Villanova, Pa. — And so it came to pass on this 13th day of September, the year of Our Lord 2008, that the Jim Tressel Era finally did hit its crossroad. And, at least for now, crashed and burnt near the corner of Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard in South Los Angeles.

In a seven-year run filled with the serendipity of virtually annual payback beatdowns of the cocky, despised Maize and Blue hessians from Up North, with one national title and two championship game playdowns for two others, plus two other B.C.S. bowl appearances and a very satisfying 34-20 romp over a haughy Chuck Weis-led Notre Dame team in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, Saturday's visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum for the ultimate in-season showdown resulted in a soul-freezing Hindenburg moment for proud O-H...I-Oans everywhere.

If you caught even five minutes of one of the best-presented A.B.C. college football telecasts your humble scribbler has ever seen, with seasoned Brent Musberger and trusty, objective Ohio Stater Kirk Herbstreit, you know what the sinking feeling was all about.

If it wasn't U.S.C.'s mammoth offensive line driving the Bucks' d-line back into the linebackers, creating every imaginable offensive opportunity for the Trojans' uber-quarterback Mark Sanchez to throw four touchdown passes -- two to Damian Williams, but the opener of which was a stultifying 35-yard dart down the left sideline that Stanley Havili caught after literally appearing to outrun the football and beat brilliant Buckeyes corner Malcolm Jenkins by nearly five yards. snagging the ball on his finger tips and sprinting to the promised land.

The Trojans never looked back as Williams and others helped Sanchez do the rest.

"I cannot believe that we screwed up so badly," left tackle Alex Boone told The Columbus Dispatch's O.S.U. beat regular Ken Gordon. "I cannot believe this is the second time this has happened to the team."

Actually the third, Ken. Florida 41, Ohio State 14 was an ugly punctuation mark to an electric, uplifting 2006 season, you may remember.

"I thought this team made it clear after the (2007) national championship game (a 38-24 loss to L.S.U.) -- all the gassers we ran, and all the running we did was that we weren't going to mess up anymore. Apparently that wasn't evident."

The only evidence on that football field, Alex, was a collection of game, but tongue-dragging Buckeyes as the game wore on. S.C. simply out-talented Ohio State.

And it wasn't close.

Running back Joe McKnight rushed for 105 yards against a defense usually very grudging against enemy running attacks. According to Gordon, Tressel used the labels "Good," "Great," "Excellent," etc. at least half a dozen times. Inside, of course, Tressel was emotionally drained from a third straight smackdown on the national stage.

Leaving the door wide open for the vacuous souls like Jim Rome, the quintessential square of L.A. shallowness, to crow about the wimpishness of the Big Ten, midwest and Ohio State in particular.

"I don't know that we did the best we could do," Tressel told Gordon, "but I think we fought extremely well."

Freeze the tape right there. OK, this was said in the heat of the emotional postgame moment. And there was one annoying example of one of the perils any ambitious team faces when playing S.C. in the Coliseum.

The stripe factor. Please, take a deep breath and understand the zebra factor was next to nil. But there was one glaring early second quarter moment that recalled many, many flashbacks from days gone by that the Trojans enjoyed the greased-palm factor.

Down 14-3, their only points coming from a 29-yard Ryan Pretorious field goal on the Bucks' first possession, Ohio State finally responded and drove deep into S.C. territory.

Twice.

On the same drive.

Trying to shake up the Trojans' brilliantly-quick defense by mixing in enough of the nation's most talented freshman, backup quarterback Terrelle Pryor, with the oft-harassed Todd Boeckman, Tressel seemed to finally have unlocked some of S.C.'s defensive mysteries.

But receiver Dane Senzenbacher's 16-yard gain to the Trojans' 3 was wiped out by a debatable holding call, then a perfectly-executed 21-yard Boeckman-to-Brian Robiskie T.D. on a skinny post pattern deep in the end zone was erased when guard Ben Person was called for holding.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, almost on every central scrum while Sanchez stood back unfettered, much of the U.S.C. "protection" included liberal usage of takedowns that would make Vince McMahon proud.

But...

