Quick, how do you make your life as an underdog a bit more difficult ahead of the 96th Rose Bowl? Why, you lose two or more players in the runup to the bowl as a result of academic shortcomings or the ever-nebulous "violation of team rules".
Wait, weren't you like a captain last month?After word of Duron Carter and Rob Rose's classroom struggles leaked last week, the University issued a statement saying Carter would not be making the trip to Pasadena, but seemed to leave the door open for Rose's return to good graces by way of conspicuous absence in the Carter release. Rose apparently completed extra work to maintain his bowl eligibility and was set to see action against the Ducks, but word again leaked Sunday night indicating Rose likely won't be playing, after all. And the status of others is up in the air as well, including the mayor of Tressel's doghouse, Ray Small, and spring game workhorse Bo Delande.
Assuming the worst, and the Buckeyes take the field without Small and Rose (in addition to the guaranteed loss of Carter), the hit won't doom the team. Rose was part of the depth that made the defensive front so dangerous and had his moments, like the two sack performance he turned in against the Badgers and Carter and Small are third and fourth on the team in receiving yards, but we're not talking Ginn out on the first play of the game devastation here. Rose registered just one assisted tackle over the last seven games of the season and it's worth pointing out that Carter and Small are the third and fourth receivers on a team that's not particularly proficient passing the ball (that's being generous, I know -- the two account for about 15 yards per game each).
Need further calming nuggets? Take a look at the line, which hasn't really budged from where it opened despite the seven days of bad news in Columbus.
Now, Small and Carter were the team's top two punt return guys, so Dane and/or Posey could figure to be seeing action there on the 1st, while Flash and Saine would likely be the kick return tandem.
Where I think the losses will hurt a little is just from a depth standpoint. When the Buckeyes go to four and five receiver sets, there will be two or three guys in the game that spent the entire season running with the twos and the team's ability to put pressure on the Duck secondary will be limited, both from a passing and running perspective. Thomas and Washington, the two receivers that could benefit the most from Small and Carter's absence, are both constant transfer worries, so it will be interesting to see if they can step up and prove they should be receiving the playing time they think they're entitle to.
One more thing to think about: Will Bryant Browning go down as the top performer out of the '06 Tarblooder crop? I think the answer to that might already be yes.
December Really Not That Totally Awesome for Pete Carroll
As if an 8-4 regular season and a trip to the Emerald Bowl (hey, at least they'll get to travel for once) weren't enough, Pete Carroll is on pace to have the Worst December Ever. In the span of two weeks, Carroll was lobbed an infidelity bomb by outgoing Irish coach Charlie Weis and then picks up his Saturday Los Angeles Times to read about his star running back driving a Land Rover owned by a man that has a company called "USC Marketing".
Oh, but it's cool. The guy is really a Washington Husky fan and the full name of the company is "United States China Marketing". Really.
Oh yeah: The Big Ten has made it clear that they will consider all avenues in terms of the who and hows of expansion, and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg points out something that should be a given: with the compact geographical footprint of the conference, geography should not be a major priority when aligning the conferences... The key to getting the Ducks to Pasadena? Don't let Bellotti coach the team... The Wolverines' Donovan Warren is headed to the NFL and Brian Kelly is smiling somewhere in northern Indiana.
Comments
Ray Small delivers one last kick in the nads to Buckeyes everywhere. What a tool.
Oh wait, maybe he isn't done yet. Maybe he will be found to have been taking money from an agent and get us on probation. That would be classic Ray Ray.
Very disappointed in Carter... he seemed like such an upstanding young man. Hopefully his dad will beat some sense into him.
So who gets Rose's reps? I'd like to see Solomon Thomas get a few snaps. He's a good pass rusher and his length could make it hard on masola since he is only like 5'6 or something.
Just when I started to give him the benefit of the doubt, he proves what a douchenozzle he really is. This guy was the biggest waste of a scholarship. Should've sent him packing 2 years ago.
I think Carter will be fine this will be a huge lesson learned for him.
Honestly, Rose didn't have many reps the last half of the year.....
Too bad Ray is headed down a one way road to nowhere with his life..
Unfortunately there is no cure for stupid..
At any rate we will be fine without him and the others.. prior to the PSU game its not like we had a good return game anyways..
Customer: Yea, I'd like a number 1....
Ray: would you like fries with that?
Lesson or not. With his dad being who he is (not that we're not reminded on who his daddy is every broadcast) he should have at least driven home the classroom angle.
1st Rose Bowl since when and you can't get through the 1st Q?!?!?!
Customer: Hey, aren't you Ray Small? You played for the Buckeyes, right?
Ray: Yes, well. Kind of.
Customer: That's right, you were always fu<king up. I remember now. Man, you sure did get a lot of chances. How is this working out for you?
Ray: Not bad man. Although I was working the lunch shift counter, I got moved to cleaning out the fry bins since I was always late and talked back to customers.
