Eleven Warriors

We have a spirited and growing community of readers that do a great job of adding to the running conversation. To recognize a few of these, we have asked them each to write a guest post about what they'd tweak to ensure the Buckeyes got (yet another) shot at redemption in ‘08. Joe Fox got things rolling last week and the Jack Park of 11W, GoBucks89, weighs in today.

On January 30, 1994, the Dallas Cowboys trailed the Buffalo Bills at halftime of Super Bowl XXVIII 13-6. As the teams came back on the field for the second half, the sideline reporter relayed to the announcers in the booth what Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson had told his players at halftime. He told them to go after the football and create some turnovers. As the Bills were moving the ball on their first possession of the 2nd half, the Cowboys forced a fumble and ran it back 46 yards for a touchdown. The rest is history.

What does this have to do with OSU football you ask? Well, I think it's the key to our success in finally breaking through to a BCS championship next season. I was asked to provide one thing that I would tweak, and so my answer is: tenacity and ball skills. I know what you're saying: "Hey you idiot, that's two things." Well, let me explain how they go together. One problem I saw in the game against LSU, and it has been there for at least three years, is that we don't force a lot of turnovers on defense. Another thing that was obvious in the LSU game is that our receivers didn't go aggressively after the ball when defenders were close by. We can get away with that against inferior competition, but against the top teams, we need to win every battle for the football. Remember "Holy Buckeye"? That was Michael Jenkins one-on-one against a defender and he was determined to get that football. Remember Jenkins again converting 4th-and-14 in the championship game? Same story. Look at the replay and you'll see Jenkins both times aggressively creating separation (some would say pushing off) so that he would get the ball and not the defender. That is what we needed, and didn't get, against LSU. Think about Robiskie dropping that TD pass, leading to a blocked FG attempt. I'm telling you, Jenkins would have had that one. Think about Ray Small losing the one-on-one battle on LSU's key INT in the 2nd half. I know the ball was underthrown, but he needs to go after that football aggressively and at least keep it from being intercepted.

The same is true on defense. It seems for the past 3 years or so our DB's have had stone hands. We got an INT against LSU, but even that one was almost a drop. And it is absolutely inexcusable that Austin Spitler missed blocking that punt when he was in perfect position to get it. Go after the football! Why does James Laurinaitis have more INT's over the past two years than any of our DB's? He's tenacious. He goes for the ball. Think about the key play against Texas in 2006: JL knocked the ball loose at the 2 yard line and we took it 50 yards the other way. Go after the football! Who wins the battle for the football? The one who is more aggressively trying to get it. Tenacity will pay big dividends for our players on both sides of the ball. If our DB's get more aggressive, then suddenly we will be praising them for their "ball skills". The one leads to the other, so they are really two sides of the same coin. Win all of the battles for the football and you probably win the game. Remember MoC against Miami stealing the ball away from Sean Taylor? That should be our model for all of the next season. Be aggressive. Be tenacious. Get the ball, and get the win. This is one thing that Coach Tressel could learn from Jimmy Johnson.

So, the big fish is still thinking things over, but Ohio State signed 19 other future Buckeyes on a busy and drama saturated day. Scout has the class at #7 while Rivals has the unit ranked 9th. An improvement over last year when the services ranked the 2007 class as 16th and 15th respectively (in fairness, only 15 were signed last season and the services put weight on class size -- Jim Delaney smiles).

Once again, Tressel's class didn't suffer any last-minute defectors, which in this day and age, is really saying something. While relatively small compared to the top-ranked classes (Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami if you're looking for consensus among the major evaluation services), the Vest continued his tradition of selectively taking the top talent and not filling slots with 2-star warm bodies. Peep the official site for a fancy chart and recruit bios.

I won't rehash any of the Pryor bits because chances are, you all know just as much -- if not more -- about it than we do. I will say that from all accounts and speculation, he was on his way to Cbus before his father encouraged him to take another look at Penn State (the Oregon stuff is a smoke screen). He has until April 1 to make up his mind and coaches are now in a "quiet" period in which they're only allowed to contact unsigned recruits once per week. You can bet a few dozen top coaches will give it one more try.

One positive surprise was the signing of Orhian Johnson (ATH/FLA) who looks quick, because.. do-rags=speed, right? GoBucks89 may be on to something with the Gamble reference from earlier today. He definitely shares the same build and home state as the former cornerback.

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SEE ALSO: 2007 Class as IIT Students

What a difference a few hours make.

As I sat down to write this post, I thought the Buckeyes had an excellent shot at landing both Josh Jenkins and Terrelle Pryor, thus securing a class for the ages. Vince 2.0 and four of the best o-linemen in the nation is a pretty good nucleus to build around.

Then came reports that Jenkins will sign with the Mountaineers (CL shoutout).

Okay, no Jenkins, but the Buckeyes are still the favorite to get Pryor, right? Uh.. maybe not.

Evidently a Buckeye fan sat next to one Jerome Bettis on a flight out of Pittsburgh yesterday. Bettis? Pryor? WTF?:

I just flew back from Pittsburg and guess who sat nect to me on the flight. Jerome Bettis. I sat and talked football with him for about 2 hours. Guess what he told me. Terrell Pryor is going to Michigan. Was never a doubt in his mind after the official visit. This was passed onto him from Charlie Batch who he had just been out with the night prior to his flight with me. As a Buckeye fan I'm crushed, and don't want to believe it. It even took away from the fact that I was sitting next to an NFL future HOF player and talking with him. I can furnish a photo upon request of myself and "The Bus" if needed. I hate when Darth Rodruigez and the evil empire wins.

This whole internet recruiting rumor game is completely bat-shit crazy and we're dealing with kids that change their minds every 21 minutes, but the poster does provide the photo you see above as well as some other relevant details.

Now, Bettis is a Notre Dame guy and any good Irish alum should like nothing better than to mindfsck the Wolverines, but then again, the Bus has a history of spilling secrets.

So, there's that.

Just another rumor. As has been the case for every day of the past month.

In a few hours, we'll know which one of these internet rumors was the truthiest. Or not.

Othello Hunter and the Ghost of Jon Diebler awakened in the second half, leading five players in double figures, to pull away from Michigan 65-55 Tuesday night, keeping Thad's perfect record against the Wolverines in tact. Ohio State outscored Michigan 20-5 in the last 10:41, rediscovering the post entry pass and Othello Hunter finally got a chance to touch the rock with regularity.

The O-Faced Hunter scored 9 of his 15 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds, 6 of which came on the offensive end, recording his fourth double-double of the year and first within conference play. Hunter connected on 7 of his 11 shots and energized Ohio State's "sold-out crowd" with a couple highlight reel dunks.

Jon Diebler hopefully broke out of his season long slump by scoring 14 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in 26 minutes of play. The mythical scorer from Sandusky hit 2 of 3 from deep and made all 6 free throws, his first FT attempts in six games. Diebler also had no turnovers and played one of his better defensive games.

Apparently Jamar's harsh criticism took a while to sink in, as Ohio State trailed 32-31 at half, sleepwalking through their third straight half of basketball. Anthony Wright scored all 8 of his points in the first, with DeShawn Sims and Kelvin Grady each chipping in with 6, as Michigan held the lead for the last 7:10 of the half. The Buckeyes could only muster 10 points in the last 8+ minutes of the first.

After Michigan connected on four three pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Ohio State's defense completely shut down Jon Belein's team, allowing just two field goals in the final 10:41. Ohio State held Michigan to 40 percent shooting for the game and committed only 2 fouls in the second half, leading to an 8-0 advantage at the free throw line in that span.

Jamar Butler continued his quest for POY honors with 10 points and 9 assists. He continued his recent shooting slump, hitting only 4 of 12 shots, but played all forty minutes for the third straight game. Jamar became only the second Buckeye to record 500 assists for his career and will look to break the mark of 516 over the next week.

Kosta Koufos actually showed emotion en route to his 12 points and 4 rebounds, benefiting from Ohio State's willingness to finally make a post entry pass. His 13 shot attempts were the most in conference play, although 5 were from behind the arc, his flash of meanness inside may get him one step closer to losing the "Softa" label.

David Lighty was the other Buckeye in double figures, as his smooth jumper connected 5 of 6 times for 12 points, to go along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 turnover in 38 minutes. IMO, Lighty needs to look for his shot more. I know he can get out of control on drives, but his shots from 14-20 feet are perfect form and he has made 9 of his last 13 shots.

Evan Turner was a non factor, going scoreless and turning it over 4 times in 14 minutes of action.

Notes: Jim Tressel, Jim Foster and Thad Matta are a combined 21-1 against Michigan... Ohio State shot 50 percent (12-24) in the second half... The Buckeyes held their 20th straight opponent to below 45 percent shooting... Give me your caption for the photo of Thad and EA.

Ohio State 15-7, 6-3 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

February 5, 2008 7:00 PM ET - ESPN —— The Schott Columbus, OH

Michigan 5-16, 1-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

OPPONENT: The Wolverines are struggling. John Beilein's crew, losers of 5 straight and 10 of 11, gave Tubby Smith his 400th career victory Thursday night hitting just 36% of their shots with 15 turnovers.

Those numbers have been the norm. Michigan ranks last in the conference in FG% (38%) and 3FG% (29%), 8th in turnover margin and they're losing by an average of 13.8 points. Maybe Beilein should've stayed at West Virginia South.

Of course, Beilein appears to be a decent coach and everyone expected it to take a few years to undo the damage done by Tommy Amaker. With an eye on the future, the Wolverines feature two freshmen and 3 sophomores in the top six of the rotation.

KEY PLAYERS: 6'5" freshman Manny Harris leads Michigan in scoring (16.5) hitting 39.5% of his FG's but only 28% of his threes. Harris leads the team in minutes and serves as the primary ball handler though his assist/turnover mark (3.0/3.6) smacks of a youtful immaturity when it comes to valuing the rock. He's been the go to guy all year and his 26 against Wisky a few weeks ago was almost enough to pull the road upset.

6'8" sophmore DeShawn Sims is the only other Wolverine averaging double figures (13.0) and he leads the team with 4.8 rpg. It's been a struggle of late, however, with Sims failing to reach double figures in his last 2 games after scoring at least 10 points in 14 straight games. He's in a 4/17 shooting slide and stunk up the joint against Minnesota going 3/10 with 5 turnovers but he's no scrub and he hits the three at a 34.5% clip. Considering his consistency before the mini-slump, Ohio State will need to identify Sims while in the zone defense to avoid a Justin Johnson Reprise where screens set up countless wide open looks from deep.

Michigan's third leading scorer, 6'6" Ron Coleman (6.2ppg, 3.6rpg), is one of only 2 seniors that play and he's coming off a season high 14 against the Gophers after being slowed by an ankle injury. A pair of 6'10" sophomores provide some height on the baseline. Ekpe Udoh scores 5.8 per game and co-leads the team with 4.8 boards while Zack Gibson adds 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds. 6'5" junior Jevohn Shepherd (4.5ppg, 2.1rpg), 5'11" freshman Kelvin Grady and fellow freshman 6'6" Anthony Wright will also see action.

NOTES: Michigan has played the 3rd toughest schedule in the country according to RPI...The Wolverines lead the Big Ten in blocks (5.81) behind Udoh's 2.81 per conference game...Michigan features just 8 true scholarship players.

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BUCKEYE BREAKDOWN: Expect the Buckeyes to come out agressive and with renewed intensity following Jamar Butler's scathing remarks in the Iowa postgame. OSU has been tough at home (11-1) and the message that every should-win must be converted down the stretch has likely been received.

This is actually the perfect time to face Michigan with the Buckeyes in need of a shot of confidence before hosting Indiana this Sunday on CBS. The game plan will be to try and wear out Harris with the 2-2-1 press and keep hands in the face of he and Sims in hopes of making the role players shoulder more of the scoring load. If that happens, there's no reason to think OSU won't move to 7-3 in the conference.

KEY PLAYERS: Butler's blow up after the Iowa game was obviously out of character but I think it will pay dividends as his teammates know the comments weren't intended to embarass them but to try a different method of getting the point across since Matta's rah-rah approach wasn't doing the trick. I'm sure frustration with his own performance played a part in the outburst so expect Butler to walk the walk tonight.

The question of which underclassmen will step up to show they've received the message brings us to Evan Turner and Kosta Koufos. Turner was awful against Iowa hitting just 2/9 shots with 2 turnovers before fouling out but his growth in the last 3-4 weeks shouldn't be discounted because of one stinker.

Koufos continues to put up decent if not spectacular numbers (13.4ppg, 6.7rpg) reaching double figures in 6 of the last 7 games but he's yet to show he can be a consistent second scorer down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if he runs for the perimeter when both Michigan bigs are on the floor.

Othello Hunter has averaged 8.2 rebounds in his last 5 games and he could do more damage offensively if the perimeter players gave him consistent touches inside. He's reached double figures just once in the last seven games taking 5 shots or less in four of those contests.

David Lighty is still the third leading scorer (9.4) though he's just 8/22 in his last 3 games with three times as many turnovers (9) as assists (3). He wasn't as bad against Iowa, however, with 9 points (4/7 FG) and 1 turnover in 37 minutes.

The bench has gotten increasingly short with Matt Terwilliger emerging as the most productive reserve (scary). Wiggler has hit 8 of his last 11 shots though he hasn't been much of a presence inside averaging just over 2 rebounds per game. Conversely, Jon Diebler continues to look like he couldn't score if locked in a bedroom with Paris Hilton and a pocket full of roofies. After his 0/3 performance against Iowa, Arctic-Jon has made just 6 of his last 35 shots (17%).

NOTES: OSU has won 6 straight against Michigan...The Buckeyes continue to lead the conference in FG% Defense (36.5%) while placing second in Scoring Defense (58.3) and Scoring Margin (+8.2)...In conference play, Butler ranks 4th in scoring (16.9) and 1st in assists (5.78)...DVR Alert - Erin Andrews will be prowling the sidelines.

In honor of Knight going out after getting his 900th, we present the top 10 soundbites from a career that was full of them.

(Via FanHouse)

Even before Ohio State officially withdrew their scholarship offer to Massillon's DeVoe Torrence, speculation was rampant as to whether or not he might be in some legal hot water.

It appears there might be some legs to those rumors according to a Gus Garcia-Roberts story referenced by the fine folks at DeathRattleSports.

The story cites numerous rumors but does contain this bone chilling statement:

Police have been reticent to offer their own narrative. All they'll say is that over a several-month period, at least 14 boys — ranging in age from 14 to 21 — were suspected of having sex with three young girls, the oldest of whom was only 14.

Additionally, the Massillon Independent reported back in November that police were investigating a sex ring involving girls as young as 11 and that four of the people being investigated were athletes.

The story does not mention Torrence by name nor does it suggest his involvement but it does seem a bit curious that his scholarship was pulled as rumors of possible legal trouble continue to spread.

Even without any names dropped, it appears there is some fire to go with this smoke as Garcia-Roberts notes Assistant Chief Prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett confirmed indictments will come at some point in time.

I hope for DeVoe Torrence's sake, he was not involved. Either way, it looks like a real possibility that the town of Massillon and its storied football program could be rocked to the core.

With only a few days to go, the Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes saw the Vest and Michigan's Rich Rodriguez in Jeannette on Saturday night to watch the recruit drop 27 points and 12 rebounds in a winning effort on the basketball court.

MGoBlog sums up the latest and provides a link of photos from the basketball game. What is the latest, you ask? The same as it was last week and the week before. Pryor may decide on signing day, he may not. He may be heading to Columbus, he may not.

Although a couple more of Pryor's prep coaches have indicated that the Buckeyes may still be in the lead for his services, it's really anyone's guess.

What we do know is that one coach arrived early and in a suit, while the other coach showed up late to the game channeling his inner Fonzi.

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Elsewhere, Buckeye Commentary brings news that WV lineman Josh Jenkins has pared his list down to two: Ohio State and West Virginia. The Seminoles are no more and the odds of signing a fully-operational Block-O Voltron are about as high as they'll ever get.

Erin Andrews will be in town Tuesday to cover the OSU/Michigan tilt and SBB treats us to a little preview.

Little Miss Sexy brought out the Krylon pants in LA and while the climate in Columbus is a bit different, it is supposed to be 63 degrees Tuesday so maybe we'll get an ESPN issued mini.

Some blogs appear to have grown tired of the Erin phenomenon so let's make it clear 11W isn't one of those.

Her impact on the college game is felt in strange ways. MLive recently noted she's just one reason the Big Ten Network blows in addition to showing how the opportunity to get an EA postgame interview inspires players to succeed on the court.

Erin's even gone virtual as the sideline reporter on EA Sports' March Madness 2008. Her main downfall? She's a Joakim Noah fan. I know she went to Florida but that's no excuse.

Anyway, if you go the game Tuesday night, don't forget your binoculars and maybe your digital camera. You could end up famous like Jim Davidson.

I'll admit it. Due to a work function and no BTN at home to record, I missed the 53-48 loss to Iowa breaking at least a 10 year run of 'perfect attendance'. It sounds as if I picked a good time to go AWOL.

The highlights and box score show the Buckeyes didn't help themselves shooting 37% from the floor including a Ray Charles-esque 3/21 from long range but the post game comments from Jamar Butler tell a more important story. For the first time in the Thad Matta Era, there seems to be a problem with motivation. At this level, how on Earth can guys not be ready to play intense basketball every night?

The ever quiet Butler wondered the same thing and was pissed enough to share that in the post game which is cause for alarm in and of itself:

"Guys weren't ready to go from the (opening) tip," said Butler, who has started on two straight Big Ten championship teams. "I could look in guys' eyes and just tell we weren't ready to go."

One more shot across the bow:

"I don't know if it's possible to win the Big Ten now, but if they care about playing in March, they better pick their game up," Butler said of his teammates. "The potential is there, but guys aren't mentally tough. They don't have it upstairs yet. Me and (Matta) talk, and we don't know what we can do to get guys ready to go night in and night out. Some guys are ready to go and some guys aren't."

Bob Baptist captured a few more Butler daggers that are worth a glance. Typically, I would be against these comments but Butler's the leader and the rare display of emotion might actually help. Of course, some of his rant is likely due to frustration with his own performance as he knows the team can't afford him to have an off night, especially on the road.

With 9 league games left, the Buckeyes need to make up for last night's black eye to the Dance resume. That won't be easy considering the quality opponents bunched together in the last 5 games including just one day off in between Wisky and at Indiana thrown in there. I still say this team should be Dance worthy but the time is now. What do you think? Will the Buckeyes secure a bid?