Keys to the Game: Ohio State dominates Illinois State 94-67 in opener
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The Buckeyes began their season with a big W on Wednesday afternoon.

We didn’t know if we would ever get here for certain with all the craziness that has been 2020, but college basketball is officially back! Chris Holtmann had to rebuild his roster this offseason, and we got to see the fruits of his labor in action for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, as Ohio State opened their season with a 94-67 win over Illinois State.

The Buckeyes came out of the gate with a vengeance, scoring the game’s first 22 points before the Redbirds even got on the board, and from there they really never looked back. Justice Sueing was phenomenal in his OSU debut, leading the team with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three steals. As a team, Ohio State shot just under 50% from the floor, sharing the sugar all game long as they finished with 17 assists.

The starting five


We weren’t quite sure heading into the season who would crack the starting lineup for this new-look Ohio State roster. With Kaleb Wesson and Andre Wesson having moved on and a handful of transfers leaving in the offseason, spots have certainly opened up. Chris Holtmann has a lot of talented pieces to work with this year, and there is a lot of freedom in how exactly he will deploy them.

In game one of the new campaign, the Buckeyes rolled out a starting five of CJ Walker and Duane Washington Jr. in the guard spots — as expected — with the trio of Justice Sueing, E.J. Liddell and Kyle Young in the front court. For Sueing, it was his Ohio State debut after sitting out all of last season per NCAA transfer rules. No real surprises in the starting unit to begin the year, as the team also debuted its new jerseys for the first time.

Liddell slammed home of the first basket of the season, and we were underway.

Midseason form


Some teams may get out to a slow start in their first game of the season — especially after a weird start-and-stop, pandemic-induced offseason. That was not the case for Ohio State, as they opened up the floodgates right from the get-go.

The Buckeyes started the afternoon on a 22-0 run. On the offensive end, Liddell scored the team’s first five points on the opening dunk and an and-one layup shortly thereafter. OSU hit on three of their first five attempts from downtown, including Sueing and Washington each connecting on early 3-pointers. Sueing was the hot hand early, hitting his first three shots in a scarlet and gray jersey to help spark the run.

The defense looked unbreakable early on as well, forcing the Redbirds to start off shooting 0-for-9 from the field while also turning the ball over four times. Holtmann’s group was locking down with some aggressive man defense, actively talking and switching as they kept Illinois State in check for more than six minutes of action. It wasn’t until the 13:36 mark in the period that the Redbirds got their first point of the game at the free throw line.

Running out of steam


It was a strong half overall for Ohio State, but the team looked like they tired out just before the end of the opening period. Illinois State was able to head into the break on a 7-0 run, as the Buckeyes did not score for the final 2:57 of the first period. OSU hit just one of its last seven shots from the field before heading into the locker room, while the Redbirds hit 9-of-15 after their slow start.

Even still, the early run for Ohio State was far too much to overcome in the first 20 minutes, as Holtmann’s squad headed into the break leading 42-25. The story of the half was points in the paint, where the Buckeyes held a 24-6 advantage. OSU moved the ball really well in the period, finishing with eight assists while shooting 47% from the field. Seven different players had at least three points at the half.

Court is in session


Listen, excuse my puns, but if you’re going to throw a guy at me whose first AND last name are both courtroom words, you can’t expect me to hold back.

Justice Sueing transferred to Ohio State last year after being the best player at Cal in the 2018-19 campaign. In his last season with the Golden Bears, Sueing led the team with 14.3 points per game to go along with six rebounds and two assists per contest while shooting over 43% from the floor. Clearly Sueing is a great player, but would his skills transfer to Columbus and a different style of play in the Big Ten?

While Illinois State isn’t exactly the same rough-and-tough matchup you expect to see once you enter B1G play, Sueing passed his first test with the Buckeyes with flying colors. He was the team’s best player in the first half, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field with 12 points, two boards and a steal in just 11 minutes of play. Ohio State knew they would need to find a new source of scoring with Kaleb Wesson off to pursue his NBA dreams, and Sueing showed signs in game one that he could potentially fill that void.

Going hard in the paint


The front court was really the biggest question mark for Ohio State heading into this season. We’ve talked ad nauseam about the absence of the Wesson brothers, but we also didn’t quite know what to fully expect from the guys who were already on the roster. We hadn’t seen any of Sueing, Young has a history with lower body injuries, and Liddell was just a freshman a year ago. With Seth Towns on the shelf to begin the year, could the Buckeyes find ways to score the rock in the paint?

The answer was a resounding yes, as Ohio State’s bigs — and equally as impressively their guards — were able to score at will from underneath the basket. The Buckeyes outscored the Redbirds 50-14 in the paint. Liddell was really strong in his season debut, scoring 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting almost exclusively from inside 10 feet. Young also added eight points of his own, with most of his points from right around the rim as well.

Ohio State also did quite well in the rebounding department, especially on the offensive boards. The Bucks pulled down 14 offensive rebounds on the afternoon, out-rebounding Illinois State 43-33 overall.

First look at the freshmen


Even before we reached garbage time, coach Holtmann had no problem giving his freshmen some really decent minutes in the first game of the season.

Zed Key led the first-year guys with 12 points — one of five Buckeyes to reach double-digits on the afternoon. He played 17 minutes in the opener, hitting 3-of-4 from the field and knocking down 6-of-9 at the charity stripe. He also hauled in five boards.

Freshman guard Eugene Brown III got to see the floor a good amount as well, scoring three points and pulling down four rebounds in his first game action at Ohio State.


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Best in the B1G: Ranking basketball uniforms
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Lance King/Getty Images

Keeping in mind threads don’t win championships...

The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team got new threads ahead of the 2020-21 season. In fact, for the first time ever, both the men’s and women’s teams will don the same primary home and away uniforms (though there will be some throwbacks and yet to be determined alternates).

But where do the Buckeyes’ uniforms rank in the conference overall? Without further ado, let’s jump in…

14. Illinois

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

The Illini’s Nike uniforms look vintage but not in a good way. The “Illinois” lettering across the chest looks outdated, and the blue neckline combined with the white side stripes (on the orange uniforms) or blue side stripes (on the white) is distracting.

In all, they give off the vibe of practice jerseys.

13. Minnesota

Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

When your colors are that shade of maroon and gold, it’s hard to do a lot with those uniforms. But the Gophers’ Nike jerseys aren’t the worst. In fact, somehow even the all gold jerseys aren’t total eyesores. The big knock I’d put on them are the awkward stripes on the shorts which, for some reason, meet in the front of the shorts instead of heading down the sides.

12. Purdue



With colors like black and gold, you’d think the Boilermakers would pull off a solid and classic uniform. However, Purdue’s Nike basketball jerseys certainly leave something to be desired. The colorblock at the top of the shoulders and the stylized “Purdue” on the chest complicate what should be a smooth uniform. Boiler down on this look.

The Hammer Down Cancer alternates are baller, though, and they’re for a good cause.

11. Nebraska

Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Huskers’ Adidas jerseys are new this season, with Nebraska eliminating the pinstripes from both their home and away uniforms. While the red away jersey is largely the same beyond said pinstripe removal, the white home jersey got the added word art treatment, with the program opting for a stylized “Huskers” in lieu of the traditional “Nebraska” emblazoned across the chest.

