The Return of the King:

This was the week that King Cardale Jones returned as the starter of the reigning National Champions Buckeyes.  This was also the week that Captain J.T. Barrett had to sit out after his OVI fiasco from last week.  The Minnesota game was interesting and as expected the Buckeyes pulled away in the second half while Jones is at the helm.  I am not a Cardale hater by any means.  I mean, I have no need or want to because he brought us the National Championship, but I also call it like I see it.  Without the reliable deep threat, he cannot spread defenses out.  The lack of mobility is evident and he just flat out struggles in the offense.  With that being said he also seems to be distracted for some reason.  I don’t know what it is and I cannot put my finger on it, but he looks like something is bothering him.  It isn’t affecting his production on the field, but as a fan, it is getting annoying.  I for one know that the Buckeyes should be destroying everyone they have played, but with Jones as the starter, the offense as a whole plays to the level of their opponents.  It has to stop.  Please make it stop.

Recruiting Battles:

Well it finally happened!  The Kareem Walker drama finally revealed it’s ugly head.  At last it is finally over.  The “I am committed, but I will continue to take my visits” drama is finally over!  Walker would’ve been a nice addition to this years class but he is obviously scared of competition.  I mean we have Mike Weber from last years class and Antonio Williams from this years class.  We sorely needed another slot to maximize the talent pool as well so good luck young man!  I am not bitter, we needed an opening and we can now focus on recruiting more talent.

With the extra slot, we have 3-5 more spots and it will be an interesting couple of months prior to National Signing Day.  I am hoping that we snag a couple of blue-chippers that will contribute as soon as they arrive on campus.  The targets that are still high up on the board are Michigan Linebacker Daelin Hayes, California Linebacker Mique Juarez.   Hayes was present during the Minnesota – Ohio State game and he came away impressed.  Certainly an interesting turn of events, but I do not expect anything concrete.  Although it is well known that the Buckeyes want to add one more linebacker to this years class, but I won’t be a bit surprised if they take both of the ones mentioned above.

The Buckeyes are also looking to add a top-tier Defensive Tackle and they have a shot at a few of them.  Louisiana’s own Rashard Lawrence, Georgia’s Antwuan Jackson, Texas’ Chris Daniels and North Carolina’s Dexter Lawrence.  I believe with the recent Walker defection, it pretty much puts Rashan Gary out of the Buckeyes grasp.

The Buckeyes are also looking at bringing in another Wide Receiver to pair with Austin Mack and a pair of Florida products in Binjimen Victor and Nate Craig-Meyers.  Binjimen Victor is the one who is most likely Buckeye-bound but with recruiting, you never now.  Craig-Meyers would be a nice addition but he is currently trending toward Gainesville.

Lastly, the Buckeyes are still working to find 1-2 more Defensive Backs.  Georgia’s Nigel Warrior, Pennsylvania’s Damar Hamlin and New Jersey’s Jordan Fuller are at the top of the Buckeye’s wish list.  They are all playmakers and blue-chip prospects and it would be a welcomed addition to the class.  They both are still up in the air and now it is just a waiting game.

Braxton Boo Boo:

This past week, Braxton Miller suffered an injury against Minnesota.  A potential concussion to be exact.  Coach Meyer said that Braxton just got the wind knocked out of him and now it is just a waiting game to see what the exact injury is or was.  Coach Meyer said that he looked to be fine after they dressed down.  Hopefully he comes back and hopefully the injury in question wasn’t that bad.

Poor Spartans:

Did you see the Spartans this past weekend?  I for one think that caught a bad break.  The receiver was not forced out of bounds.  To make it worst, they lost to a lucky Nebraska team who are flat out terrible this year.  Ohio State better trounce Illinois prior to their showdown with a potentially angry Spartans team who were robbed of a victory.

The Return of The Fallen Prince:

The Buckeyes were 7-0 with King Dolo Dale at the helm and now that our king has fallen, we welcome the Fallen Prince J.T. Barrett to state his case as a vital part of Ohio State royalty.  Now we all cannot forget King Dolo Dale’s run toward Ohio State’s Title Run last season.  We all mustn’t forget what he had accomplished as the man at Ohio State.  He is after all undefeated as a starter.  He is 10-0 as the starting Quarterback at Ohio State and that is a huge feat.  He had no starting experience as a starting Quarterback and he did what he had to do and he did it so well, his legend grew as the Buckeyes marched toward the Inaugural Playoff Championship run.

