Predestination, a doctrine supported by many Calvinists and folks living in Big Ten Country, is the general belief that God has already determined the course of events on this earth. Assuming that John Calvin was onto something, I have a strong feeling that the Trojans of USC have already won Saturday's game against Ohio State University. In fact, I just cannot imagine Him decreeing any other result in the showdown at the Coliseum.
Our SoCal friends over at Conquest Chronicles, in the spirit of humbleness and at the risk of losing all their readers, have made a pretty convincing case that Ohio State will not only hold their own against USC, but will dominate the game. Read this absolute foolishness here. The "psychological battle" argument is the star of their article.
The Reasons Behind My Beliefs
Where do I start? USC just doesn't lose regular season non-conference games. Since 2002, the Trojans are 15-1 in these early season tests,including stonings of traditional powers like Auburn, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, and Notre Dame. Coach Pete Carroll has recruited with religious zeal and instilled in his players an attitude of complete confidence. This recruiting/coaching recipe has led to early season blowouts of solid teams. This year looks to be no different, especially after the Trojans took the sword to Virginia in a 52-7 victory. The defense mixed up its blitz packages and attacked Virginia's quarterback relentlessly, leading to sacks and incompletions. Mark Sanchez and the stable of versatile running backs looked healthy and efficient in the aforementioned Virginia game.
Healthy and efficient are two words not being used to describe the Ohio State Buckeyes right now. Beanie Wells and his wounded foot will lack the explosiveness necessary to make a dent in USC's defense. Although USC's Conquest Chronicles suggests that Wells is merely resting his injured foot and playing possum, the Big Ten Network reported that Wells didn't play a full contact down the entire week after missing the Ohio University game. Wells will need to be miraculously healed to be a major factor against the fast, hard hitting Trojan D.On top of that, the other OSU running backs lack the north-south running ability of Wells and scat backs typically have trouble with the NFL-like quickness of the USC linebacking corp.
The resting place for the hopes and dreams of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes.
Of course if Pete Carroll and the Trojans watched any tape of the aforementioned Ohio game, he is sure to notice the horrendous performance by Todd Boeckman. Boeckman's sad statistics against the Bobcats (110 yards passing, 3 sacks, 0 touchdowns) don't even begin to show his lack of leadership and inability to deliver the ball to the wide receivers. And now I'm supposed to believe that Boeckman will walk into the Coliseum and lead the underdog Bucks to victory? He could barely lead them to a home victory against Ohio U!
Asking for a Miracle
The Ohio State University football team has taken major steps backward since the beginning of the season. Once thought of as an inescapably solid veteran team with an ace in the hole (QB Terrelle Pryor), now the Buck's have a wounded superstar, a struggling offense, and a defense that looked confused at times against a mid-major opponent. On top of that, they accepted an invitation to play a USC team that destroys non-conference teams and has so much depth that five star recruits happily sit on the bench.
The Buckeye's have been humbled and lost their air of invincibility. Will they rise from their lowly status and defeat the Trojans, like the great Biblical King Nebuchadnezzar of the Book of Daniel coming back from the wild to have his kingdom restored? I have a feeling the result of this game has already been ordained...and the Buckeye's won't be happy about the outcome