Matt Tamanini
Guest
Ohio State fans weigh in on spring practice, Jake Diebler’s future, women’s basketball season
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Buckeye Nation has had is say. Do you agree?
Before, during, and after the Ohio State football season, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to ask and answer questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
As the calendar flips from February to March, we are in an interesting time in the college sports schedule. The women’s basketball team wraps up its regular season on Sunday with an eye on a deep NCAA Tournament run; football kicks off spring practice next Tuesday; and the men are still clinging to a wild, highly unlikely dream of making the tournament.
We wanted to take the temperature on how Buckeye Nation felt about these three programs heading into the new month. So earlier this week, we asked three questions in our latest fan survey, and the results are now in.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
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As I said in the survey article, the two offensive options were by far the most intriguing to me. While there are certainly going to be important changes happening on the defensive side of the ball, the offense needs the most improvement from 2023 and has the biggest additions in new coordinator and playcaller Chip Kelly and quarterback Will Howard.
Kelly has only been in Columbus for a few weeks, but seeing what his take on Ryan Day’s offense is will certainly be an important storyline this spring. Will it be more run-heavy, more uptempo, more five-wide focused?
Then, there is the man running the show on the field. Howard isn’t what I would consider an elite quarterback at Kansas State, but he showed signs on potential. How much will his running ability be called up in the new-look OSU offense? Will he be able to better distribute the ball to the Buckeye wide receivers than Kyle McCord did?
I’m not sure if all of these questions will be answered in the spring, but they are what will be at top of mind for me.
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I don’t know if Jake Diebler will want to return under a new Ohio State head coach, or if the future coach will want to keep him. But, in a vacuum, this is the option that I would be in favor of. The players clearly love him and play hard for him. He has been an integral part of the recruiting success that Chris Holtmann had toward the end of his tenure, and if by keeping him you are able to stave off a mass exodus for the transfer portal, then I think that is a positive.
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Having 85% of the Ohio State fandom following any team that isn’t football is a huge accomplishment and having it be a women’s sport is even more impressive. Kevin McGuff’s team is incredibly fun and should be a treat to watch throughout March and hopefully into April. If you aren’t following along already, there’s plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon. The more the merrier!
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Buckeye Nation has had is say. Do you agree?
Before, during, and after the Ohio State football season, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to ask and answer questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
As the calendar flips from February to March, we are in an interesting time in the college sports schedule. The women’s basketball team wraps up its regular season on Sunday with an eye on a deep NCAA Tournament run; football kicks off spring practice next Tuesday; and the men are still clinging to a wild, highly unlikely dream of making the tournament.
We wanted to take the temperature on how Buckeye Nation felt about these three programs heading into the new month. So earlier this week, we asked three questions in our latest fan survey, and the results are now in.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
Question 1: What are you most excited to watch during spring practice?
As I said in the survey article, the two offensive options were by far the most intriguing to me. While there are certainly going to be important changes happening on the defensive side of the ball, the offense needs the most improvement from 2023 and has the biggest additions in new coordinator and playcaller Chip Kelly and quarterback Will Howard.
Kelly has only been in Columbus for a few weeks, but seeing what his take on Ryan Day’s offense is will certainly be an important storyline this spring. Will it be more run-heavy, more uptempo, more five-wide focused?
Then, there is the man running the show on the field. Howard isn’t what I would consider an elite quarterback at Kansas State, but he showed signs on potential. How much will his running ability be called up in the new-look OSU offense? Will he be able to better distribute the ball to the Buckeye wide receivers than Kyle McCord did?
I’m not sure if all of these questions will be answered in the spring, but they are what will be at top of mind for me.
Question 2: What should Ohio State do with Jake Diebler?
I don’t know if Jake Diebler will want to return under a new Ohio State head coach, or if the future coach will want to keep him. But, in a vacuum, this is the option that I would be in favor of. The players clearly love him and play hard for him. He has been an integral part of the recruiting success that Chris Holtmann had toward the end of his tenure, and if by keeping him you are able to stave off a mass exodus for the transfer portal, then I think that is a positive.
Question 3: How plugged in are you to the women’s basketball team?
Having 85% of the Ohio State fandom following any team that isn’t football is a huge accomplishment and having it be a women’s sport is even more impressive. Kevin McGuff’s team is incredibly fun and should be a treat to watch throughout March and hopefully into April. If you aren’t following along already, there’s plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon. The more the merrier!
Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Continue reading...