If only UT was fast enough to get into the big boy games where a slow team like OSU can lose twice in a row.
UT has the speed to play in the Alamo and in the Holiday, but not in BCS Bowl games (well, except for the two years VY was effective (ancient history)). Teams that have to play their Bowl games in December don't usually provide their fan bases with examples of speed that ready them for assessing the speed of truly upper echelon programs. I mean, the last time UT played a Big X team (just weeks before OSU plodded about v Fla.) they struggled in their own backyard to fend off a 6-6 Iowa squad. Before that, the plodding OSU team pounded sand up their asses on their own home field. Perhaps trying to run around with sand up your backside leads to playing in the Alamo bowl.
Anyway....
Mustain will be a worthy opponent for the Buckeyes should Sanchez in fact not find his way back to the starting position by 9/13. It is hard to gauge any drop off as Sanchez has actually played less than Mustain overall, though one must assume that, if Sanchez was going to get the nod, so far he has proven to be the better QB by at least a sliver. USC is definitely the most talent-rich program OSU will play this year if pre-college ranking mean anything on the actual field of play. Talent mixed with experience goes to OSU in this game, so one of the issues will be whether USC can shore up its more numerous question marks with exceptional talents that can jump the experience climb enough to tilt the balance in the Trojan's favor (including overcoming any uber-talented OSU frosh like Pryor or their OL haul).
OSU will have to show they can pressure the QB and hold in the middle as the DL is where any question marks arise (especially at DT, where experience returns, but not outstanding talent or natural size). On O the tackles are going to have to show that they are improving against speed rushers, though I am not certain that SEC champion-like speed resides on the edges of the USC D.
Looking forward to the game. It's like a BCS bowl game in September. Sweet. Hopefully USC comes out super hot in their first two games and OSU holds their end of the bargain,a s well, so that, if not a 1v2 matchup, it will be 2v3. Tressel, after mastering big games in his first 6 seasons, has fallen on some hard times. Needs to get back some of that mojo, or whatever.