Buckeye Blogger NetworkThe Scarlet and Grey game for 2013 is in the books. Who stood out? Who can change the game? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Scarlet and Grey 2013
Remember back around the last week of December and on through New Year’s when everyone was upset and moaning about the Buckeyes not being bowl eligible? Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? I told you time would fly by, and here we are with summer camp and the 2013 season opener as the next events on the Ohio State football schedule. 
Like a lot of you I wasn’t able to logon to the Big Ten Network’s live stream of the game or listen to the radio play-by-play online. I followed along on twitter for some of the pregame and a little bit of the first quarter and decided to wait it out and stay away from it until the BTN broadcast at 7 on Saturday night. Then I didn’t even have a chance to see it at 7. Good thing for DVR’s. Read More
A bit of a different version of WDYWTSOS, since we all want to see the same thing- Awesomeness and no injuries.
So, we’ve polled our staff of experts for their predictions on the following aspects for “Getting Down At Paul Brown”- let’s see how much everyone’s been paying attention to the Spring Practice Updates:
Bombs Away
What player scores the first points of the game?
WVa: Braxton Miller will score first and it will be on a long run.
Ken: Devin Smith on a long pass play from The Brax
Jason: Rod Smith. My bet is they limit Hyde and with Brax wearing the black shirt his running is cut out.
Janelle: Devin Smith on a deep ball from Braxton
Eric: Might as well ask what your favorite color of M&M is based on the taste. I’ll go with Michael Thomas on a nice Brax pass.
Dexter: I’m going to go with Evan Spencer on a Bomb downfield from Braxton Miller. That is my favorite color M&M.
Charles: To be a bit different, I’ll go with Drew Basil
Mali: The obvious answer is Drew Basil.
Who’s the offensive MVP? Read More
As a part of the 2012 season, the Buckeye Bloggers Network is pooling their expertise to give Ohio State fans the most in-depth coverage possible for Saturday’s game.
This week tBBC looks at the Buckeye passing game against the Cal Defense. Be sure to check out the rest of this series via the links at the bottom of this post!
Buckle Up
Coach Herman is new to Ohio State, but I don’t get the sense that he’s one to lean on hyperbole.
So, when he tells his receiving corps that they will be challenged in ways that they have not yet seen, you’ve got to believe that this will absolutely be the case.
Much has been made of Cal’s “unique” defense- a Bear (seriously) look that emphasizes stopping the interior run game. It’s also been highlighted that this philosophy is dependent upon corners and safeties who have the ability to lock their men down for the evening. Given that Cal has been running this in a conference that can, at times, be a bit “pass happy”, it’s safe to assume that they might just know what they are doing.
And that’s just half the issue.
Coming into this season, one of the concerns that Ohio State fans and coaches each identified was the need for maturity and excellence from the receiving corps. Part of that was due to the issues that emerged last year- new coach, true freshman sharing time with a professional rocket launcher at quarterback, and an offensive philosophy that emphasize any number of plays as long as they were “Dave”. Losing their top playmaker for all but two games, and now losing him to graduation, it’s easy to understand why Coach Meyer came into the spring and fall looking to find out who would be the person he could count on.
I get the sense that, although we’re getting closer, they are still looking. Read More
Welcome Home
The debut of the Urban Meyer offense everyone was hoping to see took a little longer than most would have liked.
After trailing the Miami University 3-0 after one quarter, Ohio State cruised to a 56-10 victory today at Ohio Stadium.
The offense struggled in the first quarter, out gained 172 yards to 48 by the Redhawks, but thanks to the tough running of Carlos Hyde and a highlight catch by wide receiver Devin Smith, the Buckeyes found their rhythm in the second quarter.
Several things caught my eye from the game today, both good and bad. I will start with the good, though:
Just... wow.
