Buckeyes outgunned by Pilots in 2-0 loss - OSU - The Lantern
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Buckeyes outgunned by Pilots in 2-0 loss
OSU - The Lantern
By the time the night came to an end, the Buckeyes would still be searching. The Buckeyes fell 2-0 to the Portland Pilots, dropping to 0-3 on the season. Portland looked to be in control of the game right out of the gate, and the Ohio State defense ...

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WTF!!??? All my damn clocks seem to have stopped!

Ohio State football opens 2016 season vs. Bowling Green: Buckeye Breakfast Gameday - cleveland.com
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Ohio State football opens 2016 season vs. Bowling Green: Buckeye Breakfast Gameday
cleveland.com
When we write four reasons Bowling Green will win, it's not picking the Falcons to win as much as it is picking out things are actual concerns for the Buckeyes and something you should watch for. Don't take it too seriously, until the Buckeyes play ...
Gameday+ | Recruiting watch: Buckeyes' 2017 class set to be a ...Columbus Dispatch
MAC Power Bowling Green Will Try to 'Shock' BuckeyesABC News
Pat Elflein believes in Ohio State Buckeyes' talentWKYC-TV
UPI.com -Land-Grant Holy Land -Eleven Warriors
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Arguing with Ohio State football about truly rotating players ... - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Arguing with Ohio State football about truly rotating players ...
cleveland.com
Cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs says he has a plan to rotate, but the Buckeyes haven't done it before.

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View From the Fan: Bowling Green
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


(This article originally appeared at ohiostate.scout.com)

BuckeyeSports.com subscriber Ben van Ooyen’s weekly column “View From The Fan” begins with a preview of Ohio State’s matchup with Bowling Green.


It’s that time of year again – when Ohio State football takes the field, and millions of fans across the world tune in to watch the Buckeyes battle it out on the gridiron. This offseason we saw 12 Buckeyes drafted and a top-five recruiting class signed, but the spring and summer are behind us. Fall is coming, and with it brings Saturdays filled with hopes for undefeated glory ending in another national championship.

As a fan of the Buckeyes, this will be a fun team to watch. There will be some growing pains, sure, and undoubtedly some struggles, but there will also be a lot of excitement and talent on the field every Saturday. Buckle in and get ready to ride the roller coaster of emotion with me and Buckeye fans across the nation as we see what Urban Meyer and Co. have put together.

Both sides of the ball are going to look vastly different than last year.

The Offense


J.T. Barrett – no quarterback drama this year, folks! – returns as a redshirt junior. The stalwart offensive line lost three starters after last season, so veterans Pat Elflein and Billy Price will have to shore up the foundation with a lot of new pieces. Now that Ezekiel Elliott is gone, the backfield will be a running back by committee made up of Mike Weber, Dontre Wilson, and Curtis Samuel. The wide receivers may be the most fresh-faced group of the bunch with only 15 catches last season among them. The Buckeyes will rely heavily on guys like Corey Smith and Noah Brown, and maybe even some freshmen like K.J. Hill and Austin Mack, to get the job done.

The Defense


On the defensive side of the ball, there are some returning starters in Raekwon McMillan, Gareon Conley and Tyquan Lewis. The rest of the defense is another inexperienced bunch. Expect Michael Hill, Tracy Sprinkle, Dante Booker, Malik Hooker and a host of other young athletes to get a lot of playing time this year to prove their worth.

The Opponent


Let’s move on to Bowling Green, shall we? The first game of the season is like waking up on Christmas morning and knowing you have a nice, big gift to unwrap. Every year, Santa brings Saturdays where I spend three to four hours nervously sitting on my couch – or in the ‘Shoe, if I’m lucky – watching my alma mater play football. I don’t care who the opponent is, or care about pretty much anything else that’s going on, just Ohio State football. After the somewhat disappointing 2015 season (i.e. the Michigan State game), I’m excited to see what the 2016 version of the Buckeyes brings.

For this game, I expect there to be a lot of offense on both sides. Bowling Green can certainly move the ball up and down the field. The Falcons come in with head coach Mike Jinks, a former assistant under Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech – who we all know threw the ball around 50 times a game.

The Game


I think the Buckeyes will try to get the ground game going early so Weber can settle in; Samuel and Wilson will probably tote the rock as well. Look for Barrett to distribute the ball to his new wide receiver targets to get them comfortable as well. I expect the defense to have the biggest struggle, but with McMillan and Conley leading the charge, I don’t see the Buckeyes breaking too often.

It’s the first game of the season. Mistakes will be made. Things will look messy. Regardless, the Buckeyes have too much talent to let first-game misfires get in the way. Bowling Green will score, and the game might even be close for a while, but I expect the Buckeyes to pull away once they get their feet under them. I predict the Buckeyes start the 2016 season off with a 52-17 victory and move their focus on to Tulsa next week.

The Season


Many others have said this too, but the youth and inexperience of this team reminds me of the 2014 squad, and we all know how that season ended. Do I think we’ll get to another National Championship again this season? It’s certainly possible, but I don’t think it’s very likely. A tough season with an early game at Oklahoma, back-to-back road games against Wisconsin and Penn State at night, culminating in games against Michigan State and Michigan will be too much – in my opinion – for the young Buckeyes to overcome. I see at 10-2 regular season and a New Year’s Six bowl game for the Buckeyes, and I’ll consider that a good season. Meyer is bringing in some serious talent, so the next few years should be a pretty special time to be a Buckeye fan.

A Fan’s Preseason Playoff Predictions

• Clemson – With Heisman favorite Deshaun Watson and most of his offensive weapons back, there’s no reason to think the Tigers won’t win the ACC. They have a key game against Florida State, but the rest of their schedule should be winnable.
• Alabama – I hesitate to put Alabama in here because their QB situation is still up in the air, but results don’t lie. Nick Saban has done a remarkable job no matter who’s throwing the ball, and I expect them to win the SEC again and make their third consecutive playoff appearance
• Houston – Call me crazy, but I think the Cougars are going to surprise a lot of people this season. I say they take down Oklahoma early and then run the table the rest of the way to make it to the CFP. With Greg Ward returning at QB, I don’t see much drop-off from where they were last year.
• Stanford – Three big games early against USC, UCLA, and Washington will tell the tale on the Cardinal. I like David Shaw as a head coach, and I think he’ll have them ready to compete and win the Pac-12 in their first season without Kevin Hogan running the offense. Heisman-hopeful Christian McCaffrey will be the workhorse on this team again this season.

A Fan’s Preseason Heisman Ballot

• Watson – He had a claim to the award last year, but came in third behind Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey. Henry is off to the NFL, so Watson will resume his battle against McCaffrey for the trophy. I expect big numbers out of Watson again, but the defining game will be against FSU.
• Christian McCaffrey – Mr. Does-It-All is back for his junior season, and Stanford will rely heavily on him for the majority of their offense. Under the direction of a new quarterback, McCaffrey should get quite a few carries, as well as receptions. If Stanford ends up in the playoff, expect last year’s runner-up to lay claim to the trophy.
• Barrett – Two years ago he finished fifth after missing the second half of the last game of the season and the Big Ten Championship. This season, he leads an even younger team into battle with unproven weapons at running back and wide receiver. His calm demeanor and leadership prove he has what it takes to lead the Buckeyes, and I expect him to put up similar numbers to his 2014 campaign.
• Leonard Fournette – I don’t see LSU making the playoff this year, but that doesn’t mean Fournette can’t make a big splash with his eye-popping numbers over the course of the season. Early tests against Wisconsin and Auburn and the late-season showdown with Alabama will be key in how voters see Fournette. He’ll run over mediocre teams like he did last year, but his performance in those big games will count the most.

The post View From the Fan: Bowling Green appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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Ohio State vs. Bowling Green 2016: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and Game Thread
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes open their season at noon Saturday on BTN.

It’s back. It’s finally back. The Ohio State Buckeyes open the 2016 season ranked sixth nationally in the AP Poll, and will face off against the Bowling Green Falcons, who are coming off their second MAC Championship in three years.

