Eleven Warriors

Rivalries are one of the crown jewels of college football. The pageantry and anticipation of such games have no equal in sports. The professional game has its share of contests between bitter foes, but collegiate rivalries pit towns, alumni and even families against one another. In Ohio and Alabama, house/divided signs sprinkle the landscape.

One of the sport’s great rivalry games is Oklahoma-Nebraska. The Sooners and Cornhuskers have provided college football with some of its signature games and individual performances. The 1971 game is known as the “Game of the Century” with Johnny Rodgers’ 72-yard punt return regarded as one of college football’s most indelible moments.

But the entire rivalry came crashing down with the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. The teams were put in opposite divisions and only played every few years, taking a bite out of the animosity between the schools and significantly diluting the passion of the rivalry.

When the Big Ten divvied up its divisional alignment after the Cornhuskers became the conference’s 12th member, rivalry games were not a casualty. Jim Delany saw what happened in the Big 12 and vowed the same mistake would not occur to Ohio State-Michigan, Wisconsin-Minnesota and Indiana-Purdue.

The Buckeyes and Wolverines were placed in opposite divisions, but the game stayed on the schedule in sharpie for the final Saturday in November. But the inclusion of Rutgers and Maryland has realigned the divisions. Caught in the crosshairs is the Illibuck. 

Good morning and welcome to the Skull Session. If you're an Ohio State student, welcome to summer!

Tuesday, April 30 was the final day of exams for students in the spring semester, which means that some 60,000 students got to celebrate last night as the 2012-13 school year came to a close¹. The Senior Crawl, traditionally on Thursdays before the switch to semesters, was also last night and gave graduating seniors the opportunity to go up and down High Street visiting establishments one final time.

Binge drinking is not something to condone or take lightly². However, the custom does exist, and take note that plenty of celebrating students don't drink.

On another prestige-related note, the WWE was in town on Monday night for Raw, and ran a skit where the Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neill and Darren Young) deign to visit Urban Meyer's office unannounced. I had no idea how much memorabilia Meyer had in his office. In what might've been another subtle nod to a new Ohio State basketball custom, another wrestler — who ended up winning! — wore Zubaz ironically in the ring. It's a shame it was the wrong color, though.

Speaking of Zubaz (sick segue!), there is some slight news considering a player recently departed from the program. Since Deshaun Thomas declared for the NBA draft, there has been some question over where he will get drafted. He's been slated as a second- rounder for some time because of his between-position size and relative lack of athleticism. This time, however, Thomas lands in the first round at #26 in a CBSSports mock draft. With his scoring ability and presence on very productive Ohio State teams, maybe his star is rising.

Also, now that the NBA Draft entry deadline is past, pre-preseason rankings for the 2013-14 basketball season have some validity. Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated places the Buckeyes at 6th and predicts a Big Ten title caliber team should LaQuinton Ross develop into a consistent, efficient scorer and should Amir Williams flesh out his game.

Keeping the best players in the state of Ohio to play their college football for the Buckeyes is one of the most important, if not the most important jobs of the Ohio State coaching staff.

Lattimore is the top junior in Ohio

Last year the staff was able to land 10 players from the Buckeye state: Jalin Marshall, Cam Burrows, Evan Lisle, Gareon Conley, Jayme Thompson, Billy Price, Donovan Munger, Christopher Worley, Darron Lee, and Tracy Sprinkle.

You could argue the staff is doing even better in the 2014 class. They've already locked up five players from the state of Ohio, including Kyle Berger, Parris Campbell, Kyle Trout, and Sam Hubbard. 

The best sign is they are in very good position with their remaining in-state targets and have lost very few players to rival schools. In fact they've really only missed out on one in-state player, Michael Ferns, who has been committed to Michigan for a couple of months.

Today we are going to take a look at the remaining players the Buckeyes are targeting in the 2014 class from the state of Ohio. Keep reading to learn more about the elite Ohio talents the Buckeyes are still pushing to land.

On the way to seven national titles, 34 B1G championships, and the sixth-most wins in college football history (837), Ohio State fans have seen literally dozens of truly special single-season offensive performances turned in by Buckeye greats.

Reflecting on some of those special performances during a hops-fueled debate a few weeks back, myself and a couple buddies were trying to determine exactly which Buckeye of the modern era (loosely defined as 1970 to today) indeed had the most dominant offensive season.

As you're no doubt aware from your own friendly debates, comparing players across different eras, and even worse, trying to compare a quarterback's single-season greatness to a running back's domination to a receiver's majestic season is an exercise in futility.

Last week, in an effort to identify, by skill position, exactly which Buckeye greats had the most transcendent single-season offensive performance, I took a look at the running backs and my unscientific evaluation determined Eddie George's 1995 Heisman campaign was the single-greatest individual season for a ball carrier, nudging the sensational 1984 exploits of Keith Byars by a nose of the football. 

Today, the wide receivers are on the clock, and next week I'll finish up with the quarterbacks. 

With only four receivers in the history of Ohio State putting up at least 1,000 receiving yards in a single season, it was pretty easy to whittle the group to a final four of David Boston 1998, Terry Glenn 1995, Cris Carter 1986 and Michael Jenkins 2002. 

Where you see only one set of footprints is where Brady Hoke stepped exactly where Charlie Weis once did.

The debate over whether Brady Hoke would be another Rich Rodriguez-mismatch for Michigan should have ended at his introductory press conference.

Unlike his predecessor, Hoke knows exactly what he’s operating in Ann Arbor. He also understands what he’s selling and against whom he’s competing. This is all positive, because Hoke flaming out like RichRod would be counter to Ohio State’s interests, as a weak Michigan helps nobody outside of East Lansing.

Separate from all that, Hoke failing at Michigan is a vacuous, misplaced dream.

He is the archetypical Michigan Man, Ohio roots and all. Hoke was the perfect hire – it's been my position since his hiring, it was my position following last season when it was evident the Wolverines would slide a bit in 2012 and it's my stance until further notice.

From the moment an Ohio Stadium-record crowd of 106,102 roared for three hours, thirty-three minutes on Oct. 6 as Ohio State tallied 63 points on the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Urban Meyer has been smitten.

Few coaches crave winning more than Meyer. But it wasn’t the win that left him so thrilled last October. It was the night game atmosphere that energized the Buckeyes and left recruits longing to be at Ohio State.

The impact was immediate and lasting. Meyer made a call to action to athletic director Gene Smith and the rest of the Big Ten: more night games and pick up the recruiting effort.

Well, today is the last day of April and we will soon be another month closer to August and the start of football. But geez, if May is anything like the last few days have been around the sports world, we're not in for a quiet offseason. 

So let's all talk about the New York Jets' quarterback situation! I'm kidding, of course. The only Jets¹ I would approve of discussing at the moment are the song by Paul McCartney & Wings, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, and this alliteratively named little kid who is apparently going to be in the movie adaptation of Devil's Knot, based on the true story of the West Memphis Three.

Seriously, though, it's been a busy week in sports. While it's been just two days since the Big Ten officially announced its new geographically appropriate divisions, it seems like eons ago, perhaps because it should have happened eons ago and we all knew it was coming, anyway. 

Yesterday brought us the release of ESPN's B1G schedule for prime time, which means we can start putting our Saturday night plans together for the fall. And by that, I mean making spreadsheets to keep track of which games will get our undivided attention and which ones we'll stick on the second TV because, well, Purdue.

To recap, Ohio State will host two night games that will air on ABC or one of the ESPNs: Sept. 28 vs. Wisconsin and Oct. 26 vs. Penn State. The week after the Wisconsin matchup, the Buckeyes will try to ruin Northwestern's Homecoming weekend in yet another night game. 

In case you weren't aware, Eat Too Brutus IV and the Goblet of Fire will be held before the Wisconsin game, while its road show will head to Chicago the following Friday. A friendly reminder: E2B boasts an Urban Meyer-at-Ohio-State-esque perfect record.

Keep in mind, however, that this is just ABC/ESPN's schedule. BTN will unveil theirs next Monday. I know I've got my fingers crossed that Iowa vs. Missouri State on Sept. 7 will get the prime time attention it deserves.

Mottos.

Everybody has one, whether they think they do or not. Sometimes it can be as simple as "if I found it on the ground and it's edible and non-poisonous, you'd better believe that it's got a 65% chance of going in my mouth at some point," or "try to avoid the existential terror of contemplating your place in this universe from both a spatial and practical standpoint."

But either way, it's an omnipresent guiding philosophy that people will usually wildly interpret, leaving you to explain to your mom, in an increasingly irritated tone of voice, that just because it's in Latin doesn't mean that you're a witch and yes, you do like it on your neck as a permanent tattoo (plenty of successful CEOs, US presidents, and professional baseball players had neck tattoos, MOM).

And, like last week, mottos also provide us with a great opportunity to tear down the fanbases of the other B1G teams while simultaneously building ours up, with is always a nice fringe benefit. This week, we will look at the various state mottos of the Big Ten, from the bland to the indecipherable to the bland and indecipherable. Spoiler alert: it's all of them.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer pressed for more night games. The message was well-received from university brass and TV networks with the Buckeyes scheduled to play three night games this season, including two at home for the first time. 

Ohio State will host Wisconsin under the lights in Ohio Stadium on Sept. 28 and Penn State on Oct. 26. The lone night game away from Columbus will take place Oct. 5 at Northwestern. The Wisconsin game is a big one as it will take place after Eat Too, Brutus IV, Eleven Warriors' annual charity tailgate.

In a conversation with Eleven Warriors last week, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith made his intentions clear that he wants the Buckeyes to play more night games at home than on the road. 

"My concern now is we’re always playing two on the road and one at home, which means our guys get home at 3 in the morning twice a year," Smith said. "That’s not just a competitive disadvantage but also a student-athlete welfare issue. So we need to have two at home and one on the road as opposed to suffering the other side of that.

"That was my impetus, Urban’s was recruiting. I agree with that. Our effort is to have a couple night games at home and one on the road, unless we change our television contract. We might look at November night games. But right now I’m very comfortable with having two at home and one on the road."

The atmosphere at the Shoe under the lights is legendary, stemming back to the first night game in Ohio Stadium, a 10-7 win over Pitt in 1985. The Buckeyes have played a total of 12 night games in Ohio Stadium, winning nine. Five of the top 10 largest crowds, including the top two (Nebraska, 2012, which also featured the greatest TBDBITL show of all time; USC, 2008), were on hand for night games. 

Shake and bake, breaking ankles, clowning, or okiedoke freakshow. The term "juke" goes by many names but we all know it when we see it. The ability of one human to make another human think one way then go the other is the most celebrated humiliation in sports. 

Shake and Bake

What makes the move so great is that its appeal spans across a wide breadth of sporting genres. Just take a look at exhibit, A, B and C.

With that said, arguably nowhere is the juke more apparent than on the gridiron.

Over the years, players like Barry Sanders and Michael Vick made it an art form. As they headed onto the field, it seemed it was their personal mission to make their opponents look foolish.

Only the best athletes can collect ankle bones on a regular basis, and Ohio State is lucky enough to have one of them in Braxton Miller.

Miller’s arm and downfield vision continue to develop, but sometimes when a play breaks down he is forced to abandon both of those in favor of what he does best: get shifty.