Wow. You're as pessimistic as I am.

Hope the comment about your wife and the ventilator was a joke, man.

This is a kid you can just see blow up in the near future....his brother being an absolute beast already, and Yanni has an easy frame to add to. I don't think he was ever headed anywhere but Purdue with his brother but someone is going to get an underrated stud.

In case anyone wondered what a "She-Hulk cosplay" search would turn up ...

Get your limited edition Brutus ‘Countdown to Kickoff’ bobblehead (with adjustable dates)
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


No matter when college football starts again, you’ll always be able to have an accurate countdown!

Look, let’s be honest, we have no idea if college football is going to start on time, or even happen this fall at all, so, our friends at FOCO have the perfect bobblehead to celebrate the Ohio State Buckeyes’ eventual return to the field, whenever that might actually happen.

Recently, FOCO released a series of brand-new, collectable bobbleheads featuring several NFL and college football mascots counting down the days to the TBD return dates of their respective seasons. For our purposes, the one that really matters is Brutus Buckeye standing in front of the iconic OSU helmet and on a countdown clock, marking the days until games resume.

But, what’s especially nice for Buckeye fans in these COVID times that we’re living in is that the number of days remaining is completely adjustable, so if there are starts and stops in the college football calendar, you can adjust right along with Ryan Day and company.

Make sure to order yours quickly though, because it is a collector’s item, only 2,020 of them were made (see what they did there)?

Purchase your Brutus Buckeye Countdown to Kickoff bobblehead here!



In addition to Brutus, the other mascots included in the series are Rowdy (Dallas Cowboys), Poe (Baltimore Ravens), Sourdough Sam (San Francisco 49ers), KC Wolf (Kansas City Chiefs), Pat Patriot (New England Patriots), Mike the Tiger (LSU Tigers), Big Al (Alabama Crimson Tide), The Tiger (Clemson Tigers), and The Nittany Lion (Penn State Nittany Lions).

These bobbleheads are handcrafted to depict NFL and college football mascots that are staples of the football world. Each stands approximately eight inches tall, making these the ideal additions to any collection at home, or any desk at work or school.

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Ohio State’s trip to Oregon reportedly cancelled due to COVID-19
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images
It looks like the Buckeyes and Ducks will not square off in Eugene this season.

Ohio State’s trip out to Oregon for a game on Sept. 12 hasn’t been officially cancelled yet, but the latest report from Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic is that the Big Ten will soon be announcing it’s move to a conference-only schedule, putting a kibosh on the Buckeyes matchup with the Ducks.


While it seemed inevitable that we were going to lose some games from the 2020 college football season, if there even is a season at all, the cancellation of this game hits me a little harder.

The only Ohio State football games I’ve ever seen in-person have been at Ohio Stadium. I was planning on changing that in 2020. I was planning on heading out to Oregon in September for a week. The trip had multiple purposes, with the rematch of the first-ever College Football Playoff Championship Game being the highlight.

I traveled out to Oregon three times since 2008. My dad and my uncle live in southern Oregon, which has allowed me to see beautiful sights like Crater Lake and the Pacific coast, take a jet boat tour of the Rogue River, and most importantly allowed me to say that I have eaten at In-N-Out. If I didn’t live in Columbus, Oregon is where I would want to live.

The plan was to spend a few days in Portland with friends, then we would travel down to Eugene for the game, and I would finish off the trip by spending a few days in Medford with my dad and uncle. Then in the first couple of months of 2020, we started to hear about COVID-19 and by March events all around the world were starting to be cancelled. Even with the world being taken over by a pandemic, I was hopeful that we would make enough progress on slowing the spread of the virus that my trip out west in September would be spared.

It turns out I was way too optimistic with our country’s ability to deal with a pandemic. By April my tune had changed to where I didn’t believe that we would be able to even have college football, because at the time it was still up in the air whether students would even be allowed back on campus for in-person classes. If students weren’t allowed to come back to campus, how could we justify college football or any other fall sports being played?

In the middle of May, we had at least started to make some progress on slowing the spread of COVID-19. By that time I had a little bit of faith that there would at least be college football in the fall, but it was hard for me to see fans being allowed in the stands. Even if fans were allowed to attend games, I figured the number of fans allowed at games would only be a fraction of capacity. While it was disappointing that I wouldn’t be able to attend the September game in Eugene, at least I thought we would have college football to get us through the fall.

Now less than two months away from the scheduled start of the college football season, I’m back to where I was in April. I just can’t see how there safely can be a season. COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in places like Florida, Texas, and Arizona, with younger people now becoming targets of the virus because of their refusal to wear masks, socially distance, and stay out of bars. The me of 10 years ago would probably be doing the same thing as they are doing now, but thankfully with age has come a little bit of intelligence.


Ohio governor Mike DeWine and lieutenant governor Jon Husted are championing athletes to take to social media to spread the word about wearing masks to save their seasons, but it’s too little, too late. We could have been doing this for months but instead some out there were complaining about how wearing masks violated their rights. If we can’t even do something so simple as wear a mask in public, we have no business expecting student-athletes to risk contracting COVID-19 just because we need to be entertained in the fall.


This is where we are at now. Ohio State has taken all the precautions necessary to try and keep their student-athletes safe and it still hasn’t been enough. I’m not so naive to think that no Buckeyes would contract the virus. Those that are in their 20s aren’t going to be hit as hard as someone in their 70s or 80s who contracts the virus. But, how do we know that one of the younger people who contract the virus won’t be affected by the virus for the rest of their life? Why should their career possibly ended because we had to rush players back out on to the field?

The Ivy League announced yesterday that they wouldn’t hold any sports until 2021. It would be wise for the rest of the NCAA to follow suit. There are just too many risks right now. Maybe if it was basketball and not football, we could justify allowing sports, but that’s only because the roster sizes are so much smaller. With football, you are talking about over 100 people on a team after you add in coaches and other necessary staff. If one person gets the virus, it’s almost impossible to keep it from spreading to others.


Even a conference-only schedule seems risky. What happens if a team is coming from an area that is a hot spot and heading to a game in an area where there is a relatively low number of cases? Are we just going to ignore all the guidance and still send them anyway? We are already seeing issues with the tournament the MLS is holding. Even though players are in a “bubble” there are still positive cases being found.

You might think I’m overreacting and we have to “learn to live with the virus” but right now I’m going to agree to disagree. It’d be different if we had any semblance of leadership to help guide us through the pandemic, but that isn’t anywhere close to the case now. It’s not even just in government where this is lacking. We have heard some concerning statements from players and coaches when it comes to COVID-19 and how it is being handled. Until we get truly serious about slowing the spread, we shouldn’t put the future of those playing the game at risk even more than they do when times are normal.

