Buckeyes falter again in spotlight (cont.)

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With the Buckeyes forced to go one-dimensional in order to catch up, USC's defense teed off on Boeckman, sacking him three times. Third-quarter yardage for the two teams: USC 135, Ohio State 2. Even Beanie Wells' injured toe curled into a fetal position.

The Buckeyes never came close to scoring again, while the Trojans likely could have kept scoring had Pete Carroll not emptied his bench halfway through the fourth quarter.

"We wanted to take everything from them," beamed USC defensive tackle Fili Moala. "We wanted to give them a little housewarming gift and send them on their way back."

On the heels of a season-opening 52-7 rout of lowly Virginia, Moala's team made another resounding statement by dominating a team that's won 29 of its past 30 regular-season games. Following two years of "modest" (by Carroll standards) 11-2 campaigns, the 2008 Trojans have yet to exhibit the slightest hint of weakness.

The real question, however, is why the team on the other sideline -- one with just as many names on the early NFL draft boards as USC or any other school -- continues to humiliate itself against elite national competition.

While the absence of OSU's All-American running back undoubtedly factored into Saturday's lopsided score, it's hard to believe his presence would have reversed the outcome. Wells' 146-yard night against LSU last January couldn't compensate for the Buckeyes' litany of self-induced breakdowns then; it would have taken a career night to offset OSU's offensive and defensive woes against the Trojans.

For a coach who constantly espouses the importance of discipline, Tressel's teams seem to become unavoidably unglued when it comes to their nonconference showcases.

"I don't know what it is," said visibly perturbed receiver Brian Hartline. "We do a great job with the Big Ten teams but you've got to prepare yourself to play out of conference, and we haven't done that well recently."

One abundantly obvious weakness is OSU's offensive line. Much like in the LSU game, Boeckman's blockers held up fairly well early, but once the Trojans built a lead and the Buckeyes had to start passing, they stood almost no chance against Moala and Co.

"It's very frustrating," said Hartline. "Me and [receiver Brian Robiskie] felt like we were running open the whole game. The ball just couldn't get in the air."

In their interviews after the game, none of the Buckeyes players seemed particularly despondent. They were universal in their message in that "we've got to keep our heads high because we've got a long season ahead of us."

They've certainly got plenty left to play for. Most notably, the chance at an unprecedented third straight outright Big Ten title and accompanying Rose Bowl berth is theirs for the taking. If Wells returns and excels and the Buckeyes start rolling, OSU could conceivably thrust itself back into national title contention.

But in the aftermath of Saturday's debacle, neither seems particularly plausible.

First and foremost, the Buckeyes will likely find themselves blackballed from consideration for the national title game. Yes, there's a whole lot of time left to climb back up the polls. But OSU was already playing under a shroud of considerable skepticism even before Saturday's blowout. Having watched this game and the two title-game routs before it, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the pollsters would voluntarily place the Buckeyes in the top two of their final ballot.

Nearly any other viable contender -- especially one that wins its conference championship game -- would likely leapfrog them that final night of the season, a la what happened to Georgia last year.

And even that would require OSU running the table, a feat that suddenly seems far less realistic than it did over the summer.

For one thing, new-look Penn State is suddenly looming as a worthy adversary in the Big Ten. Others may soon follow. But more importantly, these Buckeyes have some serious issues to address.

For one thing, they now have an official quarterback controversy on their hands. After starting off so strong against mostly inferior opponents last season, Boeckman, who finished 14-of-21 for 84 yards and two picks Saturday, has struggled mightily dating to last November's Illinois game. Pryor (7-of-9 for 52 yards, with 11 rushing attempts for 53 yards) showed flashes of greatness in the first half Saturday. He's obviously a dangerous runner, but his passing repertoire is as limited as you would expect for a freshman.

"I don't know about starting spots," Tressel said when asked about the quarterbacks. Some sort of continued rotation is likely in store. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is yet to be seen.

Tressel and his staff don't necessarily need to go back to the drawing board -- but they've obviously got some touchy matters to discuss in the days and weeks ahead.

They'll be doing so, however, under much less glare than they've become accustomed to these past few years. OSU has nine regular-season games left -- but at this point you'd have to be pretty sadistic to keep tuning in.