Although he came in clutch for the last 10 games, he now finds himself behind J.T. Barrett.  People forget that without J.T. Barrett we wouldn’t be in the position to even be considered for the College Football Playoffs.  J.T. Barrett is now 12-1 as a starter with his only loss coming from a stout Virginia Tech defense.  He looks to and he will continue to spark the Ohio State offense and he will put the team on his back.  He has that chip on his shoulder and he is out to prove that Urban made the correct decision to make him the starter.

As we all saw, the offense runs smoother with J.T. as the starting Quarterback.  As evidenced by this weekends romp of the hapless Rutgers team, I think it is safe to say that we are finally playing to our true potential.  This was supposed to be a trap game, but the Rutgers were not ready for J.T. and company.  Here is to more blow outs.

Bye Week Blues:

After a resounding win at Piscataway, New Jersey, I cannot wait for this bye week to be done and over with.  I personally dislike bye weeks but I understand the need to rest injured players and the advantage it presents to prepare for the next game.  It’ll give the team an extra week to identify what would work against their opponent and what they are weak against.  It can also identify their tendencies and flaws on both sides of the ball.  I cannot wait to see what the Buckeyes gameplan will be.  Here’s looking to you Minnesota.

Last year the Golden Gophers had a huge serving of J.T. Barrett.  I look for J.T. and company to have similar results, but with the whole team pitching in to an overall team win.  I can see J.T. being his usual scrambling self once again.  He will have another huge game and I would say that he will light up the scoreboard once again.  So here is to a quick and fruitful bye week to plan for those pesky Gophers.

Urban Warfare:

With the win this Saturday Coach Meyer now has career win number 150.  WOW!!!  I cannot tell you how important he is to the Ohio State program and he has coached as advertised.  Now there are a lot of haters out there who say that he feigned a heart attack because he lost his edge as a SEC coach and that the recent losses to Alabama had forced him to cower, but people need to have the common decently to realize that that was and is not the case.

Coach Meyer has taken control of this Ohio State roster and has churned out top recruiting classes in the last three Ohio State classes with Ohio State ranked as the number one class for both the 2016 and the 2017 classes.  He has another National Championship after last years run so as a Buckeye fan, he has exceeded all expectations.  Here is to more winning.

Recruiting Tidbits:

So recruiting is probably the second most important aspect of College Football with winning Championships.  Recruiting can and often will change the tide and the direction of the a program and with what Coach Meyer and company have assembled, there is nothing but goodness that is coming to Ohio State.

Recruiting is also very unpredictable and in this day and age, with the needs and wants of the kids coming up in this era, it is more difficult than you would think it is.  Everyone loves competition, but if recruits want to be a part of what could turn out to be a dynasty, come on and get on the legacy train.  If not, it’s okay.  I am not one of those fans who holds grudges over recruits not going to Ohio State.  I  am not naive enough to do that to 17 to 18 year olds.

Although, I would have loved to see Minkah Fitzpatrick and Juju Smith on the roster, I could understand that you win some and you lose some.  Imagine if Coach Meyer reeled them both in and imagine what could of been.  We are doing just fine.  We stole Gareon Conley from TTUN and look at what he morphed into, another shutdown corner for the Buckeyes.  That is why I do not doubt Urban’s recruiting tactics in recruiting because no matter what the star power count is he always has shown the knack to find and secure hidden gems throughout the country.  No place is safe when Urban Meyer comes around as evidenced by last years class, snagging the top recruits from South Dakota and Utah last season, Grant Schmidt and Branden Bowen.  Coach Meyer can have just about anyone from any state if they match what he wants to do on either offense or defense.

Do not worry about who leaves and decommits from the Buckeyes.  If it frees up a coveted spot, then so be it because I know that the Ohio State coaches have a plan in place and it’ll only be just a matter of time.  Go Buckeyes and let us use this bye week to continue to build relationships with inbound players.  And let us hope that the current commits can continue to solidify relationships with each other and the highly ranked targets.