The public got its first look at the 2014 Ohio State football team yesterday, and as always, Eleven Warriors was on hand to keep the streets informed.
Walt brought his camera; his photos can be found here.
John brought his camcorder; his videos can be found over here.
Kyle brought his notebook; his full report can be found over yonder.
Some quick hits:
- Urban Meyer shamed the average American worker by returning to work a mere 72 hours after "minor" brain surgery. If I ever have brain surgery — "minor" or not — expect me to be out for no less than 72 weeks.
- Meyer hasn't been comfortable with the defensive unit for the last two years.
- He wants the Buckeyes to finish better but likes "where [they're] at as a team."
- JT Barrett and Cardale Jones failed to impress him.
- Raekwon McMillan was named as someone who did impress.
- Meyer said he wants an "angry, blue-collar team." He said Ohio State played entitled last season.
- Darron Lee started at WILL linebacker, Ryan Shazier's old position. "It was earned," according to Meyer.
- Tyvis Powell, Doran Grant, Vonn Bell and Armani Reeves started in the secondary.
- Taylor Decker, Antonio Underwood, Jacoby Boren, Pat Elflein and Daryl Baldwin started on the offensive line.
- Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, Adolphus Washington and Noah Spence started on the defensive line.
- Jeff Greene and my main man Mike Thomas were impressive.
- Marcus Baugh also had his moments, which is impressive considering he still presumably has Mick Marotti's boot up his ass.
- Johnnie Dixon is the new No. 1. (IN MY DAY THAT NUMBER WAS TO BE EARNED!!!) Dontre Wilson's now No. 2. Michael Thomas has taken after his uncle Keyshawn Johnson and now rocks No. 3. You can find the full list of new (and old) numbers over here.
Ohio State is off today, before resuming practice tomorrow.
OSU IMPRESSES FOUR-STAR DB; OSU NEW LEADER FOR 4-STAR DB. A lot was made over Christian Kirk's visit over the weekend, and rightfully so, the Arizona product is a dynamic athlete and rated the No. 2 wide receiver in the country.
But Ohio State also hosted four-star cornerback Marcus Lewis, and the Washington D.C. product was so impressed, he's named Ohio State his new leader:
"Ohio State is in the lead for my recruitment," Lewis told 11W [yesterday] afternoon.
He will be going through with his visits this spring as planned, beginning with a trip to the Sunshine State to see Florida, Florida State and Miami later this month. He will formally announce a top 10 this summer, which Ohio State will be in, before narrowing the list to 5 this fall. He is still planning to decide after his senior season.
A long way to go, but if Urban and company are already making an impression on the kid, it's going to be tough sledding for the rest of his suitors.
NO NEED FOR SPRING GAME, SAYS SUMLIN. Texas A&M is pumping a ridiculous ~$480 million into Kyle Field this summer, and unlike Ohio State who last year moved their game to another locale, Texas A&M has cancelled theirs outright.
Sumlin, needless to say, isn't tripping about it. In fact, he considers Spring Games — or intra-squad scrimmages — to be "worthless." From CoachingSearch.com:
“For us, from a recruiting and national perception, like last year with the presentation and 50,000, that’s what you miss. From a coaching standpoint, we probably gain more from not splitting up the team. It used to be different, when you have 100-something guys and you could split a team up. We have a hard time keeping quality by splitting up. That’s why we go offense and defense. I know fans get tired of that, but it’s worthless to us when you have guys playing with starters and guys that are never going to play just to make two different teams. We’ll probably get more out of it, from a practice standpoint.”
Something being kicked around on r/CFB the other day was the idea of intra-conference spring scrimmages. I think that'd be a cool idea — like today's friendly between the United States Men's Soccer Team vs. Ukraine (played in Cyprus) — that would provide more fun for players/fans and a better gauge of talent than intra-squad scrimmages.
Speaking of A&M — who is destroying Texas on the recruiting trail — here's a comic from SB Nation's Good Bull Hunting that made me chuckle:
BAYLOR DRAWS NCAA'S IRE. I was thinking the other day, "Wow I haven't heard about any NCAA investigation lately. IT'S A GOOD THING THE NCAA GOT EVERYTHING CLEANED UP."
This is going to shock some people, but it turns out: schools still be cheatin'. The new suspect the NCAA has in its crosshairs? A tiny religious school down in Texas:
The NCAA is looking into whether Baylor assistant coach Kendal Briles committed a violation by visiting highly touted Class of 2015 recruit J.W. Ketchum during a non-contact period last fall.
NCAA investigators have been in touch with officials at Ketchum's school, Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas, about the alleged visit. Investigators are expected to talk with the rising junior dual-threat quarterback in the next several weeks, according to a source familiar with Ketchum's recruitment.
Under NCAA rules, coaches cannot have any in-person contact with junior prospects or their parents off-campus.
*bangs gavel* Throw this criminal... this Kendal Briles... into jail and toss away the key! I hereby sentence Baylor TO HANG ON THE MORROW. Bailiff, get these scumbags outta my courtroom!
Do you see what the NCAA is reduced to investigating without their media Pinkertons doing all the leg-work for them? This is the organization entrusted with enforcement. It'd be like if the cops were ONLY capable of busting criminals that were filmed while committing the crime.
YOUNG BUCKS ON TWITTER. Demetrius Knox won Twitter yesterday:
Happy Fat Tuesday to you and yours pic.twitter.com/Z2CavfAJqi
— BIG EECH (@Meech_Dream14) March 4, 2014
And then there's ol' Cardale "WE AIN'T COME HERE TO PLAY SCHOOL" Jones, who according to Kyle's sources, hasn't been lighting coaches up with his work ethic. Perhaps his lethargy is due to school playing a bigger part in Jones' life?
Walked Out That Exam Like \ ( (> / \ Huuuuaaaah! Huuuuuaaaah!
— Cardale Jones (@Twelve_Nem) March 4, 2014
THOSE WMDs. My new homepage: SpookyMarion.com... Mike McQueary's Last Stand... PSU message boards: still crazy... Brazilians aren't big fans of the World Cup they're hosting in a few months... I'm a Gene Smith fan but this is still pretty funny... Elite college athletes may suffer in their middle ages... Normal NYC train ride... Khalil Mack is still pretty good... Snake eats crocodile in battle at Australian lake... Props to whomever saved this cat... Ballboy trolls Christiano Ronaldo... How koalas run... Not the place you'd expect to find 'sexy babe' porn...
