I don't know that this is 100% fair. It's definitely a problem this season so far for your squad, but you've had some solid players the last few seasons.. particularly at WR and TE. I don't think Harbaugh is the answer for your program but I don't think this is the reason why. It's a problem for this season, but not for the Harbaugh era.
Interesting thought. There have been times in the last decade where fans would call the OSU-Wisconsin game our biggest game of the year, but trust me as a Buckeye fan that this is still The Game and nothing will ever replace it.
Very interested in all of your responses. Like some of you, I hate you guys because of my dad.
It is curious to me that so many of you who "hate Ohio" are actually from Ohio- and your program depends on Ohio for recruiting (or at least it used to).
Anyway, I love the rivalry and I enjoy reading people's thoughts on the subject.
I think it's just difficult for freshmen to come in and play safety without the fear of "the big play." OSU has Vonn Bell, who is certainly highly touted coming out of signing day and fall camp, but he has hardly seen the field in meaningful moments outside of special teams, despite a season-ending injury to safety Christian Bryant. I don't think it's at all an indication of how the OSU staff feels about Bell (they're obviously excited about his future), but rather he needs to learn the position and its role in our defense before the coaches trust sending him out there.
I don't know if it's the same situation with Dymonte, but given his outstanding athleticism I would imagine the coaches are thrilled to have him.
I think it's clear the ISU/Texas game was the blown call.
As for the OSU/NW call, I think they got it right. I do just have two points. First, regarding NW's use of a timeout rather than booth review- earlier in the half the booth did not review a Carlos Hyde touchdown and Meyer was forced to use a timeout.. The booth is not as always fast as we'd like and sometimes a coach is forced to make a decision. It happens.
Second, do not pay attention to the yellow line first down marker when viewing the replays of this play. The first down line is at the 33, but in the replays from behind the yellow line is incorrectly placed at the 34. If you are basing your judgments without utilizing the yellow line, that's fine, but if you assume that he got the first down because he passed the yellow line you would be incorrect.
I really expected him to go to UM, but it seems he just fell in love with USC more and more each time he ran out there. I think he's going to be a great player. Tough loss for UM, but still plenty of time to find another guy
There are a lot of funny things which occurred and I'll try to map out the ones on my mind, but I don't think that this reaches Ohio State recruits that committed before the Spring game..
There's no doubt that Bosa, Anzalone, and Heuerman really hit it off on the weekend of OSU's Spring Game. Word from the recruitniks over at 11w was that all three were all Buckeye. Bosa, Neal, and Anzalone all committed shortly after the game. Then, something happened. I don't pretend to know what, but Heuerman had a sudden "change of heart" and decided to commit to ND, despite spending the previous weekend actually recruiting FOR Ohio State.
Then, Lewis Neal decommits. I personally think that his "personal" reasoning has more to do with his grandmother than it does issues with the TriviaGuru, but I suppose anything is possible. His grandmother (she raised him) wants him to stay close to home in N.C.
Then word comes out about the TriviaGuru. Then, people start to draw the lines about what exactly he did when he returned to Columbus for the Spring Game. I didn't think Neal was linked, but this picture below me may have proved me wrong.
Then, Anzalone decommits. Alex from 11w says that this is 100% about the BDubsTriviaGuru. Then, reports come out of Anzalone's hometown newspaper that it was the "nail in the coffin." Choose to believe who you want, but my take is that there were some things that went down on the evening of April 21 that should not have.
You'll hear no argument from me that Gene Smith needs to go, but it's very frustrating to see some blasting Ohio State for this. The recruits go on their visit, generally go to dinner with some coaches, and then they're off on their own. The staff can't be watching them or then posting people outside their hotel to make sure they stay in there for the duration of the evening.
BDubsTriviaGuru is a guy on Twitter literally sending out hundreds of tweets a day to players, coaches, and recruits. Some players, coaches, etc., responded to him and retweeted his stuff every day. He arranged to meet with recruits on his own doing and they apparently agreed to meet him.
OSU Compliance received a tip about this, looked into the situation, and discovered his dirty past.
If Waugh was providing improper benefits, I'm not sure how it reflects negatively on Ohio State since the person is not enrolled at Ohio State, OSU didn't have knowledge, and they took immediate remedial action onces discovered that there may be an issue.
This is not an Ohio State problem. The quotes by Anzalone's father are understandable, but are misguided anger. It is impossible for the coaching staff to follow the kids 24/7 while they are on a visit, or to control who they interact with on social networks.
I also disagree with the fellow who said this answers why Lewis Neal decommitted? I have read up on this BDubsTriviaGuru over the past few days and have not seen any evidence of interaction between he and Lewis Neal. Guru had contact with Mike Heuerman, Alex Anzalone, and Joey Bosa on the evening of Saturday, April 21. On Sunday, April 22, he met at Chipotle for lunch with two signed OSU players (Tyvis Powell and someone else).
This guy had no affiliation with Ohio State, he's just some guy. This is not an Ohio State or Urban Meyer problem. I totally understand that Alex's father is upset about what happened, but Alex chose to follow this guy on Twitter, he chose to meet with him at BW3 or where ever, he chose to take a photograph with him, and he chose to retweet these "motivational quotes", and there was not a darn thing that Urban Meyer, Luke Fickell, or anybody else at OSU could have done about it.
I'd love to hear from somebody with knowledge of the situation about what went down between the Spring game Saturday and about Monday afternoon when he reportedly began wavering on OSU.
I've read from reliable insiders at 11w and Rivals that he was "all-OSU" at the Spring Game and even helped recruit Joey Bosa and Alex Anzalone to Ohio State. I read that he went home Sunday thinking that he was going to decide Ohio State. Something happened on Monday that made him reconsider. Maybe he was just flying on emotion over the weekend and Ohio State and went home and settled down and realized ND was right for him. Perhaps.
Anyway, he seems like a great kid and I wish him well, but we certainly wanted him at OSU. You won't hear any "OSU cooled on him" from me.
At first I agreed with you, but you took it a bit too far. I will not dispute that almost all of us over at 11w (probably 90-95%) wanted Heuerman, but I don't recall anybody saying that they preferred him to Baugh. We wanted both, but Baugh was already in so there was no talk of preference.
As to Jaylon Smith, Buckeye fans are no doubt salivating over him and willing to leave a spot open for him, but we've been told from the beginning that he is NOT a Buckeye lock. If you go over to 11w no one is expecting Jaylon to be a Buckeye. We certainly hope he is, but he seems to be leaning ND pretty hard.
But in general terms I think you have fairly represented the Buckeye community.
You guys were bound to lose a recruiting battle eventually. You'll still find a good replacement for him and end up with a top 5 class so I hope you aren't too upset.
I don't think I was being unreasonable, there are just guys on Ohio State's board that were higher.. My point is that Hoke's recruiting in Ohio will not have an impact on Ohio State so long as Ohio State is able to follow its recruiting plan. It will have a huge impact on the other regional schools trying to establish themselves in Ohio though.
Hoke is doing a heck fo a job in Ohio, but I think it needs to be more clearly mentioned that this isn't exactly harming Ohio State. We badly wanted Dymonte Thomas, but really the rest of the guys you have got from Ohio weren't going to be at OSU anyway.
The people truly harmed by Hoke's success in Ohio are Michigan State, Penn State, Notre Dame, and the other schools who traditionally reach across the border into Ohio. It also goes to show just how great high school football in the state of Ohio is since it provides talent to so many D1 universities.
I'm not saying anything about the likelihood of him flipping (in fact, I said it was a long shot). I'm just saying that I think Urban will want to fight this one out.
I certainly hope we are finished.. For all the reasons you mentioned, it's time to look elsewhere. We are at 13 spots, most recruitniks say we will be at 17 or 18 for the class. We still need 2 more OL, at least one more WR, maybe a DB, maybe another LB, and maybe another RB.
Also, we are expected to get TE Mike Heuerman sometime this week as well (perhaps as soon as today)
I don't think there's a problem with the "amirite" meter.. First, there's the question of whether Levenberry is going to commit to UM or FSU. I won't even get into that because it seems like an even split... But let's say he does get to UM, someone is saying he is going to win the Heisman? That's all my comment was about - the odds of a linebacker winning the Heisman in these days are quite small
I think it's going to take a few years before anybody in the Big Ten can produce a Heisman winner. First we have to get rid of the stygma that our conference is not as good as the SEC or explosive as the PAC 12. I think that with Michigan and Ohio State we are on our way to doing that.
Also, I don't see Denard winning the Heisman this year. And to the guy that said Levenberry - really?
But you imply that Michigan actually would have got him when you state that he was "turned away." It's also hard to say that you're full at linebacker when they are now pursuing Levenberry.
I know this guy has low credibility around here but a few of you know that he is often right. Here is a tweet from RivalsMike earlier: "nope, he always told me #OhioState was tops“@WolverineViper:@rivalsmike they led after Michigan told him that they were full. Get real...”"
I'll give you the hoops commit, but don't be telling me Michigan "turned away" Anzalone as if he was trying to commit and Hoke said "nope, we're full."
I think OSU is sitting at 15 openings and with transfers/NFL Draft we expect anywhere from 18-20. We very well could have 15 shortly after the Spring game this weekend (we currently sit at 10). Thanks for all of your replies.
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I don't know that this is 100% fair. It's definitely a problem this season so far for your squad, but you've had some solid players the last few seasons.. particularly at WR and TE. I don't think Harbaugh is the answer for your program but I don't think this is the reason why. It's a problem for this season, but not for the Harbaugh era.
Interesting thought. There have been times in the last decade where fans would call the OSU-Wisconsin game our biggest game of the year, but trust me as a Buckeye fan that this is still The Game and nothing will ever replace it.
Very interested in all of your responses. Like some of you, I hate you guys because of my dad.
It is curious to me that so many of you who "hate Ohio" are actually from Ohio- and your program depends on Ohio for recruiting (or at least it used to).
Anyway, I love the rivalry and I enjoy reading people's thoughts on the subject.
I think it's just difficult for freshmen to come in and play safety without the fear of "the big play." OSU has Vonn Bell, who is certainly highly touted coming out of signing day and fall camp, but he has hardly seen the field in meaningful moments outside of special teams, despite a season-ending injury to safety Christian Bryant. I don't think it's at all an indication of how the OSU staff feels about Bell (they're obviously excited about his future), but rather he needs to learn the position and its role in our defense before the coaches trust sending him out there.
I don't know if it's the same situation with Dymonte, but given his outstanding athleticism I would imagine the coaches are thrilled to have him.
I think it's clear the ISU/Texas game was the blown call.
As for the OSU/NW call, I think they got it right. I do just have two points. First, regarding NW's use of a timeout rather than booth review- earlier in the half the booth did not review a Carlos Hyde touchdown and Meyer was forced to use a timeout.. The booth is not as always fast as we'd like and sometimes a coach is forced to make a decision. It happens.
Second, do not pay attention to the yellow line first down marker when viewing the replays of this play. The first down line is at the 33, but in the replays from behind the yellow line is incorrectly placed at the 34. If you are basing your judgments without utilizing the yellow line, that's fine, but if you assume that he got the first down because he passed the yellow line you would be incorrect.
Was a heck of a ball game this weekend.
I really expected him to go to UM, but it seems he just fell in love with USC more and more each time he ran out there. I think he's going to be a great player. Tough loss for UM, but still plenty of time to find another guy
There are a lot of funny things which occurred and I'll try to map out the ones on my mind, but I don't think that this reaches Ohio State recruits that committed before the Spring game..
