Buckeye Blogger NetworkWell, there won’t be a Rumble later today; Jason’s recovering from the Orion festival (he snuck across the boarder to TSUN, and hopes to come back with his IQ intact and his hearing decimated). As such, your soundtrack for today is my favorite Metallica song from back in the day. Also, we’re launching a new feature later this afternoon to get you ready for kickoff… enjoy!
Yeah, That’s Pretty Cool
Buckeye 411
In the best times, Herman’s offense had lineman Andrew Norwell vomiting. The super-fast version of Ohio State’s no-huddle is labeled “Jet.” Jet took off at a key moment in the third quarter of last year’s game at Penn State.
At that point, the decision had been made to run Penn State’s defensive line out of the building the same way Herman had done it at Rice. Go fast, make defenders run sideline-to-sideline. History shows an eight-play, 85-yard touchdown drive that lasted 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
And then, regurgitation.
“Norwell came to the sideline, sat on the bench and vomited at the feet of our offensive line coach [Ed Warriner],” Herman said. “He looked him right in the eye and said, ‘Keep jettin’ ‘em.’ That’s when I knew we had them.”
Buckeye Hoops News Read More
Corey Smith
After a bit of a delay in order to ensure that everything was sorted out on both sides, current Mississippi State verbal wide receiver Corey Smith has flipped his commitment and become the 23rd member of the 2013 recruiting class.
Originally from Akron, Smith is a 6′ 170 pound recruit who will have two years of eligibility left upon enrolling at Ohio State. While at Buchtel, he was listed as one of the top athletes in the state of Ohio for 2011, and attended Ohio State for games and camps during his junior and senior seasons.
He’s listed as a four star receiver by numerous recruiting services, and held offers from Penn State, Tennessee, Alabama, Washington, and North Carolina, among others. He initially verballed to the Volunteers, but needed to take care of some issues with his core classes and chose to do so at EMCC. It was speculated following his visit this past weekend that he would be a part of this class, but it wasn’t until his transcripts were examined that he was able to finally make it official.
After the break, check out his highlights from high school and from this past year at East Mississippi Community College: Read More
Slight variation in schedule… think of this as TWTW meets Wednesday’s regular SBP. Here’s the tunes behind the guy behind the guy.
Pride?
2013 started almost the same way that every other year has started since I can remember… with a slate of B1G Ten games, highlighting how many people who live in the midwest want to flee to warmer climes for some semblance of a vacation. I still haven’t figured out how the scheduling geniuses who have an entire slate of games and “bowl week” to work with decide to run four of them at semi-simultaneous time times, though.
You’ll note that I said “almost”… one of the major differences this year was the lack of Buckeye football; in case you hadn’t heard, they had a one year vacation from the post-season. What’s intriguing about that fact is that we seemingly had it shoved down our throats throughout the regular season by the good folks at the four letter network, and yet I can count on one hand the times I heard the words “Ohio State” or “Buckeyes” thus far in the bowl season. Penn State, too, although you’d think that one of the things that would be covered would be how teams playing got their losses this year; the Rose Bowl’s discussion included the review of their overtime losses, but didn’t mention by name two of the teams that handed those to them.
I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised, though… you want the games to be celebrations of the teams that are playing, and it’d be a shame to see anything hamper the narrative of next Monday’s “Championship” game; reminding folks of another undefeated team might cast a pall on that sacred moment. However, I don’t seem to remember Southern Cal being erased from the post season even when they were ineligible- their 10-2 record last year was certainly a topic of commentary.
Anywho… Ohio State hasn’t lost a game in over a year, and that can’t be taken away from them or their fans.
So let’s dive into the spectacle that was B1G Tuesday, taking a look at all of the outcomes and then reflecting on what this might “mean” for the conference and college football as a whole. Remember, the results you witnessed might have been different should the two outsider programs be in the mix this season… B1G fans, how are those “you’ve got no bowl game” taunts holding up for you these days?
Oh, and just so you’re forwarned, I’m not going to talk about the Orange Bowl… especially given the craptacular legacy of this “event”, and that fact that (almost) no one wanted it.
Northwestern/Mississippi State
What a great win for the Wildcats… their first since 1949, which resulted in SBN’s “Sippin’ On Purple” summarizing the festivities thusly: Read More
Hey, it’s the Gator Bowl! Did they play this last year? I don’t seem to remember it…
The History: Did you know the Gator Bowl is the sixth oldest bowl game and the first bowl to ever be televised nationally? It has been played every year since 1946 in Jacksonville. It features the third selections from the Big Ten and the SEC.
Northwestern Scouting Report: The Wildcats bring a 9-3 record into the Gator Bowl. Their three losses easily could’ve gone the other way and therefore, they are a very dangerous team. They are hungry for a bowl victory as they have not gotten one since the 1948 Rose Bowl. The most important player on the field for Northwestern will be quarterback Kain Colter. He suffered an “upper extremity” injury against Michigan in November, causing him to miss one game, but he was back in action against Illinois and is seemingly good to go for the game against the Bulldogs. He is much more dangerous with his feet, so look for Northwestern to let him make things happen on his own.
Buckeye Connection: Ohio State is 59-14 all time against the Wildcats. They last played in 2008 in a game which resulted in a 45-10 win. Read More
In spite of the huge win in Happy Valley on Saturday, I’m feeling a bit of the blues are in order for this week’s recap. So, enjoy some Collins, Cray, and Copeland.
It’d be easy to say that this week was “spook-tacular”, and “scary” for a lot of top teams, but that would be way to easy. So, let’s just admit that Saturday once again proved that we’re fans of the greatest sport in the world; because anything can happen once the ball is kicked.
