In college football, where BCS formulas, strengths of schedules and computer rankings determine end-of-season opportunities, one loss can tarnish a season.
By mid-September last year, an 18-15 loss at home to USC had spoiled Ohio State’s national title hopes. An October loss to Purdue was icing on the cake.
But every offseason, each school is granted a clean slate, and OSU captured the No. 2 ranking in many preseason ballots. Aside from annual conference battles with Wisconsin and Iowa, both ranked in the top 15, the Buckeyes’ championship aspirations were hinged on the outcome of a matchup with Miami (Fla.).
Unlike marquee non-conference matchups of recent years past, the Buckeyes played up to their competition, as the 36-24 final difference seemed to reflect inadequately the talent differential on the field that afternoon.
OSU intercepted Miami quarterback Jacory Harris four times, while Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw for 233 yards and rushed for 113 more.
“As long as we continue to grow, this (win) is huge,” OSU coach Jim Tressel said. “I think they’re a top-10 team. In my mind, going into the game, I was interested to see if we were a top-10 team.”
The last time OSU avoided an early season loss to a highly regarded opponent, 2007, the Scarlet and Gray reached the BCS Championship game before falling to Louisiana State University. That year, Washington was the nonconference challenge, and the Buckeyes pounced on the Cougars, 33-14.
A year earlier, OSU knocked off Texas in Austin, 24-7, and carried the momentum from the win — the Bucks were ranked No. 1 and the Longhorns No. 2 entering the game — into the national title game before being upset by Florida.
So the Buckeyes have been here before. But will they reach the title game like they did on each of the two previous occasions?
“The problem with ratings and whatnot is you have to prove it every week,” Tressel said. “I think we proved it (against Miami) that we’re a top-10 team, and now we’ve got to prove it next week and the next week.”
The Buckeyes saved the meat of their conference schedule for the end, finishing league play with a trio of games against Penn State, at Iowa and home against Michigan. The road test against the Hawkeyes and a trip to Camp Randall to visit Wisconsin should provide the stiffest challenges to OSU’s hopes of maintaining an unblemished record.
But for now, with one major hurdle successfully cleared, the Buckeyes have time to make progress and continue on their path toward what they hope is another shot at hardware.
“We can be a good football team,” Tressel said. “You have to play hard to be good. Now you have to start playing better to be real good, and I think our guys understand that. … We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to square away. It’s September, we’ve just got to keep trying to get better.”
