In case you missed it is Men of the Scarlet and Gray’s semi-regular look at items that would interest the casual and seriously hard core Ohio State fan, be they news items, interesting blog posts or funny cat memes. It’s all here and it’s all for you.

Eight days and counting.

I figure we’ll just get this one out of the way, since it just hit this wire last night (while I’ve been writing this, actually): Ohio State reinstates Storm Klein. Urban Meyer said, “I have spoken extensively to members of both families and that has prompted me to reassess his situation and allow him back.”

Judging by the immediate reaction on Twitter, this wasn’t the most popular decision of Urban Meyer’s short tenure. He’s catching flack for having said his discipline was going to be unwavering and is trying to shed his “win at any cost” image. People don’t think he’s sticking to his word already.

I’m of the belief that this reinstatement is more symbolic than about “winning”. I don’t know how much Storm Klein was going to see the field in pressure situations, with Curtis Grant holding the starting spot at MLB anyway. Sure, Klein will have a spot on this team, but I’m not sure what his “contributions” will amount to when it’s all said and done. That, and I hope whatever he is dealing with personally is something that will be taken care in the proper manner.

It’s no secret that Urban Meyer has not been impressed with the wide receivers he has at his disposal going into this season. Using terms like “non-functional” do not instill faith or confidence. At least that was before fall camp started. Now things are looking better. MotSaG favorite Devin Smith (he’s the Frank Caliendo of the 2012 Buckeye football team) most definitely embodies this improvement. As Pat Brennan writes in the Lantern:

A single moment on the first day of practice helped send the receivers on the road to being a functional group, and it was sophomore Devin Smith’s route heard ‘round fall camp that appears to have turned the tide.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Tim May writes about the change for Chris Carter, moving from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive. Says the 355 pound manchild:

“I do think that (nose tackle) is my true position, and I am glad that I have the chance to play that now,” Carter said. “To me, it’s just all about pure aggression and go. It’s not having to think about the constant pieces of a play. It’s a lot less thinking; it’s a lot more of just go, kick the butt of the guy across from you and get in the backfield.”

We can argue about who’s Linebacker U (spoiler: It won’t be Penn State for a long time) but I don’t think there’s any argument who’s going to be Defensive Linemen U this year.

No college athletes were harmed (or paid) in the making of this paragraph: 8 Ohio State football jerseys for sale to start the season. All you need to worry about is that you can pick up your #54 John Simon jersey at your nearest fine Buckeye retail establishment. The wearer of the jersey can tackle anyone within a five yard radius at no penalty at all to the wearer.

Because we are the Blog of Record for all things Vernon Gholston, we were happy to hear that he’s getting a shot with the St. Louis Rams.

Some Buckeye Blogging (if you happened to miss it): Drew at The Silver Bullet looks at five questions about the 2012 Buckeyes. #5 is of particular interest. Kyle at 11W reports on the monumentous occasion of Jordan Hall stepping out of his boot following his foot surgery earlier this summer. Oh, and don’t forget about the team captains. Those were announced earlier this week, too. The Buckeye Battle Cry has your round up of the captains.

Your daily Joe Paterno reads (and their long ones): At the Atlantic, Allen Barra was not impressed with Joe Posnaski’s book, Paterno. The New Yorker has a long interview with Graham Spanier, former President of Penn State.

And with that, I think I’m done posting links to Joe Paterno stories.

To end on a happier (relatively speaking. Her story is not remotely happy. It will hopefully have a happy ending) note, go read Grantland’s story of “Mo” Isom, the female soccer player trying to earn a spot on LSU’s football team.

In case you missed it is Men of the Scarlet and Gray’s semi-regular look at items that would interest the casual and seriously hard core Ohio State fan, be they news items, interesting blog posts or funny cat memes. It’s all here and it’s all for you.

Not directly related to Ohio State, but GQ has a few excerpts of Joe Posnanski’s (one of my top five favorite sports writers) upcoming book, Paterno.

“My name,” he told Jay, “I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it’s gone.”

He never said what he meant by “something.”

