Happy Clemson flaying eve. The world doesn't know what's coming.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day: Were not ready for this thing to be over. Said regardless of the outcome, this team will always hold a special place in his heart, but they want to keep it going.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 26, 2019
Word of the Day: Torpor.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE. C.J. Saunders is living in limbo for the next few weeks, as he has absolutely no idea if the College Football Playoff is his final ride with the Buckeyes, or if he'll be able to return for an entire extra season.
Talked to C.J. Saunders at Fiesta Bowl Media, and he says he won't know whether his waiver for a sixth year at Ohio State will be approved until after the season. Puts him in a weird position where he's unsure whether or not this will be his last game or two as a Buckeye.
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) December 26, 2019
It would seem extremely heartless of the NCAA to reject the waiver of a former walk-on who lost his lone scholarship season and potential playing time due to injury, but that hasn't exactly stopped them before!
If he does return, there's a legit chance he has a real role in the offense with limited options in the slot. At worst, we already know his impact as a leader.
COACH HOW YOU PLAY. In Ryan Day's own words, “You can learn a lot about someone by watching them play basketball.”
The trouble is, Day's a bit busy for hoops at the moment, so observation is a bit out of the question, Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports took a trip to Day's old pickup hoops stomping ground at Boston College to talk to some of the noon warriors who played with and against Day on the hardwood.
Turns out, Day might have been spot on because everything they said about him seemed to translate pretty perfectly to his success as a coach.
“You see the personality of a guy who just went about his business,” said former BC basketball coach Steve Donahue, who is now the coach at Penn. “He played really fricking hard, and yet was unassuming. You respect it. It’s awesome for a guy to be rewarded who did it the right way. And he did.”
...
(Day's rise as a coach) comes as little surprise to the swath of the BC community that saw Day run point on countless afternoons at Conte Forum or Power Gym. He shared the ball, hogged the blame and showed the uncanny ability to coach up teammates without tearing them down.
“Basketball is really a revealing sport,” said Kent Greenfield, the BC law professor who is a noted constitutional law expert. “It reveals who you are. Do you play hard? Do you share the ball? Do you make crappy tick-tack calls? Do you talk trash?
“Ryan was a great guy to play with, on the same team and against. You know he’d be competitive and tough, but not mean-spirited.”
...
“He made a lot of shots, but he wouldn’t shoot them all the time,” Gunnell said. “He was smart the way he did it. He wanted to involve people, not be a ball hog. But when it was time to win the game, he took over.”
Totally unsurprisingly, nobody had an unpleasant thing to say about him, which got me thinking about which Division I coaches would be the most insufferable pickup basketball players.
My top-three, in no particular order: Brian Kelly, Jim Harbaugh and Greg Schiano.
THE RACE FOR #1. This story will be beaten to death by the time Clemson's put out of its misery on Saturday night, but Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence were the top-rated players in the country coming out of high school, grew up 20 miles apart and even shared a private quarterback coach.
Again, you're going to be tired of hearing about it in about 48 hours, but it sincerely is a wild, once-in-a-lifetime aligning of stars, and 247 Sports put together a fantastic oral history of their recruitment.
The entire thing is well done and worth your time, but here are a few highlights:
- Fields suffered quite a few injuries in high school, which probably helped him develop the toughness Day raves about
- Lawrence was in the national spotlight since eighth grade, but Fields came on much later due to playing junior varsity as a freshman and suffering an injury in his sophomore year.
- Fields once told is quarterbacks coach "I just want to get an offer to Mercer. If I get that I’m good."
- Fields' Elite 11 performance was the best ever, and it vaulted him into the No. 1 rating afterward: "No quarterback has ever fared better at The Opening Finals: Per data 247Sports tracked, Fields completed 71.7 % of his throws in 7on7 play with, 16 touchdowns and no interceptions – all camp bests. Those 16 touchdown passes came on only 23 offensive drives, a display of staggering and (still-) unprecedented efficiency."
And then there's this gem:
Matt Dickmann, Harrison High School Head Coach: “We didn’t want to put too much on him as a 10th grader. But the first time we put in power read he went 60 yards to the house.”
Hey, that sounds familiar!
I don't know who deserved the No. 1 ranking coming out of high school and I don't know who's going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. But I do know who's going to be hoisting the trophy on Saturday night, and it ain't Sunshine.
COMING FOR OUR JOBS. Folks, let me introduce you to the next Eleven Warriors beat writer.
In preparation for todays @PlayStation #FiestaBowl Media Day, our Jr. Reporter Drew warmed up the @OhioStateFB Buckeyes with some hard-hitting questions. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/BuvepRWKSm
— PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (@Fiesta_Bowl) December 26, 2019
This lad genuinely gets more insightful answers than half the current Ohio State football beat, and he can't be older than eight years old.
I'd like to think my job is safe (mostly because he's already overqualified), but Colin and Dan are officially on notice.
HIDDEN GEM. A few months ago, I stumbled across an individual that, to the naked eye, looks like Trevor Lawrence's extremely hip alter ego.
Turns out, it's just his older brother, who also happens to be a gifted painter and sculptor.
Behold, the Instagram account of Chase Lawrence:
I come with no slander for Chase. Frankly, after scrolling through his Instagram page, he might be the more talented brother.
Hell, I might have to commission a custom piece – I've always wanted to be a centaur.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Japan hangs Chinese man in a rare execution of foreigner... Inside the special operations force tasked with rescuing Navy SEALS... A drunk driver drives an e-scooter on the German Autobahn... A collection of anonymous public confessions... What we got stuck in our rectums this year... A giant star is acting strange, and astronomers are buzzing.
