Game day thoughts - Week 4
Published: 9/22/2007 10:08 AM
Last Modified: 9/22/2007 10:08 AM
We interrupt the start of the Big 12 Conference football season to give you this update about one of the Major League Baseball division title chases.
The Chicago Cubs will enter the final week of the season in first place in the National League Central.
Now, that may not mean much to OSU football fans. But it means a whole lot to Zach Allen, Nathan Peterson and yours truly. The three of us are die-hard Cubs fans and have been keeping close tabs with the lovable losers on a daily basis, particularly when they are making a push for the postseason.
"If you would have told me this would have been the case back in April, I would have taken it," Allen, OSU's long snapper, told me about the Cubs' situation earlier this week.
Now, let's get back to OSU football. If you would have told Allen, Peterson and the rest of the OSU players back in April that their football team would start this season 1-2, there is no way they would have taken it.
Peterson tried his best to hide his frustration about the Cowboys' performance to date following last week's game at Troy.
"We can't sit around and mope about this. We have to correct out mistakes and move on," the senior defensive end said after the Troy debacle. "That's all we can do and that's what we're going to do. This isn't the end of us. We haven't started conference play yet. Everything is still in front of us."
Consider the start of league play a fresh start, a new beginning and an opportunity to put the hideous performances at Georgia and Troy out of the minds of everyone involved with the OSU program.
Three things I'll be looking at during today's conference opener against Texas Tech.
*** Emotion and attitude. What was the line Jimmy Johnson used about his Dallas Cowboys teams in the early 1990s – "if you're going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk." These OSU Cowboys expressed a lot of confidence entering the season. But they have not displayed a lot of confidence on the field in the first three weeks. That has to change pronto.
*** Fast start. In OSU's two losses, something horrible has gone wrong in the opening minute and put the Cowboys behind 7-0. In OSU's lone win, something terrific happened on the first play to help put the Cowboys ahead 7-0. OSU needs to start fast and play with confidence early against a Tech team that will keep the pressure on OSU's defense all day.
*** Cut out the mistakes. Penalties have been a prevailing theme through three games. OSU also committed five turnovers in the Troy loss. Eliminating those two issues are imperative to get back in the victory column.
--- Matt Doyle
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