Glad you’re a Buckeye, bro: Two days into ESPN’s All-Access show featuring the Buckeyes and I’m pretty much ready to punch a horse for Urban Meyer and Mickey Marotti. Mrs. Kaiser doesn’t “get it” but I could pretty much watch a 24 hour TV channel of Urban Meyer. All Coach Urban, all the time.

And speaking of Maroitt, man, watching “Mick” lead these training drills I couldn’t help thinking: Is this a football camp or a North Korean military training exercise? Sheesh that guy has the troops in synch.

Luke over a Land Grant Holy Land has been doing recaps of the show and you can catch the episodes on YouTube here (until they get taken down, of course).

I mentioned this in the comments yesterday about Urban’s uses of tight ends in his offense, but Nick Vannett has been turning heads at practice.

“Nick Vannett is one of the most improved players,” Meyer said in the midst of answering an unrelated question pertaining to his quarterbacks. “He’s going to be right in the middle of this thing, and I didn’t see that at all in the spring. If you noticed, I didn’t even bring his name up because he really was not a very functional guy in the spring. I love giving credit where credit is due.”

In today’s feel-good story, check out the Dayton Daily News’ story about two former football players reunited after their sons became friends this year at camp. Small world.

That Dayton Daily News article also mentions Urban Meyer’s tradition of putting black stripes on freshmen helmets. Started as a way to eliminate freshman hazing (going all the way back to Bowling Green State University in 2001) it has transformed into a rite of passage:

“The symbolism of it is defining them as a freshman,” said junior center Corey Linsley, whose little brother is freshman lineman Joey O’Connor. “When they become a grown man, as we’re always talking about, that’s when there will be kind of a ceremony in which the stripe is removed.”

(Now we just need some black stripes for these freshmen bloggers we’re bring on board)

Finally, a few quick hits from around the web: Black Shoe Diaries are doing their rundown of B1G recruiting classes. Here is there look at their take on Ohio State’s class. Paul over at Pre-snap Read is ranking 124 college football teams and he just hit Ohio State at #21. His list is a sight to behold. This should be symbolic of a few things, right? (oh, and don’t forget to vote on your favorite moment from the 2011 season in our Final Round of the Football Moment Bracket Challenge)

And finally, finally we’ve got “Why SEC Isn’t As Great In Football As You Think“. I actually hope the sportsMonkey goes into more depth on this article (he’s the one that sent me the link in the first place), but for now, just go read the whole thing.

This is another Guest Post from MotSaG reader and blogger hopeful Matthew “Porter” Coffman. We are allowing all those interested in blogging with us to submit an “audition” article or two to get used to the format and as a way for the rest of you MotSaG’ers to get to know them. This is Matt’s second submission.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: A LOOK AT THE BUCKEYE OFFENSIVE STAFF

Picking up with where we left off, we turn to the coaching staff that will do its best to make us forget that offensive gameplans such as this ever occurred.

In addition to bringing back the forward pass, the Buckeye offense will look to improve upon last year’s anemic production ranking 104 in total offense, 114 in passing yards, and 29 in rushing among the FBS schools. While the rushing production kept the relatively one dimensional offense moving, it won’t be difficult to improve all of the offensive statistics with a more balance, multifaceted attack.

Tom Herman

Molded with the ideals of Coach Meyer, Tom Herman will lead the Buckeye offense and will also be in charge of developing the quarterbacks here at Ohio State. In a previous stop at Rice University, Herman led the Owls to finish in the top ten nationally in passing offense, scoring offense, and total offense in 2008. In his two years with the Owls, Herman’s offenses broke over 40 school records. Then, in his most recent season at Iowa State, the Cyclones averaged nearly 390 yard per game under Herman’s direction.

Earlier this week, Coach Herman said that the Buckeye passing offense had improved on a scale of 1 to 10 from a 2 in the spring to a 4. Herman continued “lightyears, lightyears, lightyears, lightyears better. We actually can throw and catch a football.” He did, however, admit that the Buckeyes passing offense is “still not real good” but it is a “lot better” than at the end of the spring, crediting the work during the offseason for the improvement.

