Over the last few seasons, Ohio State has gone into marquee matchups (whether it be the national championship or other wise) and the coaching staff has held back. For whatever reason, Jim Tressel succumbs to the pressure of big games and often plays not to lose.

Entering their clash Saturday night against USC in Columbus, the Buckeyes had everything to gain and nothing to lose, or at least that’s how Tressel should have approached it. The Buckeyes were embarrassed last year at the Coliseum, but have a much better squad this season, especially at quarterback now that Terrelle Pryor is the full time starter.

Tressel and his coaching staff would have benefited from staying aggressive for four quarters. Instead, Tressel once again played it close to the vest (no pun intended) and the end result was an 18-15 Trojans victory and yet another loss for the Buckeyes in a game big.

Even though it was in the first quarter, one drive from this contest tonight painted a perfect picture of how Tressel game plans against opponents with equal or better talent.

With just over four minutes left in the first quarter, Ohio State marched down the field methodically, keeping the ball on the ground until Pryor completed a 34-yard pass to DeVier Posey that got the Buckeyes to the USC 2-yard line.

From there, Tressel attempted one pass (which fell incomplete), decided it was too dangerous to put the ball in the air again and then rushed Boom Herron consecutive times on 2nd and 3rd down, which resulted in a gain of just one yard. Facing a 4th and 1 from USC’s goal line, Tressel opted to kick the field goal instead of trying to punch it in and take a one-touchdown lead.

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Those that had followed Rich Rodriguez’s coaching career knew that his success at Michigan would be ultimately tied into whether or not he could find a quarterback. He didn’t have one last year and the Wolverines were an embarrassment week in and week out.

But this year, Rodriguez has found his signal caller of the present and the future in the impressive Tate Forcier.

The freshman signal caller was dazzling on Saturday, completing 23 of 33 pass attempts and racking up 310 total yards of offense as Michigan knocked off No. 18 Notre Dame 38-34 at the Big House. Forcier also threw two touchdown passes (including the game winner to Greg Mathews with under 15 seconds left to play) and ran for a score.

Forcier reminds me of a better, stronger-armed version of Jeff Garcia. Both do a great job of gliding around the pocket in order to buy more time to pass and both can throw while on the run. They’re always extremely aware of their surroundings and can also make plays with their legs. (Forcier’s juke of a ND defender on his 31-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was freaking sweet.)

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Forcier up to this point (he had a nice game against Western Michigan in the opener, too) is that he doesn’t have a great offensive line in protecting him. He hasn’t been able to take three or five step drops (not that that’s a big part of Rodriguez’s offense anyway) and fire the ball into open receivers. He’s largely had to make plays on his own and he’s been creative while getting the ball into his wideouts’ hands.

Forcier has made Michigan relevant again and at least for now, Rich Rod can take a deep breath because he’s found his quarterback.

As for Notre Dame, they shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with stupid penalties. They had nine infractions for 75 yards, most of which wiped out offensive gains that could have kept drives moving. Their offense could have racked up nearly 550-plus yards today, but Charlie Weis’s team severely lacked fundamentals and it cost them big.