Mr. B takes the covers off the depth chart, 2012 recruiting, five-odd rumors, new penalties, Erin Andrews and another knockout in today’s Bucket.
Its official: The summer doldrums are over.
In this business of hyper-local cyber-sports, there are always ebbs and flows to the seasonality. We have just been through the only true ebb of the year, from early May to late June, and now things really start to flow!
June is considered the valley of death for college football coverage. Yet. We had our best June ever at Bucknuts, and plused more than 200 subscribers during a time in which almost all sites lose 3-4% of their subscription base. We are way ahead of last year with the best to come – both in seasonality and the new moves we are about to make here.
While other Buckeye sites struggle to stay even with their past numbers and stats, we have great momentum with a growing staff and are always looking to grow and improve. And the numbers and stats prove that out. We thank you for being those numbers and stats!
As to upgrades and updates and the like, check out the front pages of the various Buckeye sites and see how often they have been re-designed or have added new features. At Bucknuts, we feel this pursuit is dynamic and I want us to always be pushing forward. You will see that more and more this fall as we add news feeds, strengthened recruiting coverage and – yes – more staff.
On that note alone, Bucknuts is unique and stands apart. We are proud of our staff and our coverage as we have been the most quoted Ohio State site in the country. Mainstream (read: old school) OSU coverage continues to get ideas and news from Bucknuts.com. As we join forces with 24/7 this fall, we will remain the largest Ohio State sports site. Others disagree? That’s their prerogative, I suppose. Like when people say that “perception is reality”. I say, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But no one is entitled to their own facts!
Enough chest thumping. (For now.) That was fun. It’s time to get back to work!
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The deepest Ohio State football team, uh, ever?...That’s the thesis I am about to propose. Despite losing such luminaries as Duron Carter and Jamel Turner (and some lower-lights like Jermil Martin and Keith Wells), I submit that this might be our deepest roster – the most skilled at the most positions with the most skilled back-ups. Certainly in the Tressel Era. It is hard to top some of the older Woody teams when the scholly limits were, well…almost limitless and Coach Hayes seemed to have a cast of thousands, but one could make a good argument that the 2010 Buckeyes are the deepest squad ever.
To help make that argument sing, we designed a nifty new chart so you can check it out for yourself. Look at all the quality two-deep and three-deep guys:
Offense
QB
RB/FB
WR
TE
OL
Seniors
Brandon Saine
Dane Sanzenbacher Grant Schwartz Taurian Washington
Justin Boren Bryant Browning Josh Kerr Andy Miller Connor Smith
Juniors
Joe Bauserman Terrelle Pryor
Dan Herron
DeVier Posey
Mike Adams Evan Blankenship Michael Brewster J.B. Shugarts
Sophomores
Zach Boren Jordan Hall Adam Homan
Nic DiLillo Reid Fragel Jake Stoneburner
Marcus Hall
Redshirt Freshmen
Ken Guiton
Jaamal Berry
Chris Fields James Jackson
Corey Linsley Sam Longo Jack Mewhort
True Freshmen
Taylor Graham
Carlos Hyde Roderick Smith
Corey Brown James Louis Verlon Reed Tyrone Williams
Andrew Norwell
Defense
DE
DT
LB
DB
K/P
Seniors
Cameron Heyward
Dexter Larimore
Ross Homan Brian Rolle
Chimdi Chekwa Aaron Gant Jermale Hines Devon Torrence
Jake McQuaide (LS)
Juniors
Solomon Thomas Nathan Williams
Tyler Moeller Etienne Sabino Andrew Sweat
Donnie Evege Nate Oliver
Sophomores
Jonathan Newsome
Garrett Goebel John Simon
Storm Klein
C.J. Barnett Zach Domicone Travis Howard Orhian Johnson
Ben Buchanan
Redshirt Freshmen
Melvin Fellows
Adam Bellamy
Dorian Bell Jordan Whiting
Corey Brown Dominic Clarke Jamie Wood
True Freshmen
Darryl Baldwin David Durham
Johnathan Hankins J.T. Moore
Scott McVey
Christian Bryant Chad Hagan Adam Griffin Brad Roby
Drew Basil
Back in the bad old days (pre-Tress, when we used to lose regularly to Michigan), Jerry Rudzinski would say to me: “We have the best 22 players versus Michigan but they have the best 44”. Football at this level is a sport of attrition, depth and replacement.
We now have the best 44 and 66 players we have had in a long time. Maybe the deepest team ever…
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Re: Porter and the Class of 2012…We are going on and on about the developing possibilities of yet another super Ohio class for top-end recruits that will follow the current super recruiting class. That is, the prospective Class of 2012 is absolutely loaded. We are talking about Ohio football kids that are just entering their junior seasons, of course.