If we start taking our response to COVID-19 seriously, we will have college football again. It might not be as quickly as we want it, but it will be there in the future. There will be plenty of Ohio State road trips out there to take, and with the loaded schedule over the next decade the Buckeyes are putting together, we aren’t going to want to miss the opportunity to head to some places where we haven’t been before. Just be aware of your actions and be good to each other. It’s not the ultimate cure, but it certainly will go a long way in the fight.

Continue reading...

What if Ohio State football players were ‘Hamilton’ characters?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The article that absolutely nobody asked for.

If you somehow haven’t heard, last Friday, Disney+ released a filmed version of the Broadway smash, hip-hop musical “Hamilton” for its streaming subscribers just ahead of Independence Day. The stage capture was filmed over three days in June 2016 at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre before a large portion of the original principal cast left the production — Jonathan Groff returned to the role of King George III for the filming after having previously departed the show in order to shoot his Netflix series “Mindhunter.”

The original plan was for Disney to release the film into movie theaters in October 2021 and then make it available on their streaming service sometime thereafter, but with the entire film industry shut down for the foreseeable future and all of their theme parks closed for months on end, the Mouse House realized that it was sitting on a rather sizable asset that could be deployed at any point and saw a way to infuse the company with some quick cash. After all, they paid a reported $75 million dollars for the film’s distribution rights — the largest total in movie history.

Written and originally starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, the ground-breaking musical won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, as well as the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, a Pulitzer Prize, and countless other honors. But, despite the fact that I have worked in the New York theatre community for nearly a decade, you aren’t reading this article for the history or theatrical impact of one of Broadway’s most revolutionary (pun intended) works; instead, you are here for the idiocy that I have cooked up when comparing characters — and aspects of characters — to Ohio State football players (and one other silly surprise).

So, as Alexander Hamilton says to George Washington in the song “Non-Stop,” “Let’s go.”

Zach Harrison | “Young, Scrappy, and Hungry” Alexander Hamilton


Now, obviously when I’m comparing players to characters in a musical called “Hamilton,” someone is going to end up being compared to Hamilton himself. But, in a show that spans 30 years of his life, it’s hard to pick just one player to represent all of the $10 Founding Father’s complexities.

So, I’m going to break A. Ham down into different parts of his life, so that I can spread as much of his personality around to as many players as possible.

Therefore, we are going to start with Hamilton at the very beginning of the show. In the musical’s third number “My Shot,” Hamilton explains that he is “young, scrappy, and hungry,” and to me, that called out for a Zach Harrison comparison.

In 2019 as a true freshman, the five-star defensive end wasn’t a full-time starter, but due to injuries to Jonathon Cooper (more on him later), that idiotic suspension to Chase Young, and OSU beating the living crap out of nearly all of their opponents, he got some decent time.

When he was on the field, he showed why he was such a coveted prospect coming out of Olentangy. He finished his freshman season with 24 tackles, including 5.5 for loss. Whether or not Harrison makes the leap to starter this season or not, there is no doubt that he is going to have an increased impact in Larry Johnson’s rotation, and I will not be surprised if the big boy eats!

Demario McCall | Aaron Burr


In “Hamilton,” the character of Aaron Burr — played by Tony-winner Leslie Odom, Jr. — serves as the musical’s narrator. His relationship with Hamilton was combative; in fact, you could say that they were America’s first frenemies. And in case you forgot the premise of the “Got Milk?” commercial from the early ‘90s, (spoiler alert) Burr actually killed Hamilton in a duel.

Now, I am not saying that Demario McCall is going to have a showdown with one of his teammates in Weehawken, NJ on the banks of the Hudson River, but one of the important characteristics that defines Burr is revealed in the song, “Wait for It.” America’s eventual third vice president is particularly machiavellian and is willing to wait for the perfect time to seize his moment.

Any long-time LGHL reader knows that we have been driving the #FreeDemario train for years. Heck, in an article oddly similar to this one, I even compared him to Spider-Man all the way back in 2016. But, between injuries, suspect position changes, and being stuck behind J.K. Dobbins, McCall has not yet been given the opportunity that his talents deserve. However, so far he has been willing to wait for it.

With injuries in the running back room, I’m not really sure where McCall is most likely to see snaps this season, but I am confident that if given the opportunity, he won’t be throwing away his shot.

Thayer Munford | George Washington


Unlike the rest of the revolutionary figures that we meet in “Hamilton,” General George Washington is a bit older and wiser. He is, after all, the head of the colonial army. Similarly, Munford is one of the respected elder statesmen on the team, and one of the most experienced offensive linemen in the country having started 26 games over the past two seasons. With two first-time starters making their way to the OL this year, Munford’s leadership will be invaluable.

It also helps that Christopher Jackson, who plays GW, is one of the few principal stars of the show who is six-feet-tall, so at times, he towers over his scene partners. At six-foot-six, Munford often does the same. In fact, pay attention when the Buckeyes score a touchdown this season, the senior tackle is invariably the player who rushes to the end zone in order to pick up the always smaller skill position player who scores.

Chris Olave | Marquis de Lafayette


As Miranda has said during interviews, as he began exploring Hamilton’s life, he noticed that the people who were important in his story early on were very rarely the people who were important later in Hamilton’s life. So, a handful of actors, including Tony-winner Daveed Diggs, ended up playing different characters in the first act than they did in the second.

In the first act, Diggs plays French revolutionary, the Marquis de Lafayette. In the musical, Lafayette is a flashy, rapid-fire rapping mercenary. If you don’t know what I mean, here’s his now iconic verse in “Guns and Ships”:


In the song, when America is running desperately low on supplies, it is Lafayette who comes through in the clutch with more, “guns and ships.” Similarly, Chris Olave has shown over his two-year career that he is a guy who can get stuff done in the most important of circumstances. For example, he has four total receptions in his career against TTUN, but three of them went for touchdowns.

Now that Olave is undoubtedly the number one receiver, Justin Fields is going to need him to show up when the Buckeyes’ backs are against the wall.

Justin Fields | “Non-Stop” Alexander Hamilton


Throughout the musical, we are constantly told that while Hamilton is naturally brilliant, one of the reasons that he is able to have as much success as he does is that he “writes like he’s running out of time.” He is a tireless worker, and — as the song says — he is “Non-Stop.”

For this Hamil-quality, I went with quarterback Justin Fields. He is obviously ridiculously gifted, as Hamilton was, but he came into a situation at OSU in January 2019 and worked his tail off to learn a new system, bond with new teammates, and acclimate to a new school (and not to mention climate). That work paid off as he ended up having one of the best seasons that a Buckeye quarterback has ever had.

And, when it comes right down to it, he scored 51 touchdowns and only threw three interceptions during his sophomore campaign, so very literally he could not be stopped; he was “Non-Stop”-able.

Burr asks Hamilton why he writes like he’s running out of time, and now with the fall football season in doubt, Fields might literally be running out of time as a college football player. Hopefully he will have another opportunity to prove to Buckeye fans that he will fight ev’ry second he’s alive.

Jonathon Cooper | Hercules Mulligan


By trade, Hercule Mulligan was a tailor, but in actuality, he was a spy working for Washington as a part of Samuel Adams’ secret organization the Sons of Liberty. In “Hamilton,” played by Okieriete Onaodowan, Mulligan is one of Hamilton’s early friends who shares his dreams of revolution.

As the Americans are preparing for the deciding battle at Yorktown, Mulligan, returns from his spy duties rapping, “Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction/When you knock me down I get the f*ck back up again!”

First off, Oak is a big dude, so right there is a good connection between him and Jonathon Cooper, but after his 2019 season, there’s no doubt that the fifth-year senior refuses to stay down. In what was supposed to be a coming out senior season paired with Young, Cooper was constantly beset by injuries.

However, he ended up taking his lumps in 2019 only to end up redshirting so that he could get back up again to finish off his OSU career in 2020.

Garrett Wilson | Philip Hamilton


Philip Hamilton — played by Anthony Ramos — is Alexander’s oldest son. Throughout the musical we see him grow from a precocious, piano-playing and rapping nine-year-old to a 19-year-old ladies man with all of his father’s skills and swagger.

So, when I think of a 19-year-old Buckeye with skills and swagger, the only option has to be wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Hopefully Wilson will end up being better one-on-one than Philip was.

Shaun Wade | “Never Satisfied” Alexander Hamilton


In the song “Satisfied,” Hamilton tells his future sister-in-law Angelica Schuyler that she is like him, and that she will never be satisfied. That quality to me screams of Shaun Wade. With two Buckeye corners taken in the first round of the NFL Draft earlier this year, Wade very well could have been the third.

However, knowing that his recent film was fairly limited since he served only as a slot corner last season, Wade wasn’t satisfied with a potential late first or early second round grade. He decided to return to Columbus for another year in order to prove that he deserved to be taken as highly as Jeff Okudah, Denzel Ward, Marshon Lattimore, and Eli Apple.

Trey Sermon | Thomas Jefferson


So, as I said earlier, Diggs plays two roles in the show; Lafayette in the first act, and Thomas Jefferson in the second. The symmetry of this is perfect, because the former was a French national who had been coordinating aid between America and his home country. The latter actually spent the Revolutionary War in France as the U.S.’s ambassador.

So, like Jefferson, Sermon is coming to Columbus well into the story. Having played three seasons for the Oklahoma Sooners, the 2,000-yard running back is looking to make an impact now that he’s here.

Also, when Act II opens, Jefferson comes bounding down his Monticello stairs singing, “So what’d I miss?” When it comes to Sermon, the answer is a good portion of the 2019 season.

While his season ending injury didn’t come until mid-November, other issues kept him from getting as many carries as he had the previous two seasons. He only accounted for 54 rushes last season — 110 fewer than the previous year in which Lincoln Riley’s Sooners went to the College Football Playoff.

Jim Harbaugh | “Helpless” Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton


Now, make no mistake about it, Elizabeth Hamilton is one of the strongest characters in the musical, so picking her to be the Michigan football coach’s avatar in this silly exercise is in no way a shot at his manhood. In fact, if I hadn’t qualified the selection, I would actually consider being compared to Eliza a great compliment.

But, as the middle Schyuler sister spots her future husband for the first time at The Winter’s Ball, she tells her older sister Angelica that she is helpless looking into Alexander’s eyes. And given how absolutely ill-prepared Jim Harbaugh has been in facing Ohio State during his first five seasons at TTUN, I think it is fair to say that he is “helpless” as well.


So, how did I do? Do you have any other OSU-to-”Hamilton” comparisons in mind? If so, drop them in the comments below.

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Five future quarterbacks express interest in Ohio State
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 Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Fields, Miller, Stroud, McCord... Who’s next?

If there’s one position Ohio State doesn’t have to worry about for quite some time, its quarterback. With Justin Fields this season, Gunnar Hoak as his backup, two stellar freshmen— Jack Miller and CJ Stroud—fighting for next season’s starting job, and 2021 commit Kyle McCord arriving in Columbus next January, the Buckeyes’ offense should be in pretty good hands for the foreseeable future.

However, you know as well as I do that Ryan Day and the rest of the recruiting staff won’t rest until they’ve earned a commitment from every class of the decade, and sure enough, they already have their eyes on a few 2022, 2023 and 2024 prospects.

Bucknuts has previously mentioned a few 2022 quarterbacks to keep an eye on, such as Quinn Ewers, Maalik Murphy and Gunner Stockton who all hold offers from Ohio State, and today, Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts named another 2022 QB and four 2023 and 2024 prospects who could be next.

Class of 2022’s Tayven Jackson of Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove currently only has offers from Central Michigan and Indiana, but has attended an Ohio State game and told Bucknuts that he is interested in the Buckeyes.

2023 prospects, Cameron Edge, Tad Hudson and Aliam Appler, and 2024 prospect Jadyn Davis have all spoken to Ohio State staff and have all expressed their interest in the school. Kurelic emphasized Edge, Hudson and Davis as the ones most likely to land an offer from the Buckeyes and Edge as the one most likely to actually become a Buckeye.

Quick Hits

• Ohio State reached out to a “huge” 2022 offensive tackle on Tuesday, according to Kurelic. Yaser Alawadi from Park Ridge (Ill.) Maine East is the No. 10 prospect in his state and the country’s No. 53 OT. He is 6-foot-8 and 300-pounds.

After speaking with coach Greg Mattison, he told Bucknuts that he liked what he heard, and that Ohio State is a “top notch school” and they are “a great football program with an even better coaching staff.”

Alawadi holds eight scholarship offers, and while he doesn’t hold an offer from OSU yet, he said an offer from the Buckeyes would be “like a dream come true.”

• Cincinnati offers Ohio State 2022 commit Tegra Tshabola.

Tshabola is from West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West—just 25 minutes down the road from UC. He is the No. 2 prospect in Ohio and the country’s No. 6 offensive tackle. He committed to Ohio State on April 23 and currently holds 14 offers.

• Additionally, one of Ohio State’s top 2022 D-line targets added another offer to his stack this week.

Four-star Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove defensive tackle Caden Curry was officially offered by Michigan on Tuesday. Curry is No. 134 overall, the country’s No. 4 defensive tackle and No. 1 in the state of Indiana. He holds 15 offers, including Alabama, Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.

Curry told Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports that “it’s exciting to have an opportunity from both the Wolverines and Buckeyes.”

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Buckeye Bits: Power Five says a delay to the season “seems inevitable,” no more games in St. John Arena, more
Tia Johnston 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
All of the latest Ohio State news from around the beat and beyond.

Happy Wednesday, LGHL reader! Before we get into today’s headlines, allow me to introduce to you my new favorite Twitter account:


The account I didn’t know I needed.

Anyway, here’s everything you need to know:

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...


