Coming into the 2013 season everyone is talking about which true freshman will help the Buckeyes the most. I am going to tell you about a redshirt freshman who I believe will make the biggest impact for the Buckeyes this fall. Tyvis Powell picked the Buckeyes over Michigan St and West Virginia. Powell played his high school football at Bedford where he was coached by Sean Williams where he racked up 6 interceptions and 100+ tackles during his junior and senior season. Powell enrolled at Ohio State in January of 2012 so he could participate in spring drills and try to get a leg up. It didn’t happen and Powell was redshirted his freshman season.

One year later could make all the difference in the world. This time last year Powell was just trying to earn a spot on special teams, this year he is trying to earn a starting spot on defense. In early spring Powell caught people’s attention when he was lining up at the star position for the Buckeyes defense. Urban Meyer was one of those…

“He earned that right in the off-season,” Meyer said. “He didn’t earn that during the season. I really like him by the way. He’s a 6-2 guy that’s done everything right.”

I personally am a huge Powell fan and really hope he earns the Star position. I think he could bring some grit to the defense. He has size and speed and that is always want you want from a guy who will be right up on the line a scrimmage. About a week ago Tyvis sent out a letter to #BuckeyeNation stating his love and passion about being a Buckeye. The thing I really took away from his letter is he is going to do anything and everything to be a starter. I surely wouldn’t want to be in his way.

“I still feel like I’m not where I need to be. We have a saying in the secondary called “B.I.A.” Which stands for “Best In America” and right now I do not feel like I am the best nickel in America.”

The “Star” position for Ohio State is very important to the Buckeyes defense. The star position requires a player to have good speed and cover skills but also someone who can get off blocks and make open field tackles. The Buckeyes mainly use the Star when a team has a three wide receiver set, but will use it at different times.

Powell will need to continue to make plays and impressing coaches to earn the starting spot in the season opener against Buffalo. There is going to be a lot of competition the rest of the summer for the Star position. Corey Brown and Devan Bogard seem to be the main competition to Powell along with true freshman Vonn Bell. “The Chase” is on for the next Star on the Silver Bullet Defense.

EDITORS NOTE: This story was written by one of our newest writers Adam whose twitter handle is @Bucks0331.

The last 2 days at Ohio State there have been a whole lot of Special Teams stuff going on with their well Special Teams camp lol. Jim Tressel will no doubt be glad to hear that Urban Meyer puts so much importance on STs. With Drew Basil being a SR. they are in desperate need of a placekicker. Recently they signed a punter from Australia so this camp was mostly about getting the kicker they will need so badly next year. Well it appears the wait is over and they found their man….

Sean Nuernberger announced he has committed to Ohio State via his twitter account.

It's done! Officially committed to play football for THE Ohio State University! #BUCKEYENATION

— Sean Nuernberger (@SeanSeanThinks) June 11, 2013

Sean Nuernberger is a 6’2″ 220 lbs Kicker from Buckner, Kentucky. I cant find much on him from the recruiting sites but I did find his highlight videos you can see those below….

and

We have made it to the final four most amazing moments of the 2012 football season. These are the four most memorable, most bestest moments voted on by you, the fans (and such smart, attractive fans you are). So now we have the arduous task of determining which moment was the best offensive and defensive moment of the season. This is not for the faint of heart.

Because it seems like offense gets all the glory, we’re going to start this off by pitting the final two defensive/special team moments first:

Defensive/Special Team Moment

#1 Shazier’s goal line hit [Wisconsin] vs. #2 Kenny G’s 2-point conversion [Purdue]

Shazier went up against himself and won. It’s really not surprising that his goal line stop would be one of the most memorable plays of 2012. The goal line stand against Penn State a year earlier also made it to the final round of our Moments Bracket (which Shazier factored heavily in) so it stands to reason Shazier’s hit would make it this far.

Shaziers hit goes up against one of the most improbably comebacks in the past few years for the football Buckeyes. Kenny Guiton’s drive in the final minutes against Purdue (in relief of the previously injured Braxton Miller) would have all been for naught if he also wasn’t able to seal the deal on the two point conversion. But convert he did and that moment will go down as one of the most memorable of all times.