If you're looking for a crutch, this one just broke and the excuse comes crashing to the floor.

Pretorious missed a 46-yarder wide-right and before halftime, Sanchez was working his deadly middle-distance passing game to perfection.

The Trojans aren't just Pete Carroll. The staff is a collection of coaching who's-whos like offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, defensive coordinator Nick Holt, linebackers coach Ken Norton, Jr. and other well-documented coaching minds.

As was the case with Florida in January 2007, or L.S.U. last January, this played a critical role in finding answers to keeping Ohio State on the defensive on both sides of the ball.

After the Bucks put together another promising drive just before halftime, linebacker Rey Maualuga, probably the country's very best, cut in front of clutch receiver Brian Hartline and returned the interception 48 yards for the checkmate T.D. just before halftime.

"I was rolling left and the linebacker was tough to see," Boeckman admitted. "I thought Hartline was wide open (he was for a time) and (Maualuga) made a good play on it."

So unlike the two before it, which resulted in Ohio State still being in the national conversation, this one ends early. The goals will be more modest, something that will never go down well in Columbus.

Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter allows for the fact the Bucks might not be in the top 20 (actually, Ohio State is No. 13 in a charitable current Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the coaches' poll).

The game, fairly talented, but painfully slow-footed Boeckman was no match for the outrageously quick U.S.C. defense. It is this type of matchup that caused Ohio State so many problems last winter against L.S.U. and, with the pass blocking so ineffective against Florida, relegated Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith's role from proactive to reactive.

It is problems like this that Tressel need desperately to address if the Buckeyes are to muscle their way back into the ultimate national football conversations again.

Can he teach a couple of his older dogs -- offensive coordinator Jim Bollman and defensive coordinator Jim Heacock -- the new tricks demanded by today's football styles.

It is how Tress responds to that which will determine how quickly the Ohio State Buckeyes can muscle their way back into the nation's elite. Quite frankly, right now they're not even close.

SOME INSIGHT FROM A GUY WHO SHOULD KNOW... Andrew J. Talley has been coaching football at Villanova University for enough of a period to not only earn a gold watch, but the keys to the Lexus of his choice.

Twenty four years.

During that time, he's seen the fire and rain of Villanova football discussions. Keep in mind, this is a school of flawless academic profile that somehow allowed itself to cave in to some misinformed members of an evaluation committee and drop the sport after the 1980 season.

It was a public relations meltdown and not only did alumni annual donations suffer at least somewhat, but for the ensuing 3 football-less years, the campus was a veritable cemetery each fall.

But when Villanova announced the sport's reinstatement in 1983, it also conducted one of its more fastidious searches for a man who would be able to coach at the newly-approved I-AA level, a far cry from the big time spotlight under which the 'Cats had played for years.

Andy Talley fit the desired mold the way Tzimon Barto fits a piano.

While the 24-year marriage has been rocky at times, Talley, the classic uncomplaining beast of burden, has managed to somehow juggle the desires of the idealists who would love nothing less than to find a nice friendly 20-acre patch, erect a 40-50,000 seat stadium and play in the BIG EAST.

On the other side, the academia nuts, no shrinking idealists themselves, dream of Saturdays where the Wildcats play opponents on the scale of Wabash or Williams instead of West Virginia.

What distinguishes Talley from most is his ability to keep the two polar opposites at bay and keep the program competitive. And he has a uniquely refreshing, and well-informed perspective not only on Villanova's future, but that of Division I football in general.

"If I-AA (now known as the F.C.S., don't ask ... I don't know) stays where it is, we can be a player in I-AA," Talley was saying the day before the 'Cats beat a pretty good Lehigh team from the Patriot League, 33-14, before 11,101 at Villanova Stadium.

"We've carved a niche. We're an academic institution that has proven it can play in a I-AA conference."

Through his years, Talley's teams have won 61.2% of their games, and made the N.C.A.A. playoffs six times, including one run to the final four in 2002, losing a tough 39-28 game at perpetual I-AA power McNeese State. That alone should grant him must-hear status.

