Tuesday’s update from the Ohio State press conference and the rest of college football news…

Don't Need No Stinking Badgers

Buckeye 411

• Getting Deep- Interesting notes from the depth chart this week: Boom is #1 with Hall/Hyde behind him. Miller is QB1, with Guiton OR Bauserman, although Fickell said that Kenny G has been getting more of the snaps in practice. Curtis Grant is now in the 2 deep at LB; there’s speculation that Ohio State will be running more of the traditional 4-3 look due to Wisconsin’s running attack
• Fickell Speaks-Historically, Ohio State has struggled the week after a bye. Coach addressed this,

Yeah, I think we did. We got a lot of work done. Our guys did a heck of a job on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. You look back in the years past, ask around how people handled their bye week, you still have to look at your team and figure out what you guys need as opposed to how everybody else does it. I think we did a very good job with the attitudes and getting the work done we needed to get done.

• Captain, My Captain- Brewster, Sweat, and Simon.  I think we’ve found our permanent captains, folks.
• On Wisconsin- Coach Fickell spoke about the big upset in East Lansing, and confessed that he’d gone to bed before the game went final. He spoke at length about the impact that Russell Wilson has had on the Badgers, and how he’s fit into the system from early on. Of course, Wisconsin’s success starts up front, and their line play dictates every aspect of their offensive game plan.
• The Future- As usual, Luke Fickell said that he focuses on the things he can control, and hasn’t given much thought to the pending NCAA sanctions or what benchmarks he might need to meet to be given another year at the helm of the Buckeyes. Interesting that he was asked these questions with Gene Smith in the room; others in attendance said that Smith didn’t flinch during this line of questioning at all.
• Fickell Funnies- When he wasn’t talking about slinging the ball around with his kids, he joked regarding his “to do” list to keep his job for the 2012 season, saying, Read More

Tags: Andrew Sweat, Braxton Miller, Carlos Hyde, Curtis Grant, Dominic Clarke, Eddie George, Jamaal Berry, John Simon, Kenny Guiton, Luke Fickell, Mike Brewster, Missouri, NCAA, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Rich Rodriguez, SEC, Southern Cal, Tyvis Powell, Uniforms, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Categories: College Football, Conference Expansion, Humor, Michigan Football, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Football

Note: As I was typing this, news broke of the Japanese earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the entire Pacific rim… give a bit of perspective about what might be important in life.

Waaaay off the mark

Can’t blame Buckeye fans for being a little out of the loop regarding other news in the world of college sports… here’s a quick recap:

Elsewhere in the NCAA- Hey! Guess What! There were other stories about NCAA institutions that might be outside of the realm of “okee-dokee-ness”.

• Baylor- Yup, they’ve got a reason to be pissed at the NCAA, although the contradictory nature of the NCAA should surprise no one.
• Georgia’s got their own set of problems, although they seem to be secondary.
  
• Stanford, which is an incredible academic institution, had their “easy, athlete friendly” class list revealed this week.  Wonder how their ex-coach felt while all that was happening?
• We ain’t done yet… Yahoo sports implies that there are two other stories on the horizon, one less than the Ohio State situation and one that’s a “10″. So, college sports fans, be careful with the schadenfreude.

Tressel, Another Perspective- With the media barrage that’s out there, it might be good to hear at least a couple of voices that support The Vest.

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Tags: Bobby Knight, Brady Hoke, Florida State, Fox Sports Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Jim Tressel, Rich Rodriguez, Rutgers, SBP, St. John's, Stanford, UConn, Will Allen, Wisconsin
Categories: College Basketball, College Football, Humor, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Football

Highest Caliber

First glance at NLOID; both in Columbus and elsewheres.

Buckeye 411

• Tress Talk- Video from today’s Signing Day wrapup, in it’s entirety. Our friends over at 11 Warriors have it broken down even better with individual athlete interviews.

