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JJ Huddle boards need a serious "lighten up, Francis"
- By ScriptOhio
- Open Discussion (Work-safe)
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Never pass on a chance to "bump" an old thread:
Apparently this guy gets it.....
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Apparently this guy gets it.....
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LGHL If Ohio State wants to beat Wisconsin, their wide receivers need to really step up
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If Ohio State wants to beat Wisconsin, their wide receivers need to really step up
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
They’ve got the stars. But they’re going to need some production.
Going into the season, we knew a few things about Ohio State’s wideouts.
We knew they were going to be inexperienced. Virtually every player in the wideouts meeting room had yet to catch a pass during a game. The Buckeyes returned exactly six catches from true wide receivers from 2015, and five of them came from Corey Smith.
We also knew they would be exceptionally talented. Few have recruited as well as Ohio State has over the last few years, and that includes at the wide receiver position. Once blocked by NFL players like Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller and Jalin Marshall, Ohio State would have a bevy of four-star players to chose from. Of the 15 players to catch a pass for Ohio State in 2016, an astounding 14 of them were consensus four-star recruits. When it comes to raw size, speed, and athletic ability, the Buckeye wideouts have that in spades.
But here’s one thing we still don’t know as we approach the halfway point of Ohio State’s season.
Can they be productive pass catchers?
This isn’t to say that Ohio State’s offense, or even their passing offense, hasn’t been effective. It certainly has. The Buckeyes are third in the country in points per game, averaging an absolutely stupid 53.2 a contest. J.T. Barrett has tossed 15 touchdown passes this season, good for 14th nationally. An offense can’t put up anything close to those numbers if their passing game isn’t clicking.
But that doesn’t necessary mean the wideouts are carrying the load. Ohio State’s leading pass catcher right now isn’t exactly a wide receiver, Curtis Samuel. Samuel has hauled in 23 catches, nearly double Ohio State’s second leading receiver, and 345 yards, again, nearly double Ohio State’s second leading receiver.
Ohio State’s second leading pass catcher? Dontre Wilson, who also isn’t exactly a wide receiver. Wilson has 15 grabs for 189 yards. Of Ohio State’s top five pass catchers this season, only two are true wide receivers, and that fifth player, Terry McLaurin, has six catches.
That isn’t to say that there haven’t been bright spots. Noah Brown, after all, showed how he could be an absolute red-zone nightmare, grabbing four touchdown passes against Oklahoma. Terry McLaurin had a nice touchdown catch against Rutgers. Others have had individual moments as well.
But that production has not been consistent. And Ohio State is about to face their toughest secondary yet.
For Ohio State’s power-spread offense to be truly effective, opponents need to respect their ability to take the top off a defense and attack it vertically. The team struggled badly in their ability to do that for much of last season, and against Indiana, Ohio State fans saw a preview of what that might look like for this season. The Buckeyes were still able to prevail, but it grounded an otherwise highly potent offense for much of the game, and forced Barrett to run the ball an uncomfortably large number of times.
The Buckeyes could line up in the Wing T and decide to bludgeon other Big Ten teams without ever deciding to throw a meaningful pass if they wanted. But not Wisconsin.
The Badgers are ninth right now in rushing defense in S&P+. Their entire defensive identity is centered around swarming the line of scrimmage to keep teams off schedule, forcing them into uncomfortable passing downs situations, where they can pick passes off (every starting defensive back for Wisconsin has an interception this season). That plan was executed perfectly against LSU and Michigan. And if Wisconsin wants to spring an upset of the Buckeyes, they’ll need to follow that gameplan again.
That makes the performance of Ohio State’s go-to wide receiver even more important.
But who is that right now?
Clearly, Curtis Samuel is Ohio State’s best offensive playmaker, period, no matter where he’s getting the ball. He should be getting 15-16 targets a game, coming from the backfield, screens, end-arounds, and more conventional passing routes. Dontre Wilson would be used in a similar fashion.
But other than that? It’s a legitimate question right now. The most obvious answer seems to be Noah Brown, but other than his monster game against Oklahoma, he’s been somewhat quiet. Brown has caught three passes for 31 yards combined over the last two games.
Immediate superlative production wasn’t realistic. After all, nearly every wideout is an underclassman, and few had anything close to real experience. The most experienced player in the room, Corey Smith, is playing with basically one hand, thanks to an injury, and hasn’t caught a pass this season.
Ohio State also doesn’t need superlative production either, since they’re not running an Air Raid. They want to run the ball 30+ times a game. They want to spread the ball around, including horizontally.
But soon, the Buckeyes are going to need one, if not more, of their true wide receivers to start to provide separation and production. As the offense moves to the true meat of the schedule, it’s efficiency requires regular, consistent, downfield passing threats, not just for deep bombs, but for medium throws as well.
Ohio State has no shortage of possible options, and that’s a good problem to have.
But eventually, you don’t want to keep writing about the potential of the unit. At some point, that production needs to translate.
This week would be a good time for that to start.
Continue reading...
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
They’ve got the stars. But they’re going to need some production.
Going into the season, we knew a few things about Ohio State’s wideouts.
We knew they were going to be inexperienced. Virtually every player in the wideouts meeting room had yet to catch a pass during a game. The Buckeyes returned exactly six catches from true wide receivers from 2015, and five of them came from Corey Smith.
We also knew they would be exceptionally talented. Few have recruited as well as Ohio State has over the last few years, and that includes at the wide receiver position. Once blocked by NFL players like Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller and Jalin Marshall, Ohio State would have a bevy of four-star players to chose from. Of the 15 players to catch a pass for Ohio State in 2016, an astounding 14 of them were consensus four-star recruits. When it comes to raw size, speed, and athletic ability, the Buckeye wideouts have that in spades.
But here’s one thing we still don’t know as we approach the halfway point of Ohio State’s season.
Can they be productive pass catchers?
This isn’t to say that Ohio State’s offense, or even their passing offense, hasn’t been effective. It certainly has. The Buckeyes are third in the country in points per game, averaging an absolutely stupid 53.2 a contest. J.T. Barrett has tossed 15 touchdown passes this season, good for 14th nationally. An offense can’t put up anything close to those numbers if their passing game isn’t clicking.
But that doesn’t necessary mean the wideouts are carrying the load. Ohio State’s leading pass catcher right now isn’t exactly a wide receiver, Curtis Samuel. Samuel has hauled in 23 catches, nearly double Ohio State’s second leading receiver, and 345 yards, again, nearly double Ohio State’s second leading receiver.
Ohio State’s second leading pass catcher? Dontre Wilson, who also isn’t exactly a wide receiver. Wilson has 15 grabs for 189 yards. Of Ohio State’s top five pass catchers this season, only two are true wide receivers, and that fifth player, Terry McLaurin, has six catches.
That isn’t to say that there haven’t been bright spots. Noah Brown, after all, showed how he could be an absolute red-zone nightmare, grabbing four touchdown passes against Oklahoma. Terry McLaurin had a nice touchdown catch against Rutgers. Others have had individual moments as well.
But that production has not been consistent. And Ohio State is about to face their toughest secondary yet.
For Ohio State’s power-spread offense to be truly effective, opponents need to respect their ability to take the top off a defense and attack it vertically. The team struggled badly in their ability to do that for much of last season, and against Indiana, Ohio State fans saw a preview of what that might look like for this season. The Buckeyes were still able to prevail, but it grounded an otherwise highly potent offense for much of the game, and forced Barrett to run the ball an uncomfortably large number of times.
The Buckeyes could line up in the Wing T and decide to bludgeon other Big Ten teams without ever deciding to throw a meaningful pass if they wanted. But not Wisconsin.
The Badgers are ninth right now in rushing defense in S&P+. Their entire defensive identity is centered around swarming the line of scrimmage to keep teams off schedule, forcing them into uncomfortable passing downs situations, where they can pick passes off (every starting defensive back for Wisconsin has an interception this season). That plan was executed perfectly against LSU and Michigan. And if Wisconsin wants to spring an upset of the Buckeyes, they’ll need to follow that gameplan again.
That makes the performance of Ohio State’s go-to wide receiver even more important.
But who is that right now?
Clearly, Curtis Samuel is Ohio State’s best offensive playmaker, period, no matter where he’s getting the ball. He should be getting 15-16 targets a game, coming from the backfield, screens, end-arounds, and more conventional passing routes. Dontre Wilson would be used in a similar fashion.
But other than that? It’s a legitimate question right now. The most obvious answer seems to be Noah Brown, but other than his monster game against Oklahoma, he’s been somewhat quiet. Brown has caught three passes for 31 yards combined over the last two games.
Immediate superlative production wasn’t realistic. After all, nearly every wideout is an underclassman, and few had anything close to real experience. The most experienced player in the room, Corey Smith, is playing with basically one hand, thanks to an injury, and hasn’t caught a pass this season.
Ohio State also doesn’t need superlative production either, since they’re not running an Air Raid. They want to run the ball 30+ times a game. They want to spread the ball around, including horizontally.
But soon, the Buckeyes are going to need one, if not more, of their true wide receivers to start to provide separation and production. As the offense moves to the true meat of the schedule, it’s efficiency requires regular, consistent, downfield passing threats, not just for deep bombs, but for medium throws as well.
Ohio State has no shortage of possible options, and that’s a good problem to have.
But eventually, you don’t want to keep writing about the potential of the unit. At some point, that production needs to translate.
This week would be a good time for that to start.
Continue reading...
tBBC Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Slobs, JT Running too much and B1G Big Four and Little Ten
- News
- 0 Replies
Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Slobs, JT Running too much and B1G Big Four and Little Ten
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly was an awesome flick and not at all the motivation for this weekly feature, but a certain someone who used a similar phrase during football highlights led me to it with just a little variation on it. I expanded it by defining it in the way the movie introduces the characters and the staff jumps in with their two-bits. Let’s get rolling with the very good.
Rumblin’
Tweet from @OhioStateFB prior to the Indiana game.
It all starts up front.
No one better than the #Slobs. pic.twitter.com/ytMFBn4NT9
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 3, 2016
It was almost difficult to come up with something very good this week until I began to reflect on what the slobs have been accomplishing. Two returning starters on a line that includes a true freshman and two others with very little experience. They were a pretty sizable question mark heading into the season. The race for biggest surprise is between them and the secondary.
Pat Elflein and Billy Price are great leaders for the team and their positions have been important to the development of a stout running game and protection for JT Barrett when he isn’t running the ball. Here it is in the stats; 1655 total yards for a 323.6 per game average and 6.4 yards per carry. Those numbers are mind boggling with such a young line and they aren’t doing it with smoke and mirrors, they’re mauling their opponents.
There performance on Saturday against a pretty good Indiana defense that was stunting, rotating, blitzing and doing just about anything they could to slow the run game down was my favorite of the season so far for the slobs.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State’s running game. Nearly 300 yards against what’s supposed to be an improved defense.
JC – The “D”. There was a few knocks & bruises on Saturday. But they stepped up when they had to. This unit is top notch & this past week was no different.
Mike Meals – The Silver Bullets. They did a great job shutting down the IU rushing attack, as Brandon talks about below. But the “bend don’t break” style of play has been big so far. The stop early in the game when IU had 1st and Goal around the 6 is a great example. To hold them to a field goal there was a huge win. But also, they were the side of the ball that was actually alive saturday. You all saw what happened when Kwon started calling for crowd noise, the Shoe responded. The defense won that game for OSU.
Ben – The Buckeye defense has been nothing but great all season. Sure we took a few lumps on Saturday with poorly covered touchdown passes, but we still have not allowed a rushing touchdown on the season, and we are holding teams to little to nothing per rush. The defensive line rotation is playing out well, and the linebackers with Baker, McMillan and Worley are playing at the same level as last year’s stars Darron Lee and Joshua Perry. Add in the ball hawking secondary and the defense is the reason the Buckeyes are where they are at right now.
Brandon – The Ohio State front seven. As worried as everyone was after Tulsa where they just pounded the ball at the gut of the defense, the defensive line/linebackers have became a dominant force against the run. Indiana rushed the ball 40 times and could only manage 99 yards. Additionally, they still have not given up a rushing touchdown. This bodes well for the Buckeyes as the Badgers and their noodle-arm QB host the Buckeyes on Saturday night.
Stumblin’
"I'm all about winning."
He's already one of the greatest QBs to wear the scarlet & gray, but @JT_theQB4th's journey is far from finished. pic.twitter.com/j6zonF4xRs
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 4, 2016
Is it just me or is the offense just playing possum? I get this sneaking suspicion that Urban Meyer and staff have an ultimate game plan for that team up north and the best way to do that is appear as though the passing game is struggling. I for one am not a believer that JT Barrett is struggling to find receivers but do believe Harbaugh is a sucker.
Saturday was the worst passing game since, well . . , last season. Although those were truly WR issues it seemed, they flipped a switch after JT took over. There’s no way the most prolific passing QB in Ohio State football history is having a hard time finding receivers open, not with the route runners they currently have.
What I find troubling in the play calling and a bit of a stumble here is how many more carries JT had than Mike Weber Jr. and Curtis Samuel. In my opinion, possum or not, JT should never have more touches than those two let alone more than them combined! Urban Meyer immediately acknowledged the 25 carries he had during the last game. Maybe they know something about Joe Burrow that allows them to relax about JT getting hurt? Time will tell and hopefully he won’t have near as many carries this Saturday.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – J.T. Barrett. He was off more than a tad against Indiana. Fortunately the coaches took the bal away from him and focused on the run.
JC – The offense. Everyone’s game was a bit shy of normal. But here I blame the coaching and call playing. So I have to nail Warriner & Beck on the whole issue.
Mike Meals – Everyone associated with the offensive side of the ball. JT had a bad, if not terrible passing game. C. Samuel was taken out of the game plan and kept to about 10 touches. Weber had trouble starting. The coaching staff pulling a Penn State/Michigan State repeat from the last 2 years and going into shut down mode. Wisconsin will see what the Buckeyes can do, they can watch tape from BG, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rutgers. This isn’t a case of playing down on tape, it was bad management and execution.
Ben – I am tired of harping on it, but the wide receiver play is terrible. Indiana made our receiving core basically non-existent and in reality it has been that way all season. Sure J.T. has had some good passing games (thanks Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson), but outside of Noah Brown’s 4 TD game against Oklahoma what really have we done? The Buckeyes can’t afford to wait until next season and hope that Trevon Grimes and Tyjon Lindsey can come in a resurrect the passing game.
Brandon – The offensive play calling. Yes, Barrett was off early but so was Weber and the whole offensive line. You really can’t just ignore the entire passing game for 75% of the game and expect to win against a good team. Yes they won on Saturday but Indiana is not good…I don’t care how much we try to tell ourselves they are to feel better about the performance. This is the same Indiana team that struggled with Ball State and lost to Wake Forest. If it was the second half and Ohio State was still struggling, then by all means go to the ground game…but you can’t just give up on passing all-together early in the second quarter. This very good Hoosier defense is the same people who gave up 263 yards and three touchdowns the week prior to Tyler O’Connor through the air. You do “what you need to do to win” against Michigan…not Indiana. Don’t play scared.
Bumblin’
ICYMI: The @bigten is pretty good. pic.twitter.com/IaoDCIGf4S
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 11, 2016
I am not and never will be a conference thumping fan, I am about one team winning it all and that’s it. If you want to know the honest truth, Nebraska is the only other team in the top 10 from the B1G that I even like. I could debate with you all day why I am not a conference homer but it would be a waste of debate because I will never change my mind.
What I do proclaim to be disgusted with is how weak the conference is in spite of the four teams in the top 10. The next team receiving any attention is Iowa with three votes in the AP poll. So, for now it’s the big four and the little ten i suppose and that doesn’t necessarily hurt the Buckeyes or any of the other three because they control their own destiny’s.
Brandon makes my point and a great one below. If the conference is trying really hard to bring along Maryland and Indiana as crown jewels of the conference and turn it into the big six? We are in trouble! I will say this about the conference the Buckeyes play in, the teams on the schedule will always bring their best(save for Rutgers) and try and upset the Buckeyes.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Sparty. Nuff said.
JC – Probably Chris Ash. Things were looking somewhat “better” in Piscataway – but not after two (2) games equalling 136-0 … and on the wrong side of the ledger for him. But I still want to say TTUN. I cannot wait until Harbaugh has his “public” meltdown and all the roadkill connoisseurs of the arm-pit of our great nation realizes they made a horrible mistake.
Mike Meals – Rutgers, who spent the entire off season trying to act like they were now Big Boys in the B1G, etc. etc. If you want to be special, you have to come and bring it. Rutgers definitely left if it in the locker room (if they ever had it to begin with). I know it takes time, and Ash will get them respectable by Rutgers standards, but they are not American Athletic Conference good right now, let alone the B1G
Ben – Chris Ash probably wishes he stayed at Ohio State after these past two weeks. Outscored 136-0 against OSU and Michigan and registering only two first downs last week? Yikes. The rebuilding job he has ahead of him is much steeper than even I imagined. Gonna be tough to get kids to buy into the program when you are losing like that. Hopefully he can get things moving in the right direction, as I have a ton of respect for anyone willing to go coach Rutgers.
