Buckeye Blogger NetworkWhile the details are still coming out, I can’t stop thinking about how amazing the situation in Cleveland was yesterday. We need more folks like Charles Ramsey who would be willing to get involved when it’s easier to just mind their own business. Only one soundtrack possibility today, then.
Silver Dollar Pancakes- Exquisite!
Buckeye 411
The greatest day in brainstorming.
Friend of the BBC and draft aficionado Jeff joins us again to talk the NFL Draft. Jeff is a contributor on Indian’s Baseball Insider, has contributed NFL draft coverage on Sports Time Ohio, and can be found on twitter @jeffMLBdraft.
With about two weeks to go until the NFL draft, things are falling into place. The All Star games are done, the combine is long over, and pro days are all but done as well. Ohio State wrapped up their own Pro Day, so at this point things are pretty set in stone for the players.
The Pro Day was the last chance for a lot of these guys to show off what they could do, and prove to teams not only are they worth drafting but drafting high. The downside to this is that the top showing at the Pro day and the only guy who seemed to turn heads was Troy Smith, who used the Pro Day as a chance to try and get back into the NFL. It’s been frankly a rough few months for the guys in grey, so let’s see where their stock is and where I think they end up going.
Johnathan Hankins
Jonathan Hankins is the star of this class. When he declared some people had him listed as a top ten pick and the second defensive tackle on the board behind Star Lotulelei. Since then others have rocketed up, and while Hankins hasn’t hurt himself he has still fallen. This is often a problem for underclassmen, they don’t get to participate in the all star games and this in turn can make them forgotten. The other issue is that while the talent is without a doubt there for Hankins to be a first rounder, the question following him is why he failed to produce and why he seemed to be a low effort player. When no one can see you play, the low effort and little production will hurt you.
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The NFL Combine is over. Basketball season is getting good and maybe, just maybe the Buckeyes are catching their second wind. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Tommy Terrific at the 2000 Combine
NFL player factory
Seven Buckeyes were selected to participate in this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. John Simon, Jonathan Hankins, Jake Stoneburner, Zack Boren, Reid Fragel, Nathan Williams and Etienne Sabino were poked, prodded and dissected by doctors and NFL executives. They then went onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for tests of agility, speed and overall skill. Read More
How Sweet It Was
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and survived it safely! Did you get what you wanted? I decided since this is the last week of 2012, why not do a “best of and worst of” to recap all the things that caught our eye or made us angry this past year. Let’s rumble!
The Gator Bowl- The year started out with the Buckeyes in the Gator Bowl taking on the Florida Gators. The outcome and subsequent bowl ban clearly make this one of our “worst of” for the year. The catch to it that makes me crazy is listening to everyone now talk about it like they knew that the bowl ban was coming. From Gordon Gee to Gene Smith and down the line to all of us, everyone thought they would be getting probation and reduced scholarships for “Tattoo-gate”. The revisionists out there like to destroy Smith for not taking a self-imposed one year ban. There are plenty of reasons to not like Gene Smith, the bowl ban isn’t one of them.
Beating Syracuse- Everyone knows Jim Boeheim is a cranky old fart. One of the “best of” moments of 2012 was watching the Buckeyes take apart his Syracuse Orangemen to earn a berth in the Final Four. Watching him grimace and complain, knowing he was outmatched and on his way out of the tournament was a beautiful sight!
Circle Drill- Read More
Rough Way To Start The Year
Everything is sort of quiet around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the holidays are almost here. Since hindsight is 20/20, let’s look back on 2012. Who’s ready to rumble?
The 2012 story didn’t begin on January 1, 2012. Of course, so much had already happened up to that point that I would be remiss without first going back to November 29, 2011 when the hiring of Urban Meyer as the next head coach at Ohio State became official. With that, we also have to think back to December 22nd of 2011, the day the sanctions prohibiting the Buckeyes from playing in a bowl game after the 2012 season, reducing scholarships and prohibiting Ohio State from competing in the Big Ten Championship game was announced.
“Gator don’t play…”
2012 started out with a trip to something called the Tax Slayer dot com Gator Bowl where the Buckeyes squared off with? Of course it had to be Urban Meyer’s old team, the Florida Gators. In a game that was quite honestly hard to watch, the Buckeyes fell 24-17. Unfortunately it was a game that didn’t feel like it was winnable in the end despite the mere seven point deficit. The good news from that day was that on the next day, January 2nd the Gators former boss officially took the wheel driving the Buckeye football program.