TBT Preview: Carmen’s Crew vs House of ‘Paign

Connor Lemons, LGHL

and

TBT Preview: Big X vs. Red Scare

Brett Ludwiczak, LGHL

Considering Buckeye Bits doesn’t get published until 6:30 p.m. ET, these two games are finito and you likely now know the outcome of each. (I won’t spoil it, if not) (Just kidding, I spoil it later in this article). But, just in case you still want some info on your favorite Buckeye-filled TBT teams, Connor and Brett have everything you need to know and more!

Four-star Michigan guard set to make his decision on Friday

Gene Ross, LGHL

Anyone else having Ohio State football recruiting withdrawals? Don’t worry, you can still get your fix via the basketball team. A four-star 2021 guard— the nation’s No. 15 shooting guard and No. 78 overall recruit— is announcing his commitment on Friday, July 10, and Ohio State is one of his top five schools.

Yesterday’s Buckeye Bits

Gene Ross, LGHL

Should Ohio State redshirt its two stud freshmen QBs? Can football players wear masks while playing? Who did experts pick to win the Big Ten? All that and more in yesterday’s Buckeye Bits.

From around the gridiron...


Sources: Power 5 optimism dwindling for on-time start to season

Brandon Marcello, Bucknuts

To be honest, I’m just shocked we’re getting a football season at all, let alone a season that starts on time. But now that COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise and players and coaches are testing positive, folks within the Power Five are pessimistic about a late August/early September start time. One P5 administrator told 247Sports that, while a spring season is the last resort, a delay almost seems inevitable.

Decisions will be made soon though, as many P5 conference officials have deemed late July to early August as the “11th hour.”


ESPN FPI predicts Ohio State’s 2020 season game by game

Brad Crawford, Bucknuts

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Ohio State has over a 90 percent chance to win every game on its schedule except Oregon (62.4 percent chance) and Penn State (61.8 percent). They are also on the national title shortlist along with ‘Bama and Clemson.


For Ohio State football recruiting, which state (other than Ohio) is the most important? Buckeye Talk Podcast

Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com

Next on their Buckeye Talk podcast—which is one of my personal favorite podcasts on the Ohio State beat— the guys at cleveland.com take 20 rapid fire questions from text subscribers. They discuss which states are the most important for Ohio State recruiting, Ohio State receiver recruiting vs. Alabama receiver recruiting, the chances of another defensive Heisman Trophy winner, and more.


Ohio State to use group effort to replace Chase Young at D-end

Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts

Replacing one of the best players in college football is not an easy task, nor is it a task that only one man can complete. Larry Johnson will likely have to use a combination of Jonathon Cooper, Zach Harrison, Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste to replace Chase Young’s production.


LOL...what?


Disclaimer: Harbaugh did say in this same interview that he’d support any adjustments or cancellations to the football schedule in order to keep his players safe. However, there’s a whollllle lotta “expert views” saying that yup, sports can and probably will make COVID-19 worse. Unless you can somehow take the huddling, tackling and blocking out of football??


21 PUNTS in ONE game!!


Fun facts for you: Vic Janowicz’s 21-punt game was against Michigan during a blizzard. The Buckeyes lost 9-3. (Janowicz also kicked the field goal). One of those punts was blocked and ultimately led to the Wolverines’ touchdown and also the Big Ten title.

Janowicz won the 1950 Heisman Trophy. He played halfback, safety, punted and did the place-kicking for the Buckeyes.

He was also an impressive baseball player. Out of high school, the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers offered Janowicz contracts, and 60 colleges sought to recruit him.

(Did you guys know all of this?!)

After college, he served in the Army for a year and signed a baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played catcher and hit a .214 before being released. He switched back to football and played for the Washington Redskins. He had a highly productive stint with the Redskins, before ultimately sustaining a career-ending head injury in a car accident, which eventually led to paralysis of the left side of his body.

He made a full recovery thanks to the docs at Ohio State. He went on to become a broadcaster for Buckeye football games, an account executive with a manufacturing firm in Columbus, and an administrative assistant to the state auditor. In 1996, he died at the age of 66 due to cancer.

Around the hardwood...


Ohio State reportedly has no plans to play basketball games in St. John Arena again, Gene Smith says “I doubt we’ll go back”

Kevin Harrish, Eleven Warriors

Smith, in an interview with Buckeye Sports Bulletin, said that there are no plans for the team to return to St. John Arena for a game in the near future, due to the fact that there will be fewer home games overall.

Instead, the basketball teams will play in the much worse, always empty, less historic Schottenstein Center. Because who needs home court advantage anyway?!


Big X falls in the second round of TBT.


Sigh. Not a good TBT day for Buckeye fans.


Matt has your recap here.

From everywhere else...


Michigan asks internet for pleasant sports memories, gets owned online repeatedly

Kevin Harrish, Eleven Warriors

Like Kevin points out, you can’t ask people to describe pleasant Michigan moments when your opposition are the only ones to have pleasant Michigan moments.


Dr. Michael Drake is now the prez of University of California.


I would have at least taken a vacation between gigs?!


The Ivy League will likely move its football season to spring.


March: “The Ivy League is cancelling its basketball tournament, but don’t expect FBS schools to do the same thing.”

July: “The Ivy League is moving its football season to spring, but don’t expe-


Stanford (!!) is cutting 11 of its 36 varsity sports.


Following the 2020-21 season, Stanford will be discontinuing men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.

The only Division I FBS school that sponsors more sports than Stanford? That’d be Ohio State.

Continue reading...

You know, I opened this thinking it was about this grave injustice:

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Script Ohio, Freshly Cut.

Some heroes from Ohio State's college of food, agriculture and environmental sciences did their own rendition of The Incomparable at the Farm Science Review in London, Ohio.

It's a Script Mowhio, if you will.

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They may not be The Best Damn Band in the Land, but the military precision, tight turns and unison movements are all there – and we even got a glorious "i" dotting with a weed eater.

You have our respect, lawn-mowing patriots. You have our respect.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/the-...assive-script-ohio-at-the-farm-science-review

JCOSU86 said:

Missed Cadiz, Versailles and Russia.

Click to expand...

You probably didn't "miss Cadiz".

At least you can still get this bad boy.

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Buckeye Bits: Experts pick OSU to win the Big Ten (duh), the worst coach in the B1G, Aaron Craft’s last dance, more
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 Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
All of the latest Ohio State news from around the beat and beyond.

Happy Tuesday, Buckeye Nation. It’s been some kinda heat wave out here in Columbus, so hopefully you’ve been able to enjoy the weather. At the same time, I hope you're maintaining good social distancing practices and wearing a mask when out in public. We must all do our part if we want to have any semblance of a college football season this fall, and with the way things are going right now, that seems to be in great jeopardy.

We’re less than a week away from the start of preseason camp, and so we’ll soon (hopefully) start to get a better glimpse at where the players are at after these unprecedented times. I’m sure Ryan Day and the boys are itching to get back out there. Until then, let’s dive into all of today’s Ohio State headlines.

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...

• Basketball Buckeyes attempt to poach five-star center from Minnesota
  (Dan Hessler, LGHL)

One of the nation’s top centers listed Ohio State in his final seven schools back at the end of June, and he has recently given an update on how he is handling his recruiting process. The 2021 prospect is still feeling things out, unable to take visits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily for the Buckeyes, they were one of two schools to host the big man before things got shut down, so we shall see if that gives them any sort of edge moving forward.

• A look back through the Ohio State record books
  (Gene Ross, LGHL)

As we look to embark on yet another season of Ohio State football, it’ll be an opportunity for a new crop of Buckeyes to get their names into the record books. On Monday, I went through some of the program’s top performers through history, including OSU’s career leaders in some of the most important areas such as passing, rushing, total touchdowns and defense. No surprises here, the names J.T. Barrett and Dwayne Haskins show up quite a few times.

• Yesterday’s Buckeye Bits
  (Tia Johnston, LGHL)

ICYMI, check out all of Monday’s headlines from Yesterday’s Buckeye Bits, including some talk about the ongoing TBT — a very fun and entertaining event to get some sports back into our lives — plus the Ohio State All-Decade Team, the logistics of playing college football in the spring, and much more!

From around the gridiron...

• 247Sports Media Days: Big Ten preseason poll
  (Brandon Marcello, 247Sports)

While all conference Media Days will be conducted virtually at the end of July, the people over at 247Sports have gathered up their own group of experts within the Power 5. The results of their polls within the Big Ten are as you would expect, with Ohio State predicted to finish first in the Big Ten East. Their 77 points were ahead of Penn State (64) and Michigan (56). Justin Fields is the predicted Big Ten Player of the Year, and Ryan Day the predicted Big Ten Coach of the Year. The voters also chose Ohio State vs. Penn State as the conference’s Game of the Year.

• Should Ohio State redshirt C.J. Stroud or Jack Miller in 2020?
  (Colin Hass-Hill and Dan Hope, Eleven Warriors)

Continuing their Take/Counter-Take series, today Eleven Warriors debates whether or not Ohio State should redshirt their new freshman quarterbacks. Hope takes the stance that the Buckeyes would be smart to redshirt at least one of the first-year guys, arguing that it would provide the best opportunity for both players to start at some point in their career. Hass-Hill argues the opposite, saying that the two highly-touted freshman need as much experience as possible as it is likely one of them will be the starter in 2021.

• I certainly don't want to find out.

• Buckeyes need Tommy Togiai to flex strength, dominate up front
  (Austin Ward, Lettermen Row)

Ohio State needs to replace a trio of guys who split time at defensive tackle last season, but they do have some players with big potential ready to fill in. Tommy Togiai is at the top of that list, and has shown great flashes of talent in his first two years with the program. With the veterans of the room now gone, the Buckeyes expect Togiai to become an All-Big Ten type of player and continue to grow into an eventual NFL Draft pick as he keeps working under Larry Johnson.

• Poll: Who is the worst coach in the Big Ten?
  (Dave Biddle, Bucknuts)

Now if I told you that Bucknuts — the Ohio State section of 247Sports — put out a poll asking their readers to name the worst coach in the Big Ten, I'm sure you could assume who would receive the most votes in said poll. Buckeye Nation is nothing if not consistent, and as a result Jim Harbaugh is leading the poll by a large margin (nearly 40% of the vote as of the time this was written). The next-highest vote-getters are Maryland’s Mike Locksley (14.2%), Illinois’ Lovie Smith (11.7%) and Indiana’s Tom Allen (10.8%).

From around the hardwood...

• On this date in 2004, Ohio State basketball hired a man by the name of Thad Matta. 13 years later, Matta compiled 337 wins as head coach of the Buckeyes, winning five Big Ten titles and four Big Ten tournaments. Under Matta, OSU made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament five times and twice made the Final Four.

• The 2020 TBT will be one last ride for Aaron Craft
  (Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts)

Aaron Craft debuted for the Buckeyes back in November 2012, putting up eight points and nine assists against North Carolina A&T in a 102-61 victory for the guys in Scarlet and Gray. He would later become a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a household name among Ohio State fans. Craft has spent the last six years playing professional basketball overseas, but his playing days will soon be coming to an end. He will suit up for the last time in the TBT, playing alongside many of his former teammates on Carmen’s Crew.

From everywhere else...

• Listen I know 2020 has been a crazy year, but I STILL have questions about this one...

• While wearing masks and face coverings in your day-to-day life is an incredibly easy and necessary task, doing so during a physically demanding event — like playing a college football game — seems a tad difficult. There doesn’t seem to be an easy solution right now to the problem a face-to-face sport like football will face, but hopefully we learn more as we move forward and find better ways to keep the athletes safe.

• In case you haven’t heard, Patrick Mahomes is making ALL the money.

Continue reading...

Basketball Buckeyes attempt to poach five-star center from Minnesota
Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Five-star center Chet Holmgren | Jim Hawkins, Inside Carolina
Ohio State recently made the cut for the talented big man, but will it be enough to steal him away from the home state school?

Ohio State’s basketball program has felt rather quiet as of late. Once head coach Chris Holtmann was able to secure a roster for the (hopefully) upcoming season, news surrounding the program has been hard to come by.

However, don’t take that silence as a lack of work. Holtmann and the basketball Buckeyes’ coaching staff have been hitting the recruiting trail as hard as any program in the last month.

In fact, the hard work appears to be paying off, as one of the nation’s top talents included Ohio State in his top seven schools last month. Five-star center Chet Holmgren (Minneapolis, MN/Minnehaha Academy) listed the Buckeyes as one of his finalists as well as Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Gonzaga and Georgetown.

The Buckeyes seemingly are in the top of that selective group, as they are one of only two schools to host Holmgren on an official visit — the other being Gonzaga. However, homestate school Minnesota is still the team to beat at this point in his recruitment.


Holmgren recently spoke with Jake Weingarten of stockrisers.com and he talked highly of his Ohio State visit as well as provided an update on his recruitment timeline.

Speaking with Weingarten, Holmgren said with the COVID-19 pandemic currently in place, and with no end in sight, he doesn’t plan on making a decision early. With hope that he will be able to take more visits in the future, he is planning on making a commitment around spring of 2021. He also stated he is not planning on reclassifying.

Another reason Holmgren intends to wait is he does not want to be the first domino to fall. Instead, he prefers to see what happens with other commitments before making a decision.

Holmgren is the No. 1 center in the nation and is the No. 3 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Quick Hits:

• An Ohio State great will soon be coaching Buckeye four-star defensive end commit Tunmise Adeleye. Pepper Johnson was announced as the new defensive coordinator for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. In addition to being able to talk to Adeleye about his future school of choice, the move should only strengthen Ohio State’s pipeline with the program.