Brandon – Honestly, the B1G. Outside of OSU, UM, Wisconsin, and Nebraska…the rest of the B1G looks like a complete mess. Penn State is looking a lot better lately but every other team is struggling pretty bad. When we as a conference are hanging our hats on Maryland and Indiana as good teams, completely ignoring the crap teams that gave them their inflated record, there are major issues in the conference.
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Slobs, JT Running too much and B1G Big Four and Little Ten appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly was an awesome flick and not at all the motivation for this weekly feature, but a certain someone who used a similar phrase during football highlights led me to it with just a little variation on it. I expanded it by defining it in the way the movie introduces the characters and the staff jumps in with their two-bits. Let’s get rolling with the very good.
Rumblin’
Tweet from @OhioStateFB prior to the Indiana game.
It all starts up front.
No one better than the #Slobs. pic.twitter.com/ytMFBn4NT9
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 3, 2016
It was almost difficult to come up with something very good this week until I began to reflect on what the slobs have been accomplishing. Two returning starters on a line that includes a true freshman and two others with very little experience. They were a pretty sizable question mark heading into the season. The race for biggest surprise is between them and the secondary.
Pat Elflein and Billy Price are great leaders for the team and their positions have been important to the development of a stout running game and protection for JT Barrett when he isn’t running the ball. Here it is in the stats; 1655 total yards for a 323.6 per game average and 6.4 yards per carry. Those numbers are mind boggling with such a young line and they aren’t doing it with smoke and mirrors, they’re mauling their opponents.
There performance on Saturday against a pretty good Indiana defense that was stunting, rotating, blitzing and doing just about anything they could to slow the run game down was my favorite of the season so far for the slobs.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Rumblin’
Scott – Ohio State’s running game. Nearly 300 yards against what’s supposed to be an improved defense.
JC – The “D”. There was a few knocks & bruises on Saturday. But they stepped up when they had to. This unit is top notch & this past week was no different.
Mike Meals – The Silver Bullets. They did a great job shutting down the IU rushing attack, as Brandon talks about below. But the “bend don’t break” style of play has been big so far. The stop early in the game when IU had 1st and Goal around the 6 is a great example. To hold them to a field goal there was a huge win. But also, they were the side of the ball that was actually alive saturday. You all saw what happened when Kwon started calling for crowd noise, the Shoe responded. The defense won that game for OSU.
Ben – The Buckeye defense has been nothing but great all season. Sure we took a few lumps on Saturday with poorly covered touchdown passes, but we still have not allowed a rushing touchdown on the season, and we are holding teams to little to nothing per rush. The defensive line rotation is playing out well, and the linebackers with Baker, McMillan and Worley are playing at the same level as last year’s stars Darron Lee and Joshua Perry. Add in the ball hawking secondary and the defense is the reason the Buckeyes are where they are at right now.
Brandon – The Ohio State front seven. As worried as everyone was after Tulsa where they just pounded the ball at the gut of the defense, the defensive line/linebackers have became a dominant force against the run. Indiana rushed the ball 40 times and could only manage 99 yards. Additionally, they still have not given up a rushing touchdown. This bodes well for the Buckeyes as the Badgers and their noodle-arm QB host the Buckeyes on Saturday night.
Stumblin’
"I'm all about winning."
He's already one of the greatest QBs to wear the scarlet & gray, but @JT_theQB4th's journey is far from finished. pic.twitter.com/j6zonF4xRs
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 4, 2016
Is it just me or is the offense just playing possum? I get this sneaking suspicion that Urban Meyer and staff have an ultimate game plan for that team up north and the best way to do that is appear as though the passing game is struggling. I for one am not a believer that JT Barrett is struggling to find receivers but do believe Harbaugh is a sucker.
Saturday was the worst passing game since, well . . , last season. Although those were truly WR issues it seemed, they flipped a switch after JT took over. There’s no way the most prolific passing QB in Ohio State football history is having a hard time finding receivers open, not with the route runners they currently have.
What I find troubling in the play calling and a bit of a stumble here is how many more carries JT had than Mike Weber Jr. and Curtis Samuel. In my opinion, possum or not, JT should never have more touches than those two let alone more than them combined! Urban Meyer immediately acknowledged the 25 carries he had during the last game. Maybe they know something about Joe Burrow that allows them to relax about JT getting hurt? Time will tell and hopefully he won’t have near as many carries this Saturday.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Stumblin’
Scott – J.T. Barrett. He was off more than a tad against Indiana. Fortunately the coaches took the bal away from him and focused on the run.
JC – The offense. Everyone’s game was a bit shy of normal. But here I blame the coaching and call playing. So I have to nail Warriner & Beck on the whole issue.
Mike Meals – Everyone associated with the offensive side of the ball. JT had a bad, if not terrible passing game. C. Samuel was taken out of the game plan and kept to about 10 touches. Weber had trouble starting. The coaching staff pulling a Penn State/Michigan State repeat from the last 2 years and going into shut down mode. Wisconsin will see what the Buckeyes can do, they can watch tape from BG, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rutgers. This isn’t a case of playing down on tape, it was bad management and execution.
Ben – I am tired of harping on it, but the wide receiver play is terrible. Indiana made our receiving core basically non-existent and in reality it has been that way all season. Sure J.T. has had some good passing games (thanks Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson), but outside of Noah Brown’s 4 TD game against Oklahoma what really have we done? The Buckeyes can’t afford to wait until next season and hope that Trevon Grimes and Tyjon Lindsey can come in a resurrect the passing game.
Brandon – The offensive play calling. Yes, Barrett was off early but so was Weber and the whole offensive line. You really can’t just ignore the entire passing game for 75% of the game and expect to win against a good team. Yes they won on Saturday but Indiana is not good…I don’t care how much we try to tell ourselves they are to feel better about the performance. This is the same Indiana team that struggled with Ball State and lost to Wake Forest. If it was the second half and Ohio State was still struggling, then by all means go to the ground game…but you can’t just give up on passing all-together early in the second quarter. This very good Hoosier defense is the same people who gave up 263 yards and three touchdowns the week prior to Tyler O’Connor through the air. You do “what you need to do to win” against Michigan…not Indiana. Don’t play scared.
Bumblin’
ICYMI: The @bigten is pretty good. pic.twitter.com/IaoDCIGf4S
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 11, 2016
I am not and never will be a conference thumping fan, I am about one team winning it all and that’s it. If you want to know the honest truth, Nebraska is the only other team in the top 10 from the B1G that I even like. I could debate with you all day why I am not a conference homer but it would be a waste of debate because I will never change my mind.
What I do proclaim to be disgusted with is how weak the conference is in spite of the four teams in the top 10. The next team receiving any attention is Iowa with three votes in the AP poll. So, for now it’s the big four and the little ten i suppose and that doesn’t necessarily hurt the Buckeyes or any of the other three because they control their own destiny’s.
Brandon makes my point and a great one below. If the conference is trying really hard to bring along Maryland and Indiana as crown jewels of the conference and turn it into the big six? We are in trouble! I will say this about the conference the Buckeyes play in, the teams on the schedule will always bring their best(save for Rutgers) and try and upset the Buckeyes.
Let’s see what the staff has to say about the Bumblin’
Scott – Sparty. Nuff said.
JC – Probably Chris Ash. Things were looking somewhat “better” in Piscataway – but not after two (2) games equalling 136-0 … and on the wrong side of the ledger for him. But I still want to say TTUN. I cannot wait until Harbaugh has his “public” meltdown and all the roadkill connoisseurs of the arm-pit of our great nation realizes they made a horrible mistake.
Mike Meals – Rutgers, who spent the entire off season trying to act like they were now Big Boys in the B1G, etc. etc. If you want to be special, you have to come and bring it. Rutgers definitely left if it in the locker room (if they ever had it to begin with). I know it takes time, and Ash will get them respectable by Rutgers standards, but they are not American Athletic Conference good right now, let alone the B1G
Ben – Chris Ash probably wishes he stayed at Ohio State after these past two weeks. Outscored 136-0 against OSU and Michigan and registering only two first downs last week? Yikes. The rebuilding job he has ahead of him is much steeper than even I imagined. Gonna be tough to get kids to buy into the program when you are losing like that. Hopefully he can get things moving in the right direction, as I have a ton of respect for anyone willing to go coach Rutgers.
Brandon – Honestly, the B1G. Outside of OSU, UM, Wisconsin, and Nebraska…the rest of the B1G looks like a complete mess. Penn State is looking a lot better lately but every other team is struggling pretty bad. When we as a conference are hanging our hats on Maryland and Indiana as good teams, completely ignoring the crap teams that gave them their inflated record, there are major issues in the conference.
