while Simmons is sitting on 25 of 36. Ridiculous.)

Bottom line, he's not Jim Jackson but there's no convincing me he doesn't have the potential to be an All-American cut from the same cloth as the stat stuffer from Macomber.

The football gods have spoken, and behold: They have appointed unto Ohio State a date in the desert with a team angry about not having been invited to the national title game, and sporting a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback. Goody, goody.

The Longhorns might be upset about not being invited to the BCS title game, but it’s somewhat apropos that they be invited to the Fiesta Bowl – a game started by people upset about a lack of bowl invitations. In the late 1960s, the WAC found its champion staying at home on New Year’s Day; invites were hard to come by in a bowl system dominated by the major conferences. In 1970, after conference champion Arizona State was relegated to an appearance in the Peach Bowl, the WAC decided to quit waiting for an invitation to a major bowl. It picked up its toys, went home, and made a bowl game itself. Voila! We had a Fiesta Bowl.

The Fiesta Bowl started small, but established legitimacy with visits by Penn State and Nebraska in the mid-70s. In 1978, the WAC tie-in ended, but the game continued to draw teams from the major conferences. In 1981, the Fiesta Bowl Committee elected to play its game on New Year’s Day, and scored a huge boost when Penn State beat Miami 14-10 in an unofficial national title game in 1986. The Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance – predecessors to the BCS – incorporated the Fiesta Bowl into their arrangements, and the Fiesta Bowl became a permanent part of the BCS system in the late 1990s.

With all that in mind, let’s take a quick look back at Ohio State’s appearances in the Fiesta Bowl over the years.

1980 – Penn State 31, Ohio State 19

Before there was Good Rex/Bad Rex, there was Good Art/Bad Art. A year after having played USC for the national championship in the 1979 Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes entered the Fiesta Bowl against Paterno’s Lions with a 9-2 record, including losses to UCLA and Michigan – both in Columbus.

Things looked good in the first half. Penn State’s Curt Warner took the opening snap 64 yards for a touchdown, but the Buckeyes roared back with 19 unanswered points. Schlichter completed 15 of his first 22 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to wideout Doug Donley. Penn State picked up a field goal at the half, but things looked very good for Ohio State.

And then, something happened. Penn State consistently drove the ball on the ground against Ohio State. NFL-bust Todd Blackledge scored a touchdown on a keeper in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and the Lions added two more touchdowns on the ground in the fourth. Ohio State had no net yardage – zero – in the third quarter, and were held to just 73 total yards in the second half.

It was the first of several years that gave “Old 9 and 3 Earle” his nickname.

1984 – Ohio State 28, Pitt 23

From the start, this game appeared to be a matchup between teams of comparable talent. Bruce’s Buckeyes entered the game with a record of 8-3 and a #14 ranking, sporting a win at Oklahoma and losses to Michigan, Iowa and Illinois. Fifteenth-ranked Pitt, coached by Foge Fazio, had a record of 8-2-1, but no Dan Marino. It started methodically, but the game did not disappoint.

Ohio State scored early on a keeper by Mike Tomczak. Pitt tied the game at 7 apiece with a touchdown pass to wideout Clint Wilson, but Keith Byars put the Buckeyes ahead 14-7 at the half with an 11-yard touchdown run.

No one scored in the third quarter, as both teams tried to ride their running games, generally throwing the ball only off play-action, but the fourth quarter was a whirlwind.

Pitt running back Joe McCall fumbled the ball forward – into the end zone – at the Ohio State 1-yard line. Clint Wilson pounced on the ball allowing Pitt to tied the game at 14. On the ensuing kickoff, Keith Byars scampered for a 99-yard touchdown, but Pitt answered that with a nice drive that ended with another touchdown pass – this time to Dwight Collins. For some reason known only to him, Fazio went for two, and failed, allowing Ohio State to keep a 21-20 lead. Pitt held Ohio State to a three-and-out on its next possession, then drove to an apparent game-winning 37-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining.

Trailing 23-21, Tomczak drove the Buckeyes past midfield, then hit Thad Jemison on a 39-yard touchdown pass with only 39 seconds remaining.

A boring game that had folks heading for the exits in the third quarter ended with offensive fireworks. The two teams combined for thirty points in the fourth quarter.

“The way we came back at the end of the game with the last-second touchdown pass was amazing,” said Keith Byars. “We just banded together, and it was definitely an Ohio State day.”