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Offensive Moment

#1 Kenny Guiton’s last drive [Purdue] vs. #2 Devin Smith TD catch [Miami]

In a season where the Buckeyes went 12-0 and watched electrifying moments left and right from Braxton Miller, it’s ironic to see Mr. Miller absent from the Final Four moments (I mean, I guess he had a part in Devin Smith’s amazing grab) but see Kenny Guiton here twice. His heroism has not gone unnoticed. It’s cliche to say everyone’s favorite player is the back-up quarterback, but for a period of time last season that was figuratively and literally true.

Contrast Kenny’s fairly vanilla drive to Devin Smith’s amazing, spectacular, jaw-dropping, face-melting, Sports Center Top Ten-making grabs and you have the 2012 season in a nutshell.

So which one was the better moment?

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A few months back when Johnny Townsend decided he wanted to stay home and play at Florida for his college choice it put Ohio State in a predicament. You see OSU had lost their SR punter Ben Buchannon after the 2012 season and didnt have a punter on the team for the 2013 season. Several attempts to get a walk-on punter all failed and Ohio State was in a pickle. Drew Basil the starting placekicker is capable of punting but to have him handling all kicking duties is not ideal at all. So Ohio State decided to scan the world and find a punter and they finally found one all the way down under in Australia.

From the Columbus Dispatch….

Cameron Johnston is a 21-year-old former Australian Rules Football player.
He’s also expected to be the next punter for Ohio State. If the coach who trained him is correct, Johnston will turn what is a question mark on the 2013 team into an exclamation point.

“He has an explosive leg unlike anything that I think anyone at Ohio State will have seen,” said Nathan Chapman, who trained Johnston at Prokick Australia in Melbourne.

Ohio State has not confirmed Johnston’s signing, but Chapman said it is official. Johnston’s flight from Australia to the United States left last night. Chapman suspected that Ohio State is waiting until he arrives before making an announcement.

On a layover late last night in Sydney, Johnston said in a Facebook message that he “can’t wait to get over and start training, being given the greatest opportunity to be part of the Ohio State University.”

Prokick Australia has trained numerous kickers for American colleges. Kickers accepted into the program go through a rigorous 12-month training period, and the results are impressive.

Alex Dunnachie was fourth in the nation in punting average for Hawaii last year at 46.2 yards per kick. Tom Hornsey of Memphis was 19th. Prokick Australia has punters in the Canadian Football League and some who are trying to make the NFL. Even Chapman unsuccessfully tried to make the Green Bay Packers’ roster in 2004.

The way Chapman describes Johnston, he is as good as anyone Prokick Australia has produced.

“I do have in my film him punting the ball 80 yards, and I’ve got him on film with hang times of 5.2 to 5.4 (seconds),” Chapman said. “(It’s) continually 65 yards, ball after ball after ball.”

Such numbers border on the hyperbolic, but Chapman insists that Johnston is for real.

“It’s just his natural kicking that he has grown up with playing Australian Rules,” Chapman said. “Plus, he has phenomenal core strength and leg strength. He’s got fast-twitch fibers, so he’s got leg speed — just a range of things that allows him to have quick, solid impact on the ball.

“He’s a phenomenal talent with an amazing leg who’s going to grow into his position. I think the university is so lucky and fortunate to be in position to have him.”

Chapman, who also played Australian Rules Football, contacted Ohio State about Johnston last September. The Buckeyes were skeptical, he said, but after watching tape, those doubts faded. Still, the Buckeyes pursued and got a commitment from Johnny Townsend, a punter from Orlando, Fla.

“It was disappointing, but we understand that it’s a business and it’s a part of the process,” Chapman said. “We had a couple of offers to go elsewhere from smaller universities, which we declined.”

On national signing day, Townsend decided not to sign with the Buckeyes and soon chose Florida. That reopened the door for Johnston. Chapman said that a couple of Southeastern Conference schools wanted Johnston but didn’t have an opening this year.

“If Cameron hadn’t gone to Ohio State, he would have gone to Alabama (next year),” Chapman said.

During Ohio State’s spring practice, place-kicker Drew Basil was listed as the No. 1 punter. Though Basil was more than adequate, having one player handle all kicks is not ideal.

