The Chaos That Never Was:

Championship Weekend has come and gone and unfortunately, the Buckeyes did not make the College Football Playoffs to defend it.  We had our chance to set ourselves out, but simply but it wasn’t in the cards on that day.  That still feels like a freshly cut wound that had been in contact with salt or alcohol.  It still hurts but not as bad as the week that we blew our shot to repeat.  I for one wanted to see a rematch of the Sugar Bowl from last years Playoffs, but my dreams were dashed by Geiger’s last second field goal to all but doom our chances at making the playoffs.  I am salty but it won’t ruin or deter me from being loyal to my Buckeyes.

Florida had no chance at stopping the Tide and the Tarheels and the Trojans “tried”.  I love the College game because there is always a chance for someone to get upset or beat.  It is the name of the game.  Unfortunately, it did not happen for the Buckeyes.  I still love this team and I still know that we could play with anyone in the field of four, but let us not focus on the negatives and let us all just focus solely on what we have left for this season.  Bowl Season.

Let’s Have A Fiesta:

Well if you live under a rock, which I seriously doubt, you now know who made the field of four for year two of the College Football Playoffs.  Clemson sits at number 1 and they will be matched up against number 3 Oklahoma team.  Number 2 Alabama will go up against number 4 Michigan State team.  Both matchups are as expected.  The Orange Bowl game has the potential to become a good old fashioned shootout.  The Cotton Bowl game is the opposite and is solely about both defensive units.  It is amazing BUT I will be biased and say that I would’ve preferred that rematch that I talked about earlier.  That is neither here nor there and we did blow it.  So there are and there should be no excuses really.

Now since we finished 7th in the Playoff Standings, we were chosen for a date with the Golden Domers of Notre Dame.  This is an intriguing matchup for me because I pay close attention to the recruiting aspect of things and there are a couple of players on the opposite team that the Buckeyes admired.  Kizer, who is from Ohio wanted to play for the Buckeyes but he never received an offer out of high school.  Another player was a highly sought after Linebacker Jaylon Smith.  I wanted him to be a part of that years class but the lure of the Irish was too strong to overcome and by the looks of it Daelin Hayes will also most likely spurn the Buckeyes for the Irish as well.

This matchup will be intense and hotly contested, but I for one hope that the Buckeyes come out with the rage and the grit that made them so dangerous in the last years Playoffs.  I hope they do what they did to that Team Up North.  A lot of the senior would love to go out with a bang and to topple the Irish on January 1st would be a season saver.  The season was not a complete loss but it could’ve been better.

The Rutgers D-Ash:

Well it happened again, another valuable positional coach was lured away from the Buckeyes to fill a once vacant Head Coaching gig.  I am not bitter but he will be sorely missed.  Coach Ash was our meal ticket into Texas and that will be hard to replace or replicate.  I wish Coach Ash luck and I for one hope that Coach Meyer and Company hit another home run for his replacement.  I thing that it would be cool to have former Buckeyes DB’s such as Winfield and Gamble coach the kids up at Ohio State or at least serve as someone who will teach technique but not have the title of coach.  The word currently escapes me but you know what I mean.  No worries though, Coach Ash will coach the secondary during the Fiesta Bowl.  Let us all focus on the new task at hand.

Despite all the prayers to the football gods that I’m sure every Buckeye fan in the country sent to heaven this week  the results turned out to be not so good for the Buckeyes… Literally not a single game went our way in helping the Buckeyes get a shot to be in the college football playoff. That being said it is nice to know that we are at least going to be in the Fiesta Bowl playing a very talented team in Notre Dame.

The biggest take away that I hope Buckeye fans get from this last game is to really appreciate the talent that is on the field and the winning that they brought along with them. The total amount of talent on this team has been talked about as the most talented team in OSU history, and ,frankly, that would be hard to debate. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and for this team that end is only one game away. The talent that we are so use to watching on the field is going to be gone forever. Hopefully these great recruiting classes that  the coaching staff has been bringing in will be able to fill the void left by our upperclassmen, but we obviously can’t expect the same success right away from such a young team. So as this last game approaches let’s take a look at the players that will for sure be leaving, and even a few that could go either way between staying and going pro.

The major contributors that we know for sure will be gone due to graduation are LT Taylor Decker, WR Braxton Miller, RT Chase Farris, TE Nick Vannett, DT Adolphus Washington, DT Tommy Shutt, DT Joel Hale LB Joshua Perry, LB Cam Williams, WR Jeff Greene. Decker, Washington and Perry have all been talked about as first round picks in the draft and will surely be contributors at the next level along with Miller of course. A few others in this group could have a chance to be signed as free agents as well.

When it comes to underclassmen leaving early, that is when things get interesting. This group of guys would be crazy not to enter in my opinion, DE Joey Bosa, RB Zeke Elliot, WR Michael Thomas and LB Darron Lee. All four of these players have first round draft grades, meaning if they decided to come back to school they could be turning down a lot of money to do so. An argument can be made for both Lee and Thomas to come back for one more year simply to sharpen their skills and become the best prospect at they position in the entire draft, but it is hard to say that to a 20 -year -old who could be a few months away from being a millionaire if they enter the draft.

Finally the guys on the bubble are players that ,in my opinion, should stay one more year to develop but still have a great shot of being drafted this year. Guys like S Vonn Bell, CB Eli Apple, G Pat Elfein, And WR Jalin Marshall. These guys have all been fabulous players for us over the past few years but it just seems to me that it would be more beneficial for them to come back and develop their skills to improve their draft stock for the next year. The one guy that is on the fence here is Vonn Bell. Bell is a first round player, but recently safety’s have not been going very high in the draft so returning could benefit him by getting bigger and stronger to show he deserves to be a high first round selection.

The last guy that has already came out and said that he will not be returning is 12-gauge himself, Cardale Jones. After the Michigan State game Jones came out and said this would be his last year at Ohio State, but he did not say this would be his last year in college. In my opinion, the best thing Jones could do would be transfer to a pro- style offensive school to show off his skills at a better rate than our offense. That being said, even if he decides to enter the draft he will still probably be a 4th or 5th round pick simply because of his incredible upside.

It is impossible to put into words exactly how much these players have given to this program but it is A LOT. Regardless what they decide to do they will always be Buckeyes and Buckeye Nation will always be grateful for what they have done!!

The regular season is over, and neither Ohio State nor Michigan will appear in this year’s Big Ten Championship Game. The only left to do now is wait and see where each team lands in the post-season.

For the Wolverines, the Citrus Bowl is the unanimous pick of experts, and the bowl representatives themselves have expressed interest in Michigan if—as expected—Iowa, Michigan State, and Ohio State are already off the board. The popular choice for an opponent is Florida, which would be a rematch of the 2008 edition of the game, which Michigan won 41-35. That, you may remember, was Lloyd Carr’s last game as Wolverine head coach, and yes, Urban Meyer was on the other sideline.

As for which sideline Urban Meyer will be stalking this post-season, most experts are projecting the Fiesta Bowl, taking on either Houston or Notre Dame. Either matchup would be intriguing. The former would pit Urban Meyer against Tom Herman, which would poetically tie up one of the year’s biggest storylines: Ohio State’s erratic and often anemic offense. The latter would be a rematch of the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, which Ohio State won 34-20. It would also pit the Buckeyes against former Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly, who famously commented in August that he preferred his two quarterbacks over Ohio State’s.

But, of course, Ohio State fans are hoping for a different outcome. Currently sitting at #6 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Buckeyes could stand to benefit greatly if a giant chaos storm blows through today’s conference championship games. While I personally think Ohio State’s playoff chances are too slim to consider realistically, there’s no way to know for sure what the committee will do if the upsets start rolling in tonight.

So, what should we be cheering for?

Florida beating Alabama for the SEC title is the least likely outcome of all possibilities. It’s also one of the least dangerous upsets in terms of Ohio State. An 11-2 Gator team, currently #18 after a terrible loss to Florida State, is not going to find themselves in the top four just by beating Alabama. Nor is an 11-2 Crimson Tide team, with no conference championship, going to stay ahead of Ohio State.

Despite having four losses, USC is only a slight underdog to Stanford in the Pac-12 title game. Why does Stanford, with two losses and currently ranked one spot behind Ohio State, matter? Because after tonight’s game, they’ll have played twice as many teams with winning records as the Buckeyes, and that has been identified as one of the primary pieces of information the committee considers. With a win, they’ll also be a conference champion and that combined with a strong résumé, would likely be enough to land them ahead of Ohio State in the final rankings.

There are some who believe that with a win over Clemson, North Carolina would have a case to make the playoff. The Tar Heels also have only one loss, but the committee has made their opinion of UNC’s weak schedule, which features two FCS teams, abundantly clear. They’re ranked behind three two-loss teams, including conference-mate Florida State. Unless they blow the Tigers off the field tonight, North Carolina is not cracking the top four.

