Eleven Warriors

Columbus (OH) Harvest Prep WR Zach Yousey (6-2/190) took in the Ohio State-Cal game this past weekend. Here is the latest:

• Yousey currently holds six offers: Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Illinois, Miami (OH), and Toledo. He is receiving interest from many Big Ten programs and that interest is starting to heat up.
• Urban Meyer and Mark Pantoni invited Yousey to come to the California game. Wisconsin's Zach Azzanni is in frequent touch. Purdue has invited Zach to a game as well.
• Said the visit was great and he loved the atmosphere
• Said OSU wants to see a mid-season highlight tape and will then determine if they are offering or not
• Yousey said he gets the vibe that OSU will offer him once they get his film
• He is unsure of how many more receivers the staff is taking

I think right now Yousey is a back-up option in case OSU misses on Shelton Gibson, James Quick, Ryan Timmons, Corn Elder, MarQuez North, and a few others mentioned on the list. At this point I can't envision him ending up in Columbus, but I do think he can play somewhere in the Big Ten.

Just thought it would be interesting to give everyone a look at the veteran players currently on the roster (non-true frosh) who were recruited by Urban at Florida. These were players who had offers from Meyer when he was the head coach. There were some others on last year's roster, but I thought it was interesting that Meyer now gets to coach these players after missing out on them while in Gainesville.

• DE Michael Bennett
• WR Corey "Philly" Brown
• LB Curtis Grant
• DT Joel Hale
• DT Jonathan Hankins
• RB Carlos Hyde (when at Naples before prep school)
• QB Braxton Miller
• LB Etienne Sabino
• LB Ryan Shazier
• TE/WR Jake Stoneburner

Not a bad list, eh?

Ohio State punter commit, Johnny Townsend of Orlando (FL) Boone made his second trip up from the Sunshine state to Columbus to check out Friday Night Lights. Here are some notes gathered after talking to the rising senior about his latest visit:

• Went up with his whole family and spent six days in Ohio. Attended a baseball camp and also got to see more of the campus, surrounding area, and city of Columbus.
• Called FNL "awesome" and said it was a "incredible experience"
• It was his first time working out inside Ohio Stadium and it was great. He got to work 1-on-1 with Urban Meyer and said "he taught me a lot of things I didn't know. I can't wait to get up there and work with him full time".
• Got to meet Joey Bosa, which was nice because they are both Florida guys. Said the opportunity to get around and meet all the other commits was difficult, but he keeps in touch via Facebook and other outlets like that.
• Said he is trying to help recruit the remainder of the class. Called OSU "an incredible program and place" and he's trying to spread that word. WR Levonte Whitfield and WR Tony Stevens are two players in his area he is trying to get to come to Ohio State.
• He never had second thoughts or regretted his decision, but this trip to Columbus made him even more sure of his choice to become a Buckeye. He got to tour the campus further and meet more with the coaches this time around and it made him "feel even happier about becoming my decision".
• He's not sure exactly when his next visit will be to Columbus, but he said he will try to make it to one or two games this fall.
• His team starts practice on Monday and this season he will punt and play some linebacker and safety.

Townsend showed off his leg in front of the fans at the Horseshoe on Friday and those on hand were very impressed. He has a great chance to start as a true freshman next season for the Buckeyes and we will check in with him throughout the fall to keep you updated on his senior season.

Bucknuts has a great story posted about the Cherish the Moment gala supporting the Kids & Kamp charity in which Jim and Ellen Tressel were the guests of honor. NBC4 was there to cover the event where 13 of Tressel's former players at Ohio State came and surprised him at the event which featured over 300 attendees and raised over $30,000. 

Here are some videos from the event, courtesy of NBC4:

Had the pleasure of catching up with Buckeye commit RB Ezekiel Elliott of John Burroughs HS in St. Louis, Missouri. Elliott was on campus this weekend for his first visit since committing a few months ago. Here are some notes from hsi trip:

• Had an absolute blast being back on campus and hanging out with various players, recruits, and coaches.
• Did not participate in camp, but he was on the side lines watching all of the prospects during the day
• Said he was extremely impressed with 2014 TE Jeb Blazevich as well as a 2013 WR that was very fast, although he didn't catch his name (guessing Taivon Jacobs or Ryan Timmons)
• Hung out with Jayme Thompson, David Perkins, Doran Grant, Noah Spence, and Mike Thomas the most this weekend
• No plans on his next visit to Columbus, but most likely will be in the fall for a game

Elliott continues to impress this summer as he hits mroe camps and combines. He was invited to Nike's The Opening which takes place next Thursday, as well as the Girdiron Kings Event. He brings versatility to the Buckeyes' offense in the sense that he can line up in the backfield as a true back, or move out to the slot and do some work as a receiver. He should be an excellent compliment to Bri'onte Dunn/Warren Ball and I am looking forward to seeing him in a Buckeye uniform.