Overall, the pinstripes never really fit with the basketball motif (who do the Huskers think they are? The Yankees?) and it was a good move to ditch them. However, newly stylized wordmark on the chest is difficult to read, and perhaps the program should have stuck with its traditional block lettering.

10. Wisconsin

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

The Badgers’ Under Armour uniforms manage to do a lot with what’s still a generally simple design, having been updated for the first time in nearly two decades ahead of last season. The stripes on the shorts, for example, start going horizontally down the leg before wrapping wholly around the thigh.

The neckline on the jersey is somewhat odd, with alternating color blocks from front to back, but the lettering across the chest is simple. Additionally, the numbers mirror those of the football jerseys, which is cool for the brand.

9. Rutgers

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

The Scarlet Knights unveiled new uniforms ahead of last season. The red, black and white Adidas uniforms are simpler than their previous versions, eliminating detail on the shoulder straps. The Rutgers font on the uniforms is distinct, but the remaining elements of the uniform are pretty run-of-the-mill.

8. Northwestern

Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Wildcats’ Under Armour uniforms are so on point for their brand. I can’t imagine a better getup for a preppy private school on the north shore of Chicago. The purple is tasteful, the font collegiate, the neckline conservative.

However, we’ve got to talk about Northwestern’s alternates, because those gothic script uniforms might be the best alternates in the conference. If only college basketball could be played on Halloween. Or in a Medieval town in France.

7. Michigan State

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

As simple and (okay, I’ll just say it) boring as the Spartans’ football uniforms are, the Nike basketball unis have taken a different turn. In fact, if one were to turn on a Michigan State basketball game in recent years, one might think they were watching the likes of Oregon or Baylor given the near fluorescence of some of the uniform combos.

When it comes to their usual home whites, though, Michigan State provided a classical update (as in, quite literally, a Hellenistic throwback), adding a meander border to the sides of its jerseys and shorts as a bold connection to the Spartan mascot’s Greek roots. It’s an interesting take on tying the brand together through culturally relevant symbolism. But this isn’t an art history class.

6. Iowa

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

While the Hawkeyes’ football uniforms are literal carbon copies of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ uniforms, the Nike basketball getups are much cooler (my bias against the Steelers aside). Iowa’s basketball jerseys do a good job of toeing the line between flashy and classic. They’re clearly Iowa, distinct from other black and gold unis, but the jerseys are simple enough not to be distracting.

That being said, the black uniforms are clearly the best, while the gold fall a little too far on the “flashy” side of things. The exception is Iowa’s throwback jersey with the script Iowa.

5. Penn State

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

So simple. So classic. Like their football jerseys, but better. The Nittany Lions’ Nike basketball uniforms - both home and away - benefit from a lack of adornment. The simple blue jerseys have a white side stripe and a simple white wordmark across the chest. The whites are reversed. No fancy neckline. No weird iconography. No strange cuts.

The challenge, then, is that there is very little to distinguish Penn State’s jerseys, so it’s hard to put them too far up the list.

4. Ohio State

The Ohio State University

For fans of Ohio State athletics, the new Nike basketball uniforms are amazingly on-brand. The big change from the most recent uniforms is the addition of a token stripe along the side of the jerseys, continuing down the shorts. The “Ohio State” wordmark across the meshed chest is distinctive without being distracting. The new uniforms have managed to incorporate a lot of the branding elements that have come to distinguish the Buckeyes — like, in fact, the Buckeye decals on top of the waistline of the shorts.

3. Maryland

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

The trim here is where it’s at — forget everything I said about simplicity being the way to go for basketball uniforms. While the University of Maryland deserves credit for boldly incorporating possibly the boldest state flag in the union into its uniforms, the Under Armour basketball jerseys manage to do what the football ones cannot: be tasteful. Add in the detail on the numbers and these jerseys are straight fire.

Plus, we must accept that these newcomers can back up their ridiculous patterns on the hardcourt in ways they have yet to show on the football field.

2. Michigan

Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images

You’ll never convince me that “blue and yellow” look good together, but there’s no denying that the Wolverines have pretty sick basketball jerseys. While the jump man hasn’t exactly been a good icon for the football team (it’s literally a basketball logo), the Nike brand subsidiary certainly has found a natural fit for the basketball jerseys.

The neckline is probably the best part of the whole getup, and hails back to the Tune Squad’s jerseys in Space Jam with the striped detail around the neck and the arms. Somehow, the uniform collectively - especially the maze version - takes me back to the 90s, especially when players like Jordan Poole opt for the shorty shorts.

1. Indiana



The Hoosiers’ Adidas uniforms are classic, timeless and perfect. Even though they were actually updated in recent years, they still look like the jerseys Ray Tolbert could have worn back in the day. Like Penn State’s football uniforms, Indiana’s jerseys harken back to a simpler time, like when Indiana dominated basketball in the Big Ten. The stripes around the waistband and the bottom of the shorts is whimsical without being overbearing, while toned down with a simple wordmark and clean neckline.

If there’s any fault in placing such a simple jersey at this point on the list, take the Hoosiers’ warmups as reason enough to put them higher. They set apart what could easily be the crimson and cream jerseys of Alabama, Oklahoma or Arkansas with something unique. They’re also like the pajama pants of my dreams.

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I was amazed when it wasn't called. The intent was clear.

Thanks!

Transferred to Cincinnati. Nice pickup for Luke Fickell.

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Interesting that not only is Hoban the smallest enrollment for D-II, it is below the average of D-III schools.

In their 11-0 run which included 7 teams listed in the final Cleveland.com poll they were 236-34 in the 6 playoff games !! 2 undefeated playoff opponents, 2 w one loss including Massillon

Amazing run by the USA #15 Knights.

brodybuck21 said:

Amir Garrett on 2019 Reds: ‘The word rebuild should be out the door’

• Mike Hartsock, WHIO TV

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. —

Amir Garrett is one of a long list of Cincinnati Reds pitching prospects in the last few years who might have been pushed up to the big league roster before they were ready.

Like former Dayton Dragons teammates Sal Romano and Robert Stephenson, Garrett needs to impress a new manager (David Bell) and pitching coach (Derek Johnson) this spring. The addition of veterans Sonny Gray, Alex Wood and Tanner Roark means fewer spots available on the 2019 pitching staff.

“The competition level is going to rise. You see guys coming out with a chip on their shoulder,” Garrett said. “The window is closing and it’s just going to lift up the competition.”


Garrett, 26, made his major league debut in April 2017 as a starting pitcher and won his first two games, but that success quickly faded. The 6-foot-5 left-hander lost six of his next seven decisions and was shipped out to Triple-A Louisville until rosters were expanded in September.

When Garrett returned, he was transformed into a relief pitcher, where he seems to have found a home.

“I love the bullpen and eventually I want to be a closer,” said Garrett, who finished 3-8 with a 7.39 ERA that first season. “It’s fits my personality. I can come in and attack a hitter and not save anything for later. I can just put it all on the line that day.”

Garrett made the permanent move to the bullpen at the end of spring training last year. He appeared in 66 games (1-2, 4.29 ERA) last season and now seems to thrive on the pressure of being a reliever.

“I can go two games in a row, three games in a row, whatever the team needs me to do,” he said. If I’m falling off on that fourth day and they say, ‘Amir we need you,’ I’m going to go and give it everything I’ve got.”

Garrett will likely be on the opening day roster for the third year in a row when the season starts next month, and like the other guys who have been part of losing teams, he’s ready to have something positive to build on.

