When Jim Tressel, of all people, opted to forgo a field goal late in the game against Illinois to see if his offense could get one of those fabled "red zone touchdowns", I expected my TV to spontaneously combust. Really, I did. Either that or I was seeing things. When he then called a passing play to put the final nail in the Illini coffin, I began to wonder: is the criticism getting to him? Is he just a little bit spiteful about the way he's been treated since the USC game (after which he deserved some, but not all of the criticism he ended up receiving)? Has he crossed over to the realm of Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, guys who not only seek to crush an opponent's soul, but also revel in their despair?

A lot of fans pride themselves on their team, program and coach having "class". In college football, I find that "class" is an ephemeral concept; I notice that most teams that win consistently aren't considered to have much "class" at all, while consistent losers are rarely important enough to earn the "classy" distinction. Think about it for a minute: when's the last time a consistent winner was universally considered to be a "classy" bunch? The answer is never, because "class" is rarely applied to a team that just beat your team's ass without mercy. This is why I want anyone who uses the term "stay classy" unironically to be fed to a woodchipper, or at the very least castrated. You can be "classy' while winning 70-0, and throwing a 60-yard touchdown in the final moment. Quite simply: it's the other team's job to stop you, and if you can't, tough noogies.

The above is a mentality that has never been embraced fully by Jim Tressel. I have video evidence.

On that note, where'd those moves go, Boom?

I feel pretty confident in saying that no other coach in the FBS would actually wince at his own team scoring. But there was no wince when Terrelle Pryor completed that touchdown pass to Dane Sanzenbacher in the waning moments against Illinois. Just an icy, soulless stare. Might we, after weeks of doubt and surprising amounts of fan haterade, be witnessing the birth of... Evil Jim Tressel?

Not Pictured: Sweatercape, bottle of Mike's Hard (Good Jim is strictly a Bartles and Jaymes man)

Indeed, this is becoming a common theme on Buckeye blogs everywhere, including

Elven Eleven Warriors:

Another change in Tressel’s offensive attack is the recent trend of staying aggressive for four quarters despite the score. He was still ordering up pass plays with the Toledo contest well in hand and to see him actually passing (incomplete) on 3rd down before calling another pass play on 4th down in which TP hooked up with Dane for a 3 yard score with 1:18 left in the 30-0 pasting of Illinois made me tingle. One could argue taking a knee there is just as salty but it’s been the Tressel way. In fact, he’s been downright sad before when scoring a late TD (Boom on Northwestern ring a bell) in lopsided contests and I would argue this type of approach has rubbed off on his teams in the past creating a group that was too nice for their own good.

and those misfortunate Brownie fans over at WFNY:

[Tressel's rebuke of the Coleman suspension] are about the strongest words I’ve ever heard from the man in the sleeveless sweater.  Personally, I’m annoyed that the Illinois player who slammed Pryor into the bench 5 yards out of bounds wasn’t suspended along with Coleman.  Aside from that though, I think we have to wonder: has the pressure in big games made Tressel turn a corner -

If Tress has indeed picked up the intensity, I’m all for it.  We’ve heard about recent Buckeye teams claiming to have a chip on their shoulder, but if the man in charge is hella-angry, that’s only going to help.  Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions quickly here, but I’m all for it if Tress has become angry and suddenly non-Tressel-ish.

And the general consensus among the members of the Buckeye Bloggerati seems to be "This is awesome and I have no problem with it please MORE MORE MORE." Because we too probably have no class whatsoever, and I, for one, don't care if my coach has much of it, as long as he isn't punching opposing players or channeling Ron White's "drunk in public-k" act. If we are seeing a new Jim Tressel, I fully expect to see it again tomorrow against Indiana.

Indiana, being Indiana, will give the Buckeyes plenty of opportunities to place multiple nails in their collective coffin. If we see a return to punt-and-play-defense, we'll know that Coach T just wanted to stomp on his critics' dicks for a little bit before resuming business-as-usual. If we're tossing the ball around late in the third, up by 20, with Pryor still in the game, it's safe to say Tressel has enough pissing him off that it might sustain this new-found aggressive effort for the rest of the season.

Five predictions that will make me look foolish come Monday :

- The defensive line notches three or more sacks

- Tandon Doss is held to fewer than three catches

- Pryor tosses two touchdowns

- Brandon Saine makes a serious case for the full-time starting spot with the first 100 yard rushing day of the season for any Buckeye back

- Final Score: Ohio State 40, Indiana 13