The Weekender: Carson Hinzman Makes an Interesting Podcast Appearance, Taylor Decker Loses a Game-Winning Score and KSU Tries Pop-Tart Cannibalism

By George Eisner on December 31, 2023 at 2:35 pm
Center Carson Hinzman of The Ohio State Buckeyes
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Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.

Carson Hinzman has plenty to say

Do you still find yourself searching for answers after Ohio State's letdown in the Cotton Bowl? Fans in Columbus left grasping for excuses may appreciate listening to this Carson Hinzman appearance on "The B&B Podcast" that gradually faded off the Internet last week and nearly disappeared entirely.

Some fans may already have some familiarity with this story after a link to it surfaced in the Eleven Warriors forums last week. Curiously, the showrunners — each seemingly with ties to Hinzman's time at St. Croix Central High School in Wisconsin — removed the episode from both YouTube and Amazon shortly afterward.

Fast forward to roughly a week and a half later, Hinzman would play zero snaps in the Cotton Bowl. Worse yet, the Buckeye offensive line put forth its most inept performance of the season.

The mystery surrounding Hinzman's benching and attempted scrubbing of his podcast commentary prompts some further investigating. Some of the topics Hinzman touches on in his hour-long appearance include:

  • A claim that OSU had "15-18 practices" going into the bowl site last year, but only "six" this year as of the podcast's upload date of December 20th. He further says they replaced a lot of these practices with "light workouts."
  • His diet calls for 6,000 calories per day, with Mickey Marotti conducting daily weigh-ins for players to ensure they stay on track. He admits he was close to "20 lbs. underweight" for the Notre Dame game before breaking down his entire eating schedule from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. that he "hates."
  • Regarding fan criticism and expectations: "Until game eight [this season], it felt like we were losing every single game."
  • There was already a plan in place for Matt Jones to "show out a little at center" in the Cotton Bowl for the purpose of boosting his NFL draft stock.
  • Mike Hall Jr. and Hinzman have "scrapped" at least "six" times in practice, and they have fought each other more than anyone else on the team. Hinzman describes at least one of his scraps with Hall Jr. as "a little bit of Myles Garrett action" and further claims that footage of said incident no longer exists.
  • Kyle McCord gave some of Hinzman's favorite pre-game speeches ever, and would invoke phrases such as, "loadin' that clip and lettin' it spray."
  • One offensive line recruit that ultimately went to Miami demanded a million dollars per year in NIL money, which did not align with Ohio State's valuation of OL players ("they don't get paid") or multi-year developmental plan.
  • "Ohio State doesn't really like to pay guys a whole lot... compared to other schools, that's probably why we don't really get those kind of recruits. But at the same time, we don't really want those recruits that are just in it for the money."
  • Donovan Jackson is an outspoken Swiftie.
  • Ed Orgeron attempted to lure Hinzman to LSU with promises of playing time at tight end and gumbo.

You can listen to Hinzman's full appearance in the link to Listen Notes above.

Taylor Decker robbed of game-winning score

Monday Night Football on a Saturday night was already weird enough, but the ending to last night's game between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys will live on in infamy for a while — especially for former Buckeye All-American Taylor Decker.

Decker caught what would have been a go-ahead two-point conversion with 23 seconds left, but had his score nullified by an illegal touching penalty. Referee Brad Allen claimed Decker never reported as an eligible receiver before the snap.

Later on, ESPN would provide footage of Decker clearly leaving the Lions’ huddle to report to a referee. Allen would go on to claim in the pool report that Decker's teammate Dan Skipper reported as eligible rather than Decker himself.

After the game, Decker said he did exactly what Lions coach Dan Campbell instructed him to do, which was to report to the official as an eligible receiver. Campbell also said in his postgame press conference that he explained the scenario to the officials before the game even started.

Bowling for Pop-Tarts

In a bowl season mired by vampiric transfer portal controversy and high-profile opt-outs, a hero has emerged from the chaos:

Go figure, the atmosphere in Orlando on Thursday got very weird, very quickly.

But ritualistic cannibalism aside, it was all in good fun. Pop-Tarts dominated the news cycle in a way mayonnaise manufacturers could have only dreamed of in jealousy, and the subsequent memes proved to be a wealth of joy at the end of the holiday season.

Perhaps the Orange Bowl could have used some of that excitement.

ICYMI

Jim Knowles: “This is Where I Always Worked to Be”

Although Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles interviewed for Duke's head coaching vacancy earlier this month, he provided encouraging clarification comments this week such as, "I see myself as being at the best place right now.... Why would I want to go anywhere else?"

The Awakening, Perseverance, and Resilience of Josh Proctor

After six years at Ohio State, safety Josh Proctor provides a complete retrospective on how his time in Columbus has transformed him both as a player and a person. He details his battle through injuries and favorite moments on the field as a Buckeye.

No. 1 PG, No. 3 Overall WBB Prospect Jaloni Cambridge Commits to OSU

Although Ohio State women's basketball fell short against Michigan in Ann Arbor yesterday, the team still scored a huge win this week in securing a commitment from the top overall point guard in the 2024 recruiting cycle: Jaloni Cambridge.

What's Next?

  • 244 Days Until: 2024 season-opener vs. Akron, TBD
  • 335 Days Until: Michigan @ Ohio State, TBD
  • Men's Basketball: vs. Rutgers, Jan. 3rd
  • Women’s Basketball: @ Northwestern, Jan. 5th
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