2003 – Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2 OT)

If you’re a regular visitor to 11W, you already have this game on DVD, and it’s probably playing in the background as you read this. You probably have a Fathead of Craig Krenzel on your wall, and still get a little bleary-eyed when you think of Cie Grant singing “Carmen Ohio” at the post-game pep rally.

If you don’t, I’m assuming you’re a Kansas State troll, looking for something to get riled about.

2004 - Ohio State 35, Kansas State 28

Speaking of K-State trolls, we covered this game last week and at risk of offending the entire state again, we'll just point you back to the original post if you want to read up on it.

2006 – Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20

Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes had a tough year. Widely expected to be national title contenders, they stubbed their collective toes twice: once in Columbus against Vince Young and the Longhorns, and again in Happy Valley, against #18 Penn State. The team recovered well, though, as Troy Smith settled into the quarterback position and guided the Buckeyes to a #4 ranking and six straight wins, including a thriller at #17-ranked Michigan.

Regrettably, the Buckeyes had their work cut out for them. Notre Dame was coached by Charlie Weis, an offensive genius who was widely credited for inventing the pro set, the hot route, three-wides, the delayed draw and the very discovery of fire. The Irish came to Tempe sporting a #5 ranking and a pretty boy at quarterback.

Notre Dame started off quickly, and took a 7-0 lead off a 20-yard touchdown run by Darius Walker. Then Ted Ginn took over. He snatched a 56-yard touchdown pass from Smith, then ran for a 68-yard touchdown off a reverse. Smith threw an 85-yard bomb to future Ricky Williams-wannabe Santonio Holmes, and Ohio State led 21-7 at the half.

At halftime, Charlie Weis ate an entire living cow to motivate his team, and the Irish responded: another Darius Walker run cut Ohio State’s lead to fourteen. Two Ohio State field goals made the score 27-13. A third Irish touchdown from Walker brought Notre Dame to within 27-20, in a game where the score belied the physical beating Ohio State was administering on the field.

As the fourth quarter winded down, Ohio State went to the ground game, pounding Notre Dame into submission. Antonio Pittman tore off a 60-yard touchdown run, and Ohio State went on to win, 34-20.

All told, Ohio State stands 4-1 in the Fiesta Bowl, with Texas on the horizon. Having disposed of Colt McCoy once before, let’s see if Ohio State can do it again, and reestablish the program’s reputation in postseason play.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I guess I'll just laugh. If you weren't already in the holiday spirit, this should do the trick. (HT: Spawn of MZone)

Unfortunately, the trend continues. The past few weeks have not been stellar for the Sunday Bucks statistically speaking and a couple of unheralded positions have taken home the award recently.

However, that doesn't mean there haven't been plenty of key plays made and with the playoffs creeping closer, that is exactly what wins the award this time of year.

Even though they were playing the Bengals at home, Gonzo gets special mention for his 3 catch, 27 yard game, with a 2 yard touchdown reception on the opening drive of the second half, in the Colts 35-3 win.

Seriously, when is Mike Brown going to get a clue? I can't believe a business owner would allow that type of lowly standard. If I were a Bengals fan, I would be protesting at Brown's office.

In losing efforts, Michael Jenkins had 5 catches for 67 yards in Atlanta's 29-25 loss to New Orleans and in his return from injury, Donte Whitner had 6 tackles during Buffalo's 16-3 Canadian-Style defeat to Miami.

Mike Vrabel has been flying under the radar this year, as he and the NE defense are getting older. But Sunday the Patriots pulled off a comeback 24-21 win in Seattle, in which Vrabel had a team high 7 tackles. The victory kept NE even with the Jets and Dolphins atop the division at 8-5.

Our 11W main man Antoine Winfield also had 7 tackles in Minnesota's 20-16 road victory at Detroit. No Lions receiver had more than 3 catches and the Vikings win keeps them one game ahead of the Bears, at 8-5.

After the stank of statistics cleared though, there was only one clear winner, Santonio Holmes, winning his first award of the season, due to his belief in quality over quantity. Holmes caught just three passes, but they went for 85 yards and he returned a crucial 4th quarter punt 35 yards.