The progression has also been noted in the Buckeyes young signal caller, sophomore Braxton Miller, as Herman explained that “he’s a lot more mentally confident and you can see a little bounce in his step. He’s certainly still got a long ways to go, but you can tell he studied in the offseason and he’s worked with his wideouts in the offseason and that’s paid dividends here as we’ve started camp.”

And when asked to comment on how the offensive philosophy would change with the injury to Jordan Hall, Coach Herman explained, “There’s a misnomer that the spread [offense] has to be finesse.” He continued “we certainly pride ourselves in being able to run the ball downhill. We just happen to do it by incorporating the quarterback in the run game and a few other bells and whistles here and there. But the runs are the same as they were in 1965. So I don’t know that our running-game philosophy will change much. We will have to figure out ways to get the ball on the perimeter maybe a touch more. But that’s not that difficult to do as a staff.”

I know I am not the only one who thinks that it sounds like we have a staff who is able to get the best out of its players and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers.

Ed Warinner

Assisting Herman in his duties as Offensive Coordinator is Co-Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach Ed Warinner, who will replace the creator of Walrusball who has taken his “talents” to the East Coast. Coach Warinner is the perfect complement to Herman’s spread attack through the air as he has helped coach four schools to lead the nation in rushing. In addition, in his two years at Notre Dame, not only did Warinner coach the team to its best per carry rushing averages since 2003, but his teams also only allowed 17 sacks this past season and 20 in 2010. Braxton Miller will be the first to welcome lower sack numbers as he was running for his life last year when the Buckeyes allowed 46 sacks.

While four of the starting five up front are clear in Jack Mewhort at left tackle, Andrew Norwell at left guard, Corey Linsley at center, and Marcus Hall at right guard, the starting right tackle job has been a competition between Reid Fragel moving over from TE and freshman Taylor Decker, who has been with the team since the spring. To date, Fragel has shown the ability to run block, but he has trouble with pass rushers on the outside, while Decker is still developing physically and trying to learn the offense.

“What a difference there is in this mentality of hitting it in there, being physical and attacking,” Warinner said when commenting on the offensive line’s development. “I like where we’re headed in that direction. Competing, wanting to win, not waiting around looking to see who else is going to make the block. Guys are having fun doing it.” (See also.)

Here’s to hoping that (i) we keep Braxton’s jersey clean; and (ii) we don’t have a second reincarnation of JB Falsestarts, with Warinner at the helm.

Stan Drayton

The only holdover from the previous staff on the offensive side of the ball is Coach Drayton. Drayton is a former Division III All-American running back from Allegheny College who has been hired as a member of Coach Meyer’s staffs on three occasions. In his second year at Ohio State, Drayton will be moving back to his natural position of coaching the running backs as he was tasked with coaching the wide receivers last season for the first time in his career.

In his move to the running backs, Drayton will be blessed with depth. With Jordan Hall likely out for at least the first couple weeks of the 2012 season, Carlos Hyde has been getting the bulk of the carries and is the starter as of right now with Smith, Dunn, and Ball fighting to be second on the depth chart.

Dunn has received the bulk of the carries with the second team and has been impressive. Dunn’s performance on the field is particularly good news for the Buckeyes as Dunn was a highly touted recruit who will only be receiving internal ramifications as the result of the drug charges that were recently dismissed.

Once Hall returns though, the backs are expected to shift down and the number three back may become “nonexistent” according to Herman.

Tim Hinton

Following Coach Warinner in his exodus from South Bend is Coach Tim Hinton who will be in charge of the tight ends and fullbacks, a position which will be replaced in the new offensive scheme by a H-back after the second Boren and Homan graduate at the end of the season.

In commenting on the hiring of Coach Hinton, Meyer said “he and I worked together on the Ohio State staff in 1986, but what I am most impressed with is his time spent as a high school coach in Ohio. He had some outstanding teams at Harding and his extensive experiences coaching in the state were crucial in my desire to want him on our staff.”