• Stylin’ and Profilin’- Best dressed recruit award goes to Ron Tanner, styling the bow tie and braces.
• Injury Report- Here’s an argument against playoffs; Terrelle Pryor may be recuperating throughout the spring following his post Sugar Bowl surgery. Methinks it’s time for some Kenny G.
• Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics- In case you missed it, Ohio State has the highest winning percentage in college football since 1904. On the recruiting front, the Buckeyes signed 23 of the 30 student athletes who made official visits (76.7%). The 2011 class is ranked #7 (ESPN), #10 (Rivals), and #3/4 (Scout).
• Stylin’ and Profilin’, The Sequel- Best dressed coach award goes to rookie Stan Drayton, who was told by others on the staff that he should wear a tie.  Of course, no one else did.
• Not All Fun And Games- The two stories of the day may have been the offensive linemen that Ohio State didn’t receive LOI from; Glenville’s Aundrey Walker is headed to USC (more on them later) and Cleveland’s Chris Carter (no relation) was unable to sign due to his incarceration for suspected sexual assault. In an interesting twist, though, a spokesman for Mr. Carter said that he won’t be charged (according to Ken Gordon), and there are reports that he was released without bond; that there wasn’t a strong case, and that charges may not be filed. We’ll keep you posted.
• Ah, Spring- In addition to the five 2011 Buckeyes already on campus, Akron’s Tommy Brown will be joining the team for practice leading up to the Spring Game.
• Tressel’s Komedy Klassic- We take this time to defer to one of the newest Buckeyes, Mr. Ryan Shazier

I got four good guys with me helping me stay warm. Wait. Not like that…

Elsewheres Read More

Tags: Aundrey Walker, Brady Hoke, Chris Carter, Joe Paterno, Kirk Ferentz, Lane Kiffin, Mark Richt, Nick Saban, NLOID, Rich Rodriguez, Ron Tanner, Ryan Shazier, SBP, South Carolina, Southern Cal, Stan Drayton, Terrelle Pryor, Tommy Brown
Categories: College Football, Humor, Ohio State Football, Recruiting

UPDATE 3: Yup. It’s done. Let the grieving begin… it’s OK to cry

UPDATE 2: Ok, this time we mean it? Sources over at ESPN are now reporting that Dave Brandon will hold a press conference today at 12:30 ET to discuss the matter and the future of the program.

UPDATE: Reports are now surfacing that the information below has yet to be solidified, and that the meetings in question may not occur until tomorrow (Wednesday). We’ll keep you in the loop as this develops.

It’s with great sadness that we announce that Rich Rodriguez administration at the University of Michigan has come to an end.

For everything there is a season... a time to cry, a time to laugh

In his meeting today with AD Dave Brandon, Rodriguez was terminated following a three year tenure wrapped in frustration.

Highlights include:

Read More

Tags: Rich Rodriguez
Categories: Michigan Football

Don’t forget to join us on Saturday for our All Day Livechat! Better than exchanging Christmas gifts, for sure.

Another game that we should do a better job at previewing. Well, that’s one resolution already screwed up…

Seal of excellence

Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4 SEC) vs. Michigan (7-5, 3-5 Big T1e1n)

January 1, 2011 1:00 PM ET

History

This is the sixth oldest bowl game, and has been played every year since 1946. For Buckeye fans, it’s pretty forgettable.  The mission of the Gator Bowl Association is to “provide Northeast Florida with the very best in college athletics and related activities in order to maximize positive impact on the area’s economy, national image and community pride”, and they have a president who’s one of the few honest members of bowl committees across the country, saying they don’t care about football, only about money.

Read More

Tags: Bowls, Denard Robinson, Michigan, Mississippi State, Rich Rodriguez, Tate Five-cier
Categories: College Football, Miscellaneous

Festive

It’s a bit quiet in Columbus… not a creature was stirring, as it were.

Buckeye 411

• Post Season Hardware: Terrelle Pryor is a finalist for the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Football Award
• You look familiar, somehow… Jim Tressel was not sad to see Mallet transfer, and now faces him at the “prime of his career”.
• Post Season Hardware, Continued: Junior Mike Brewster is a finalist for the Rimington Award
• Looking To The Future: Guess who has a 2011 scholarship offer? A long snapper. Guess who doesn’t (yet)? This guy
• Interestingly Enough: ESPN’s Gregg Easterbrook also takes a look at athletic department spending, and talks at length about The Ohio State University. I’m sure you can guess his perspective on it all…

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Tags: Akise Teague, Arkansas, Coaching, Indiana, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tressel, Michigan, Mike Brewster, Minnesota, Oregon, Rich Rodriguez, Ryan Mallett, SBP, Terrelle Pryor
Categories: College Football, Ohio State Football

It’s been a while since we brought you any news from our vaunted rival up north, other than the usual.

So, to rectify that, here’s an update from the Wolverine year end banquet last night. According to multiple sources, Coach Rodriguez made numerous statements regarding his position; in the minds of many, he was trying to both address and cool some of the flames that are crackling around the seat of his position as head coach.

As noted in both today’s Detroit Free Press and Ann Arbor News, his year end comments included the following:

“My name is Rich Rodriguez, I’m honored to be the head football coach at the University of Michigan, and I hope you all realize I truly want to be a Michigan man.”

