Everybody give yourself a pat on the back. You're one day closer to the next Ohio State championship, as well as the first Almighty Browns Super Bowl victory. Now let's earn some coins to spend this weekend.
ONE BUCKEYE QB DEFENDS ANOTHER. There are only a few men walking Earth that know first-hand the pressure of playing quarterback at Ohio State. Cornelius Greene, the first black quarterback at Ohio State and field-general under Woody Hayes, is one of those men.
Greene backs J.T. Barrett to the hilt.
From scout.com:
“Our offensive line was inconsistent and we had weak wide receiver play,” Greene said when asked what happened to the Ohio State offense.
In order to improve the offense, Greene suggested that the Buckeyes need to establish the running game, which never happened against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.
“I would have a consistent running game to up the passing game,” he said. “You can’t expect to throw the ball effectively if you can’t establish the running game. And, I guess like everybody else, I’d like some fresh play-calling. It looks like they’re changing some coaches to do that.”
Barrett wasn't blameless, but what sucked about the offense last year was QB accuracy, wide receiver separation, and adequate offensive line protection rarely came together on the same play.
Barrett's hesitancy became a mixture of lack of trust in his line and desire to protect the football.
Obviously, Urban Meyer made some power moves with coaches, but I patiently await the first errant third-down pass that will bring the Barrett haters out of the woodwork. The only question is if they'll pine for Dwayne Haskins or Joe Burrow to supplant him.
SCOUTING THE CHEF. It's the time of year where national draft analysts watch tape to grade aspiring NFL football players.
Raekwon McMillan, a contributor to the last three Ohio State defenses and leader of two, makes for an interesting evaluation. He has a brilliant mind, but questions linger about his athleticism.
From foxsports.com:
The first thing that jumps out when looking at McMillan is the number of tackles he’s had in his career. With 275 tackles in three seasons, he has 64 more tackles than top-rated linebacker Reuben Foster while playing in only six additional contests. Having nearly 300 tackles in a shortened career says that McMillan is a guy who is constantly around the football and has the ability to continue that at the next level.
[...]
When you look at tape of McMillan the first thing that stands out is his lack of athleticism. He possesses good size for the position at 6’2 and over 240 pounds but he’s a brick for an athlete. At times McMillan’s lack of athleticism gets in the way of his ability to read plays and get to them in time. It could be that there’s just too much weight on his frame and cutting back a few pounds might loosen him up. On top of that is the issue that McMillan sometimes doesn’t give the one thousand percent effort you want to see from the linebacking position. This tends to come true more often when he’s hit first on a run play.
The final report reads McMillan will be a "two-down linebacker who needs a lot of help." My report reads "bet against McMillan if you want." A two-down linebacker who could command a defense is still a valuable tool to a smart team, even if he comes with questionable coverage skills.
FARRIS TO THE BIG GAME. Anyone here old enough to remember 2015, when Chase Farris played right tackle? Well, he's going to the Super Bowl next week as part of the New England Patriots practice squad.
From dispatch.com:
"To be at the highest level of football and be able to be a part of it on the highest stage of any football is a surreal feeling," he said.
Farris bounced between the offensive and defensive lines throughout his Ohio State career. He started only his final year, at right tackle and with mixed results. He described his play in 2015 as raw and looked to be a long shot to make an NFL roster.
"A year ago, I was trying to work as hard as I possibly could to prove people wrong," Farris said, "because there were a lot of people who counted me out or didn't think I would make it into a training camp."
I'm pissed I read this. Farris is a quality human being, as is former walk-on turned special teams ace Nate Ebner. I like those two dudes, and I respect the taciturn Bill Belichick.
The rest of the Patriots organization could live in a Dunkin' Donuts dumpster for all I care. Dunkin' couldn't even survive in Marion, and I don't trust any population group that stands for a conglomerate that couldn't survive in the bustling beacon of American capitalism like the City of Kings.
YOU WON'T UNSEE SOME OF THIS. Normally I find the anagram game dumb, but this? This is extremely good.
Presenting the Top 15 Coaching Name Anagrams from reddit.com/r/cfb (via @buckeyemondo):
| RANK | COACH | SCHOOL | ANAGRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KLIFF KINGSBURY | TEXAS TECH | KINKY BUFF GIRLS |
| 2 | MATT RHULE | BAYLOR | ULTRA METH |
| 3 | GARY PATTERSON | TEXAS CHRISTIAN | ANGRY PROSTATE |
| 4 | DANIEL JOHN DURKIN | MARYLAND | DRUNKEN LOIN JIHAD |
| 5 | MIKE MacINTYRE | COLORADO | EMIT CREAMY INK |
| 6 | GARY ANDERSEN | OREGON STATE | SEARED GRANNY |
| 7 | BOB STOOPS | OKLAHOMA | POST BOOBS |
| 8 | TODD GRAHAM | ARIZONA STATE | HOT DAD-GRAM |
| 9 | BARRY ODOM | MISSOURI | BRO, MY ROAD! |
| 10 | BRET BIELEMA | ARKANSAS | BABE-TIER ELM |
| 11 | PAUL CHRYST | WISCONSIN | SHY RAP CULT |
| 12 | GUS MALZAHN | AUBURN | MR. ANAL TZAR, HUH? |
| 13 | DAVE CLAWSON | WAKE FOREST | OWLS, ADVANCE! |
| 14 | DAVID SHAW | STANFORD | WASH DAVID |
| 15 | CHRIS PETERSEN | WASHINGTON | SHIN RESPECTER |
I will never be able to see Gus Malzahn as anything but the Anal Tzar from now on. I feel bad for putting that into your mind despite warning you from the jump.
Shin Respecter, Shy Rap Cult, and Owls, Advance! are way too low. Hard to argue with Kinky Buff Girls, Ultra Meth, and Angry Prostate taking the top seeds, though.
KEVIN TALKS RECRUITING. Kevin Harrish, 11W staff writer and carpetbagging Georgian with a tawdry fast food palate, joined Lantern TV to discuss the 2017 recruiting class:
No, I don't know why he does that creepy mouth thing in every picture, either. I talked to him about it, but only the #dads out there know how obstinate kids can be.
LOUISVILLE TRIES TO HUSTLE. The NCAA busted Louisville for throwing sex parties for recruits.
Louisville's defense—and this is 100% serious—is scapegoating an assistant and saying the commercialized sex didn't earn them any pledges. In fact, one recruit reported he didn't even like it.
Of course, none of it is Rick Pitino's fault.
From deadspin.com:
In an effort to knock the violations down from “major” to “mitigated”—NCAA violations are constructed entirely around bullshit legalese like this, just go with it—the school chose the bold route of arguing that the encounters the recruits had with the hired women typically only cost a few hundred dollars per session. (The Cardinals went this route because the NCAA is looking to make this a Level I charge against McGee and the school.) As far as NCAA violations go, a couple hundred dollars is but a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things and thus, in Louisville’s mind, not all that grand of a recruiting violation.
Louisville also tried arguing that despite McGee’s best efforts to secure commitments from recruits by setting them up with strip teases and blowjobs, the after hours entertainment failed to yield any major recruiting edges for the Cardinals.
Yes, everybody knows the way to rise in the recruiting ranks is to purchase prostitutes behind your boss' back. And no, I don't understand how a grown man arranging a sex party for teenagers doesn't end with at least a "corrupting a minor" charge. Maybe a real lawyer will explain in the comments.
The NCAA has 60 days to respond.
THOSE WMDs. New crypt-keeper wasp is a parasite that bursts from host's head... An inside peek at Clemson's new football facility... Interrogating Amazon Echo about murder... Five things to know about Miami Valley's great blizzard of 1978... Vince Carter at 40: "I'm still standing."