• Ohio State commit C.J. Hicks showed his excitement for the Buckeyes 2022 recruiting class on Twitter Monday. Hicks is the No. 15 athlete in the cycle and the No. 4 player in Ohio.

Continue reading...

Buckeye Bits: Carmens Crew head coach Jared Sullinger says this year’s team is better than last’s, Oregon is most important game for Ohio State per ESPN, more
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 Jim Rogash/Getty Images
All of the latest news from around the Ohio State beat and beyond.

I’d love it if you all stayed inside, wore masks, stopped going to bars, restaurants and campus house parties so that come September I can watch one of the best teams in Ohio State history beat the pants off Oregon, Penn State and Michigan and ultimately beat Clemson in the national championship after Justin Fields throws a 80-yard walk-off touchdown pass to Chris Olave, causing Fields to beat out Trevor Lawrence in the Heisman race and become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft—an event that would sneak up on me because of how invested I’ve been in March Madness due to the fact that Ohio State is Final Four-bound and my bracket is in the top 10 of all three contests I’ve entered. Thanks so much!!


Until we get sports highlights of our own, let’s dive into some of the headlines you may have missed over your holiday weekend or while you were catching up on work this afternoon.

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...


A look back through the Ohio State record books

Gene Ross, LGHL

Mandatory workouts begin a week from today, meaning we’re just days away from finding out how the team is really looking after a long, socially distanced off-season. To kick off our preseason content, Gene took a look at all the current Ohio State record holders, from total offense to field goals. Here’s hoping that the 2020-21 crew can get their names on the board.

Column: Which Power-5 conference makes the best Ohio State opponents

Meredith Hein, LGHL

Over the weekend, our Brett Ludwiczak wrote about the most intriguing opponents Ohio State football has yet to play, such as Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Iowa State. Meredith piggybacked off that by analyzing which Power Five conferences contain the best matchups for the Buckeyes, which I highly recommend reading considering we may very well see a Power Five vs. Power Five season this fall.

24 Club: Francis Schmidt, OSU’s first coach to finish with a winning record against Michigan

Jim Baird, LGHL

Learn the story of Ohio State head coach Francis Schmidt, aka the man behind Ohio State’s gold pants tradition.

Column: Don’t let ‘sports-hate’ lead to a prison sentence

Matt Tamanini, LGHL

In case you missed it, two weeks ago, a man named Daniel Rippy pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Ohio State students, athletes and Urban Meyer during the 2018 Ohio State vs. Michigan game, which the Buckeyes won 62-39. Matt explains why you should probably just...not let your disdain for a sporting team get that far. (Even when said sporting team beats your sporting team eight years in a row.)

From around the gridiron...


Ohio State football second year players that could breakout in 2020 according to ESPN

Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire

ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren identified wide receiver Garrett Wilson and defensive end Zach Harrison as the two second-year Buckeyes that could be integral parts of the team this fall. Considering Wilson was one of Ohio State’s biggest playmakers as a freshman, and D-line coach Larry Johnson is molding Harrison into the next great Ohio State DE as we speak, I can’t say I disagree with you, Tom.


ESPN names Ohio State football’s most important game for 2020

Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire

I do, however, disagree with Tom on this one.

VanHaaren also identified who he believes to be Ohio State’s most important game of the 2020 season: Oregon.


1.) Penn State is OSU’s most important/worrisome game of 2020.

2.) I don’t think it’s “crucial” for the Buckeyes to beat the Ducks if they want to get into the CFP. Even if the Buckeyes lose by a score or two and then dominate the rest of their schedule and win the Big Ten, they’re in.


Opinion: Winter/early spring season ‘doable’? Hard to imagine

Dave Biddle, Bucknuts

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley believes a winter/early spring college football season is “doable.” Dave Biddle of Bucknuts disagrees, arguing that the weather would not permit it (in the Big Ten especially); the NFL already said they would not reschedule the 2021 Draft, meaning the top CFB players would sit out to prepare for the draft; and it would conflict with the 2022-23 season.


Ohio State football’s All-Decade Team — my version of a full 85-player roster: Doug Lesmerises

Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com

Its no secret that the Big Ten’s All-Decade team was, well, wrong. So the legend himself, Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com, made an All-Decade team of his own made up entirely of Ohio State players—which, in my totally unbiased opinion, is what the Big Ten’s team should have looked like.


The most pressing questions each Ohio State assistant coach must address in lead-up to 2020 season

Colin Hass-Hill, Eleven Warriors

While there aren’t many holes in Ohio State’s roster, there are still questions to be answered before the team takes their first snap of the season. Hass-Hill listed the No. 1 question each assistant coach must address, such as who is Corey Dennis putting in if Justin Field’s goes down? And how does Tony Alford plan on using Trey Sermon and his other running backs?


I can’t tell you who the best coach is but what I can tell you is that it’s not James Franklin.


Just kidding I can tell you. It’s Ryan Day. Ryan Day is the best coach in college football (the world just doesn’t know it yet).

From around the hardwood...


Ohio State basketball commit Meechie Johnson returning to Garfield Heights for senior year

Matt Goul, cleveland.com

• After spending last year with the International Sports Academy at Andrews Osborne, Ohio State 2021 target Demetrius “Meechie” Johnson Jr. is returning to his hometown, where he will play his last year of high school basketball at Garfield Heights.

Former Ohio State guard Joey Lane interviews Carmens Crew head coach Jared Sullinger on his newest episode of Inside TBT.


Anything hosted by Lane is worth watching, trust me.


Speaking of Sullinger, he explains why this year’s team is better than last year’s team (aka the team that won the whole damn thing!)


Carmen’s Crew is set to face off against House of ‘Paign Wednesday at 4 p.m. We’ll have your pregame preview. We’ll be live-tweeting the game. And we’ll have your recap. It’s good to be back!

From everywhere else...


Just a bunch of tweets that contain really bad news for sports fans:


And guess what? The COVID numbers are RISING in Columbus, especially in bars and restaurants. You want football? Stay home.


TEN. YEARS.


2031!!!! Guys, I was 16 ten years ago. That feels like a lifetime ago.

Also:


Even if I defined myself, I don’t think I could become any of those things.

Continue reading...

A look back through the Ohio State record books
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 Keith Birmingham/Digital First Media/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images
Which former Buckeyes top the charts in some of the most important categories?

Ohio State has a rich and storied tradition as one of the nation’s most prestigious college football programs of all time. Obviously this is the result of a long lineage of extremely talented players making their way through Columbus over the years.

With preseason camp just a week away, we are beginning to prep for whatever semblance of a college football season we will see in 2020. With a new campaign hopefully on the horizon, now seems like a good time to take a walk down memory lane and highlight some of the greatest performances in Ohio State history.

