THE Ohio State Buckeye OFFICIAL Football thread.

[suitanim]

We haven't won the National Championship every year, so we fail, I guess.

Final BCS rankings by year since 2002 (ESPN only tracks that far)
2002- #1
2003- #4
2004- #20
2005- #5
2006- #2
2007- #5
2008- #9
2009- #5

Average 6.3 final BCS ranking.

[SteelCityMan786]

Not like they have been one of the teams that have shown that the Big Ten is a better conference year in and year out then people like to give credit for.

[suitanim]

There is someone who posts on this board, a turncoat, who actually said to me once, in all seriousness, that "Ohio State football should win a national championship every year, and their failure to do so is a part of the reason I don't cheer for them anymore"

Wow, there's an awful lot wrong with that one short sentence...

[SteelersinCA]

Wow, you're not only an internet pussy but a flat out liar. You are such a moron it's not even funny. Why don't you make some more shit up I didn't say. I guess in your self aggrandized world calling people out on the carpet is failing to mention names only to hint at them. Such a coward. Status quo for someone who repeatedly gets housed in every debate they try to have with me. Go back and play in the sandbox little tyke. My God, you are a tool.

[X-Terminator]

Gentlemen, please...if you're going to carry this on, please refrain from doing so on the open board. Flaming of any kind is absolutely NOT permitted here, and it will be strictly enforced. Debate is fine, but NO personal attacks.

[SteelersinCA]

Not a problem.

[suitanim]

Moved this to the smack forum...it's probably past time...

[psusteelerspens4life]

How do you guys think Pryor is going to do this season .

[suitanim]

All reports are that he's making huge strides...but that was the word around this time last year, as well. He did look like he had some swagger in the Spring game. Supposedly Tress is going to open up the offense ala the Troy Smith years, but we shall see...they have a couple really solid RB's and the line should be better this year so they SHOULD be able to pass AND run the ball.

Nice thing is, they don't have powderpuffs coming in to start, so they can't take the first game off. They play Marshall, which is a decent program in their first ever night Thursday opener, then they have thug U coming in so they need to be sharp right out of the box.

[xX-TSK-Xx]

I'm glad we finally got that Bowl Game monkey off of our back last season.

This year I think we should be one of the top dogs in the BCS race. The schedule seems to be in our favor with 8 of our 12 games in the Shoe and our toughest road tests are Iowa and Wisconsin.

I'm a bit worried about replacing a lot of veteran production on Defense though. Jermale Hines (who had a lot of PT last season and I think even started some games) should do well replacing Anderson Russell. Hopefully one of the young guys like Wood, Howard or Oliver can fill in for Coleman. If not maybe move Devon Torrence back there.

Up front is somewhat of a questionmark too. Seems like we lost a lot with the departure of Worthington, Gibson, Rose, Wilson and Denlinger. The only for sure starter is probably Cam Heyward. After that I look for Larimore, John Simon and Garret Goebel to battle for the interior positions and Keith Wells, Nate Williams and Melvin Fellows to fight it out for the DE position.

On the other side of the ball I think we will be really strong. We only have to replace one starter from last seasons OL and Brewster and Boren are two of the toughest interior linemen in the nation. Hopefully this season Adams, Hall and Shugarts all show us why they were considered top OL prospects when they came to Columbus.

The recieving corp looks very solid too. Drew Carter came into his own at the end of last season. Add him to the mix of Sanzenbacher amd Posey and that gives us three legit wideouts. I'd like to see Tourian Washington finally break out. Seems like he always has a steller spring but is nowhere to be found come fall. I've also heard some good things about last years prospects Jackson and Fields so we'll see.

Finally, I think Saine and Boom Herron will give a good two back comliment to Pryor. Plus you know that we are going to go through stretches of Tressel Ball and these two will have to carry the load. I also look for the young backs Berry or Hall to showcase some of that game changing speed this season

[suitanim]

I'm worried about Posey's hands...he has all the tools, and basically can't be covered, but he drops way too many balls. Honestly, that, and Pryor looking like he did in the Purdue game again, are my only two worries about this team.

As far as the defense, they'll be fine...their speed has been upgraded amazingly since the Florida debacle.

[xX-TSK-Xx]

The defensive team speed has definitly impoved over the past few seasons. I think that Oregon thought they were going to just run right past us and when they realized they couldn't they were lost.

How much leash do you think Tressel will give Pryor this year? He is going to open it up more but I don't think he will as much as he did in the Rose Bowl game. The Marshall game probably won't be a good measuring stick. With Miami comming into town the next week, Tres will not want to give anything away.

[suitanim]

I have no idea...the thing is, on paper, with his skill set, Pryor SHOULD be able to do whatever he wants...a true triple threat. I question his smarts a bit, but he's just a kid, so who knows? I just think that if you have a QB who can read a defense, has a cannon for an arm, runs a sub 4.4 40, rolling out in the flat with the ability to hit those WR's OR take off and run it should be a nightmare for any DC in the college ranks. Toss in the fact that they should just be able to line up and sellout the run and still be effective, and anything less than 24 points a game will leave me puzzled.

Unless Tress is just tossing smoke about the ability to read the D...

[silver & black]

I'm worried about Posey's hands...he has all the tools, and basically can't be covered, but he drops way too many balls. Honestly, that, and Pryor looking like he did in the Purdue game again, are my only two worries about this team.

As far as the defense, they'll be fine...their speed has been upgraded amazingly since the Florida debacle.

I think Pryor will be fine this year. Everyone forgets just how young he was when he got the starting job. He showed flashes of what he can be, last year. I think he will come into his own this year. He is another year matured... physically and mentally.

I share your concerns about Posey. Hopefully, he can overcome the drops this year. If he does... look out!

[Nadroj 20]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recru...6season%3d2011

This guy is pretty good....he commited a few days ago

[xX-TSK-Xx]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recru...6season%3d2011

This guy is pretty good....he commited a few days ago

We're off to a pretty good start after the poorrecruiting season we had last year. Still don't think we have any 5-Stars yet but verbal commitmets from Steve and Braxton Miller is a good start and we have two o-linemen comming in that many have ranked in the top ten at their positions

[Nadroj 20]

We're off to a pretty good start after the poorrecruiting season we had last year. Still don't think we have any 5-Stars yet but verbal commitmets from Steve and Braxton Miller is a good start and we have two o-linemen comming in that many have ranked in the top ten at their positions

I was saw where some guy ( cant remember his name but he was an OSU alumn) thinks that Braxton Miller is better then Pryor was going into his senior year of high school. I havent seen enough of Miller to make that judgement myself.

Another thing that excited me ( i understand these are just opinions and you cant read a whole lot into them) was this same guy thinks Miller is a much better passer then pryor. Then again I dont think it takes a lot to be a much better passes then Pryor lol...hopefully that changes this year.

[suitanim]

I'm not all that worried about the star rating system. I mean, it's nice to be perceived as having a great recruiting class, but many of the Buckeyes who have gone on to the NFL were 1 or 2 star prospects, so IMO it's a little overrated. Also, ND had some top 5 recruiting classes over the last few years, and they've done absolutely NOTHING with them, so...

S&B, I tend to agree about Pryor, but want to remain pragmatic...I thought he should have progressed farther last year than he did, so I'm leery of putting too much stock in all the early reports out of Columbus. He did look good in limited snaps throwing the ball in the Spring Game, seemed to have a swagger about him, but I wonder about his off-field work ethic sometimes...

[atlsteelers]

I'm not all that worried about the star rating system. I mean, it's nice to be perceived as having a great recruiting class, but many of the Buckeyes who have gone on to the NFL were 1 or 2 star prospects, so IMO it's a little overrated. Also, ND had some top 5 recruiting classes over the last few years, and they've done absolutely NOTHING with them, so......

those rating systems are crap...the recruiting services drive up the number of stars of kids who commit late in order to drive up subscriptions to their websites.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Scared Ohio State Buckeyes Pay Cincinnati Bearcats to Avoid Getting Hammered


Here is how it happened:

After Maurice Clarrett shared with the world the crazy cheating that goes on in Columbus, the NCAA searched for evidence. Ohio State had become so good at covering up their tracks from years of boosters hiding their corruption in clever ways the NCAA was unable to find anything of substance.

Under normal circumstances, a player’s word about improper benefits would probably be enough, however Maurice Clarrett’s “unique” off-the-field incidents made him just a tad less trustworthy than O.J. Simpson.

With that in mind, the NCAA starting tapping the phones of all people involved with “one of the: Ohio State University Football teams (in this case the Columbus branch). They wanted to hear what they said, hoping to get leads, hoping they would slip up.

Courtesy of the fine people at the NCAA I have managed to piece together the conversations that led to “one of” the Ohio State Universities (the one in Columbus) paying the University of Cincinnati $1 million to move their 2012 meeting from Cincinnati to Columbus.

Their hope was to avoid the ass-beating that was bound to ensue. I doubt it will work, but here is how everything transpired.



A Worried Nancy Zimpher Calls Some Old Friends in Columbus:

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee: NZ, to what do I owe this great pleasure?

Nancy: Gordo, it’s been too long. Honestly, I hate to call under this kind of circumstance, but I have been doing some thinking. You remember my original plan to sabotage UC sports?

Gordon: Yes, it’s been working wonders for the basketball program, but you’ve got some trouble brewing in football. Who would have thought that pushing Michigan State to hire Dantonio would have been the end?

I know you don’t know much about football, but how could you let them get Brian Kelly? Have you been pushing for him to take other jobs?

Nancy: So far I’ve pushed, but nothing's come. Nebraska wanted to talk to him among other schools. Brian seems intent on making this team a winner. That is why I am calling.

If Brian Kelly is the coach of the University of Cincinnati in 2012, I can conceive of no way the Buckeyes can get out of Cincinnati with a victory. You need to consider calling off the game.

Gordon: Is it that serious, NZ?

Nancy: I would not be telling you if it was not. The UC fans really want this game. They will probably outnumber you by a good amount at Paul Brown Stadium. By that time, they will have SEC-type speed…I think we both know how Ohio State tends to fare against the SEC.

Gordon: Sure we have had a “small” string of bad luck against that conference, but you cannot believe it will come to this. Nancy, other jobs will come up. You have to get Kelly out the door…start taking funds from the athletic department, delay the construction of a practice bubble, just get him out of the way by 2012.

Nancy: Kelly seems to be Bob Huggins 2.0. Everyone who is involved with the university in any way loves him. He owns this town. At the same time there has not been an inaccurate Sports Illustrated story to start lowering his credibility.

I do not think I can beat the guy. Short of him getting arrested, he is going to be at UC for a long time.

Gordon: You talked to the NCAA right? There is not a chance he is getting another season. This Bearcat team is a national title contender with Mauk at the QB.

Nancy: We do not have to worry about that. I have been assured that it will be a long, drawn-out process, but in the end Ben will not be granted another season. The NCAA figures if they wait a long time, he will not be able to sue, because there is no way he would play this season anyways.

Gordon: The NCAA knows how to handle all of its shit, doesn’t it?

Nancy: They are good, there is no doubt; maybe they’d give me some advice on how to get Coach Kelly out of here.

Gordon: That is a little risky, NZ. We cannot afford to have our plans revealed to the world. It would really put a black eye on both you and the Ohio State University.

Nancy: I understand, Gordo. Just cancel the game.



A confused Brian Kelly receives a call from Ohio State athletics:

Brian Kelly: Gene, I hear you needed to talk to me over a scheduling issue in 2012. What is that all about?

Gene Smith (OSU Athletic Director): Ohio State can no longer afford to play UC. Honestly, it’s simply a financial thing. We will make more money in a home game.

Brian: Gene, I hear the financial part and I know Ohio State is “constantly” strapped for cash in football, but you had a deal to come play us. UC has played more than our fair share in Columbus. The school understood it benefited them to do so, but part of the deal was for you to come back here again.

You have traveled to the little MAC schools in-state with no problem. Gene, we are going to have to hold you to the contract you signed. I expect a school of “integrity” like Ohio State would stay committed to its word.

Gene: Brian, I am truly sorry, but there is no way we can do it. We just make way more money for games in Columbus, even after whatever buyout we give you and whatever we pay the 1-AA School we choose for another guarantee game.

Brian: Gene, if it is finances you are worried about we can split the profit with you. Whatever profits are made down at PBS we’ll give you half. That also avoids you having to pay off another 1-AA team for a guarantee game in Columbus. You are sure to come out on top that way.

Gene: Our fans will not be happy. We just need more home games. Our fans will not be able to get tickets like last time. UC fans are going to get all the tickets.

Brian: Gene, I thought this was purely about finances. OK, what if we called it a neutral site game. We split the profits and the ticket distribution 50/50, right down the middle. If we do that the Buckeyes will certainly have at least as many fans as they had last time you came to Cincinnati…probably more.

Gene: I am sorry, Brian. There is just no way we can play this game.

Brian: Gene, let's play in Cleveland, or, Detroit, or in a parking lot somewhere. This is a game people want to see. It’s a game that can get national exposure. It would be a game between two BCS schools in the same conference.

Let’s look at the states around us: Louisville and Kentucky play, Michigan and Michigan State play, Purdue and Notre Dame play, Tennessee and Vanderbilt play, Illinois and Northwestern play. All of these BCS schools in the same state play each other. It provides great TV games.

I know your fans may not be excited for the game now, but if we started playing every year, they would look forward to the game. UK did not always want to play Louisville in basketball, but now it is a marquee, must-see game every year.

Our football program is going to be great some day, Gene. Let’s get this game going now, let’s start building the anticipation. Gameday is going to want to be at this game before it is all said and done.

Gene: Brian, we are the Ohio State University. We are not Michigan or Notre Dame. They can play other BCS teams in the state. We are better than the rest of the state and we get to dictate our games.

Brian: Gene, maybe a team like Notre Dame understands the value in promoting a regional non-conference rivalry. It can be a selling point down the road; it creates excitement for the games.

Gene: We are the Ohio State University.

Brian: I heard you the first time. You are one of the Ohio State Universities.

Gene: We are the Ohio State University.

Brian: Gene, I am going to give you a chance to save face. You do not want to look like you are ducking us and I want to build anticipation for this game. I want there to be pressure to play this game.

What if we were to come to OSU to play in 2012? It would be a home game for you, plus you could tell everyone it was purely financial and I’ll stay quiet about all the offers I made you hear today so you could fulfill your contract. I know I could get people all over asking you why OSU ducked UC if they knew the full truth.

However, I think when we go up there and play a great game people are going to want to see more. There will be pressure to continue the rivalry. So I am giving you this chance to save face.

Play us in Columbus. I will keep quiet. But mark my words…this game will be played annually some day, when OSU is wishing they were the program UC has become.

Gene: Not much of a choice there. I am not sure how I will explain this to the President, but we’ll see.

The UC vs. OSU football game scheduled for 2012 was officially moved back to Columbus. Coach Kelly kept his word and kept the entire conversation to himself. But who knows…maybe one day Coach Kelly will be right.

Maybe one day people will ask the question: Why do OSU and UC, two teams who consistently win BCS conference championships, not play each other every year?

