A lot was made about ASU’s penalties, but OSU had a very similar showing. In fact, outside of the rushing yards, OSU had very comparable stats to ASU. The intent here is not to cherry pick, but to note some observations:
Penalties: OSU 11 (114), ASU 13 (115)
TOP: OSU 27.35, ASU 28.43
TO margin: OSU -1, ASU +1
4th down: OSU 0/1, ASU 1/1
Total plays: OSU 60, ASU 66
And yet, we were still in the game without having to play lights out like we did in the 2nd half of the ASU game. OSU is good, and all credit to them for the win, but we may be overstating how good they are. They definitely did not give up after trailing by 14 points, and fed off the home crowd throughout the game. Still, as much as our D sucked, the biggest difference was the blocked punt and 2 goal line plays to state the obvious.
Other thoughts: It’s easier to not hate on OSU because they have been a bottom-dweller for so long and Smith runs a classy program, but if we strictly compare this year’s game, it wasn’t much different than that of ASU. If anything, OSU had a blatant targeting hit on our QB, and it didn’t evoke as much a strong response as it would have in ASU’s case. This is not to say that start hating OSU, or hate ASU less. ASU deserves to be loathed, and I hope their program gets a death penalty, but it seems like we’ve been mostly neutral towards OSU because they have never been a true threat.
All said and done, I want a rematch in the P12 CCG. Who says no?
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