For Ohio State, despite the loss of a dozen players to the NFL, expectations are high entering week one, owing to outstanding recruiting by Urban Meyer, who has led the conference in recruiting class rankings since he arrived in Columbus. Plus, it’s hard not to have high expectations with Meyer at the helm.

In four years as head coach, Meyer has amassed a 50-4 record, and has an 85 percent career win percentage which all started with two seasons at Bowling Green, where Meyer went 17-6 overall. Bowling Green is coming off a 10-4 season, but will be directed by a new head coach in Mike Jinks, who is replacing Dino Babers following the latter’s departure for Syracuse.

The big question for the Buckeyes heading into the season revolves around experience--or lack thereof. Of 85 scholarship players, 44 have never even been able to play in a Division I game, owing to the fact that they are either true or redshirt freshmen or transfers. While Bowling Green is no slouch, today’s noon kickoff should be a good opportunity for the young Buckeyes to gain valuable experience on the field.

When is the game and how can I watch?


Game Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 3, 12 p.m.

Location: Ohio Stadium

TV: Big Ten Network

Online: BTN2Go

Radio: 97.1 FM/1460 AM

Where is GameDay this weekend?


As Lee Corso enters his 20th (!) season making headgear picks with College Gameday, the crew will open the season with a Big Ten-SEC matchup as they head to Lambeau Field to watch No. 5 LSU take on Wisconsin at 3:30. With two top-10 recruiting classes in the last two years, expectations are high for Les Miles and the Tigers, who are expected to contend with Alabama for the SEC West crown. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is coming off a 10-3 season in 2015, including a win over USC in the Holiday Bowl, but faces questions as they break in a new starting quarterback.

What’s the rest of the Big Ten slate look like?


With wins already by Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan State, the remaining 11 Big Ten teams are in action today, headlined by the LSU-Wisconsin matchup. No. 7 Michigan will face Hawaii at noon, and No. 17 Iowa has Miami (OH) following. Rutgers is taking on a ranked team, facing No. 14 Washington on the road at 2:00. Fresno State will also head to Lincoln to face Nebraska in the conference’s only week one night game at 8:00.

Join the conversation


Below is your Ohio State-Bowling Green GameThread. Be respectful, be kind and as always, keep it classy. If you like GIFs, lay ‘em on us. In all, be good fans, cheer for your teams, be cool to each other (even if somebody else isn’t) and everyone wins. Let’s start the season off strong. Go Bucks.

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Kurelic: Buckeyes go hard for Gaoteote, Allen and Ruckert - 247Sports
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Kurelic: Buckeyes go hard for Gaoteote, Allen and Ruckert
247Sports
What's next for the Buckeyes? Make sure you're in the loop -- take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Buckeyes newsletter now! “We are a 2A school and they're a 6A, but we were very confident in our game plan,” Jones told Bucknuts.com. “We went out ...

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Gameday+ | Recruiting watch: Buckeyes' 2017 class set to be a ... - Columbus Dispatch
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Gameday+ | Recruiting watch: Buckeyes' 2017 class set to be a ...
Columbus Dispatch
Five months remain until 2017's national signing day, and it is shaping up to be another bonanza for Ohio State's future. It has been that way every year since ...

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Preview: Ohio State v. Bowling Green
Richard Tongohan via our good friends at Men of the Scarlet and Gray
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here



Here we are a day prior to the start of the 2016 season and with Bowling Green on deck we look ahead to seeing our Buckeyes in action. With the mass exodus that occurred after last season, Coach Meyer will be looking to replace the plethora of talent that he lost to the NFL Draft this season. Meyer has retained the services of 6 players that have returned for at least one more season at Ohio State and this will be by far his most challenging task while at the helm at Ohio State. Unfortunately for the rest of the country, Coach Meyer and his staff have to look no further than their depth chart at the talent that they have stockpiled throughout the years. They are secretly being developed while they wait patiently for their opportunity to take the reins from the upperclassmen that have left for the NLF or that have moved on after graduation. So in reality, the Buckeyes should be just fine, but with the influx of inexperienced and unproven players it will take some time for them to adjust.

Impact Players:

J.T. Barrett:

Quarterback J.T. Barrett will return for his Redshirt Junior season and he will lead the charge for the Buckeyes. He will act as the key cog in the offense and he will usher in the new stable of starters across the offensive side of the ball. Barrett brings experience and leadership to the offense and Meyer and company will depend on him throughout the season. Barrett provides problems for opposing defenses with his innate ability to hit targets in stride, his ability to scramble, and his instincts when plays break down. He will not have the same weapons on offense from the previous two seasons, but Barrett will find ways to maximize and improve the talent around him. He will continue to make others around him better and provide leadership that is crucial to this season because during week 3 the Buckeyes will have a date at Norman and J.T. needs to use the first two weeks to fine tune his offense for the huge showdown with Oklahoma.



Mike Weber:

With all the drama during his recruitment, Mike Weber’s future with the Buckeyes remained in question for the remainder of his recruitment, but now two years after the fact he has secured the role as starter for Coach Meyer’s “Cadillac Position”. Weber will be the starter this year and after a great showing during this years spring game, I think he will become the next great Running Back that Ohio State will produce. Weber is a workhorse. He was the speed to blow past defenders and he has the power to run them over as well. He learned and developed under one of the greatest backs at Ohio State, Ezekiel Elliott. I look for Weber to come in with that lunch pail mentality and continue the legacy and tradition at Ohio State. For now, he will be an unproven commodity at Running Back and he will look to carve out his own path during his tenure at Ohio State.

Curtis Samuel:

Samuel was singled out by Urban Meyer during the offseason and he stated that Curtis Samuel is his best playmaker on offense. That comes with high praise considering what the Buckeyes lost after last season. Samuel will split time at multiple positions. He will be tasked to play in the Slot, some Running Back and he will be the starter at the H-Back position. Needless to say, we will get a huge dosage of Curtis Samuel and we can only hope that he will become that go-t0 player for Urban Meyer’s new look offense.

Pat Elflein:

One of two returning starters on the offensive line, Pat Elflein will shift from Guard to Center and he will look to guide and mentor the three new slobs that had earned starting spots alongside himself and Right Guard, Billy Price. Elflein will provide leadership and stability for Michael Jordan, Jamarco Jones and Isaiah Prince. He will ensure they are up to standard for the new look offensive line. It also helps that J.T. Barrett sees a familiar face along that young offensive line. With the move to Center, Elflein will be involved in every facet of the game. He will call out and adjust the protection as needed and he will be snapping the rock to Barrett. New challenges will arise and he will be all for it.

Raekwon McMillan:

The proud tradition of Middle Linebackers continues as McMillan returns for what most assume will be his final season at Ohio State. Once again, McMillan will be the Quarterback of the defense and he will provide experience and stability to the unit. With Daron Lee and Joshua Perry moving onto the NFL, he looks to lead new starters, Chris Worley and Dante Booker. Remember the term reload? Yeah Worley and Booker have different traits that make them lethal and McMillan will help them along the way and similar to the offense, it will take some time. McMillan would never let the Silver Bullets mantra and tradition slip away, so we will all have to be patient with the lack of experience. He along with the coaching staff will prepare them for the grind of yet another season.

The Opposition:

Bowling Green seems to always have a potent, if not lethal offense. With Senior signal caller, James Knapke, they will look to utilize Senior Wide Receiver Ronnie Moore in every possible way they can. It’ll be a tough task to do, but with the lack of experience on Ohio States defense, who knows. I for one see them putting up at least two touchdowns during this contest, but Ohio State will be looking to unleash hell on the hapless Falcons. With a lot to prove, I can see both scenarios play out, but this is why I love College Football. Hell, we almost witnessed Tennessee get wrecked and upset at home this week, so why not right?

On defense, Bowling Green boasts a pair of playmaking linebackers that will lead this years unit. Austin Valdez, a Middle Linebacker who had earned 1st Team All-Mac honors and Trenton Greene, an Outside Linebacker who had earned 2nd Team All-MAC honors look to stop the Buckeyes dead in their tracks. It will take a ton of effort from both of these players, but it might be possible. The Buckeyes have three new starters on the offensive line and they are young and inexperienced. They have a new Cadillac Back and new playmakers starting at the Wide Receiver.

Prediction:

After considering everything, I see this game getting ugly before halftime. Ohio State will be playing at home and Buckeye Nation will come in full force. The noise levels will be insane throughout the game. The Buckeyes will start slow, but they will piece together, a blow out to start the season on the right foot. I am not taking away from the Falcons, but it’s hard to see Ohio State losing this early in the season. Couple that, Urban Meyer being the Head Coach and the 4-0 All-Time record against Bowling Green and you have this: 44-17 Ohio State over Bowling Green






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Friday Night Slight's: Buckeyes Expectations, Big 12 Expansion, Buckeyes in Norman - The Buckeye Battle Cry
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Friday Night Slight's: Buckeyes Expectations, Big 12 Expansion, Buckeyes in Norman
The Buckeye Battle Cry
Bowling Green should be a great scrimmage for the good guys and Tulsa should test our defensive growth. Then in Norman, I am calling for the Buckeyes to win (not a blow out) and show the nation that doubting us is a sin hating us is appreciated. The ...


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Buckeyes make 'DB U' pitch to top 50 prospect - Ohio State Football - 247Sports
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Buckeyes make 'DB U' pitch to top 50 prospect - Ohio State Football
247Sports
Ohio State was one of many schools to contact top 50 prospect Houston Griffith on Thursday.

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So I need to make other arrangements for tomorrow. Anyone have good advice for quick arrival and departures? I have something before and after the game that is limiting my window for travel.

I was thinking about trying the Crosswoods park and ride system. Anyone have any feedback on that route?

Friday Night Slight’s: Buckeyes Expectations, Big 12 Expansion, Buckeyes in Norman
WVaBuckeye via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


We live in a world where tomorrow is truly uncertain to a lot of human beings. The nice thing about having the freedom to say what you want and cut loose on some of these topics is that it is good for the soul! Huge shout-out to those not afraid to express their fears and also to those who help take care of those who cannot care for themselves. We can always count on @Kirk_Barton to lead us off each week!





Staff Slights


MDotySr – The Ohio State Buckeye Football Team. In the polls, in the media and the overall general public thinking that this team is not up to playoff caliber. Urban will have these kids ready, willing and able. Bowling Green should be a great scrimmage for the good guys and Tulsa should test our defensive growth. Then in Norman, I am calling for the Buckeyes to win (not a blow out) and show the nation that doubting us is a sin hating us is appreciated. The only love that matters is from Buckeye Nation!







Scott – To everyone picking OSU to get thumped in Norman … Just wait. Urban Meyer said this year’s team is the most talented he’s ever had. And SpongeBob Bowl Flop always finds a way to inexplicable lose a game. See: Texas.



WVa – I have to revisit something from earlier in the week. My favorite team and person to slight is TTUN and their head moron Jim Harbaugh. Again thank you to @BuckeyeVideos for the video!







Joe D. -Hey Big 12, I get that expansion is the the hot topic of the summer and you’ve been raiding the mall like a kid looking for a spiked collar and Marilyn Manson poster to hang up in the room.

But don’t you get the sense that the material product is below standard and you probably shouldn’t be popping spiked collars on the first day of school?

I get it, Houston and Connecticut could really expand your reach. UCF has a beautiful new facility that everyone is lockjaw about.

How dare you sell college football fans though that Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and Memphis are worthy of a power five slot in a major conference.

One of the major issues in college football is worrying about institution numbers and how to expand to better your brand.

For the Big 12, the best thing for branding and the future of the conference, is to stay in your lane.





Ben v. – September 1st. The first day coaches can contact recruits in their Junior year of High School. It is about to get insane for these kids with the amount of phone calls they will be receiving from coaching staffs all across the nation. You have to remember that these kids are HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS. When I was a Junior in High School all I cared about was girls, parties, and girls. Sure I wasn’t a Division I caliber athlete, but I am sure that the majority of these guys have the same thoughts. Sure these kids want to attend a top notch college and potentially make it to the NFL, and it all starts with this, but at the same time they want to be kids and enjoy what little freedom they have left before their life becomes 100% about football. As much as I love recruiting, these kids deserve to have their time to enjoy doing what they want and not pestered by college coaches constantly.

Brandon – Let’s talk about you California versus Hawaii. First off, who had the bright idea to send you to schmucks down under to represent the game of college football? I mean was there a group of people who sat around and said “Let’s look to really expand our footprint to Australia, I say we send Hawaii and California over to show them how great we are!”… A room full of people then stand up and cheer…supporting the idiot in charge.



Now on to you two fine footballing universities…what the hell was that? Did absolutely no one tell you it was okay to play defense, tackle players, or have any general idea of what was going on? You guys each gave up over 45o yards of offense to your opponent…how is that even possible without setting out to try to not play defense? Your offenses combined to throw the ball 77 times…how the heck were there only two sacks???? The Hawaii defense I can give a pass to you, I lived there for awhile…I will just assume the defensive side was stuck in traffic most practice days. But Cal…come on guys! Guess how many times Hawaii had over 450 yards of offense last year? ONCE the entire season and that was against UC-Davis…I guess maybe it’s a northern California thing. My problem really comes down to this NCAA…what did Australia do to you? Our three ambassadors to the sport of college football this year were Jim Harbaugh, California, and Hawaii….

JC – I have to go with the rush to count the visit to Norman as a loss. I have strong suspicions that the Buckeyes will pull this “baby” out. I look forward to this game more than anything on their schedule in at least a few years (minus any TTUN game – naturally). Also I need to feed my thoughts on Jimbo and the “crazy” logic that TTUN and the press appears to have because the circus that arrived in Ann Arbor last year equates to a change of fortune. “Whacked” Jimbo will keep them in the press – but eventually his act will wear on his talent. Just watch and see!

Mike Meals – My Friday Night Slight is for everyone who has already found Gibson guilty and wants his head on a stake. If he did what he is accused of, he deserves the punishment. But unless we woke up in Nazi Germany today, hold off on passing judgment until the facts come out. And trust that both the athletic department and the administration are doing exactly what they feel is right and warranted.





Fan’s Slights











The post Friday Night Slight’s: Buckeyes Expectations, Big 12 Expansion, Buckeyes in Norman appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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GameFinder: Jump inside to find your Week 1 BTN football game
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

Welcome to Week 1. The first Saturday of the season features a handful of Big Ten football games on BTN/BTN2Go. Our opening-week slate includes the Big Ten’s highest-ranked team in the preseason polls (No. 5/6 Ohio State), a pair of coaching debuts (Illinois’ Lovie Smith & Maryland’s DJ Durkin) and a primetime game (Fresno State at Nebraska). Which noon and 3:30 p.m. ET games will you get? Enter your zip code and TV service provider above to find out. View the full Week 1 BTN schedule: noon ET Howard at Maryland BTN2GO | VIDEO PREVIEW | SCOREBOARD Bowling Green at

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Ohio State is one of the 5 more talented teams in the country
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


When the team is loaded with talent, this tends to happen

“When Alabama meets USC this weekend in Dallas, the two most talented teams in the country will be butting heads. Not surprisingly Alabama is the most talented program in America after six straight No. 1 recruiting classes. USC has underachieved with its roster but there is no shortage of talent. This game will be an NFL scout's dream.”

– Barton Simmons, 247sports


Even though Ohio State has been considered a football magnet since, essentially, the dawn of time, Alabama leads the pack as this year’s most star studded program.

247sports broke down their total team composite scores for this year, and the Buckeyes ended up at No.5. The score was created by calculating the recruiting caliber (e.g. amount of five-stars, four-stars, etc.) of each program, and then coming up with a final number. Urban Meyer’s squad enters the year with two five-stars, 52 four-stars, 22 three-stars and two two-stars – good enough to give the Buckeyes a final score of 908.16

Looking over at what Nick Saban is doing, his Alabama program boasts a staggering 17 five-star recruits and 44 four-star recruits. The Crimson Tide were by far the best team with a composite score of 985.82. The second best program: USC. The Trojans collected 10 five-stars and 43 four-stars en route to earning a score of 944.80. We’ll see which team is really the best, as Bama and USC square off this weekend.

While the recruiting ranking is important, it’s how the coaching staff teaches the player. Meyer’s staff has done extraordinary well with that – just look at the talent that went to the draft this past spring.

“It’s pretty amazing. It’s really…it’s really humbling. You know, to be in a stadium with 105,000 seats or whatever it is and to to know that all those seats will be filled, but there’s always going to be one here right in front of the ROTC in the heart of the student section that will remain empty.”

– Beth Del Ponte’s story on the POW-MIA seat installment at Ohio Stadium (NBC4 Columbus),


No matter how packed The Shoe will be for football games, there will always be a seat left open for the military members that didn’t make it back home.

On Thursday, a POW-MIA seat was dedicated; the seat is located in the front row of the North endzone – and is just to the right of where the marching band comes out for their pregame entrance.

The connection to military service and OSU runs deep, as an estimated 2,300 students are in some way connected to the armed forces, according to the article by NBC4 Columbus.

If you want to see the story NBC4 did, you can see it below.

“They didn't play freshmen last year -- 21 of 25 redshirted. They are reluctant to take starters off the field even in blowouts. Watch what happens if they get a big lead on Bowling Green on Saturday. You'll see the top guys out there longer than necessary, which again is fine. The best players earn the right to play.”

– Doug Lesmerises (cleveland.com)


On the eve of Ohio State’s first game of the season, there is speculation for what exactly Meyer and company are going to do with a huge cast of freshman. Are they going to rotate players? How much playing time will freshman actually get?

The first part of the question was asked by Doug Lesmerises of cleveland.com during one of the media’s opportunities to talk to coaches at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Kerry Coombs was able to answer the question on rotating players, and knowing if they are ready or not to play.

The video of the interaction is seen below.

Stick to Sports


• If you thought Tennessee’s near loss to Appalachian State seemed all too familiar to Michigan’s loss, look no further than who was on the sidelines.

• Bear fights man, but the man knows karate.

• Man declared dead, but was actually kidnapped to teach English to North Korea’s leader.

• FDA puts the kibosh on antibacterials in soap.

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Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: WWWW, Non-Revenue, Guest writer says Rest Easy
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!


Brandon Zimmerman takes us on a ride with this week’s What Would Woody Watch



Charles has returned with a good article about non-revenue sports at Ohio State



Kenny Galvin jumps in with both feet as he tries out for our team!



WVaBuckeye has a nice sit down with Parris’ Campbell’s mom, Shelly Woodruff



The post Scarlet and Gray Drive Time Re-Wind: WWWW, Non-Revenue, Guest writer says Rest Easy appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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A closer look at Ohio State’s recent struggles with G5 opponents
Max Littman via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Not every cupcake game turns out that way.

Ohio State is about to open the season against Bowling Green, a proud member of the MAC. Based on recruiting rankings, facilities, program resources, or whatever other metric you want to think of, Ohio State should win comfortably. But that doesn’t always happen.

Over the years Ohio State has seemed to struggle at times when taking on mid-major opponents, even ones where they’ve been very heavy favorites. With close games in the past few years against Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Navy, Cincinnati, Buffalo and UAB, all of whom are Group of 5 (Mid-Major) teams, there have been plenty of scares for the Scarlett and Gray, even if the final box score tells a different story.

With consecutive games coming up against G5 competition in Bowling Green this week and Tulsa next week, the Buckeyes may be tested more than expected.

It seems as if the Buckeyes always manage to squeak out the victory, but how does a team that only beat Navy by 17 points in the same season win a national championship by 22 over Oregon?

This trend has been going back for years. In 2004, it took a last second Mike Nugent 55 yard field goal to beat Marshall 24-21. Although the team struggled that year, finishing 8-4, almost losing to Marshall is inexplicable. OSU has always dominated the MAC, with an incredible 32-1-0 record against them (the only loss coming against Akron in an 1894 thriller), but multiple teams have come close to pulling off the unimaginable.

Just last season, the high powered and top-rated Buckeyes barely got past Northern Illinois, winning just 20-13. With just one offensive touchdown in the game and an insane five turnovers, the Buckeyes were on the brink of actually losing.

One of the main problems for the Buckeyes is the timing, since out-of-conference games almost always come at the beginning of the season. In years like 2014, where there was a freshman quarterback unexpectedly starting, running an offense can be difficult. And this year, the Buckeyes will certainly be breaking in a lot of new faces.

Another leading factor is the expectations. Ohio State isn’t expected to have close games with small schools, the fans and team expects to win every game every year. High expectations can lead to mini-letdowns.

Although the team hasn’t lost to a non (current) power conference school since losing to Air Force in the 1990 Liberty Bowl, they’ve certainly come close a few times. With expectations sky high for another year, the question is, could it happen this season?

There’s no reason to suggest that Bowling Green will have a similar or better performance against Ohio State than say, Northern Illinois did, (BGSU is breaking in a ton of new faces themselves), but this is a weird sport. It’s the biggest game of their regular season and comes against a former coach, and emotions should be high for at least one of the teams playing.

Ohio State needs to be fully prepared to encounter teams that will be playing their hearts out in their biggest game.

They’re going to have the talent advantage, but they had talent advantages over Northern Illinois and Marshall too. They have a coaching advantage, but they had one over UAB and Ohio too. Will that be enough this weekend? At the end of the day, almost certainly, but that doesn’t mean the Falcons can’t make the Buckeyes sweat an awful lot over the course of the game.

It’s certainly happened before.

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The complete history of Ohio State-Bowling Green
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Grab a chair, cause we’re covering all the games of this in-state battle

The time has finally come for the return of Ohio State football. With Bowling Green coming to town this weekend, it’s another time the Buckeyes have had a date with the Falcons in Columbus, Ohio.

Open up your history textbooks, as we begin to go through time and revisit the matchups between BGSU and OSU.

For the first time


The first time the Falcons faced off against the Buckeyes was back in 1992. Bowling Green was fresh off an 11-1 year in 1991 that included a win against rival Toledo, and a win in the California Bowl against Fresno State. Before the 1991 season, the Falcons suffered five straight losing seasons before hiring Gary Blackney to turn the tide in 1991.

Blackney, in his second season, was up against John Cooper – now in his fifth year of coaching at Ohio State. Like Blackney, Cooper guided the Buckeyes to a bowl game. However, Cooper lost said bowl game, the Hall of Fame Bowl, to Syracuse by a final score of 24-17.

Ohio State’s date with Bowling Green happened on Sept. 12, 1992 and occurred in Week 2 of the season. The Falcons were 1-0 after defeating Western Michigan, 29-19, and Ohio State was 1-0 after narrowly defeating Louisville, 20-19, at home.

Slated for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, a modest 94,808 people walk through the turnstiles at The Shoe to witness Kirk Herbstreit and Eddie George take on the Falcons.

Bowling Green scored first in the second quarter by way of an Erik White 9-yard rush. The drive wasn’t a long one, as the Falcons first (and only) scoring drive began on the OSU 22 following a Bobby Hoying interception. There was a silver lining for the Buckeyes, though: BGSU’s extra point sailed wide right.

Eventually, the Buckeyes shifted their scoring machine into drive. A few minutes, and a couple of drives after the first score of the game, George found six-points by leaping over top of the offensive line – giving the scarlet and gray a 7-6 advantage heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, a fumble by White set up a Buckeye field goal. Tim Williams connected from 47 yards out to increase the home squad’s lead to 10-6. The following drive for Blackley’s squad stalled on their own 34, and led to Ohio State getting great field position following the punt. With a tired Bowling Green defense, Herbstreit guided the offense back to the BGSU redzone, which culminated with a Raymont Harris 7-yard rush to the house.