With taking over the tight ends and fullbacks, Hinton will be coaching experienced starters with young talent behind them. Jake Stoneburner has been a favorite of mine for some time (even though he may have a momentary lapse of stupidity) because he is a, for lack of a better word, freak. CBS Sports recently named Jake Stoneburner as the most important player for the Buckeyes this upcoming season and while I can’t say that I agree that Stoney will be the most important player to the outcome of the 2012 season, there is no doubt that he will be an integral part of the success of the Buckeyes in the passing game this season.

In addition to Stoneburner’s contribution to the Buckeye offense, a svelte Zach Boren is likely to be incorporated more into the offensive gameplan this season as well. On Boren being an option in Meyer’s offense, Urban said “it wasn’t when he was 260 pounds and doesn’t move real well. He’s an athlete, but I didn’t know that. I wanted to evaluate him during spring practice, and I did. He’s a guy that will touch the ball.”

We may also see some production from the young TEs on the roster, including Nick Vannett and Jeff Heuerman.

Zach Smith

The youngest member of the Buckeye coaching staff is Wide Receiver Coach Zach Smith. Smith is the grandson of former Buckeye Coach Earle Bruce and a walk-on at Bowling Green for Urban Meyer who followed Meyer to Florida, where he was a graduate assistant and quality control assistant.

Smith will be leading a young group of Buckeye receivers with a team high of 14 receptions last season. Needless to say Smith will have his work cut out for him. However, as alluded to by Coach Herman, the receivers have put in work over the summer which should pay dividends on the field this fall.

With the injury to Spencer on Friday, the door has potentially opened for Michael Thomas to show that he is the real deal and more than just a Spring Game phenom. Starting ahead of Thomas will be “Philly” Brown and Devin Smith who will always have a special place in my heart for pulling in this catch last year.

Ohio State fans may not be the only ones who see the light at the end of the tunnel with the arrival of a new coaching staff. While a dark horse to the race, let’s hope Philly stays in it for the season as that will more than likely correlate in a boost to the 2011 production.

All in all the Buckeye offense should not bear much of a resemblance to the last decade of conservatism. For a deeper look into Urban’s offensive philosophy, I recommend checking out this piece from the guys at 11W and also here with second part here.

(This is another guest post from Chris Jason, a hopeful future Men of the Scarlet and Gray Blogger. Until we can get a proper account set up for him and he can make his formal introduction, I’ll continue to handle his posting “duties”. Also, note that this was submitted before it was announced that Jake will be listed as a “wide receiver”. The point remains the same.)

Buckeye fans across the country salivated when Urban Meyer was hired as the new head coach. Dreams of Braxton Miller lining up in shotgun, leading Meyer’s complex spread offense that broke scoreboards at Utah and most notably Florida have players ecstatic for what their role in this offense will be.

One player who will thrive in Urban’s spread offense this year will be tight end Jake Stoneburner.

Ohio State is certainly not “Tight End U,” but they have had talent there, that has succeeded more in the NFL than at OSU. Ben Hartsock is in his 9th year in the NFL and Jake Ballard had a great rookie campaign before tearing his ACL in the Super Bowl.

Stoneburner has all the tools to break out this year in this spread offense if Meyer can trust Braxton Miller to throw the ball at an efficient level. Stoneburner is a converted wide receiver out of high school where he caught 15 touchdown passes his senior year to compliment his 74 catches. He has great hands and a knack for the end zone as half of his receptions last year went for 6 (7 TD’s!)

A player who Stoneburner can resemble in a past Urban Meyer offense is current New England Patriot, Aaron Hernandez. Although Stoneburner is three inches taller than Hernandez, they weigh roughly
the same and if given the chance, Stoneburner could produce the same results that Hernandez did at Florida. Hernandez went from 34 receptions to 68 receptions his final year at Florida and he was named the Mackey Award Winner as the nation’s best tight end.

Meyer wants his tight ends to be versatile enough where he can put them in the slot or as an H back and create mismatches with either the opposing linebackers or safeties. A player like Stoneburner using his size and strength will be a mismatch with safeties and his speed will create a mismatch with linebackers. Fans will also see Stoneburner line up as an H back a lot throughout the season, as Meyer likes to run his zone read out of that look.

