Hey guys and gals, I want to take this time to thank all my readers and to thank 11W for allowing me to do this. I won't be available this weekend, but I will still be able to start the Quick Bits threads, here is where you guys & gals come in. If you feel like you want to that is, add anything you see or hear in the comments. I will be able to do a final update late night, before midnight. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up in case they scratch their heads and wonder why the thread hasn't been updated, like I do usually. Thanks for understanding and as always thanks for reading.

Newly Offered: Dallis Todd

Meyer Targeting Oregon Recruits

• @GerdOzone Not sure when the OSU recruits from TX and FL get in today, but it took me 90 mins to get from Gahanna to the north side, so... #Snow
• @marcushartman 4-star lineman Donovan Munger affirms commitment to Ohio State, reports @BillBankGreene http://ohiostate.scout.com/a.z?s=145...=1&nid=5547729
• @alex11w Greene also says Donovan Munger has re-affirmed to #OhioState after visiting #FloridaState last week 
• @JShankerESPN #OhioState has offered 2014 WR Dallis Todd from California. Teammate of OSU offered TE Tyler Luatua
• @Derek11W DeSoto's Coach Mathis says Dontre Wilson officially visiting #OhioState as planned. No surprises. On plane now. Rest easy.
• @Miles11W Buckeye LB commit Trey Johnson told me rumor he was taking an official to # Tennessee this weekend isn't true.
• 2014 LB Nile Sykes @Ninth__Cloud Coach ward just stopped by ! #Illinination stand up
• Kent State offers Dareian Watkins, Daniel Cage, Tinashe Bere & Mikel Horton
• Duke offers Jacques Patrick
• Auburn offers Lorenzo Carter
• Georgia offers Andrew Williams
• Mark Smith from Michigan visits Ashton Jackson
• Brady Hoke from Michigan visits Mikale Wilbon, Jamarco Jones & Enoch Smith Jr.
• Mark Stoops from Kentucky visits Drew Barker
• Brad Lawing and D.J. Durkin from Florida visits Da'Shawn Hand
• Deke Adams from South Carolina visits Norcross (Ga.) (Kevin Mouhon, Myles Autry & Lorenzo Carter)
• Dave Warner from Michigan State visits Dominique Booth
• Ezekiel Elliott officially visits Missouri
• James Clark & Dontre Wilson officially visits Ohio State
• Kyle Trout unofficially visits Ohio State
• Dan Skipper officially visits Ole Miss 
• Cameron Hunt officially visits California 
• Vonn Bell officially visits Tennessee 
• Darren Carrington officially visits Arizona State
• Ryan Timmons will use last official visit for Florida on Feb 1st. I'm thinking he can unofficially visit with his coach, he's been to OSU a few times already.

BN $ -Bucks Ready To Offer Another OL? '14 OH OL Kyle Trout

• By BK...has been told by Coach Warriner that he was ready to offer and just has to get Coach Meyer's approval...Coach Fickell has also been fighting for him to get an early offer.

24/7 $ - Munger Meets With Meyer, OSU Staff '13 OH DT Donovan Munger

• Interview with his trainer...met with Meyer, Vrabel and Drayton last night and his trainer thinks he will sign with OSU.

BN $ - Timmons: Big Decision This Weekend '13 KY ATH Ryan Timmons

• By BK...will decide this weekend if Florida or OSU will get his last official although if Florida he could still make an unofficial to OSU with his coach.

Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 1/25 - Kyle Berger on deck? (land grant holy land)

Time is running out for the class of 2013, and the Buckeyes are making some of their final moves for this year's class. Will Urban Meyer and his staff have time to secure one or two more potential playmakers?

It was an action packed Thursday for Urban Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff. Before we get into the nitty gritty, let's take a quick run through of some of the takeaways from the day that was in Buckeye recruiting:

• We mentioned Dontre Wilson visiting Ohio State this weekend yesterday. His father's implied that he could commit (or in Oregon's case, recommit) to a school, depending on the visit goes, as soon as this weekend.
• 2014 T Kyle Trout will be visiting the Buckeyes this weekend as well.
• '14 T Donell Stanley is expected to meet with North Carolina this weekend, but we learned he already met with Ohio State earlier this week.
• As confirmed by our Zach Clark, former Ohio State target LB James Hearns decommitted from Florida over what was rumored to be his inability to qualify. It's unlikely Ohio State will be interested as their student athlete admittance standards are roughly equal to that of the Gators.

@mjones__65 not too sure right now, Looking at a few other schools but lookin hard at the #buckeyes

— Kyle Berger 3⃣9⃣ (@K_Bergs) January 24, 2013

'14 OLB Kyle Berger mentioned on Twitter yesterday that he's thinking hard about becoming a commitment in the class of 2014 for Ohio State. '14 OL commit Marcelys Jones is clearly trying to get Berger to come to Ohio State, something that this coaching staff hasn't shied away from: getting the right kind of guys who can serve as living billboards to others to help create an even bigger and better class. Berger had 44 tackles for loss and 10 sacks this past season alone. Check out Berger's recently updated highlight tape:

The Buckeyes also gave an offer out to '14 CB D.J. Smith which must have made a serious impact on him as he tweeted it almost immediately after the offer took place:

GOT OFFERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF OHIO STATE TODAY!! #BuckeyeNation!!!

— ¡VeintiUNO! (@DJ_Smith_smith) January 25, 2013

If you're concerned about him getting the words mixed up, I wouldn't look into it too much; he later corrected himself on the tweet. The 6'0", 180-pound corner clearly impressed the staff, as evidenced by the early offer.

Check out Smith's highlights from last year right here:

Canzano: Oregon coaching staff turns into 'Seven Samurai' vs. Ohio State (oregon live)

The story of the "Seven Samurai" features a village of Japanese farmers who hire seven lone-wolf samurai to defend their crops against a gang of marauding bandits who intend to invade after the harvest.

Now, pay attention: Oregon's football program is the farm village, the Ducks coaching staff are the samurai warriors and Ohio State is playing the role of the bad-guy marauder. Got all that?

I bring this up because in the hours after ex-Ducks coach Chip Kelly announced his intention to leave the farming villa..., rather, the University of Oregon, newly hired coach Mark Helfrich dispatched his entire seven-member coaching staff out as one unit, himself included, making group appearances in front of the Ducks spring recruit commitments. Helfrich did this as the band of maraud..., I mean, Urban Meyer and his Buckeyes staff, descended upon UO's recruiting harvest, salivating like Pavlov's dog. 

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Urban Meyer Has Been Hounding Oregon Commits Since Chip Kelly Left (The big lead)

Urban Meyer is no gentleman, especially when he smells blood. Last year, the Ohio State coach raided Penn State’s class amidst catastrophe. This year, he’s gunning for Oregon in the wake of Chip Kelly’s departure. As soon as the news was announced, Meyer had minions in California unsettling Oregon commits.

Dontre Wilson, a 5-foot-10, 174-pound running back from Texas, committed to Oregon last spring. He now plans to visit Columbus this weekend. Meanwhile, Ohio State celebrated Kelly’s NFL announcement by rushing Buckeyes offensive coordinator Tom Herman to San Diego to visit four-star wide receiver Darren Carrington Jr., another UO recruit. Also in San Diego, Ohio State offered two more critical Oregon commitments, twin basketball/football stars Tyree and Tyrell Robinson, scholarships after the Eagles-Kelly business went public.

For those keeping score, that is every single four-star Oregon commit from outside the state of Oregon. Mark Helfrich’s staff, in response, is reportedly traveling as a seven-man unit termed “the Magnificent Seven” to shore up commitments and land recruits before Signing Day.

Recruiting Rundown: What’s Left for Ohio State (the ozone)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Who is still out there for the Buckeyes?

That is a question we get every day, if not every hour, as National Signing Day draws ever closer. Michael will have a closer look at some of the kids Ohio State is still positioning itself to sign for the class of 2013, but this expected to be another big weekend for Urban Meyer and his staff.

Here’s a rundown of where things stand and who is still out there in the 11th hour.

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Team Rankings: Mapping the path to No. 1 (rivals)

5. OHIO STATE
Current class rank: No. 4
Current points: 2,684
Spots remaining: At least three
Breakdown: Ohio State is not a clear leader for any prospect who is going to move their point total much. To have a shot at No. 1, the Buckeyes need Dontre Wilson, Vonn Bell and Cameron Hunt. But those three together would only get Ohio State to 2,888 points. Dan Skipper and Ryan Timmons are the Buckeyes' two most likely commits, and neither would push their class forward. As far as the race for No. 1, landing Bell would be more relevant to hurting Alabama's chances and opening the door for Florida and Notre Dame.
Title shot: Ohio State's chances boil down to Urban Meyer's history of closing hard and pulling surprises around National Signing Day. But even if the dream scenario above works out, the Buckeyes would still need to land a highly ranked prospect who is not currently on the radar. They have little chance at No. 1, but they do have a slight chance to put a total point number near 2,900, meaning they make this list, long shot or not. 

Urban Meyer is coming after Oregon’s top recruits after Chip Kelly left (Yahoo Sports)

If you told Urban Meyer that you just lost your job, he would probably immediately wonder if there was a foreclosure sale that he needed to keep an eye out for.

Meyer is an opportunist. In college football, that can pay off big. And when Chip Kelly left Oregon to take the head coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles, he apparently found a chance to pounce.

The Ducks recruit very well, with the sparkling facilities, recent success and the shine from all that Nike gear. If a coaching change was going to cause those top recruits to have second thoughts before signing day, Meyer was going to exploit it.

The Oregonian's John Canzano reported that as National Signing Day approaches Ohio State has descended upon "UO's recruiting harvest, salivating like Pavlov's dog," and is actively pursuing at least four of the Ducks' top recruits.

The Big Lead pointed out that the four listed by The Oregonian - running back Dontre Wilson, receiver Darren Carrington, and athlete twins Tyree and Tyrell Robinson - is every four-star recruit Oregon has on its commitment list from outside the state of Oregon. Not only is Meyer going after Oregon, he's not being subtle about it. The Oregonian said that after Kelly announced he was going to the NFL, the Buckeyes "rushed" offensive coordinator Tom Herman to San Diego to talk to Carrington. All's fair, it seems.

New Oregon coach Mark Helfrich had his seven-man coaching staff travel as one unit to see the Ducks' recruits face to face to keep the recruits, The Oregonian reported.

Last year, then-Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema publicly ripped Meyer for his recruiting practices. But Meyer obviously doesn't care and isn't going to change his methods. Some might think what Ohio State is doing is classless. Others will think it's just part of the cutthroat world of college football recruiting, and point to Meyer's success as proof that what he does pays off.

Either way, Oregon can't get caught up in a moral argument. It has to fight to keep some important recruits.

Urban Meyer on the hunt for Duck recruits (nbc Sports)

It didn’t take long after Chip Kelly‘s abrupt about-face for other schools to take aim at Oregon’s 2013 recruiting class.  Specifically, USC and Ohio State were looking to poach several high-profile recruits from what many were looking upon as a lame duck, so to speak, recruiting class.

A week and a half away from National Signing Day, the Buckeyes are ratcheting up the pressure on new UO head coach Mark Helfrich‘s attempts to keep the class from tumbling even further into mediocrity.

UO’s 2013 class, which ranks anywhere between 25th and 36th depending on the recruiting service, contains verbal commitments from four out-of-state players who carry four-star rankings.  Starting the day Kelly left for the NFL, Urban Meyer and his OSU coaching staff has gone hard after every single one of those four-star recruits.  From The Oregonian’s John Canzano:

Dontre Wilson, a 5-foot-10, 174-pound running back from Texas, committed to Oregon last spring. He now plans to visit Columbus this weekend. Meanwhile, Ohio State celebrated Kelly’s NFL announcement by rushing Buckeyes offensive coordinator Tom Herman to San Diego to visit four-star wide receiver Darren Carrington Jr., another UO recruit. Also in San Diego, Ohio State offered two more critical Oregon commitments, twin basketball/football stars Tyree and Tyrell Robinson, scholarships after the Eagles-Kelly business went public.

Suffice to say, Urban Meyer (pictured) knows how to successfully navigate the recruiting trail — his 2013 class is currently No. 2 according to 247Sports.com and Scout.com, No. 4 according to Rivals.com — so there’s much concern about Helfrich’s ability to retain the upper-tier of what’s now his class.

As was the case the day of Kelly’s departure, though, it’s not all negative recruiting-wise for the Ducks as the crown jewel of UO’s class this year, five-star running back Thomas Tyner, is expected to follow through on his verbal commitment and sign with the Ducks early next month.

How many of his fellow high-profile commits follow suit, however, remains to be seen, especially with the dogged Meyer hot on their scent.

Ohio State Football Recruiting: Updates on Potential Buckeyes for 2013 Season (bleacher report)

With national signing day less than two weeks away, the rumors surrounding the 2013 recruiting class are flying in.

With Urban Meyer being one of the best recruiting coaches in all of college football, he'll be looking to add to his No. 4-ranked recruiting class (via ESPN Insider).

Here are some updates on potential Ohio State signees.

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