“I feel like the word rebuild should be out the door,” he said. “We’re progressing and getting better and I think we’re going to turn some heads this year.”

Garrett took his confidence public right before Christmas when he tweeted, “Y’all can quote me, save the tweet. Whatever, but we about to make some noise,” and he backed that up this week.

“We are about to make some noise,” he said. “It’s not going to be coming into Great American Ball Park anymore and thinking ‘we’re playing the Reds we don’t have to give out best.’ I’m going to say it even if some teammates aren’t … we’re here to play.”

Garrett climbed the ladder quickly through the Reds minor league system, and he’s not wasting any time making an impression this spring. He opened some eyes Tuesday, throwing live batting practice to a group that included Joey Votto, Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez.

“I feel like this is my year to progress as a pitcher and be better,” Garrett said. “I know the organization expects a lot from me so I can carry that on my shoulders and it’s time to show them that I’m the pitcher they always thought I would be.”

https://www.daytondailynews.com/spo...tRcSQ69q64M3Q7MjiLz-cCsyMkPV95S1WyEVeJlGMsD1M

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Good kid, from a great family. My wife and I are friends with his parents. Kid is being groomed for coaching and knows it

This will likely win me no friends here, but I wouldn't mind replacing Mattison with this guy.

great return by McCall tonight also forgotten in the wash due to yet another shit officiating call. Hopefully he gets more opportunities because it was good seeing him turn it on today.

The "Brotherhood" is still alive and well:

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Culture isn’t the same everywhere. Right now, it’s very different at Ohio State than it is with most football programs.

As historical programs like Michigan, Penn State, Texas and others find themselves on the edge of collapse during the insanity that is 2020, the Buckeyes are thriving.

They are growing and improving. They are getting better when some of Ohio State’s top supposed rivals are falling apart.

Why? How does culture go from concept to consistent?

“I think it’s the type of people first off, that you bring in — the families, the parents, everybody really cares about each other,” Ryan Day said on Thursday afternoon. “We focus on trying to bring in really good players, but more importantly great people. That starts in recruiting.”

It’s the culture in Columbus that helped Ohio State land another huge piece of its future on Thursday night when 5-star quarterback Quinn Ewers committed, three weeks or so after he decommitted from Texas. The Buckeyes stand together, and that’s not the case at Texas right now.
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“It’s just our culture,” Buckeyes defensive end Tyler Friday said. “Our culture is very consistent here. From my freshman year to my junior year now, things change slightly, but the culture always been the same. We build on toughness and brotherhood, regardless of what kind of players we got in the locker room or the coaches on staff, regardless if it’s your first year here or tenth year here, you understand the culture.”

Suddenly, I understand exactly what is wrong with America these days. Someone does something like some of these pics of hot dogs and they should get a life sentence.

ScriptOhio said:

REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME. Maryland center Jalen Smith was a top-10 pick in last night's NBA Draft, which immediately reminded us of that one time last year when he got absolutely dominated by Kaleb Wesson, who went undrafted.

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Honestly, the more embarrassing thing for me is that his head coach spent the next week complaining that his future top-10 pick got worked in the post by a smaller player that didn't even end up getting drafted. I hope Chris Holtmann beats Maryland by 55 this year.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...hio-state-a-nightmare-matchup-and-the-college

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That win was very satisfying and fuck maryland

Stick to Sports podcast: Help us decide which potato chip is the best potato chip
Tia Johnston via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Also, do we have any General Hospital fans? Does Tia remind you of someone? This episode will help you figure it out

Land-Grant Holy Land’s newest podcast series, Stick to Sports, will be unlike any podcast you’ve heard on the Ohio State beat. Your hosts, Tia Johnston and Matt Tamanini, will (of course) talk Ohio State football, but the primary focus of the show will be on what’s going on around the periphery, such as weird/funny happenings in college football and the sports world at large, as well as other things that keep us interested in between games, whether that’s pop culture, social media trends— you name it.

Listen and Subscribe Now:


You basically get it all in this week’s episode: My problem with the concept of ~baking~, Matt describing General Hospital to me because I’ve never seen an episode (I’m sorry okay!?), and why I remind him of a character on the show (he even made me complete a live experiment to prove his theory).

Before ending the show with our What to Watch recommendations, we announce the winner of the Tortilla Chip Region in our Chip Bracket before moving onto the Potato Chip Region. We were able to argue it down to two finalists, but once again, we need your help in crowning a champion. So head over to our Twitter (@LandGrant33) to vote for one of the two OGs, Ruffles or Lays. This is a gonna be a close one!



Tia’s Recommendation: “Four Weddings and a Funeral” on Hulu:

https://www.hulu.com/series/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-2e17b3b3-cadf-41ee-b8a2-59fe64c17f67

Matt’s Recommendation: The “True Crime Obsessed: podcast:

https://www.truecrimeobsessed.com/


Contact Tia Johnston

Twitter: @TiaJohnston_

Contact Matt Tamanini

Twitter: @BWWMatt, @LandGrant33

Theme music provided by www.bensound.com

Sound effects provided by www.epidemicsound.com

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Buckeyes offer 2022 Georgia receiver, current OSU commit gets big ratings boost
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Four-star 2022 WR Kojo Antwi | Photo via Dawg Post

Ohio State dishes out their latest offer to a four-star wideout

The hiatus from last week is over, and thankfully the Buckeyes will be back on the field in just over 48 hours for a top-10 matchup against — who’d have thought — the Indiana Hoosiers.

Having a few extra days to prepare, Ohio State will surely be geared up, ready to go and will probably play with a little bit more of an edge than usual knowing last weekend was taken from them. Nevertheless, it will be great to see Justin Fields and the rest of the roster back in action.

Speaking of having things taken away, that has really become the theme of this year. Yesterday, the NCAA did in fact implement what many had expected when they extended the in-person recruiting dead period through this coming April 15. This is now a full calendar year that recruits have lost the chance to visit schools of their choice and the ability to see the coaching staffs in person.

For the Buckeyes and their efforts in recruiting, nothing is going to change in terms of their tactics. They have navigated through these murky waters more than successfully, and will continue to do the same as they finish the 2021 cycle and continue to build in 2022.

Latest offer to 2022 wide receiver


You could say this about multiple positions at Ohio State, but in this instance there may not be a spot better than wide receiver in terms of the Buckeyes’ recruiting success. Position coach Brian Hartline has truly taken the recruiting of his room to the highest level, and with the combination of landing elite talent and on-field development, you see results — such as what Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are doing right now for this offense.

A trend that is repeating itself in every cycle, the Buckeyes are landing the nation’s top receivers and using them in ways that is guaranteed to keep the momentum going. When high-profile prep prospects who play receiver are seeing what Ohio State is able to do on Saturday and then look at the NFL to see former Buckeyes doing much of the same on Sunday, the recruiting pitch is pretty easy to make for Hartline and Ryan Day.

On Wednesday, Ohio State dished out their latest offer in the 2022 class to yet another elite receiver. Georgia native Kojo Antwi, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound prospect, was on the receiving end of this offer, as he announced via his Twitter account yesterday that Ohio State has entered his recruitment.


Ranked currently as the No. 23 receiver in the class and the 18th best player in Georgia for his 2022 class, Antwi holds over 25 offers from many of the nation’s top programs. With schools such as Alabama, Georgia, USC, Texas, Oregon, and a host of others already in the fold, it’s not hard to see why the Buckeyes are the latest to throw their hat into the ring.