Jake Stoneburner is quoted as saying, “It’s like a dream come true. You want to come to an offense where the tight end is almost the focal point. I wouldn’t say we’re the focal point, but we’re definitely going to get the ball a lot.” There really is no such thing as the prototypical big, slow, blocking tight end getting the majority of the snaps anymore. The tight end position has transformed as a result of the spread offense and a player like Stoneburner is the perfect weapon for this offense to run how it is engineered to.

Yes Buckeye fans, this coaching staff finally knows how to create offensive mismatches for their tight ends and just like his teams at Utah and Florida, the Buckeyes will look to break the scoreboard this season. (Just watch the different ways that Meyer used Hernandez and the different formations that he lines them up in.)

And now for the moment we’ve all be waiting for: The Final Round of the 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes Football Moment Bracket.

It was kind of a foregone conclusion that Braxton’s last-second touchdown heave was going to make it to the final round. We’ve exhausted hundreds of words on it already, speaking its praises. It has it all: Freshman heroics, last gasp finishes, beating Bret Bielma. But for me, it’s the backyard, “you go long, you go short, you go long” feel to it that brings it really home. Braxton’s little improvisation wave off that just moves it into Legendary Status. Let’s watch it one more time, for old time’s sake:

#1 Braxton Miller’s Touchdown Throw against Wisconsin:

VS.

Braxton’s opponent is formidable, indeed. Because we are Ohio State fans, we love us some stout defenses, and nothing is better than a potential game-saving goal line stand. Especially against those odious Penn State Nittany Lions. The game didn’t end in our favor, but at least there’s not a crater where our football program used to be, so I guess we’ve got that going for us.

Again, just watch Ryan Shazier and don’t be surprised if your face melts off.

#3 Ohio State’s Defensive Goal Line Stand against Penn State

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This is another Guest Post from MotSaG reader and blogger hopeful Matthew “Porter” Coffman. We are allowing all those interested in blogging with us to submit an “audition” article or two to get used to the format and as a way for the rest of you MotSaG’ers to get to know them. This is Matt’s first submission.

Good day, BuckeyeNation! As the 2012 college football campaign draws closer with fall camp in progress, I know you are all chomping at the bit like I am, ready for Urban Meyer to lead the Buckeyes out of the tunnel for the noon kickoff on September 1, 2012 when the Buckeyes take on the Miami Redhawks. If nothing more, the opener should provide the opportunity of plenty of youth to see action.
Before the Buckeyes make their first stamp on the 2012 season, let’s take a closer look at the men who will be leading our beloved Buckeyes on and off the field.

Urban Meyer
His name is synonymous with winning. With two BCS championships, a career .814 winning percentage, three National Coach of the Year honors, and being named the Coach of the Decade in 2009 by both Sporting News and Sports Illustrated, I think Buckeye fans can all agree that Gene Smith finally got something right.

When asked to describe his type of football team at the Introduction press conference, Urban Meyer answered “I think go hard. I mean, like relentless. I want a bunch of coaches that coach like their hair’s on fire, and I want a football team that goes four to six seconds of relentless effort. You do that, you have a chance to win in every game you play.” I have a feeling we might hear this over the brand new speaker system in the Shoe. If hearing Meyer doesn’t raise your pulse, I don’t know what will – check out the circle drill before the spring game.

As every Buckeye fan is familiar with the man leading the Urban Assault and he will undoubtedly dominate the headlines for as long as we have him, onto the other members of the staff, beginning with the defensive side of the ball.

Everett Withers
The lone outsider without Ohio connections on the staff is Everett Withers. Together with his duties as Assistant Head Coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator, Withers will use his 24 years of combined coaching experience between the college and professional ranks to focus on improving the play of the Buckeye safeties.

In meshing his defensive philosophies with Coach Luke Fickell, Withers stated that their philosophies “are very similar. He’s [Luke’s] done a lot of things out of the 4-3, but with the ability to get to the 3-4. Those are a lot of the things I like to do.”

