Eleven Warriors

With yesterday's announcement that Ohio State will kickoff against the Cal Bears out in Berkeley at 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 14th, the Buckeyes now have four or their five known kick times slotted for primetime. 

Urban wanted more night games. You wanted more night games. Everyone's a winner. I suppose it's fair to note the Cal game is just an afternooner on the left coast but more than a few evening television sets in the east will be watching the Buckeyes. 

The more subtle outcome of this announcement is that all college football fans win now that we can watch Alabama at Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. EDT followed by The Braxton Miller Show in primetime. Just adjust the contrast on your TV to make that bright Cali sunshine look like the moon or a glowing orb shaped like Woody's head or something.  

In other Buckeye news, Ohio State announced a pretty cool initiative that gets underway this morning:

"On Thursday, representatives of The Ohio State University, including football coach Urban Meyer, members of the football team, and the Office of Student Life will join with Lowe’s to dedicate a completely renovated playground at Graham Expeditionary Middle School near campus.  The dedication is set for 12:30 p.m."

"This new playground is part of a "Play it Forward" initiative that has provided the logistical coordination, resources, and materials for the renovation.  Play it Forward is a new partnership between The Ohio State University Football Program, the Ohio State Office of Student Life, Lowe's, and local schools in Columbus."

Reminds me of back when we were kids and playground installers trolled us hard with white-hot slides. I just assumed that since those days technology had advanced to the point where something could have a slippery surface yet not heat up to magma-like temperatures but I guess not. 

It's Wednesday, so it's time for some data analysis and bad puns of terrible romantic comedies. 

OSU will need Philly Brown to have a lot of these in '13

This week I'm taking a look at Ohio State receivers: what the typical OSU receiver looks like, how much they produce for the offense, how the receiving rotation has worked, and what Meyer might expect for next season. 

The abysmal passing offense in 2011 was broken in almost every facet, from sloppy quarterback mechanics, scripted play calling, receivers who didn't get open, and a line that allowed far too many sacks. 

However, the lows of the 2011 season made the highs of 2012 that much better. Devin Smith and Corey Brown emerged as legitimate receiving threats, Braxton got more comfortable, and the offense was actually designed to score points this time. 

Thanks to a great dataset, we can take a closer look at how well each receiver did in 2012 and what we might expect in 2013. The good news? The only real loss to the receiving core was Jake Stoneburner, and he finished a distant third on the team in almost every receiving statistic of note. 

The even better news? Ohio State has a fantastic crop of receivers coming in that should immediately challenge for a slot in receiving rotation. 

When I was a younger man, I often struggled with the greater questions in life, the existential, the "big picture" stuff.

Ah... the 90s.

I'd lay awake night after night, searching for answers to questions that I simply, for whatever reason, could not comprehend. I turned, as I often did as a youngster, to my brother; he seemed to have an answer to everything.

"Why, brother of mine, why is it important that Ohio State be better than Michigan in everything? Isn't it really just the score of the game on the football field and basketball court that matters?"

He'd ponder and ponder he would. My brother was never one to speak without thinking, but he'd always come back to the same inevitable point. 

"Jeremy," he'd say. "We're from Ohio, and we have to be better because Ohio is just better. So, if it's football, we need to dominate them, if it's basketball, we need to destroy them. If it's badminton, we need to stomp their shuttlecock into oblivion, it's just that simple. If it's a cooking contest, I want their soufflé burnt to a crisp."

Now I was an impressionable youth, as were many who grew up in Ohio, and my brother was the person I looked up to the most in the whole world, so I never doubted or questioned his logic. My formative years – the 1990s – were hardly kind to anyone who followed Ohio State and its rivalry with Michigan. I was there when we celebrated one of the "greatest wins ever" against Michigan in 1992, a 14-year-old boy who then realized how vital it was not let "that state up north" get the better of you in any way, shape or form. As it were, the John Cooper era forced me to start focusing on an area of athletic competition that I, at the time, had never really put me thought in to: recruiting.

Admit it. You watch the Buckeyes on TV, analyzing their every play, and internally you're congratulating yourselfafter every touchdown.

Your savior has arrived, Tom

"Pssh. Exactly what I would've done. Maybe a secret organization is picking up my toughts and relaying them to Tom Herman and Urban Meyer. Is that real? Is that a thing that exists? ...Nah. Maybe?"

And then a few seconds afterward you start to think "tight end sweep" or something equally ridiculous really really hard in the faint hope that your brilliant scheme will reach the Ohio State football staff, and they will immediately implement your perfect plan for victory.

Don't even lie. I know you do it. You do it now, even though one of the greatest offensive minds in college football is the head coach and has one of the biggest offensive wunderkinds this side of Gus Malzahn helping to guide the likes of Braxton Miller and Philly Brown to their ultimate destinies as champions and Heisman winners. And if you do it with them, you were definitely second guessing Jim Bollman on a regular basis.

But that's okay! I do it too, and that's all part of being a fan. We second guess everyone and everything, even when things go literally perfectly (like, 12-0 perfect). It's in our miserable, wonderful nature to want to be the guy that a desperate Urban Meyer eagerly hands his headset to in order to beat Michigan with some dumbass triple reverse fullback option Hail Mary for a 99 yard touchdown.

And you know what? They should be so lucky to have us! We're smart! We watch football! You don't have to be a Ross Fulton to know which way the football bounces, dammit.

Screw it. Urbz and Hermz, I'm gonna do you a solid. Four Johnny Ginter specials, whipped up on the fly, guaranteed to score touchdowns and make womanly tears drip from your stony Cormac McCarthyian faces.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

Eleven Warriors' coverage of the upcoming 2013 season of Ohio State football continues with its weekly profiles of the incoming freshman in Ohio State's 2013 recruiting class, the first such full recruiting class for Urban Meyer and his staff. The fifteenth installment of the fifth edition of this now 24-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye profiles Tyquan Lewis.

Tyquan Lewis

Tyquan Lewis, a weakside defensive end prospect from Tarboro, North Carolina, fell in love with Ohio State and its campus shortly after visiting for a camp in the first week of June. That Everett Withers and, especially, Urban Meyer were huge hits with mom only made his eventual signature with Ohio State on National Letter of Intent Day a fait accompli.

I retell this story below, also mentioning the given reasons for his commitment on September 20, 2012. Thereafter, I offer a breakdown of strengths and weaknesses that I could gather from watching Tyquan Lewis' film. I then include some miscellaneous things about Tyquan Lewis that you may or may not find interesting before concluding that Tyquan Lewis is better know. I put him on the board accordingly.

Height: 6-3
Weight: 237lbs
Fake 40: 4.8
High School: Tarboro HS; Tarboro, NC

Follow @PrimeTime_Lewis

When Urban Meyer retired abruptly in December 2009, it came as a shock to the college football world. Meyer was in his mid-40s and regarded as one of the top coaches in the game, capturing two national titles and becoming King of the SEC.

But not everyone knew about the ongoing health problems plaguing Meyer. They came to a crescendo in the early morning hours after a loss to Alabama in the 2009 SEC championship game, when Meyer had the sensation of a heart attack. It turned out to be esophageal spasms, but the incident was a wakeup call to Meyer and his family.

“I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family,” he said at the time.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!11

"Good golly, is that Stone Cold's music?" Nah, that's just my alarm clock. Wait.. you mean to tell me there are people in America who wake up to anything other than Stone Cold's banger of an anthem? Little doubt this will be pinpointed by alien anthropologists as the crux of Mankind's ultimate downfall.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is the America we live in today, unfortunately. This past Memorial Day weekend, I saw little reverence paid to one of America's greatest veterans: Stone Cold Steve Austin the Texas Rattlesnake. 

Without him, our nation's youth would have grown up watching WCW instead of WWE. Frankly, it's scary to think about where this country would be if Stone Cold Steve Austin hadn't descended on the WCW/ECW invasion like an angry pillar of wasps and saved us from that decadent way of life. Stunnin' Steve's theme should be the new fight song, or at the very least, it should immediately replace any rendition of "Seven Nation Army" within a forty-mile circumference of the Horseshoe on fall Saturdays. 

Just a little something for Urban Meyer and his psychology degree to chew on. The greatest natural steroid known to Man is sitting there like a fumbled magic diamond. Ohio State should weaponize it.#imjustsaying

 BERT BELIMA IS STILL UNBEARABLE. 42 year-old frat brother Bert Beliema, 15 months ago:

I can tell you this, we at the Big Ten don’t want to be like the SEC — in any way, shape or form.

43 year-old frat brother Bert Beliema, yesterday: 

... in the Big Ten, we disliked SEC because of success they had.

Isn't it awesome when sports figures you don't like do something that verifies your pre-conceived notions of them? Bert Beliema has thrown down the troll gauntlet down against the Big Ten and I couldn't be happier. The best part is he doubled down when asked specifically about his anti-SEC comment from last year:

"That was about one coach and one instance."

Shine on, you duplicitous troll. I will miss Ohio State swaddling him up in his baby blanket and burping him to sleep every year.

Bosa could see significant playing time this fall

Last week we took a look back at the nine offensive players the Buckeyes signed in their 2013 recruiting class.

It's hard to ignore the skill players brought in on that side of the ball, but Urban Meyer and his staff did equal work on defense, signing elite players at every level, from the line through linebackers and the secondary. With that in mind, we'll turn to the Silver Bullets and break down what to expect from members of the '13 class.

The Buckeyes brought in 14 future Bullets, so we'll break things down into two parts. This week will will talk about the six defensive linemen the Buckeyes signed, including Joey Bosa, Michael Hill, Tyquan Lewis ("Viper"), Donovan Munger, Billy Price, and Tracy Sprinkle.

We will talk about the chances of a couple of these players possibly making a transition to the other side of the football in addition to the impact they will have at the college level.

Join me after the jump to break down Mike Vrabel's six new toys.

Though I've heard many coaches use it, I'll always associate the expression "a pair and a spare" to Jim Tressel. The Vest, a rabid fan of coach-speak, coined the phrase when discussing what it took to make him comfortable about the tailback position. 

This year, Urban Meyer's backfield talent would make Tressel glow with envy. 

Incumbent starter Carlos Hyde returns for his senior season, fresh off a a campaign that saw him seize the starting tailback job at Ohio State and just 1,000 on the season. Finishing with 970 yards, Hyde found the end zone 16 times. Averaging 97 yards per game, Hyde went for over a 100 yards rushing in four games and scored mulitple touchdowns in six. 

Projected to serve as Hyde's chief backup is 6'3", 230 lb. Rod Smith though 6'0", 220 lb. sophomore Bri'onte Dunn shouldn't be far behind. 

Local product Warren Ball is finally healthy, looking strong and adding to the depth and the stable only gets deeper as the Buckeyes welcome 6'0", 198 lb. incoming freshmen Ezekiel Elliott to the mix later this summer. 

The first guy to ever play there was named Horace Prettyman.

He was on eight (!) Michigan teams between 1882 and 1890 and scored their first two home field touchdowns ever. Prettyman was a three-time team captain, and he was born and raised in Williams County, Ohio.

The first guy to ever coach there was Gustave “Dutch” Ferbert. He won Michigan’s first Western Conference (now B1G) championship in school history in 1898. Before coaching the Wolverines, he played for them and was unanimously voted to be team captain. Ferbert was from Cleveland.

During his first season coaching, his Wolverines were shut out by Ohio Wesleyan, which was then led by Fielding Yost of West Virginia. Yost left Ohio and eventually took over for Ferbert at Michigan, where he won six of the school's 11 claimed national titles. He also became the athletic director.

And of course, Bo Schembechler was from Barberton and both played and coached under Woody Hayes. He is Michigan’s all-time wins leader, owns its highest winning percentage and won more conference titles than even Yost did.