Anticipation and predictions
We waited all spring and through a long dry summer to finally see what Urban Meyer’s offense with Braxton Miller at quarterback would look like once it actually came to fruition on the field. Preseason speculation saw the Buckeyes picked to win anywhere from 7-10 games. With the Big Ten being in another of its string of down years, it wasn’t too farfetched to think the Buckeyes could be 10-2 or even 9-3. I think the consensus among people closest to the program were that road games at Michigan State and Wisconsin seemed like stumbling blocks for a young team. I think most thought Nebraska at Ohio Stadium would be a toss-up considering all that Nebraska had returning from 2011. Naturally, we all know anything can happen in The Game.
The first quarter against Miami… Read More
The Heisman trophy has been awarded. The Buckeyes are gaining recruits. Buckeye basketball players are shooting hoops. It’s almost Christmas time. Let’s rumble!
Hei-sham
We're just as surprised as you are
On Saturday the Heisman trophy was awarded to Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Why did people outside the SEC region vote for Manziel? Yes, he accumulated 4600 total yards on the season. Sure, he won at Alabama. So, let me get this straight: The requirements to be the “most outstanding player in college football” is to have the most yards and beat an SEC “super power”? Being a leader no longer matters. Neither does keeping your nose clean off the field. Leading a team with the hardest schedule in college football to an undefeated season and spearheading a defense that allows ten (10!) touchdowns for an entire season doesn’t matter either apparently.
I should be ecstatic. Apparently having the name Notre Dame attached to yours no longer guarantees trophy’s the way it has in the past. We all remember when Troy Smith won the Heisman in 2006 and being worried that Brady Quinn might edge him out simply because of the name Notre Dame. After Saturday’s Heisman vote, that is clearly a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it’s been replaced by another stigma or fallacy, and that is simply being associated with the mighty SEC. Why do I say that? Let’s be honest: If Manziel plays for Texas A&M of the Big 12 and has his “Heisman moment” Thanksgiving night against the Texas Longhorns, I don’t care how many yards Manziel accumulated, Manti Te’o would be the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner. But because Manziel plays in the SEC and beat Alabama, well, that’s Herculean and should obviously be rewarded.
If you don’t believe me, look at the voting. The southern region of the country ie SEC-land voted overwhelmingly for Manziel. Not really that surprising. The shocker was the amount of folks in the Midwest and East that voted for Manziel. Some surely voted for “Johnny Football” because they dislike the Irish, while others I can guarantee voted for him “because he did what he did in the SEC”. And that’s rubbish.
Manziel was not “the most outstanding player in college football” in 2012, stats be damned. The Heisman has always been an accumulation of stats, team achievement, off the field success, highlight moments and their personal story. With the exception of stats, Manti Te’o trumps “Johnny Football” in every category. But he didn’t win it. He lost to the stigma of the SEC.
How far is this going to go and when is it going to end?
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Coach Meyer’s comments following the win over the Central Florida Knights, courtesy of Fox Sports Ohio: (transcription provided by the Ohio State Athletic Department)
As always, I like to give credit to a very good team we faced in Central Florida. We knew going in they would try to run downhill on us.
I think this is the second week in a row we held a team under 100 yards rushing. However, pass defense, we have a long way to go. Getting pressure on the quarterback.
Offensively, we’re down to our third tailback, and it looked like it. We have to get better. The guys carrying the ball are talented, just terrible mistakes. Penalties and turnovers are not ‑‑ in the first game, very minimal penalties and zero turnovers.
And then this week was not good. So just gotta fix it. We’re going to have to really ID who is going to touch the ball. We have to go back to the drawing board and make some decisions on who is going to physically touch that ball and they have to take care of it, obviously.
So I would also like to thank our fans and our student body. Tremendous. And also the weatherman did a nice job for us. So appreciate his effort. And got a big one next week, but we’re going to enjoy the win. Winning major college football games is a tough duty, especially when you face a quality opponent. Read More
I have just begun my fifteenth season of being an usher for the home football games at THE Ohio State University. I have seen a lot of football over the years and it all began with the number one team in the land in ’98 losing to MSU. Coach Coopers last chance at glory in Scarlet and Gray probably was the beginning of the end for his time in Columbus. I have seen some great games and some wonderful wins during my tenure there and am looking forward to giving you my perspective from the cheap seats.
