Thank you to all the writers who are participating in this, and a HUGE thank you to Grant from Buckeye House Call for creating our graphics!

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The easy comment on the offensive line, be it at Ohio State or nationwide, is that the season will hinge on their performance.

Again, that’s the standard answer, but I have to believe that this year it bodes more true than ever in Columbus.  There are playmakers elsewhere on Offense, and the Defense (while thin in places) has the potential to be terrifying for opposing offensive coordinators.

But the Buckeye Offensive Line is a mystery at this point; which … [Read More]

Devier Posey has been suspended an additional five games by the NCAA for receiving $720 in payment for hours not worked, in addition to “free golf”.  Essentially, this means that his senior season will consist of the games against Penn State and Michigan… I’ll bet he’s incredibly glad he chose to abide by his promise to Jim Tressel and return after the Sugar Bowl. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a great story on this, which highlights several things. First, DiGeronimo states that the NCAA’s restriction on $15 per hour payment for students does not take into account state requirements to pay them at the same rate as union employees, and that documentation submitted proves that the students involved were paid at this rate.

Second, Posey’s lawyer speculates that the punishment was so harsh as a reaction … [Read More]

For the opponent’s preview, Eric is joined by the excellent HuskerDan of HuskerMax.com. They discuss Nebraska, along with their recent addition to the Big Ten and the welcoming committee laid down by Wisconsin.

All this and more on this week’s Radio Hour!

Note: At the time of the recording, we believed Corey “Philly” Brown would be fully ready to play. Currently his status is listed as “Day-to-Day”, and while there is a chance that we will see him on the … [Read More]

During the investigation into former Ohio State Booster Bobby DiGeronimo’s connection with the charity event that saw several Buckeyes suspended earlier this season, the University discovered that there were student athletes who were working for his company, and that this employment hadn’t been cleared through compliance. Here is a link to the University’s self report to the NCAA: NCAA Docs

In reviewing the paperwork, it became apparent that there were instances of hours paid that differed from the hours actually worked. Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Marcus Hall, Etienne Sabino, and Melvin Fellows were the student athletes in question. The University argued that they were unaware of the additional hours (they did work, and were paid extra), but the numbers, particularly for Posey, don’t support that.

Herron, Posey, and Hall have been suspended for the Nebraska game, … [Read More]

Last week I covered the awesomeness that is the Silver Bullet defense (line, linebackers, and secondary). I strongly believe that the defense alone is good enough to win nine games this season- regardless of what happens on the other side of the ball.

Nine wins is good at a lot of schools, but for Buckeye fans that is a borderline bad year.

To have a great season, and more importantly for Coach Fickell to secure a long term contract, the Scarlet Assassin offense will need to step up to win above and beyond nine games.

In this regard, “Scarlet Assassins” is an appropriate nickname for several reasons; most importantly because they will move against their opponents slowly and meticulously before delivering the fatal blow.

An eight minute fourth quarter drive capped off by Zach Boren leading Carlos Hyde into the end zone for the game … [Read More]

Following check-in today there are now 104 players ready to start fall camp tomorrow morning.

Not among those 104 are LB Johnathan Newsome, LB Dorian Bell, and WR James Louis. Their official status remains unclear, but they did not check into the hotel today, so everyone can draw their own conclusions from that.

Outside of who didn’t show up, and despite my best wishes from yesterday, it turns out that players arriving individually over an extended period of time doesn’t create much more to write about than when they arrive all at once on a bus.

One interesting note is that former Buckeye and Cardinal OL Alex Stepanovich arrived at the hotel today, and he will apparently be helping the team in some capacity.

The pictures will tell the story of everything else much better than I can with words (1000 … [Read More]

The Buckeyes need to fill some pretty big holes on offense this year thanks to graduations and compounded by suspensions. Luckily, Ohio State always has ultra talented players waiting in the wings to show what they’ve got.

As a fan, you can only hope that one or more of these players can make a name for themselves and become the next great Buckeye at whatever position they happen to play. The spring game is a great chance to see what some of the young players can do.

Here are the players to watch on offense in the spring game on Saturday.

12. T.Y. Williams, James Louis, Verlon Reed

Is it cheating to have three players listed under one number in a countdown? Probably, but this is my list and my rules. I lumped all of these players together as a catch-all for the young wide receivers on the roster.… [Read More]

[Note: I apologize for not getting to the defensive backs in my “way too early looks”.]

This offseason has been a tumultuous one to say the least. The tattoo revelations leading up to the Sugar Bowl and the resulting suspensions guaranteed a shadow over the off season. The additional news concerning Jim Tressel didn’t exactly make that shadow go away.

Fortunately, time heals all wounds, and cracking pads on the field helps to speed up that process- at least for me. After some time off from writing following the Tressel news conference (which is part of the reason why I didn’t get to the DBs), my enthusiasm for football is back in full swing.

So what follows … [Read More]