What We Learned: Sugar Bowl Edition

First, and most importantly, rarely am I ever exactly right about anything, so when I am, you people are gonna hear about it.  BEHOLD!  Submitted to to Twitter early in the fourth quarter:


Then, late in the fourth quarter:



Notice the tight end and running back take off, leaving Mallett unprotected behind his offensive line, which couldn't block Ohio State one-on-one all night. This happened over and over again, even when the Buckeyes rushed three. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened. Unfortunately for Arkansas, it was in the last minute of what would have been the sloppiest comeback win ever.

Now, let me take this opportunity to remind you to BOW TO MY VISIONS OF THE FUTURE!

/letting the moment soak in
/still soaking
/a little more
/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand done

Additionally, from watching Arkansas' refusal to leave additional protection in during passing plays, we found out that Bobby Petrino is one stubborn bastard. His pass blocking was a problem all night long, but he never adjusted. Instead, he let Mallett try to duck and dodge his way to passes on the move, which we in the SEC know is exactly what you want him to do if he's playing your team. No doubt Petrino is a very good offensive coach, but for him to not understand or acknowledge how the pressure was killing Mallett is inexcusable.

And then there's the not-so-great Willie Robinson. There's a saying in life that goes something along the lines of "never trust a man with a mustache, unless, like Tom Selleck, he's been rocking it since the '80s." While not a relatively new saying, in fact, I believe it was created just last month, it still holds true. Robinson, after getting in from Bourbon Street at halftime (64 oz beers are just $5, you know!), he managed to get something out of his defense, essentially shutting down Ohio State for most of the second half.

But, letting Terrelle Pryor escape for some critical first downs as a result of his defensive line losing containment and dumb blitzes, nearly killed any chance of a come back late in the fourth. If not for an outstanding blocked punt, his defense would have gotten the Hogs' offense the ball deep in its own territory with about 1:15 to go. And this was after Arkansas pinned Ohio State in at its own four.

As for Ohio State, it turns out they CAN beat an SEC team. It took five or six dropped passes (two of which were touchdowns), a stupid Bobby Petrino, Willie Robinson, five ineligible players deemed eligible, an Arkansas special teams player who inexplicably did not scoop and score and one really good defensive lineman, but they got it done. There wasn't anything outstanding about this Buckeye team, save for a few of Pryor's runs and a defense that kept getting in Mallett's face, and, had they played a team with a better defense and a remote desire to keep people out of their quarterback's business, they're probably looking at 0-10 against the SEC.

But, what was most impressive about them, was even after Jim Tressell entered sphincter-lock mode in his play calling and the special teams shit the bed in the last minute, they didn't fold like the wet sack Ohio State teams of years past. And that, fair people, deserves a good, old-fashioned rumble in the streets, Columbus, Ohio-style: