An Ohio State Sports Blog
Alex Boone arrested in California
Boone, 21, was taken into custody late Sunday for investigation of resisting arrest after Orange County sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance call outside of a home in Aliso Viejo.
I guess we can’t have good news without some bad news.
I love Santonio Holmes like any good Buckeye fan. I was sad to see him leave early, but I’m happy that he’s found success, especially in the Super Bowl. That catch in the end zone was a thing of beauty. Good on you, Santonio.
That being said, he plays for the Steelers. I’d rather eat rusty nails and gargle with bleach than watch the Steelers win.
Mixed emotions.
I have simple proof that Ohio State is better than the best team in the country: Duke was only able to beat Michigan once. Ohio State has spanked them on their bare bottoms twice this year. (Pay no mind to the fact that Duke just lost, mkay?)
Ohio State’s defense stymied Michigan for the entire twenty minutes of the first half, forcing them into bad shots and holding them scoreless behind the three-point line, something Michigan lives by. They clawed back into the game at points of the second half, but every run Michigan made, Ohio state had an answer. The frustration was visibly noticeable.
On the Ohio State side, everyone played a solid game, with Evan Turner and his 22 leading the way. Mullens and Simmons poured in a dozen a piece as well, and Lauderdale was a defensive manimal, absolutely stuffing Harris on a wide open dunk. That was a text-book “Not in Mr. Lauderdale’s Neighborhood” rejection. And of course there’s P.J. Hill. Oh how we love your energy, P.J. Your shot makes us cringe, your dribbling in traffic forces us to cover our eyes with our hands, but we still love you and your dreds.
Of course, there was the unfortunate delay of the game at the end of the game, after Michigan’s round mound of hustle, Zack Novak, elbowed Ohio State’s energy source, P.J. Hill. I’m willing to give Novak a pass on this one. It was because of his obvious frustration with how bad of a basketball player he is. When people talk about your “hustle” and your willingness to “dive after loose balls,” that’s polite-speak for “you stink.”
So another solid Big Ten win for Ohio State, with Purdue coming to town next week, should be building a solid resume for an invite to the tourney.
I feel a little weird doing this, but I figured I’d throw up a quick post as we all prepare to see a teenager make the most important decision of his athletic life. Does he choose suicide or happiness? Stay tuned!
We don’t do a lot of recruiting posts here at MotSaG, but it’s something I follow somewhat regularly. Is this something readers are interested in? Would you be interested in reading more than just the high profile recruiting news (like Boyd’s announcement)?
While we wait for the announcement, I’d like to point everyone to this article on The Cleveland Fan (h/t podux) on Terrelle’s performance in the Fiesta Bowl. It should shed some light on some of those times he pulled up and went out of bounds on a few of his runs when he had clear running room ahead of him. I think most people (us included) noticed something seemed “off” about the way he was playing. This makes more sense.
In fact, this gives me even more encouragement about what kind of player Pryor is and is going to be.
Update: 10 TV is reporting that Boyd has decided on Clemson. Dom Tiberi is “shocked.” Of course, this is like his 23rd commitment, so he could always change his mind on signing day next week.
Life goes on (covered in snow)…
Here’s an open thread for the Michigan State game this afternoon (3:45 on CBS). Should be a doozie at the Schott. I’m on kid duty this afternoon, so I won’t be able to semi-live blog it, but I will check in periodically to have my say.
Enjoy the game!
OSU: 31 MSU: 26 Halftime
Nice first 12 minutes of the game, with OSU doubling up Michigan State. I’ll take it!
Michigan State came back with tough defense and finally finding their shot to close the gap to 5 at the half. Ohio State is going to have to continue to hit their shots and continue the tough match up zone they’ve been playing on defense. It’s frustrated the Spartans to a degree, but they pressure has to stay on for the Buckeyes to have a chance. Oh, and it sure would be nice if someone could look for Diebler’s missing shooting touch, because he sure can’t find it.
On a slightly related note, I just read that Michael Redd is done for the season with a torn ACL and MCL. That stinks.
OSU: 67 MSU: 78 Final
Well, that stunk. A few observations:
While it’s clear that a few Buckeyes entering the draft are going to be first-rounders, a few of the seniors need to work to increase their draft status. Recent reports out of the Senior bowl are coming out and some Senior Buckeyes are starting to impress. Both Marcus Freeman and Brian Robiskie are looking good according to Dayton Daily News:
Former Wayne High School and Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman received rave reviews from NFL coaches and scouts for his technique, athletic ability and motor. Freeman is fully recovered from a foot injury that plagued him all season and it showed. He looked totally rejuvenated. He demonstrated great sideline-to-sideline pursuit while running down backs during drills.
and
Ohio State wide receiver Brian Robiskie was absolutely impressive. He caught every pass thrown his way no matter where the ball was placed. He ran nice, crisp routes and made every catch look easy.
NFL.com’s Charles Davis is also impressed with Marcus Freeman. I’m wondering if his injury was worth than anyone ever let on. He always seemed a step off, missing that extra oomph he had last season.
We’re reaching out to our great Buckeye readership with a simple bleg. We’ve been contacted by someone looking for a copy of a 2007 Ohio State Gameday Program. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know which game it was from. The only things she knows about it is that it has “Ohio State Football 2007” in the bottom left hand corner and that it contains this article:
(click to make it big [and we do mean BIG]):
The article is quoted below:
ECHOES from the men of the Scarlet and Gray
Dear Football Buckeyes,
In my football career at Ohio State (’38-’40, Captain in 1940), I have adopted a few words (there are many more) that I believe should be part of your everyday vocabulary and will help you in your challenge to be the best as well as in your marriage and whatever profession you choose as you progress through life.
They are as follows:
- Dedication – This means work! Work! Work! Give it 110 percent
- Respect – ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’ Show honor or esteem to your coach, teammates, teachers, school, community, parents, spouse, profession, and our American flag.
- Actions, Words, Mannerisms, Dress – I believe these are self explanatory.
- Common Sense – Sound, practical judgment.
- Self Control – Over one’s emotions, desires and actions.
- Attitude – A manner of acting, feeling, and thinking that shows ones’ own disposition. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said, “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
- Smile, Humor, Laughter – These are proven by scientific research to improve your physical condition. What’s good about this, it doesn’t cost you a thing.
- Be Good to People – I believe in accountability.
Go Bucks! Best of Luck.
Jim Langhurst
What we’re trying to do is (1) determine which issue of the 2007 gameday program contains this article, and (2) see if we can locate a copy of this program. The person looking for it works in the Agency of the late Jim Langhurst and thought it would be nice if she could find this and give it to the family as a keepsake in his memory.
If you recognize this article or if you have access to a copy of this program, we’d really like to help out and get it in the hands of the right people. If you can help out, comment here or hit us up from the contact page. Your help is much appreciated.
I don’t care if it’s football or field hockey, I love it when Ohio State beats Michigan.
If it wasn’t so late, I’d like to figure out why I can’t get a read on this team. There are flashes of brilliance and stretches of frustration. They really came together in the last ten minutes of and finished impressively. I hope this continues.
Brian Hartline has announced he’s going pro and Ray Small and Kurt Coleman are not.
My initial thoughts are that if the rumors of Hartline discontent with Pryor are true, then that’s the only choice he had. Being best friends with Todd Boeckman and seeing him lose his starting QB job to an upstart freshman certianly could strain a relationship with said freshman. As to Coleman staying, I’m happy. He was definitely coming into his own at the end of the season and played a whale of a game in the Fiesta Bowl. With Small, I’m guess I’m ambivalent at this point. We’ve seen the flashes but not the consitency. I guess we get to have one more year to see what he’s got.
What are your thoughts?
Update: As ahoops pointed out in the comments, Donald Washington has also declared for the draft. I was gone all day yesterday and didn’t get a chance to post anything. I’m not sure Washington made the right choice, an extra year of playing would have benefitted him. I think someone gave him some bad advice. Good luck to him, he’s going to need it.
And in a somewhat OSU related tidbit, Mark Sanchez declared for the draft as well, setting up an interesting story if Mustain wins the starting QB job come next September. He’s not exactly the biggest OSU fan.
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| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah |  25 |
| 2 | Florida | 24 |
| 3 | Southern Cal | 23 |
| 4 | Texas | 22 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 21 |
| 6 | Penn State | 20 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 19 |
| 8 | TCU | 18 |
| 9 | Alabama | 17 |
| 10 | Oregon | 16 |
| 11 | Texas Tech | 15 |
| 12 | Georgia | 14 |
| 13 | Mississippi | 13 |
| 14 | Boise State | 12 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 11 |
| 16 | Iowa | 10 |
| 17 | Missouri | 9 |
| 18 | Oklahoma State | 8 |
| 19 | Cincinnati | 7 |
| 20 | Oregon State | 6 |
| 21 | Brigham Young | 5 |
| 22 | Michigan State | 4 |
| 23 | California | 3 |
| 24 | Florida State | 2 |
| 25 | Georgia Tech | 1 |
Yes, we went there. Say what you will about Utah’s strength of schedule, but that’s not their fault. They scheduled a perennial powerhouse (albeit one in decline) and handled their business. They took out Oregon State, something USC was unable to do, beat a good BYU team, and beat an Alabama team ranked #1 for a good portion of the season. That was a convincing victory over Alabama, by the way, something that Florida can’t claim.
Other than that, I can’t in good faith rank TCU higher than Ohio State. Call it homerism, call it whatever you want. I’m ranking them up there.
The rest of the poll is the result of the chips falling where they may.
