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WR Ray Small (official thread)

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O Nasty;1251159; said:
Why did Ray's number get changed from 4 to 82? I didn't catch it when ESPN spoke about it, I was thrown off by the constant stuttering of Pam and them showing laurinaitis's picture with trapasso's stat line.
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In an interview a week or two ago, Ray stated that although he had been going to class, he was showing up late, not doing what he needed to be doing. JT took #4 from him and gave him #82. Ray said "I make the number, the number doesn't make me".
 
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Ray has been solid and clutch when we have needed him (reminds me somewhat of Roy Hall and his ability as the #3 receiver).

2 weeks in a row he has finished second on the team in receiving yards. He has also played a big roll in field position as he has been doing very very well.
 
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Small cites 'class' difference between OSU and USC
September 6, 2008
Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The two teams that meet next week at the L.A. Coliseum have enjoyed tremendous success with dramatically different philosophies.

Ohio State wide receiver Ray Small pointed out some of those differences after Saturday's too-close-for-comfort 26-14 win against Ohio. Small, like several players in the Ohio State-USC game, visited both schools during the recruiting process.

"As I took my visit to USC, I'm like, 'How are they successful? They're not even serious about the game,'" said Small, who caught five passes and had a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ohio. "Before the game, they're all going crazy. Me and [Buckeyes defensive end] Rob Rose was on the visit and I'm looking like, 'Wow.' And then the coach said, 'You better get out of here. It's 'bout to get hectic.'

"And then I come [to Ohio State] on the visit and before the game, it's all quiet, everybody getting taped, coaches talking. It's the total opposite."

Small can't figure out how two divergent programs achieve such similar results. But he knows he made the right choice with the Buckeyes.

"It's more of a class thing," he said. "We took what [former USC quarterback] Carson Palmer said. I don't think somebody from Ohio State would have ever said that remark."

Palmer, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, sounded off in July, telling an L.A. radio station how he "cannot stand the Buckeyes and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team, it drives me absolutely nuts." He later apologized, saying he does respect the Buckeyes.

"Here at Ohio State, they teach you to be a better man," Small said. "There, it's just all about football."
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ESPN - Small cites 'class' difference between OSU and USC - College Football Nation
 
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Class

"Here at Ohio State, they teach you to be a better man," Small said. "There, it's just all about football."
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I think Ray knew early that he made the right choice. Ray is becoming one of my favorite players on this team. He overcame the issues he had, and has become a better man. He has led others by his example. There are a lot of kids out there that need to hear loud and clear the words above.
 
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Yeah after Virginia beat Richmond 16-0 (YSU would beat Richmond by 21+) I'm guesing everyone is still in awe of USC's win. USC was throwing bombs late in that game running up the score. I say bring it on!! Ray better have big game because we need him.
 
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Commentary: OSU's Small takes it to right house
September 6, 2008
Jim Naveau


COLUMBUS - Single-digit numbers are something football players cherish. There are only nine of them that can be worn, after all.

So, when Ohio State junior wide receiver Ray Small found No. 82 on his jersey this spring instead of the No. 4 he wore last year, he knew right away what was going on.

He was in coach Jim Tressel's doghouse. He was being told he wasn't worthy of a single-digit number. In case the message wasn't clear, his biography in the team's media guide was also sent to the back pages with the walk-ons and freshmen.

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is supposed to have once said he treated all his players alike. He treated them all like dogs, he said.

Tressel is nothing like that, but he joked early last week that he has a big doghouse if players step out of line.

Small might not have run his way all the way back to his old number, but he just might have run himself out of Tressels' canine quarters with a 69-yard fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown during OSU's 26-14 win over Ohio University on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

He also caught 5 passes, the most by an Ohio State receiver on Saturday.

"If being in the doghouse gets me this, then I love being in the doghouse," Small said, with a smile.

He wouldn't get specific about what got his old number pulled, but said he has paid more attention to "the little things" in games and in practice.

"That was just motivation," Small said about Tressel's jabs.

"He was being hard but in my head I was like, ?I don't give up.' With where I'm from, Coach Ginn (Cleveland Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr.) says don't give up. He says stick to it even if you're sixth string. And that's what I did.

"Getting in the doghouse really changed it around because I was on my last limb. I was like, ?I'm on my last limb, I've got to step it up, I've got to make plays if I want to be in that top group,'" he said.
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Sports: Commentary: OSU's Small takes it to right house | takes, commentary, house : LimaOhio.com
 
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I think that I could have gone without reading those comments by Small. I get what he was saying, but it comes across as smack talk. As if USC needs any extra motivation, Carroll is very good at getting his guys jacked in the first place.

Fortunately (in some weird way), it may also stoke the fire a bit for OSU. They have looked flat so far this year. Maybe the vanilla will be stripped off next week.
 
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Link

Small's remarks might catch up to him



By JON SPENCER ? For The Advocate ? September 8, 2008

Ray Small was wearing his game face for No. 1-ranked USC the minute he stepped in the interview room Saturday. The Buckeyes, already beset by problems, might come to regret he left his mouth guard back in his locker.
Untouched on his victory-clinching 69-yard punt return against pesky Ohio, the junior receiver turned into Ray Small "unplugged" as he reminisced about his recruiting visit to Southern Cal.
"Here at Ohio State, they teach you to be a better man," Small said. "There, it's all about football."
It took about as much time for his comment to reach the West coast as it took Small to turn Ohio's return coverage unit into a bag of pretzels.
The Los Angeles Times ran Small's soundbite in a story under this Sunday headline: "Ohio State receiver calls out USC football program on issue of class."
It's on.
Actually, it's been on for a couple of months. In fact, the trash-talking, blogosphere-clogging tote board read "USC 2, OSU 0" until Small's salvo.

Continued......
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