Iowa, Slow Starts and an Angry Coach Tressel

That's about as angry as it gets folks.

In a typical Ohio State football game, somewhere around the middle of the second quarter and into about half way into the third, Buckeye fans suddenly find themselves struggling with the urge to throw things at their television. The past couple of years, the mid-game slump seemed to be a required part of any Buckeye game–one that we all accepted. Usually, it was a matter of holding on to a lead until the Bucks found their legs again and returned to win the game.

Looking at this year’s Ohio State schedule, when we’ve hit a slump, it’s been coming in the beginning of the game. From the touchdown return on the opening kickoff against Miami to the horrendous start against Wisconsin to last weekend’s first half against Penn State, the Buckeyes are becoming good at spotting the other team a touchdown or two. Even though the Buckeyes dominated the second half against Penn State, the slow starts don’t help much in the eyes of the BCS either as we still find ourselves fighting to hang in the top 10. And for the first time all season, the odds look more like NFL odds with the Buckeyes favored by only three points.

From all reports, it appears as though the second half boost against Penn State came in response to an angry Jim Tressel. What I want to know is, why don’t we see more of Angry Tressel?

Every coach in every sport knows that there are times when his team needs a solid kick in the butt. Yet we rarely hear about these outbursts coming from Coach Tressel. Yes he’s professional. Yes, he instills good qualities in his players. But every once and a while, I want to know that Tressel is letting his players know by no subtle means that they need to get off their butts and get the job done. When your own fans are booing you when you leave the field (as they did last week), the time has come for some serious attitude adjustment.

Personally, I can’t see myself ever approving of booing the Buckeyes. Yes, I might be frustrated and I might exclaim that frustration but to boo? Regardless, you would think that would be enough to get the message across. I’m not sure it is though. As reported in the Columbus Dispatch, Brian Rolle said, “We didn’t talk about the boos. Boos let you know what kind of fans you have.”

Yeah Brian, it might tell you what kind of fans you have. It might also tell you that something is going terribly wrong and needs to be fixed. Now.

When the Buckeyes travel to Iowa Saturday, they won’t have the benefit of booing fans to let them know they need to get their act together. They need to come out fast and get an early jump. If they don’t, Angry Tressel needs to rear his ugly head immediately. Against Iowa, I want to see an Angry Tressel before the game begins, I want to see an Evil Tressel once the game starts and I want the Buckeyes to pull a Wisconsin and cover the three point spread by multiples of 10.

Stay Tuned for Predict and Win
I should get the predict and win contest up by tomorrow morning. Still waiting on the sponsor. Fair warning though, tEggman has already phoned in his score. If you haven’t seen his comments, he’s feeling a little confident to say the least.