He continued

It’s important when you’re playing in the secondary, when that ball’s in the air, boy, you get opportunities to make interceptions and you change the game. I think you have to emphasize it in practice, you have to emphasize route concepts and splits and receivers. Once you get to that point, then a secondary can be aggressive and go play the ball. Again, if you stop the run and you make people one dimensional, you’ll get more opportunities to go attack the ball in the air. That’s always been my philosophy.
…
The philosophy is in place here, as far as being good on defense and stopping the run and creating turnovers, and being good in the red [zone] and on third down. But my approach is I want our kids to be knowledgeable about what we’re doing with the defensive scheme. I want them to be able to communicate well. My philosophy with the secondary is, “Try to be the best in the country.” It’s always been my approach going into every season with every group, to try to be the best. How can we get there? How can we take that journey to get there? A lot of the good secondary play is about communication and putting yourself in position before the ball is snapped. That’s going to be an emphasis of mine.

Though the Buckeyes had the same number of interceptions over the last four years as Withers’ squads at UNC, Withers also brings with him deep-seated relationships in recruiting the Carolinas and East Coast (See Jamal Marcus, true freshman, who Meyer has praised both at the time of his commitment and most recently in camp). Withers’ will almost certainly see a bump in productivity from the secondary in interceptions and other game-changing plays in the coming years from the Silver Bullets, especially with UFM bringing SEC type talent in droves on the defensive front.

Luke Fickell
Heading the defensive coaching staff with Coach Withers and calling the defense is fan favorite Luke Fickell. Through the uncertainty caused by the unexpected departure of Coach Tress and Pryor, Fickell took the thankless job of leading the Buckeyes through the tumultuous 2011 football season.

Regardless of the differing levels of disappointment Buckeye fans experienced last season, we are all happy that Fickell was retained on the coaching staff as he showed courage and grit when he took over the Buckeyes last season. Over his years on Tressel’s staff, Fickell’s role increased and the Silver Bullets consistently fielded one of the top defenses in the country.

In addition to his duties calling the defense, Fickell will be coaching a relatively raw group of linebackers, including Ryan Shazier who plays like his hair on fire in the second level and on special teams. Shazier has added some bulk in the offseason and is poised for a breakout year if he can stay healthy, as are fifth year senior Etienne Sabino and Curtis Grant. While Shazier and Sabino provide the speed to provide flexibility on the outside, the unit as a whole suffers from relative inexperience, providing the opportunity for true freshman to gain invaluable experience and immediate playing time.

Kerry Coombs
Joining Withers in the secondary will be a new fan favorite for years to come, Kerry Coombs. Although Coombs is relatively new to the college game with five years of experience at Cincinnati, he has deep roots and much success coaching high school football in Southwestern Ohio, amassing a head coaching record of 167-48. Despite Coombs’ tenure with UC being short, Cincy led the NCAA in INTs his very first year.

While Coombs’s effect on the team is still unwritten, Urban opined “I have watched (Coombs) coach in high school and at the University of Cincinnati and I have great respect for the way he works. He is a strong recruiter. He knows defense and special teams. And he is an excellent teacher.”

Coombs will be leading a talented, but thin group (notice a theme?). The unit is top heavy in talent with Bradley Roby securing the top spot as a shutdown corner and Senior Travis Howard trying to hold onto his starting spot over Sophomore Doran Grant. After the top three, things get murky with many thinking Armani Reeves may be able to contribute immediately, but if the three studs stay healthy, this unit should be a strength for the silver bullets this fall.

And, if you haven’t witnessed Coombs’ infectious energy, take a look as he coaches up Doran Grant at the open practice this past spring. He’s going to be a lot of fun to watch on the sidelines and I’m hoping for a Coombs/Meyer chest bump at some point this year.

