Eleven Warriors

Ohio State 7-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 22, 2007 4:00 PM ET ------ The Schott Columbus, Ohio

Florida 11-1, 0-0 SEC Roster | Schedule

Opponent: These definitely are not the same two teams that met in early April to decide the National Title. One starter, Jamar Butler, returns and only 16 of 159 points scored will be participating in this rematch.

Florida is even younger than Ohio State with a roster of no seniors, 7 freshmen, 3 sophomores and 2 juniors. However, Billy Dee has decided to take a different approach in nonconference competition, playing only one significant team, in losing to Florida St.

The Gators come into Columbus averaging 82.6 points per game and only give up 58.8, holding the opposition to 40.4 percent from the field. With all the cupcakes Florida has played this year, it is not a surprise they are shooting almost 52 percent from the floor and over 40 percent from behind the arc.

Florida runs with 9 different players and should bring another trapping defense against Ohio State. It is going to be interesting to see how Florida responds to stiffer competition. Georgia Southern gave them a run for their money last week, squandering a 13 point lead before losing by 3.

Key Players: Nick Calathes (#33 6'6" Fr.) leads this team in scoring (15.8), minutes (31.8) and assists (3.0). Nick is Florida's gunner, shooting from anywhere and attempting 30 more shots than any other teammate, despite having the 2nd worst shooting percentage at 44 percent. He could have a big day if he can slice and shoot through Ohio State's zone.

Marreese Spieghts (#34 6'10" So.) is the only returning Gator who played any time last season against the Buckeyes. Marreese is a big dude and leads the team in rebounding (7.4), FG percentage (64.2) and blocks (19/season). He is going to push Koufos around all day and might have a big game.

The only other Gator in double digits is Chandler Parsons (#25 6'9" Fr.), who is giving Billy 10.6 off the bench. Parson seems to spend most of his time outside, taking almost half of his shots from there (42 of 87). The good news for Thad's boys is he only shoots 33 percent from long range and may chip in with only a few caroms and assists.

Walter Hodge (#15 6'0" Jr.), Jai Lucas (#5 5'11" Fr.) and Dan Werner (#21 6'7" So.) will round out the starting lineup for the Gators. Hodge is another returning reserve player from a year ago and come in scoring 9.8 per game and is second on the team in assists (33), minutes (29.6) and steals (20). Hodge will also take more than half of his shots from behind the arc.

Lucas is the son of former NBA star John Lucas and was one of the most heralded point guards coming out of high school last year. He comes in scoring 9.4 a game and is shooting 50 percent from the floor and 3land. Werner chips in with 7.7 per game and leads the team in boards at 7.5 a game.

Other key reserves will be Adam Allen (#14 6'8" Fr.), Alex Tyus (#23 6'8" Fr.) and Jonathan Mitchell (#0 6'7" So.), who come in scoring 15 points and grabbing over 6 rebounds a game.

Notes: This is Florida's first trip outside their state for a game this season... The Gators are beating their non-competitive opponents by 23.8 points a game... Billy Donovan is 272-104 in his 12th season as coach.

Buckeye Breakdown: Ohio State continued their hot shooting in a win over Cleveland St. on Tuesday. Thad's team has now won 3 straight after their brutal stretch of early games. I think this is one of those games where the early competition Ohio State faced is going to help pull out a victory, but of course the Buckeyes must continue their torrid pace.

Ohio State connected on 61 percent of their shots this week (65-106) and 60 percent from downtown (22-37). That extra practice time over the past two weeks has really helped this young team and some players are starting to get more comfortable within the system.

The Buckeyes have raised their season average to 69 points a game and are creeping up on 50 percent shooting, sitting at 46 percent. While Ohio State is not playing the man to man defense I love, this zone has been extremely effective in holding teams to low shooting percentages. Opponents are shooting only 37 percent from the floor and 28 percent from behind the arc, Texas A&M is the only team to make more than half their shots against Ohio State.

One area of continued struggle is rebounding. Ohio State is barely outrebounding their opposition by .5 a game, which has lead to the other teams taking 41 more shots than the Buckeyes this year. Florida's height is scary and their ability to gain the rebounding edge could be detrimental to Ohio State's home effort.

Key Players: Ohio State placed five players in double figures against Cleveland State for only the second time this year, giving a rare glimpse at the balanced scoring potential this team has. All five of those players have managed to average double figures over the last two. As Chris mentioned, David Lighty and John Diebler finally made the team bus and helped pace the Buckeyes to victory. However, I am a bit hesitant to get really excited about their play, until I see the follow up performance against a stiffer test.

D-Light's effort pushed him up to the 10 point a game mark again and he has made 5 of his last 6 threes. He also dished out a career high 8 assists in his home town Tuesday and now ranks second on the team at 3 per game, to go along with 4.4 boards per contest.

Threebler raised his season shooting averages after his 6 of 7 effort against the Vikings. He is now connecting on an astounding 25.5 percent from 3country and 28 percent overall. The young gun from Sandusky hopefully has regained his shooting touch, spending extra time in the gym these past two weeks, relearning how to jump straight up and down on his shot.

The fade-a-way bug must have traveled south with the two freshmen from northern Ohio, as Kosta Koufos continues to lack strength on the interior. "Fade-a-way-K.K." needs to start wearing Grateful Dead tied-eyed tshirts and continually hum the great song "Not Fade Away" in order to get the proper mentality. Don't get me wrong, Koufos is going to be great, but he can not continue to jump back every time he shoots or goes for a board. He has attempted only 2.8 free throws a game, but still leads the team in scoring (15.8) and shooting (53.7 percent).

Othello Hunter has played well lately, combing for 27 points and 11 boards over the last two. I have said all year this guy is key to Ohio State's success, as the Wiggler is not going to contribute anything inside this year. Hunter has to continue his inside presence until Dallas Lauderdale gets more comfortable.

Everyone knows it is going to take an all out team effort to pull off this victory. Florida has tremendous size and if Ohio State gives up offensive rebounds at the pace they have all year, then it is going to lead to another Gator victory and I am tired of seeing those. Evan Turner needs to keep turnovers down and Jamar Butler has to control this team. It is going to be a great college hoops game and hopefully the atmosphere at the Schott will follow suit.

Notes: Ohio State leads the all-time series 5-4... The game is on CBS, with hometown hero Clark Kellog doing color commentary... The game is sold out and Ohio State's next game is Dec. 29th.

Good thing Jason put the word "Allegedly" in his post title this morning. While most of Buckeye Nation fretted over the suspension of their starting corner, Ohio State never released an official announcement, until this afternoon.

Shorty after 4pm, OSU came out with the official word and as 11W insiders, Matt and Wil, quickly pointed out, Donald Washington IS NOT suspended for the BCS game, however Eugene Clifford still is.

There were plenty of rumors as to why the suspension came down, but luckily they were just that, rumors. I hope Eugene did nothing severe enough to cost him a potential Buckeye career, but I'm sure Tressel will handle the situation in his typical fashion, close to the Vest. I think we can all breath a sigh of relief.

Update: Now Tim May of the Dispatch is reporting this morning that Washington is appealing his earlier suspension, so we may not know full status until after Christmas. Therefore don't let that sigh if relief out just yet.

Just so you're not thinking about the brilliant off-the-field decisions of young cornerbacks all day, we present you with with future Buckeye soccer star Paige Maxwell.

Recently profiled in The Plain Dealer, the Medina star says that her most prized possession is her Land Rover Discovery and that her friends call her "Hollywood" because she loves to dress up.

Yes, her calves are larger than yours, and yes, the photo above may not do her complete justice (see here for hawtness confirmation), but what we want to know is: since when did high school kids sport Land Rovers? Back in my day, we piled 3 per moped to cruise around town in search of adventure. And by adventure, I mean loitering in the Dairy Queen parking lot.

(Via Busted Coverage)

Buckeye Commentary brings bad news via various message boards: defensive backs Donald Washington and Eugene Clifford have allegedly been suspended for the LSU game for the ever-descriptive "violation of team rules".

Since our most reliable insider source is a hobo that lives behind a dumpster on Chittenden, all we can do is pass along with what the tubes are buzzing about.

As Keith pointed out, Chimdi Chekwa, last seen getting toasted by Illini receivers and jawing it up with H2O-4, will most likely move into Washington's spot -- with either Andre Amos or Jamario O'Neal getting nickel looks. Not exactly the news you want to hear considering the Tigers' edge speed.

It certainly sucks if true, but you don't go to Ohio State if you can't play a little ball. Tell me you didn't experience a similar "oh shit" moment when Bobby Carpenter broke his leg against the Wolverines a few years ago and a green Laurinaitis entered the game.

