Archives for June 2016

Five Star Friday: Buckeyes Land A Huge Slob

June 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Things have gotten out of hand for the 2017 recruiting class. It is almost as if Ohio State Fans are living in a dream world. Top recruit after top recruit are throwing themselves at Urban Meyer and his staff in a rush to save themselves one of the very few coveted 2017 spots. The 2017 class is reaching epic proportions and the avalance continued with today’s announcement of the newest member of the 2017 class.

Screen-Shot-2016-03-03-at-11.22.47-AM

Wyatt Davis a 6’5″ 310 pound Five Star Offensive Guard from Bellflower, California committed to Ohio State in a ceremony at his high school today. Wyatt visited OSU last weekend and was blown away by the school and staff so much so that he committed to OSU even though nearly every “expert” had him pegged to go to Alabama before he visited OSU.

How this helps Ohio State?

Well landing a top 15 recruit in the country is a gift in and of itself but it also helps to keep the ball rolling with many of the top recruits in the country. This is a cornerstone recruit along with fellow five star OL Josh Myers and top 100 OL Jake Morretti OSU has the top OL class in the country. It also helps with other five star recruits from California like Darnay Holmes and Tyjon Lindsey. It also helps keep OSU well ahead of the rest of the country and most importantly Michigan.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Ten Years of Buckeye Blogging

June 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment

motsagProfileIt’s still doesn’t seem possible, but today marks ten years (TEN FREAKING YEARS) since I posted the first post here at Men of the Scarlet and Gray dot com. Join with me for a little navel gazing as I reminiscence on the wild ride that started when myself (el Kaiser), Jeremiah (SYR), Grant (sportsMonkey) and Trevor (Zeke) started this here Ohio State blog. (Don’t ask us why we went with nicknames. We were young and dumb)

In the lifetime of the site, we’ve seen a Heisman Trophy Winner (should have been at least 1 more), 3 trips to the National Championship game, a Final Four and an NCAA Finals (including that amazing comeback in the Sweet 16), a major scandal, and the most amazing run of a football team in 2014.

We’ve gone through not one, not two, not three but FOUR Michigan coaches.

We’ve humiliated and/or killed off Kirk Herbstreit in a number of ways (here, here, here, here, and here). We introduced the world to Tressnac The Magnificent and his trusty side-kick Lllloyd Carr.

We spawned at least one other blog, with the birth of blog The Buckeye Battle Cry, happening here in these comments. As far as we know we haven’t fathered any other blogs, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.

As fans, we’ve witnessed all sorts of ups and downs. We’ve witnessed some heartbreaking moments. We had Jeremiah breaking the Carlos Hyde story. We’ve had interviews with former and future Buckeyes, (we even had Cris Carter agree to be interviewed by Shannon but that fell through.)

While having fun at our opponents expense, we coined the phrase “Stiff Arm of Justice” (this one was a personal fave, as is this video)

Oh, and if you’ve been around since the beginning, you know that we single-handledly put Vernon Gholston (and his glorious biceps) on the map.

Look at them. LOOK!
Vernon Gholston

He even followed @MotSaG on twitter!

As you may have noticed, my regular posting around these parts has been next to zilch the past year plus. It kills me that Real Life© has gotten in the way, but I’d like to thank all of our writers contributors, past and present, for all the hard work they’ve put in to keep the site going and bringing you guys the top-notch Buckeye writing we hope you’ve come to expect. We are going to be losing a couple of our staff to our brothers at tBBC but this site will still be chugging along. I would be remiss if I didn’t profusely thank my co-founder and Best Friend Jeremiah. The work he has put in the past few years dragging the site into the limelight has been nothing short of amazing. He’s the hardest working blogger out there and his Twitter Troll Game is strong. Thanks for everything you do, big fella.

It’s been a wild ride and it’s been a great time spending it with all of you. We have some changes that are going on behind the scenes and we’ll be making an announcement soon about some exciting changes, but we hope you’ll stick around with us for another 10 years of Buckeye (and Ohio) greatness!

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Many Thanks To Men of the Scarlet and Gray For The Opportunity

June 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment

This article will mark my last as a contributing editor for Men of the Scarlet and Gray. I have enjoyed my opportunities here immensely, and I profusely thank each and every one of you who have been kind to read, review, and interact with me along the way. It has truly been a pleasure writing for all of you, and I hope that you will keep in touch with me through Twitter.

Rest assured – this is not the end of my writing career. Think of this as more of a temporary pause. In the meantime, look for articles from me via my blog From The Mind Of Minnich, or my occasional articles that have been appearing on Athlon Sports.

Thank you, and as always, #GoBucks,

Chip Minnich
@ChipMinnich

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Nebraska At Night In November Needs No Hype

June 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment

“ Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something…” ~ Thomas Edison

Leave it to Thomas Edison, an Ohioan and considered “The Father Of Invention”, to appropriately summarize the goals for the 2016 Ohio State football team. No rules – just accomplish something.

