Oh Denard…you deserved this

When you stop and think about it, I find it almost surreal that as Ohio State fans we were watching a tortured Buckeye team try and claw their way back into a game against the Miami Hurricanes, one year ago, almost to the day.

Really, it had nothing to do with football.

I hate the term, but it was a ‘statement game’ of sorts for the program to prove to the football world that Buckeye Nation could overcome such adversity off the field. Having beat the ‘Canes the previous year, the only redemption this time around was about character and will. I do not mean that to sound as hokey as it may come across, but it truly was a defining time for the program: the talent was present, but underdeveloped and unprepared making the spotlight that much brighter for the young players. Not only did they have to uphold the name of such a storied university on the field, but they had to do so on a national stage while so many were hoping for them to fail.

A year later, well, not a ton has changed to be honest. The rest of the football world still hates the Buckeyes, there are still a lot of young, undeveloped players and the team is still in a transition phase with Urban Meyer and his coaching staff. Urban has received a lot of praise since accepting the head coaching job at Ohio State. A lot is an understatement, actually, but it not only comes with good reason, but because he is an Ohio native. As any city should, we love a good hometown success story. And boy do we have one in number 54, John Simon.

And you thought I was going to gush over Urban. Come on. [Read more...]