Monday Skull Session

By Jason Priestas on April 15, 2013 at 6:00 am
33 Comments

All Mondays are tough, but the Monday following the spring game might be the Everest of Mondays.

We're now in the void. The long days between the spring game and the season opener are always brutal, but are made worse this year due to Ohio State playing its spring game on the 13th of April, the earliest on record.

We're 138 days until Buffalo rolls into town, but that's okay, for we're soldiers. We'll do what we always do and say a quick prayer to protect the team from Fulmer Cup points, break down the spring game for as long as anyone can stand talking about it, and then move on to the dog days of summer, where you'll find exciting features like Team Hair Rankings, July 2013.

Now, about that spring game...

Chris said as much yesterday, but Braxton Miller looked pretty great Saturday. His opening, a 49-yarder to Evan Spencer was a nice deep ball, but the touch he displayed three plays later, when he scrambled and then floated a 20-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith on an altered route was a thing of beauty.

With rules limiting his game-breaking running ability and a throw-first mindset, Miller finished a healthy 16 of 25 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He showed poise, touch – particularly on crossing routes that he's struggled with in the past – and was a vocal leader helping Scarlet to a 31-14 victory.

It's the spring game, so grains of salt everywhere, but Miller certainly looks like a junior with two years in a solid system, learning from a real quarterback coach (this cannot be stressed enough) and the beneficiary of some extra seasoning from quarterback whisperer George Whitfield, Jr.

Defensively, Noah Spence showed why he's been called "unblockable" all spring, racking up three sacks Saturday, while his bookend, Adolphus Washington, notched four sacks on the day. Seven sacks between the two is insane – even within the two-touch context of the spring game – and speaks partly to the talent Spence and Washington will bring to a line replacing all four starters, but also to the nature of plug-and-play spring game offensive lines and the struggles Tyler Decker and Chase Farris had with the two ends on edge rushes.

Fortunately for Ohio State, Decker and Farris will have an entire fall camp of battles with Spence and Washington.

Announced attendance for the spring game was 37,643, the lowest crowd for one of these since 2005. With ongoing stadium work, Ohio State's hands were tied and they picked the sensible venue, hoping to boost recruiting in the Queen City, but it will be nice to see the game return to Columbus next April. If Braxton Miller returns for his senior season and the weather cooperates, there's no reason to believe the attendance won't approach well north of the 62,000 fans Ohio Stadium averaged the last 10 years.

For more 2013 Ohio State spring game coverage, here's our recap, a notebook, photos, and Five Things. Soak it up. Live football is a long way away.

SOON: LANDSCAPE PHOTO DAY. The Gray Team, losers of Saturday's game, did not have to walk back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center from Cincinnati, but they will have to landscape Buckeye Grove, the group of trees planted to honor Ohio State All-Americans on the southwest side of Ohio Stadium.

Not only is this a great motivational and team-building tactic, but it's also a day of Twitter gold. The team hasn't announced the date of the event yet, but prepare yourself for anguish/SMH tweets and photos of your favorite Ohio State football players manning wheelbarrows.

Amir Williams, Gordon Gee and Amadeo Della ValleWhy not? [Via]

Incidentally, this is the second year in a row that Gray will have Grove duty. This year's participants will include Noah Spence, Bradley Roby and Carlos Hyde and others.

TOM CREAN, MATHEMATICIAN and a GENTLEMAN. Indiana sophomore guard Remy Abell is transfering, and that's timely because Hoosier coach Tom Crean has a class of six coming in, but prior to the Abell news, had just five openings on his roster.

Crean isn't coy about his roster math, either.

Between Crean's roster games, his drive-by handshakes, and other childish outbursts, it's little wonder that he's largely considered the Big Ten's least-liked coach, from fans and other coaches, alike.

This tweet from Ohio State assistant coach Jeff Boals was probably not referring to Crean, but we're going to go ahead and assume it was.

CLEMSON ADDS COUNTER HUMINT TO CAPABILITIES. Tajh Boyd and his Clemson teammates will do whatever it takes to win their opener against Georgia:

Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, receiver Sammy Watkins and linebacker Quandon Christian donned sunglasses and hats and made the trek to Sanford Stadium so they could get an early look at their August 31st opponent.

"I had a hat on, some shades, threw some red on," Boyd said. "Some of the kids still recognized us. We wanted to get out there and get at least a half in, but we stayed until the third quarter. It was good."

Messrs. Boyd, Watkins and Christian: We salute you.

 [META] We're pleased to announce the addition of Jeremy Birmingham to the Eleven Warriors team as a recruiting analyst. Those of you that have been with us for a while may remember Jeremy from his time here at 11W. His hard work on the recruiting front led to a position with Buckeye Grove, the Ohio State site on the Rivals network. His work there was outstanding and we're looking forward to great things here.

Please join me in welcoming him back. You can find him on Twitter as @Birm11W.

In other site news, Grant Edgell was kind enough to refresh our wallpaper page. Check it out if you need something pretty to distract you the rest of the day summer.

 ETC. Director of NCAA enforcement leaves to take job with Auburn, which is surely a huge coincidence... Jadeveon Clowney has moved beyond decapitating running backs and is now catching bombs... Disgraced former Rutgers coach Mike Rice is now coaching 12-year-old girls. That makes sense... Long rumored to be gone, Trey Burke is officially bound for the NBA. Peace.

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