As they have been for multiple years in a row, the Buckeyes are very much in the running and are perhaps the clear leader for the nation’s top receiver in the 2022 class, Caleb Burton. Though they continue to recruit the position at a pace never seen before, Hartline and Day are clearly content but never satisfied, always looking for more.

Moving forward, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Buckeyes become a serious player for Antwi if they are serious about their interest. After all, their recruiting pitch does speak for itself.

Buckeye lineman gets big time rankings boost


Ohio State’s 2021 class is pretty much perfect. Currently sitting as the nation’s second-best class with still a shot to be No. 1 when all is said and done, there really isn’t anything to complain about. Still, with the expectations of the staff as high as they can be, the Buckeyes may have been a little disappointed with how their offensive line recruiting went — mainly at the tackle position.

You know the story if you follow recruiting at all. After missing out on their top target in JC Latham, the Buckeyes really did hit a bit of a wall trying to land an elite guy to fill the void. They were in the running for five-star OT Tristan Leigh for a while, but that ship has more than likely sailed.

Never going empty handed though, Ohio State landed their guy Zen Michalski for the 2021 cycle. While Michalski may have not been the blue chipper Buckeye fans are used to, he still has every ability to play at Ohio State, and in reality is a player that was likely overlooked.

Being from Southern Indiana and not able to be on the camp circuit thanks to the pandemic, Michalski was not a household name, but had a senior season that did everything to give him the rise in stock he deserves.


Yesterday, in the latest 247Sports rankings update, Michalski moved up an incredible 125 spots to now be considered the No. 208 player in the country, as well as the No. 22 OT in the 2021 class. In addition, Michalski was granted his fourth star, and made it clear how happy he was when he took to his Twitter account to announce the news.

It’s safe to say that the film Michalski put together this fall combined with his Ohio State pledge has put him up where he wanted to be, and all that does is give the Buckeyes once again enough talent to not only restock, but reload.

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Column: An article designed exclusively to mess with SB Nation’s new article-reading robot
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images

Warning: This article contains record levels of stupidity and profanity. Proceed with caution.

I know that No. 3 Ohio State has a gargantuan contest against the No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers scheduled for this Saturday, but if I’m being honest, I think Ohio State easily covers the 20.5-point spread. So, instead of spending today’s column breaking down that game, I am going to use this valuable interweb real estate to test — and mess with — the newest feature rolled out this week from our overlords at SB Nation dot com.

If you haven’t noticed, on the mobile version of Land-Grant Holy Land (and on select articles on desktop), there is now an option for you to have a generic, vaguely bougie, monotone male voice read you any given article, in its entirety (after an ad, obvi). Now, it should go without saying that I am completely in support of anything that provides increased accessibility to to folks who otherwise might have trouble accessing content.

But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to have fun with our new toy, which we absolutely did on Twitter today:


I’ve got to admit, the AI robot man actually does a pretty good job of reading the articles, but there are some things that trip him up, like records and abbreviations.

Instead of reading Penn State’s current record as “O and four,” he says “0-4.” Obviously a small thing, and understandable when you are dealing with a semi-sentient android who likely has no comprehension of sporting jargon. Then there are common football position abbreviations; while everyone probably is good with QB, normally when I read/write an article, if I type WR, I don’t hear the letters W and R in my head, instead I just hear wide receiver. So, having WALL-E tell me that Ohio State has a lot of young talent in their WR room, is a little odd, but on the whole, not a big deal.

But, since this feature is so new, there are a lot of things that we just don’t yet know how it will handle. So, friends, Ohioans, countrymen, lend me your ears (literally), as in the remainder of this article, I am going to do everything I can to mess with the robot and (perhaps even more so) entertain myself. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Silly Words


There is something a bit weird about the AI voice, isn’t there? It sounds unflappably normal most of the time, but then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere there are occasional, odd moments in which it ventures into an audio Uncanny Valley, like the record or abbreviation things mentioned above.

So, I am going to see how it handles some fun word experiments, starting with some of my favorite words to say outloud:

Antidisestablishmentarianism
Bumfuzzle
Cattywampus
Flibbertigibbet
Moist. Let’s do that one again... Moist. What, you don’t like that word? What if we elongate it. Mooooooooooooist. Or would it sound better as Moyyyyyyyyyyyyyyst? Either way, both are fun. Let’s continue, shall we?
Quidditch
Snickerdoodle
Tiddlywinks
Zamboni

Not bad, Bender. But, let’s move on to something a bit more challenging.

Another cool aspect of this audio feature is that you can choose varying speeds from 1x regular speed to 2x double-speed. So, what I would recommend that you do right now is pause, and turn it to double-speed and see if Hal (or whatever we’re calling him) can provide an adequate interpretation of Daveed Diggs’ epic first rap section from “Guns and Ships” in “Hamilton”:

“I’m taking this horse by the reins, making redcoats redder with bloodstains, and I’m never gonna stop until I make ‘em drop, and burn ‘em up and scatter the remains. Watch me engaging ‘em, escaping ‘em, enraging ‘em, I’m out. I go to France for more funds, I come back with more guns, and ships, and so the balance shifts.”

What do you think? Does the American Theatre Wing owe Raptimus Prime an honorary Tony Award? Either way, while you’ve got the speed up, let’s see how he handles some tongue-twisters:

She sells seashells by the seashore.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Red leather, yellow leather.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

I’m guessing that our favorite AI handled the tongue twisters with aplomb, but what about jokes? Do you think C3POSU has any comic timing? Let’s find out.

<FYI: This joke is better if you close your eyes. Reading it could ruin the punchline:>

What do you call a fish with no eyes?

Fsh. Ba-dum ching!

Creative Profanity


Alright, that was a fun start to our experiment, but here’s where it’s going to get serious. One of the things that I enjoy most about writing for LGHL is the creative editorial freedom that we enjoy as part of SB Nation. If I want to write an article meant solely to tease an inanimate artificial intelligence apparatus, I can do that. If I want to drop some creatively colorful (yet sophomoric) language in an article, I can do that too.

So, in this section, I am going to try and (quickly) tell the story of the Big Ten East’s first half of the 2020 season while including some silly profanity that I really want to hear our boy Short Circuit read. So, without further ado:

At the halfway point in the Big Ten’s regular season, the conference has been an absolute dumpster fire, outside of Ohio State and Indiana, of course. The shitterific performances by the other five teams in the B1G East have made it more than reasonably possible that this once proud division of blue-blooded, cocksure elites is now the absolute most god-awful division in all of the Power Five.

At the bottom, the Happy Valley Nits are still winless after a soul-sucking overtime loss to the Hoosiers in Week 1 shattered their hopes of finally achieving elite status this season. While I believe that this is just a temporary stop in Suck City for James Franklin and company, I am still enjoying the hell out of the asserific performances that his team is engaging in this fall.

Through the first four games of the regular season, Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines have also been wonderfully asstastic, going 1-and-3 to open the campaign. For any Ohio State fan, watching the Weasels struggle has been scrumdiddlyumptious this season. For all of the hype around new quarterback Joe Milton, Screech Powers’ cousin now has a QB controversy on his hands, and, fam, you hate to see it (do you think our Robo-Reader friend will be able to accurately indicate sarcasm? I’m guessing no).

And as much as I actually really do hate to say it, I think that our favorite be-khakied Michigan Man might have worn out his welcome in That State Up North, and the nearly six years of embarrassing fuckatude very well could end his tenure at his alma mater following this season.

But, the best part of *ichgan’s collapse is that they very well might be the only win for their in-state rival Spartans for the entire season. Former OSU assistant Mel Tucker is trying to pull Sparty off of the dungheap of mediocrity, but, save for an absolute annihilation in Ann Arbor, he hasn’t had a shit-ton of success just yet.

Over in Piscataway, despite also being Oh-and-Three, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights did execute the greatest play in the history of college football earlier this season, even though the asinine asshats wearing stripes overturned it for a barely observable illegal forward pass. However, while this traveshamockery might have erased the play from the record books, it will never erase it from our memories (or from YouTube).

Then there’s the Mary-Land Terrapins who have played well this year, but they screwed the pooch last week as their team had a COVID outbreak canceling their game against the Buckeyes and endangering this Saturday’s game against said Spartans.

Unsurprisingly, there were a number of people on the social meeds who tried to blame and shame the Terps for either a) not caring enough about football as not to contract a highly contagious, potentially deadly disease thus canceling their game against Ohio State or b) caring too much that they purposely contracted a highly contagious, potentially deadly disease in order to avoid playing Ohio State.

Either way, the butt-nuggets who think either of those things are a bunch of fuck-chunks, and don’t deserve to be listened to anyway. Instead, we’ll just wish the best to Maryland and hope they get healthy soon.

Then there is Ohio State and Indiana. They’re both undefeated, and therefore don’t deserve any profanity. However, completely unrelated to football, I’m wondering what would happen to our disembodied friend if I had him read one of the naughty parts from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” but in the original Middle English:

“Now sire and eft sire, so bifel the cas. That on a day this hende Nicholas, Fil with this yonge wyfe to rage and pleye. Whil that hir housbonde was at Oseneye, As clerkes been ful subtile and ful queynte, And prively he caught hire by the queynte And sayde, “Ywis, but if ich have my wille For deerne love of thee, lemman, I spille,” And heeld hire harde by the haunche bones And seyde, “Lemman, love me al at ones Or I wold dyen, also God save me!”

Difficult Names


I don’t know about you, but for me, that was a hoot. But, it doesn’t truly tell us how R2-ReadTo will perform in the actual, legitimate task of reading college football articles. And while names like Master Teague and Steele Chambers and Tuf Borland are cool, they aren’t exactly difficult to pronounce. So, let’s try a few harder ones in a little bit of context.

Due to coronavirus concerns within the Maryland Terrapins’ program, the Ohio State defense did not have the opportunity to face off with the Terps’ dynamic transfer quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa last week.

However, this weekend (knock on wood), the OSU secondary will look to get back to their #BIA ways as they take on the Hoosiers’ dynamic WR duo of Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle. and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Yes, I said Penix.

tbh, I am a bit concerned that the more explosive IU offensive will take advantage of the Buckeyes’ notoriously unathletic linebackers on Saturday. Oh, how I long for the days of backers with speed, skills, and difficult to pronounce last names, like Tom Cousineau, James Laurinaitis, and Andy Katzenmoyer.

Moving on to action around the country, after missing the past two weeks due to a positive COVID test, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence returns as the Tigers will square off against the Florida State Seminoles. He will be resuming the signal-calling duties from D.J. Uiagalelei who played QB in the Heisman hopeful’s stead.

Unfortunately for the ‘Noles, after making his first career start last week against N.C. State, freshman quarterback Chubba Purdy (not to be confused with Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard) had season-ending surgery on Tuesday to repair a broken collarbone.

While I am sure Purdy’s broken clavicle was painful, one of the most painful things to ever happen in my life was watching Michigan’s Tshimanga Biakabutuka run for 313 yards against the Buckeyes in 1995. I can still feel the sting in my chest and the ache in my bones when the wind gets cold and it’s about the rain.


So, how did BB-8 do? Is this the dumbest feature that any website has ever rolled out since Al Gore invented the internet? Or, is it kind of cool, and this article is an embarrassing abuse of the technology that will revolutionize the sports blogging industry?

Let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t worry, the AI can’t read your comments out loud... or can I? Muhahahahahaha.


After some unexpected start and stops, I am back to posting a column every single day from preseason camp until whenever Ohio State’s football season ends. Some days they will be longer and in depth, some days they will be short and sweet. Let me know what you think of this one, and what you’d like to see me discuss in the comments or on Twitter. Go Bucks!

Continue reading...

Buckeye Bits: The men’s basketball schedule is finally here!
Tia Johnston via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

All of the latest Ohio State news from around the beat and beyond.

Alright, give it to me straight. How are we feeling about Saturday? Nervous? Confident? Queasy? I’d say that I am “cautiously optimistic.” Look, I didn’t like what I saw in the Rutgers game. I didn’t like it one bit. And it does not make me feel good about Indiana and their pass-happy quarterback. But maybe I’m overthinking things. Maybe because it was a night game against ~Rutgers~ in an empty stadium, players’ were in a “can we just get this over with” state of mind. This week is much different in that they got a couple extra days to prepare for the Hoosiers in light of last week’s game being canceled. They know Indiana will be the toughest team they face in the regular season and will adjust their mindsets accordingly. And they’re aware of what they need to fix from said Rutgers game. So I really do think the Buckeyes are going to win this game, I just don’t think it’s going to be a walk in the park (which is how I prefer my football watching experience). But, at the end of the day, even if the secondary decides to stay home again and the running backs don’t feel like getting first downs...say it with me folks...we’ll always have Justin Fields.

Speaking of which, let’s get to today’s Ohio State news where we hear the players and coaches themselves give their thoughts on No. 9 Indiana.

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...


Temperature Check: What the experts are predicting for Kaleb Wesson in tonight’s NBA Draft

Connor Lemons, LGHL

The NBA Draft is tonight and Connor tells us what the experts are predicting for Kaleb Wesson’s fate.

Podcast: ‘Hangout in the Holy Land’ previews the Indiana game

Gene Ross and George Eisner, LGHL

Gene and George are back on the mic this week to talk all things Indiana— how they feel about Hoosiers’ hot start and how they think things are going to play out on Saturday.

Ohio State still in good position with five-star wide receiver

Gene Ross, LGHL

Can Ohio State land the No. 1 WR in the country? Gene has all the updates and rumors for you in this morning’s State Secrets.

Column: How nervous should you be about Ohio State’s defensive position groups?

Matt Tamanini, LGHL

All you need to know is Matt used the phraise “gird your loins” in this article.

Biggest news of the day...


Ohio State announced that there will be no family members at games for the next 28 days, including the game against Indiana. This also goes for basketball and hockey games that are scheduled for the remainder of 2020.

The university will revaluate the decision to allow families to the last game of the season against Michigan on Dec. 12.


The Big Ten finally announced the 2020-21 men’s basketball schedule (a week before the season opener its fine).


If you don’t feel like reading the release, here’s the Buckeyes’ schedule:

Nov. 25 – Illinois State (2 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU)

Nov. 29 – UMass-Lowell (4 p.m., BTN)

Dec. 2 – Morehead State (5 p.m., BTN)

Dec. 5 – Alabama A&M (TBD, BTN or BTN+)

Dec. 8 – at Notre Dame

Dec. 16 – at Purdue

Dec. 23 – Rutgers

Dec. 26 – at Northwestern

Dec. 30 – Nebraska

Jan. 3 – at Minnesota

Jan. 6 – Penn State

Jan. 9 – at Rutgers

Jan. 13 – Northwestern

Jan. 16 – at Illinois

Jan. 23 – at Wisconsin

Jan. 27 – Purdue

Jan. 31 – Michigan State

Feb. 4 – at Iowa

Feb. 8 or Feb. 9 – at Maryland

Feb. 13 – Indiana

Feb. 18 – at Penn State

Feb. 21 – Michigan

Feb. 25 – at Michigan State

Feb. 28 – Iowa

March 6 – Illinois

What the Buckeyes are saying...


A few players and coaches met with the media on Wednesday to discuss their preparation for Indiana, and QB1 was up first.

Fields is not exactly known for throwing interceptions, and he said he makes it a point of emphasis to make sure he doesn’t. He said he thinks most of Indiana’s 10 interceptions are due to quarterbacks’ panicking under pressure.

Also, in what universe is Fields going to answer this question with a “yes” or a “no?”


Regarding Indiana’s defense, which he says is toughest defense they’ll face this season, Fields said he and Josh Myers work well together to identify blitzers, and that he trusts the O line to get their issues fixed quickly.


Brian Hartline was up next, and said that Jameson Williams and the rest of the freshmen have really stepped up, and that everyone is happy with the distribution of the ball because, well, it’s clearly working.


He also touched on freshman WR Julian Fleming and his improvement since the Rutgers game.


Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison took the mic next. He said tackling was easily the the biggest issue for the backup defenders who played against Rutgers in the second half.

Mattison says Indiana is the best team they’ve prepared for so far, and that quarterback Michel Penix “can put the ball where he wants to put it” and that “its going to be a big challenge.” However some good news coming out of the secondary:


In regards to preparation, he’s crossing all his T’s and dotting all his I’s.


Last but not least, Zach Harrison, who said he’s progressing every single day.


Harrison reiterated the importance of the defensive ends rotating to keep everyone fresh, which really pays off toward the end of the game.

Harrison said Larry Johnson tells them he has five starters, but that Jonathon Cooper starts every week because “he’s the OG.”


For more quotes, check out Eleven Warriors Presser Bullets:

I don’t know...none of it?

Two Buckeyes sit atop the NFL’s Rookie Ratings!


Tag your favorite LSU fan!

For a laugh...


I know we’re supposed to hate these guys this week, but I highly recommend following Crimson Quarry — SB Nation’s Indiana blog — on Twitter.

Have you seen anything more beautiful?


Continue reading...

Temperature Check: What the experts are predicting for Kaleb Wesson in tonight’s NBA Draft
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

The former Ohio State star and Columbus native will be anxiously waiting to see if his name is called with one of the 60 picks in this year’s NBA Draft.

One month ago, we checked in on several of the biggest media outlets to find out where they predict former Ohio State star Kaleb Wesson to be drafted in the 2020 NBA Draft. Wesson, who declared for the NBA Draft at the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season, is hoping that his unique skillset and rapid transformation from a foul-prone, lumbering center to a sharp-shooting stretch four will get him drafted at some point Wednesday night.

Draft day is here, and there still is no consensus on when, or if, Wesson’s name will be called. There are gaps in his game, certainly. Wesson still lacks the mobility to guard at the NBA level. He struggled at times to defend the Big Ten’s best big men, which begs the question of how he would hold up defensively in the NBA against athletes far superior to those he faced in college. He can be turnover prone at times as well, committing the second-most turnovers per game (2.5) last season for the Buckeyes. That’s not a great number for a non-primary ballhandler.


However, Wesson does have two tools that play in the NBA right now: his size and shooting ability. As a junior, he shot 42.5% from beyond the arc, the best on the team. At 6-foot-9 and slimmed down to about 250 pounds, he’ll pull larger defenders to the perimeter who prefer not to wander out there, which opens the paint for teammates. Conversely, if teams let Wesson shoot from deep, he’s shown he is more than capable of capitalizing. He also possesses above averaging passing ability for a big man, especially passing out of the post when double-teamed and under pressure.

On Oct. 23, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann praised Wesson, calling him, “The best shooting big in the NBA Draft.” He noted that during Wesson’s freshman season in 2017-2018, he only shot 14 total threes. During his junior year that total was multiplied by almost eight, as he took 106 threes, hitting them at nearly a 43% clip.


He backed his coach’s praise up at the NBA Draft combine, nailing 80% (!!) of his shots in the 3-point star drill. He looks even more slimmed down than he was during the season, too.


So, will Wesson’s complete body makeover help him climb the boards of NBA scouts and land him on a team tonight? Or will he take a draft-day slide like his former teammate Keita Bates-Diop did in 2018, who slid completely out of the first round and down to the No. 48 pick?

Let’s take one final look at what “the experts” are saying in the hours leading up to the draft, including their predictions today as well as what they said one month ago.

N/A indicates that the outlet did not have a full mock draft last month, and “Undrafted” means the outlet does not have Wesson going in either round of the draft.

Draft Day Projections

Tankathon.com


Today: Undrafted

Last month: Pick No. 57 to the Philadelphia 76ers

Sports Illustrated


Today: Pick No. 53 to the Oklahoma City Thunder

Last month: Pick No. 53 to the Oklahoma City Thunder

Hoops Prospects


Today: Undrafted

Last month: Pick No. 60 to the New Orleans Pelicans

USA Today Sports


Today: Pick No. 39 to the New Orleans Pelicans

Last month: Pick No. 57 to the Philadelphia 76ers

DraftSite.com


Today: Pick No. 52 to the Sacramento Kings

Last month: N/A

Fansided


Today: Pick No. 60 to the New Orleans Pelicans

Last month: N/A

NBC Sports


Today: Undrafted

Last month: N/A

ESPN


Today: Undrafted

Last month: Undrafted

The Athletic


Today: Undrafted

Last month: Undrafted

Outlook

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

I’m not sure what information USA Today has that everyone else lacks, but it seems that if Kaleb Wesson gets drafted tonight, it’ll be somewhere between picks 50-60.

If he goes any higher than that, it would indicate that team really likes him and committed to him earlier to guarantee the pick. As stated earlier, Wesson probably isn’t a finished product. Don’t be shocked if he ends up in the G-League to start the season, or perhaps bounces around a bit before finally settling somewhere.

Good luck to Kaleb and all those hoping to have their names called tonight!

Continue reading...

Podcast: ‘Hangout in the Holy Land’ previews the Indiana game
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Is #9Windiana for real?

Hangout in the Holy Land is back to give you their breakdown of all things Buckeyes. The hosts are new, the football season is new, but the sarcasm hasn’t changed a bit. Join George Eisner and myself all year long as we break down Ohio State’s opponents and recap the Buckeyes’ performance each weekend.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:


We all saw Ohio State’s biggest game of the season coming down to a Top-10 matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers right? Well, with all of the chaos that has gone on in the Big Ten this year, that is where things currently stand.

The Buckeyes did not get to take the field this past weekend after Maryland’s program suffered a COVID-19 outbreak, but they will now return for what will be a de facto play-in game for a trip to Indianapolis at season’s end. Tom Allen’s Indiana team has looked really good this year, and will certainly be Ohio State’s toughest test yet. In today’s episode, George and I discuss where things stand in the Big Ten, our thoughts on the reality of the Hoosiers’ strong start, and of course give our picks for Saturday’s game.

