Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links is Men of the Scarlet and Gray’s newly renamed, semi-regular curated look at items that would interest the casual and hard-core Ohio State fan. These include news items, interesting blog posts and the occasional meme you’ve probably already seen. It’s all here and it’s all for you. Have a tip that should be included in the next TYAACOL? Drop us a line at motsag@gmail.com or through our Contact Page.

NOT JUST A FOOSBALL SCHOOL: While we are very much in the thick of a fantastic football campaign, basketball is just around the corner, and on Thursday the AP released its preseason Top 25, with Ohio State checking in at 11 and with the Big Ten sporting four teams in the Top 20 (Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin).

We’ll be kicking off our basketball coverage next week and the Buckeyes tip off against Morgan State at noon on November 9th (coincidentally the football team’s second bye week). The real tests start a few days later, against the OU Bobcats.

SPEAKING OF BASKETBALL: It looks like Ohio State will partake in a fantastic “preseason” tournament next year with North Carolina, UCLA, and Kentucky.

BLITZKRIEG: Sometimes a coach goes and says something and validates the hundreds of knuckledraggers who have been screaming at the top of the lungs (to their 25 Twitter followers, too) that Ryan Shazier needs to be blitzing more! Well, Urban may just agree with you:

We did have some conversation, because I think Ryan Shazier is one of the best blitzers in America. And he doesn’t blitz very much.

Shazier seems to be ok with a little glimmer of hope of more blitzing:

“I’m blitzing as much as the coaches want me to, and I’m going to try to get there every time,” Shazier said. “If the coaches want to keep sending me, I’m going to keep going.

“Whatever the team needs me to do, I’ll do. I love blitzing, and the coaching staff is starting to realize that I like blitzing and we’re going to start being more aggressive, sending more people.”

How can you not like this kid?!

LOOK AT THESE RUMORS, SURROUNDING ME EVERY DAY: Much to the chagrin of everyone I follow on Twitter, Gene Smith publicly refuted the rumor that he had interviewed (or was going to interview) for the vacant Athletic Director at the University of Texas:

… Reports of me interviewing at the University of Texas are inaccurate. Thank you and Go Bucks!

— gene smith (@OSU_AD) October 31, 2013

I know Smith royally botched the Tressel/Tatgate situation, but he’s run a fairly tight ship, all things considered.

B1G SPEED: Remember Butch Reynolds, Coach Tressel’s speed coach of the mid-2000’s? Well, he’s got his eye on MotSaG favorite Dontre Wilson. Reynolds says, “Wilson’s “turnover” (stride rate) is remarkable.”

In other words, he’s real fast.

Dontre hasn’t got loose yet (on a long scoring run). If he does, he really could jet. He could take it home. He could let everyone see that pick up and down. If he strides out like that, he’ll open a lot of NFL guys’ eyes too.

I think he’s already opened most of ours.