Saturday. Only TWO more of these until your first clicks on 11W will be supplemented with some real live college football.
Here’s something we haven’t talked much about: imagine being a Miami RedHawks player on Sept. 1st. It's Urban Meyer’s inaugural game in the Shoe and the coaching staff’s first opportunity to make a statement regarding the new direction of Buckeye football, all backed by thousands of rabid fans.
Buckle up.
LATE NEWS OUT OF CAMP. Friday marked the first of four two-a-day practices for the Buckeyes this fall. After spending the morning at the WHAC, the team met at a field along Ackerman Road for an afternoon session.
The goal behind the move is to create the atmosphere of an NFL camp, with the team popping pads in a foreign environment and Urban Meyer liked what he saw out of his team on Friday.
"Today was an Ohio State practice," Meyer told the team after the morning practice. "This was an Ohio State practice."
Anyone else ready to run through a wall right now?
The day's big news was the battlefield promotion of freshman corner Devan Bogard. The Glenville product became the first rookie to lose his black helmet stripe, officially becoming an Ohio State football player in the eyes of his coaches. See? Hard work does pays off.
The other good news came as OSU confirmed Evan Spencer will be fine after knocking knees then taking "an awkward next step" in yesterday's practice. Spencer was carted off the field and injuries like a possible ACL tear were being floated but the kid should be back on the field shortly.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? CollegeFootballNews.com ran an interesting piece ranking this season's 20 toughest stadiums for opposing teams. Six Big Ten venues made the list including Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, Kinnick Stadium in Iowa, the renovated pit in Ann Arbor, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Wisconsin’s Camp Randall, and of course, the venerable Horseshoe.
The football temple on the banks of the Olentangy came in at number seven on the list. Here’s what CFN had to say about Columbus' most hallowed ground:
"While the Horseshoe may not be the loudest venue on the planet, it’s steeped in enough tradition and electricity to completely take visitors out of a game. It all begins with the dotting of the “i”, which helps get Buckeyes fans just a little nutty. Columbus is home to one of the three Big Ten buildings that can accommodate at least 100,000 fans, and boasts a rowdy student section that will rattle opposing teams as they approach the end zone. Prior to last year’s swoon in the "Shoe" Ohio State hadn't lost more than a single home game in a season since 2001."
Even USC’s Matt Barkley would agree that number seven seems a little low, but that’s all right because the Buckeyes edged out the sinkhole in Ann Arbor by 9 spots.
The Big Ten venue ranking highest on the list was Wisconsin's at number five. I’ve never been to Camp Randall, so it’s hard for me to judge. All I know is it’s hard for a stadium to get much louder than the Shoe was that night against USC.
Coming in at number one on the list was LSU’s Tiger Stadium. We tried to get the Honey Badger’s perspective, but he was a little burnt out after a long day of Lazy Cakes and packing.
RYAN DAMN SHAZIER. Ryan Shazier is a true sophomore. Say it again, “Ryan Shazier is a true sophomore”. He certainly didn’t look the role of a true freshman last year en route to 33 tackles in his final three games of the season...but he was.
The Shazierhinoceros in his natural habitat.This off-season he has bulked up, adding 25 pounds under Strength Coach Marotti’s program. In addition, according to Buckeye Nation’s Austin Ward, he’s been studying his game, identifying flaws as well as opportunities to improve.
This from Coach Fickell on Shazier:
"He's still that same person, he was a leader from the day he came in. He really has that natural ability to do that. He's going to be in a situation where he has to do it a lot more, so we're going to push him to do that. Definitely a guy that if you try to evaluate how important is football to him, it's up there -- and it shows.”
In terms of rating excitement over a player’s development on this team it goes like this for me: 1. Braxton Miller 2. Ryan Shazier.
I honestly believe Shazier has the opportunity to be listed as the next great linebacker at Ohio State. His nose for the ball is reminiscent of Laurinaitis, and his athleticism and ability to lay the wood remind me of Hawk.
Blasphemy? I don’t think so. I'm pretty sure you're right there with me.
THE GRIND. The Dispatch’s Tim May highlighted some of the changes from a Tressel run camp to that of a Meyer operation.
This from WR Corey Brown:
“It’s more fast-paced than last year. It’s about the same amount of periods, but this is a more well-organized camp, more fast-paced, more like strict camp.”
Other highlights include Meyer ordering 125 air mattresses for players to nap on at the football complex in an effort to have their undivided attention, and moving practice locations outside of the complex from time to time to foster a more “camp-like atmosphere”.
May referenced a tweet from Reid Fragel in the article where the converted offensive tackle said he would “never cherish sleep as much” as he does in camp. Using the tweets of Fragel and others as a barometer, I think it’s safe to say this quote from Meyer is ringing true:
"I can promise you, after Day 4 they're not going to be talking about being 10-0 (heading into the last two games). They're worrying about getting to Day 5.
"It's going to be a really, really hard training camp."
See for yourself.
This from LB walk-on Joe Burger:
When coach Meyer says you got the hard part of camp over with >>>>> then he said just kidding its about to get a hell of a lot harder <<<<<
— Joe Burger (@jburgs37) August 8, 2012
Long days, short nights. Welcome to camp
— Jake Stoneburner (@STONEYeleven) August 9, 2012
Camp flow hardcore
— Jeff Heuerman (@JHeuerman86) August 9, 2012
And this from Mark Pantoni echoing Meyer's practice evaluation:
That was a Buckeye practice today!
— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) August 10, 2012
PREVIEWIN'. CBS Sports recently put together a preview of the 2012 Buckeyes. There’s not a ton of new information here, but what did stick out was the player who CBS identified as the squad’s most important player: Jake Stoneburner.
CBS had this to say about number 11:
The senior should be back in the good graces of head coach Meyer once fall camp starts, with a minor arrest earlier in the summer put behind him. Stoneburner is a vital leader on this team, and someone who will have to be prominent in the passing game while the Ohio State outside receivers develop. Stoneburner was an all-state receiver in high school in Columbus, but grew to 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds as a Buckeye, better suited at tight end. His size and speed compound the issues for opposing defenses, and Stoneburner has a propensity for making the big play -- half of his receptions in 2011 went for touchdowns. He will have to be a constant option for sophomore QB Miller as the Buckeyes evolve into a spread offense team under Meyer.
I don’t disagree that Stoneburner’s presence as a leader will be vital to this team’s success...but most important player? I’m a little skeptical. While I do believe he’ll be a huge weapon across the middle and willl see his fair share of snaps as a wide receiver, I can think of a few other players that might get the nod ahead of Jake.
I PUT THAT IN MY LINK BUCKET. If you watch it backwards, it might be the best thing you’ll see on the Internet today... Do these people know the rest of the country is laughing at them?... Sex questions from seventh graders... It's science—don't question it.