We will be back on Sunday following the game. We hope you will tweet us @HolyLandPod with your postgame questions and hot takes, and we will try to read as many of them as possible on the show.

Looking forward to hearing feedback from you guys. As always, if you like what we’re doing, be sure to subscribe and drop a review on Apple Podcasts. We’ll see ya after the game!

Contact Gene Ross
Twitter: @Gene_Ross23 / @HolyLandPod

Contact George Eisner
Twitter: @EasyEis

Continue reading...

Ohio State still in good position with five-star wide receiver
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Five-star 2021 wide receiver Emeka Egbuka | Brandon Huffman, 247Sports

The Buckeyes are looking to fill out the 2021 class with a pair of top prospects

It’s kind of hard to believe, but signing day for the 2021 class is right around the corner. Many of Ohio State’s commits in the current class plan on signing early, with the Early Signing Period beginning on Dec. 16. National Signing Day is not too far along after, with that period opening up on Feb. 3. All of this is to say: things are coming to a close.

However, while the majority of Ryan Day's group is well in hand, there are a few pieces still outstanding — and they are rather large pieces at that. One of them is a top-10 player in the country and the top guy at his position.

We’ve spoke ad nauseam about five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. The Washington native has long been pegged as an Ohio State lean, and despite keeping his recruitment under wraps throughout the process, we learned a little more about where things stand this week.

Speaking to 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman, Egbuka says he has narrowed his top four list down to just three programs.

“It’s more like a top three,” said Egbuka. “Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington. I haven’t talked to Clemson in a long time, so it’s really just those three schools,”

With the Tigers now off the list, the nation’s No. 1 WR is now basically just waiting to visit Oklahoma’s campus before making a final decision. Egbuka has been to Columbus twice in the past on unofficial visits, and has made numerous trips to see the Huskies as they are the local program. However, since the NCAA has extended the recruiting dead period to April 15, Egbuka will have to make the trek to Norman on his own dime.

“I kind of figured that I’d have to visit Oklahoma by my own means, since it’s the only place I haven’t been,” said Egbuka. “I figured I’d go with my dad or go with my mom and check out Norman and see what it’s about. So that hasn’t changed that aspect. My dad and I have some airline points to redeem since we had to cancel before so I’ll probably do that at some point.”

Egbuka has a good relationship with Oklahoma QB commit Caleb Williams, and doesn’t want to make his decision without at least checking in with the Sooners. The talented wideout has connections at each of his top three choices, also being in close contact with Washington QB commit Sam Huard and talking constantly with Ohio State WR Gee Scott Jr. — who is also from WA.

Ohio State has not relented in their pursuit of Egbuka even as he continues to weigh his options. In regards to Brian Hartline, Egbuka says the two speak on the phone nearly every day, and he hears from Ryan Day at least once a week.

“I talk mostly with coach (Brian) Hartline and coach (Keenan) Bailey and I also talk to coach (Ryan) Day,” said Egbuka. “I talk to a lot of the players too- I talk with Gee Scott, he’ll coach me up on some things and send me clips. I talk with Julian (Fleming), Jaxon Smith-Ngijba, Chris (Olave), Garrett (Wilson) and Justin (Fields) too. It’s pretty cool to get on the phone with him and talk with him. I also talk with CJ Stroud.”

Even without a concrete decision in mind, Egbuka says there is still a chance he decides to sign and enroll early if high school football in Washington isn’t played.

“I kind of have a timeline in my head, but nothing official,” said Egbuka. “A lot of it is based on my high school, how many games we’ll play, when we play, if we play at all. If we don’t end up playing, then I’ll look to enroll early. My plan right now is that I will sign in December, but I guess it’s possible I could wait till February

There are currently 10 Crystal Ball predictions in for Egbuka, with eight of them in favor of Ohio State. There is one pick in for Oklahoma, and the lone remaining pick is undecided.

Quick Hits

• In yesterday’s State Secrets, we spoke about how an offer could come soon following a virtual visit with four-star center Donovan Clingan. Well, that is exactly what happened, as the nation’s No. 6 center and the No. 44 player overall in the 2022 class took to Twitter to announce his official offer from Ohio State on Monday night.

Continue reading...

Column: How nervous should you be about Ohio State’s defensive position groups?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

I broke down the offensive position groups yesterday, it’s the defense’s turn today.

As I said in yesterday’s column, I know that it sounds weird, but the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes are now halfway through their 2020 regular season. While they are guaranteed (or at least as guaranteed as a team can be in 2020) at least two postseason games, coming off of the unexpected bye week felt like a good time to see where each position group has performed thus far and how worried we should be about them. I started with the offensive side of the ball yesterday, so today is defense and special teams; gird your loins.


As a whole, the defense hasn’t played awfully. Yes, they’ve given up more points than I think that they should have relative to the competition, but I think a lot of that can be explained away by having lost a ton of talent from last year’s team, and not having the normal offseason opportunities to fully set new schemes and get players comfortable playing next to each other. They also have a new defensive coordinator running the show this year with Kerry Coombs calling the shots along with Greg Mattison this year, so that will take some time for folks to adjust as well.

I do think that the defense as a whole will continue to improve as they get more playing (and practicing) time together, especially on the essentially completely rebuilt defensive line and in the secondary where Shaun Wade is the only returning starter, but he’s not even returning to start at the same position. The linebackers on the other hand, that’s a whole other story...

Ok, as I explained yesterday, I will be grading each position group based on the amount of worry that you should have about them and how it corresponds to another Big Ten East team (see the chart below).

And, just to be clear, I am personally less worried about the long-term future of Penn State than I am for Michigan. I think that 2020 is just an unusual accumulation of shittiness for James Franklin’s team, while this season is a complete culmination of years of backsliding for Jim Harbaugh’s. But, PSU is 0-4, so they are at the bottom of my scientifically constructed scale.

Penn State (0-4) = Peak worry
Michigan (1-3) = Extremely worried; we’re teetering on the edge of an abyss
Rutgers (1-3) = Kind of worried, there was optimism, but it’s fading
Michigan State (1-3) = Vaguely worried; we knew this was coming, but hopefully it won’t last long
Maryland (2-1) = Not really worried, things could creep up, but overall it’s great so far
Indiana (4-0) = Not worried at all

Defensive Line

Level of Worry: Somewhere between Maryland and Michigan State


Coming into the season, I assumed that because of injuries and the departure of a number of talented veterans, that the interior defensive line would be the weak spot of the OSU defense. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Through three games, I think that it’s safe to say that the front line has been the most pleasantly surprising part of the Buckeye defense — although, that’s not saying much.

Now, part of my initial assumption was due to Ohio State not sharing information about injuries, so there was no way that we could have known that Haskell Garrett would not only play this season, but would prove to be the best lineman on the team in the early goings.


Also inside, the physical freak Tommy Togiai has become another solid lineman for Larry Johnsons’ unit, and players like Jerron Cage and Taron Vincent (also back from injury) have proven steady while they’ve gotten adjusted to more playing time. The interior of the line has been a bit weak in run defense though, something that they will need to address before they finally play elite offenses in the postseason.

