So I really don’t like writing articles without all the known info but this strange case deserves a write up of some sort.

Wednesday morning at Enarson Hall on the Ohio State campus a “physical confrontation” between two people was reported to campus police. When campus police arrived they found an incoherent and mentally unstable Jamaal Berry who was reportedly involved in a wrestling match with an as of yet to the public unknown other person. Berry reportedly couldn’t tell police his name or location. A OSU professor who witnessed the situation said that Berry was “clearly out of sorts and… quite disconnected from his surroundings,”. Jamaal Berry voluntarily admitted himself to the hospital to be subjected to some tests and to be monitored.

As of Friday morning Berry has been released and no criminal charges have been filed as of yet. His status for this weekends game against Michigan State is completely up in the air let alone his career at OSU. We at MOTSAG wish nothing but a healthy recovery for Berry and hope whatever his issue is/was is solved soon and he can have a productive career and life.

– Coach Fickell is very happy with the special teams play so far and says it is a real strength of this team.

– He feels Braxton did a great job in his first start and he protected the ball well. He has progressed nicely in practice this week as well.

– Doesn’t look like either Philly Brown or Nate Williams will play this week.

– Fickell said Christian Bryant brings a certain confidence and IT factor they need at the safety position.

– Jordan Whiting is out for this weeks game with an undisclosed injury.

– Ryan Shazier is part of the 4-man rotation at LB and will get increased playing time as the season goes on.

– Kenny Guiton may get some time on special teams on the kick off coverage and return teams.

Today on his Radio Call-In show Coach Luke Fickell did the obvious. He announced “It’s time to give him a shot. We still know we need both of them. Have to make sure you can handle it in the locker room.” Braxton Miller will start this Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes. This probably wasn’t an easy of a decision for Fickell as it would be for most fans. I am sure Bauserman will handle it with grace and dignity. I hope Braxton can rally the troops behind him and lead them to glory. Only time will tell but for now we have a new era in Ohio State history…. Miller Time.

Also on the Show he said Corey “Philly” Brown more than likely won’t play this week due to his ankle injury. He did say Andrew Sweat will play battling through being dinged up.

Christian Bryant may get the safety starting spot depending on what formation they start off on in the first series. Translation Orhian Johnson will play much less and Christian Bryant will play a lot more going forward. THANKFULLY

The running back situation is still a bit murky but Fickell said that Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde may both start the game on Saturday. Personally I am hoping they open in a wishbone with Boren as well and with Braxton Miller that is a 4 back field I could get behind :).

Adam Homan is injured and will miss a few weeks.

Jordan Hall, Travis Howard, and Corey “Pittsburgh” Brown have been reinstated by the NCAA after serving a 2 game suspension for taking $200 in cash from a charity event. This news has come at a time when we will need them most with our first road game of the year at Miami coming up this Saturday. After last weeks debacle of OSU claiming the players were available and the NCAA smacking OSU on the hand 24 hours before last week’s game with Toledo, Coach Fickell played his cards close to the vest today not announcing their availability until the NCAA gave them the go ahead.

To read the entire NCAA reinstatement press release go here.

UPDATE:

Of special note taken from the last paragraph of the press release “Reinstatement decisions are independent of the NCAA enforcement process and typically are made once the facts of the student-athlete’s involvement are determined. This is typically well in advance of infractions decisions. The enforcement investigation into the Ohio State University is ongoing.”

It appears as if OSU isn’t in the clear from this case of a Booster gone wild and players taking money they shouldn’t have. My guess is NCAA wants to know why players have been attending this charity event yearly without approval from the OSU compliance office and if this “booster” is a bigger issue then appears on the surface.

Nike unleashed onto the world the 2011 Pro Combat uniforms given to specific teams and like always OSU is one of those schools. The uniform is dedicated to the 1961 OSU NC team and is suppose to resemble their uniforms and also form a Buckeye Tree with the gloves representing tree bark. Most people I saw on twitter HATE the unis. I like them and more importantly recruits and players LOVE them. One thing I always think is funny is when football fans start critiquing fashion as if they are some sort of Project Runway judge channeling their inner Tim Gunn. Next time you go to a game look around at the people in the stadium and after seeing what they are wearing you can start to understand football fans should never judge fashion.

Ohio State 2011 Pro Combat Uniforms

It only took the University of Michigan (“The Harvard of Ann Arbor”) 259 years to duplicate Benjamin Franklin’s most famous discovery.  If Franklin were alive today, he would have likely been too busy scrawling a scathing letter of protest to Netflix for jacking up their streaming prices before he finished season 3 of The Office.  But if he had flipped over to the most-hyped matchup of two unranked teams ever, he would have discovered the electricity (yeah, that happened) of one Mr. Denard Robinson as he once again orchestrated a last-minute victory over a Notre Dame team that just needs a cupcake, y’all.

In actual ranked-team news, the Coaches’ Poll had little movement this week outside of several one-spot flip-flops that didn’t really seem to be based on anything.  The biggest gainers were Arizona State (who beat the erroneously-ranked Missouri in overtime), West Virginia (who beat the possibly-fictional Norfolk State) and South Florida (who beat Ball State, probably the best team in the state of Indiana).

That overtime loss by Missouri is the only one suffered by a Big 12 team so far.  By Kathy Miles’ estimation, that makes them like the most awesomest conference ever.  That must be why everybody wants out.

This weekend’s slate is light on excitement but there are several world-shocking opportunities for unranked teams hosting ranked opponents.  I’ll be surprised if at least one of these games isn’t an upset:

Boise State @ Toledo
West Virginia @ Maryland
Michigan State @ Notre Dame
Ohio State @ Miami (please not this one please)

So as of this writing, we are about five hours removed from the end of another Ohio State victory and the 90 year streak of victories over other Ohio college teams continues for the Buckeyes. That is probably the best things that happened today in the 27-22 Buckeye victory. Toledo had more yards and more offensive points and really had more energy and will to win than OSU did all game long. Don’t get me wrong, Toledo is a good team and is favored to win their conference this year and most likely will easily win the MAC. It was a trap game that OSU seemed happy to walk into the trap and not fight to get out of it. Ohio State is lucky to escape today with a win. VERY lucky.

How did OSU get so lucky today? As well as Toledo played today, they lost the game all by themselves. Toledo racked up 14 penalties for 108 yards and most of those penalties were drive killers or OSU drive helpers and never in favor of the Rockets. OSU on the other hand only had 2 penalties for 13 yards. Toledo’s head coach Beckman did a masterful job play calling this game, he just really needs to teach fundamentals and intelligence. How in the world do you have so many illegal formations on punts? I counted 4 or 5 at least where they had 5 guys in the backfield. Somebody needs to learn how to count to 5 for the Special Teams. One of those penalties made Toledo punt again after a great first punt which the 2nd punt was returned 69 yards for a TD by Chris Fields of OSU. Which is the difference between winning and losing. Toledo also had an INT and missed a FG and screwed up the hold on another FGA. That is how you diagram losing a game.

For Ohio State, the kind of offense Toledo runs has always given them fits. It doesn’t help when you have 8 players suspended for the game and another 5 players out with injuries. Then during the game you lose more players to injuries. Having to play so many inexperienced players isn’t any help either. I know we are only 2 games into a very strange season for OSU but where are our safeties at this year? What has happened to Tyler Moeller? They aren’t making plays and they don’t seem to be flying all over the field like usual. The only times we here their names called is when they have missed a tackle or got burned on a play. They need to get tougher and meaner on defense all around and start playing with an attitude again. On offense we are missing too many players due to suspensions to be as effective as we will be later on in the year. Bauserman was inconsistent today at best. Braxton Miller didn’t get to play at all. Carlos Hyde played well but not great. The WR corp did a good job when Bauserman wasn’t over throwing them by miles. Rod Smith I love you buddy but I don’t think we will see you on offense again this year if Berry is 100% next week and Hall and Herron get back from suspensions. You need to protect the ball young man. On a bright note for you I remember Eddie George fumbling the ball several times on the goal line when he was younger and he turned out “OK”. Stoneburner, I will forgive you for that drop on an easy pass on 4th down if you keep scoring TDs every game deal? Drew Basil, stop kicking like you are a wolverine for the love of Woody. John Simon had to go into the locker room in the third quarter to get an IV for fluids due to cramps and came back in the fourth quarter to win this game for the Buckeyes with TFLs and sacks and QB pressures.

To sum things up: OSU didn’t Shock the world or Silence the doubters today. They did, however, prove they don’t suck as bad as Penn St. and Michigan who have never beaten the mighty Toledo Rockets so at least they can tell that to the haters tonight right?

Answers to the Preview Questions….
1.) Stoneburner had 1 TD catch.
2.) OSU had 4 QB sacks.
3.) OSU did NOT pitch another shutout.
4.) Final score was 27-22 OSU.

Given that no one was even close on the final score I declare all of us LOSERS. Next up for OSU The U…..

SYR decided to give the live blog a chance during the Toledo game. Hit the jump to follow his thoughts during the madness:

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