Mike Vrabel
Returning for his second year on the staff is former All-American, All Pro, Super Bowl Champion, Fickell Bro — Mike Vrabel. After coaching the linebackers last year since Fickell assumed head coaching responsibilities, Vrabel will move down to coaching the defensive lineman, the position from which he wreaked havoc when he donned the scarlet and gray. Vrabel is the current record holder for career sacks and single season and career TFLs. He may, however, be coaching the successor to his previous marks as he will be coaching an already stacked group of defensive linemen with one of the most loaded DL classes in recent memory.

Vrabel’s holdover as a member of the 2012 coaching staff was not a foregone conclusion as Meyer tested his ability to recruit as Meyer sent him on a two week mission to prove his abilities on the recruiting front. In stating the importance of recruiting Meyer said, “we are, at the end of the day, going to be judged by the talent level and how good you are at bringing quality student-athletes to Ohio State.” Meyer has said that if “he’s [Vrabel’s] not the best, he’s one of the best recruiters I have on staff.” In his short time with the Scarlet and Gray, Vrabel played a major role in landing the early prize of the 2012 recruiting class, Noah Spence, along with high school teammates Camren Williams and Armani Reeves, and 2013 commit Michael Hill.

Combined with his outstanding ability to recruit, Vrabel has been lauded for his ability to teach the game. Vrabel’s recruiting savvy and teaching ability will undoubtedly be crucial to keeping the defensive line of the Silver Bullets at the top of the Big Ten for years to come. It should be fun to watch the development of the next Fickell/Vrabel and Simon/Hankins brotherhood.

Check back for our blog later this week about the offensive side of the ball and the replacement of Walrusball.

This is a Guest Post from Chris Jason, a possible future MotSaG blogger.

College football fans around the nation may think that there is no motivation for a team that cannot play in a bowl game this year, which is the case for your 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes. But look no further than the Buckeyes west coast rival, the USC Trojans, for a blueprint for this upcoming season. USC was supposed to suffer for a while (not as bad as Penn State will, but that is a topic for a different day) after getting hammered with a two year bowl ban, a reduction of scholarships by ten for the next three seasons, the vacating of wins from the 2004 and 2005 seasons and a disassociation with Reggie Bush. Sound familiar? Well, instead of falling off the map for a bit after a poor 2010 season (8-5) the Trojans fought back and played spoiler to their rivals throughout the 2011 season (10-2, AP #6). This is how the 2012 Buckeyes need to play this season.

USC finished #1 in the PAC12 South Division with a 7-2 record in the conference, a 4-1 record against the South Division, and outscored their division by a combined score of 185-115. This also included a 50-0 drubbing of LA rival UCLA, the same team that then represented the South division in the inaugural PAC12 title game (since USC was ineligible). The Bruins really earned that title game berth (/sarcasm).

What better message would it be to send to the rest of the Big Ten and the Leaders Division than to go into Camp Randall week 11 (with OSU and PSU out of contention) and play spoiler on what is likely to be the national stage? Wisconsin has basically been handed a berth to the Big Ten title game, but how would they react in the title game (or the following season) if the Buckeyes handed them a USC-UCLA type beating? Ohio State could open the doors for one of the underdogs of the Leaders Division, who in all honesty have no chance while Urban is at the helm for the foreseeable future (yes, we are looking at you Purdue and Illinois). A win over Wisconsin will add fuel to the Meyer-Bielema fire that is going to be atop of the Leaders Division for a while.

The only thing sweeter than ruining Wisconsin’s post season/offseason would be to dash the lofty dreams of that team up North. Coming off a Sugar Bowl win and the return of Shoelace for his senior season, (he didn’t really have a choice) the Maize and Blue are picked to win the Big Ten this season. In all honesty Buckeye fans, would there be ANYTHING better than knocking Michigan out of the Big Ten title game, a chance of playing for the Roses and dashing Robinson’s quest for a Heisman in one game? Absolutely not.

The Buckeyes could roll over this season, play .500 ball, feel sorry for themselves and look forward to next season. Or, they could finish in the top 10 of the AP poll, be ranked pre-season top 5 next season, have a Heisman favorite at quarterback and play spoiler to their biggest rivals like Southern Cal did.

Is that enough motivation for this season? I think Urban and the crew believes so.

-Chris Jason