Getty
Run Herbie, Run!!

Down 17-6, the Falcons didn’t give up – but turnovers plagued scoring chances. Right after the Harris TD, BGSU went on a 14-play excursion to the Buckeye redzone. However, faced with a 4th-and-goal from the OSU 6, White could only come up with three yards. After the turnover on downs, the Falcons only had one other drive that didn’t end with a turnover.

Ohio State came out victorious, 17-6, in the first meeting between the two schools.

A Wiley Time


In the second edition of Buckeyes-Falcons in 1997, both Cooper and Blackney were still in charge of their respectful teams, but the trajectories were completely different.

Bowling Green had slumped since the start of the Blackney era. The 1995 and 1996 campaigns were sub-.500 years, and 1997 had the feeling that it wasn’t going to end up any better. To start of the 1997 campaign, Blackney’s Falcons lost to Louisiana Tech on the road, 30-23.

On the other side, the Buckeyes were the defending Rose Bowl champions, and opened up the 1997 season with a win against Wyoming. Entering their matchup with Bowling Green, Ohio State touted the No.9 ranking in the AP Poll.

From the start, things were shaky for the Falcons. A three-and-out gave the Buckeyes prime field position around the 50. Quarterback Stanley Jackson drove the Buckeyes down the field, and set up Dan Shultz for a 47-yard field goal. BGSU did retaliate with a 12-play, 60-yard drive that resulted in three points.

Getty
The majestic Gary Blackney. He won bowl games in each of his first two years at BGSU

At this point, things snowballed out of control for the visitors – and that 3-3 tie was the closest they would come to beating the Buckeyes.

The ensuing kickoff landed in the hands of Michael Wiley at the goal line. From there, Wiley pulled off a 100-yard dash, and housed the Garrett Fowler kick. Bowling Green started their next drive on the OSU 36 following a great return from Leon Weathersby. However, the first play of the drive featured quarterback Bob Niemet getting picked off by Buckeye Ahmed Plummer.

In the second quarter, running backs Pepe Pearson and Wiley carried the Buckeyes to another touchdown, as the scarlet and gray were pulled away 17-3. The Falcons, weren’t done, though. Niemet connected for a 29 yard touchdown to Damron Hamilton, and a Buckeye fumble on a kickoff led to three more points being added to Bowling Green’s total.

With the score 17-13 late in the second quarter, the Buckeyes had to apply the afterburners. Joe Germaine stepped into the QB role, and got OSU an insurance touchdown in the waning moments before halftime by way of a deep out pass to Dee Miller from 29 yards out.

At the halfway point, John Cooper’s squad held a 24-13 advantage – and didn’t look back. The third quarter began with Ohio State getting great field position because of a short kickoff. Pearson did his thing on the ground, while Jackson went to the air to collect yardage. It took six plays for the Buckeyes to find the endzone again.

As Ohio State eased the pressure on offense, the Falcon offense stalled repeatedly. In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, Bowling Green needed a touchdown to get back into the game. Faced with a 4th-and-15 on the OSU 34, Blackney elected to go for the first down. The decision to go for it made sense, but the Buckeye defense was having none of a Falcon comeback. OSU defender Jerry Rudzinski got around the Bowling Green protection, and sacked Niemet for a loss of 14. With the ball now on their own 48, the Buckeyes took advantage of the short field; Jackson ended the drive by hitting David Boston for a touchdown.

Bowling Green materialized a couple three-and-out followed by a fumble on their final three drives. Stultz and the Buckeyes capitalized on the sluggish Falcon ending by putting two more field goals through the uprights.

The second contest ended with Ohio State finishing on top, 44-13. This would be the final time Blackney and Cooper would face each other as coaches of their respective teams.

“And Ohio State hangs on, again”


The third installment of Ohio State-Bowling Green featured Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes fresh off a national championship. Leading up to this one, Senator Tressel’s tradmark style of football featured narrow wins against San Diego State and then-No.24 NC State in Columbus.

Bowling Green just lost their up-and-coming head coach, Urban Meyer, to Utah, and brought in Gregg Brandon to lead the charge. Brandon’s first three games at the helm were solid victories; he won his opener against Eastern Kentucky, 63-13, and defeated a top 20 Purdue team in West Lafayette.

If Bowling Green was going to pull off the upset, this would’ve been their best chance. The Buckeyes were without running back Maurice Clarett due to a suspension and quarterback Craig Krenzel was out due to an injury sustained the week prior against NC State.

The Buckeyes first drive was collecting real estate from running back Lydell Ross, Drew Carter and a pretty accurate Scott McMullen. As the scarlet and gray found themselves in the redzone, disaster struck; McMullen completed a pass to Michael Jenkins, but the star receiver lost the ball after being hit by Jordan Jelani.

There was nothing to worry about, though. On the immediate drive, Bowling Green’s quarterback, Josh Harris, telegraphed a pass to Dustin Fox on the BGSU 29. Six plays later, McMullen found Drew Carter for a seven yard touchdown.

Like you’ve read in the previous part of this piece, the Falcons had always clawed their way back from an early deficit. The 2003 edition with the Buckeyes was no different. Right after Ohio State jumped to a 7-0 lead, Harris led his team down the field on a 13 play, 87-yard drive to knot the game at 7-7.

But, as more things change, the more things tend to stay the same. Turnovers have been the bugaboo for the brown and orange – as well as squandering premium opportunities from the Buckeyes – and 2003 kept to the status quo. After getting a gift of a fumble from Maurice Hall, Harris was sacked by Buckeye linebacker Bobby Carpenter and coughed the ball deep in their own territory. Tressel, as usual, manufactured three points on the board after starting at the BGSU 21.

However, The Sweater Vest did take some risks with play calling. Two drives after taking the 10-7 lead, Senator Tressel elected to go for it on a 4th-and-1 from the Bowling Green 33. Ross was given the rock and went straight up the middle; the hole that opened allowed for Ross to fly past the Falcon defense for a touchdown.


Entering halftime, the scarlet and gray were pulling away with a 17-7 lead – or at least they thought.

Foreshadowing is a tremendous thing. The third quarter featured an Ohio State interception immediately followed up with a Bowling Green interception. Most of the time in the penultimate frame was spent on a Buckeye drive that last a total of 7:15. The troubles continued for Brandon’s squad, as the tenacious defense concocted by Mark Dantonio (yes, that Mark Dantonio) marred any chance of a scoring drive. The fourth quarter arrived with Tressel’s boys leading comfortably 17-7.

With just over 11 minutes left in regulation, Ross opened up a drive with a nice carry of 13 yards; then, McMullen uncorked the fine wine of the deep ball and found Jenkins for a smooth 46-yard pick up. The ground game chipped away at the remaining 17 yards, punctuating the drive with Ross taking a pitch out from three yards out to the barn.

Normally, when you’re nursing a 17 lead with just a hair under nine minutes remaining, the win seems almost certain. Almost – only good with horse shoes and hand grenades.

The (Millennium) Falcon comeback was fast and furious; after a touchback, Harris marched his team 80 yards to pay dirt – which included a miraculous recovering of their own fumble courtesy of a play made by the late great Will Smith – and then the brown and orange collected their onside kick. The onside kick spotted Bowling Green at the Ohio State 44-yard line, but the Falcons couldn’t pull off the touchdown working with the short field. A Shaun Suisham field goal from 33 yards out cut the Buckeye lead to 24-17.

On the Buckeyes final drive, the park the bus mentality set in. A three-and-out gave BGSU one last chance to tie the game. Harris operated out of the shotgun formation for a majority of the drive, and was at least able to cross the Falcons into OSU territory. The comeback fell short as Harris threw an interception to Will Allen, who would run out the clock on the pick.


