Happy Tuesday morning to you, dear reader.
I'd like to start off your morning with something beautiful:
According to Monday's address to the media after practice, Braxton Miller went 27 of 39 for 358 yards and two touchdowns, while Guiton went 12 of 17 for 147 yards, a TD and an interception.
Wait, what? Is this real life? You mean to tell me that an Ohio State quarterback passed for over 350 yards in a scrimmage? I thought that they stopped counting after 10 complete passes too.
Yes, yes I know it was a scrimmage against the second-team defense. But based on last year's passing offense I'd be happy if the offense got those yards against a high school team.
Further, we learned that both Warren Ball and Cardale Jones had their black stripes removed. That's great news, as I don't think many people predicted they would be the next two.
In totally opposite news, check out the bullet Ohio State dodged:
— Alex 11W (@alex11w) August 20, 2012
#dodgedabullet RT@caneswatch: Al Golden says Seantrel Henderson has to "get personal house in order." Does not expect him to play vs, BC.
'TIS THE SEASON FOR (RE-)RANKINGS. Rivals updated their top 100 recruits list yesterday, which impacted a few Buckeyes commits and targets.
Probably the biggest news is that Cam Burrows had his fifth star dropped:
"Burrows was outstanding last fall while leading his team to a state title. He played fluidly and with outstanding athleticism for his size. This offseason, however, we saw a combination of low effort and a loss of fluidity from the 6-foot, 200-plus pound defensive back," Helmholdt said. "A player his size has to stay fluid through the hips to stay with elite wide receivers. By the time he showed up at Gridiron Kings in late July, he was really struggling and gave up a ton of completions."
We have to remember that recruiting rankings don't determine how good a player actually is, just what scouts happen to pick up on. We all knew already that a move to safety was possible, so a "loss of fluidity" might just be support for that move.
Courtesy of Derek, other Buckeyes in the top 100 are Bosa (25), Burrows (27), Woodard (29), and Marshall (53). Somewhat surprisingly, Ezekiel Elliot wasn't in the top 100 after good showings at Gridiron Kings and The Opening.
Buckeye lean Shelton Gibson also made some headlines as one of the biggest (positive) movers, jumping to 85 on the list:
"Gibson was a ghost all offseason until he showed up at Ohio State's Friday Night Lights event in late July," Helmholdt said. "It was apparent there that he had not spent the entire offseason on the couch. Gibson came in thicker and stronger than we last saw him in the fall. It was his speed that was truly eye-catching, though. He was so fast down the field that the quarterbacks at the event underthrew him all night long and never were able to adjust to his speed."
Gibson remains a top target for Urban and company, especially after that Friday Night Lights performance. Similarly, Mike Mitchell (who recently visited Oklahoma) jumped from 45 to 32 after his Opening SPARQ perfomance.
For those of you that are concerned about Rivals rankings for the enemy up north, Derek has the scoop: Shane Morris now a 5* and at 17. Also Poggi (58), McCray (81), Kugler (88), and Bosch (92).
THE BUCKEYE ILLUMINATI. The Lantern published an interesting article detailing the one aspect of the 2012 Buckeyes that hasn't been extensively infiltrated yet - the clandestine leadership committee.
The article talks about how this leadership group is responsible for keeping Meyer plugged in to the team in an even closer way, along with additional leadership responsibilities. The rest, however, remains confidential.
As you might expect, there's a large overlap in leadership committee members and team captains - Boren, Simon, and Sabino, to start with - but the other members' identities are a secret. Who might the remaining members be?
Boren was more loose-lipped in discussing the leadership committee — he confirmed that eight OSU players of varying class years comprise Meyer’s committee...“There’s some guys on our leadership committee that weren’t very vocal in, let’s say, January or February of years past. And now that they’re on the committee they kind of have a, not a sense of pride, but they’re not scared to open up their mouths,” Boren said. “(They) become what we need.”
Well, considering they aren't just seniors, and some of them weren't vocal before this year, my money is on Braxton being one of the secret leadership committee members. All reports from camp and over the summer mentioned how he's gotten significantly better at leadership over the summer and has been far more vocal - no doubt at Meyer's urging.
However, who else do you think is in the committee?
Ohio State should be the top party school in the USAPRINCETON REVIEW'S PARTY TIME. Princeton Review's annual list of top party and sober schools came out yesterday (see, it really is the time for list-making!).
In an upset, West Virginia took the party crown from last year's winner, Ohio U, which had to settle for third place. The Bobcats weren't the only Athens to make the list, as the 2010 winning University of Georgia hit number five (insert "Mark Richt lost control of..." meme here).
Based on my personal observation of the southern Athens, the Athens-Clarke County police department wasn't very fond of UGA's top ranking and decided to crack down - I wonder if that was the case for the Athens in Ohio as well...
Other notable schools to make the list include Illinois at number 4 (probably celebrating Tim Beckman coming aboard), Miami University of Ohio at 9, Penn State at 11, and Wisconsin at 13. I'm a bit surprised by Miami of Ohio coming in at ninth overall - does anyone have first-hand experience of this?
Not a single Big Ten school managed to make the "Stone-Cold Sober Schools" list, which is not surprising.
LINK(S), THE SAVIOR OF HYRULE. Oh look, Nate Ebner intercepted another pass... More ESPN practice footage... Buy yerr tickets herr... Evan Turner makes yet another list... ESPN bloggers debate the Ten Year War... Stoned Wolverines? However you want to explain it... Work sucks, I know (...she left me roses by the stairs)... Which moon is cooler, Titan or Europa?.. .Lazers... Amazing what you find in Moscow... TSUN is second, argument invalid.