Carter will learn from this and will be fine...... Daddy will be sure that he doesn't lose a year of eligibility like he did. Ray Small is a useless assmunch... Tress gave this guy WAY too many chances and he learned absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!!! Not only does he screw himself, he screws the entire team who will be without his return services for the Biggest Game of any of their young lives..... Flash and Washington need to step up and show that they belong--this can be their coming out party. I can't wait to read about Ray Small's daddy complaining about how his son was treated unfairly yet again...... shut up and straighten out your son before he ends up in a cell next to Mo Clarrett.
I dont think he will be the counter guy..... he will behind the counter grilling the burgers..... less brainpower needed for that.
Mo Clarrett produced on the field...
violation of team rules = mary jane
signed,
duh
Ray: It wasn't my fault though. It's obvious McDonalds has a personal agenda to ruin my life.
True. But Oregon runs a hurry up offense that if my memory serves correct, whipped our asses in the Fiesta last year. This inj could prove costly in terms of depth. Is it me or did Rose seem to have a knack for making a big play or two in big situations? There was the missed int that would have iced the texas game last year.
Maybe not at Ohio State, but didn't Chris Carter run into trouble early in his NFL career? The kid is a freshman, who dropped a lot of balls this year anyway, are we going to miss him in the Rose Bowl? Probably not.
He's still a good kid, but we all do stupid stuff from time to time and maybe he enjoyed being a buckeye football player more than a student in his first quarter. He'll be fine.
Yeah, Carter will be fine.
After all, "everyone kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever. I think that people need a second chance."
exactly, the 10 or 11 games Clarrett was on the field he produced more than Small did his whole career. He was worth the trouble he caused if you ask me. There wouldn't have been a championship without him.
Pryor all american jersey stolen?
I doubt TP gave this away.
Any thoughts?
I don't agree. The trouble he brought ended Andy Geiger's career and brought an image to tOSU and Tressel that we still haven't been able to live down. It doesn't matter that he lied or and admitted as much, the image still is one of "tOSU recruits thugs" We won a couple of games that season without him. Krenzel was the MVP and had more yds rushing than anyone on both teams combined. I think we still would have pulled it off.
Cris Carter ran into trouble while at Ohio State. He had illegal contact with an agent and was ineligible to play in 1987
I have to respectfully disagree. I don't think there's any way possible the 02 team wins the title without Mo. Krenzel might have been the MVP but without Mo C acting as a key compoonent to Tresselball, Krenzel would've been forced to make more throws, more often and I don't think that would've had the same favorable result over the course of the season.
Also, I hear you on what impact he had on Geiger and the school's reputation but he's just a part of that equation for the haters, not solely responsible.
Maybe not solely, but the school took a huge hit nonetheless and he was a huge part of it. No AD should be forced to retire because of stress created by one fool who had game. A lot of the hate comes from tOSU making utter fools of everyone by beating the "U", a team no one thought could be beaten, which makes the recent NCG losses very sweet for those that had egg on their faces.
I also respectfully disagree...Andy G had way more problems than Mo'...Jim O'Brien and all that drama for one...but Mo' did have a hand in things. Also, he did way more on the field than the ghost did.
Had a long chat with an Iowa fan today...he seems to think we will beat Oregon...so does Colin Cowherd...he has never been wrong about the Bucks.
I smell trouble...
I think the image of Ohio State and bad recruits came even before Clarett though. Honestly, maybe some perception is bad, but the reality is the program doesn't even compare to Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia in terms of trouble. The nation knows that.
Also, USC and Alabama get national attention for their recruiting violations all the time. I think Nationally, while Clarett hurt the team for a while, OSU isn't even mentioned in the same breath with these other schools and their problems.
I think the larger outcry over the 2002 NC game wasnt that a Thug won it for him or they cheated to get Clarret, but that it was a phantom call that won the game for them. Another thing everyone knows isn't true, but people talk about that more than they do Clarett.
No one recruits more "bad recruits" than team in the state of florida.
Colin Cowherd picked us?? wow! He usually sides strongly with Vegas. What do they have the spread at?
For as much as some people hate Colin, I think he's a pretty straight-forward guy.
Just looked it up, seems that most sports books have us as 3 1/2 pt favorites.
Thus passes the era of "The Ghost"...
Ray Small is so 2006. Lamaar Thomas is the new Ghost.
The thing with Mo though was that there were no recruiting violations. He came to Ohio State with no academic, legal or criminal issues. There was no way to predict how he would turn out. In fact he would have gone to the "U" had it not been for a fear of flying. Which is weird since he was all up in arms about tOSU not letting him fly back to Y-town for his friends funeral (of course had they it would have broken about a million NCAA rules). So, you can't really say he was a bad recruit. In Tressel's book he talks about how he tried to keep Mo from imploding. Mo gave his permission for JT to write about him so some other star's in their eyes player could learn from his mistakes. I guess Ray Small didn't read the book.
No. Why, what did you hear lol?
At least Lamar hasn't been in trouble. He seems like a good kid.
I was referring to being a ghost on the field. I agree on the fact that he seems to be a good egg.
true... Small did produce on special teams though to be completely fair... but he never lived up to poential.
The only Mo I can remember was Mo Hall. I don't remember him being afraid to fly at all and there certainly were not any recruiting issues with him either.
no... Oregon is the 3 1/2 pt favorite
http://www.1800-sports.com/ros...
well then!