Total Offense


The program record for total offensive yards in a season, held by none other than quarterback J.T. Barrett, is 12,697 yards. Barrett spent four years as the starting QB at Ohio State, with his best season coming in 2017 when he threw for just over 3,000 yards with 35 touchdowns and nine picks. His 3,851 total yards that same season are good enough for the second-most yards in a single season in school history.

The man ahead of Barrett in that category is Dwayne Haskins, who put up 4,939 total yards during the 2018 season. Haskins threw for over 4,800 yards that year while rushing for an additional 108. Barrett has the No. 2 (3,851 yards in 2017) and No. 3 (3,772 yards in 2014) highest totals for yards in a single season, while Justin Fields comes in at No. 4 after his 3,757-yard performance in his first year at the helm.

Haskins filled the stat sheet week in and week out, and as a result holds the record for most total offensive yards in a single game, while also having five of the top six spots in the category. His best performance came against Purdue in 2018 — ironically, a game Ohio State lost — when Haskins put up a school-record 477 yards. The one-year starter also had more than 460 yards of total offense against both Maryland and Indiana that same year, good for No. 2 and No. 3 on the list.

Total Touchdowns


Barrett finds himself as the record-holder in yet another category, as he tops the list of career total touchdowns at Ohio State with 147. His four years as the team’s starter certainly helped, and he is a whopping 59 touchdowns ahead of the next highest player on the list—Braxton Miller with 88. Barrett also holds the record for most touchdowns in a single game with seven, which he completed on two occasions — 2016 against Bowling Green, and 2017 against Nebraska.

Haskins holds the record for most touchdowns in a single season with his 54 scores in 2018, 50 of which were passing and four on the ground. Fields is right behind him after finding the end zone 51 times in 2019. Both Fields and Haskins have each had at least one six-touchdown game, with Haskins pulling off the feat on three separate occasions.

Passing


No surprises here — J.T. Barrett holds the OSU record for most career passing yards with 9,434. He is over 2,000 yards over the next highest contender, as Art Schlichter sits in second place with 7,547 career passing yards. Haskins holds the record for most passing yards in a single season with his 4,831 in 2018, and also has six of the top seven single-game passing performances in program history, led by his 499-yard passing performance against Northwestern in 2018.

It’s once again Barrett topping the list for career passing touchdowns with 104 — nearly double the next-closest players Bobby Hoying and Terrelle Pryor, who each finished with 57 in their careers. Haskins has passed for the most TDs in a single season with 50, and Fields was just behind him this past season with 41. Barrett, Haskins and Kenny Guiton are all tied for the single-game record, each having thrown six touchdowns in one afternoon.

Rushing


Archie Griffin holds the Ohio State record for most rushing attempts over a player’s carer. His 924 runs between 1972-75 are almost 200 more than J.K. Dobbins in 2019, which is No. 2 on the list with 725 attempts. Keith Byars holds the record for most attempts in a single season, however, with 336 rushes in 1984. Champ Henson has the single-game record with a whopping 44 carries against Northwestern in 1972.

Once again no surprise, Griffin is also the record-holder for most career rushing yards by a Buckeye with 5,589, and Dobbins is in second place with 4,459. Dobbins did break the school record for rushing yards in a single season in 2019, becoming the first Ohio State player ever to rush for over 2,000 yards. Eddie George has the single-game record with a huge 314-yard day against Illinois in 1995.

When it comes to rushing touchdowns, Pete Johnson is your guy. He holds the OSU record for career rushing TDs (56), single-season rushing TDs (25 in 1975) AND single-game TDs (5, tied with Byars).

Receiving


Another newly crowned record-holder, K.J. Hill is Ohio State’s all-time leading pass-catcher with 201 career receptions. Parris Campbell, somewhat surprisingly, holds the record for most receptions in a single-season with 90 in 2018, ahead of David Boston’s 85 in 1998. Boston does, however, hold the record for most catches in a single game with his 14 against Penn State in 1997.

Michael Jenkins has the school record for most career receiving yards with 2,898 despite playing only three seasons (2001-03). He finishes just ahead of Boston, who racked up 2,855 yards receiving in his career. Boston holds the record for most receiving yards in a single season with 1,435 in 1998, and Terry Glenn holds the single-game record with 253 receiving yards against Pittsburgh in 1995.

Boston sees his name atop the list yet again when it comes to receiving TDs, as his 34 are the most of any Ohio State receiver ever. Glenn holds the single-season record with 17 TD catches in 1995. A quartet of guys are tied for the single-game receiving TD record — which is four — with those being Glenn, Bob Grimes, Dane Sanzenbacher and Noah Brown.

Defense


The Ohio State record for career interceptions is 22, held by Mike Sensibaugh. He is also tied for the record for most picks in a single-season with Craig Cassady, as the two guys each finished with nine in their respective campaigns. The most picks in a single game for a Buckeyes is three, and that distinction is held by a number of players including Fred Bruney, Ted Provost and William White.

Marcus Marek holds the school record for most career tackles with 572, just ahead of Tom Cousineau whose in second with 569. Cousineau tops the list for the most tackles in a single season at Ohio State with 211 in 1978, and is tied with Chris Spielman for the most tackles in a single game in program history (29).

The record book for sacks at Ohio State is a long and talented list of dominant Buckeye defensive players. Mike Vrabel is the all-time career sacks leader with 36, and while Chase Young made a run at him this season, he came up just shy and is sitting at No. 2 with 30.5 career sacks. Young did, however, break the OSU record for sacks in a season with 16.5 despite having to miss two games. Young is also one of five guys to have ever recorded a four-sack game for Ohio State, with Vernon Gholston and John Simon also on that list.

Kicking


This section can just be titled Mike Nugent. The four-year OSU kicker and NFL journeyman holds school records for most career field goals (72), the top two spots for most field goals in a single season (25 and 24), and is one of four players in program history to have hit five field goals in a single game. Blake Haubeil currently has the edge over Nugent for career FG percentage at 82.1 percent, but that number can still change as he has one more year remaining.

Continue reading...

Column: Which Power-5 conference makes the best Ohio State opponents
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 Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Some are clearly better than others.

Hello everyone and hope you had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July! Friendly reminder to stop setting off fireworks every night because your animals hate it.

Given Ohio State’s recently announced home-and-home against Alabama, Brett Ludwiczak recently wrote an awesome post about the top opponents Ohio State has never played. Which obviously begs the question of who, among the 90 FBS teams the Buckeyes have played throughout their program history, that Ohio State would like another crack at. But given there are 130 teams in the FBS, it’s probably best to start the analysis at the conference level.

There are distinct attributes almost on a conference-by-conference basis which makes some opponents more intriguing than others. On that conference basis, there are some obvious winners and losers.

With the exception of Ohio State’s Sugar Bowl win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff in 2014, arguably (yes, I’m open to discussion) the most exciting out-of-conference wins in recent history have come over Oregon (2010), Oklahoma (2016), USC (2017) and Washington (2019). The wins against Oregon and Washington came in the Rose Bowl, and that over USC in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Speaking of classics, these three matchups both had the familiar ring of a traditional Rose Bowl game which is just the best.

So let’s save the best for first:

The Pac-12


Ohio State holds a 62-26-2 record overall against Pac-12 opponents. Those 90 games are the most played by Ohio State against any other Power-5 conference.

Among particular teams, the Buckeyes have winning records against nine of 12 current teams, led by Oregon and Washington State, over whom Ohio State has a 9-0 and 8-0 advantage, respectively.

Ohio State has played a Pac-12 opponent in six of the last 10 seasons, including three times in bowl games. Of note, the Buckeyes won all three of those games (Oregon, 2015; USC, 2017; Washington, 2019).

What makes these games particularly intriguing are two things. First, the aforementioned point regarding a totally different style of play. Go figure, many teams in the Pac-12 run traditional, pass-heavy West Coast offenses. Passing attacks have benefited teams like Washington State and Oregon, who are consistently among the most potent passers in the FBS.

Next, there’s no real football basis to it, but the nostalgia of traditional Rose Bowl opponents rings strong when Ohio State plays teams like USC, Stanford and Oregon. Games like these bring generations together in a way that unites Buckeye nation and inevitably leads to higher shirt sales at Homage. Because what’s better than a vintage throwback shirt of “Ohio State vs. USC in the granddaddy of them all”?

The Big 12


The Buckeyes are 20-6-1 against the Big 12, their only losing record coming to Texas (1-2). As a conference, Ohio State has played fewer games against the Big 12 than any other conference. The Buckeyes have faced both West Virginia and TCU six times apiece, and hold a 5-1 record versus each.

Once again, the Big 12 is a conference that plays an entirely different brand of football than what Ohio State sees week-in and week-out against Big Ten opponents. The high-flying offenses and sieve-like defenses of teams like Oklahoma State and Texas Tech offer unique and exciting challenges for a program that is used to exploiting and defending the run.

Unlike the Pac-12, Ohio State doesn’t tend to face Big 12 opponents in bowl games. That’s because there are no protected bowl matchups between the two conferences, despite 10 automatic bids for the Big Ten and seven for the Big 12.

The ACC


Then there’s the ACC. With the exception of Clemson, there doesn’t feel like there are a lot of advantages to playing the ACC in football (the caveat is necessary because obviously the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in basketball might be the best crossover in college athletics). In all, the Buckeyes are 40-19-1 against schools from the ACC. Ohio State holds winning records against eight schools in the ACC, even splits with two (Miami and Virginia Tech) and are winless against two others (Florida State and Clemson).

Which brings us to a point regarding out of conference matchups, and one of the components that makes the Big Ten/ACC Challenge so great. It’s exciting to see an entire conference face off against an entire other conference. In doing so, fans get a picture of top-to-bottom conference power as well as overall prowess. It’s one of the rare glimpses into national prominence of not just conferences but relative powers of teams. For NCAA basketball, it’s crucial for understanding relative conference performance — an understanding which ultimately plays into NCAA Tournament seeding.

The SEC


Don’t be mad. By far the worst conference (IMHO) to play against is the SEC. While Ohio State actually holds a more than decent record against the conference, at 22-13-3 overall, the Buckeyes’ record against these opponents is the lowest win percentage against any Power-5 conference.

Recent history suggests that Ohio State has the edge against the SEC, given data points of bowl wins against Arkansas (2011) and Alabama (2015). Unlike the Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC, however, Ohio State does not typically schedule series against the SEC — the 2027-28 home-and-home against Alabama notwithstanding.

But it’s not about winning in this case - it’s about the intrigue of the matchup. Top-to-bottom, much of the SEC plays a similar style to the Big Ten: balanced offense, great defense. It’s not as exciting to see another team like the teams the Buckeyes play week-in and week-out. Sure, a win over an SEC foe would win brownie points, but apparently only if that opponent is LSU or Alabama. A loss to any other SEC opponent (especially those in the SEC East) is a black mark on the Buckeyes’ record.

Personally, I can’t stand playing the SEC, and fully-recognize I’m in the minority. People say Ohio State fans are annoying (yes, we definitely are, so we might as well own it), but the worst is playing SEC teams and putting two extremely annoying fan bases together (looking at you, Florida). While some (cough, my husband) see this aspect as a positive — a marquee matchup that’s exciting for both sides — once again, it’s like another Big Ten matchup with another impassioned group of fans, just one we don’t have to deal with every year.


The reality is that top-to-bottom, conference vs. conference arrangements are difficult in football. With so few slots of non-conference matchups, years-out scheduling for non-conference games and existing out-of-conference rivalry games that are protected (think Iowa/Iowa State, etc.), scheduling these types of matchups is nearly impossible.

You see it a little with bowl games, where you have a few teams who get racked-and-stacked against other conferences (usually the SEC). Of course, it only takes a small adjustment to throw off entire arrangements — when, for example, the SEC gets two teams in a playoff scenario or when a Big Ten champ gets left out.

The reality is that marquee matchups are difficult enough to bring to fruition on an individual basis. Ohio State’s recently agreed-upon home-and-home against Alabama isn’t scheduled until 2027-28. With that kind of far-out scheduling, it’s hard to ensure Ohio State will be facing top-tier teams when those matchups finally come around.

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BuckeyeNation27 said:

I have very serious doubts we would've even pretended to look at Bo Pelini.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Given that hires like Tressel, Day, Holtmann, Matta, etc. came from FCS, non-P5, or non-head coaching backgrounds I think shows that tOSU usually aims to find a good, dynamic fit over traditional 'plug-and-play' hires poached from elite schools that we often see rumored. Even further back, Bruce and Cooper both came from good but not great schools (Iowa State and Arizona State, respectively). Similar to Miles to TSUN, just because there's a prior relationship with a coach at the school, and that coach is at an elite school, doesn't mean there's a fit.

OSU_Buckguy said:

committed to msu.

Click to expand...

probably means that we are out on his younger brother

Anyone else remember when only 1 Big Ten team played in a bowl game?

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SKULL SESSION: JOEY GALLOWAY'S MASSIVE FIREWORKS DISPLAY, OHIO STATE'S ELITE-YET-SIMPLE DEFENSE, AND A POTENTIAL HOME-AND-HOME WITH MICHIGAN

A TRADITION LIKE NO OTHER. With many official fireworks displays canceled all across the country, I hope all of y'all had a neighbor like Joey Galloway, who had his usual military-quantities of colorful sky explosives.

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Better yet, I hope you were the neighbor like Joey Galloway.

In any case, I hope you all had a fun, happy and safe Independence Day that involved only the correct amount of alcohol and fire.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...elite-yet-simple-defense-and-a-potential-home

I saw the Scooby Doo one above, but how did I miss this series?

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