The last two weeks (running backs, quarterback), we had our video guru and analyst extraordinaire, Mark Porter from Scouting Ohio, give us the first look at running backs and quarterbacks for this emerging class. This week, we move on to the best-of-the-best-at-the-earliest for tight ends and wide receivers:
Mike Roberts (TE) - Cleveland Benedictine - 6-5 235 – A very raw player with major upside because of his great size and an unusual skill set for a big man. Mike lined up at WR at times for Benedictine and also played well as a DE. He just needs to progress his junior and senior seasons and he could see major offers coming his way.
Blake Thomas (TE) - Cleveland St Ignatius - 6-4 225 – Blake saw limited action in 2009 playing behind Pitt recruit Brandon Carozzoni. But he showed many of the same skills as Carazzoni and should be recruited as a Division I player after his junior season. Thomas does a nice job in the run game as a blocker and has good speed to get open in the passing game.
John Tanner (TE) - Moeller - 6-4 225 – John played the role of second TE for Moeller and handled mostly blocking duties as a sophomore. He now has to develop more as a receiver in his junior year to go with his great blocking ability.
Tres Barksdale (WR) - Solon - 6-2 170 – Tres is a big framed wide-out who can make plays by going up and getting the ball in traffic. He shows good speed and the ability to separate from defenders at this very early stage in his development. Barksdale played against some of the best competition in the state and shined as a sophomore.
Jalen Robinette (WR)- Bexley - 6-3 180 – Jalen is a great athlete on the football field and on the basketball court. Scouts love his ability to go up and get the ball and be a force in the red zone. If he shows better speed as a junior, he could blow up as the best WR in Ohio. Robinette just needs the opportunity to shine on offense and have the ball come his way more often. He is also an intriguing prospect at safety.
Zach Edwards (WR) - Middletown - 6-1 175 - In camps and wearing shorts, Zach might have been the best WR we saw all summer and he has great game film to back it up. Edwards made the most of his opportunities as a sophomore in a Middletown offense filled with play makers. His stock could go through the roof with a great 40-time and a solid junior season.
Cameron Wilson (WR) - Dublin Jerome - 6- 2 190 – Cameron is a strong runner after the catch, much like a running back, which makes him very dangerous as a playmaker. Very big and strong for a WR and uses that to his advantage, even as a blocker, and to overpower high school DB's with the ball in his hands. Wilson played varsity as a freshman and he might be the most experienced WR of this group right now.
Corey Smith (WR) - Akron Buchtel - 6-0 170 – Corey holds three MAC offers already and it seems every time he leaves a college camp, he has a new one. We had a chance to see him work out with the QB's at the Nike Elite 11 and a few other places and he is one of the hardest working WR's of the bunch. With a big junior year, Smith could make a run for the best WR in Ohio.
Dayne Hammond (WR) - Boardman - 6-6 185 - His brother, Chase Hammond, is headed to Wisconsin to play WR and Dayne has a chance to be an even better receiver if he keeps up the good progress. He already holds a few Division I offers after attending camps this summer. With that 6-6 frame, he is an obvious mismatch for defenses and now just needs to develop as a great route runner; then the sky is the limit for Hammond.
Others to watch
Montanez Madaris - Moeller – Madaris made his presence felt as a sophomore for Moeller.
Tristen Jeffries - Sandusky – Jeffries was injured early his sophomore season and only played three games. He was making big plays before the injury and was on pace for a great season.
Marcus Davis - Dublin Coffman – Davis should become a favorite target for Cole Stoudt, transferring from Olentangy as a sophomore. Great ball skills.
Jeremy Graves - Garfield Heights – Graves was injured as a sophomore but showed great skills and size for a sophomore.
Next week, we look at the up-and-comers as offensive linemen for the Class of 2012!
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The Boarding House…here we come again with warning labels and explanations!
Where five stories are blowing up and rumors are flying!
The Bucknuts beat boys bring you what they hear and see and are loathe to write about as facts. The House is a place for rumors and gossip and innuendo. We don’t treat it is if it’s “inside information”, like some people do. Yet – you guys love to hear the good stuff. To do that, we have to:
1)Disclaim that we don’t know if any of it is true
2)Not attribute it to any particular source
3)Not attribute it to any particular reporter!
We hope it’s interesting and it’s all fairly entertaining and some of it might even turn out to be actually, well…true! So, forewarned is forearmed. Don’t write me and tell me that we shouldn’t publish rumors. We already know that!
*The Trojans are one sorry bunch…USC apologized last week to Florida and Tennessee for the nasty and untrue things they said. (And they should apologize to college football in general…). But USC just naturally thought that the Gators were culpable because they cut so many corners, I suppose.
Now, out of Gainesville, it is further reported that “A rival school turned in the Florida Gators football program into the Southeastern Conference for improper use of Facebook as part of the program's four secondary NCAA violations committed in the last year, UF revealed in response to an open-records request from the Orlando Sentinel.” A Florida assistant posted comments on the Facebook walls of two recruits on Aug. 5. An opposing school monitored the walls and reported the comments to the SEC office.
As the NCAA struggles to keep up with technology, the recruiting crimes are committed faster than they can create punishments to fit. It seems that coaches can have electronic conversation with recruits through e-mail — and direct messaging via Facebook qualifies — but posting on a recruit's Facebook wall is not allowed, according to NCAA rules.
The Seminoles are champs at “secondary violations” which the NCAA doesn’t seem to feel are cumulative – although it was in the more egregious cases of DickRod. Secondary violations are nothing new in the competitive world of SEC recruiting. Former Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin committed numerous secondary violations during his first six months on the job, even before the 2009 season.
* All over - the Carr lot…With Lllllloyd Carr announcing his retirement this week, it felt like a symbolic passing of an era. And it is remarkable to me that Coach Jim Tressel, who it seems only got here a year or two ago, is now the third “eldest” Big Ten coach. They go in this descending order (counting 2010):
Joe Paterno - 17 years in the Big Ten (yes, and 44 overall!) Kirk Ferentz - 12 Jim Tressel - 10 Ron Zook - 6 (!) Bret Bielema - 5 Pat Fitzgerald - 5 Mark Dantonio - 4 Tim Brewster - 4 Bill Lynch - 4 DickRod - 3 Bo Pelini (coming soon) - 3 Danny Hope - 2
Tress will soon be in the top two, we suppose. And once he wins the national championship this year, do you suppose he can finally win his first-ever Big Ten Coach of the Year?
* And the last shall be first…We all know how great the depth and quality is at running back for the Buckeyes. Right now, that depth chart would go (in order):
Brandon Saine Boom Herron Jordan Hall Jaamal Berry Carlos Hyde Rod Smith
The coaches have a right to be excited by this big and small and change-of-pace passel of weaponry. So, when we asked a staffer – someone who has seen the guys in high school and practice and beyond - his thoughts on that order, he said that “talent-wise”, it is just the reverse:
Rod Smith Carlos Hyde Jaamal Berry Jordan Hall Boom Herron Brandon Saine
The other irony is that the youngest appear to be the best-est. Well, we will find out soon enough when they get out there and start running into each other!
*What can he do for you? … As we started saying on Thursday, the incoming recruiting class has now had some time to impress their veteran teammates (or not). We talked to one savvy vet who said the defensive young Bucks to catch his eye are Christian Bryant and Jonathan “Big Hank” Hankins. Well, how about on the other side of the ball, we asked?
Without hesitation: “The receiver from Pennsylvania – Corey Brown,” he said.
Bear in mind, this savvy vet is a defensive player. He went on to describe Brown as “extremely fast. Extremely.” As a point of clarification, there are two Corey Browns on the team and each hails from the Keystone State. There’s the aforementioned receiver from Springfield Cardinal O’Hara and the defensive back from Monroeville Gateway. It may be easy to tell them apart going forward because one will be on the field and the other … not so much.
But is Good Corey Brown the answer to the third receiver question asked more now that Duron Carter traded Columbus for Coffeyville? If so, GCB could be the type of explosive presence the offense craves. We will all find out together…
*(Go to) Class Act … Sure, Jim Tressel has dominated his Big Ten coaching brethren since donning the hometown sweater vest: five straight Big Ten titles (six total), a 59-13 conference record and - in case you didn’t notice - an 8-1 mark against one school in particular.
But, did you know: Operation Tressel works even better in the classroom? The Bucks have had the most Academic All-Big Ten performers EVERY YEAR since Tressel arrived. Every. Year.
How does he do it? One uber-clued in source says it is because of the “The Plan”, which is orchestrated as follows:
Aside from a team of counselors, tutors, and academic professionals, Tressel employs four or five retired high school principals – or “Checkers” - whose sole purpose is to make sure players go to class. The Checkers are equipped with each player's class schedule and a campus map. They stand at the entrance to predetermined classrooms, lecture halls, etc., to ensure punctuality. Rumor has it that players get a five-minute grace period before they incur a penalty. With over 85 scholarship players, they can't check every class, of course. They focus on underclassmen and those not reaching their, uh, academic potential.
So what happens to those that run afoul of The Checkers? Time to pay the piper, as follows:
First offense: Counseling with player, academic advisor and position coach. Second offense: Counseling with player, parent/guardian, advisor, position coach and Tressel. Third offense: Loss of ticket privileges to major non-conference game (i.e. USC, Texas, Miami); additional counseling. Fourth offense: Loss of Michigan ticket privileges; additional counseling. Fifth offense: Coffeyville.
And Tress’s plan is no secret in the coaching community. Others have taken note of the Bucks’ success on the field AND in the classroom. That is why the plan has virtually been copied at schools like Michigan State (hmm, go figure…), Boston College, Toledo and Tulane.
Don’t miss all the weird doings at the House, now featured on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Come by and see what’s cooking!
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The NCAA is used to getting black eyes…Now, how do they get rid of them? The black eyes we are referencing are those eye black messages as popularized by Tim Tebow and made confusing by Terrelle Pryor.
Eye black with messages, along with wedge blocks, will be banned from college football this fall, and taunting in the field of play will start costing teams points in 2011. These are the three primary rule changes for the 2010 college football season.
The most concerning is likely that new taunting rule. The way it works now, players are penalized for taunting on their way to the end zone, drawing a 15-yard penalty on the extra point attempt, 2-point conversion attempt or the ensuing kickoff. But beginning in 2010, live-ball penalties will be assessed from the spot of the foul and will eliminate the score. Celebration penalties following a score will continue to be assessed on conversion attempts or the ensuing kickoff.
"I think one of the reasons it's been looked at is that when a penalty occurs on the field, it's normally taken from the spot," Teaff said. Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association "This was the only occurrence that it wasn't taken from the spot, so they wanted to change that."
They haven’t said yet what the penalty will be for those kids still wearing eye make-up but we are looking into it…
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A good week for St. Andrews and the other Andrews sisters…Watching the pros struggle with the natural curves and capricious nature of the British Open reminded me about the other Andrews news this week: Something about Erin Andrews expanding her rolls. One role she publicized was that as litigant, naming Ohio State – amongst others – in her peeping tom (well, peeping Michael) lawsuit of invasion of privacy. But, back to the football-ing Erin…
Yes, they are expanding Kirk Herbstreit’s favorite Saturday morning show and Erin Andrews is expanding right along with it! That was the thrust of the announcement last week when ESPN titillated us all by explaining that “Erin Andrews will join expanded College GameDay”.
The Saturday morning show, which began 24 years ago (!) as an hour-long studio show from ESPN's Connecticut studio will now run three hours and continue to air under heavy security at college campuses hosting big games. As ESPN put it: “The show will also allow Andrews, who is America's most-famous TV sideline reporter and who recently signed a new contract to stay at ESPN/ABC, to appear as a part-time host and feature reporter.” We know what those features of Ms. Andrews are in our minds but what is it she wants from this series of appearances?
"The biggest reason I wanted to stay was because they'd expand my role," Andrews said Sunday in her first interview about her new contract. "It's time for me to try new things. … The hosting stuff is what I'm really looking forward to."
That hosting will come during GameDay's first hour, which will air on ESPNU. The final two hours, when Andrews will serve as a reporter, will remain on ESPN — with Andrews also working the sidelines at the game being played at the GameDay site. "She's very versatile," says ESPN executive Norby Williamson. "We've always been looking for opportunities for her."
According to the ESPiNers, Andrews' new contract also includes regular appearances on ABC's Good Morning America for stories that won't always involve sports. "Some will be fun and light-hearted," she says. "I don't take myself too seriously and like to have a good time." But having been a victim of stalking, which resulted in a videotape surfacing online a year ago, she also wants to report on crimes against women: "With what I've been through, I want to talk to women who are victims. … And people haven't seen I can have a serious tone. We feel it's important to start off with serious issues so people take me seriously."
With all this litigation in mind, here at Bucknuts we want to Erin the conservative side and the serious side. Which keeps us from saying that we will look in on her this fall, but that doesn’t sound exactly right…
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Speaking of knockouts…I have been fortunate to have people send me glamour shots of sideline hotties and outstanding examples of cheerleaders, etcetera. So I have seen my fair share of knockouts but nothing prepared me for this one (well, these two…):
If you want to go toe-to-toe, then dip your toe in below in the comments section. Or address the Big Toe himself at MrBucknuts@yahoo.com
