Sullinger 1, Sibert 0 with some controversyJared Sullinger and Northland may have captured the state championship in an instant classic Saturday night, but all people want to talk about is the foul called on Princeton's Marcus Davis with 2.7 seconds left sending Sullinger to the line for the winning margin. Though the call is debatable depending on which part of the state you live in (or your ability to combat homeritus-burstus), what's undeniable is that two future Buckeyes put up sick numbers battling to the very end. And they're only juniors!
Sullinger finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds including the decisive two at the end, while Princeton's Sibert finished with 21 points (11 of which came during the final quarter). If you didn't catch the game, you might be in luck because there's a pretty good chance the two Matta recruits will meet again next March.
Other highlights included Xavier-bound J.D. Weatherspoon pouring in 18 for Northland and finding out Princeton's coach is only 26. Mark our words: Josh Andrews will be coaching in the NBA before he's 29.
Thad Matta continues to be a hot name in the Kentucky coaching search though Calipari is getting the bulk of the heat right now. Izzo's name keeps popping up as well, but I just don't see that happening because not only do you have the fact that he's a Michigan native, but word is the UK athletic department wants to wrap this up sooner rather than later and the Spartan's win over Louisville pretty much throws a wrench into that.
Some good news for us -- over the weekend AD Gene Smith confirmed that the Wildcats had not contacted him for permission to speak to the coach. That, and the fact that several other coaches are also rumored to be on UK's list, providing cover.
USC started spring practice on Saturday and Pete Carroll loved what he saw. Granted, Pete Carroll loves everything, but how can you not be impressed moving the pieces of that juggernaut around. And thanks the the wonders of open practices, there are plenty of photos and the dish on who looked good. We love James Tressel like our own fathers and trust most everything he does, but is there any harm in opening a practice or 10 up to the public?
Elsewhere: The Silver Bullet has the new Guitar Hero commercial featuring one Robert Montgomery Knight, Greg Oden is hanging with Ronald McDonald and Tim Brewster is doing his best Pete Carroll on Twitter.
Comments
OSU should offer Weatherspoon. That kid is sick.
That was a tough foul call at the end, the ref didn't have the best angle and at that point, let them go into overtime.
The most amazing thing for me in that game, Northland won it with a freshman and sophomore in the back court.
I don't know why the majority is disagreeing with the foul call. If you watched it on TV they showed the replay a few times and Sullinger was hit on the right forearm. In real time I thought it was questionable but once I saw the replay there was no doubt that that was a foul.
Calipari meeting w Memphis after Kentucky apparently is about to offer him a multi year multi million dollar contract
Smells like a guys who wants to get more money from Memphis rather than go to UK. Just a thought...
.....Just as long as Matta Stays!
I heard someone say that Sullinger reminds them of Sean May. Anyone else see that?
Does anyone else utterly despise this time of year as much as I do? Forget baseball, if I wanted to go to sleep I would take a lunesta. LOL
If it were up to me, no one, not even the President of the United States, should be allowed inside an Ohio State practice. I think there is certainly harm to opening those to the public. When Southern Cal players say, "They played exactly how we expected," then it's time to go back to Woody's days of complete paranoia with who can see what, when, and where.
I think Ohio State has been too open in recent years. Maybe it played no part in losing those games, but how can we be sure?
I get that, but is USC just that much better than everyone else where they can open up practices (they'll do it in the fall as well) and not have to worry about anything?
Southern Cal players didn't say "they played exactly how we expected" because Pete Carroll was flying a spy plane over the practice field; they had game tape, and we never deviated from our prior gameplans in any significant way against SC.
Quite frankly, I cant wait for our players to say "they played just how we thougth they would" about USC in Sept. Their QB play will be horrendous, Defense pourous, and TP has the fires of olympus in his stomach. We are going to crush their hopes, dreams, and more importantly, their season.....
Yeah, I guess he is a little more recent than a Shaq comparision. He's just so much bigger than high school kids he kind of bully's his way around.
He also gets the star treatment from officials, which may have come into play on that last call.
You honestly don't think USC has another Howitzer-armed dropback leadfoot waiting in the wings to take Sanchez' spot? What about the fact that USC hasn't had a defense ranked out of the top 20 since 2005?
Word is Cal to UK for $40M over 6 years. That's slightly outrageous.