But does this tie the Vest's hands a bit when it comes to how creative he wants to get with moving Jenkins around?

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UPDATE: The Dispatch has confirmed the suspension with little additional information besides stating that it is not a legal issue. Oh, and also pointing out that Clifford was busted in high school for possession of the tree.

I'm not really sure what Ali Baba and the 40 thieves means but I know the recently robbed Beastie Boys chant it during Rhymin' and Stealin' so it must be cool. Plus, I don't think any other headlines are left for blog posts about the phenomenon known as SEC Speed so deal with it.

By way of Toledo Talk, here's a comparison of 40 times for Ohio State, LSU and Florida and as you can see, the Buckeyes hold their own on both sides of the ball.

That said, 40 times don't win football games so this is pretty useless info but thought I'd share so I could officially join in the SEC Speed bonanza. Feels good.

Still wondering about the Big Ten officiating crew that came under fire for bad calls in the Penn State/Purdue and Ohio State/Illinois games and was subsequently suspended for the final week of the season? I wasn't either. But now I am.

Evidently, the crew chief, Stephen Pamon lived quite the colorful life.

And by colorlife life, I mean an alleged bankruptcy brought on by gambling debts, beating his girlfriend's kids with an electrical cord and allegedly trying to bone his 19-year-old niece.

Finally, to let you fools know that he's a business-meaning mofo, he got canned by the Chicago Police department for sexual harassment.

Get a load of this:

• He and his wife filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after the couple amassed $429,407 in liabilities, and two of the creditors were casinos.
• He allegedly has gambled at casinos as far back as the 1980s, and a sister-in-law said gambling losses incurred by Pamon and Pamon's wife led to the couple filing for bankruptcy.
• In 1997, he was charged with repeatedly beating three of his girlfriend's four sons with an electrical cord. He told authorities he beat the boys three times.
• He allegedly was fired by the Chicago Police Department in 1996 after two female officers accused him of sexual harassment, according to published reports that cited law-enforcement officials as sources.
• One of Pamon's former wives accused him during a court hearing in 1994 of striking her and sexually assaulting her 19-year-old niece, according to court records.

Take nothing away from the Illini. They played a fantastic game and when the Buckeyes had a chance to get the ball back and tie the game in the 4th quarter, they couldn't get it done.

But in college football, where emotion and momentum play larger roles than they do in any other major sport, it's hard not to wonder how that game would have played out if the fumble that was obvious to everyone, had been called. Down and to the left.. Down and to the left:

Jeff pretty much sums it up:

So what the hell was the Big Ten thinking by letting a guy with that much of a checkered past officiate a game, let alone LEAD a frigging crew? The child abuse and sex charges are alone disgusting....but you let a guy with a GAMBLING problem be in charge of an officiating crew?

Hello, fox. Here's your henhouse. Guard it well, OK?

Jim Delaney has a lot to answer for.

Indeed.

Missing in action for much of the season, both David Lighty and Jon Diebler found the range leading Ohio State to an easy 80-63 win over the Cleveland State Vikings.

Lighty set the tone early scoring 11 of his 15 points in the first half including three triples as the Buckeyes raced out to a 17-3 lead. The enigmatic Cleveland native had his best game since opening night shooting 8/9 from the floor to go along with 8 assists and 3 rebounds. Of course, it wasn't all good as he recorded a season high 5 turnovers.

D-Light had plenty of help in a first half that saw Evan Turner chip in 9 points and 5 boards while bigs Othello Hunter and Kosta Koufos actually both played well in the same game. The two combined for 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in the opening stanza as the Buckeyes built a 35-25 lead on balanced scoring and a typically suffocating defense.

The second half marked the return of "Threebler" as the struggling freshman connected on 5/6 from downtown en route to a game high 17 points after hitting just 9 of his first 49 collegiate triple tries. I'm no scout but I certainly didn't see any changes in Diebler's game. He simply knocked down shots for the first time since his 7/16 performance against the Tar Heels back in late November.

Diebler's first three capped a 16-6 run giving OSU a 51-31 lead with 16 minutes left. Then, leading 60-40 with 11 minutes to go, he supplied the only Buckeye offense for the next 6 minutes hitting three straight from long range to secure the win.

Though Lighty and Diebler were the stars tonight, the Buckeyes placed five in double figures and numerous Buckeyes did their part in producing another lockdown effort at the defensive end.