"As we recycle (in the new D1 formats), the (question is) can we deal with the changing feelings. It's kind of one-stop shopping."

Villanova doesn't have the $112 million available to its athletic department Ohio State does, for example. So when the Buckeyes want to build a new specialty-oriented, current state-of-the-art fitness gym, a booster writes a check and it's done. Or maybe the state of Ohio can break a few hundred thou loose."

But a visit to Villanova's 12,200-seat stadium is a pleasant surprise. New is everywhere. A pressbox that is one of I-AA's best, new offices, new entry ways, even a better look inside.

This is part of Talley's one-stop shopping. Requests here and there, put in realistic proposal packages get things done. It is part of his Prof. Harold Hill-type personality, the same one he uses to coax a possible I-A talent leveled person to play at Villanova rather than prowl the sideline at a big time football school.

But he also knows Villanova, while far more well-off financially than when he began building the program in 1984, has somewhat limited capabilities, having to inplement its upgrades one-by-one.

"Can we fix up this stadium?" he said, "sure. Perhaps some skyboxes, cushy comfy places for some of or (big) supporters.

"Tie that in with parents weekend (which in part helped produce a near-sellout Saturday), and to homecoming. Get space in newspapers, in blogs.

"We like to play the I-As. We beat Rutgers and Temple, gave Pitt a run for their money (an electric 48-41 loss in Pitt Stadium that showcased the talents of current Eagle Brian Westbrook and Falcon wide receiver Brian Finneran).

"We've got six games on T.V. this year. CN8 (Comcast's local sports T.V. channel around Philadelphia) has games that are shot in different areas around the country."

But through it all, Talley knows there is a distinct possibility of hitting a major crossroads, quite possibly soon.

"If I-A folds," he said, "where do you go?"

For many schools, many of the I-AA schools, places like Rhode Island, North Dakota State, Western Illinois, Bucknell, Duquesne, Georgetown and others, it is a question with an ominous tone, because the inclination at places like this do not likely include an upgrade in facilities and capabilities.

"For Villanova, the (upward direction) is where you go. There'll be an arms race (within D1) for sure, to build a stadium, build an indoor facility, bring kids in with new curriculum," he said.

"With the I-A power schools (Bowl Championship Series, for the most part) a lot of us would have to make a decision whether we'd go to that arena. Estimate costs and say whether it'd work."

What Talley said next was revelatory Villanova-wise. It had been generally propagated by those not in favor of football in general that the best route was to fill the route with obstacles. But Talley, while never a total gung-ho/don't worry if there's any water in the pool type, thinks schools like Villanova can make some modest upward strides that could create a whole new image for its football program.

"I don't think the Richmonds, William & Marys and Villanovas of the universe would be able to go all the way up," Talley pointed out. "We're not large land-grant schools and we wouldn't benefit from state money.

"We'd be getting our money from all private donors. (Connecticut) and Rutgers have state funding. What we'd do is try to make one of the 50 bowls.

"Villanova-wise, we'd try to play at (Lincoln Financial Field), then we'd try to create another curriculum for student athletes. You'd hope at 25-30,000 a game, we could build a fanbase. We're laboring in a pro town."

But where many a Villanovan, citing numerous years of 7-8,000 at home games as proof positive the 'Cats could never draw, might be surprised to hear this from Talley.

"I think it could be done, because of the (familiarity) of what Villanova is in the Philadelphia area.

The fact that Villanova has already proven it be at least somewhat competitive in the Philadelphia marketplace may provide the biggest boost of all.

"We had over 30,000 at the Temple game (at Lincoln Financial Field) and they actually had some people who intended to go but couldn't get in because there weren't enough ticket-sellers. You're talking about a culture that's been very established. It's been hard to develop a culture here as in I-AA school."

What is needed is another Prof. Harold Hill salesperson, Talley thought.

For now, it is an imagination stretcher. But the act Villanova can put 11,101 fans in the stadium on a steamy mid-September afternoon should allow people to revisit the critics. Because now there is proof. And Talley thinks they can make a major impact not only at Villanova, but at other schools in the Middle Atlantic region who seriously would like to see the change come.