Again, the Buckeyes held on to beat the Falcons. This time, it was a little too close for comfort.

On the road to Phoenix


The fourth meeting between the two schools happened in 2006, the year Ohio State made it to the BCS Championship Game in Phoenix. This edition of the in-state battle took place on Oct. 7, 2006 – the latest these two have faced each other during a season.

The Buckeyes, at this point, were the No.1 team in the country. Prior to playing Bowling Green, the Buckeyes laid waste to ranked programs in Texas, Penn State and Iowa. The Falcons played Wisconsin to open their year, but lost, 35-14. Even though BGSU had Big Ten playing experience, it wasn’t enough to face the top ranked scarlet and gray.

By halftime, Ohio State was up 21-0. Troy Smith opened up the Buckeyes scoring ways early with a pass to Rory Nicol. On the ground, Antonio Pittman found the endzone twice, with both touchdowns coming from 8 yards out.

This going wasn’t anything close to what Brandon’s squad was able to assemble in 2003; there wasn’t going to be a furious comeback late in the game. Ohio State was at full strength, and primed to go the distance without letting the Falcons back into the game. The only thing Bowling Green could muster was a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

Even with a 21-7 lead entering the fourth quarter, Tressel’s team still took to the air for more points. Smith connected with Ray Small from 11 yards out to push the the lead to three touchdowns. Another stalled BGSU drive set up the Bucks for another score. This time around, Smith dialed long distance to the incomparable Ted Gin Jr. for a 57 yard strike.

In the box score, Bowling Green had only 50 yards less of total offense compared to Ohio State. However, the Buckeyes were able to score points when they had the opportunity. The loss in Columbus was the tipping point for Bowling Green’s season, as they only mustered one more win in their 2006 campaign.

In the now


The 2016 edition of Ohio State-Bowling Green is the fifth time these two schools will meet. As you have read, the Falcons have failed to put up a ‘W’ in the win column against the Buckeyes in their previous four tries. The Falcon faithful shouldn’t feel that down, though, because OSU has compiled a 32-1 record against MAC opponents.

This edition will be the second time Bowling Green introduces a first year coach to the Buckeyes. Mike Jinks makes his first appearance as the big cheese for the defending MAC champions after coming from Texas Tech, where he spent time as an associate head coach. Jinks has the honor of being the 105th coach to face OSU’s head cheese, Urban Meyer.

For Meyer, this will be the first time he faces off against the school that gave him his head coaching start. In his time spent on the Falcon sideline, Meyer collected a 17-6 record that includes a win on the road against Missouri in his ever game as coach, a win in the Battle of I-75 vs. Toledo and a win on the road against Kansas in his second year.

Obscure facts from the Ohio State-Bowling Green history (that will make people think you have no real life friends)


• The hottest it was when the game was played was: 77 degrees (1997)

• The coldest it was when the game was played: 65 degrees (2006)

• Longest elapsed time: 3:10 (2003)

• Latest start time: 3:40 p.m. (2006)

• Most Yards OSU rushed: 205 (2003)

• Most Yards OSU passed: 274 (1997)

• Most yards returned on kickoffs: 9-571 (1997)

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Buckeyes reach out to intriguing in-state prospect - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Buckeyes reach out to intriguing in-state prospect
247Sports
A year ago, football was not on the radar for then Cleveland Heights (OH) basketball star Tyreke Smith. But after realizing that at 6-foot-4 and 241-pounds his future might be brighter on the gridiron as a tight end or defensive end, Smith returned to ...


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Who will win the national championship? Our staff makes national predictions
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


It’s part III of our staff predictions series

In LGHL tradition, our staff has voted on our Ohio State specific predictions, and our Big Ten specific predictions. Now, we’ve had a chance to vote on our thoughts on the national college football scene at large. Bookmark these, because I’m sure we’ll be hilariously wrong on at least two of them.

Which team in the preseason AP Poll Top 10 is most likely to disappoint?


Tennessee: 6 votes

Michigan: 5 votes

Notre Dame: 3 votes

Others: 4 votes

It takes a special kind of skepticism to triumph over blind homerism here in the LGHL newsroom, but for whatever reason, Tennessee brings that out from the group. The talent and the experience is there, but the coaching may not be, and it feels like ages since Tennessee has won a big game. Their performance last night...well...it’s making me feel a little better about this pick.

Also, somebody voted for Alabama. That seems...brave.

Which team in the preseason AP Poll 11-25 range do you see as having the best chance of making the playoffs?


TCU: 8 votes

Houston: 3 votes

Others: 8 votes

Washington, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Oregon and UCLA all got love from at least one writer, but TCU was far and away the biggest choice as a possible darkhorse to make the Playoff, and why not? They’ve got the schedule, the experience, and the coaching to make a run.

Which team outside the top 25 do you see a potential sleeper?


Texas: 3 votes

Miami: 3 votes

A bunch of other teams: 13 votes

Others that picked up multiple votes include Washington State, Texas A&M, BYU {NOTE-neither came from me}, Utah and Arizona. Your guess? Well, it’s probably just as good as ours. But chances are, somebody will come out from this group and win 10 games or something.

Which team outside of the Power 5 and Houston do you see as the most dangerous?


Boise State: 6 votes

San Diego State: 3 votes

Everybody else: 7 votes

I left Houston out here, since they’re almost certainly the runaway favorite to be the class of the G5, and some of our writers had trouble coming up with anybody who might challenge for that mantle. Boise State is the name brand team, but don’t sleep on the Aztecs.

Who is the highest profile coach that's going to get axed this year?


Gus Malzahn: 4 votes

Charlie Strong: 3 votes

Other people: 8 votes

A few other coaches got multiple votes, like West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, or Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, but opinions are wide and varied here. The spotlight will certainly be on in Texas, and on the Plains, as well as places like Penn State and LSU.

Who is winning the Heisman Trophy?


Deshaun Watson: 9 votes

Christian McCaffrey: 3 votes

Other people: 6 votes

A little bit of love here for J.T. Barrett, which hey, is possible, but the rest of the group took off the Scarlet and Gray glasses enough to make a perfectly reasonable, if chalk-heavy, pick. If they can stay health, both Watson and McCaffrey should put up monster stats for excellent teams.

Who are your four playoff teams?

Clemson: 14

Ohio State: 12

Alabama: 10

LSU: 8

TCU: 8

Oklahoma: 6

Florida State: 5

Stanford: 3

Michigan: 2

Houston: 2

Oregon: 2

Since it’s probably unlikely two teams from the same conference make it this year, let’s say the consensus picks are Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and TCU, with lots of love for LSU, Oklahoma and Florida State. Houston and Oregon wold be surprising, but hey, this is a weird sport.

Who is going to win the national title?

Clemson: 8 votes

LSU: 4 votes:

Ohio State: 2 votes

Florida State: 2 votes

Others: 2 votes

Let the record state that there are limits to the homerism of LGHL writers. While Ohio State was a very popular choice to make the playoff, the experience of LSU and Clemson won out, as most writers see one of those two teams carrying home the hardware at the end of the season.

Which, of course, means, Cal is going to beat Indiana for the title this season.

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MAC Power Bowling Green Will Try to 'Shock' Buckeyes - New York Times
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


MAC Power Bowling Green Will Try to 'Shock' Buckeyes
New York Times
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bowling Green will be a four-touchdown underdog coming into Ohio Stadium on Saturday, but new Falcons coach Mike Jinks said he welcomes the chance to "shock the world." If Jinks' squad can knock off the mighty Buckeyes at Ohio ...
Ohio State football vs. Bowling Green game picks: Can the Buckeyes cover a 4-TD spread?cleveland.com
Eleven Warriors Roundtable: Buckeyes Hope To Strike Fast Against Bowling GreenEleven Warriors
Ohio State-Bowling Green football preview: Buckeyes' Urban Meyer faces former teamUPI.com
Columbus Dispatch -Land-Grant Holy Land -247Sports
all 449 news articles »

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@BTNStatsGuys: 10 things to know about BGSU at Ohio State
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

Before the Buckeyes, the preseason Big Ten favorite, kick things off, BTN researcher Harold Shelton has 10 Bowling Green-Ohio State facts for your consumption.