Chapman said he expects Johnston to have an adjustment period to American culture and to the football culture at Ohio State. But he described Johnston as a natural, upbeat leader and excellent teammate who will blend in, and predicted that he would become a popular member of the team.

“Once they start training camp and you get to see him for real, you’ll understand what’s on your doorstep,” Chapman said.

I can’t find any recruiting sites with info on Cameron but based on his highlight video it looks like he could be a heck of a punter and the answer to at least one of Ohio States glaring questions this season. Below you can see his Highlight reel with accompanying awesome Aussie Club Music for your personal enjoyment.

In Case You Missed It is Men of the Scarlet and Gray’s semi-regular curated look at items that would interest the casual and hard-core Ohio State fan. These include news items, interesting blog posts and the occasional meme you’ve probably already seen. It’s all here and it’s all for you. Have a tip that should be included in the next ICYMI? Drop us a line at motsag@gmail.com or through our Contact Page. Today’s ICYMI is brought to you by Adam (@Bucks0331 on Twitter) whom we hope to add to our writing staff here at MotSaG. Be nice, this is his first post.

FIRST EVER FOR BUCKEYES. Thanks to a Junior from Slovenia, the Buckeyes now have a Men’s Tennis Champion. Blaz Rola beat Virginia’s Jarmere Jenkins in straight sets:

Rola won on a disputed match point. His forehand landed near the line and was called in. Jenkins jumped up and down and pointed at a scuff mark where he said the ball landed.

What is more impressing about Blaz winning the National Title is he only lost one time and was ranked outside of the Top 10.

The artice on SI.com also notes that, “After the match, Rola conceded the ball appeared to have been out.”

In or out, Blaz can now say he is the first ever at The Ohio State University.

BUCKEYES NEW UNIFORMS. There are some rumors “unconfirmed” going around the Buckeyes could be getting some new uniforms:

I have been told by people at Nike that they will feature multiple new and different uniform combinations this football season. They will have as many different combinations as Oregon.

If I had a vote in this, I would say, “No Thanks.” Yes, Oregon makes it work, but I like tradition a lot more and that is what the Buckeyes have.

The article goes on to say more about the Nike video that was created:

Assistant Director of Video Services at The Ohio State University Athletic Department, Russell Hoeflich. According to the video description, Hoeflich created the [video] “to be used at tOSU’s 2013 presentation for Nike in Seattle.”

Yes, new jerseys would bring in a lot of money but you can’t tell me the Bucks are hurting in jersey sales. This is not the SEC where we dress up for football game, this is the B1G where we wear jerseys.

NO RUN SUPPORT MEANS EARLY EXIT. Thanks to the Buckeyes pitching staff the Buckeyes still had a chance to make a run, but the offense couldn’t put up enough:

“We’re incredibly disappointed in the results of today and the results of the tournament and the results of the last two weeks,” said Head Coach Greg Beals.

The Buckeyes were trying to make the NCAA Tournament for this first time since 2009. That dream fell short once again on Monday when the field was announced.

The article on The O-Zone had this as well.

“I still have a very bad taste in my mouth and the back of my head is spinning for the future.”

The Bucks will need to find some offense if they plan to make a charge at the NCAA Tournament in 2014. Pitching can only take you so far and if you don’t believe me, just look at the Phillies.

BUCKS MAKE THE LIST. The Buckeyes put together a very nice class for 2013, but something was missing.

When Urban Meyer signed just two true offensive linemen to Ohio State’s 2013 class last February, he knew that recruiting big guys to play up front would be his top priority during the 2014 recruiting cycle.

With only two in the class of 2013, the Bucks have already received two commitments for the 2014 class, but there is still work to be done.

The Bleacher Report also had this to say:

One of those targets—4-star offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor—announced his top six schools Monday afternoon, and the Buckeyes made the cut. Eluemunor made the announcement via Twitter

To land Jermaine the Buckeyes will have to beat out Bama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, USC and UCLA. No easy task but in Urban we trust.

This would be a huge get for the Bucks if they land Jermaine look for him to be a starter on the O-Line in 2014.

AND FINALLY. (el Kaiser here) We are still pitting the top football moments from the 2012 season against each other to pick the best defensive and offensive moment of the season, ultimately to pick the greatest single Football Moment. We are down to the final eight. You can vote for your favorite Offensive Moment here and your favorite Defensive Moment here.