And eventually maybe Kelly will get his wish and OSU will see the value in coming to Cincinnati to get their butts whooped every two years.
This article is also featured on Bearcatmark's Blog: I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt it

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/5...tting-hammered

[xX-TSK-Xx]

revs, are you a member of any Ohio State message boards or have any recomondations for one? I have been meaning to join a Buckeye forum but haven't put any time into looking for a good one.

[suitanim]

The CBS Sportsline boards aren't bad...there's a fair amount of Buckeye hating garbage posted by people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, but as evidenced by the post just a few back, you're going to get that kind of ignorant trash anywhere you go.

For every pissed off and confused hater, there's 3-4 knowledgeable fans who really have their finger on the pulse of the team....there's some real good general college football discussions going on there as well.

[BigNastyDefense]

I think the Buckeyes are going to win another Big 10 Championship and have a very good shot at playing in the National Championship Game. Pryor should be outstanding this season. He's had three years in the system and showed huge strides made in the Rose Bowl. I expect him to build on that.

Ohio State vs. Alabama for the National Championship. Ohio State wins 27-20.

[suitanim]

Cue the "But OSU is 0-9 against the SEC" in 3-2-1...

That's actually not true...they tied LSU 13-13 9/26/87 IN Baton Rouge, and beat LSU in 1988 (John Coopers AWFUL 4-6-1 first Buckeye team)

Some more background on the whole myth...

1978 lost to eventual #2 Bama. OSU was 9-3 that year, so they lost to a higher ranked team IN THE SOUTHEAST (Sugar Bowl)
1986 lost to Alabama 16-10 in Giants Stadium
1987 tied LSU

The REAL crux of the matter is John Cooper...Cooper couldn't win a big game to save his life, and the SEC beat him 5 times. Cooper also dropped 10 of 12 to Michigan, lost 8 of 11 bowl games, and even lost to Air Force as a 17 point favorite in the 1990 Liberty Bowl. MOST of the bad reputation OSU has for choking derives from Coop.

OSU also "benefited" from playing bowl games it didn't deserve, and that factors in as well. In '89, a 24th ranked OSU lost to a top 5 Auburn in the HOF Bowl (In Alabama, read: Home game for the Tigers).

In '92 they lost on a late TD to Georgia in the Citrus (in the Southeast)
In '94 12-1 Bama scored a last minute TD to knock off 4-times-beaten OSU

Finally, the Tress years. He lost to SC 31-28, but I think they were losing 28-0 at halftime and came all the way back to lose on a last minute FG to the Cocks. Florida outcoached him, and LSU was just a better team.

The point is, this whole "0-9 thing" has a lot of sub-plot to it that SEC backers and OSU haters just sort of gloss over...it's easier to ignore the mitigating factors and just make it sound as bad as it can possibly be...

[suitanim]

Interesting aside to the USC corruption story...look at the all the corrupt programs who tried to steal the already illegimitatly signed talent at USC: The usual suspects...

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/footbal...n=ncaaf,247759

... USC true freshman running back Dillon Baxter told the school's director of compliance that five schools illegally contacted him in the wake of USC's NCAA penalties, according to a document reviewed by ESPN's Joe Schad.

In a letter written by USC director of compliance Matt Billings to Pac-10 Associate Commissioner for Governance and Enforcement Ron Barker, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Fresno State and Alabama allegedly contacted Baxter.

The letter states in part: "I just met with (Baxter) and he told me that he received phone calls from five institutions (June 10th.) All of the institutions asked if he was interested in transferring [from] USC due to the NCAA decision. Would you please speak with these schools to remind them they cannot speak to this student athlete?"



Don't see OSU on there...

[MasterOfPuppets]

When the severely limited mental resources God gave you fail, fall back on a sort of funny but inapplicable graphic, I guess...

I'm sure the braintrust restroom clique will all enjoy this...better than actually addressing the substantive content above.

the only thing inapplicable here is the excuses and spin your trying to apply to OSU failures ... keep polishing that 0-9 turd if it makes you feel better, but at the end of the day its still ... SEC > OSU. ..

1978 Sugar Bowl: Alabama 35, Ohio State 6 - Woody Hayes = L

1990 Hall Of Fame Bowl: Auburn 31, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper =L

1993 Citrus Bowl: Georgia 21, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper = L

1995 Citrus Bowl: Alabama 24, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper = L

1996 Citrus Bowl: Tennessee 20, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper = L

2001 Outback Bowl: South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7 - John Cooper = L

2002 Outback Bowl: South Carolina 31, Ohio State 28 - Jim Tressel = L

2007 BCS Championship: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 - Jim Tressel = L

2008 BCS Championship: LSU 38, Ohio State 24 - Jim Tressel = L

[suitanim]

Your obvious cognitive disorders notwithstanding, what was the point of re-posting the same information minus any mitigating facts? Like the 13-13 tie with LSU and the 1988 victory over LSU? Or the fact that in nearly all these games, OSU was playing a better, higher ranked SEC team IN the Southeast? Like in 1990 when 24th ranked OSU played top 5 Auburn IN Alabama, essentially a home game for the Tigers.

Is reading comprehension THAT difficult for you?

[atlsteelers]

Your obvious cognitive disorders notwithstanding, what was the point of re-posting the same information minus any mitigating facts? Like the 13-13 tie with LSU and the 1988 victory over LSU? Or the fact that in nearly all these games, OSU was playing a better, higher ranked SEC team IN the Southeast? Like in 1990 when 24th ranked OSU played top 5 Auburn IN Alabama, essentially a home game for the Tigers.

Is reading comprehension THAT difficult for you?

or how about when OSU was a 7 point favorites over florida? to paint with a broad brush by saying OSU is a perrenial underdog in these matchups is just plain wrong.

[suitanim]

That's one out of eleven games. If you want to be situational, than by all means, welcome to the thread...it could sure use another rational view point to counterbalance MOP...but don't cherry pick one example and then use that to sully the whole program. Let's take each game on it's own merits.

I'd say the Florida loss was one of the all-time low-points of the program's history. It stings even more because OSU had repeatedly asked Florida for a home/away series and the Gators just flat out said no. But what does that have to do with losses from 30 years ago? And how many of those games were the Buckeyes favored in? Probably one or maybe even none.

The fact is OSU is 5th on the all-time wins list. Over the last 10 years their average finish is in the top 5. This is a storied and prestigious football program, and it cheapens ALL of college football to simply dismiss them based on the coincidental W-L record to one conference. When one broadens out the argument, you can see that Penn State and Michigan have both had success versus the SEC, so it's not like the conference as a whole is suspect either.

This is the law of parsimony: OSU (like Notre Dame of late) got in some bowl games they didn't deserve because of their marquee value and the fact that they travel well, and they lost a bunch of bowl games IN the Southeast against better Southeast based teams that they shouldn't have been playing in the first place. If you take a 20th ranked team and send them on the road against the #2 team, in general, they are going to lose the vast majority of those games. But to use that as some kind of argument that overall the team in question is inferior is just plain wrong. If the situation was reversed, and the SEC was sending teams ranked in the 20's up North to play top 5 Buckeye teams, the outcome would be vastly different...but it would only mean that that years team was better than the competition they faced, not a sweeping indictment of the whole history of the program.

[xX-TSK-Xx]

Bad news on the offensive side of the ball. Duron Carter is transfering out of Ohio State and to Coffeyville Community College.

Also Keith Wells (who redshirted last season) will be transfering.

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/Vie...CLID=204962489

I guess we'll have to hope for a young guy like Chris Fields or James Jackson to step up and grab the number 3 wide out spot behind Posey and Sanzenbacher. Maybe Taurian Washington will finally break out?