“Something” is a pretty vague and open concept. Considering how much talent Ohio State lost to graduation and the NFL Draft, considering how I have written throughout spring practice about how 44 players on Ohio State’s roster are either redshirt freshmen or true freshmen…Damn right, Mr. Edison. There are no rules. Ohio State fans are just looking to see what this team can accomplish against a much tougher schedule in 2016 than 2015, with tremendously talented, yet inexperienced, players.

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Nebraska Cornhuskers (Game 9)

2016 OSU Opponent Ranking: 7 out of 12

Players Recruited By Ohio State: N/A, surprisingly. Ohio State did recruit DL Greg McMullen years ago, but McMullen announced his intention to quit football earlier this spring.

Game Date: November 5, 2016

Kickoff Time: 8pm EST, telecast TBD on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2

Location: Ohio Stadium

Rationale For The Ranking: Nebraska was truly snakebitten during 2015. Coming off a 5-7 season under Mike Riley, the Cornhuskers can only go up, right? Right?

Here’s a better reason why I think Ohio State will be in good shape for this game ~ Nebraska will be coming off another road game, at Wisconsin. Ohio State has a challenging game of their own the week before against Northwestern, but at home. Oh, by the way…This is a night game in Ohio Stadium. Do you think Urban Meyer may be wanting to send a message as November begins? I was in attendance in Ohio Stadium in 2012 the last time Nebraska visited; I have no doubt the crowd will be revved up for this one also.

Prediction: Ohio State will be coming off a home game against Northwestern, while who knows what kind of condition Nebraska will be in after a road game at Wisconsin. Look for many of Ohio State’s top recruits to be in attendance, as Coach Meyer always salivates at the opportunity to showcase Ohio State football in night games. This could be a preview of The B1G Championship Game in December, depending on how Nebraska responds after such a trying 2015 season.

Previous Rankings:

8 – at Maryland
9 – Indiana
10- Rutgers
11- Bowling Green
12- Tulsa

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With:

New Rivals Top 100 Released: How OSU Commits and Targets Ranked!

June 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

COMMITS

Josh Myers- #14
Shaun Wade- #16
Isaiah Pryor- #73
Jake Moretti- #76
Brendon White- #81
JK Dobbins- #82

TARGETS

Marvin Wilson- #1
Trevon Grimes- #3
Isaiah Wilson- #5
Baron Browning- #6
Jeffrey Okundah- #9
Lamont Wade- #10
Donovan People-Jones- #11
Darnay Holmes- #15
Cam Akers- #27
Tate Martell- #31
Tyjon Lindsey- #33
Robert Hainsey- #64
Chase Young- #92

OTHER B1G COMMITS

Joshua Kaindoh- #7 Maryland
AJ Espensa- #34 Iowa
Dylan McCaffrey- #45 Michigan
Avery Roberts- #77 Nebraska
Tristan Gebbia- #94 Nebraska

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

Buckeyes Will Need To Keep Their Minds On Maryland In November

June 3, 2016 by 1 Comment

“ Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something…” ~ Thomas Edison

Leave it to Thomas Edison, an Ohioan and considered “The Father Of Invention”, to appropriately summarize the goals for the 2016 Ohio State football team. No rules – just accomplish something.

“Something” is a pretty vague and open concept. Considering how much talent Ohio State lost to graduation and the NFL Draft, considering how I have written throughout spring practice about how 44 players on Ohio State’s roster are either redshirt freshmen or true freshmen…Damn right, Mr. Edison. There are no rules. Ohio State fans are just looking to see what this team can accomplish against a much tougher schedule in 2016 than 2015, with tremendously talented, yet inexperienced, players.

**

Maryland Terrapins (Game 10)

2016 OSU Opponent Ranking: 8 out of 12

Players Recruited By Ohio State: Players Recruited By Ohio State: OL Derwin Gray, OL Damian Prince, WR Taivon Jacobs, RB Wes Brown, DL Adam McLean. Jacobs actually gave a verbal commitment to Ohio State back in 2013, but decided to sign with Maryland to be closer to his young daughter.

Game Date: November 12, 2016

Kickoff Time: TBA

Location: Byrd Stadium (College Park, Maryland)

Rationale For The Ranking: Maryland gave Ohio State a tougher than expected game in 2015, eventually losing 49-28 in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State had no problems with Maryland in Byrd Stadium, defeating Maryland 52-24. Why is Maryland ranked higher than other Ohio State opponents?

As in most things in life, timing is key. Ohio State will be coming off a night game against Nebraska on November 5th, and a revenge game is on the horizon at Michigan State on November 19th. Will Ohio State be tempted to be looking ahead?

Prediction: Former Urban Meyer protege D.J. Durkin is at the helm for Maryland now, and look for the Terrapins to become a more physical team that will be able to compete against the other traditional powers in The B1G East. Ohio State should be able to control this game, provided the Buckeyes do not take the Terrapins too lightly or look ahead to the trip to East Lansing.

Previous Rankings:

9 – Indiana
10- Rutgers
11- Bowling Green
12- Tulsa

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With: