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Fall Camp 2012

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Dienhart: Meyer, Ohio State Shaping Up To Be Tough

Written by Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer
posted on
8/18/12

There were many things to watch at Ohio State today in what was as physical a practice as I have seen on our trip. The practice-ending scrimmage had the intensity of a game and featured a lot of hitting. I spent a lot of my attention focused on an offense since in 2011 Ohio State had the worst passing numbers in the Big Ten. Now, Urban Meyer has installed a spread scheme for a team that opened at No. 18 in the AP poll on Saturday.

How will it work? We?ll cover that and more when our Ohio State Preview Show on this Big Ten Football Preview Tour airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ET. But let me tell you what I saw Saturday. Shoot me your questions as I?m answering the best ones from the BTN bus as we head to our final three schools of the tour.

This always is a good-looking team ?getting off the bus.? But even more so this year. The bodies all looked good, with few bellies hanging over the belt. Renowned strength coach Mickey Marotti and I talked after practice about conditioning and he told me how hiring a nutritionist has made a difference in how the team looks. (Jim Tressel never had a nutritionist on staff.) Urban Meyer?s quick tempo on offense requires players to be in shape, and that was evident today.

[Follow Tom Dienhart on Twitter for great insights from our tour.]

Quarterback Braxton Miller looks to have a good grasp of the spread scheme. He showed a nice touch on the short passes that are so vital to hit in this offense. He also showed his classic escapability. Some staffers felt this was one of Miller?s best practices of camp. In short, he is light years better than he was in 2011 as a true freshman.

With Jordan Hall out?he was in full pads with a boot on a foot?it was important to watch the running backs. Carlos Hyde figures to carry the load in the interim. He?s a big back with decent straight-line speed. Freshman Bri?onte Dunn is a speed demon. Rod Smith is another big back who can move the pile. Freshman Warren Ball is another back over 6-0 and 200 pounds in what is a huge backfield.

The receiving corps has been maligned since the spring. Who is going to step up? Players were in and out all practice. Corey Brown looked good. Offensive coordinator Tom Herman told me before practice that he has looked the best of the receivers in camp. Devin Smith also had his moment. Michael Thomas is a true freshman sensation and spring star who showed me he could be a contributor this fall, but he was running with the second team. Chris Fields is a steady veteran. Jake Stoneburner was moved from tight end not long ago and looks like he will be a matchup nightmare working out of the slot. The tight ends also showed me something. Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett each can move and showed good hands at times. Herman likes the athletic ability of each guy.

cont..
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http://btn.com/2012/08/18/dienhart-meyer-ohio-state-shaping-up-tough/
 
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BuckTwenty;2196542; said:
Wow. Bitter much? Gerdeman = whiney grammer police. Had to force myself to get through that article.
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The funny thing is that the local guys threw an absolute bitch fest when Ohio State opened up access to the press box and press conferences to some websites a few years back. It made it "too crowded" which prevented them from doing their jobs even though the thing is half empty for all but the biggest games. Now you have to have a full time paid employee to be allowed in to cover open events or to get in to the press box or press conferences (which is why you've seen a major shift in the way 11W operates these days) which is a direct response to said bitching.

Now it looks like karma is coming back around, which makes their whining even more humorous since they have not hesitated to flex their influence to bar access to others less powerful than themselves very loudly and very recently.
 
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Buckeye86;2196548; said:
The funny thing is that the local guys threw an absolute bitch fest when Ohio State opened up access to the press box and press conferences to some websites a few years back. It made it "too crowded" which prevented them from doing their jobs even though the thing is half empty for all but the biggest games. Now you have to have a full time paid employee to be allowed in to cover open events or to get in to the press box or press conferences (which is why you've seen a major shift in the way 11W operates these days) which is a direct response to said bitching.

