End Zone: OSU 09-22

9/22/2011

Woody had to be snickering, sitting up there in the grouchy, old coaches lounge with Bo and Bear. Hayes cautioned his team many times that when you pass the football, three things could happen, "and two of them ain't good."

Ohio State's clumsy attempt at throwing the ball in Saturday's loss at Miami produced the stuff coach Hayes detested. The Buckeyes completed just 4 of 18 attempts. It was one of those futile exercises, like Chaz Bono doing five sit-ups.

There were wobblers, wounded ducks, stone-handed drops, under-throws and over-throws. Failure found a home in the Ohio State passing game, ranked 96th best in the country. But they kept trying. It was like watching that silly coyote attempting to catch the roadrunner. The Buckeyes' quarterbacks would throw a pass, and an anvil fell on their heads. They'd try another, and a stick of dynamite would be attached to the ball.

Freshman Braxton Miller looked overwhelmed at times, when his athletic skills couldn't carry the moment. Senior Joe Bauserman gave up football for three years to be a professional baseball pitcher, and then came back to football where he's spent the past four years in the shadows. Now he's the starter, and just 30-of-60 and averaging 122 yards per game. That won't get your team to the Rose Bowl.

Bauserman was once lauded for having the best changeup in the Pittsburgh Pirates' farm system. He can't allow people to think he's still throwing sliders and curves, with a football in his hand.

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