Derrell Scott Junior Highlights

• Jalin Marshall has been changed from athlete to receiver and is ranked No. 5 at WR
• Devin Hall enrolled early to Ohio State
• John Lilly from Georgia visits Jeb Blazevich
• Mikel Horton unofficially visits Kentucky
• Penn State offers Rahshaun Smith
• Louisville offers Marcelys Jones
• Washington offers Josh Malone
• Michigan offers Demarre Kitt

BN $ - 4-Star O-Tackle High On Ohio State '14 MO OL Roderick Johnson

• Was at the OSU/Michigan game and in the locker room afterwards...plans to visit OSU again...offers from OSU, Michigan State, Michigan, Texas A&M, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. 

BN $ - Nation's Top Guard Sounds Wide Open '14 KS OL Braden Smith

• Talks about how he matched up at the UA Underclassmen Combine...plans to visit TAMU and is hearing a lot from Michigan, TCU and Oklahoma...says he'd also like to see ND and OSU.

Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/11

National Signing Day is rapidly approaching, and Ohio State is giving its best effort to land the athletes needed to compete at the highest levels of college football. The staff is targeting a few key athletes, but the class of 2014 has too much talent to be procrastinated on too.

Head coach Urban Meyer has a plan for the Buckeyes, but it's no secret to anyone what that plan has in store for Ohio State in 2013 and beyond: Building a championship contender, year in, year out. If anyone watched the National Championship game this year, you could easily tell what Coach Meyer was thinking. If the Buckeyes are going to win championships, they have to recruit better, execute better and finish the job.

I can't think of a better way to do that than by getting the best high school players in the country to commit to your school. For Coach Meyer, recruiting is not only a necessity, but a priority to win. From day one of his hiring, Coach Meyer has said that he needs to find playmakers. Whether they're on the team already, or are in future classes, he needs them on the field to perform. So what kind of talent is Meyer targeting?

SB Nation's Patrick Vint did a superb job covering a few of the top athletes in the class of 2013 for Ohio State, where he talked about Coach Meyer's impact on '13 QB JT Barrett and '13 ATH Jalin Marshall:

J.T. Barrett: The Urban Meyer spread offense was built for dual-threat quarterbacks, and the best of them -- Tim Tebow, Braxton Miller -- thrive in Meyer's run-heavy system. Barrett, a quarterback from Wichita Falls, Texas, fits the bill. Barrett chose Ohio State over offers from LSU, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Baylor, and Texas Tech. Rivals rates him the ninth-best dual-threat quarterback in the country.

Jalin Marshall: Jim Tressel built an empire in Columbus by cherry-picking Ohio of its finest talent. Meyer is picking up where Tressel left off with Jalin Marshall, a wide receiver from Middletown. Marshall received five stars from Scout, and is rated the second-best player in Ohio by Rivals (behind OSU commit Cameron Burrows). Marshall held offers from Notre Dame, UCLA and much of the Big Ten, but has been an OSU commit since January 2012.

Speaking of Marshall, Middletown's basketball team is suffering without the excellent talents of the senior. Marshall reported that he suffered a separated shoulder in the Under Armour game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Finally, '14 OL Roderick Johnson has received an offer from Ohio State. Coach Meyer and his staff would really like to sign a couple of offensive tackles in the class of 2014, so it's only good news for Johnson. The 6'7" and 310-pound Johnson is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the country's No. 9 OT and the No. 2 prospect in Missouri. Johnson is also holding offers from Texas A&M, Michigan State, Michigan, Missouri and Iowa. Expect even more interest in Johnson to pick up as the year rolls on.

Ohio State football: Worley joins 2013 recruiting class

Versatile defensive player Christopher Worley of Cleveland (Glenville) became the 22nd member of Ohio State’s 2013 recruiting class when he committed during his official visit today.

Though Worley could not be reach for comment, his high school coach Ted Ginn Sr. confirmed the commitment for The Dispatch, saying “That’s what he intended to do once he got there.”

Worley, 6 feet 2, 195 pounds, could play strong safety at OSU, but he also could grow into outside linebacker size before he’s done, Ginn said.

“They are getting a quality guy and a very intelligent athlete,” Ginn said. “He is a guy who will come in and contribute, and understand the philosophy of Ohio State.”

Urban Meyer: OSU has work to do

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An up-close view of the title game convinced Urban Meyer that the most fundamentally sound team he saw all season won the national championship, even though his team was the nation's only unbeaten squad.

Repeated viewings of the sole game Alabama lost all season also gave the Ohio State coach a better gauge of where the Buckeyes are and where they have to go.

Armed with both sets of information, he and the Buckeyes went back to work earlier this week trying to close the gap with the SEC, which has won seven consecutive BCS national titles -- and a team that has captured three of the past four.

"[Texas] A&M beat them, Georgia could have beat them, LSU could have beat them and they soundly won the national championship," Meyer said Friday during a news conference. "That tells you a little bit about that conference. Where are we? I don't like to deal in speculation, but I think we're a very good team that can compete with any team in the country. I said even after the last game, that's where I believe we are.

"But to say we could roll in there and beat a team like that, first of all I don't want to speculate, and then if I was going to give you a honest answer, I think right now we have too many holes to fill."

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