And we dont my friend? My only point is that all "homeritis-bursitis' aside, I would bet an awful lot that we come out on top this time around. Let them bring their 1 game establised QB into the shoe for a real pressure situation, and see how it turns out. I could be 100% wrong about this, but I wont be......
yeah, holy shit how'd they come up with that money? i'm glad matta is staying but man, if he had been offered that he'd have been crazy not to go
seriously over 6.5 million per year?!? yeesh, calipari isn't THAT good
Meanwhile, Kentucky unemployment to rocket to 15% and nobody has money for food. As long as they're winning games, I think that will be fine down there.
dammit my grandparents were subsistence farmers when adolph rupp was coaching so by God their children and grandchildren might as well do the same thing during the calipari regime
And what, exactly, did USC do to our top-20 defense this past season?
Well that's because Ohio State is Ohio State and can out-execute any opposing team on the field, and that includes Florida, LSU, and USC.
Hmmmmmmmm.
I heard they we're going to hire John Madden to compete with all the other ex NFL coaches in the SEC.
You know who else put a premium on execution in every post-game speech, win or loss?
Lloyd Carr.
Looks like we have another negative-nancy in the mix......
Oh, and I know you were being sarcastic. Just in case I didn't make it clear.
It might be a good thing with beanie gone. Now you can't key on the run game or personel packages. Boom, Saine, and Berry can all come out of the backfield for a pass. We rarely threw to beanie but when we did it went for big yards. If they show some creativity on offense this team will be nasty.
I liked the slip screen to the tight end we ran vs Texas. More of that please.
When does spring ball start and what freshmen will be there?
If we bring pressure like we did vs texas it won't be close. Sit back and those Qb's will hurt us. I don't think they have another Sanchez though. It will be interesting. Its mostly about the d-line this season. I hope they live up to the hype.
Seriously, jeez! I hope they (they SEC) spends themselves into bankruptcy. Salaries are beyond outrageous down there and it keeps getting worse.
Sam, I know what you're saying. USC's offense is coming ready to play, and they will produce scoring chances. But if there's anything we can take away from the game in 2008, it's that our offense held the ball twice as long as USC did in the first half, and Terrelle Pryor was responsible for 1/2 of our total offense for the day (he didn't play in the 2nd half)...as a freshman, playing in his 3rd game against the best defense in America. Boom Herron was also part of that production, as was Dane Sanzenbacher.
Boeckman, as much as I don't like to trash him, brought a 1950's Wally Cleaver-style intensity to the games. Terrelle Pryor brings a Wesley Snipes in Blade-style intensity. That could be all the difference. It is going to be a different game in our house (louder), Pryor knowing what it's like to lose at home at night (Penn State). They interviewed him for the Dispatch on Sunday, and Pryor talks like no other Buckeye I've ever heard. He's an unbelievable competitor, and is a big step away from the Tressel school of media-handling.
I think our defense gets better, too. Coleman is back (became an interception machine last year) as is Chekwa (INT vs. USC last year). I have a feeling this Sabino kid is going to be unbelievable (almost went to USC), and hardly anyone's talking about him in the national previews.
You might be looking at an over-looked, but insanely dangerous Ohio State team in the fall. USC has so much rebuilding to do, it's hard for me to think that they're going to have a team in place that can keep up with us. Remember, after the USC game, Ohio State became a team in preparation for 2009.
I want to see what happens during the spring game.
"A team in place that can keep up with us"? Look, I understand the optimism given all the young, promising talent in place, but when has USC ever had trouble keeping up with anybody out of conference these last six or so years?
Look at it this way. They return their entire offensive line. They return Joe McKnight. Last year, that was all they needed to move the ball with ease. They still have Taylor Mays. They still have Everson Griffen. They're still USC. There will be no "catching up" for USC.
Everyone keeps talking about all the speed and talent, but when in the last two years have we seen it properly utilized? I get the feeling a lot of people are going to be miffed this fall when we hit the field and we're the same run-run-pass team we've always been. On defense, I anticipate much of the same. Remember, the coordinators have not changed. The only thing that has changed is the amount of experience and yeah, the talent, with Jenkins, Freeman and Laurinaitis gone. How is that a recipe for a win over USC when all those guys had USC score 28 on them last year?
And they keep winning national titles. Odd, that.
A big part of those scores were the interceptions, though. Look at the field position our defense was given to work with. They didn't pull out the big stops when they needed to (and help me they couldn't stop a run down the middle to save their lives) but they really weren't given a whole heck of a lot to work with through most of the game.
Sam, as if the news isn't bad enough on a daily basis... Please take your pessimism someplace else. I'm not saying that Ohio State will waltz to a national championship, but they will give USC everything they can handle and will definitely be in the mix for the ultimate prize. This is the most talented team Tressel has had, albeit young.