Whoops
As a promise to a “friend” that’s a Notre Dame fan who I’ve been justifiably ripping for the last ten years, we’re leading off this week with the Irish’s huge win in Norman over the Sooners. Like most of America who pays attention to the sport, I imagined that Oklahoma would stomp a mud hole into Brian Kelley’s team- Stoop’s defense, high powered offense… not exactly playing Air Force here. So, because the Irish emerged victorious, undefeated, and “relevant” enough to bump up to the third ranking spot in the BCS, I tip my journalistic cap to them- particularly their defense, which is playing lights out this season. Although they gave up their first* (non-official assisted) rushing touchdown to Oklahoma, they were able to keep Sooner QB Landry Jones guessing all night long. That’s not to say that we’re not without some controversy, as the “luck of the Irish” continued when Heisman Candidate Manti Te’o intercepted the Sooners late in the game to seal away the victory. Your perspective of the play will depend on your hopes prior to the game- Irish fans were elated, others thought that the initial play was a case of pass interference resulting in a ball that clearly touched the ground. At any rate, complaining about the officiating is better left to other fan bases; the Irish are undefeated, and have overcome all but one of the games that had people pointing to theirs as the toughest schedule in college football. Congrats indeed.
Although… How much of this gets pinned on Bob Stoops? “Big Game Bob”, as we’ve discussed before, has built a reputation on an early BCS championship and his ability to beat his rival. However, given the state of his rival over the past few years, is it really fair to continue to give him a pass for his team’s coming up short in these types of games? The loss to Notre Dame is the second at home this year… although, to be fair, both teams are undefeated currently. So, Sooner fans- enjoy that BCS win over Connecticut a few years back, and hope that things can get turned around in the B12 for your squadron in the near future.
Since we alluded to them, let’s talk Texas, shall we? It took some late game heroics by a McCoy (no, not that one) to keep from being beaten by Kansas. You read that correctly… the Jayhawks and their “Coach by weight” strategy were within seconds of beating the Longhorns and turning the heat even higher up on coach Mack Brown. I’m not one to jump on a dead bandwagon- check out the great “post a picture of our defense” thread on Shaggy Bevo- but I still can’t figure out how the flagship school in one of the most talent rich states in the nation continues to struggle on the field. Granted, it may be the competition in the conference and adjacent conferences, but you’ve got to think they’d be able to be successful whether or not there’s a prodigy at quarterback.
Also in the B12, Kansas State, the new #3 in the BCS continues to roll, playing even with Texas Tech for a half and then making the adjustment necessary to blow out the Raiders in Lubbock. Read More
Spiral bound and everything!
Another Wednesday, another mainstream media member making less than accurately informed statements about issues they think they understand…
Buckeye 411
Since there are rumors that Mississippi State’s Rodney Hood might be considering Ohio State as a landing location for his transfer, we went to our SEC and MSU Bulldog expert, WCBI’s Robby Donoho.
Looking For A New Home
We begin with the timeline of Rodney Hood’s time leading up to his transfer from Starkville:
October 27, 2010 – Rodney Hood verbally commits to play for Rick Stansbury and Mississippi State University.
2011 – Signs LOI to play for Bulldogs
November 21, 2011 – Hood named SEC Freshman of the Week
January 2012 – Hood returns to his hometown of Meridian, MS to discuss transferring from Mississippi State.
Jan 2012 – March 2012 – MSU falls from #15 in Top 25 polls to missing the NCAA Tournament, the only team in the January 2nd Top 25 to miss the Big Dance.
March 15, 2012 – MSU head coach Rick Stansbury ‘retires’ as coach of the Bulldogs. Immediately following, Rodney Hood ‘feels comfortable’ with Mississippi State.
April 2, 2012 – Mississippi State hires former Purdue assistant coach Rick Ray as newest head coach.
April 3, 2012 – Hood tweets that he had ‘toughest’ workout in his basketball career with Rick Ray.
April 8, 2012 – Rodney Hood is granted his release from his scholarship at Mississippi State. (Full release can be viewed here)
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So…here we are. All-SEC freshman Rodney Hood, a former 5-star prospect according to Rivals.com, is looking for a new school to call home.
An important date on that timeline was during January 2012, when Hood returned to his hometown of Meridian to discuss possibly transferring from Mississippi State.
We still don’t know what spurned this trip home, but we do know his father Ricky had to talk his son OUT of leaving MSU during the season and staying on to play for the Bulldogs.
This, coincidentally, was during the time where the Bulldogs were in the midst of their epic downfall from being a potential sweet 16/elite 8 squad to missing the Tournament all together.
Fans will discuss everything from his character to his demeanor to his work ethic, but being around Hood for his freshman year at MSU: the kid CAN get it.
CAN being the keyword. Read More
Today, we join with racing fans in mourning the loss of Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon. As such, this week’s soundtrack has a bit of a somber tone. We give ESPN/ABC a lot of criticism, but they got this one right- Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.
When will it stop?
This week was very very special across the college sports landscape, as special teams highlights and gaffes were the order of the day across the nation. First, the “Woah! Did that just happen?” moments…
When Clemson and Maryland met, the undefeated Tigers should have known that something was swirling that could have put a blemish on their dream season. For starters, the Terrapins chose a uniform that didn’t look like a condiment tray this week, choosing instead the “Fancy Hot Sauce” look. Maryland opened up an eighteen point lead in the second quarter on the Tigers, and nothing in the Michelle Obama playbook was working at all. Then, Sammy Watkins happened, all 345 total yards of his offense, including a special teams play that turned the tide for good.
However amazing his individual performance was for the night, the special teams highlights for the day happened in the “Battle Of The Oil Money”, where T. Boone Pickens University traveled to Austin and found themselves in a shootout with the Longhorns. It was one of those games where you were certain that the last team with a series of possession would win… unless there was time for a kickoff or two: Read More