Chronic Lovin' Santonio was held in check until late in the third, when Pittsburgh was down 13-3 and faced 3rd and 16 from their own 20. Big Ben found #10 for a 47 yard pass, switching the field to Dallas's 33, three plays later Holmes caught a 14 yarder to the Dallas 26. Even though Pittsburgh would end up getting stuffed at the goal line, momentum had shifted.

After the Steelers forced Dallas to punt, Holmes took it at his own 40 and returned it 35 yards to help set up a 41 yard field goal make. The Cowboys next punt went 23 yards and Pittsburgh drove down for the tying score, eventually winning a 20-13 thriller on a pick 6.

The line opened at 8.5. And then quickly jumped to 10. Just a mere 27 days from our annual bowl drubbing, I guess.

I'm certainly not going to come anywhere close to predicting a Buckeye win. I think they can beat Texas, but it will take a perfect game and this Ohio State team has only been able to put those together against teams that haven't gone 11-1 with a win over the nation's top team. Can they do it? Who knows, but a closer look at the numbers gives me that glimmer of confidence.

The Education of Terrelle Pryor
After seeing limited action in the first three games of the season, Pryor got the keys for the start against Troy. Three hours and four touchdown passes later, jaws across Columbus were still being picked up from floors. After throwing for another touchdown and rushing 8 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota the next week, we're thinking the rest of this season is going to be cake.

Then came the proverbial midseason swoon. In his next four conference games, against Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Penn State, Pryor passed for just one touchdown while accounting for two on his feet. There was the game-winning option in Madison, but that came at the end of an average performance at best (15 rushes for 20 yards). And then, of course, there was the fumble against the Nittany Lions.

We took all of this in stride -- he was a freshman, learning on the job, after all. Maybe there would be further bumps in the road? Do the Illini have Ohio State's number?

But then a funny thing happened. Pryor and the team received a bye before traveling to Evanston and the staff spent considerable time tweaking his technique and mechanics. In a stiff wind, he responded with his best passing game of the season by going 9/14 for 197 yards and three touchdowns. Add another against the Illini the following week (which also featured his first 100-yard rushing game) and two more passing touchdowns against Michigan in the finale and you end up with post-footwork instruction numbers that look like this: 20/37 for 366 yards, 6 touchdowns and only one pick.

Tressel mentioned the fact that the bye provided the first real opportunity for Pryor to study his own film after being focused on opponent film for the previous nine weeks. Now just imagine how much of a step forward the Big Ten's top-rated passer will likely be making after more than a month of this work.

Richard Dent and Mike Singletary
Note quite. But the play of Texas end Brian Orakpo and linebacker Sergio Kindle have been nothing short of dominant this season. Orakpo, the 2008 Nagurski winner, is 2nd in the nation with 10 sacks. Kindle is 3rd, with 9.5 from his backer spot.

Those two have powered a Longhorn defense that's 1st in the nation in sacks (44) and 2nd in rushing defense, giving up just 73.6 yards per game on 2.79 per tote. When it comes to rushing the ball against this team, it looks like you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

But if you take a closer look and realize that the NCAA counts sacks as rushing yards (and attempts), Muschamp's defense has allowed 1,237 yards on 273 true rushing attempts. That's a more pedestrian 103.1 rushing yards per game and an average of 4.53 per rush.

If you similarly back the sacks out of the Buckeyes' numbers (24 for 178), they have yielded 1,201 yards on 353 attempts, or a measly 3.40 yards per carry. And this is playing in a conference that features two of the top three backs in the nation and four of the top 25. Granted, Ohio State only had to face two of those top four rushers (Ringer and Royster), but that's twice as many elite backs as the Longhorns have faced this season.

The 317 pre-sack rushing attempts Texas faced was by far the fewest of any FBS team. This is a team that's not conditioned to face a pounding rushing attack and that's mostly a function of playing in a pass-happy Big 12. The conference's only elite back would be Oklahoma State's Kendall Hunter and he's good, but when you stop to consider that Kory Sheets would be the Big 12's second most prolific back, it kind of puts things into perspective.

And how did Texas fare against Hunter? They snuck by 28-24 in their closest win of the season and Mr. Hunter racked up 161 yards on 18 carries. He's listed at a generous 5-8/190 -- Beanie Wells he is not.

Simply put, the running combo of Wells and Pryor has a real chance to do some damage against this defense. And most importantly, keep the Colt McCoy and that offense off the field.