Similarly on the outside, the defensive ends have just not turned up the pressure all that much through three games. DE Jonathon Cooper leads the team with 11 QB pressures and Tyreke Smith has eight, but those 19 pressures account for 65.5% of the team’s total created by ends so far.

With the way that Johnson rotates players, you would like to see more guys disrupting things in the backfield. Obviously there’s no Bosa brother or Chase Young on this team, so they are going to have to do it by committee, and through three games there have been some veteran bright spots, but the youth and inexperience has proven to be an anchor on the defensive line’s potential in the early season.

As I said before, they’ve been good, but not great. If the defensive line can find a way to create more of a rush — from the inside and/or the outside — that could elevate them to an impressively well-rounded unit by season’s end.

Linebackers

Level of Worry: Rutgers


I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t have super high expectations for the linebackers this season, mainly for two reasons; Tuf Borland and Pete Werner. While I know that the defensive coaching staff loves what these guys bring to the table, I just can’t understand what exactly that is.

Sure, Werner provided some flexibility and consistency in the Sam LB position last year, but he got moved to Will for 2020, and I don’t think that the change has helped him. Thus far in the season, Borland and Werner have graded out as two of the worst three backers on the team according to Pro Football Focus, and what has been especially lacking is their coverage skills; which I can only imagine will be exploited by the more dynamic offenses that the Buckeyes are likely to face in the playoff.

I did have hope though coming into the season that the elevation of Baron Browning to the starting Sam would mean that the defensive coaching staff has finally realized that athleticism is more important at the LB position in the modern college game than old-school form-tackling and assignment football. And while Browning has been above average in his new role, Borland is even more firmly entrenched at the Mike position.

Dallas Gant has flashed in fairly limited opportunities in the middle, but he has also struggled in coverage and in tackling. I said at the beginning of the season that I would like to see Teradja Mitchell be Borland’s co-starter at Mike, but he has mostly been Werner’s backup at Will, although grading out significantly higher than the starter.

So, if you asked me what I would do with the linebackers to prepare for the more athletically skilled offenses waiting for the Buckeyes when they finish Big Ten play, I would say start Mitchell at weak-side, Gant in the middle, and Browning at strong-side. Will you have to deal with some some blown plays and missed tackles? Probably, but you’re still getting that with the less athletic veterans now, so you might as well accept that as the trade off for guys who should be able to keep up with more explosive opponents in the future.

Secondary

Level of Worry: Michigan State


Here’s the thing, Shaun Wade came into the season with a lot of expectations. He was projected a first-round pick as a slot corner, but having moved to the outside, he has not lived up to what everyone envisioned he would be. He’s allowing completions on 65% of passes that target the man that he is covering, resulting in 167 yards and three of the four passing touchdowns that the OSU defense has given up on the season. Not great, Bob.

But, I still have faith in Wade. Leading into what was supposed to be the Maryland game, the DB talked about knowing where he was lacking, and working diligently to address those issues in both practice and games. I believe that he can and will make those adjustments.

Then you look at Sevyn Banks at the other corner, while he has probably underachieved a little based on preseason expectations, he is a new starter who had to soldier through an unusual offseason, so it’s not unexpected that he would need time to get fully comfortable in his new role. Like Wade, I feel good about his ability to get there.

The safeties have been another unusual situation this year, because coming into the season, the assumption was that Josh Proctor would be the one to play single-high, but Marcus Hooker has been the starter there this season with Proctor playing in the nickel and/or as the bullet. While Hooker has struggled, especially in tackling, Proctor has been one of the bright spots on the entire defense, grading out as the best DB on the team.

It’s important to keep in mind that the secondary is still in a bit of flux this season. With Jeff Hafley departing for Boston College and Kerry Coombs returning to Columbus, the DBs are still adjusting to a new system, without the benefit of a spring practice, summer workouts, a tradition fall camp, or even non-conference games. It is going to take time for the newly reconfigured secondary to gel, but I have faith that they eventually will. I just hope it’s in time to take on the ferocious passing attacks of Clemson and/or Alabama.

Special Teams

Level of Worry: Michigan State


This one is weird, because of all of the different components of special teams, but let’s start with the best; Drue Chrisman has been solid in 2020, despite his rather infrequent opportunities to contribute. The OSU punter does not qualify to be ranked in the official punting stats, because he has not averaged 3.6 punts per contest (he’s currently at 2.7), but five of his eight punts have been downed inside the 20, and only one has been returned — that crazy 58-yard touchdown return against Rutgers.


But overall, Chrisman has been as solid as ever. The same cannot be said about the placekicking. The Buckeyes are 2-for-4 on field goals so far this season, and while that obviously is largely because Blake Haubeil is injured — leading to his own miss and walk-on Dominic DiMaccio going 1-for-2 — it is still a bit concerning.

Since the Buckeyes don’t give out information on players, we don’t really have an idea as to what the timetable might be for Haubeil’s return. If he is back and 100% for the College Football Playoff, then I don’t think that there is any reason to worry.

While missing a field goal or two against overmatched opponents might be frustrating, it’s not likely to matter (and I kind of like the idea of Ryan Day going for it more than settling for FGs). But, you can’t miss scoring opportunities against the Clemsons and Alabamas of the college football world. While settling for FGs against the Tiger came back to bite them in the Fiesta Bowl last season, imagine how deflating it would have been had Haubeil missed those attempts instead of making them?

So, needless to say OSU will need to have a reliable field goal kicker for any post season run, whether that’s Haubeil or true-freshman Jake Seibert.

Now let’s turn our attention to the return game <sigh>. The Ohio State kickoff and punt return teams have been so underwhelming for a decade that it has transitioned from being frustrating to just being something that I actively don’t think about anymore. There was a time — 10 to 15 years ago — when I would factor in a return touchdown to my score predictions nearly every week. Nowadays, I don’t even assume that there will be one in an entire season.

The last OSU kick return for a touchdown was against TTUN in 2010 when Jordan Hall returned one to the house, and on Sunday, it will be six years since the team’s last punt return for a touchdown. On Nov. 22, 2014, Jalin Marshall returned a punt to the end zone against Indiana. Could the drought be broken this week against the Hoosiers? I sure hope so, but I doubt it.

The fact of the matter is, the Buckeyes’ returners rarely even try to return kicks and punts. OSU’s kick returns are currently averaging 6.6 yards per return (last in the B1G), while the punt returns are averaging 7.2 (10th in the B1G). We all know that Ohio State has more than enough talent to have far better return numbers than it has in recent memory, but it is obvious that since the start of the Urban Meyer era, returns have just not been prioritized.

The coaches know that their offenses are so good that the extra field position that could result from a return is not worth the potential for a turnover or injury. Whatever potential yardage might be abandoned by taking the safe route is believed to be worth it, because the offenses at OSU are generally so dominant that they can make up that ground; and it’s just not worth the opportunity cost of potentially turning the ball or getting someone hurt on a return.

So, tl;dr:

- Punting is solid and more than serviceable.
- Field goal kicking will continue to be suspect until Blake Haubeil returns, unless the young gun Jake Seibert proves ready.
- I’ve given up waiting for the return game to be of any consequence for the Buckeyes.


After some unexpected start and stops, I am back to posting a column every single day from preseason camp until whenever Ohio State’s football season ends. Some days they will be longer and in depth, some days they will be short and sweet. Let me know what you think of this one, and what you’d like to see me discuss in the comments or on Twitter. Go Bucks!

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