Koufos was a factor at both ends with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks while Hunter offered 14 points and 6 caroms.

Evan Turner made some strides tonight showing a well rounded floor game producing 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals against just 2 turnovers after committing 12 miscues in the last two games. The kid has tons of potential and experience will certainly help him refine the details of his game such as learning how to feed the post. (It's called a bounce pass!)

Defensively, the Buckeyes employed the full court trap and a stifling matchup zone to pester the Vikings into 15 turonvers and just 36% shooting. Though this year's Buckeyes are a little tough on the eyes, they will find themselves in the thick of the Big Ten race if the defense can continue to hold opposing offenses in check. Matta's squad has yet to give up more than 70 points in a game and have surrendered an average of 55 points in their 7 wins.

Ohio State 6-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 18, 2007 7:00 PM ET ------ The Q. Cleveland, Oh.

Cleveland St. 7-3, 1-0 Horizon Roster | Schedule

Opponent: Cleveland St. hosts the Buckeyes tonight in the inaugural McLendon Scholarship Classic, a recognition and fund raising event in honor of CSU's former coach John McLendon. Ohio St.'s own Gene Smith will be part of the ceremony, being inducted into the Legends Class of Minority's Athletics Administrators.

Cleveland St. has a roster similar to Ohio State's, returning five players from last year's 10-21 team and adding 10 newcomers. The Vikings are playing their first game in 10 days, having won 6 of their last 7 contests prior to their break. This team is averaging 73 points a game, shooting 46 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc.

CSU is still learning to play with each other and will run 8 significant players at Ohio State, with the potential debut of sharp shooting Eric Schiele added to the mix. All eight are playing over 18 minutes a game, so I expect another trapping defense thrown at Thad's boys tonight. Beating Ohio State would be sweet for CSU's 9 native Ohioians and could propel this team into conference play.

Key Players: Cedric Jackson (#11 6'3" Jr.) is a transfer from St. John's and leads this team in scoring (17.9) and assists (5.4). He is also the Vikings leading three point threat, making 17 of 38 attempts thus far. Jackson is joined in double digits by J'Nathan Bullock (#35 6'5" Jr.) and Joe Davis (#23 6'0" So.), scoring 14.5 and 10.3 respectively.

Bullock is presumably the love child of his famous father Jim J. and this woman. Bullock also leads the team in rebounding, snagging close to six a game, while Davis seems to only score and shouldn't be a threat from downtown.

Chris Moore (#42 6'9" Jr.) and George Tandy (#21 6'8" Jr.) will challenge Ohio State's bigs in the paint. Moore is another transfer from UC Santa Barbara and chips in with 7.3 points and 5.2 boards per game. He has hit 16 of his last 22 shots and will be a shot blocking threat to the Buckeye's inside chances. Tandy transfers in from Eastern Illinois, recently cracking the starting lineup with 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds a game.

Breyhon Watson (#13 6'3" Sr.), Kevin Francis (#5 6'8" Sr.) and D'Aundray Brown (#32 6'4" Fr.) all score around 5 points a tilt and will combine for over 10 boards and 5 assists per. As mentioned, Eric Shielle (#2 5'10 So.) will make his anticipated debut tonight after sitting out the first 10 games with academic problems. He lead the nation in scoring as a high school senior ('05-'06) at 40 points per and had 3 games with at least 12 threeballs.

Notes: Cleveland St. has over 16,000 students and was founded in 1964... CSU is coached bu Gary Waters... Some experts gave Cleveland St. the second best rated recruiting class in Ohio this year, trailing only Ohio St.

Buckeye Breakdown: Ohio State put their shooting woes behind them last game against the mighty Blue Hose and will hopefully continue that trend in yet another venue tonight. The Buckeyes set a Value City Arena record by hitting 35 of their 49 shots, good for 71.4 percent and the second best shooting night in Buckeye history.

Ohio State's overall field goal shooting has been raised to 45 percent on the year, but we'll see if a different arena will cause any problems and if this game will have the feeling of a home or away game. Ohio State has looked timid getting out of traps and their scoring slumps are well documented, any type of trapping D or a cold shooting streak could make this into a nerve wrecker.

I have been anxiously awaiting an unveiling of this team's man to man defense, but I don't know if that is going to happen. This zone defense is starting to grow on me, I like the pressure on the wings and Ohio State has held opponents to 37 percent shooting, including 28 percent from 3land. However the flaws are quite visible.

Any team that overloads one side of the zone can score. While the wings are extended, the corners are left wide open and teams can get open threes from that spot all night. Also Coppin St. worked the baseline and free throw entry passes to keep the game close. Ohio State's rebounding has been effected by the zone as well, giving up numerous second chance opportunities per game and barely out rebounding their opponents. It makes me nervous if this team can not man up at any point.

Key Players: Kosta showed signs of reemerging against an under sized Blue Hose team, scoring 21 points in 21 minutes. He lead a 16-0 run with 9 points in the first half and closed the game missing only 1 of his 9 shots. His dwindling rebounding numbers are starting to concern me though, knowing how physical play is going to get after the New Year's.

Jamar Butler played with great energy and needs to bottle some of that for every game. His penetration in the second half fueled Ohio State and Jamar finished with 8 assists and 16 points. He connected on another 3 threes and is shooting a torrid 45 percent from the arc.

There was a David Lighty and Othello Hunter sighting last game and Buckeye fans are hoping the don't miss another game tonight. These two are critical for this team, their combined 21 point, 10 rebound effort last game has to become the norm for these two if Ohio State is to have any success this year.

I believe the rest of the freshman are getting closer to contributing significantly to Thad's squad. Evan "Turner-over" has done just that the last three games, but has injected some scoring and defensive help. Diebler is going to break out soon, I can feel it and Eric Wallace got some confidence with 6 points and 4 boards.

Notes: Sportstime Ohio will televise tonight's game... Jamar Butler is now 6th on Ohio State's all time assists list, with 405, 14 behind 5th place Ronnie Stokes... Thad Matta is 3-0 all-time against Cleveland St...

Once again, Anthony Gonzalez earned 11W's Buckeye NFLer of the Week. Gonzo had 7 catches for 86 yards, leading the Colts in both categories. With less than 5 minutes left in the contest, Gonzo's 7th catch of the day was a game-winning 20-yard pass from Peyton Manning as the Colts rallied late to beat the Oakland Raiders 21-14.

Week 15 was the 3rd time Gonzo has won 11W's weekly award. He also nabbed this prestigious award in Week 5 and Week 12. Arguably, Gonzo could've been Week 14's recipient as well.

Anthony Gonzalez has had a promising rookie season. Being a 1st round draft choice by the Colts and with the departure of Brandon Stokley, you kind of got a feeling that Gonzo had a chance to be a very productive rookie. It didn't hurt that Manning was going to be the QB throwing to Gonzo either.

Considering Gonzo started his first game in Week 5 due to Marvin Harrison's injury, as well as the intangibles listed above, Gonzo started out the season kind of slow only having 15 catches for 207 yards and no TDs in his first 8 games. But since his return 4 weeks ago from a broken thumb injury, Gonzo has steadily improved and has become another weapon for Peyton Manning. His numbers since his injury are an impressive 21 catches for 347 yards and 3 TDs.

Nothing but good things are being said about Gonzo around the league right now. Peyton Manning is impressed with Gonzo's ability to be coached. Manning also does not want to rest in able to gain a better rapport with new players like Gonzo even though the Colts are locked as the AFC's 2nd seed in the playoffs. The fantasy world is also abuzz with Gonzo's rising fantasy stock.

It's looking more and more like Anthony Gonzalez will have a Ted Nugent-style stranglehold on this season's Buckeye NFLer of the Year. Matt Wilhelm and Joey Galloway still have a chance to tie Gonzo with awards won as they both own two of them themselves. Only time will tell.

Bob Hunter had a pretty interesting piece in yesterday's Dispatch about the current state of national hate following the program. He shared a Barton quote that sums up what we've all seen plenty of online:

"In all likelihood we will be the underdogs, because we know that pretty much everyone on Earth hates us."

I usually take it with a grain of salt online. College football fandom has nearly reached the ridiculous level of politics to the point of "If your guy does it, think of the children!! However, if it's my guy, it's overblown and things are under control."

Gordon Gee took his turn at running some smack when Hunter asked him about the hate:

".. hate would not be the word I would use. Admiration. Fear. Jealousy. Envy. Try those words."

Buckeye fans can certainly be obnoxious, but these days, trash comes in all colors.

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Meanwhile, the DDN reports that fans are just as cautious as we are heading into the Championship.