The post Rumblin’, Stumblin’, Bumblin’: Slobs, JT Running too much and B1G Big Four and Little Ten appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
tBBC Jabril Peppers for Heisman? Are You Kidding Me?
- News
- 0 Replies
Jabril Peppers for Heisman? Are You Kidding Me?
Ben van Ooyen via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
If you are like me, you are sick and tired of hearing about Jabril Peppers and him being a Heisman candidate. Sure he plays on both sides of the ball and is a dynamic play-maker with the ball in his hands, but what really has he done? Is he worthy of all the hype that surrounds him? Is he the next Charles Woodson? My simple answer to these questions is no. Let’s delve into this shall we?
Peppers has been decorated early in his career, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American in 2015. He also earned First Team All-Big Ten and was a Second-team All-American last season. But do the stats back up those awards?
In Peppers freshman season he played in only three games, notching only eight total tackles and returning one punt for six yards. He was then injured against Appalachian State and was granted a redshirt for the rest of the season. He played in 12 games his redshirt freshman year notching 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss on defense. He also returned 17 punts for and 11.4 yard average, and eight kickoffs for a 27.9 average. He also played on offense, having 18 rushes for 72 yards and eight receptions for 79 yards. He had two touchdowns on the season.
This season through six games, Peppers has 35 total tackles, with eight being tackles for a loss along with two quarterback sacks. He has also returned 14 punts for a 17.8 average with one touchdown and three kickoffs for a 31.7 yard average. On offense he was basically not utilized until this past week against Rutgers, but now has five rushes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to his name.
With those numbers above he is ranked 5th in ESPN’s Heisman voting and 4th in CBS’s. Is he even the most valuable player on his own team? I would say no, that Jake Butt, Jehu Chesson and even Amari Darboh might be more valuable to the Wolverines than Peppers. The Michigan defense is good, and take away Peppers I still think they would be good. Take away those three offensive weapons and Michigan would struggle in the Big Ten, unless they are playing Rutgers.
Sure Peppers brings a different dynamic to the offense but you know when he is in the game that the ball is probably going to be going his way or at least attempted. He is used as a decoy as well because teams think that he can expose them, while letting Wilton Speight find Darboh or Chesson deep down the sidelines. On defense he is able to make the plays he does because Michigan blitzes on what seems like every play. He is bound to be in the backfield making tackles for a loss when the whole team is selling out for the sack. He has not been challenged this year except for one game against Wisconsin and what was his stat line that game? He had two punt returns for 19 yards, one kickoff return for 14 yards and three total tackles. No sacks, no tackles for a loss, no interceptions (he doesn’t have one in his entire college career). Sure he can show out against Rutgers and Colorado and Hawaii, but when the real money is on the line against teams that have a pulse how will he fair? Against Ohio State last year he accounted for 55 yards of offense, and made five tackles, and was a non-factor in the Buckeyes 42-13 drubbing of the Wolverines. Against Michigan State last year he had 35 yards of offense and made two tackles.
Until Peppers proves that he can become a big game player, he doesn’t deserve to be in the discussion for the Heisman. Charles Woodson played both ways for the Wolverines and won a National Championship. Chris Gamble played both ways for the Buckeyes and also won a National Championship. What has Jabril Peppers won? A Citrus Bowl in which he didn’t even play.
The post Jabril Peppers for Heisman? Are You Kidding Me? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Ben van Ooyen via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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If you are like me, you are sick and tired of hearing about Jabril Peppers and him being a Heisman candidate. Sure he plays on both sides of the ball and is a dynamic play-maker with the ball in his hands, but what really has he done? Is he worthy of all the hype that surrounds him? Is he the next Charles Woodson? My simple answer to these questions is no. Let’s delve into this shall we?
Peppers has been decorated early in his career, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American in 2015. He also earned First Team All-Big Ten and was a Second-team All-American last season. But do the stats back up those awards?
In Peppers freshman season he played in only three games, notching only eight total tackles and returning one punt for six yards. He was then injured against Appalachian State and was granted a redshirt for the rest of the season. He played in 12 games his redshirt freshman year notching 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss on defense. He also returned 17 punts for and 11.4 yard average, and eight kickoffs for a 27.9 average. He also played on offense, having 18 rushes for 72 yards and eight receptions for 79 yards. He had two touchdowns on the season.
This season through six games, Peppers has 35 total tackles, with eight being tackles for a loss along with two quarterback sacks. He has also returned 14 punts for a 17.8 average with one touchdown and three kickoffs for a 31.7 yard average. On offense he was basically not utilized until this past week against Rutgers, but now has five rushes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to his name.
With those numbers above he is ranked 5th in ESPN’s Heisman voting and 4th in CBS’s. Is he even the most valuable player on his own team? I would say no, that Jake Butt, Jehu Chesson and even Amari Darboh might be more valuable to the Wolverines than Peppers. The Michigan defense is good, and take away Peppers I still think they would be good. Take away those three offensive weapons and Michigan would struggle in the Big Ten, unless they are playing Rutgers.
Sure Peppers brings a different dynamic to the offense but you know when he is in the game that the ball is probably going to be going his way or at least attempted. He is used as a decoy as well because teams think that he can expose them, while letting Wilton Speight find Darboh or Chesson deep down the sidelines. On defense he is able to make the plays he does because Michigan blitzes on what seems like every play. He is bound to be in the backfield making tackles for a loss when the whole team is selling out for the sack. He has not been challenged this year except for one game against Wisconsin and what was his stat line that game? He had two punt returns for 19 yards, one kickoff return for 14 yards and three total tackles. No sacks, no tackles for a loss, no interceptions (he doesn’t have one in his entire college career). Sure he can show out against Rutgers and Colorado and Hawaii, but when the real money is on the line against teams that have a pulse how will he fair? Against Ohio State last year he accounted for 55 yards of offense, and made five tackles, and was a non-factor in the Buckeyes 42-13 drubbing of the Wolverines. Against Michigan State last year he had 35 yards of offense and made two tackles.
Until Peppers proves that he can become a big game player, he doesn’t deserve to be in the discussion for the Heisman. Charles Woodson played both ways for the Wolverines and won a National Championship. Chris Gamble played both ways for the Buckeyes and also won a National Championship. What has Jabril Peppers won? A Citrus Bowl in which he didn’t even play.
The post Jabril Peppers for Heisman? Are You Kidding Me? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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The long and winding road of Ohio State QB JT Barrett
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Two years ago, as a redshirt freshman at Ohio State, Barrett glided into the starting lineup in the opening week after Braxton Miller reinjured his shoulder and went 11-1 as a starter in the Buckeyes' national championship season. This season, Barrett ...
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin: Buckeyes football heads to Madison for Badgers showdownUPI.com
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin | Buckeyes defense braces for bruising BadgersColumbus Dispatch
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The long and winding road of Ohio State QB JT Barrett
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Two years ago, as a redshirt freshman at Ohio State, Barrett glided into the starting lineup in the opening week after Braxton Miller reinjured his shoulder and went 11-1 as a starter in the Buckeyes' national championship season. This season, Barrett ...
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin: Buckeyes football heads to Madison for Badgers showdownUPI.com
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin | Buckeyes defense braces for bruising BadgersColumbus Dispatch
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Ohio State Buckeyes show young talent on 4th-down stop
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2 Buckeyes led 31-17 at the time. Indiana needed a yard to get a first down or four yards to score and climb within one touchdown with just over 10 minutes to play. The Buckeyes ended up winning 38-17 to improve to 5-0, but it was hardly a given at ...
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Ohio State Buckeyes show young talent on 4th-down stop
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2 Buckeyes led 31-17 at the time. Indiana needed a yard to get a first down or four yards to score and climb within one touchdown with just over 10 minutes to play. The Buckeyes ended up winning 38-17 to improve to 5-0, but it was hardly a given at ...
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LGHL Could a brotherly reunion be happening at Ohio State?
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Could a brotherly reunion be happening at Ohio State?
Austin Kemp via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Marcus Hooker visited with the Buckeyes over the weekend.
2018 defensive back Marcus Hooker, brother of Malik, was in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, and had a good visit according to reports. However, the four-star defensive back did not come away with an Ohio State offer. It looks like the Buckeyes are treating Hooker as an in-state prospect and an offer will only be extended if they know that there's room in the class. Hooker is a top 250 player according to 247Sports and holds four offers as of now, with the most prestigious being West Virginia. Marcus, like his brother, is a good-looking athlete at 6-foot, 185 pounds and there's been whispers that he may be a better football player than his brother was at the same stages of their career.