In a 46 point win, it may seem difficult to pick out bad things, but even Meyer described the first quarter as “ugly.” So, here are three things I would like to see OSU address:
Overall, though, Meyer’s debut was a good one. After a shaky start, Buckeye fans were able to see the Urban Meyer offense they were hoping for. Next week will be a bigger test, though, as Central Florida is a much better team than Miami.
We’ve got you covered all week here at The Buckeye Battle Cry.
Another quick update on the state of Ohio State football, following media access on Monday. Huge thanks to our friend Josh Winslow for the photos!
Read More
Looking... looking...
Another look at the 2012 season from Tim Shoemaker… If you’re interested sharing your opinion, don’t forget to drop us a line!
Ohio State wide receivers caught just 65 passes as a group a last year—dead last in the Big Ten.
To put that in perspective, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern each had one wide receiver catch more than 65 passes.
To put it mildly, that will simply not be good enough this season. Not with Urban Meyer under the helm.
With DeVier Posey suspended for the first ten games of the season, Devin Smith was the leading receiver for the Buckeyes in 2011. His statistics? A not exactly mind blowing 14 catches for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Posey has since moved on to the NFL, leaving the Buckeyes’ receiving corps as its largest question mark for the 2012 season.
There are no senior wide receivers on the roster, so Corey “Philly” Brown and Chris Fields are the veterans of the group as juniors. I use the term “veterans” lightly here, though, as Brown has just 14 catches in his OSU career and Fields has just 11. So, who steps up this season for the Buckeyes?
There are proven playmakers at the other positions on the field, except for wide receiver.
Tight end Jake Stoneburner will likely be the favorite target for sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller. Versatile tight ends seem to have a certain niche in Meyer-coached offenses, and Stoneburner is just that. Stoneburner, though, is currently suspended after being arrested roughly three weeks ago for obstructing official business, but many say that Stoneburner will not miss any games.
Running back Jordan Hall will also be used in a variety of ways by Meyer. But, Hall recently suffered a foot injury that will cause him to miss roughly 10 weeks, and potentially three games of the regular season.
But Miller will need some help from the wide receivers, too. Read More
Well, by this point, I’m pretty certain things like 406 punting yards are pretty entertaining. But that’s only because we all know that at this point laughter is all that is left.
Let’s see how the crew did.
MSU's BJ Cunningham was tough for OSU to stop, netting 154 yards on 9 receptions.
Return Of The Burn. Jake Stoneburner did catch two passes for 8 yards. We even tried to go for him in short yardage routes!
Hungry Hankins. He scooped up a fumble that he may have consumed. Does that count as hungry enough? In fact, the defense as a whole was very impressive, particularly up front. The Buckeyes D-Line completely devastated the MSU running game, leaving them with only 71 total yards.
Defensive Score. And we still don’t have one, though the defense did prevent a couple of scores with their turnovers. There were also two near pick-sixes, but near pick-sixes don’t put points on the board.
Special Teams Savvy. Special Teams was fairly pedestrian today, though Jordan Hall did have a couple of exciting returns to give us decent field position. Not that the offense could do anything with it, of course.
Need I Say More?. Shugarts, as usual, led us off with the false start party. He was, however, not the only one today.
Felt good to get back out there today. Trying to get better every dayless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone 
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Andrew Sweat
asweat42
It was a very successful afternoon in Columbus to open the season for the Buckeyes, who defeated the Akron Zips 46-0. After playing shutdown defense and exploding on the other side of the ball, there is a lot to take from the first victory of the season. Here are your Notables from after the game on Saturday.
OSU
QB Joe Bauserman -
On his performance throughout the game
“It felt good to get out there and get good timing and get comfortable with the seniors and offensive line. I tried to lead the best I could. It’s something I’ve always dreamed about. It felt good but now I’ll watch film and critique it and move on.”
On sharing playing time with Braxton Miller
“It was good for both Braxton and I to get out there. Braxton came in and did well and moved the ball. We both were focused. Now it’s time to watch the film and prepare for Toledo.”
