Taking a look back at the best in this week’s offerings from the Buckeye Blogger Network…
We haven’t done this as of yet, but let us toot our horn just a bit and point you back to a highlight from tBBC this week. As exciting as NLOID was for 2012, the fact that the 2013 class has gotten off to an amazing start can’t be overlooked. Remember, Coach Meyer said in Sports Illustrated that “We already know the ’13 class. Done.”, and the fact that Jalin Marshall gave his verbal as the second member of the cohort testifies that this is accurate. Joe introduced him to us, saying,
At 6’0” 200 lbs., Jalin ran a 4.42 40 yard dash last year at the Ohio State summer camp. With that speed, combined with his superior vision, agility and elusiveness in the open field, it is easy to see why Meyer has been targeting such an amazing talent for his offense. Jalin is the type of player that the defense will need to key on at all times. He could lineup at QB, RB, WR, or KR/PR and take the ball to the house from anywhere on the field.
In case you’ve forgotten, there are hoops to be shot this weekend. Oh, and it’s our old pals from Wisconsin who are surely on their best behavior as Ohio State travels to the Kohl Center to meet with Bo Ryan and pals. Michael gets you ready for today’s clash with Mortimer Duke and wisdom such as,
Ohio State wins if: it plays well for 40 minutes (meaning very limited turnovers, a good shooting percentage—probably above 50—and lock-down defense) and gets offensive contributions beyond Sullinger, Buford and DeShaun Thomas. The Buckeyes need Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., or someone off the bench to provide some unexpected points to survive the Kohl. That building has been a house of horrors for Ohio State and I’m honestly not expecting a win the way Wisconsin has been playing defense, but a victory is possible if the Buckeyes play hard throughout and execute on both ends of the floor. This means they can’t afford to waste possessions. If pressed for one guy who can turn the tide, I’d say Lenzelle Smith Jr. has to have a big game for Ohio State to win it.
Speaking of Wisconsin, football coach Bert Bielema certainly managed to keep himself in the news this week; not for a great recruiting class, instead choosing to complain about the successes of others. Jason’s take? Deal with it.
Bielema stepped it up a notch, because he’s the Earl of Douchebury, flat out accusing Meyer of “illegal” tactics and even asking Daddy Alvarez to escalate his concerns to Big Ten chief Jim Delany.
To Alvarez’s credit (wow that was hard to type guys), he basically turned the whining around his head coach, declaring that Meyer’s aggressiveness is not unscrupulous, a thinly-veiled way of lighting a fire under Bielema’s lazy recruiting strategy.
sportsmonkey’s response was a lot more direct:
Drew chose to take a different tact on the matter, and instead compared Coach Meyer’s strategy to that of a famous Revolutionary War tactician.
One of the largest thorns in the British’s side was Francis Marion, who would gain the name the “Swamp Fox.” He mastered the art of the surprise hit-and-run tactic, and the British hated and feared him.
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Flash ahead to 2012. In the battle on recruiting in the B1G, it appears the other powers in the conference also want a gentleman’s war. Whether overtly stated or not, several coaches made it abundantly clear that they expect other coaches to not talk to or steal their recruits, to fight nice, and to be ethical. The latter is rather ambiguous, but more on that in a minute. Apparently Meyer, like the Swamp Fox, isn’t playing by those rules and is winning the war, so much like the British they have resolved to complaining.
As if things weren’t transitional and challenging enough for Penn State fans, EB Cooper’s latest Buckeyes 101 reminds them that their designation of “Linebacker U” was no longer accurate,
But whenever your Average Joe thinks of a great school for linebackers, the name they usually utter is the one that always brings up a much heated debate – Penn State. Being from Northeast Ohio living only an hour from PA, I grew up hating the place. Whether it was Pittsburgh, Penn State, the debate on who plays better High School football (Ohio does) or just the entire state in general, Pennsylvania has never been on my good side, and this argument is the one that always rubs me the wrong way. I’ll give them credit, the Nittany Lions have put out some great linebackers in the past, but let us further examine the greats on both sides to see who truly deserves the moniker “Linebacker U”.
Finally, Annapolis brings some closure of sorts to Buckeye Nation, and covered Jim Tressel’s transition to a role of an Akron Zip.
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