Folks, longtime 11W member and even longer Ohio State fan, steve-OH, is headed to Indianapolis on Saturday to attend his first game since childhood. However, after a previous deal fell through, he needs two championship tickets.
If you have them (or know somebody who does) and aren't trying to chisel a Buckeye diehard, please contact him.
ICYMI:
- 11W's 2017 Holiday Gift Guide.
- J.T. Barrett returns to practice, but Dwayne Haskins takes extra reps.
- Nick Bosa, Tyquan Lewis, and Denzel Ward earn All-Big Ten Defense honors.
- Silver Bullets set to wrangle with Wisconsin's heralded true freshman.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Programming Note: Ohio State men's basketball hosts Clemson at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN2 for the ACC–Big Ten Challenge. Chris Holtmann asks those attending to wear scarlet.
Word of the Day: Cogent.
LITTLE SEPARATION, YOU SAY? The College Football Playoff Rankings dropped Tuesday night, with the Top 8 looked like this:
- Clemson
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Miami
- Ohio State
Clemson will probably throw Miami in a trashcan and pawn the turnover chain for gas money back to Carolina.
Georgia/Auburn will be for the SEC spot. Oklahoma/TCU will be the Big 12 equivalent, but I'm not sure TCU slides through with a win. That scenario would help the Buckeyes.
Should that not come to pass, though, that leaves an interesting decision for the committee should Ohio State beat Wisconsin. What say you, committee chief?
Kirby Hocutt: "There's very little separation between teams 5 through 8."
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 29, 2017
As in, Bama & Ohio State.
If only there were a game coming up that could separate these two teams in the eyes of the committee...
Because I'll live if Ohio State beats Wisconsin and gets left out. I'll try to act jazzed about a "New Year's Eve 6" bowl or whatever.
However, if Ohio State beats Wisconsin, and Alabama makes it over the Buckeyes (on top of Georgia/Auburn getting in), I will immediately dedicate my life to ousting every member of the committee—including Gene Smith, for dereliction of duty.
I'd love to see the committee try to remove me from a room while trying to screw my beloved local team. It would not happen.
WE STILL GOT A GAME HERE. This is the best Wisconsin team Ohio State has ever faced. Which is hilarious, because the Badgers are undefeated and will enter the game as an underdog against a two-loss team.
And while the Badgers are talented, Ohio State will have a decisive edge in two big areas: Quarterback and defensive line.
From btn.com:
Wisconsin: Alex Hornibrook has had his moments this year. The sophomore ranks 10th among Power Five quarterbacks in pass efficiency rating (155.9), completing 63.9 percent of his passes for 2,157 yards with 21 touchdowns. But picks have been an issue. His 13 interceptions rank second in the Big Ten. Hornibrook must avoid interceptions and needs to hit some passes down field to open room for a strong rushing game.
[...]
The Badgers have spent more time in opponents’ backfields this season, racking up 37.0 sacks to lead the Big Ten and rank tied for sixth nationally. Olive Sagapolu is an anchor in the middle. He is flanked by underrated players in Alec James and Conor Sheehy. This group helps allow a talented set of linebackers excel.
I respect the Badgers defense. I have, uh, the opposite of respect for Alex Hornibook, the same former three-star statue the Badgers have trotted out at quarterback for the last five decades. (But hey, Michigan fans wish they had a coach that could hide a flawed quarterback to Paul Chryst's ability.)
As for the vaunted freshman running back Jonathan Taylor, Ohio State is preparing against the greatest football player in school history:
Sam Hubbard said Demario McCall has played the role of Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor on the scout team this week.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 28, 2017
If Wisconsin can't run the ball, it's going to be a long night for Bucky.
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE. Ohio State is 10-2, but it could have just as easily been 8-4 right now had the defense not bailed out the offense after staking Michigan and Penn State to 14-0 leads within the first five minutes of each game. (Though, in the offense's defense, it had nothing to do with Saquon Barkley housing the opening kickoff.)
Inconsistency has plagued the offense in about every game this year outside of Illinois and Michigan State. Should that be the case against Wisconsin, the Buckeyes will once again depend on the Silver Bullets.
From Colin Hass-Hill of The Lantern:
On Barrett’s seven nonscoring drives, Ohio State managed minus-3 total yards and did not gain more than 9 yards on a single drive. It was not until Barrett exited the game due to a knee injury and Haskins replaced him that the offense took off with two touchdowns, one made field goal and one missed field goal, while also managing to avoid bringing out the punting unit.
The Buckeyes eventually survived the scare, coming back from a six-point third-quarter deficit to extend their win streak against Michigan to six games. But Ohio State could not have been in the situation to come back without its defense clamping down after a shaky first quarter.
For the second straight week, the Buckeyes might have to rely on their defense to propel them to victory, this time against No. 5 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship Saturday night.
Ohio State can't start slow against Wisconsin. It just can't. Wisconsin does everything Iowa does, but better. Remember how that game went when the Buckeyes failed to get off the bus? I don't either. What were we even talking about, again? I blacked out for a second.
SINGLETARY SETTLEMENT. The family of Austin Singletary, the Ohio State student who passed away during the Mirror Lake jump in 2015, reached a settlement with the university Tuesday.
From Summer Cartwright of The Lantern:
The university will pay Singletary’s family a $450,000 settlement to resolve a negligence claim regarding his death, but the settlement doesn’t serve as an admission of liability.
Tracy and Maxton Singletary, the co-administrators of Austin Singletary’s estate, filed the claim Nov. 21, nearly two years after their son died Nov. 25, 2015. The family signed the settlement Nov. 18.
Austin Singletary’s death was a result of blunt force injuries to the head and neck from diving into shallow water while participating in the previously held Mirror Lake tradition, during which students would jump into the lake the week of the Ohio State-Michigan game each November.
Prays to the Singletary family. I can only imagine suffering the death of a close one and trying to decide on a monetary amount in a settlement.
COACHES PAID NOT TO COACH. It's hilarious how coaches' agents routinely fleece athletic directors during contract negotiations.
Look at how much these universities are paying people not to coach their "amateur" teams:
That's a lot of money... pic.twitter.com/2etqyW4zJf
— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) November 27, 2017
The new career goal of my mediocre son is to get hired by a mediocre university and then get paid millions of dollars to leave after five years of mediocre results.
OTHER COACHING NEWS. Tennessee fans spent Tuesday super horny while making memes like this in anticipation of their "school" hiring Mike Gundy from Oklahoma State:
Only for their "school" to get stiffed by a with with a mullet:
Sources: Mike Gundy has decided to remain at Oklahoma State. He met w/Tennessee officials Tuesday in Dallas. Gundy reportedly had a 6-year, $42 million deal from Tennessee, but will remain at his alma mater https://t.co/m1igbKIEpx
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 29, 2017
Cowboy For Life! #GoPokes #okstate
— Mike Gundy (@CoachGundy) November 29, 2017
There's only one thing for the Vols to do now: Remove the interim tag from Brady Hoke.
Meanwhile, it looks like James Pumpkin will soon lose the witch that turned him into a Big Ten champion:
Sources: Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will become next coach at Mississippi State. Deal expected to be completed in next few days. https://t.co/fcxi8GKyeI
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 29, 2017
My pick for the man to keep the trains on time in Happy Valley? Tim Beck.
THOSE WMDs. The 2017 bad sex award shortlist... LeBron James' incredible taste in wine, as explained by four experts... Francis Ford Coppola’s notes on Mario Puzo's novel pages of The Godfather... A tiny county in Georgia is trying to create the country's first commercial spaceport... Computer science instead of Algebra II in Ohio high schools?
