The Fourth of July weekend should be an entire week. It's what George Washington would've wanted.
FALCONS HEADED FOR SMACKING. First games of the season are wild because anything can happen. There's never a guarantee 22+ men can come together as a functional unit.
Superior teams get sucker-punched ever year, and it's hilarious. It wouldn't be hilarious, however, if Ohio State was the one who ended up on the canvas.
So what are Bowling Green chances, anyway?
From cleveland.com:
Chances to beat Ohio State: 1 percent. Could you imagine if one of these MAC teams in Ohio finally landed on Ohio State's schedule at their peak? Like what if the Bowling Green team from last year, the one that had a ton of talent and won the MAC for the second time in three years, came into Ohio Stadium? The chances would have certainly been greater than one percent.
However, Bowling Green lost quarterback Matt Johnson, running back Travis Greene and four wide receivers, one of which was Roger Lewis, who originally committed to Ohio State during his recruitment.
All those key players are gone, and so is Babers. So Jinks has to come in and get a ton of new players adjusted to a new offense and have them playing atop their game by week one.
The good news for Jinks is he doesn't play Ohio State today. This bad news is he's going to be outgunned at every position.
There's a chance Bowling Green beats Ohio State. I personally rate it at .025 percent, and no—that has nothing to do with the bitterness I bear towards BGSU for denying me entrance over my 1.12 high school GPA back in 2005.
HELL YEAH OHIO STATE'S BACKUPS WOULD GO BOWLING. Offseason mile marker check: We're openly wondering if Ohio State's backups could earn a bid to the prestigious Outback Bowl.
From landgrantholyland.com:
Are there "average" teams that could win this game? Sure. Northern Illinois nearly beat Ohio State’s starters last season, so it seems reasonable to think they would have beaten the backups. Arizona is projected to finish 64th in next year’s S&P+, and that would probably be a difficult matchup for this Ohio State team. Navy is 65th, and we’ve also already seen how close they can hang with Ohio State’s starters.
The talent disparity is pretty significant, as Ohio State’s backup squad would probably be the most talented team in the Big Ten after Michigan’s starters, but an experienced, well-coached team would certainly be able to take advantage of their youth to beat them, just like a less-talented team may end up being Ohio State’s starters this season.
But the fact that we can have this conversation with a straight face just goes to show how well this program has recruited recently. That’s going to put the Buckeyes in a position to win bigger games over the next few seasons. And it shows just how hard it is for a lot of the rest of college football to spring upsets against the elite of the elite in this sport.
That might have to be Urban Meyer's finishing move on Jim Harbaugh: Starting his backups. It's a psychological power stroke that could cause Harbaugh to suffer a mental breakdown.
DAT DUDE LARRY JOHNSON. A few summers ago we fretted over the loss of defensive line coach Mike Vrabel, who brought intensity every day and recruited well.
Meyer replaced him with with Larry Johnson, who is not nearly as intense as Vrabel but carries a quiet swagger of his own. That serves well on the recruiting trail, and his former players seem willing to invade a country for him.
From rivals.com:
"He is great, that is all I can really say," former Ohio State defensive lineman Donovan Munger said of Johnson. "He is great at what he does and he is very intense and talks about moments and events and this is a moment right here. He is a great mentor and I love having him."
Football, family and faith are all messages that come from the Ohio State defensive line coach.
"He has brought me closer to God and brought me everything, he has made me a better person," former Ohio State defensive lineman Joel Hale said. "I think he has that effect on people, the way he rubs off on people he just makes you better. He is a great guy and I love him to death."
Easy to see why Penn State chose to go with James Franklin instead, right?
THIS IS ME. Traded in my car this past weekend. Land-Grant Brewing proprietor and 11W game poster wizard Walt Keys caught me flossing at Monday's Doo Dah parade:
THE BEST FAKE NEWS STORY. My friend sent this to me. It's 100 percent fake, but I laughed so hard I'm now treating it as truth:
Apparently Kevin Costner owns property in the City of Kings! WHO KNEW? Hope he knows I'm a big fan when he's deciding the outcome of my life during Marion's Trial of the Week.
THOSE WMDs. The tech support scam king... The great illusion of Gettysburg... Among the pyros at one of the biggest fireworks competitions in the world... From 2010: The Non-LeBron.