View of the walk from the cheap seats with my IPhone
As an usher, we have to be in our locations no later than 9:30, but for the most part I have always been there three hours before hand. My best friend and writer for tBBC, Gary Russell, has been doing it now for 5 seasons and is only two portals away. We have a chance to see some things that most fans do not see – and honestly maybe few reporters. The skull session takes place at St. Johns at 9:45 now(10:00 before) and then the players enjoy that walk. Fans get a kick out of it because they are a part of a neat tradition.
What they haven’t seen over the years are the teams walking through the stadium after coming down the ramp. They usually come into the stadium to music and in years past it’s been various songs. The best part about Saturdays walk was how they did it. In Coach Tressel’s years they always avoided the field itself and walked up the visitors side of the field off the turf. When the players were initially getting to the bottom of the ramp and moving past the flag pole, they were heading that way. Not Coach Meyer, he continued straight forward and across the middle of the field from goal post to goal post and the players followed.
I love this because the ushers are the only people in the stadium cheering for the players and their coach. There may be concessionaires and security and those types, but it’s mostly just us who got to enjoy it. You could see Coach Meyer taking it in, realizing this was his first real walk up the middle of the field. It sent a message to those of us witnessing it. This is their field and they are going to be the first ones on it on game day and no one else.
The greatest part about the end of the walk was the heartfelt moments that he had with every single player prior to heading up the ramp to get ready. Fans have been going over and over how they’ll miss the hive and weren’t sure the Quick Cals would be fun. I can tell you that he has found a way to have a new tradition for him and his guys that he didn’t necessarily want or need the whole world to see.
He took the time to shake hands with and hug every player. Stopped them and said some encouraging words and gave them a huge bro hug and sent them on their way. This gave me chills. To see him showing a moment to some of us that lets the players know just how important that day was to him. It was a sight to behold and I am glad I witnessed it.
I am not entirely sure where the Quick Cals will end up in the tradition area, but it had a few hiccups for the rest of us. The new stadium system was blaring AC/DC while they were doing it and it was difficult to hear up in D-Deck. However; from what I read and heard after the game, it appears the students love it and a lot of them were sorry they weren’t in the stadium early enough to get it. Remember students, you are the heart of the fans to the Buckeyes and we need you in the seats about a half hour before kickoff to be sure!
Boren guns a blaze during Quick Cals, thank you Josh Winslow!
What started out as in inauspicious first quarter, ended with some very encouraging sights. Gary and I had been texting each other about the talent in Coach Meyer’s system. About needing Jordan Hall to be able to pull some things off with what he wants to do. To be honest, my exact words to him were “we don’t have the talent for Coach Meyer to run his offense”. I wasn’t knocking any player specifically, just the offense as a whole.
The funny thing about my statement and the timing of it is that on the previous three possessions you could tell the stadium was on the verge of giving Coach Meyer his first boo. As fate would have it, just as I was walking to talk to Gary some more about our texts they hit a long run and as I stepped around the corner and said something unimportant to Gary, it happened. THE catch of the year. One of the best throws and catches I have witnessed in Ohio Stadium.
ESPY worthy for sure. One of the best catches I have ever seen in person, thank you Josh Winslow!
Braxton Miller threw the ball in the only place Devin Smith could catch it. It even appeared as though he was overthrowing Smith on purpose because of the good coverage by the Miami defender. When Smith went up the defender lost track of him because he was up there flying, grabbing the ball with one hand, pulling it in and landing and rolling. I believe Smith sent a message loud and clear with the catch. The rest of the team better step up their game!
The rest as they say was history. The Buckeyes put up a quarter in scoring and yardage that topped several total yardage of games last season and almost several others. The first Saturday as an usher was in the books and there was plenty to be excited about. The next game against UCF has everyone wondering what’s next and I for one believe that while we may be disappointed for a quarter here and there? We will not be disappointed in the effort that these players put forth.
Until Next Saturday! Have a great week! Go Bucks!