Things are really starting to heat up now that summer is upon us and kids will be visiting and camps will be held. Ohio State recruiting is on track to land some really big commitments but to make sure they get the summer off to a great start they made sure they shored up the Ohio borders and landed one of the top players in the state today at a position of great need and a top notch national prospect. I imagine we will be seeing quite a few more of these posts before the season kicks off in 100 days.

DANTE BOOKER JR

Dante Booker announced he was committed to Ohio State today via his twitter account.

Officially commited to THE Ohio State University #BuckeyeNation

— Dante Booker Jr. (@D_Book47) May 23, 2013

Dante Booker Jr. is a 6’4″ 220 lbs 4 star LineBacker from Akron, Ohio. Booker is one of the top LB prospects in the country and was chased by schools like Notre Dame, TTUN, Penn State, and Nebraska. Dante brings a real nastiness to the outside LB spot combined with his top notch speed and power he could move to a hybrid of DE/LB at OSU depending on his body growth. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the 108th best prospect in the country. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the no. 9 OLB ion the country. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no. 84 prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the no 8 OLB in the country. Below you can see his highlight reel from his JR season.

The most iconic defensive plays from 2012 have been pitted against each other (there’s still time to vote!) and now it’s the offensive moments that take center stage.

The #1 vs. #4 match-up is a tale of two moments. Kenny G’s valiant comeback against Purdue is probably going to be the defining moment of the “broken” 2012 season. It had everything including the late game heroics of an unsung fan favorite, coming in cool like “I GOT THIS” and then Kenny GOT THAT. Going against the most spine-tingling moment was Carlos Hyde throwing the “Feed Me” gesture that Denard Robinson threw in our face during the ill-fated 2011 Game right back at him. It also had that “I GOT THIS” feeling, with Hyde telling the sidelines “FEED ME” while letting the fans know that he truly understood the gravity of The Game.

#1 Kenny Guiton’s last drive [Purdue] vs. #4 Hyde feeding himself [UM]

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And then of course there is The Catch, 2012 version. This play just speaks for itself. (Sorry, Braxton’s Goaline TD)

#2 Devin Smith TD catch [Miami] vs. #3 Braxton’s goaline TD [PSU]

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We’ve made it to the Elite Eight. Four Offensive plays and four Defensive/Special Teams plays remain.

These are the defensive matchups, and they are doosies. Good luck picking your favorites:

#1 Shazier’s goal line hit [Wisconsin] vs. #4 Shazier’s INT TD [PSU]

Shazier going up against himself was not initially intended by the selection commitee, but it’s fitting that only one Shazier can make it to the Final Four. Which will it be? The game-saving goal line stand/caused fumble against the Wisconsin Badgers or the interception of the Moxiest Ginger against the hated Nittany Lions?

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And

#2 Kenny G’s 2-point conversion [Purdue] vs. #3 Boren hit on Garnder [UM]

This is almost unfair to both Kenny G and Zach Boren. Kenny saved the perfect 2012 season and Zach encapsulated everything we love about The Game. Just sit back and enjoy them both.

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Things have been slow on the recruiting trail the past few months to say the least. There have been lots of offers given out all over the country and lots of interest shown by some of the best recruits in the country. Until today’s bizarre happenings though there wasn’t much to report. This newest recruit though has had OSU as his leader for months and many thought he was going to announce to OSU last year but he postponed. Then this morning he announced he was ready to commit but nearly every recruiting expert from every service had a different take on who his final 2 teams were. Apparently the communication issue was solved and today he did in fact become OSUs commitment #8 for the 2014 class.

LONNIE JOHNSON

Lonnie Johnson announced his commitment via his Twitter account today.

Im happy to say that I will be committing to THE OHIO STATE University I would like to thank all my family and friends and my coaches I love

— Lonnie Johnson 11 (@lonniejohnson20) May 12, 2013

Lonnie Johnson is a 6’3″ 190 lbs 4 star WR/Safety from Gary, Indiana. Lonnie is a running back/wide receiver/safety at his HS but most project him to play the Wide Receiver position at the next level. His size will suggest he will play in the outside and combined with his speed he will surely be looked upon to become a down the field deep threat. He will have to work on his route running and stamina but all those are coachable aspects that with his rawness can lead to success at the next level. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no 29 safety prospect in the country. Rivals ranks him a 3 star. Scout ranks him a 3 star and the 47th best WR prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 5th best recruit in Indiana. Below you can see his highlights.