Wasn't last year's his most talented team?
Dude, USC had one drive of 74 yards, another of 62, and a third of 65, all resulting in touchdowns. The interception you're talking about? USC started at the 36-yard line. We gave up yards in bunches. This wasn't quite like Florida, where field position made the game a first-half blowout.
Yeah I like the optimism but until the Silver Bullets actually lay the smack down on an elite team, I think our optimism should be tempered. There a lot of unanswered questions about new players/positions for both teams and both programs have great players waiting to step in and contribute.
As the immortal Nature Boy Ric Flair likes to say, "To be the man, you have to beat the man." We haven't beat the man... yet.
lulz
Couldn't have said it better.
Tressel 347 USC -2
More speed this year for sure. The line will be better on both sides of the ball. Jenkins and Beanie are the only players we miss.
In a way losing beanie will make the offense better. Teams won't be able to key on personel. Boom, Saine, and Berry are all good out of the backfield.
I'm excited about the over all speed. I think it will be a huge step up from last year. Thomas, Berry, Small, Pryor, Stoneburner, Fields, and Saine are all 4.4 or faster. Thats alot of speed running with the ball. We will be faster on d. Wells, Gibson, Williams bring speed off the edge. Sabino, rolle, homan should be nasty. We are two deep in the front 7. Hines, Coleman and Chekwa are vets we need to find a CB on the other side. Brown? Amos? someone will step up and there will be plenty of comp for PT.
You're so excited for "speed"; it's really obvious the ESS EEE SEE goons have gotten to you. Ohio States 2007 and 2008 did not suffer from any lack of speed.
You're not wrong, Sam. Everything you say is valid. There is nothing I can point to on paper to say that what I expect to happen will happen. I think it's a gut feeling. I don't think the guys we had representing us the last 2 years could be considered Tressel's best recruiting classes (the 2006 team surely was). Now we have some of his best classes STARTING this fall. Coaches can take players so far. Players can make things happen on the field. I think Pryor is that kind of guy. It's not necessarily what he sees on film (much like how Boeckman, Laurinaitis, et al. treated games), it's how he adapts in game situations.
He's going to be a gamebreaker, and he's going to have some serious speed around him. He generally took care of the ball unlike a lot of freshmen QB's. He can outrun Texas D-linemen. It's going to be okay. I think we have the speed to take USC.
Well, if your gut feeling is that we have a chance, I can't disagree with you. There's always a chance. Talent on talent, with Tressel's latest recruiting classes supplementing his older, smaller ones, this is dead even. But in terms of scheme, there is a disparity. USC exploited it last year and won handily. They might not do it this year. We might impose our will on them - we have the talent to, I have no doubts about that.
Robo isn't as fast as Small, Thomas, fields. Berry has more shake then any rb we had in years. Sabino? Speed kills. You'll see sammy. I see alot of football down here and I'm excited about Berry he is the real deal. Your going to love Lamarcus Joyner in 2010. He is a beast.
No doubt. It's just frustrating.
No way dude. Experienced - yes. Most talented? No farkin way! I was proud of how those guys fought Texas this year but it's not good enough. The next few years will be very telling about how Tress uses talent because the "we had less talent than [teamX]" argument is pretty much out the window now. How much longer until the season starts again?
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Laurinaitis put up a 4.8 at the Combine. They made a big deal about him running a 40 faster than Maualuga, but that guy had an aggravated hamstring injury at the time, and still put up a 4.83. Laurinaitis was NEVER in the backfield making a saving tackle for a loss the way Hawk and Schlegel used to. He also wasn't much of a cover-man. That can make a big difference whether a team is in a 3rd and 8 instead of a 3rd and 3. The good O-lines could capitalize.
We're actually talking about the speed of the defense...which is faster on paper than last year's. And the offense is without question faster, it's just that their names are a little more well-known because of how much playing time they all got as freshmen. If you think that doesn't make any difference, then review the tapes of USC's fullback going for a TD on a wheel-route, LSU dipping and dumping passes in open spots, and Florida freezing our guys with the option.
Speed has killed us, and I from what we understand, Tressel has gone out and recruited more of it from speed-rich regions of the nation (not Ohio, except for Posey, who's a blazer).
