May 18, 2013

The Buckeye Leaves

November 28, 2012 by 14 Comments

The Big Ten has been busy the last two days handing out conference awards. Keep something in mind as we talk about which Buckeyes did and didn’t make these all conference teams and individual honors: Ohio State finished 8-0 in Big Ten play. Nebraska finished 7-1, Michigan 6-2 and Penn State 6-2. I mention those next three teams because they were the second, third and fourth best records in the conference.

And Ohio State beat all of them. (And Wisconsin for good measure.)

There were two sets of all-conference team. The coaches voted for one team, and a media panel voted on the other. You would have to wonder if some of the hurt feelings surrounding Urban’s recruiting didn’t spill over onto a ballot or two.

The Buckeyes named to the coaches All-Big Ten Conference team: [Read more...]

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Buckeye Six Pack: The Game

November 27, 2012 by 6 Comments

It feels so strange that there will be no more Ohio State football games. Especially after the team finished undefeated. Let’s get to it…

1) Stepping Up. In big games, nobody has been bigger for Ohio State in the last three years than John Simon. Seeing him in street clothes to start the game made me nervous. Extremely nervous about this defense. The first half didn’t do much to calm my nerves.

But give them all the credit in the world. They stepped up in the second half and took care of business. They held Michigan to 61 yards in the second half and 9 for the fourth quarter. Outstanding performance.

Does it help that Michigan abandoned the most efficient and explosive part of their offense for the last three drives? Of course. But Ohio State had bottled up Robinson and the Michigan running game in the third quarter and Hoke was desperate to try something. [Read more...]

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Ohio State’s one-game season

November 21, 2012 by 38 Comments

On Saturday afternoon I drove to the barbershop to get a haircut where I was greeted by the owner who happens to be a war veteran that has more opinions than there are topics. Just my kind of place. I was sporting an Ohio State hoodie and upon sitting down, he asks me if I think the Buckeyes will beat Wisconsin this afternoon. I replied, emphatically.

“I sure so. I hope that they mash them and Urban runs up the score on them too.” He then proceeded to talk about how great it would be to see this team finish undefeated in Urban’s first year coming off a 6-7 season prior to his arrival.

“I agree, but you know what?” I said, “this is a single game season and it starts and ends next week against the Wolverines. No question I would love a win today, but given the circumstances of this season, next week is all that matters.”

He steps back, “WOW! There’s a lot of hate in there. You are a true Buckeye fan.”

[Read more...]

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Box Score: No. 6 Ohio State 21, Wisconsin 14

November 17, 2012 by 3 Comments

Ryan Shazier was going to be the hero, but the Buckeyes gave Wisconsin one more chance to tie and force overtime. So they did, but then Ohio State won fair and square in the extra period by scoring first and then finally stopping the Badgers on fourth down.

In yet another close-fought game between these two emerging rivals, Ohio State improved to 11-0 on the season despite one of its most disappointing offensive performances of the season. Braxton Miller looked average at best and Carlos Hyde only had 15 carries (yet 87 yards), but the defense led by Shazier, Ryan Boren and Christian Bryant (who made the final play in OT) saved the day.

Next up: “The Game” on Saturday against Michigan in Columbus.

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter OHST – WIS
2:23 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Drew Meyer punt. Corey (Philly) Brown returned punt for 68 yards (Drew Basil made PAT) 7 – 0
2nd Quarter OHST – WIS
11:45 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Carlos Hyde rushed up the middle for 15 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 14 – 0
8:17 Wisconsin Badgers WIS TD Montee Ball rushed up the middle for 7 yard gain (Kyle French made PAT) 14 – 7
3rd Quarter OHST – WIS
None 14 – 7
4th Quarter OHST – WIS
0:13 Wisconsin Badgers WIS TD Curt Phillips passed to Jacob Pedersen down the middle for 5 yard gain (Kyle French made PAT) 14 – 14
OT OHST – WIS
0:00 Ohio State Buckeyes OHST TD Carlos Hyde rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain (Drew Basil made PAT) 21 – 14

Passing

Ohio State Buckeyes Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Braxton Miller 10 18 96 55.6 5.3 0 0 0 0 100.4
Wisconsin Badgers Comp Att Yds Pct Y/A Sack YdsL TD Int Rating
Curt Phillips 14 27 155 51.9 5.7 0 0 1 0 112.3

Rushing

Ohio State Buckeyes Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Carlos Hyde 15 87 5.8 18 2 0
Braxton Miller 23 49 2.1 10 0 0
Corey (Philly) Brown 2 5 2.5 3 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Montee Ball 38 189 5.0 25 1 1
James White 8 33 4.1 12 0 0
Jared Abbrederis 1 13 13.0 13 0 0
Derek Watt 1 3 3.0 3 0 0
Melvin Gordon 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 0
Curt Phillips 6 -34 -5.7 2 0 0

Receiving

Ohio State Buckeyes Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Corey (Philly) Brown 4 48 12.0 18 0 0
Devin Smith 4 41 10.3 14 0 0
Nick Vannett 1 5 5.0 5 0 0
Jeff Heuerman 1 2 2.0 2 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FumL
Jacob Pedersen 6 66 11.0 29 1 0
Jared Abbrederis 3 41 13.7 15 0 0
Jordan Fredrick 2 18 9.0 14 0 0
Kenzel Doe 2 17 8.5 9 0 0
Derek Watt 1 13 13.0 13 0 0

Kicking

Ohio State Buckeyes XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Drew Basil 3 3 0 0 0 0.0 3
Wisconsin Badgers XPM XPA FGM FGA Lng Pct Pts
Kyle French 2 2 0 1 0 0.0 2

Punting

Ohio State Buckeyes Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Ben Buchanan 9 38.8 0 2 1
Wisconsin Badgers Punt Avg Blk In20 TB
Drew Meyer 8 48.3 0 3 2

Kick/Punt Returns

Ohio State Buckeyes KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Corey (Philly) Brown 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 68 22.7 68 1
Bradley Roby 1 14 14.0 14 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Chris Fields 0 0 0.0 0 0 5 0 0.0 0 0
Jeff Heuerman 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Rod Smith 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Wisconsin Badgers KR Yds Avg Lng TD PR Yds Avg Lng TD
Kenzel Doe 3 53 17.7 36 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Jared Abbrederis 0 0 0.0 0 0 9 5 0.6 4 0

 

 

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Manti Te’o or Ryan Shazier?

