Wednesday Skull Session

By Chad Peltier on March 6, 2013 at 6:00 am
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Good morning, all. Tuesdays have been extremely kind to Buckeye fans recently. I have the luxury of covering not only a stunning roundball victory in Bloomington, but the start of spring practice

First things first – wow, what a game last night. It's difficult to really single out the performance of any individual player against Indiana. 

The Buckeye relied upon smothering defense from guys like Craft, Scott, and Ravenel, winning the rebounding war 19-12, and getting 14 fast break points.

Of course, Thomas (18 points and 8 rebounds) and Craft (15 points, for rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals) led the way statistically, always seizing control at pivotal moments in the game. 

For instance, Indiana had closed to within two at 50-48 and just over seven minutes left in the game, but Craft and Thomas scored nine of the Buckeyes' next 11.

While I'm just happy letting this win sink in for a little while, the Buckeyes still have Illinois to go. Unfortunately we must also root for Michigan to win over Indiana in order to clinch yet another Big Ten title. Level-headed Deshaun understands it must be done: 

"We have to root for them (the Wolverines). They rooted for us last year and I'm sure they rooted for us this year," Thomas said. "Now we're going to have to root for them, and hopefully they can knock them (Hoosiers) off at their place."

My primary takeaway from this game was just how different this team looks today compared to when they lost back-to-back games against Michigan and Indiana in early February. Call it veteran leadership by Craft and Thomas or a heck of a coaching job by Matta, but I'm extremely impressed with the Buckeyes' poise and resilience in an incredible Big Ten. 

 SPRING TIME IS HERE. It's a beautiful day when we get to talk about the start of spring football in addition to a huge basketball win. 

This spring will be about establishing an inexperienced defensive front seven and implementing some new wrinkles in a non-clown show offense. It's hard to take too much away from just a single day of spring practice, but there are a few noteworthy performances to pass along. 

Dealing with the bad news first, it's now apparent that Se'Von Pittman's absence from practice yesterday wasn't just because of a conflicting test or something similar – Pittman will be transferring. Another program (potentially Louisville) will be getting the former four-star defensive end. At least the Buckeyes have now gotten down to 82 scholarship players. Best of luck, Se'Von.

In brighter news, the Buckeyes welcomed back Jordan Hall. By all accounts he looked natural at H receiver, catching everything that came his way.

Tyvis Powell also had a big day after being Coombs' favorite yelling target last year. Powell came up big as the first-team Star. This is especially important as the Buckeyes will operate out of the base 4-2-5 nickel a lot next season. 

There were also some notable number changes: Evan Spencer to #6, Devin Smith to #9, Adam Griffin to #11, and Ron Tanner to #20. 

Braxton's footwork in particular looked fantastic, with Meyer saying he had a "heckuva day." It also is looking like Braxton's training with Whitfield isn't over yet, either – according to UGA quarterback Aaron Murray, both he and Braxton Miller will be working with Whitfield over spring break. 

In addition to Hall looking good in the slot, it's encouraging that Michael Thomas looked sharp running routes. 

Finally, Ross also reported some of my favorite news on the day: 

Interestingly, OSU also ran inside zone read from the pistol. Urban Meyer is thus fulfilling his promise to install nuggets he picked up from analyzing the San Francisco 49er run game. This also allows OSU to stay in their pre-snap look without any last-minute tailback motion.

You have to wonder if Meyer's recent praise of Vannett and Heuerman means that a diamond package is in the works.

What would the 2013 Buckeyes look like with this guy mauling people? It's time for Pace to take his spot on the CFB HoF

 GARDNER WILL BE BACK FOR MORE. After deciding that they loved seeing Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner get sacked by Zach Boren too much to only give him one more year as a Wolverine, the NCAA granted Gardner a medical redshirt for his 2010 season. 

This gives the former 4-star quarterback two years remaining as a Wolverine, which excites Those Fans Up North to no end

My only concern with this move is that I was really looking forward to seeing Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington sack Shane Morris. If Morris doesn't take over the reins until 2015, then it's possible that Washington and Spence could be gone by then. Sigh. 

It's been an unfortunately great offseason for UM, with a top ten recruiting class, a fifth year for OT Lewan, and now Gardner's medical redshirt.

 GET INTO THE HALL. This year's College Football Hall of Fame ballot was released yesterday and once again the question is whether Pace (and former Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier) will be snubbed yet again.  

While Pace and Frazier absolutely deserve to be inducted this year, the class should be loaded with all-stars. Here's what the release had to say about Orlando: 

Orlando Pace, Ohio State-Offensive Tackle-Two-time unanimous First Team All-American and first player in history to win Lombardi Trophy twice…1996 Outland Trophy winner who led Buckeyes to share of 1996 Big Ten title… Did not allow a sack during his last two seasons

Not too shabby. 

 HARTLINE IS ABOUT TO MAKE SOME PAPER. Miami Dolphin and former Buckeye wide receiver Brian Hartline is close to signing a deal that would make Hartline a very, very wealthy man. 

As the Dolphins attempt to keep Hartline from floating around as a free agent, Fox Sports is reporting that the two parties are nearing a deal that would place Brian at the very top of NFL receivers. The multi-year contract would average somewhere between $6 and $6.5 million per year. 

While the deal isn't finalized yet and Hartline has had big years for the Dolphins, who would have thought that Hartline would be making more money in the NFL than Ted Ginn Jr.? 

 SPRING LINKS. The case against BPI... Stats guru Bill Connelly appears on The Solid Verbal... BREAKING: Clowney is still a freak of nature (in a good way)... CBS Mock Draft has Hankins just under consideration for first round... Now or never QBs for spring (AKA B1G QBs not named Braxton)... EzE sets the record straight... Spurrier no!... Petrino begins anew. 

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