Our friends at Football Study Hall do a great job with advanced statistics and I just wanted to share some of the Buckeye related statistics that the guys over there have found. Today we will be looking at last year’s ball carriers (anyone who carried the ball last year) and see how many yards they gained after the line “did their job.” These are the type of plays that separate a great ball carrier from a good one.

This is going to look and sound like a new language so here are some definitions:

Highlight Yards: The portion of a given run that is credit only to the running back; after a certain number of yards, the line has done its job, and most of the rest of the run will be determined by the running back himself. For more information, start here. An important note, however: a player’s per-carry highlight yardage is now calculated as follows: Highlight Yards divided by Opportunities. In this case, Opportunities mean only the carries in which the offensive line “did its job,” i.e. carries that went at least five yards. With a different denominator, then, it is possible for a player’s Highlight Yards per carry to be much higher than his overall yards per carry.

Block Success Rate: Highlight Opportunities divided by total rushes. Basically, how many times did the offensive line get the ball carrier to the second level (five yards).

Adj. POE: POE stands for “Points Over Expected.” The idea for POE is simple: It compares a runner’s production to the production that would have been expected of an average back given the same carries against the same opponents. A runner with, say, a plus-6.0 Adj. POE produced the equivalent of a touchdown more value than the average FBS running back would have with the same carries.For more information on Adj. POE, start here.

Using the above definitions, lets see how the Buckeye ball carriers performed last season. The far column on the right “Rk” takes all of the ball carriers in the nation (roughly 1,500 players) and ranks them versus each other based on Adj. POE. Overall, we are looking at how effective the ball carrier is after the first 5 yards. It’s the difference between a negative to 5 yard gain and a back breaking play in a big game.

A few things stand out here…

• Braxton Miller gains a ton of highlight yards and he is also helped by his offensive line (%50 block success rate). He mostly runs outside of the tackles, but without good blocking by the wide receivers and the line’s ability to get him past the first 5 yards he does not have a chance to make plays in the open field. Miller is using his offensive line to gain positive yardage, then he is making defensive backs miss in the open field. It sounds obvious but it takes a special talent like Miller to make the best athletes on the defensive side of the ball look foolish in the secondary.
• He was playing through injury last year but I expected Jordan Hall to have a higher Adj. POE. He never got into a good rhythm after missing the preseason and I do expect him to be better next year in the open field, using his speed and his new position.
• I thought Carlos Hyde would have lower highlight yardage due to his “power back” persona. Not only is Hyde gaining the tough yards but he is also doing a good job gaining those extra yards once he gets to the second level.
• We saw a few glimpses of Rod Smith last year and the statistics show he should get some more carries this season. If Hall or Hyde go down, Smith has shown big play capabilities and he could flourish in Meyer’s offense.

The 2013 class of the College Football Hall of Fame was officially announced today and it includes some of the most dominant players the game has ever seen. QBs Vinny Testaverde, Danny Wuerffel, and Tommy Frazier were a combined 101-12-1 in their college careers. Ron Dayne rushed for over 7000 yards including bowl games, but even his NCAA official number of 6,397 is the best of all time. The class also features the great Tedy Bruschi.

But easily the most illustrious member of the 2013 class is our own Orlando Pace, the man who redefined offensive line play and launched the greatest Heisman campaign known to man:

In addition to his gridiron, acting and kitchen skills, Pace also played some hoops in high school. You already know how well-decorated he was in his college career, but let’s review anyway: two-time first team All-American, two-time Lombardi trophy winner (still the only player to win twice), 1996 Heisman finalist as an offensive lineman (which is probably impossible today) and did not allow a sack in his final two years as a Buckeye.

I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that one day there should be a national trophy named for this man, as dominant as a player could possibly be at a crucial but thankless position. When you can get the enormous fanbase of a traditional powerhouse loaded with skill position talent to cheer for line play, then you are indeed a special kind of player.

Congrats, Mr. Pace. No one deserves this more.