Buckeye Blogger NetworkPhoto from Louisville Courier-Journal
… and here’s the kicker.
No joke, here’s the kicker that Ohio State has been seeking for the past year or so. Given that they just got their punter this past week, it seems that the special teams are well accounted for.
Like the incoming punting specialist, today’s verbal comes from a foreign national. Sean Nuernberger is a German national who currently plays at Oldham County Highschool in Kentucky. So, it seems like OSU can go into the bluegrass state for recruits the way Stoops has been looking north.
At 6’2″ and 22o pounds, Nuernberger earned his offer at the recent Ohio State kicking clinic. This past year, he made 29 of 32 extra points and was 7 of 12 field-goal tries with a long of 46 yards. He also managed to put 38 of 44 kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks during his junior season.
Sean was just coming on the radar of major programs, and had expressed interest in Louisville, Notre Dame, Purdue, and the home state Wildcats. After the jump, more kicker video! Read More
For Kicks
Proving that recruiting knows no off season or national boundaries, and showing once again that the Ohio State staff will look everywhere to find competitors, it seems as if the Buckeyes have added a punter for the 2013 class. And we all know how important it is to have someone handle these duties with excellence on and off the field.
You may remember the saga of Johnny Townsend, the Buckeye verbal that ended up in Gainsville after a signing day snafu. You might also recall that Ohio State was in conversation with Cedarville’s Andrew Gantz, who ended up verballing to Tennessee (but now will be heading to Cincinnati- we hope to have more on this in the coming weeks).
Given that neither of those opportunities panned out (I wonder why kickers were eschewing OSU?), the plan was to have Drew Basil handle kick-off, extra point/field goal, and punting responsibilities this upcoming season.
Luckily, though, that won’t be necessary, as the Dispatch is reporting that Cameron Johnston is reporting to Columbus from Melbourne Australia to handle the rare occasions when the Buckeyes don’t gain ten yards in the attempts allotted. And, in case you were wondering, we here at tBBC are certainly taking some credit for this.
While at this point there has been no confirmation on this from Ohio State, this is not unheard of territory in college football; LSU’s Brad Wing got his start as an Aussie Rules player, and Ohio State’s own Devin Barclay came to the gridiron after a stint at another sport.
Having trained with Prokick Australia, Johnston is reported to consistently provide 60-65 yard punts with expansive hang time… I hope Charles will be able to help us with any conversion rate that might be necessary. For those unfamiliar with Australian Rules, drop kicks are an important part of the scoring game.
After the jump, you can see some of Johnston’s workout videos, as well as some tape of his performance in Aussie Rules. Again, I have no idea what’s going on there, but it will certainly change things to know that our punter knows how to tackle. As always, please excuse the soundtrack. Read More
Hopefully you’re either recovering from the long weekend or making plans for the next one… as an educational moment, though, be sure to know what you’re doing. As for me, I had a great weekend up above the treeline and enjoying some music that made me remember my college days… so, it’s also your soundtrack.
Memorial Day for the Buckeyes
Buckeye 411
As I studied the statistics from year #1 to year #2 at Meyer’s three previous colleges, I noticed that the rushing offense and scoring offense improved at all three programs. Outside of those statistics, it’s hard to recognize any trends.
Good news for OSU fans… bad news for the B1G.
How many (of the SEC’s top 6 programs) would Ohio St have beaten? Would they have won 3? I don’t know.
It’s always nice to know that someone is thinking of you, right? Anywho, as you can imagine, the response was pretty interesting: Spencer Hall brought his usual crack-analysis (why the UC photo at the top, though?), while other voices brought a bit more reason into the discussion. At any rate, with Coach Meyer talking openly about the Tide and Saban having his mind on the doin’s up in Columbus… this is going to be a hell of a season.
As we enter into the “Camp Season”, it’s good to take a look at where Ohio State’s recruiting efforts currently seem to stand.
I’ll admit that it’s next to impossible to predict what this class is going to look like in February, but I think it makes it easier when you look at who are the most likely players who will be in the class.