Poop is right, certainly the most experienced team Tressel has ever fielded. As far as talent goes, I would have liked to see the half-time score had Beanie been healthy at USC, but we'll never know and the only thing we can take from that is that it Boeckman and the O-line were not elite-level, not at a talent level, and not in the mental game. Nothing is more indicative of how awful they were when Boone was called for holding when Boeckman threw a TD to Robiskie against USC...then the field-goal was blocked. That's the players' mistakes, not the coaches. The coaches call the plays, and they went down the field. Then, they screwed up because they sucked when the pressure was greatest. There were really no other excuses, especially experience, of which they had more than most college teams.
Never take high school 40 times posted to get fans excited over professional combine 40 times that determine the direction of millions of dollars.
Sam is obviously not a Buckeye fan (which is certainly his right, but I have no idea what he is doing on this blog). His points are vague and unsubstantiated (and flat out wrong in many instances). Bottom line... measurables matter and this team has as good of those as any Tressel has had. Add to that the competitive leadership abilities of the person with the greatest "measurables" of them all , and you have the real potential for a championship season. The pivotal areas will be the O- and D-lines. We have exposed there by the "elite" teams the last three years. We should finally have the talent to compete there now as well. The only thing which makes me nervous is depending on Bollman to develop the talent...
Excuse me? We didn't have the talent to compete in 2006, 2007, and 2008 when the following legends suited up:
Troy Smith
Teddy Ginn
Anthony Gonzales
Beanie Wells
James Laurinaitis
Malcolm Jenkins
Vernon Gholston
but in 2009 with an unproven group of young, talented players, we finally have that talent? You're basing all championship predictions off of useless star ratings from Rivals and Scout and the fake 40 times that come with them. I simply will not delude myself into thinking that a team this young is National Championship caliber, especially when the who coached up the underachieving '08 team are still in place. Do you really think our deficiencies last year were due to a lack of talent or were they due to some questionable coaching decisions? Who's the real Buckeye fan, the guy who recognizes we already have and have had the talent in place to win multiple championships or the guy who's opinion of the team is based entirely on Scout and Rivals and their fake-assed, trumped up 40 times?
Don't even start with the "not a real Buckeye fan because I don't think we'll go 12-0 and rout USC in the process" garbage.
That talent argument was never utilized by Tressel or anyone associated with the team. We have played one team in the last six years that was arguably far more talented than us, and that was USC. Everyone else, the difference was negligible.
Sam, c'mon. It's college football. Young talent comes up and wins championships all the time. It's even happened at Ohio State.
1968 the super soph's. Sam is only big on history that supports his negativity. T. Pryor is a special player that among other reason is why we all think we have a good chance at winning it all. Plus the d line is stacked and they aren't young. These guys are battle tested and I know how you are sam you LOVE guys that have been around. If these pups are going to bite they are going to bite young. We are loaded anything less than one national title in the next two years is not an option.
Sam I'm saying this because I love you. Go fuck yourself.
Hey now, we may not all agree all the all of the time, but when we don't, let's try to do so without personal shots.
For those young teams to win titles, they must first receive excellent coaching from their individual coordinators. Jim Bollman had four or more years to work with Boone, Person, and Rehring last year, and look what he churned out.
Our defense can be lights out, but if our offensive line lookedlike it did with three senior starters through the first few games last year, what do you think it'll look like with two to three sophs (or an underachieving-so-far Connor Smith), a much-maligned junior and a senior?
i actually talked to my grandma about this today, she was pissed
Well, it's not like we're bringing a bunch of unripened tomatoes to the table. Again, the defense is returning all but a few names. In 2006, there were 9 new starters on defense and they had an impressive year.
As far as offense goes, we're returning our 10-game starting QB. Boom, Posey, Sanzenbacher and Small all had playing time last year, and were utilized in the big games. Saine is a junior. We're returning our starting center. The kid that transferred from Michigan will have been around college football for 4 or 5 years by this point. Brewster and Adams were ready to start as freshmen in place of the seniors last year at O-line, but were injured. To have 3 freshmen ready to replace seniors at a position like O-line means something was seriously wrong with the veterans.
We could go round and round about this. Granted we're all aware of the lack of zeal in the preparation in certain areas, which is why talent is really important to push a team like this over the edge. For example, if Eddie George had to run behind any left-tackle besides the best player in the game, he might never have won the Heisman.
Pryor made USC's #1 defense look slow, and he was playing in his 3rd game behind a lame o-line. As he improves, everyone improves. Seeing how Troy Smith improved should give you confidence in what our staff CAN do for good players who want to win instead of whine.
[...] perhaps speedier pack of Buckeyes. The buzz is growing, morphing recent basketball posts into heated discussions on football and all climaxing at the April 25th spring [...]
Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand.