Ohio State Football: Best Player of 2018

January 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

 

With the 2017 season behind us and the 2018 season still months away, I have decided that today is a day for wild speculation.  As I foresee that there may, in fact, be many of these days over the coming months, I will be asking and answering questions that are impossible to answer (unless your name is Urban) and will be fiercely defending my completely baseless findings.  In pursuit of this goal, today’s question is a biggie: “Who will be the best player on the field for the Buckeyes next season?”

 

To answer this question, we must first establish what I mean by “best.”  Am I asking what player will be the most talented on the field at any given time?  Or is it more about who excels the most at their position relative to the rest of the country?  Perhaps the question would best be answered by choosing the player that most positively affects the gameplay of the team, like an MVP award?

 

I don’t know.  If I had known that I wouldn’t be able to get past the specifying stage of my question, perhaps I wouldn’t have even started writing this article (more wild speculation), but now I’ve begun, so I must finish.  And since I am incapable of making decisions, I’m just going to answer all three questions.

 

 

 

Who is the Most Talented Player on the 2018 Ohio State Roster?

 

There are a lot of players to choose from when asking this question.  Nick Bosa, Chase Young, Jeffrey Okudah and Baron Browning are all in the Top 10 of recruits in Ohio State History.  The Buckeyes will have 9 247sports consensus 5-star prospects on their roster next year and will boast perhaps their greatest recruiting class of all time.  Choosing the most talented player on this roster is like choosing the best of all of the bars of gold, or the tastiest of all of the Chipotle Mexican Grills, but I have to choose one and so I will choose the one that has proven it.

 

Winner:  Nick Bosa

 

Austin Mack has made some crazy catches. Isaiah Prince has stepped up on the offensive line.  Dwayne Haskins, Tate Martell, and JK Dobbins all have a shot at winning the Heisman next year, but I chose the fourth highest rated prospect in OSU history.  Nick Bosa is the highest rated prospect on the team this year and the one that has most proven what a Top 10 prospect can do.  He spent last year fighting through double- and triple-teams, freeing up the other monsters on the defensive line, and making huge plays in the backfield.  With Chase Young showing flashes of brilliance in his limited time on-field in 2018, the Little Bear might just have even more opportunities to shine this coming season.

 

Who is going to win an individual award next year?

 

This category is not quite as easy to deliberate on. Many of OSU’s best players come at positions that are stacked on the national stage.  JK Dobbins could win the Heisman, but he also might not be the best running back in the Big Ten with his counterpart at Wisconsin, Jonathan Taylor, putting up huge numbers on the ground.  All of this is without even mentioning the reigning Doak Walker award-winner, Bryce Love.

 

Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and Dre’Mont Jones are all enormously talented on the defensive line.  However, with players like Ed Oliver of Houston or Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins, Clemson’s talented trio of All-Americans also back on the field, the odds of getting an individual award on the defensive line are not so great.

 

Winner:  Austin Mack

 

His path to the Biletnikoff Award does seem a little bit… well, impossible, but watching the catches he made in 2017 and listening to the way his coaches talk about him, it really is impossible… to dislike him.  Austin Mack will have to fight off upperclassmen trying to stay on the field, stand out in Urban Meyer’s run-first offense and catch passes from a brand new starting quarterback, but he has the talent and the upward mobility to be a first-round pick.  Hopefully, though, he will have a more pass-heavy offense to work with, as Dwayne Haskins looks to be the front-runner for the starting job and Ryan Day has been elevated to offensive coordinator.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

Who will be the 2018 Ohio State MVP?

 

I only have one answer to this question, and it’s at the same position as it would be on any other team: QB.  JK Dobbins will probably have a great year next year.  The offensive line should be good. The defensive line will be unstoppable and Alex Grinch and Greg Schiano are going to figure out the rest of the defense.  With all of that being said, the Most Valuable Player on this team next year is going to have to be the master and commander.

 

Winner:  Dwayne Haskins

 

I understand that we don’t know who the starting quarterback is going to be next year, but I do know that Dwayne Haskins looked the closest to being ready.  I also know that, in Urban’s Power Spread offensive philosophy, the offense runs through the quarterback.  The Buckeyes success (or failure) next year is going to hinge on the quarterback’s ability to do what the coaches need him to do and how well he can develop as the season progresses.  If Dwayne trots out there against Oregon State on September 1st, he has to be the MVP.

Filed Under: B1G Football, College Football, College Football Playoff, College Football Recruiting, NFL Draft, Ohio State Football

Ohio State Basketball: Contenders

January 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment

With 11 minutes to go in the first half, the Ohio State Buckeyes went down 20-10 against Minnesota during the Big Ten’s Super Saturday.  The best player in the Big Ten, Keita Bates-Diop, was struggling from the floor, and the OSU defense couldn’t handle Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy and his game down low.  However, through their slump, the Buckeyes stayed committed to playing physical basketball and taking advantage of every opportunity.

The very first points on the board came off a steal that led to an easy transition dunk for Bates-Diop.  This was a preface of things to come, because, even though at times they weren’t getting the ball in the hoop, the Buckeyes continued to force turnovers.  In fact, they ended the game with 10 steals and 22 points off of 15 Minnesota turnovers.

Ohio State’s second made shot was a transition layup that was set up by a Sweet n’ Low bounce pass from CJ Jackson to Kam Williams.  This was another fast scoring opportunity made possible, not because of outstanding offensive playmaking, but because they were playing smart, tough Ohio State basketball. The Buckeyes finished with 11 assists.

The third score for the OSU came after CJ Jackson missed a 3 pointer from the corner.  He followed his miss and came up with an offensive rebound that put him right next to the hoop with a wide open shot.  Jackson’s floater put his team ahead 6-2.  OSU finished with 12 offensive rebounds.

Unfortunately, after a few layups underneath to make the score 11-10, the shots stopped falling.

The Golden Gophers went on a 9-0 run and took their ten point lead.  This left the fans that had made the long trek up to NYC wonder whether it looked like, perhaps, the Buckeyes didn’t have the magic.  Maybe they were having an off day, or this talented Minnesota team was just finally finding their stride again.  Maybe Ohio State had been overachieving for the last few weeks, and they were finally falling back to earth.  Either way, OSU was struggling and their opponent was surging.

Of course, we all watched the game so we know how it ends.  The Buckeyes saved the first half doing the same things that they had been doing through the first 9 minutes of the game.  They kept forcing turnovers, they kept making good passes, they kept getting rebounds, on both the offensive and defensive ends, and eventually, someone’s shot went in.

All of the sudden the floodgates opened to reveal the January Buckeyes once more.

Steal, pass, score;
block, pass, pass, score;
inside, outside, score;
steal, pass, miss, offensive rebound, put back, score;

Ohio State took the lead and then took a commanding lead and then they started dominating.  A 10 point deficit turned into a 12 point lead and the score was 34-22.  A 24 to 2 scoring run in which the Buckeyes dominated every facet of the game– shooting, defending, rebounding, passing– and they did it with Keita on the bench for 5 minutes.

This team believes it’s one of the best teams in the country.  After taking care of business at Rutgers, holding off a late surge from Northwestern, and obliterating Minnesota in Madison Square Garden, they come home with an 8-0 conference record and a top-15 ranking.  Their four-game homestretch, starting tonight with Nebraska, comes at the perfect time, giving the Buckeyes an opportunity to flex their muscles against the middle of the Big Ten in preparation for what could be a Top-10 matchup at Purdue on February 7th.

Chris Holtmann has put this team in a position to do something that they haven’t done since the 2012-2013 season: hold a top 10 ranking in January.  If they win their next four games, they will own a 21-4 record, including a 12-0 start to conference play.  Four games is a tall task, especially with the physicality of the Big Ten, but Ohio State has shown that it has the coaches, players and drive to do it. The next step is Nebraska, and then Penn State and Indiana and Illinois.

Keita Bates-Diop has come back down to earth after his four-game “prove-it” tour, but Ohio State hasn’t.  The Buckeyes are still dominating teams, still proving that they are not just “the surprise of the season” as every major sports publication is dubbing them.  They want everyone to know that they aren’t overachieving.  They are contenders.

Their next step is Nebraska, but this Buckeye team has its sights set higher.

Filed Under: BIG Basketball, College Basketball, Ohio State Basketball, Site News

Ohio State Football: The Sinister Six?

January 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Parris Campbell

Terry McLaurin

Johnnie Dixon

KJ Hill

Binjimen Victor

Austin Mack

 

Six names. Six pass catchers.  Six young men that spent all of last year running around the field decked in Scarlet and Gray, waiting for passes that would never come.  Not one of them was in the Top 80 in receptions last year, or in the Top 100 in receiving yardage or yards per game.  On an Ohio State team that was tied for third in the country in Passing Touchdowns, there was not one receiver that a generic college football fan would recognize, not one receiver that would be worth a look until at least the 4th round of the NFL Draft.  So today, I am going to examine our beloved “Zone 6” from recruitment until now and see if it isn’t more of a Sinister 6 (for those of you who don’t know, the Sinister Six are a group of Spiderman bad guys that teamed up and then got their butts whooped one-by-one).

 

Parris Campbell
RS Senior – 4 Star, 22nd WR (class of 2014)
H-Back – 6’1″, 208 lbs.
2017 – 40 rec, 584 yds, 3 TDs (10 car, 132 yds, 1 TD; 9 kick ret, 329 yds)
Career – 53 rec, 704 yds, 3 TDs (14 car, 186 yds, 2 TDs; 30 kick ret, 913 yds)

 

Terry McLaurin
RS Senior – 4 Star, 36th WR (class of 2014)
WR-Z – 6’1″, 204 lbs.
2017 – 29 rec, 436 yds, 6 TDs
Career – 40 rec, 550 yds, 8 TDs

 

Johnnie Dixon
RS Senior – 4 Star, 9th WR (class of 2014)
WR-Z – 5’11”, 195 lbs.
2017 – 18 rec, 422 yds, 8 TDs
Career – 25 rec , 477 yds, 8 TDs

 

KJ Hill
RS Junior – 4 Star, 16th WR (class of 2015)
H-Back – 6’0″, 198
2017 – 56 rec, 549 yds, 3 TDs (6 kick ret, 150 yds; 26 punt ret, 144 yds)
Career – 74 rec, 811 yds, 4 TDs (7 kick ret, 156 yds; 26 punt ret, 144 yds)

 

Binjimen Victor
Junior – 4 Star, 12th WR (class of 2016)
WR-X – 6’4″, 195
2017 – 23 rec, 349 yds, 7 TDs
Career – 27 rec, 413 yds, 8 TDs

 

Austin Mack
Junior – 4 Star, 9th WR (class of 2016)
WR-X – 6’2″, 215
2017 – 24 rec, 343 yds, 2 TDs
Career – 26 rec, 358 yds, 2 TDs

 

Filed Under: B1G Football, College Football, College Football Recruiting, NFL Draft, Ohio State Football, Site News

Ohio State Basketball: Becoming the Hunted

January 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment

On Sunday, January 7th 2018, the Ohio State Men’s Basketball team defeated the top ranked Michigan State Spartans. When asked about the upset, OSU’s coach, Chris Holtmann, responded, “It is hard to win on the road, especially when you have that kind of number by your name. You get a different look from teams.” That ‘number’ he was referring to was the tiny 1 that could be seen next to Michigan State’s name throughout the game’s broadcast, and the point he was making was that, when people know you’re the best, your opponents play you harder.

Coach Holtmann knew this fact from experience, himself watching his own Buckeyes give the AP’s number 1 ranked team in America all it could handle, and then some.

From the beginning of the season, when they were selected by some to finish as low as 14th in the Big Ten (out of 14), this undervalued and overlooked team had been playing with a chip on their shoulders.

In fact, when asked whether OSU’s quick conference start surprised him, Senior Jae’Sean Tate told the press that he and the other players “always remind ourselves that we were last picked in the Big Ten… and I think that has really been a key to our success.” This slight drove them to become a team that played with ferocity—that played their tough and scrappy game no matter the opponent.

They were hunters.

As far as any of their opponents knew, this was a team of misfits—a roster filled to the brim with walk-ons, transfers, busts and guys who just couldn’t stay healthy; but from the beginning of the season, they started proving people wrong.

In an early season matchup against a tournament-level Butler team, they showed flashes of dominance that belied their humble exterior, but a last second comeback by the Bulldogs kept OSU in the shadows. Another opportunity for some notoriety came in the ACC-B1G Challenge, but, once again, a late-game collapse against the now-ranked Clemson Tigers stole the spotlight away. They had some losses, but they were hunters still.

Luckily, after missing two other opportunities at signature wins against Gonzaga and UNC, their prey had finally arrived. It came in the form of the aforementioned Spartans, a team on a 14-game win streak, standing atop the College Basketball world. Ohio State went into that Sunday night showdown the hunters, but they came out the hunted.

A home game against Maryland in which they were down by 9 at the 11 minute mark of the 1st half proved that they were no longer a team that would be overlooked.  At the end of the game, Maryland’s Coach Turgeon said, “We knew we weren’t getting the same shot that Michigan State got at the start of the game,” and so the Terrapins came out swinging. The Buckeyes didn’t have that same fire to start off, the way they had against the Spartans, but after a quick timeout by Coach Holtmann, Maryland got buried, going from up nine to eight down in less than 4 minutes, and that was pretty much the end of the game.

After surviving their first test as the hunted, the Buckeyes had to go on the road against Rutgers, a physical, defensive team that had just barely failed to do what Ohio State did in knocking off Michigan State.  This time, though, the Buckeyes would have no home crowd. They would be playing on regional television in a game that Rutgers would surely be up for after such a great performance in the previous week.  However, once again, the Buckeyes were up to the challenge, beating Rutgers 66-46. Holtmann said after the game that they “are going to have some people that will play with a different edge” and that they would “see if we are good enough to manage that.” Another test passed. Another hunt escaped.

Of course, for all of their impressive defensive statistics, Rutgers is currently 1-5 in conference and tied for 12th in the standings. Tonight, the Buckeyes face off against a much better team in their arena and on their court. Northwestern, a team that made the tournament last year and then had the nerve to return 4 starters, has been slumping for the better part of this season, but they do have the talent to compete with Ohio State. The game between these teams is going to be Big Ten basketball at its finest, and the Buckeyes are going to have to grind it out.

OSU has proven that they have the goods to play with the big boys. They have proven that they can come back at home and take care of the conference’s not-so-good teams on the road. Now they’ve got to take it one step further to prove they deserve to be at the top of the Big Ten. They have to beat a good team on the road when that team is preparing specifically for them. This is just the next test of many to come as they seek to close out the season strongly.

Tonight they have a chance to pass another milestone for this once-unheralded Buckeyes team and to add to their tournament resume, only this time, they’re the ones with the number by their name.

Filed Under: BIG Basketball, College Basketball, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football