November 7, 2012 by 22 Comments

Approximately 2.5 years ago, an undersized linebacker from Plantation, Florida decided to make a commitment to stay in his hometown to play football for the University of Florida. In spite of being somewhat undersized at 205-pounds, he was still a 4-star recruit with an enormous upside because of the intangibles he possessed.

Unquestionably, Ohio State was on the short list of possible schools and was a highly sought after candidate, but home cooking generally wins out. At the time, the coach that he made that commitment to was Urban Meyer. Months later in December of 2010, Urban infamously retired (act 2 of 2) putting a large question mark around the incoming recruit. Only nine days after Urban’s retirement announcement, Ryan Shazier decommitted from the University of Florida notifying The Ohio State University of his verbal acceptance, marking yet another reason for the Urban Meyer love affair.

I haven’t felt so great about being a backup plan since junior prom.

[Read more...]

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Buckeyes’ Shazier, Dunn win weekly conference honors

November 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

For the second consecutive week, Ohio State LB Ryan Shazier was named the Big Ten’s defensive player of the week-

Defensive Player of the Week, Ryan Shazier, Ohio State So., LB, Plantation, Fla./Plantation

• Finished with a game-high 14 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and a pass breakup in Ohio State’s 52-22 victory over Illinois on Saturday

• Recorded two tackles for loss and needs just two tackles to become the first Buckeye sophomore to notch 100 tackles in a season since James Laurinaitis in 2006

• Was part of the Ohio State defense that limited Illinois to just 170 yards of total offense

• Takes home his second consecutive Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor and second of his career

In addition, freshman RB Bri’onte Dunn was named the Big Ten freshman of the week-

Freshman of the Week, Bri’onte Dunn, Ohio State RB, Canton, Ohio/GlenOak

• Recorded career highs with 13 rushes and 73 yards and added a touchdown in Ohio State’s victory over Illinois on Saturday

• Scored on a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, capping the Buckeyes’ scoring output of 52 points

• Wins his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week award

• Last Ohio State Freshman of the Week: Braxton Miller (Nov. 28, 2011)

[Related: Ohio State 52, Illinois 22]

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Buckeyes’ Ryan Shazier earns Big Ten co-defensive player of the week honors

October 29, 2012 by 2 Comments

The Big Ten announced today the players of the week. Sophomore LB Ryan Shazier was the co-defensive player of the week for his performance against Penn State on Saturday-

“Ryan Shazier, Ohio State So., LB, Plantation, Fla./Plantation

Returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter against Penn State, giving Ohio State a 14-7 lead it would not relinquish. Recorded a team-high eight tackles, including two sacks for 22 yards, and a forced fumble. Was part of the Ohio State defense that limited Penn State to just 32 yards rushing. Takes home his first career Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor. Last Ohio State Defensive Player of the Week: John Simon (Oct. 17, 2011)”

Shazier shared the award with Nebraska LB David Santos.

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The Baffling Buckeyes

October 24, 2012 by 6 Comments

Well, as I said last week, our little run-in with Purdue in 2002 took several years off my life and this past Saturday only aided in yet another subtraction. While the expectations are much different for this season, it was still Purdue in spite of the fact that we knew they would give our defense trouble. The thing is, the defense was actually what stood tall for the most part.

Each and every week we are learning something about this team which is great, but instead of me droning on about the same topic, there are a handful of things that stood out to me in which I thought were worth addressing.

“I’m still trying to figure this bad boy out,” Meyer said. “We won, right?”

First and foremost, the obvious star of the weekend, backup junior quarterback from Houston, TX: Kenny. Freaking. Guiton. I still cannot believe what we witnessed on Saturday afternoon given how the game had progressed. Normally I would say that Ohio State had no business winning that game and if Purdue had any sort of reasonable play-calling, I would, but they fought for that win. And somehow they did it giving up an opening 83-yard touchdown pass, a 100-yard kickoff return and 4 turnovers along with several injuries that continue to plague this team. Kenny G came into the game late in the third quarter after Braxton Miller went down and assumed a role that nobody thought he was ready for. Well, apparently not nobody: [Read more...]

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“He’s Different” – A Buckeye Profile

September 19, 2012 by 2 Comments

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...]

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Buckeye 12-Pack: The Purdue Game

November 14, 2011 by 2 Comments

Each week after re-watching the Ohio State game I bring you my take-aways from the game in a little something I call the Buckeye 12-Pack…

This week the 12-pack is coming to you early. A couple reasons for that, first I really don’t want to re-live that game later, and second because we didn’t have a game recap and wanted to give you a place to discuss the game.

No. 1- Missed opportunities. It’s hard to know where to even begin with a loss like that. The botched extra point is the most obvious, but there were plenty more. There was a missed field goal. There were at least 4 opportunities for turnovers that the defense couldn’t come up with, including a pass that flew right into the breadbasket of C.J. Barnett. Penalties killed the offense. OSU has a hard enough time getting 10 yards for a first down (especially Saturday) they don’t need to have to get 15 or 20. [Read more...]

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