There's no doubt that Bosa, Anzalone, and Heuerman really hit it off on the weekend of OSU's Spring Game. Word from the recruitniks over at 11w was that all three were all Buckeye. Bosa, Neal, and Anzalone all committed shortly after the game. Then, something happened. I don't pretend to know what, but Heuerman had a sudden "change of heart" and decided to commit to ND, despite spending the previous weekend actually recruiting FOR Ohio State.
Then, Lewis Neal decommits. I personally think that his "personal" reasoning has more to do with his grandmother than it does issues with the TriviaGuru, but I suppose anything is possible. His grandmother (she raised him) wants him to stay close to home in N.C.
Then word comes out about the TriviaGuru. Then, people start to draw the lines about what exactly he did when he returned to Columbus for the Spring Game. I didn't think Neal was linked, but this picture below me may have proved me wrong.
Then, Anzalone decommits. Alex from 11w says that this is 100% about the BDubsTriviaGuru. Then, reports come out of Anzalone's hometown newspaper that it was the "nail in the coffin." Choose to believe who you want, but my take is that there were some things that went down on the evening of April 21 that should not have.
I just hope that Bosa doesn't follow suit.
Do they sit outside their hotel in an SUV with tinted windows? At some point OSU representatives and recruits part ways.
You'll hear no argument from me that Gene Smith needs to go, but it's very frustrating to see some blasting Ohio State for this. The recruits go on their visit, generally go to dinner with some coaches, and then they're off on their own. The staff can't be watching them or then posting people outside their hotel to make sure they stay in there for the duration of the evening.
BDubsTriviaGuru is a guy on Twitter literally sending out hundreds of tweets a day to players, coaches, and recruits. Some players, coaches, etc., responded to him and retweeted his stuff every day. He arranged to meet with recruits on his own doing and they apparently agreed to meet him.
OSU Compliance received a tip about this, looked into the situation, and discovered his dirty past.
If Waugh was providing improper benefits, I'm not sure how it reflects negatively on Ohio State since the person is not enrolled at Ohio State, OSU didn't have knowledge, and they took immediate remedial action onces discovered that there may be an issue.
This is bologna. Are you serious?
This is not an Ohio State problem. The quotes by Anzalone's father are understandable, but are misguided anger. It is impossible for the coaching staff to follow the kids 24/7 while they are on a visit, or to control who they interact with on social networks.
I also disagree with the fellow who said this answers why Lewis Neal decommitted? I have read up on this BDubsTriviaGuru over the past few days and have not seen any evidence of interaction between he and Lewis Neal. Guru had contact with Mike Heuerman, Alex Anzalone, and Joey Bosa on the evening of Saturday, April 21. On Sunday, April 22, he met at Chipotle for lunch with two signed OSU players (Tyvis Powell and someone else).
This guy had no affiliation with Ohio State, he's just some guy. This is not an Ohio State or Urban Meyer problem. I totally understand that Alex's father is upset about what happened, but Alex chose to follow this guy on Twitter, he chose to meet with him at BW3 or where ever, he chose to take a photograph with him, and he chose to retweet these "motivational quotes", and there was not a darn thing that Urban Meyer, Luke Fickell, or anybody else at OSU could have done about it.
I get the impression Poggi is your top priority on the DLine, but where do you guys stand on Hurst? Do you want him?
I'd love to hear from somebody with knowledge of the situation about what went down between the Spring game Saturday and about Monday afternoon when he reportedly began wavering on OSU.
I've read from reliable insiders at 11w and Rivals that he was "all-OSU" at the Spring Game and even helped recruit Joey Bosa and Alex Anzalone to Ohio State. I read that he went home Sunday thinking that he was going to decide Ohio State. Something happened on Monday that made him reconsider. Maybe he was just flying on emotion over the weekend and Ohio State and went home and settled down and realized ND was right for him. Perhaps.
Anyway, he seems like a great kid and I wish him well, but we certainly wanted him at OSU. You won't hear any "OSU cooled on him" from me.
At first I agreed with you, but you took it a bit too far. I will not dispute that almost all of us over at 11w (probably 90-95%) wanted Heuerman, but I don't recall anybody saying that they preferred him to Baugh. We wanted both, but Baugh was already in so there was no talk of preference.