I promised myself I wouldn't cry...

At the conclusion of his remarks, he spoke emotionally about the song that’s gotten him through the last parts of this season, a season marked by yet another late collapse after feasting on weaker out of conference opponents.

The song, of course, was Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up”… and after reading the first several stanzas, Coach Rodriguez played the anthem and lifted the hands of those on the dias with him. An emotional moment, to be sure; although which emotions were stirred will certainly be discovered over the next few week.

Although, Michigan State fans have already weighed in. Read More

Tags: Josh Groban, Rich Rodriguez
Categories: College Football, Humor, Michigan Football

Scoping it out...

No press conference this week, but we do have Tress’ thoughts from after The Game and so forth

Buckeye 411

• Award Winners- Congrats to the members of the Ohio State team who were honored with All Big Ten accolades by the conference’s coaches. The Buckeyes led the conference with ten winners, including first team Boom Herron, Mike Adams, Dane Sanzenbacher, Cam Heyward, Brian Rolle, Ross Homan, Chimdi Chekwa, and Jermale Hines. Second Team honors went to Justin Boren and Mike Brewster, with Honorable Mention given to Barclay, Pryor, Posey and Simon.
• Tress Talk- On Michigan

Michigan is among the elite programs and will be and their record will reflect that in the course of time but, you know, we all have our ups and downs in a period and so forth and it’s highly competitive. It’s going to become more competitive because we’re adding Nebraska. The world changed when we added Penn State. The world changes even more when we add Nebraska. The world changed when Dano (Dantonio) went over to Michigan State. There’s constantly changes, but Michigan will be back, we don’t have to worry about that.

• Game Award Winners – Terrelle Pryor was the Offensive Player of the Week, and former Wolverine Justin Boren earned Lineman of the Week honors. Jermale Hines won Defensive POTW, while Nathan Williams was the Attack Force POTW. Jordan Hall was singled out for his efforts on Special Teams, and Hines won the Tatum award for big hit (personally, I would have gone with Berry’s block on the KO return, but what do I know?)
• Not All Better, But A Start- Since Earle Bruce was fired, the Buckeyes are now 11-11-1 in The Game. You read that right, Tressel has now overcome the hole Coop dug for us. Here’s to seven more.
• Award Winners Continued- TP2 was only honorable mention, something that obviously did not meet his expectations.
• Tress Talk, The Sequel- Looking back at the season-

REPORTER: Jim, obviously you talk all the time about you want to get better over the course of a year. To be 11-1, where do you feel like this team is in achieving this goal and just how good of a team do you think you are at 11-1 at the end of the season?

COACH TRESSEL: Not good enough to be the outright Big Ten champions and automatic bid to the Rose Bowl and all those things that you shoot for, but we’re pretty fair, and I believe we’re a top ten football team and probably going to get to play a top ten football team and see if we’re allowed to stay in the top ten is what I would guess, but I think it goes beyond that.

Sometimes the ball bounces funny and you end up undefeated or you end up losing however many, and our guys just kept working and whatever came their way, they handled it and pressed on and handled adversity and handled success as it came. They need a little break and they need to take a deep breath and then they need to think about playing against one of the top teams in the nation wherever we play, whoever it is. We’ve had — really we’ve had 13 games in 2010. We played a pretty good Oregon team on the first day of the year, so it’s been a lot of fun.

• Bowling For… Signs point to a Sugar Bowl match up against either South Carolina (again!) or Arkansas (for the first time). We’ll keep you up to date on the details when things are announced on Saturday, but will offer this travel advice: When in N’awlins, 1) 11W speaks truth, 2) this guy does not.
• Let There Be Lights-Kicking and screaming, the Horseshoe is being dragged into the modern age.  Plus: Late night games equals more “socializing”. Minus: You know this has everything to do with television revenue…
• Tressel’s Komedy Klassic- Again, presented without commentary or context

But who cares what I think. See ya

Read More

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Brian Rolle, Cameron Heyward, Chimdi Chekwa, Dane Sanzenbacher, Daniel Herron, Denard Robinson, DeVier Posey, Devin Barclay, Florida, Florida State, Jermale Hines, Jim Tressel, John Simon, Jordan Hall, Justin Boren, Mike Adams, Mike Brewster, Nathan Williams, Oregon, Rich Rodriguez, Ross Homan, SBP, South Carolina, Southern Idaho State, TCU, Terrelle Pryor, Texas, The Game, The Shoe
Categories: College Football, Humor, Michigan Football, Ohio State Football