4-star DB @marcushooker23 was at the #OhioState game Saturday, talks about experience, talking to Urban Meyer & more https://t.co/FS87R5gFeC
— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) October 11, 2016
Though most agree that Malik has the highest ceiling when it comes to athletic ability. The Buckeyes will keep recruiting Marcus throughout the season and as Bill Kurelic reported, Urban Meyer and Marcus will have a "talk" after the season sometime about becoming a Buckeye. Marcus Hooker is the No. 8 ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania for the class of 2018.
A top contender from MD
In other reports, Ohio State is pursuing and is one of the "top contenders" for 2017 defensive end Josh Paschal. From Maryland, Paschal has scouts raving over his athletic ability as he's the No.10 ranked DE in his class. At 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, Paschal possesses elite size, but also has the speed to get around the edge with ease. Holding 29 total offers, in-state Maryland is thought to be the favorite, but the Buckeyes are lurking and waiting for an opportunity to make a move. This could come down to strictly numbers, and if Ohio State has enough room to take Paschal. Larry Johnson has taken the lead in this recruitment and if the Buckeyes end up pushing hard, there's a good shot that they land the four-star defensive end.
Here is Paschal’s highlight reel from the website Hudl.
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Austin Kemp via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Marcus Hooker visited with the Buckeyes over the weekend.
2018 defensive back Marcus Hooker, brother of Malik, was in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, and had a good visit according to reports. However, the four-star defensive back did not come away with an Ohio State offer. It looks like the Buckeyes are treating Hooker as an in-state prospect and an offer will only be extended if they know that there's room in the class. Hooker is a top 250 player according to 247Sports and holds four offers as of now, with the most prestigious being West Virginia. Marcus, like his brother, is a good-looking athlete at 6-foot, 185 pounds and there's been whispers that he may be a better football player than his brother was at the same stages of their career.
4-star DB @marcushooker23 was at the #OhioState game Saturday, talks about experience, talking to Urban Meyer & more https://t.co/FS87R5gFeC
— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) October 11, 2016
Though most agree that Malik has the highest ceiling when it comes to athletic ability. The Buckeyes will keep recruiting Marcus throughout the season and as Bill Kurelic reported, Urban Meyer and Marcus will have a "talk" after the season sometime about becoming a Buckeye. Marcus Hooker is the No. 8 ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania for the class of 2018.
A top contender from MD
In other reports, Ohio State is pursuing and is one of the "top contenders" for 2017 defensive end Josh Paschal. From Maryland, Paschal has scouts raving over his athletic ability as he's the No.10 ranked DE in his class. At 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, Paschal possesses elite size, but also has the speed to get around the edge with ease. Holding 29 total offers, in-state Maryland is thought to be the favorite, but the Buckeyes are lurking and waiting for an opportunity to make a move. This could come down to strictly numbers, and if Ohio State has enough room to take Paschal. Larry Johnson has taken the lead in this recruitment and if the Buckeyes end up pushing hard, there's a good shot that they land the four-star defensive end.
Here is Paschal’s highlight reel from the website Hudl.
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Ohio State football: Development of defensive line a key to Buckeyes' early success
Akron Beacon Journal
Columbus: With only three starters back on defense, the Ohio State football team was afraid it was going to have to play a game of, “What's my line?” this season. Worse yet for the Buckeyes, only preseason All-American defensive end Tyquan Lewis was ...
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Ohio State football: Development of defensive line a key to Buckeyes' early success
Akron Beacon Journal
Columbus: With only three starters back on defense, the Ohio State football team was afraid it was going to have to play a game of, “What's my line?” this season. Worse yet for the Buckeyes, only preseason All-American defensive end Tyquan Lewis was ...
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Ohio State football | Urban Meyer says this could be his most-talented team
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A Wisconsin reporter reminded Meyer that the coach had said during Big Ten media days in July that the 2016 Buckeyes were loaded with talent but it was uncertain how quickly they'd progress. “There have been some growing pains,” Meyer said, “but I'm ...
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Wisconsin out of mulligans in national title hunt as Ohio State looms ...ESPN (blog)
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Ohio State football | Urban Meyer says this could be his most-talented team
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A Wisconsin reporter reminded Meyer that the coach had said during Big Ten media days in July that the 2016 Buckeyes were loaded with talent but it was uncertain how quickly they'd progress. “There have been some growing pains,” Meyer said, “but I'm ...
Ohio State Buckeyes Vs. Wisconsin Badgers: Bold Predictions For Week 7 Of 2016 College Football SeasonThe Inquisitr
Wisconsin out of mulligans in national title hunt as Ohio State looms ...ESPN (blog)
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Google Football: Buckeyes using momentum of big plays to succeed - OSU - The Lantern
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Football: Buckeyes using momentum of big plays to succeed
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Against Tulsa, the Buckeyes were searching for their footing against a nonconference opponent that should have been a cakewalk for a team ranked inside the top 10. Finding themselves up by only three points, OSU was searching for something to shift ...
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Football: Buckeyes using momentum of big plays to succeed
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Against Tulsa, the Buckeyes were searching for their footing against a nonconference opponent that should have been a cakewalk for a team ranked inside the top 10. Finding themselves up by only three points, OSU was searching for something to shift ...
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Ohio State vs. Wisconsin | Buckeyes defense braces for bruising Badgers
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Urban Meyer said that as the week began for Ohio State in preparation for a showdown at Wisconsin on Saturday night, one group in particular among the Buckeyes was feeling good about itself. “Oh, the defensive line … they're walking around here like ...
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Ohio State vs. Wisconsin | Buckeyes defense braces for bruising Badgers
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Urban Meyer said that as the week began for Ohio State in preparation for a showdown at Wisconsin on Saturday night, one group in particular among the Buckeyes was feeling good about itself. “Oh, the defensive line … they're walking around here like ...
Buckeyes 'attack' offense before BadgersBuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
Ohio State Buckeyes Vs. Wisconsin Badgers: Bold Predictions For Week 7 Of 2016 College Football SeasonThe Inquisitr
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Buckeyes 'attack' offense before Badgers
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The last time The Ohio State Buckeyes' season is already six weeks in, but the team will go on the road for only the first time after a month at home when they travel to Madison, Wis. for a date with the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers ...
Meyer: 'We're right in the middle of it with every top RB'247Sports
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Buckeyes 'attack' offense before Badgers
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The last time The Ohio State Buckeyes' season is already six weeks in, but the team will go on the road for only the first time after a month at home when they travel to Madison, Wis. for a date with the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers ...
Meyer: 'We're right in the middle of it with every top RB'247Sports
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Google Ohio State basketball: No Buckeyes on preseason All-Big Ten team again, when will that...
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Ohio State basketball: No Buckeyes on preseason All-Big Ten team again, when will that change?
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The Buckeyes have some talented players who could play their way to being among the best in the Big Ten, but they haven't had a returning player with the kind of clout to garner being on this list now for the three years running. The preseason ...
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Ohio State basketball: No Buckeyes on preseason All-Big Ten team again, when will that change?
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tBBC Depth Chart: Wisconsin (is) Weak
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Depth Chart: Wisconsin (is) Weak
Brandon Zimmerman via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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Another week has passed and another “depth chart” has been released with no changes. On the offensive side of things, Mike Weber is still battling for the starting running back job. Corey Smith and Johnnie Dixon are fighting tooth and nail for that second wide receiver position. Curtis Samuel is still trying to work his way into the discussion as clear-cut starter at H-Back. Defensively, the big battle is at the cornerback spot where Marshon Lattimore hopes to become the paper starter to go along with, you know, actually starting real football games. Good luck to all these young athletes battling hard to make an impression with the coaching staff and earn the title of Paper Starter at Ohio State.
OFFENSE
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
QB J.T. BARRETT 6’2” 225 JR (R)
JOE BURROW 6’3” 208 FR (R)
RB MIKE WEBER OR 5’10” 215 FR (R)
CURTIS SAMUEL 5’11” 200 JR
WR1 NOAH BROWN OR 6’2” 222 SO (R)
PARIS CAMPBELL 6’0” 205 SO (R)
WR2 COREY SMITH OR 6’1” 195 SR (R)
JOHNNIE DIXON 5’11” 198 SO
H-BACK CURTIS SAMUEL OR 5’11” 200 JR
DONTRE WILSON 5’10” 195 SR
TE MARCUS BAUGH 6’5” 255 JR
AJ ALEXANDER 6’2” 254 FR (R)
LT JAMARCO JONES 6’5” 310 JR (R)
EVAN LISLE 6’7” 308 JR (R)
LG MICHAEL JORDAN 6’7” 310 FR
MATT BURRELL 6’4” 305 FR (R)
C PAT ELFLEIN 6’3” 300 SR (R)
BRADY TAYLOR 6’5” 300 SO (R)
RG BILLY PRICE 6’4” 315 JR (R)
DEMETRIUS KNOX 6’4” 308 SO (R)
RT ISAIAH PRINCE 6’7” 310 SO
BRANDEN BOWEN 6’7” 315 FR (R)
WR-Z TERRY MCLAURIN OR 6’0” 204 SO (R)
JAMES CLARK 5’10” 186 JR (R)
There were no changes to the offensive depth chart. While there continues to be a number of “OR’s” we pretty much know who is starting by now.
