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OSUs Meltdown: Guys were fighting with other guys
By Tom Archdeacon | Tuesday, January 8, 2008, 09:09 AM
NEW ORLEANS It was nearly an hour after the national championship game a game in which Louisiana State embarrassed Ohio State, 38-24 and as Alex Boone tromped across the Superdome field from the OSU dressing room to the team bus, he still wasnt over the meltdown he had witnessed among some of his teammates.
A meltdown he and some other Buckeyes said happened on the field, on the sidelines and even in the dressing room.
I couldnt believe that guys were fighting with other guys, this isnt a barroom. the massive junior tackle said. You dont need to be fighting with your own teammates. We were here to play football, Some guys didnt get that though. But thats not Ohio State football.
Everyone was fighting with each other and Im like, Calm down. Its okay. Its half time. But everyones like, This is your fault, and then No, this is your fault. I was like Calm down, we got a half to go. But some guys panicked like the game was over.
In truth, it was.
The Bucks trailed by 14 at the half and lost by the same margin, though they were down by more than that through much of the second half and only a late score made things look far more respectable than they were.
Ohio State lost its second national title game in a row and its ninth straight bowl game to an SEC team for a lot of reasons:
Stupid penalties including a numbing five personal fouls costly turnovers and certainly, LSUs superior play. The Tigers were a better team.
The most surprising thing, though, was the Bucks mental collapse that everybody from Boone to linebackers Larry Grant and James Laurinaitis talked about afterward.
Youve got to be able to control your emotions in a big game like this, said Laurinaitis, who, along with a BCS-record 18 tackles against the Tigers, had a costly face mask penalty. We didnt do that at all tonight. We did a lot of things we shouldnt have.
Grant agreed: Our mind got where it shouldnt have been and It cost us the game.
Mental mistakes; you have to give credit to the LSU QB ... he wasn’t making very mental mistakes. Thanks for the link.