As to Jaylon Smith, Buckeye fans are no doubt salivating over him and willing to leave a spot open for him, but we've been told from the beginning that he is NOT a Buckeye lock. If you go over to 11w no one is expecting Jaylon to be a Buckeye. We certainly hope he is, but he seems to be leaning ND pretty hard.
But in general terms I think you have fairly represented the Buckeye community.
Buckeye fan here. I thought that this was a great article regarding OSU's weekend and how it impacts UM. I agree that OSU is likely out on Poggi now.
Also, good handling of the Derrick Green confusion.
This got tagged as flamebait but the one provoking it did not? Please
You guys were bound to lose a recruiting battle eventually. You'll still find a good replacement for him and end up with a top 5 class so I hope you aren't too upset.
I don't think I was being unreasonable, there are just guys on Ohio State's board that were higher.. My point is that Hoke's recruiting in Ohio will not have an impact on Ohio State so long as Ohio State is able to follow its recruiting plan. It will have a huge impact on the other regional schools trying to establish themselves in Ohio though.
Hoke is doing a heck fo a job in Ohio, but I think it needs to be more clearly mentioned that this isn't exactly harming Ohio State. We badly wanted Dymonte Thomas, but really the rest of the guys you have got from Ohio weren't going to be at OSU anyway.
The people truly harmed by Hoke's success in Ohio are Michigan State, Penn State, Notre Dame, and the other schools who traditionally reach across the border into Ohio. It also goes to show just how great high school football in the state of Ohio is since it provides talent to so many D1 universities.
I'm not saying anything about the likelihood of him flipping (in fact, I said it was a long shot). I'm just saying that I think Urban will want to fight this one out.
OL and WR is the big target from here on out. Lazard to WVU was a surprise.
I think the main battles are now for Dymonte Thomas (long shot) and Laquan Treadwell (seems to be favoring UM)
If you guys re-open to Pocic, add him to the list since OSU is heavily targeting him.
I certainly hope we are finished.. For all the reasons you mentioned, it's time to look elsewhere. We are at 13 spots, most recruitniks say we will be at 17 or 18 for the class. We still need 2 more OL, at least one more WR, maybe a DB, maybe another LB, and maybe another RB.
Also, we are expected to get TE Mike Heuerman sometime this week as well (perhaps as soon as today)
I don't think there's a problem with the "amirite" meter.. First, there's the question of whether Levenberry is going to commit to UM or FSU. I won't even get into that because it seems like an even split... But let's say he does get to UM, someone is saying he is going to win the Heisman? That's all my comment was about - the odds of a linebacker winning the Heisman in these days are quite small
I think it's going to take a few years before anybody in the Big Ten can produce a Heisman winner. First we have to get rid of the stygma that our conference is not as good as the SEC or explosive as the PAC 12. I think that with Michigan and Ohio State we are on our way to doing that.
Also, I don't see Denard winning the Heisman this year. And to the guy that said Levenberry - really?
But you imply that Michigan actually would have got him when you state that he was "turned away." It's also hard to say that you're full at linebacker when they are now pursuing Levenberry.
I know this guy has low credibility around here but a few of you know that he is often right. Here is a tweet from RivalsMike earlier: "nope, he always told me
#OhioState was tops“@WolverineViper:@rivalsmike they led after Michigan told him that they were full. Get real...”"I'll give you the hoops commit, but don't be telling me Michigan "turned away" Anzalone as if he was trying to commit and Hoke said "nope, we're full."
Not flaming, but 81,000+ fans there despite rain and cold.. A lot of excitement in Columbus right now.
I think OSU is sitting at 15 openings and with transfers/NFL Draft we expect anywhere from 18-20. We very well could have 15 shortly after the Spring game this weekend (we currently sit at 10). Thanks for all of your replies.
Friendly Buckeye fan here. Just wondering, how large do you all see your class being this year (2013)?