DEFENSE
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
DE TYQUAN LEWIS 6’4” 266 JR
RASHOD BERRY 6’4” 252 FR (R)
DT DRE’MONT JONES OR 6’3” 280 FR (R)
DAVON HAMILTON 6’4” 297 FR (R)
DT MICHAEL HILL 6’3” 295 JR (R)
ROBERT LANDERS 6’1” 285 FR (R)
DE SAM HUBBARD OR 6’5” 266 SO (R)
JALYN HOLMES 6’5” 274 JR
SLB CHRIS WORLEY 6’2” 228 JR (R)
JEROME BAKER 6’1” 225 SO
MLB RAEKWON MCMILLAN 6’2” 243 JR
CRAIG FADA 6’1” 225 SR
WLB DANTE BOOKER OR 6’3” 236 JR
JEROME BAKER 6’2” 230 SR
CB GAREON CONLEY 6’0” 195 JR (R)
DAMON ARNETTE 6’0” 195 FR
CB MARSHON LATTIMORE OR 6’0” 195 SO (R)
DENZEL WARD 5’10” 185 SO
S MALIK HOOKER 6’2” 205 SO (R)
ERICK SMITH 6’0” 202 JR
S DAMON WEBB 5’11” 193 JR
JORDAN FULLER 6’2” 205 FR
While there was no change, the big question going into Saturday night will be who gets the start if Dante Booker is healthy? Jerome Baker has been playing out of his mind the past couple of weeks and is a future star. Will he move back to strongside linebacker and challenge Worley for that job? Or did Booker just get Wally Pipped?
SPECIAL TEAMS
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
P CAMERON JOHNSTON 5’11” 195 SR
K TYLER DURBIN 6’3” 210 SR
LS LIAM MCCULLOUGH 6’2” 210 FR (R)
PR DONTRE WILSON OR 5’10” 195 SR
COREY SMITH OR 6’1” 190 FR
CURTIS SAMUEL OR 5’11” 200 JR
KR DONTRE WILSON OR 5’10” 195 SR
JAMES CLARK OR 5’10” 186 JR (R)
JOHNNIE DIXON 5’11” 198 SO
No changes to special teams this week. While he is still not listed as one of the three kick returners, Parris Campbell has seemed to solidify his spot as the starter. It must be an oversight by the coaching staff. I’ll text them and let them know.
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Brandon Zimmerman via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Another week has passed and another “depth chart” has been released with no changes. On the offensive side of things, Mike Weber is still battling for the starting running back job. Corey Smith and Johnnie Dixon are fighting tooth and nail for that second wide receiver position. Curtis Samuel is still trying to work his way into the discussion as clear-cut starter at H-Back. Defensively, the big battle is at the cornerback spot where Marshon Lattimore hopes to become the paper starter to go along with, you know, actually starting real football games. Good luck to all these young athletes battling hard to make an impression with the coaching staff and earn the title of Paper Starter at Ohio State.
OFFENSE
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
QB J.T. BARRETT 6’2” 225 JR (R)
JOE BURROW 6’3” 208 FR (R)
RB MIKE WEBER OR 5’10” 215 FR (R)
CURTIS SAMUEL 5’11” 200 JR
WR1 NOAH BROWN OR 6’2” 222 SO (R)
PARIS CAMPBELL 6’0” 205 SO (R)
WR2 COREY SMITH OR 6’1” 195 SR (R)
JOHNNIE DIXON 5’11” 198 SO
H-BACK CURTIS SAMUEL OR 5’11” 200 JR
DONTRE WILSON 5’10” 195 SR
TE MARCUS BAUGH 6’5” 255 JR
AJ ALEXANDER 6’2” 254 FR (R)
LT JAMARCO JONES 6’5” 310 JR (R)
EVAN LISLE 6’7” 308 JR (R)
LG MICHAEL JORDAN 6’7” 310 FR
MATT BURRELL 6’4” 305 FR (R)
C PAT ELFLEIN 6’3” 300 SR (R)
BRADY TAYLOR 6’5” 300 SO (R)
RG BILLY PRICE 6’4” 315 JR (R)
DEMETRIUS KNOX 6’4” 308 SO (R)
RT ISAIAH PRINCE 6’7” 310 SO
BRANDEN BOWEN 6’7” 315 FR (R)
WR-Z TERRY MCLAURIN OR 6’0” 204 SO (R)
JAMES CLARK 5’10” 186 JR (R)
There were no changes to the offensive depth chart. While there continues to be a number of “OR’s” we pretty much know who is starting by now.
DEFENSE
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
DE TYQUAN LEWIS 6’4” 266 JR
RASHOD BERRY 6’4” 252 FR (R)
DT DRE’MONT JONES OR 6’3” 280 FR (R)
DAVON HAMILTON 6’4” 297 FR (R)
DT MICHAEL HILL 6’3” 295 JR (R)
ROBERT LANDERS 6’1” 285 FR (R)
DE SAM HUBBARD OR 6’5” 266 SO (R)
JALYN HOLMES 6’5” 274 JR
SLB CHRIS WORLEY 6’2” 228 JR (R)
JEROME BAKER 6’1” 225 SO
MLB RAEKWON MCMILLAN 6’2” 243 JR
CRAIG FADA 6’1” 225 SR
WLB DANTE BOOKER OR 6’3” 236 JR
JEROME BAKER 6’2” 230 SR
CB GAREON CONLEY 6’0” 195 JR (R)
DAMON ARNETTE 6’0” 195 FR
CB MARSHON LATTIMORE OR 6’0” 195 SO (R)
DENZEL WARD 5’10” 185 SO
S MALIK HOOKER 6’2” 205 SO (R)
ERICK SMITH 6’0” 202 JR
S DAMON WEBB 5’11” 193 JR
JORDAN FULLER 6’2” 205 FR
While there was no change, the big question going into Saturday night will be who gets the start if Dante Booker is healthy? Jerome Baker has been playing out of his mind the past couple of weeks and is a future star. Will he move back to strongside linebacker and challenge Worley for that job? Or did Booker just get Wally Pipped?
SPECIAL TEAMS
POS NAME HT WT CLASS
P CAMERON JOHNSTON 5’11” 195 SR
K TYLER DURBIN 6’3” 210 SR
LS LIAM MCCULLOUGH 6’2” 210 FR (R)
PR DONTRE WILSON OR 5’10” 195 SR
COREY SMITH OR 6’1” 190 FR
CURTIS SAMUEL OR 5’11” 200 JR
KR DONTRE WILSON OR 5’10” 195 SR
JAMES CLARK OR 5’10” 186 JR (R)
JOHNNIE DIXON 5’11” 198 SO
No changes to special teams this week. While he is still not listed as one of the three kick returners, Parris Campbell has seemed to solidify his spot as the starter. It must be an oversight by the coaching staff. I’ll text them and let them know.
The post Depth Chart: Wisconsin (is) Weak appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Google Ohio State basketball adds Braxton Beverly, but may not be done in 2017 recruiting class -...
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Ohio State basketball adds Braxton Beverly, but may not be done in 2017 recruiting class - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".
Ohio State basketball adds Braxton Beverly, but may not be done in 2017 recruiting class
cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta has known for more than a year that he'd have his big man in the 2017 recruiting class. But Matta didn't want to end it that way. With a roster short on ball-handlers, the Buckeyes needed to add ...
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via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".
Ohio State basketball adds Braxton Beverly, but may not be done in 2017 recruiting class
cleveland.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta has known for more than a year that he'd have his big man in the 2017 recruiting class. But Matta didn't want to end it that way. With a roster short on ball-handlers, the Buckeyes needed to add ...
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tBBC Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: Men’s Bball Commit, Heard Around the Shoe, B1G Power...
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Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: Men’s Bball Commit, Heard Around the Shoe, B1G Power Poll, Scott’s Opinion
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Welcome to the daily rewind of the previous days or weekends articles here on the Buckeye Battle Cry with some commentary and links to the author’s twitter account!