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Making The List: Eddie George
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Football Season is finally upon us. This coming weekend (Saturday the 3rd) our Buckeyes begin the 2016 Season with an opening game against the Bowling Green Falcons. The excitement is in the air. For us Scarlet and Gray junkies – this is a tremendous time of the year.

With this precious reminder it is only appropriate that this week’s Making The List goes to a Football player. I cannot think of anyone more worthy than the great Eddie George. In truth, I should have chosen him last year when we began this acknowledgement of Buckeye Greatness. But things happen for a reason. And, now as I review a few things, this week appears to be the perfect match to include Mr. George.

In 1992 Eddie came to The Ohio State University via way of Fork Union (VA) Military Academy where he was a national focus. In the Buckeyes first game of the season, versus Louisville, the end score would be 20-19 – OSU winning. Eddie in that game would get only a quick look, one attempt for three yards. The following week, September 12, the Buckeyes met up with the Falcons of Bowling Green. The final would be a closer than imagined 17-6 Buckeyes victory.

What made this game appropriate for Eddie being announced as our choice for Making The List is that his first TD ever as a Buckeye came in the 2nd Quarter against the Falcons from one-yard out. He would finish this game with seven attempts totaling 38 yards.

In 1992, his freshmen year, Eddie would quickly become a contributor. The week following his first TD in Columbus as a Buckeye against Bowling Green he would stand noticed on the 19th of September in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse. The Buckeyes would win 35-12. George would only have 9 attempts for a total of 23-yards. But he would score three TD’s. This began what would be a tremendous career in Columbus for Eddie George.

By the time George was a senior in the 1995 season, George rushed for a school record 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns, an average of 148.23 yards per game, while also catching 44 passes for 399 yards and another score (George only caught 16 passes in his first three seasons). One of his best performances of the year was in a 45-26 win over Notre Dame, where he rushed for 207 yards, his third 200-yard game of the season. He also rushed for a school-record 314 yards and scored 3 touchdowns in OSU’s victory over Illinois.

George would end his career in Columbus as the third all-time rushing leader with 3,768 yards; at the time though he was second. Ezekiel has since passed him to be # two and, of course, Archie’s # one position is quite secure. George is also second on the all-time list for most TD’s in a season with 24. He is third in career TD’s with 44. And, lest we forget, he is third in career 100-yard games while playing for the Buckeyes, with 20.

In 1995 along with the Heisman Trophy, Eddie would receive the Walter Camp Award, the Chic Harley Award, the Doak Walker Award, and the Jim Brown award. He would be a Consensus All-American. His #27 would also eventually be retired.



George would go on to be a first-round draft selection (14th overall pick) of the Houston Oilers (eventually becoming the Tennessee Titans) in the 1996 NFL Draft. George won the NFL Rookie of the Year award in 1996, and was the Oilers/Titans’ starting tailback through 2003, never missing a start. He made the Pro Bowl four consecutive years (1997–2000), and assisted the Titans to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams 23-16. George gained 391 combined rushing and receiving yards in the Titans’ three playoff games that year and went on to rush for 95 yards, catch two passes for 35 yards, and score two touchdowns in the Super Bowl.

George is only the second NFL running back to rush for 10,000 yards while never missing a start, joining Jim Brown. Only Walter Payton (170) started more consecutive regular-season games than George’s 130.
His NFL career totals include 10,441 rushing yards, 268 receptions, 2,227 receiving yards, and 78 touchdowns (68 rushing and ten receiving).

On May 19, 2011, it was announced that George would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Eddie George is a Buckeye legend. Plain and simple. All of us who recall his days in Columbus were completely thrilled week in and week out. Eddie George falls into the category that everyone remembers in a running back – big and strong. And not only big and strong, but productive beyond imagination. It is time that I bring Eddie George within the house of our growing community of Making The List. He was everything that defines a great Buckeye in a single word: Dominant

P.S. Did I mention Broadway is looming in Eddie’s future?




The post Making The List: Eddie George appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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It’s time to revisit Urban Meyer’s first win against The School Up North
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


In his first try, Meyer knew what the main requisite was to being a great coach for the Buckeyes. Simply, beat Michigan.

“History is written by the victors.”

That phrase has become a truism throughout the history of time. From Winston Churchill allegedly saying it, to Walter Benjamin loosely stating the same in his Theses on the Philosophy of History in 1940, to imprisoned politician, and future first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru declaring that “history is almost always written by the victors” in his book Discovery of India in 1946. The phrase was also made popular this century by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – a video game.

Of all the times the phrase has been thrown around, Nehru’s interpretation rings especially true to the 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes. Even though the Bucks could cap off an undefeated season, they couldn’t write their name in the history books as undefeated National Champions.

Serving a one-year postseason probation, the engraving machine for conference championships and bowl game trophies would get a rest from putting ‘Ohio State’ on any of the nameplates. However, there was still something at stake for the Buckeyes: beating Michigan.

The Gold Pants, a trinket given to the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game, would be the championship trophy for the scarlet and gray.

While winning conference and national championships are great, beating Michigan (and often) is the absolute requisite needed to be deemed a great coach at Ohio State. Woody Hayes did it en route to a handful of national championships, and Jim Tressel’s string of wins in The Game was partially the reason why The School Up North tossed two pretty good head coaches.

Let’s go back down memory lane to Nov.24, 2012, the day where Urban Meyer secured his first win against Michigan – as well as OSU’s first undefeated season since 2002.

Geoff Hammersley
How’d We Get Here


The Buckeyes were fresh off a thrilling victory against the Wisconsin Badgers. Ohio State went into Madison, Wis. and denied Badger running back Montee Ball from getting the outright honors of being the NCAA career touchdown record holder. On top of that, the scarlet and gray silenced Camp Randall Stadium by winning in overtime.

Now sitting at 11-0 and No.4 in the polls, OSU awaited a Michigan team that entered at 8-3, while also being ranked at No.19.

Michigan surged up the polls by going on a three game win streak – taking down Minnesota, Northwestern and Iowa in the process – before rolling into Columbus, Ohio. Things looked good for the Wolverines in their last contest before the Buckeyes; quarterback Devin Gardner was part of six touchdowns, and played a huge roll in the 42-17 win in the Big House versus Iowa.

An undefeated season was on the line for the Buckeyes, but equally as important was the fact that they could take the bragging rights of winning The Game away from the Wolverines. In 2011 under the Luke Fickell regime, OSU fell in Ann Arbor, Mich., 40-34.

With Meyer at the helm, he looked to avenge Buckeye Nation in the one game that defies careers in Columbus. Historically, The School Up North has wrecked havoc on undefeated Buckeye squads five times since 1968. From Woody Hayes to John Cooper, the Wolverines found a way to burrow into the Buckeye loss column.

For Meyer, he wasn’t having any of it.

...It’s free real estate


As is tradition, this kickoff found itself on national television. But before the game, the 21 seniors in the class of 2012 were recognized before the kickoff. Zach Boren, Reid Fragel, John Simon and Jake Stoneburner were just some of the notable Buckeyes to suit up for the final time inside The Shoe.

Geoff Hammersley
Goodbye, and Good Luck: The 2012 seniors graced the program cover

Once Senior Day festivities wrapped up, like clockwork, the Wolverines made themselves known by winning the coin toss – they deferred and the Buckeyes got the ball first.

Fast starts were things that weren’t seen all that much in year one for Meyer at Ohio State. In the regular season opener against Miami (OH), the Buckeyes took about a quarter to get their act together. In Big Ten contests against Michigan State and Purdue, the Buckeyes offense had issue putting points on the board in the early going.

In the opening drive against Michigan, it was going to be established that the run game was going to lean heavily on the pass game. After Braxton Miller took the snaps, he went right to Carlos Hyde on the handoff. The first three plays were Hyde rushing – the first going toward the left tackle side; the second and third rushes making a break for the right side.

Through the first three plays on the ground, Hyde accumulated 15 yards. That’s not too bad. However, it paled in comparison to the next play by the Buckeye offense. With the run game being established, it was time for Miller to go to the air.

One throw, 52 yards worth of real estate collected. Devin Smith hauled in the catch down to the UM 8. This followed a five yard completion to Michael Thomas – who was just a freshman at the time – that would in turn be the setup for Hyde to punch the ball in from three yards out.

Six plays, 75 yards in just over 2:15 seconds. Ohio State jumped out to an early lead for once, but the Wolverines weren’t backing down.

Michigan’s first drive was clicking; Denard Robinson picked up huge chucks of yardage on the ground, while Devin Gardner was making sideline passes to Jeremy Gallon. As the Michigan men marched down deep into Ohio State territory, the Buckeye defense got a break. Adolphus Washington forced Gardner to fumble on a sack, leading to Boren scooping the ball up.



Senior day was off to a right start. Well, at least it seemed that way at the time.

Ohio State’s next drive fell flat, and became a three-and-out. While the Buckeyes were able to punt the ball to the UM 17, the Wolverines took no prisoners on the first drive back after fumbling. Faced with a 3rd-and-2, Gardner went down the sideline for Roy Roundtree.

Remember those old Gatorade commercials, where the characters are trying to one-up each other by saying “whatever you can do, I can do better?” Well, that’s basically what the Wolverines were saying at this point. While Miller connected for 52 yards with Smith, Gardner hit Roundtree with a 75 yard touchdown.

Tie game.

At this point in the game, the realization set in: this wasn’t going to be a runaway for either side; the winner was going to pull this game out by less than a touchdown.

Both teams opening two drives mirrored each other in terms of plays – first drives went six plays, second drives went three plays. The Buckeyes looked to break up this monotony on their third drive. Braxton Miller literally took control of the whole drive. Ten of the 11 plays on the drive featured Miller either passing or rushing. That last play? A field goal attempt by Drew Basil that sailed through the uprights.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Repressed Memory: Yea, Braxton fumbled on this drive, but the Buckeyes recovered the ball

With one quarter in the books, the Buckeyes held on to a 10-7 lead. OSU had 10 carries on the ground that accounted for a net total of two whopping yards. Passing wise, Miller uncorked 129 yards while going 8-of-9. On the other hand, Michigan put 32 yards of rushing into the stat box, while throwing an additional 96 yards.

If the first quarter was a wild ride, then the second quarter was about to be the ride that you reconsider all of your life choices you’ve made as it stops at the apex, and then races to the bottom at almost a 90 degree drop.

The Escalation


The second quarter began with the Wolverines having possession of the ball. As they twiddled away a couple minutes through rushing, incomplete passes and an offense pass interference call, the Buckeyes were set to get the ball back.

Well, that was the theory. On the punt, Corey Brown muffed the catch, and the Wolverines got it back. Now sitting on the OSU 25, it took the recollected visitors five plays to get into the scarlet endzone.

Both teams traded drives without scoring again, but the fact remained: Wolverines on top 14-10. Ohio State wanted to get momentum back heading into halftime – after all, the 2002 national championship team was being honored, and the atmosphere was going to be electrifying.

OSU’s second real drive of the second quarter went back to tradition: running. Hyde took a few carries for around 30 yards. Miller then conducted the drive by going to the air, and scampering when needed. As the Buckeyes chipped away and got to the UM 14, it was time for them to take the lead back. Miller went back to air and hit Corey Brown toward the sideline. The scarlet and gray had reclaimed the lead, 17-14, with 1:30 left before in the half.

As Lee Corso of ESPN’s College Gameday would say, “not so fast, my friend.” On the ensuing UM drive, Robinson busted through a tackle, and raced down the field for a 75 yard touchdown.



Big plays proved to be the difference maker, as the Wolverines found another touchdown that went for at least 50 yards.

Ohio State got the ball back on their own 35 yard line with 32 seconds left. Like before, Miller was about to earn another ‘Man of the Drive’ honor. A rush of 17, followed by two quick passes got the Buckeyes down to the Wolverine 35 yard line. Basil got called in, and digged deep to bury a 52 yard field goal as time expired.

A frantic final two minutes of the half led to three scores, and the away team holding a one point advantage. Even though the Buckeyes didn’t have the lead, they did register one of the more iconic images of the Meyer days in Columbus.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Boren’s sack of Gardner is now part of Ohio State-Michigan lore. Just like when Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson housed touchdowns on the Buckeyes in the 1990s, this sack was another big moment in the history of The Game.

Why this moment?


Ohio State was able to get two field goals on the board in the second half – enough to hold off Michigan for a 26-21 win. Even though scoring came at a premium, the hits kept coming, and the strategies utilized kept the game close. Brady Hoke, like Bret Bielema, found a way to slow down the Buckeye machine in the second half. However, in both cases, Meyer was better at shutting down the opposition.

Beating Michigan is always a noteworthy achievement. The players get their gold pants, the band members get gold pant patches for their jackets, and the students (and fans) get to celebrate the win. This win in particular left a weird feeling, though.

The Buckeyes ran the table and went undefeated, but had nothing besides that. While fans rushed onto the field at the end of the game, there was a bittersweet moment realized: you witnessed this team go undefeated and beat Michigan, but that’s it.

We’ll never know if the 2012 Ohio State team would’ve defeated Notre Dame in the national championship game. Better yet, if Ohio State did play for the national championship, they would’ve shut out one-loss Alabama.

Geoff Hammersley
Boren got the sack on Gardiner, and an appearance in the gameday poster

But we do know this: after one year at the helm, Urban Meyer had assembled an undefeated team. What lurked on the horizon, even by Ohio State standards, was unconscionable. One of the winningest four-year stretches in college football was now a quarter of the way done.

The lesson learned from the 2012 Ohio State season was this: Meyer was back, and Ohio State was better than ever before.

Quiz Time


We’ve covered all the moments from Ohio State’s 2012 undefeated season, now take the quiz.

The state of the college football world


• The SEC Championship was solidified with the Alabama Crimson Tide facing the Georgia Bulldogs. Whoever pulled out the win in Atlanta (spoiler: it was the Crimson Tide) would punch their ticket to Miami Gardens, accumulated. to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the National Championship.

• Montee Ball broke the NCAA career touchdown record at Penn State. Even though Ball’s Wisconsin Badgers lost to the Nittany Lions, they already clinched a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game.

• Johnny Manziel and his Texas A&M Aggies cruised past Missouri, 59-29. The win capped off a 10-2 year, and undoubtedly cemented the fact that Manziel was winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman.

Current Events happening around The Game


• Fresh off a re-election campaign, President Barack Obama faces a potential fiscal cliff that is compounded by Bush-era tax cuts and a stimulus measure ending on New Year’s Eve.

• ‘Gangham Style’, the wildly famous song by Korean singer Psy, becomes the most viewed video on YouTube, surpassing Justin Bieber. At the time of Psy dethroning Bieber, ‘Gangham Style’ was being viewed roughly between 7 million and 10 million times per day, according to the LA Times.

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Idaho Vandals open with (Big Sky) victory over Montana State


Idaho running back Aaron Duckworth breaks away from Montana State’s Tre’von Strong for a touchdown during their season opener at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. Lewiston Tribune via Associated Press AP
Staff and wire reports

MOSCOW
Idaho junior quarterback Matt Linehan didn’t play as expected, and the Vandals failed to score in the second half of their opener against Montana State on Thursday night in the Kibbie Dome.

Didn’t matter.

Idaho is happy to be going to Washington on Sept. 10 with a 1-0 record.

Junior running back Aaron Duckworth ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns to help Idaho stave off a second-half charge from Montana State, winning 20-17 despite producing only a field goal after a 17-point first quarter.

The announced attendance for the season opener was 11,987.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/article99465647.html