WaitingForNextYear

I missed the Ohio State UNC game last night and headed to ESPN this morning to check out the highlights.  According to what I read, Ohio State made a bit of a run at the end of the game to make it interesting.  Then again, according to the “highlight” video on ESPN, UNC scored 5 buckets and Ohio State didn’t score any.

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Tomorrow afternoon The Ohio State University and The University of Michigan will square off on the football field for the 106th time. Despite DP’s unfortunate allegiance to the Maize and Blue, this site is obviously a pro-Ohio State site. Yes, we focus on professional sports, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t Scarlet and Gray in the hearts and souls of most of us who write for this site. Speaking personally, as an alumnus of The Ohio State University, The Game is of utmost importance and it tends to dominate my thoughts around this time of the year.

So with that in mind, I got to thinking. (more…)

We’re admittedly a little OSU heavy this week, but that’s because it’s the most wonderful week of the year.  Here are my tips for how to survive the dive into Mirror Lake tonight:

1) Close your mouth.

2) Wear a goofy outfit – if you’re gonna do something dumb for fun, might as well be dressed for the part.  My old standby was gym shorts, a bow tie, and top hat.  That’s all I wore, and 60% of the time it worked – every time.

3) Take the crappiest flip flops you own – they’re not coming back home with you. (more…)

Sometimes you can hear a story about a future event that’s a couple years away and you can forget about it until the time draws near. That’s the case with this story. It was a few years back when the Big Ten first started kicking around the idea of adding a mid-season bye week for every team in the Big Ten, thus extending the season from 12 weeks to 13 weeks.

There are several reasons for doing this, not the least of which is that it theoretically will help the elite teams in the conference avoid a mid-season letdown game and stay undefeated, thus giving the conference a better shot of getting a team into the BCS Title Game. Furthermore, the idea is that it will help recruiting by being able to ensure kids a week off in the middle of the season.

As a person who loves tradition, though, this saddens me greatly. Growing up in Ohio, you could count on this time of year, when the air begins to chill, the leaves have fallen, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and OSU-Michigan will partake in The Game every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  (more…)

Everyone's favorite snake oil salesman - AP Photo

DP and I ran through our thoughts for the game earlier in the day.  This is where our conversation goes from being about this week’s game to the future, our predictions, and then quickly deteriorates into name-calling.

Denny: So if this game goes poorly for UM is Richrod done? I can’t imagine things going much worse, and aside from the “Captain Front Butt is finished” rumors, there really isn’t a more talked about (potential) coaching vacancy. Between the recent allegations of not even trying to submit the workout timesheet paperwork and the poor performance on the field, it’s gotta be a short leash for him – right?

DP: I think it depends on how “poorly” it goes. (more…)

DP is our resident Michigan fan. As a sane and logical person (especially by comparison), I thought we’d have a back-and-forth about the game this weekend.  We did the Google Waving at each other and this is what we came up with. Side note: Go jump in Mirror Lake tomorrow night, folks.

DP: Call me crazy, but I think Michigan has a legitimate shot to win this game, though there are quite a few things that have to go right. It’s no secret that Tressel always saves some wrinkles for Michigan, and the Wolverines are not in a position to have to adapt on the fly on game-day. Those Buckeye fans expecting another 42-7 walk-over will be in for a rude awakening, as the Michigan offense is light-years ahead of last year’s unit. That said, if OSU can build a lead, Michigan is not a team well-equipped to come back from more than two scores behind.

Denny: Looking at the other side of things, the Buckeyes have shown a lot of growth over the course of the season. I think UM’s offense has a lot of potential to give the Bucks fits defensively – quick hit spread option offenses traditionally give OSU problems. The defense has kind of lived and died with the D-line – when they’re on (see: State, Penn) they’re one of the best in the country. When they’re off (like the were for much of the Iowa game, up until the OT), the defense suffers hugely. Offensively I think the Bucks are in a good spot – UM’s defense has not proven anything this year, and as long as extreme conservatism doesn’t rule the day I think they’ll be able to put up 24 or 28 fairly easily. UM has a shot, but needs to put up points early to make it a game. (more…)

The Iowa Hawkeyes come into the Horseshoe after suffering their first loss of the season to the Northwestern Wildcats at home last weekend.  During that disastrous game for the Hawkeyes, they also lost their starting Quarterback for at least the rest of the regular season – local and former Mentor Lake Catholic QB Ricky Stanzi.  Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg takes over the offense.  The Hawkeye offense had been struggling the past few weeks with Stanzi and will surely find it difficult to score this afternoon against a stout Buckeye defense which is really clicking coming into this game.

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What a game, what a win and what an incredible series of events for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Just 24 hours ago, this team supposedly lacked an identity offensively and needed to win back-to-back games against top 12 teams in order to take home the Big 10 title. In the end however, #4 Iowa’s upset defeat at the hands of Northwestern along with #16 Ohio State’s absolute pummeling of #11 Penn State, the Buckeyes are in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl.

Coming into the game everyone and their mother knew that the scoreboard battle would be decided by the play of the quarterbacks. Daryll Clark had been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country, let alone the conference, while Terrelle Pryor was only three weeks removed from his four-turnover meltdown against Purdue. For the first time in 2009 however, Ohio sports fans were rewarded for their patience and devotion as the Pryor and the Bucks absolutely tore about the Lions on the road. All this prompted a text from my dad late last night declaring this as the “best win in a long time” and that is very hard to ignore for this program.

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#16 Ohio State at #11 Penn State | Beaver Stadium, State College, PA
3:30 PM EST | TV: ABC | Line: Penn St. (-5.5)

What a wild and strange journey this has been. The 7-2 Ohio State Buckeyes travel to State College this afternoon for a game at Beaver Stadium as they control their destiny in the race for the Big 10 title. Despite depressing losses against USC and Purdue, the Buckeyes still have a chance of making it all the way to the Rose Bowl by winning out the rest of the season. That all starts today when Terrelle Pryor plays his first game back in his hometown state against the 8-1 Penn State Nittany Lions.

#4 Iowa is in a struggle yet again with Northwestern today, but either way this contest is huge in the battle for conference supremacy. Penn State already lost to the Hawkeyes and a loss today would pretty much eliminate them from contention for the conference title. Ohio State on the other hand, begins their epic conclusion to this season with this road contest, hosting Iowa and then traveling to Michigan. Win all three games, and the Buckeyes are yet again the undisputed champions of the Big 10 Conference.

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Much has been made of the jerseys that will be worn by the Ohio State Buckeyes during their “rivalry” week against the Michigan Wolverines. Thanks to Eleven Warriors, we finally know what the jerseys look like complete with white helmets.

Feel free to unleash your thoughts and opinions in the comments.

The Bucks are looking to rebound from their embarrassing loss to Purdue today (noon, ESPN) against Minnesota.  The Gophers travel to Columbus to take on a Buckeyes team that’s been under intense media scrutiny this week.  On the defensive side of the ball, the Buckeyes have skated by without taking much heat.  The offense, however, has been feeling the heat of a thousand suns under the looking glass.  Today’s game will hopefully be the beginning of the end of the offense’s struggles.

So watch along, leave your thoughts, keeps it clean, and enjoy some football, folks.  I’ll be in Georgetown at the Rhino Bar meeting up with El Nullster if anybody in DC wants to join.  Go Bucks. (more…)

Coming in to this season, Rock and I ran a preview and both felt that this season was going to be a very important one for the Buckeyes. It could, in fact, be a turning point for the program – we felt after the past number of years on top, the big-game gaffes and mounting frustrations of spoiled fans could be coming to a head. Or this could be the year the Bucks firmly put their foot in the ground and brought it.

Well, we’re halfway through the year and there are still more questions than answers. Those questions lie mainly on the offensive side of the ball, but also with the coaching staff. At this point the biggest question mark (and the one that everybody has an opinion about) is the ability of one Terrelle Pryor.

Yesterday, Pryor’s high school coach Ray Reitz got his name in the news by stating that Pryor would be better suited to run plays from a read option look, much akin to that so beloved (and used effectively) by Richard Rodriguez. (more…)

Just wanted to get a video of how I feel out of the way right off the bat.  So, that game sucked.  There was nothing positive to take away from it (though as Rock tweeted, Kurt Coleman is the only one who likely gets no blame after this one).  The O-line sucked.  Pryor sucked.  The play-calling sucked.  The Boiler-up chant sucked.  The special teams more or less sucked (catch a punt often, Ray-Ray??).

I really don’t feel like going through the whole game because it’s going to cause me to throw up in my mouth.  Instead I’m going to focus on the things that stood out to me, sort of like a Craiggy McCraigs bullet point post. (more…)

The Buckeyes are playing Purdue today in West Lafayette (12 noon, Big Ten Network).  Following last week’s offensive debacle we’ll all be watching to see if Terrelle Pryor can get things going for the Buckeyes’ offense.  The Bucks are looking extremely thin at running back, with Boom Herron and Jamaal Berry both in Columbus, not making the trip.  This leaves the Brandon Saine, Jordan Hall, and Jermil Martin as the only RBs in West Lafayette for the Bucks.  Up front the Buckeyes have been fighting injuries and the flu but should manage. (more…)

LeBron James, several Cleveland Cavaliers teammates and even members of the Ohio State Buckeyes are all suffering from an pesky flu bug that attacked the state of Ohio. There has been no confirmation of any single one player testing positive for the H1N1 virus (swine flu) but team doctors and medical staff are currently preparing for the worst. It seems that these two close-knit teams are sucspectible to this sensitive flu season much like local universities such as Miami University.

There are multiple accounts out there, but here is to setting the record straight: LeBron tested positive for influenza A and nothing else. That is the standard flu while the H1N1 virus is a more serious condition slightly related to that illness. Individuals that have swine flu will have influenza A as well, but the case frequency and severity of the H1N1 have been doubted. Take a look at the order of events in LBJ flu news:

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The numbers weren’t very good. Pryor completed just 5 of 13 passes for 87 yards with a touchdown and a pick last Saturday. That still is good enough for a 104 QB rating (double what the Browns are getting these days) which may be more of an indictment of how unreliable that particular stat is. The offense failed to do anything well. Five times Ohio State went 3 and out. Add to that Pryor’s interception on third and ten, and another whopping six play drive that covered 11 yards and you get an abysmal seven drives covering 27 yards.

The running game was stuffed on Saturday, as Wisconsin employed a USC style strategy- load up the box and dare Pryor to beat you with his arm. Force him to make quick reads and put the ball downfield. It worked for the Trojans. Of course it might have worked for Wisconsin too, had OSU not returned two picks and a kick back for touchdowns.

We keep hearing about how well Pryor and the offense in general look in practice. If you remember, we heard all spring about Terrelle’s progress and in particular his arm strength. We have yet to really see it translate to the field. He certainly doesn’t float the ball quite like he did last year. I’ll give him credit for that. Most of his passes do have more on them. That doesn’t mean that they are particularly on target, or that he is throwing to the right read. (more…)

The #11 Ohio State Buckeyes take on the #24 Badger Badger Badgers from Madison, WI today at 3:30 pm. It is a battle of the only two 2-0 teams in the Big Ten Conference, as the Bucks will look for yet another impressive win at Ohio Stadium. One of the most over-looked matchups of the year, Wisconsin poses a big-time threat as they have avoided the national radar yet managed to start 5-0 this season. Share your thoughts on today’s events in the comments below.

While you are at it as well, take a look at some of these game previews from across the Buckeyes web:
[Buckeye Banter.com]
[Midwest Sports Fans.com]
[The Buckeye Battle Cry.com]
[Men of the Scarlet and Gray.com]
[Eleven Warriors.com]

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Now, by no means is this one of those “we’ve been disrespected” posts.  I will be one of the first to agree that the quality of the Big Ten has been suspect at best, and I fully understand why winning the Big Ten title has not meant as much over the past few years. 

But with the latest AP Top 25 NCAA rankings being released, it looks that the conference may actually be taking steps in the right direction.  This year more than any, AP voters are taking a stance against using resume as a voting tactic.  The Plain Dealer’sDoug Lesmerises has been the poster child for only using the 2009 season’s body of work for his ballot.  And while touted as crazy early on, more and more voters are starting to actually think he may be on to something.  (more…)

The Buckeyes play in Bloomington tonight at 7PM (on the Big Ten Network), facing Bill Lynch’s Hoosier squad.  The Hoosiers are coming off a tough, tough loss at Michigan last week that ended in controversial (though correct, it turns out) fashion.  There has been a lot of talk of a much improved Indiana team based on their performance last week at Michigan, but it seems that Michigan is in fact not as good as believed based on their struggles with Sparticus today (note – I wrote this at 3 just after UM forced overtime).  Also, this makes Indiana even more of an enigma. (more…)

With all due respect to Denny, who brought to light the suspension of Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman and Jim Tressel’s reaction to it, I can’t say that I agree with the majority of Buckeye nation. As I said Saturday night in the comments here, Coleman led with his helmet against a defenseless player on the ground. It was a cheap shot and he deserves punishment for it. I replayed the hit several times after it happened and came to that conclusion. After Ohio State’s reaction and statement I went back to see it again, wondering if I had missed something.

The more I watch the play (thanks to Luke at 11 Warriors) the more I can’t believe the outrage over the suspension.  (more…)