Caught up with current Ohio State commit S Jayme Thompson of Toledo Central Catholic and wanted to give you all the run down on what the future Buckeye had to say:

• Came down Friday and went home today (Saturday).
• Said it was fun as always and he really enjoyed being around the coaches and some of his future teammates
• Spent the most time with Ezekiel Elliott who is also in Columbus this weekend, as well as with Noah Spence
• Didn't fully work out at camp, but participated in the "combine" part of the camp and tested
• Ran a 4.45 second 40-yard dash. This should silence the doubters who were concerned about the 4.72 he logged last year at the Nike camp that gave him a bad rap when it came to speed. Jayme said he was having trouble starting that day which affected the time, and I look for him to be around a 4.5 guy.
• Picked up some new techniques today that he plans to work on back at home. Other than that, just improving all aspects of his game.
• Said most impressed with 2014 TE Jeb Blazevich

The more I see on Jayme and the more I hear from these camps, I think the Bucks are getting a very solid talent. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does on the field this fall.

Here is Coach Meyer's statement, just released from OSU:

“I was pleased to take part in a productive, regularly scheduled meeting of the Big Ten Conference coaches today in Chicago. We had an opportunity to discuss a number of issues with each other and conference staff, including those that have arisen this week. It should be noted that my coaching staff is in full compliance with our recruiting efforts, and no one on this staff did anything illegal or unethical. We will continue to comply with NCAA rules and recruit with relentless effort, especially the great state of Ohio. “I want to thank Commissioner Delany for his insight and leadership, and at this point we all look forward to moving past this week and getting ready for the start of spring football.”

I'd say overall, things look pretty similar, subtracting the records. The OSU staff put TP in a better position to make throws he was capable of making in 2008 compared to BM in 2011, which is why I think you see the more yards, higher YPA, higher QBR, and less rushes through 12 games.  

Pryor had a better supporting cast (as well as coach) and it clearly shows through the records and the stats. Things will go up for Miller and I think his second year and third year wil bothl be better than Pryor's, which is scary, because we are talking about a guy who would have broke almost all OSU QB records and has these awards on his list:

Awards and honors
2007 Hall Trophy (U.S. Army Player of the Year)
2007 PARADE National Player of the Year and All-American
2008 Pete Dawkins Trophy (U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP)
2008 U.S. Army All-American MVP
2008 Big Ten Freshman of the Year (coaches)
2008 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media)
2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Sportsmanship Award
2009 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
2009 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media)
2010 Rose Bowl MVP
2010 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (coaches and media)
2010 Big Ten MVP runner-up
2011 Miller-Digby Award (Sugar Bowl MVP)

I will continue to update this as the season goes on, but it's pretty interesting to take a look at Terrelle Pryor's freshman year in 2008 and Braxton Miller's freshman year in 2011. Keep in mind Miller didn't play in the Akron game, while Pryor played in every game, so we will compare by games played in by the individual, not team games.

Here is your chart through  games:

As we hit the 10 game mark for Braxton, you can see the difference more clearly in the passing numbers. While both players threw 9 TDs in their first 10 contests, Miller trails Pryor by over 300 yards through the air. That being said, he ran for 145 more yards than TP, for a net difference of 169 yards, with one more total touchdown.

Obviously, the question is what do you make of this. Are the numbers that different in the passing game where Miller's record as a starter is 4-4 and Pryor's was 6-1 at the 10 game mark? I think the passing game with TP as a freshman definitely helped out a bit, but I think the other factors including lack of weapons on offense and off-field situation have been the major influencer of the poor record on Miller's part.

No guarantees, but you'd have to imagine if Tressel was still at the helm, the Bucks would probably look closer like the 8-2 team Pryor had through 10 games, rather than the 6-5 team Miller has through his 10 games played.

What say you Buckeye faithful?

While we load Fickell's presser to the main page, be sure to check out what the rest of coaches had to say on Day 1 of Big Ten Media Days. Click each coach's name below to see the video streaming straight from the Big Ten Network, who did a great job showing these live all day long. Be sure to check out 11W for more to come soon from today's Big Ten Media Days where Chris and Jason were hard at work.

• Ron Zook
• Bret Bielema
• Danny Hope
• Kevin Wilson
• Joe Paterno
• Pat Fitzgerald
• Brady Hoke
• Bo Pelini
• Kirk Ferentz
• Mark Dantonio
• Jerry Kill

And the best part is that it never gets old when Brady Hoke calls OSU "Ohio". NOT!