Shannon Sommers covers the latest commit to the Buckeye Men’s program and Thad Matta . . ,
Ben van Ooyen brings his latest Heard Around the Shoe . . ,
Shannon Sommers brings this weeks edition of the B1G power poll . . ,
Scott brings the heat in this opinion piece Why All the Angst . . ,
Scott wraps up the What Do you Want to See results in this weeks AYNE?
Daily Funny
When you see people you don't wanna talk to in public https://t.co/0UtMYj4Z9o
— Funny Vines (@FunnyVines) October 9, 2016
The post Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: Men’s Bball Commit, Heard Around the Shoe, B1G Power Poll, Scott’s Opinion appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Welcome to the daily rewind of the previous days or weekends articles here on the Buckeye Battle Cry with some commentary and links to the author’s twitter account!
Shannon Sommers covers the latest commit to the Buckeye Men’s program and Thad Matta . . ,
“The 2017 Ohio State men’s basketball commit list has doubled in size earlier today. Center Kaleb Wesson has been the only commit for next season so far. That all changed today when 5’11” point guard Braxton Beverly announced he has chosen The Ohio State University Buckeyes as his future destination.”
New at tBBC: Thad Matta Picks up Second 2017 Commit Today https://t.co/dDz44meztk
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
New at tBBC: Thad Matta Picks up Second 2017 Commit Today https://t.co/dDz44meztk
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Ben van Ooyen brings his latest Heard Around the Shoe . . ,
“5-Star WR Has Great Visit:
The big visitor for the Indiana game was 5-star wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones out of Cass Tech in Michigan. The Buckeye offense sure didn’t do themselves any favors in showing off the passing game for a possible future target, only completing nine passes on the day. Peoples-Jones got the red carpet rolled out for him for his visit including talking to AD Gene Smith and President Drake among other people.”
New at tBBC: Heard Around the 'Shoe – 10/10/2016 https://t.co/OLDfBhaFx4
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
The big visitor for the Indiana game was 5-star wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones out of Cass Tech in Michigan. The Buckeye offense sure didn’t do themselves any favors in showing off the passing game for a possible future target, only completing nine passes on the day. Peoples-Jones got the red carpet rolled out for him for his visit including talking to AD Gene Smith and President Drake among other people.”
New at tBBC: Heard Around the 'Shoe – 10/10/2016 https://t.co/OLDfBhaFx4
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Shannon Sommers brings this weeks edition of the B1G power poll . . ,
“Week six of the college football season is over which means we are at the halfway mark. We have folks that don’t know anything about college football especially when you hear things like a certain player from UM. Dear Walmart fans when you are averaging 1 solo tackle for each of the last two games you aren’t the best defensive player on your team. Let’s see how the midseason is shaping up, by the way, the Big Ten isn’t as good as we had hoped or thought.”
New at tBBC: The Buckeye Battle Cry Power Poll: Week 6 https://t.co/ciWTQaOUqR
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
New at tBBC: The Buckeye Battle Cry Power Poll: Week 6 https://t.co/ciWTQaOUqR
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Scott brings the heat in this opinion piece Why All the Angst . . ,
“Someone needs to explain to me why I should be ticked off over a 21-point win over the new-and-improved Indiana Hoosiers.
Ohio State gave up nothing on the ground, and was only modestly challenged in the air. On offense the Buckeyes rushed for nearly 300 yards after abandoning the passing game due to an ineffective J.T. Barrett.
I hear criticism galore of the play calling and can’t figure out why. Barrett was 4 of 9 for 41 yards in the first half and only attempted 12 more in the second half.
He missed badly on a pair of wide-open receivers and it wasn’t long after that the coaches tied his arm behind his back and made him focus on the run.”
New at tBBC: Why all the angst? https://t.co/a9A0tNs4iz
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Ohio State gave up nothing on the ground, and was only modestly challenged in the air. On offense the Buckeyes rushed for nearly 300 yards after abandoning the passing game due to an ineffective J.T. Barrett.
I hear criticism galore of the play calling and can’t figure out why. Barrett was 4 of 9 for 41 yards in the first half and only attempted 12 more in the second half.
He missed badly on a pair of wide-open receivers and it wasn’t long after that the coaches tied his arm behind his back and made him focus on the run.”
New at tBBC: Why all the angst? https://t.co/a9A0tNs4iz
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Scott wraps up the What Do you Want to See results in this weeks AYNE?
“There has been mixed response regarding the outcome of the Ohio State-Indiana game Saturday.
Some didn’t like what they saw. Others were OK with it.
Regardless it was a win. But was it a win that included everything we all wanted to see?
Scott
A win: Obviously.
No false starts: Still looking.
No injuries: Haven’t heard anything.
Air Buckeyes: Grounded.
New at tBBC: Are You Not Entertained? Indiana https://t.co/JoB9OeFdTY
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Some didn’t like what they saw. Others were OK with it.
Regardless it was a win. But was it a win that included everything we all wanted to see?
Scott
A win: Obviously.
No false starts: Still looking.
No injuries: Haven’t heard anything.
Air Buckeyes: Grounded.
New at tBBC: Are You Not Entertained? Indiana https://t.co/JoB9OeFdTY
— The BBC (@The_BBC) October 10, 2016
Daily Funny
When you see people you don't wanna talk to in public https://t.co/0UtMYj4Z9o
— Funny Vines (@FunnyVines) October 9, 2016
The post Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: Men’s Bball Commit, Heard Around the Shoe, B1G Power Poll, Scott’s Opinion appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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BTN Nigel Hayes, Badgers highlight 2016-17 preseason All Big Ten Team
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Nigel Hayes, Badgers highlight 2016-17 preseason All Big Ten Team
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network
BTN Live announced the 2016-17 preseason All-Big Ten Team on Monday night. Wisconsin senior Nigel Hayes, the lone unanimous selection and one of three Badgers to earn accolades, claims the preseason player of the year award. Teammates Ethan Happ and Bronson Koenig join Hayes on the list. The only team to boast multiple honorees is Indiana (James Blackmon and Thomas Bryant). View the full preseason team below. 2016-17 PRESEASON BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin You are looking at the 2016-17 preseason @B1GMBBall player of the Year. Also, the only unanimous selection. pic.twitter.com/5BKLDZmaXm — Big Ten Network
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BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network
BTN Live announced the 2016-17 preseason All-Big Ten Team on Monday night. Wisconsin senior Nigel Hayes, the lone unanimous selection and one of three Badgers to earn accolades, claims the preseason player of the year award. Teammates Ethan Happ and Bronson Koenig join Hayes on the list. The only team to boast multiple honorees is Indiana (James Blackmon and Thomas Bryant). View the full preseason team below. 2016-17 PRESEASON BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin You are looking at the 2016-17 preseason @B1GMBBall player of the Year. Also, the only unanimous selection. pic.twitter.com/5BKLDZmaXm — Big Ten Network
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LGHL Both Wisconsin and Ohio State should use 2014’s 59-0 game as motivation
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Both Wisconsin and Ohio State should use 2014’s 59-0 game as motivation
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Both teams could learn a lot from the 2014 Big Ten Title Game.
“But who's going to take a swing pass in the flat and turn an 8-yard gain into a 50-yard gain? Who's going to wiggle past one tackler and run away from another? More likely, a Buckeye... The game could swing on who pops a big play in the midst of the grind.”
-Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland.com
While the young No. 2 Ohio State offense is averaging over 53 points per game this season, they are doing it with expert efficiency, rather than the explosive firepower that an Urban Meyer offense is known for.
According to Football Study Hall, the Buckeyes rank 94th in Offensive Explosiveness, but second in Offensive Efficiency. Currently, the Buckeyes have the 45th most plays over 10 yards in college football, but drop to 49th, 73rd, 100th, 110th as the stats increase by 10 yards. So, despite Heisman contenders quarterback J.T. Barrett and H-Back Curtis Samuel, the yards are coming in small bunches for the Buckeyes, as opposed to large chunks.
However, that does not mean that the team is incapable of exploding on occasion. Running back Mike Weber has appeared to be inches away from breaking more than a handful of runs this season, and Samuel and Dontre Wilson are always capable of doing the same. If Barrett is able to bounce back after a poor performance against Indiana, wide receivers Noah Brown and Parris Campbell are more than capable of creating big plays.
As you begin to look at this weekend’s primetime matchup between Ohio State and No. 8 Wisconsin, it becomes clear that this year’s Badgers squad is every bit built in the program’s familiar mold. Despite being 4-1, the Badgers are averaging just 15.6 points per game, scoring over 20 only against Michigan State.
Their Offensiveness Explosiveness is 115th nationally and their Efficiency is 89th. The Badgers sit at 90th in terms of 10+ yard plays and 112th in 20+.
So, if Saturday night brings rain and wind to Madison, as it is currently forecasted to, it seems pretty clear which team will have the advantage in both explosiveness and efficiency, which could just spell the difference between a win and a loss.
“Although we don't know what the College Football Playoff Committee thinks until the first ranking comes out later this season, it's a safe bet the Badgers remain firmly in the discussion.”
-Jesse Temple, ESPN.com
In 2014, Ohio State benefited from the new College Football Playoff system to turn a one-loss season into a national championship. That journey was aided by wins over quality opponents like Navy, Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin bolstering their strength of schedule.
After this Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes, Wisconsin’s schedule is light on quality competition, with No. 10 Nebraska being the only ranked team remaining. Therefore, if Wisconsin were to beat No. 2 Ohio State, they would then need to rely on the strength of their early season schedule to compensate for a narrow 14-7 loss to No. 4 Michigan.
Saturday’s matchup with the Buckeyes will be the Badgers’ fourth game against teams ranked in the Top-10 at the time that they played, following wins over No. 5 LSU and No. 8 MSU. However, the fortunes of both teams have tumbled since they squared off with Bucky, as both are now unranked, and LSU fired head coach Les Miles.
So, even if No. 8 Wisconsin (4-1, 1-1) does win as a home-underdog this weekend, they would still likely need help from their early season foes to prop up their weaker second-half schedule.
“Ohio State players have to figure the Wisconsin Badgers have extra motivation going into a Saturday night matchup of top-10 teams. After all, the last time they met, Ohio State strutted away with a 59-0 victory in the 2014 Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.”
-Tim May, The Columbus Dispatch
Heading into the season finale against Michigan in 2014, Buckeye fans had begun to allow themselves to dream of what might be after the heart-breaking Week Two loss to Virginia Tech. Ohio State had gone undefeated since, with just their arch-rival standing between them and the Big Ten title game.
When those dastardly Wolverines broke Barrett’s ankle in the fourth quarter, no one knew exactly what to expect from Cardale Jones, who had only appeared in mop-up duty to that point. However, the following week in Indianapolis reassured a nervous Buckeye Nation as Jones threw for 257 yards as Ohio State went on to a historic victory en route to the first College Football Playoff Championship.
While it has become cliché around Columbus, the “Next Man Up” mantra is just a byproduct of another of Meyer’s favorite sayings:
One way to tell for sure Ohio State knows a big-time game is coming: This sign returns... https://t.co/tyKL65tz6r pic.twitter.com/4jdgaMJgzi
— Austin Ward (@AWardESPN) October 11, 2016
So, while the Badgers should rightly use the 59-0 defeat as extra motivation for this week’s Top-10 matchup, the message from that game, and the subsequent postseason run, will be fresh in the Buckeyes’ minds as well.
STICK TO SPORTS:
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Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Both teams could learn a lot from the 2014 Big Ten Title Game.
“But who's going to take a swing pass in the flat and turn an 8-yard gain into a 50-yard gain? Who's going to wiggle past one tackler and run away from another? More likely, a Buckeye... The game could swing on who pops a big play in the midst of the grind.”
-Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland.com
While the young No. 2 Ohio State offense is averaging over 53 points per game this season, they are doing it with expert efficiency, rather than the explosive firepower that an Urban Meyer offense is known for.
According to Football Study Hall, the Buckeyes rank 94th in Offensive Explosiveness, but second in Offensive Efficiency. Currently, the Buckeyes have the 45th most plays over 10 yards in college football, but drop to 49th, 73rd, 100th, 110th as the stats increase by 10 yards. So, despite Heisman contenders quarterback J.T. Barrett and H-Back Curtis Samuel, the yards are coming in small bunches for the Buckeyes, as opposed to large chunks.
However, that does not mean that the team is incapable of exploding on occasion. Running back Mike Weber has appeared to be inches away from breaking more than a handful of runs this season, and Samuel and Dontre Wilson are always capable of doing the same. If Barrett is able to bounce back after a poor performance against Indiana, wide receivers Noah Brown and Parris Campbell are more than capable of creating big plays.
As you begin to look at this weekend’s primetime matchup between Ohio State and No. 8 Wisconsin, it becomes clear that this year’s Badgers squad is every bit built in the program’s familiar mold. Despite being 4-1, the Badgers are averaging just 15.6 points per game, scoring over 20 only against Michigan State.
Their Offensiveness Explosiveness is 115th nationally and their Efficiency is 89th. The Badgers sit at 90th in terms of 10+ yard plays and 112th in 20+.
So, if Saturday night brings rain and wind to Madison, as it is currently forecasted to, it seems pretty clear which team will have the advantage in both explosiveness and efficiency, which could just spell the difference between a win and a loss.
“Although we don't know what the College Football Playoff Committee thinks until the first ranking comes out later this season, it's a safe bet the Badgers remain firmly in the discussion.”
-Jesse Temple, ESPN.com
In 2014, Ohio State benefited from the new College Football Playoff system to turn a one-loss season into a national championship. That journey was aided by wins over quality opponents like Navy, Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin bolstering their strength of schedule.
After this Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes, Wisconsin’s schedule is light on quality competition, with No. 10 Nebraska being the only ranked team remaining. Therefore, if Wisconsin were to beat No. 2 Ohio State, they would then need to rely on the strength of their early season schedule to compensate for a narrow 14-7 loss to No. 4 Michigan.
Saturday’s matchup with the Buckeyes will be the Badgers’ fourth game against teams ranked in the Top-10 at the time that they played, following wins over No. 5 LSU and No. 8 MSU. However, the fortunes of both teams have tumbled since they squared off with Bucky, as both are now unranked, and LSU fired head coach Les Miles.
So, even if No. 8 Wisconsin (4-1, 1-1) does win as a home-underdog this weekend, they would still likely need help from their early season foes to prop up their weaker second-half schedule.
“Ohio State players have to figure the Wisconsin Badgers have extra motivation going into a Saturday night matchup of top-10 teams. After all, the last time they met, Ohio State strutted away with a 59-0 victory in the 2014 Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.”
-Tim May, The Columbus Dispatch
Heading into the season finale against Michigan in 2014, Buckeye fans had begun to allow themselves to dream of what might be after the heart-breaking Week Two loss to Virginia Tech. Ohio State had gone undefeated since, with just their arch-rival standing between them and the Big Ten title game.
When those dastardly Wolverines broke Barrett’s ankle in the fourth quarter, no one knew exactly what to expect from Cardale Jones, who had only appeared in mop-up duty to that point. However, the following week in Indianapolis reassured a nervous Buckeye Nation as Jones threw for 257 yards as Ohio State went on to a historic victory en route to the first College Football Playoff Championship.
While it has become cliché around Columbus, the “Next Man Up” mantra is just a byproduct of another of Meyer’s favorite sayings:
One way to tell for sure Ohio State knows a big-time game is coming: This sign returns... https://t.co/tyKL65tz6r pic.twitter.com/4jdgaMJgzi
— Austin Ward (@AWardESPN) October 11, 2016
So, while the Badgers should rightly use the 59-0 defeat as extra motivation for this week’s Top-10 matchup, the message from that game, and the subsequent postseason run, will be fresh in the Buckeyes’ minds as well.
STICK TO SPORTS:
- Is Chris Christie replacing Mike Francesa on WFAN?
- LSU mascot Mike VI Dies.
- Murders or not, clowns are creepy.
- Two Penn State alums are playing a big hand in making “Hamilton” Broadway’s biggest hit.
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Google B1G awards race tracker: JT Barrett secures top spot with another win - ESPN (blog)
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B1G awards race tracker: JT Barrett secures top spot with another win - ESPN (blog)
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".
B1G awards race tracker: JT Barrett secures top spot with another win
ESPN (blog)
Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett (five first-place votes): The Buckeyes offense didn't throw much against Indiana, but Barrett still found a way to be a game-changer with the ball in his hands. He ran 26 times for a team-high 137 yards, including a 5-yard ...
Ohio State's passing game took a step back against IndianaLand-Grant Holy Land
Fulton Analysis: Sorting things outBuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
all 10 news articles »
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via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".
B1G awards race tracker: JT Barrett secures top spot with another win
ESPN (blog)
Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett (five first-place votes): The Buckeyes offense didn't throw much against Indiana, but Barrett still found a way to be a game-changer with the ball in his hands. He ran 26 times for a team-high 137 yards, including a 5-yard ...
Ohio State's passing game took a step back against IndianaLand-Grant Holy Land
Fulton Analysis: Sorting things outBuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
all 10 news articles »
Continue reading...