Harris Heading to Columbus?
QB
1. Allen/Harris/Watson/Darlington
We’re definitely going to land a QB. Who exactly that is will be the question. Kyle Allen is the best passer, Brandon Harris probably has the most upside running the ball, DeShaun Watson is a perfect mix between the two and Zack Darlington fits in somewhere as well.
RB
I don’t see the need for another RB in this class and don’t think the coaches will push hard for one until December or so (if they do at all) when they have a better idea if there will be a spot for one or not. Some people consider Parris Campbell a back and I like what I am hearing early from the ’15 class so I’m not worried at all.
WR
2. Lonnie Johnson
3. Derek Kief
At 6’3″ I view Johnson as a perimeter WR and I think adding Kief would just about finish up the search for perimeter WRs in the class. Read More
SVSM to tOSU
The Silver Bullets have added another to the cartridge.
Akron St. Vincent- St. Mary’s linebacker Dante Booker announced today that he had given his verbal commitment to Ohio State, becoming the ninth member of the 2014 class.
A 6′ 4″ rising senior, the 220 pound Booker is ranked as a top 100 player and four star prospect by many recruiting services. He held offers from Tennessee, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Michigan, among others. Dante’s father was a stellar defensive tackle at Auburn University.
Booker’s commitment leaves two major linebacker prospects “on the table”- Pennsylvania’s Chase Winovich and Georgia’s Raekwon McMillen; both of whom have indicated that Ohio State leads. He’s already made relationships with members of the 2014 class, including Parris Campbell.
As a sophomore, Booker amassed 157 tackles, 11 sacks, and 3 fumbles recovered; those numbers dipped slightly as a junior to 72, 6, and 2 respectively.
While currently an outside linebacker, his size and speed could see him develop into a rush end/linebacker hybrid by the end of his time at Ohio State. After the jump, check out why many people say that he could play just about anywhere on the defensive side of the ball. Read More
All smiles
You know what would make a great Mother’s Day present? Flowers. Oh, and a new member of the Class of 2014.
Well, you’re on your own for all things floral, but today’s announcement from Gary Indiana playmaker Lonnie Johnson certainly helps make the day festive…
Johnson, a Buckeye lean for quite some time now, initially visited for The Game in November, and had been rumored to have been on the verge of a commitment for several months. His announcement today was moved up from the June 2 date that he said was his target earlier this week.
There was speculation that he was planning on making an official commitment on an official visit with his parents in January, but that visit never manifested leaving some to posit that there were some outstanding concerns on the part of the OSU staff. If true, his commitment today would indicate that those have been addressed.
Johnson is a member of the Core 6 training program that also includes Clifton Garret, Jamarco Jones, and Dylan Thompson as well as current OSU verbal Marcelys Jones.
A 6’2″ wide receiver, Johnson’s list of finalists included Purdue, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Cincinnati, and Nebraska, and said that OSU was a finalist with Mizzou and Kentucky.
After the jump, check out the speed that this young man brings to the Buckeyes: Read More
Welcome to Wednesday, the first of May… it’s officially grilling season (unless you live in California, where it’s always that time). Here’s today’s soundtrack; if you don’t know why, then… well… keep reading.
Archie’d
Buckeye 411
After a weekend with some big names on campus, Ohio State has added another member to the 2014 recruiting class in linebacker Kyle Berger.
It certainly seems as if the strategy for this class will be to offer nationally, but ensure that the top Ohio talent stays home to play in Columbus- Berger joins several others from the Buckeye state for this group.
A 6′ 3″, 205 pound student athlete from state runner up Cleveland St. Ignatius, Berger had for a while been considered an Ohio State lean. He also held offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, Arkansas, Boston College, Maryland and others.
Berger becomes the seventh member of the recruiting class, and is ranked as one of the top rising juniors in the state of Ohio as well as the second outside linebacker in the country by Scout.com. Here’s a link to his Hudl.com video; be sure to check out this future Buckeye in action:
Welcome to the Ohio State Family, Kyle!
