Folks, I've got good news.
Hurry up, the weekend's almost here. Time to Rush. #GoBucks @rushtheband pic.twitter.com/ZSN2eRPyi4
— The Ohio State University Marching Band (@TBDBITL) October 7, 2021
TBDBITL's drumline arrangements of Neil Peart? Sign me the hell up.
Word of the Day: Emanate.
THE NEW QBU. Ryan Day has assembled one of the most nonsensical quarterbacks rooms in college football history featuring four incredibly highly-recruited players all with freshman eligibility.
The secret, Day tells my good pal Bill Landis, is honesty.
First off, what has it been like managing a room that was already deep and talented, and then you bring in a guy like Quinn Ewers on top of that?
Part of it is recruiting on the front end. You make it really clear what you’re getting involved with. We’re going to bring in great quarterbacks every year. You’re gonna have to compete, nothing is guaranteed and the focus has to be on development. We’ll come up for air in January after the season and see where we’re at. I don’t want anybody to leave, but maybe that happens. But what I ask is to not leave in season. That’s not fair to anybody. I think guys know that they’re going to get developed here at a pretty high level.
...
Is it hard to sell that to recruits?
In recruiting, you’re just straight with them. Do you want to compete? If you make it here, you can make it anywhere. If you make it here, you’ve got a chance to be a first-rounder, be in the Heisman Trophy conversation and win a national championship. Guys who want to compete get that part of it. If they want to just get handed an opportunity, they should go somewhere else. That’s just how it’s gonna be. I think the highly competitive guys get that.
Have you had highly touted prospects where the interest was mutual, but it didn’t work out because they didn’t want to enter that kind of situation?
Oh yeah, 1,000 percent.
If y'all have the time (and a subscription to The Athletic), the whole piece is worth the read. Day is extremely candid, but he can be because there's really no big secret to this sort of recruiting success. He's simply very good at coaching quarterbacks and doesn't lie.
Who knew that's all it takes?
DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT... Penn State and Iowa face off this week and the winner will be the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten. Regardless of how that game shakes out, they both better be looking over their shoulders. Cause a train is coming.
Penn State, Iowa and Michigan have stolen the spotlight since the Buckeyes lost to Oregon in Week 2, but while everyone has been arguing over whether Penn State or Iowa deserves to be ranked higher, the Buckeyes are quietly starting to look capable of beating them both.
"It was some tough times here, but we grew through it," coach Ryan Day said after beating Rutgers 52-13. "We didn't panic, and in that we might have a good team as we head into October, November."
That's exactly when it matters the most.
...
According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Ohio State still has the best chance to win the Big Ten (37%), followed by Iowa (31%), Michigan (17%) and Penn State (8%). The Buckeyes are also still favored to win the Big Ten East (51%), followed by Michigan (26%). There are plenty of opportunities for Ohio State to compensate for its loss to Oregon, and right now, ESPN's Football Power Index projects the Buckeyes to win all of them.
One of the coolest parts about college football is that teams and players simply get better with time. Ohio State is starting a bunch of guys this year who've really never played all that much in their entire careers. It should shock absolutely nobody that those players are better now than they were four weeks ago.
And the fun news is, I don't think most of those young players have even approached their ceilings yet. By the end of the season, this team could be 2014 levels of dangerous.
TERRY CATCHES EVERYTHING. It's usually Michael Thomas' absurd catch rate that we fawn over, but with him sidelined to start the season, another Buckeye has stolen the show on that front.
Washington WR Terry McLaurin currently owns the longest streak of targets without a drop. He's seen 190 straight targets and hauled in 128 consecutive catches without a drop. And he routinely makes difficult/absurd catches.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 7, 2021
What a player. pic.twitter.com/Ip1KqM923n
And while Thomas put up his crazy numbers with a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer at quarterback, McLaurin is doing all this with *checks notes* Taylor Heinicke at the helm.
Not a bad gig when you can just throw the ball up there and know odds are good your guy is going to come down with it.
NIGHT GAME? With Big Noon Saturday now a thing, Ohio State doesn't play a lot of home night games these days, but it's looking like they'll see at least one more this season.
Asked about whether a lack of night games is impacting recruiting, Ryan Day hints at the possibility of Ohio State having another night game this year.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) October 7, 2021
Penn State game, perhaps?
Penn State would make sense. The only other options would be Purdue and Michigan State, and the Big Ten seems to be relatively against playing needless November night games.
Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. Ohio State hasn't played a home night game against a top-20 opponent since the infamous Baker Mayfield flag-planting game in 2017, and hasn't hosted Penn State at night since 2015.
I'm not getting my hopes up just to be handed another nooner.
SONG OF THE DAY. "YYZ" by Rush.
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