Eleven Warriors

'The Chase' leading up to National Signing Day 2013 was a very exciting one for Buckeye Nation. Urban Meyer's first full recruiting class, a full compliment of schollies, an undefeated season, and many of the country's top recruits on OSU's board. Many recruitniks coming down the stretch were pre-occupied with Vonn Bell's decision between OSU, Tenn, Georgia, Alabama; Tre Johnson flirting with Auburn;  EZE's courtship with Mizzou, and wondering about Mike Mitchell and a few WR's.

My main interest came in the form of Dontre Wilson. Ever since I found out about the mutual interest (after Chip Kelley started looking into the NFL) I became excited. Wilson, an Oregon commit, came on late and fast, due to the Ducks facing violations and Kelly possibly bolting.

The reason Wilson became so exciting to me is the fact this athelete/RB is of the same mold Oregon has been recruiting with much success over the last 10 years. When he showed interest, the first thing that came to my mind was getting a super-fast Oregon-type athelete out of Tom Herman's territory in Texas who can join our already potent backfield and combine with Braxton to wreak havok on opposing defenses.

Unlike at Oregon, Wilson won't have to worry about his defense getting scored on a majority of drives as Ohio State prides itself on its defense! Imagine a high octane Oregon type offense paired with an SEC-caliber defensive line, LBrs, secondary, all infused with some Buckeye attitude!

In the short time Urban Meyer has been head coach of The Ohio State University, his first full recruiting class ('13) has been one for the ages. From the get-go, it started out with high level nationally ranked players from Ohio (Marshall, Burrows); followed by high level OOS players in Eli Apple,  Joey Bosa, J.T. Barrett; and concluded with receiving commitments from the likes of Vonn Bell, Tre Johnson, Mike Mitchell, and Dontre Wilson. I'd be hard pressed to find a better OSU recruiting class in the last 15 years.

That said, I feel Joey Bosa might be the biggest prize of the class, at least from an out of state perspective. Case in point: 

He comes from St. Thomas Aquinas (FL), one of a handful of elite programs in the entire country.

His measurables are as good as it gets for a DE in HS. 6-5, 270 with a strong cut body.

According to his video he thouroughly mauled and manhandled some seriously high level competition in H.S.

Has strong family ties to Ohio.

He handled the Charles Eric Waugh situation the right way by stating:  'I'm not going to let some weirdo define OSU to me."

Called ichigan 'That team up north' correctly throughout his H.S. carerar.

Insane speed and athleticism for his size and can continue to grow. Plus a nasty disposition.

Very high profile recruit from SEC country with offers from Bama, LSU, Florida, South Carolina, and many others.

 The SEC recruiting landscape is changing right before our eyes! Its been well documented that college football is cyclical and as of the last decade or so, we all know what conference has been at the top of it. Right  now we are on the verge of a new college football cycle and the SEC loosing its stranglehold. Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes are the avante guarde of this new change about to sweep the nation and rid the country of this unfortunate domination.

     Case-in point: Mark Stoops at Kentucky is recruiting hard and showing the conference that the Wildcats aren't the 'Jokers' anymore; L'Ville under Strong has put his stamp on the region with his ass-kicking of an SEC power on national TV in a BCS bowl game and strong recruiting; Tennesee under Butch Jones I predict will make waves in the next couple years on the field and take back the state in recruiting; and Vandy's been hot lately. The 'mighty SEC will start getting watered down a bit in recruiting and dominance (a good thing).

      On the flip side, the whole argument of the SEC being top heavy won't hold much weight though anymore. Alabama will continue to be top dawg down there but Florida after Urban's recruits fade out will flounder under MusCHUMP; South Cacalacky continues to be a 'medioce' team by SEC standards and I don't feel the Ole' Ballcoach has much left in him while fighting a fierce battle with UGA and Clemson for recruits; Georgia's top recruiting foe might very well be OSU which is already a loosing battle; LSU has Les Miles and every year he looks more  and more as a pathetic second-rate coach to Saban, he can pull in all the Louisiana talent but eventually that watering hole will dry up for him as recruits realise he's a fraud; Arkansas has BieLAMEa; Ole' Miss and Mississipi St. will continue to fight for Saban's scraps, all three are non-threats. That leaves Texas A&M as the sole team to upend Saban's control over the conference.

      Add all that to the fact we go to a 'playoff' system in '14 which means the conference champion actually has to work for a NC berth and I say in the next four years the SEC wins maybe one NC and gets knocked back down to earth with the rest of the BCS conferences. I can't wait to see it all play out while Urban Meyer creates a new CFB dynasty in Columbus. We all know the NCAA (and ESPN) won't do anything to make the SEC play on a level playing field so its up to the rest of the country to step up and take this 'mystique' away and start winning championships and now's the time to do it while that conference gets watered down a bit.
 

I've been wondering this for the last few days. Obviously this upcoming season we will have the nastiest, most explosive offense in the country but we loose so much on defense (esp. D-line and LB). Much of the defense's talent is unproven. Will X-Brax 360 and slew of returning offensive talent (plus new recruits) be enough to put us over the top? The passing game should be much improved and add in much more playbook including the 49'ers' 'diamond' formation. Should score the most points in a season since Smith/Ginn's '06 season.

Now for 2014, its kind of the opposite only because we lose so much on the offensive line, although we still have braxton, good RBs and WRs. However the Defense should be absolutely monsterous that year with plenty of built-up high end talent like Spence, Washington, Schutt, Pittman, Bosa, etc. And thats just the D-line! The LBs and secondary will be quite impressive as well.

For a long time I've felt like OSU has had really strong years either offensively or defensively but not at the same time. I feel like if we can get a good offensive line developed by 2014, that would be our strongest chance to have both only because Brax will be a senior beast. We can find some one to fill Hyde's shoes or a good WR, but Braxton is a very rare asset. I say in '14 our strengths will be more balanced between O and D. That being said, I believe we still win a NC in '13 for a # of reasons: 1.) Braxton will be much improved

                                                                        2.) Urban's secnd yr. plus entire coaching staff returns intact.

                                                                        3.) dominant O-line, Hyde, D. smith, Philly all have unfinished business to take care of.

                                                                        4.) Dominant secondary led by Roby and co. plus fresh young talent at D-line and LBer.

If you had to vote for one year, which would be your choice to win it all and why?

I just recently revisited the youtube sensation of  the 'teach me how to dougie' video www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y2JJITwzUo from ESPN's feature series during the 2012 late summer camp, which brought me to the next video of his 'circle drill' www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7GGqIQwjl4 . When I saw them the first time a few months ago I was amped up and charged about what kind of competitive, yet fun atmosphere Meyer brings to the table. Obviously it helped pay dividends over the course of the season along with a great coaching staff and S&G coach Marotti as we are sitting at 11-0 with a stomping of michigan upon us. In chronological order we first saw Urban arrive on campus and denounce (most of)the current Buckeyes as garbage. He then oversaw Marrotti whip these same lackadaiscal players into proper shape over the winter conditioning. Then came the spring game and the competitive fires were fanned (as the circle drill indicates). Next we have the summer where the attrition revs up from the 'posers' who just don't buy-in or can't hack it at this new level of excellence. Then we get to preseason training camp where Meyer allows ESPN access to all the trials and tribulation going on as the season looms. Losts of hard work, competitiveness, brotherhood, top-notch facilities and coaches......and FUN! When I saw the 'Dougie' episode I lost it and at the same time realized how much of an impact the series had on future recruits, 2013,2014, etc. The kids in high schools across the country saw that and appealed to it, believe me. They see a program with the best facilities in the country with the best coaches in the country who get the best out of each player with serious hard work but also in the downtime they can let loose and have alot of fun. The start of the '13 season should be just as fun, just don't expect to see Urban dancing to a Soulja Boy track and 'supamanning dat hoe'.

Its really nice to have such an explosive offense, one that has scored 50+ more times than ever in school history, but the bottom line is, without the dominating defense that we are traditionally used to here in the great state of OHIO, its all just a facade. And that's what makes us uncomfortable. We're in uncharted territory now and we all want to get back to what makes Ohio St. Ohio St. Great defense. I know Urban has a defense-first philosophy, and with good reason: defense wins championships. But what he also brings to the table is a kick-ass offense too. From the looks of things, the explosive offense hasn't been an added burden on our defense, its the defensive coaching and/or players/personell that has been it's undoing. It looks like the defensive side has a ways to go to catch up with the offense. Hopefully it will get closer in '13 for our championship run. The good news is we have been improving on the defensive side of the ball although the offense as a whole won't relinquish its superiority until Brax is gone. I also am very impressed with the way the O-line and recieving corps (formerly corpse) has been kick-ass this year as well. I fully expect this young offense to mature and dominate every game next yr but I'm not yet sold on what the defense will do with losing so much senior leadership. Will we continue to improve or just tread water for another year? Anybody have any input on that?
 

I was just looking back and realized this has to be one of the most maligned classes in recent memory. on paper it was a halfway decent class by OSU standards, coming in at #14 but out of the 20 members, only 12 remain, and of that twelve only half of them are decent/good: Norwell, Hankins, Bryant, Roby. those four I wouldn't trade for anybody in the country. The next tier is occupied by the likes of Rod Smith, Cory "Philly" Brown, J.T. Moore, Verlon Reed, all players that are 'seviceable' at best. Add in two kickers and a Griff and you have a very, very average class which is why Tressel's teams kind of fell off the last several years and he was so desparate to bring in a T.P.  Now, on to the players who fell through the cracks: James Louis WR, Scott McVey LB, Tyrone Williams WR, David Durham LB, Darryl Baldwin DL, Chad Hagan S, Jamel Turner DE, Taylor Graham QB. Here is a complete list of that stroll down memory lane:
http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Season/2010-Football/Commits