Now it looks like karma is coming back around, which makes their whining even more humorous since they have not hesitated to flex their influence to bar access to others less powerful than themselves very loudly and very recently.
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the ozone guys on twitter are absolutely terrible...i removed all of them when they were bragging about how awesome it was that they broke the storm klein getting arrested story
 
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GoBux20;2196831; said:
Heard Dave Revsine on yahoo sports radio today and he was talking Big Ten football. He said that the Buckeyes were really surprising on how impressive they looked when they were in Columbus for the BTN bus tour!
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Surprise? Forever whom this was really a surprise really needs to turn in their press credentials.

Honestly, aside from what has been happening on the d side of the ball, who has really been happy with the promise to reality ratio that we've seen in the last five years?

Jesus... I know I'm not the only one who thinks this. Spades being spades, the former coaches for the most part are gone and I welcome the changes. Let's stop pretending that the former coaching staff really maximized the on field player performance.

Ima gonna just stop now...
 
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y0yoyoin;2196846; said:
the ozone guys on twitter are absolutely terrible...i removed all of them when they were bragging about how awesome it was that they broke the storm klein getting arrested story
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They are all about page visits. I was talking with one of the writers, who is a friend of a friend, and he was mentioning a lot about advertising and page clicks. It sounded like a major focus, and because their content appeals to the lowest common denominator, that seems accurate.
 
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Dryden;2196826; said:
BTN Bus Tour stop at OSU airs tonight at 10:00pm. Last year's OSU/WIS game is on right now. :)
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Watching that show was a waste of time really. Same stuff we've heard the entire fall camp IMO. Defensive line is deep, Braxton looks great, and holy hell we have a fierce battle at RT between a freshman and converted TE.

Was really hoping to see some of the scrimmage but about 5 minutes in I kinda figured that would reveal too much anyways. Which is why I assume we hardly saw any clips of the players practicing. Oh well Buckeyes coverage nonetheless!
 
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bukIpower;2196888; said:
Watching that show was a waste of time really. Same stuff we've heard the entire fall camp IMO. Defensive line is deep, Braxton looks great, and holy hell we have a fierce battle at RT between a freshman and converted TE.

Was really hoping to see some of the scrimmage but about 5 minutes in I kinda figured that would reveal too much anyways. Which is why I assume we hardly saw any clips of the players practicing. Oh well Buckeyes coverage nonetheless!
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True, there was a LOT of repetition; however, I was surprised to hear the panelists say that the Buckeyes were the best team they'd seen thus far. All that's left is PSU, Michigan State and TSUN. That's pretty decent praise.
 
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muffler dragon;2196895; said:
True, there was a LOT of repetition; however, I was surprised to hear the panelists say that the Buckeyes were the best team they'd seen thus far. All that's left is PSU, Michigan State and TSUN. That's pretty decent praise.
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You were surprised? Of the 9 other teams that BTN has watched so far, only 2 could have plausibly been in OSU's neighborhood. With two of the better teams in the conference still to be "bus toured", I think it would have been disappointing if OSU hadn't been the best looking squad thus far.
 
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BuckTwenty;2196542; said:
Wow. Bitter much? Gerdeman = whiney grammer police. Had to force myself to get through that article.
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NastyNatiBuck;2196546; said:
I usually like his work, but I was left scratching my head here. What do you gain by this style of writing?
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Buckeye86;2196548; said:
The funny thing is that the local guys threw an absolute bitch fest when Ohio State opened up access to the press box and press conferences to some websites a few years back. It made it "too crowded" which prevented them from doing their jobs even though the thing is half empty for all but the biggest games. Now you have to have a full time paid employee to be allowed in to cover open events or to get in to the press box or press conferences (which is why you've seen a major shift in the way 11W operates these days) which is a direct response to said bitching.

Now it looks like karma is coming back around, which makes their whining even more humorous since they have not hesitated to flex their influence to bar access to others less powerful than themselves very loudly and very recently.
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OK, which one of you is CJ Livingston?

Way to come off as a spoiled child Tony, and I generally love your stuff. Maybe it's payback for the local news outlets unrelenting witch hunt last year?
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