Listening to Oregon fans these past few weeks, you'd think the Ducks would be favored by at least four touchdowns since they run God's offense and Ohio State is slow
Most people that are Oregon fans are from Canada. Just saying.
I didn't hear anything.
But think about it. If i had won that jersey.
A: donate to highschool
B: giving it to Mom.
C: Going in my trophy case.
You think TP just gave it to someone off the street.
Now that person is selling it?
I DOUBT IT!
Do the players get to keep their jerseys, though?
And that'd kind of my point. Coming in Mo seemed like he was going to be a model player. Then that ESPN the magazine article came out and it just went on and on from there. In fact, the thug image was more likely to come from a defensive playerr tyring to strangle a Wisconsin QB the following season than it would from Clarrett and all his mess. Clarett getting in trouble will always be a black cloud, but before that you had Belassari and his DUI and then MO, then the other guy I can't remember that came out about the same time as Mo, then a defensive player trying to kill the Wisconsin QB, then Troy Smith and his transgression. Some of the stuff wasn't a big deal, but it all kind of hit at the same time., I
Exactly. I continue to be amazed at the number of fans who are so excited about Flash and even T-Wash. Neither have done anything in their admittedly limited opportunities. I hope as much as the next guy that one of them comes up big in Pasadena but I'm not banking on it considering they've at least had practice opp's to impress the coaches with their WR skills during all the times Small was in the doghouse.
But in 4 years was he THAT impactful? He wasn't a constant threat to be a game changer. He was not a good WR at all. It'd be one thing if he wasn't a good receiver and was a Ginn Like threat on kick returns. Or if he was a great receiver and just ok on special teams. But Ray Small was sometimes a guy you worried about, he wasn't someone you had to plan your game around in either offense or special teams.
Ghost on the field but he's been burried, this bowl game could be a great opportunity for him.
To be fair, Small was a pretty option talent wise for a number 4 WR. Both of those guys would have had to be pretty amazing in practice to get a chance.
I think Cowherd is hated or disliked because of his tone and the way he presents things. He's very blount and stand offish and it's because that's his role he is payed a lot of money to do.
As for the game. I can honestly see the buckeyes winning by 2 TD's. But watch, the national perception won't change, people will just say the Buckeyes played a weak team in the bowl. Even if they are the same people that said Oregon would kill Ohio State.
that's just the reality of a talent-rich program and they know it coming in. you may have been the man in high school, but here you're just another gifted recruit or player. you've gotta make the best of your opportunity otherwise your roster spot will get snatched up for someone hungrier.
yeah, i guess so. he does make some very good points though when you weed out all the admitted homerism.
Consistency is what changes perceptions. If we crush Oregon, we'll be expected to crush Miami next Fall and make a run at the national title. It'll be up to the kids to make it happen if they want it.
Now, Small and Carter were the team’s top two punt return guys, so Dane and/or Posey could figure to be seeing action there on the 1st, while Flash and Saine would likely be the kick return tandem.
Well it wasn't like they were going to make much of a difference in the game on punt returns since the Duck's aren't going to have to punt all afternoon. Lots of work for the KR guys though...
For the record, Cowherd picked Florida at the last minute, LSU and Texas...as far as I can remember he has never missed on games with us...always straight-forward, except when he called us cankle lovers with no lives about a year ago. Anyway, since we got crushed bu FLA, LSU, USC, everyone is kicking us. You got St.Mary's school for the Blind and Sisters of the Poor talking smack....
the cankle remark is out of hound... but he's a pretty smart guy when it comes to picking game.s you can't argue with results.
Oregon got manhandled by Boise State's defensive line. Heyward and Gibson are going to eat Massoli's babies.
Why wouldn't you?
Just from a highschool standpoint.
I always got to keep my All Star Jersey.
Plus, there are pictures of him days after the
game, holding the mvp trophy in the jersey!
Small and Rose filled out car wash applications this week in Cleveland. They don't do drug testing....
I know a guy who bartends near OSU's campus, and he's served Cowherd before. He says Cowherd actually really likes the Buckeyes and Tressel. I was shocked when he told me that because of all the negative things the guy seems to say on the air. But, then again, you don't go into an Ohio State bar and start trashing the football program, either...so, grain of salt?
Cowherd is picking OSU over Oregon.
Oregon's o-line could barely contain Oregon St. And if they think they'll just march down the field at anytime on our D? All homerism aside, I really can't see how Oregon is favored. Sure USC and all, but Oregon plays USC every year. USC was playing its best football of the year when they were in C'bus.
It's good to hear some good buckeye chat. You blog anywhere else and the Oregon/Pac-10/SEC fans have their panties in a bunch. You'd think we all made jokes about them like we do Michigan.
Oh BTW, no way we win the NC w/o MO C. Remember he graduated early to come to summer practice, the hurt shouler, the fact we gave the early rushing TD's to our other RB, him jawing with Tressel about being taken out, "the Great Miami Strip" just to name a few. The kid just wanted his chance to make his millions and couldn't wait one year do it. It's a shame, was, and always will be.