Think Getting Pressure on McCoy Will be Important?
The Longhorns put up points at a Tecmo pace -- 11 games with at least 30 on the board. In fact, even when they drop a game, they're good enough for 33.

There's a good reason why and that reason goes by the name of Colt. He also may also be lugging a Heisman into the game if that matters (actually, we'll take any curse help we can get). But as any superstar quarterback will tell you, if you pressure them, they're not likely to light you up. Just ask the New York Giants.

The good news is that McCoy can be reached. Texas gave up 22 sacks on the year, which in itself is a low number, but when you compare it to similar conference teams with comparable offensive systems, looks high all of a sudden. Texas Tech gave up just 12 sacks, while the Sooners did even better, allowing only 11 sacks in 13 games.

Oklahoma and Tech have fantastic lines, but 22 sacks in a quick-release offense does give hope. For perspective, consider that Notre Dame's offensive line gave up two fewer sacks on the season and Penn State allowed just 12 (the Buckeyes got one of those).

Will it be easy? Of course not, but the emergence of Nathan Williams, Abdallah and Gibson is happening at the right time.

Putting it All Together
So what does this all mean? Well, the key to any type of victory hopes lies right in the middle of the trenches. If the Buckeyes come to play on both sides of the line and bring that clichéd Midwestern smash mouth football to the field, 10 point spreads get smaller quickly.

It won't be easy. Alabama, with better lines on both side of the ball tried to do that to Florida and things didn't exactly work out. But if the Ohio State defense can come up with some turnovers or get some key stops and the offensive line and running game dictate play on the ground, we could be in store for that old time feeling. You know, being in a good mood during the second week of January.

The Buckeyes held their season-ending banquet Sunday afternoon and unlike some schools, everyone on the team felt compelled to show up.

Beanie took home four awards, including team Most Valuable Player, outstanding offensive player (Archie Griffine Award), outstanding player in the Michigan game (W.W. Hayes Award) and outstanding offensive back (Rex Kern Award). As much as it would sadden us to see him go after this year, you can't begrudge anyone with two Hayes Awards on the shelf already.

Laurinaitis and Jenkins shared the Bill Willis Award as outstanding defensive player and though my heart says that maybe Jenkins deserved it a little more, both were probably equally instrumental to the team's success, so the split is probably a good call. Pryor got the honor of best first-year offensive player, with Nathan Williams taking the defensive version of the award. Not to overlooked, Shaun Lane earned the Ike Kelley Special Teams Standout award and he probably deserved about two of those.

A full list of award winners is available here.

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Do you think you have what it takes to outsmart the other five readers on this site? If so, we started a Bowl Challenge, so be sure to stop by and get your picks in. To the winner will go one free item from the 11W Shop. The details:

Group Name: 11W Bowl Challenge
URL: http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/group?groupID=6934
Password: outofhound

All right...With the conference championships complete, we say the true best two teams are Florida and USC. Sure, it didn't work out that way but we stand behind our thought that without the aid of playoff, they are the cream of the crop. We're pretty much convinced USC would handle Oklahoma or Texas on a neutral field. Agree?

The rest of the poll is essentially useless fodder but here it is. Let us know what you think. Which bowl matchups intrigue you?

Note: A little hitch in the blogpoll's giddyup has most of the team movement shown incorrectly. Most notably, it shows Georgia Tech vaulting 10 spots but we had them 15th last week so it's just a one slot jump. In any event, don't waste your time on the delta's.

1		No Harvin, no problem. Two-Time Tebow (hopefully not) would not be denied totaling 273 yards and 3 TD in Florida's 31-20 win over 'Bama. Next up: Oklahoma in the BCS title game. 8pm, January 8th.	1
2		The Trojans took it easy on rival UCLA winning just 28-7. The USC D finished the regular season yielding a paltry 7.8 points per game, the lowest total since Auburn's 7.2 in '88. First downs: USC 33, UCLA 7. 'Nuff said. I think we're all interested to see what they can do against Penn State's offense. Rose Bowl: 4:30pm, January 1st.	1
3		Next up: Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. 8pm, January 5th.	1
4		The Sooners became the first team ever to score at least 60 points in five straight games in a 62-21 thrashing of an overmatched Missouri squad to earn a spot against Florida in the BCS title game. Stoops' boys also became the highest scoring team ever with 702 points on the season (Hawaii 656 in '06). Consider us in the Bradford for Heisman camp though Tebow is most deserving.	1
5		Next up: USC in the Rose Bowl. 4:30pm, January 1st.	1
6		Bama fared a little better than we expected but still couldn't get past Florida. Getting outscored 14-0 in the 4th quarter won't punch a ticket to the BCS title tilt. Next up: Utah in the Sugar Bowl. 8pm, January 2nd.	5
7		Next up: Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. 2pm, January 2nd.	--
8		Next up: Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. 8pm, January 2nd.	1
9		Next up: TCU in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Longest. Bowl. Name. Ever. 8pm, December 23rd.	1
10		Next up: Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. 8pm, January 5th.	--

11		Big Least champ and big brother to Ohio State, the Bearcats damn near choked on it squeaking by Hawaii 29-24 in Honolulu. In fact, UC needed 19 points in the fourth including Marshawn Gilyard's 69 yard TD catch with 4:42 left to avoid the upset. Big brother, indeed. Too bad little brother OSU won't see them in the BCS. Next up: Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. 8:30pm, January 1st.	5
12		Next up: Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. 8pm, December 30th.	1
13		Next up: Boise State in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. 8pm, December 23rd.	2
14		Next up: LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. 7:30pm, December 31st.	10
15		Next up: Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. 1pm, January 1st.	2
16		Next up: Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl. 8pm, December 30th.	2
17		Next up: Georgia in the Capital One Bowl. 1pm, January 1st.	3
18		The Hokies 'earned' a trip to the Orange Bowl capturing the ACC title with a 30-12 victory over Boston College. I can see the empty seats in Miami already. 8:30pm, January 1st.	8
19		Next up: Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl. 8pm, December 20th.	--
20		Next up: Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. 2pm, January 2nd.	1
21		Next up: Missouri in the Alamo Bowl. 8pm, December 29th.	1
22		Mizzou kept it close for 19 minutes but got outscored 45-14 over the final 41 minutes in a 62-21 donkey punch. Next up: Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl. 8pm, December 29th.	10
23		Next up: Pitt in the Sun Bowl. 2pm, December 31st.	6
24		Pitt earned a bid to the lucrative Sun Bowl thanks to a 34-10 win at UConn. Pitt managed just 9 first downs but created 5 turnovers.	2
25		The Cardinals perfect season came to an end as QB Nate Davis fumbled four times with 2 returned to the house (92, 74 yards) in a 42-24 loss to the powerhouse known as Buffalo. Next up: Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. 8pm, January 6th.	11

DROPPED OUT: Boston College (#23), Florida State (#25).

So, it's Texas.

While this matchup had been assumed since Thanksgiving, this is a great bowl and a fantastic opponent. After getting curb-stomped by the Trojans, if you had told me the Buckeyes would end up in another BCS bowl game against a team that has a legitimate complaint to be playing in the MNC, I'd have taken it in a second.

The seniors are getting a rubber match with the team that gave them two of their most defining games in their time in Columbus. But better yet, the program is getting a game with nothing much to lose and plenty to gain.

Convoluted ranking schemes aside, the Longhorns very well might be the best team in the nation. After all, they beat an otherwise dominant Oklahoma, the same team that's playing for it all, by double-digits when they met in early October. That was the start of a murderous stretch of four games which saw them also face #11 Missouri, #6 Oklahoma State and #7 Texas Tech. A last second stumble in Lubbock ultimately killed their championship hopes, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a team with a better resume.

Barry Switzer is already talking about style points helping the Longhorns to a split title and that very well might happen, but there's something to be said for a team coming into a game that most don't expect it to win. That's especially so when the team is as talented as the Buckeyes. Colt McCoy and that offense can pile up points, but something tells me they haven't run into too many secondaries like Ohio State's.

It will be difficult for anything to top the hype of the last two times the Buckeyes squared off with the Longhonrs, but we'll take this one.

It was the Evan Turner show during Ohio State's 67-62 win over the Fighting Irish in Indianapolis on Saturday. He completely dominated the second half, constantly going to the hoop and scoring 20 of his career high 28.

The Buckeyes will surely find themselves in the top 25 this week, after pulling off two road wins against ranked opponents.

Once again Ohio State got off to a slow start, allowing ND to jump out to a 8-2 lead with 5 minutes gone in the game. Luke Harangody shook off his recent pneumonia and scored 6 quick points in the opening minutes, but that 6 point lead would be the Irish's largest of the day.

After that, William Buford got the offense going by hitting two straight and closing the gap to 8-7. Buford played extensively in the first half, since Diebler got into early foul trouble. William added another 4 in the half and ended up with 9 points in 24 minutes, to go along with 3 boards.

Notre Dame would push the lead back up to 5 with 10 minutes left, but OSU scored 7 points in 25 seconds, fueled by Turner's 2 straight steals and took a 17-15 lead with just over 9 to play. Both teams would stay within 4 points of each other for the next 7+ minutes, but Buford hit a jumper and assisted on BJ Mullens' bucket to lead 30-26 with 48 seconds left and carried a 30-28 margin into half.

Before I go any further, I must first give due props to Luke Harangody. He just doesn't look like a baller, but he had 15 points and 11 boards at the half and finished with 25 and 16. The Bucks did a better job of shutting him down in the second and perhaps his recent illness effected his conditioning, but that dude can flat out play.

Ohio State held the Irish to 35% shooting in the fist half and Harangody was the only player to have more than 1 FG. The Bucks didn't fare much better, connecting on 3 of their first 15, but hitting 9 of the next 17 to finish at 38 percent.

It was great to see the Buckeyes come out with the same defensive intensity they displayed in the second half of the Miami game. They extended the match up zone to well beyond the 3 point line and slowed the Irish offense down with the constant 3/4 court token press.

For the second straight game, Evan Turner took over after half and willed Ohio State to victory. He scored the first 8 points and combined with BJ Mullens to score the first 18, leading the Bucks to a 50-41 lead with 10:23 left. OSU would push the lead to 10 with 6:54 left and then fought off a late Notre Dame rally, which had them within 1 with 29 seconds left, but Turner and Simmons hit 4 free throws in the closing moments to secure the victory.

As mentioned, Turner, playing the entire game, finished with a career high 28 points, to go along with 10 rebounds (5 offensive), 5 assists and was only credited with 2 steals, but had at least 4 by my count. He still turns it over a bit much, with another 6 on Saturday, but Chris is right, he is going to be all conference and with his second double-double in three games, you might hear whispers of POY. His sudden dominance is remarkable.

BJ Mullens continued his improvement, scoring 11 points, on 4-8 shooting and grabbing 7 caroms. He showed a couple of nice offensive moves in the low post and looks more and more comfortable on the floor. Him and Buford helped OSU outscore the Irish bench 20-5.

Good thing the bench showed up, because Lighty (2-10), Simmons (1-8) and Diebler (1-7) struggled in the empty Lucas Oil Stadium. The trio combined to shoot 2 of 13 from downtown, but chipped in with 15 boards and only 2 turnovers.

As expected, Matta shortened his bench, playing only 8 players. Dallas Swatterdale continued to impress with another 6 blocks, 6 points and 5 rebounds. Anthony Crater played 11 minutes and contributed 2 assists.

The Buckeye zone continued its puzzling looks and held their fifth straight opponent to under 40 percent shooting. The rebounding is getting better, as the Buckeyes beat ND 21-13 off the glass in the second and only allowed 9 offensive boards all game.

The Irish came in averaging 26 threepoint attempts per game, but OSU held them to just 7 of 19 and didn't allow Kyle McAlarney to make one, forcing him to go 0-6 from deep and 3-11 overall. Remember, he put up 39 against North Carolina and came in scoring 20 points a game. Tory Jackson was the only other player in double digits, going for 13.

The Bucks now sit at 5-0 and have a week off before facing undefeated Butler at home this Saturday.

Time flies when you're alternating between having fun and crying over a stale offense. Here we are -- the final Saturday* of the 2008 college football season. One last opportunity to show off your remote-fu and take in as much of the action a possible.

We're staring at 12 solid hours of football, including the collision between undefeated Bama and Tebow-powered Florida in the SEC championship at 4PM.

Of course there's another pretty big game tipping off at 4PM, but it will only be seen by the four of you that get ESPNU.

If you are fortunate enough to get the Buckeye hoops game, feel free to fill the rest of us mere plebs in via your lively comments. We want the news of Evan Turner's first triple-double to come via comment.

If you happen to be stuck watching conference championships and the various rivalry games, you know the drill. I'm sure we can project the failures of whatever offense happens to be stalling on to Bollman in some manner.

* Note to the semantics brigade: I realize there are some bowls that fall on Saturday, but you get my point.