An argument could also be made that Iowa, should they lose the Big Ten championship game, would be more deserving of a spot than Ohio State, who didn’t even make the game. And if their loss also came on a final-play field goal, there would be some merit to that. But with the way the committee has ranked Iowa, Michigan State, and Ohio State in consecutive spots, it appears very likely that the loser tonight will drop out of the running. All things considered, it’s probably still best for Iowa to win, but I really don’t think it will be an issue either way. If the Big Ten puts two teams in this playoff, the Buckeyes will be one of them.

Ultimately, if any two of USC, North Carolina and Florida win today, there is a very strong chance that Ohio State will return to the College Football Playoff for a chance to repeat as national champions. But even if it doesn’t work out for us, it looks like we’ll get an intriguing bowl game anyway.

I know, the 2015 season is not yet over. This year, we have the best RB in the nation in Ezekiel Elliott, so why look ahead? For one, it’s fun, and for two, there are serious concerns for next season.

Coming into this season, there weren’t many, if any, concerns at the RB position. With a new, but great coach in Tony Alford leading the unit, and potential Heisman candidate who destroyed the previous post-season, Ezekiel Elliott, hopes were high. There was also a highly touted true freshman from Detroit, Mike Weber, who had an outstanding fall camp if not for the knee injury. Then, there were two solid, yet unproven 4th year juniors in Warren Ball and Bri’onte Dunn. To finish off the group was an electric true sophomore who converted to H-Back, but could still play RB, Curtis Samuel. The main worry was perhaps too many blowout wins would cause Zeke to not get enough carries to win the Heisman.

You likely know how the season played out. The blowout wins were non-existent. The Buckeyes had to “ride” Zeke to get wins. The Heisman Trophy was looking like a real possibility, though, until the infamous November 21st game against the Michigan State Spartans. Ezekiel was given 11 carries for 33 yards in the ugly 14-17 lost. Not only was it a bad game statistic wise, it ruined his streak of 15 straight 100 yard games, it diminished the B1G Championship aspirations, and Zeke’s Heisman hopes. Then came the “criticizing” and declaration for the NFL Draft. As Urban said, the comments were not wrong, they were just said in the wrong place. As for the declaration for the Draft, many people act like that was a result of the terrible game, but that’s simply not the case. Any person who has really followed the Buckeyes could tell you before the season even started that Zeke would leave for the draft after this season. There’s no reason for the top rated RB to stay another year and risk injury.

But, now that Zeke is officially (from his word, at least) going to be gone next season, it’s time to look ahead. Without Zeke, the roster for this unit is extremely inexperienced. It doesn’t help that would-be 5th year senior Warren Ball is graduating, and taking advantage of an opportunity to play football elsewhere. Since Warren is leaving, and new young skill is arriving, you have to wonder also about Bri’onte Dunn. Bri’onte is a guy that had a rough start to his Buckeye career. This year, he has had an incredible turn around in attitude and mindset, and according to Urban, Bri’onte “really has momentum in his world.” He has been great on special teams, and has been a very viable option as Zeke’s backup. Some of the coaches recently had a meeting with him, and they do think he will stay for his final year, but it’s impossible to say what will happen.

A guy I mentioned before is true freshman Mike Weber. Mike is from Cass Tech High School, in Detroit, that is recently becoming a sort of “pipeline” for the Buckeyes. After losing out on Damien Harris to Alabama, Mike was the Buckeyes really wanted. After a long fought battle, the Buckeyes barely pulled him from Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines. Mike is a guy that is extremely talented. Maturity is often a question that comes up with him, but that can improve over time, and it should. Mike Weber was good enough to be an instant impact type player for Ohio State. It didn’t help his cause when he tore his meniscus late in fall camp. That hampered him for the first several games of the 2015 campaign. By the time he was fully healthy, the staff didn’t see fit to burn his redshirt. I expect Mike to make a real run at the starting RB position next year, though.

A guy that will also be in the mix next season is Antonio Williams. He is the Buckeyes RB commit for the 2016 class, and is ranked the 7th best RB in his class by 247 Composite. Antonio is a “grinder” and a great HS player. This past season for North Stanly High School, he put up 10.6 yards per carry and 238.9 yards per game. He was a long time Wisconsin Badgers commit, but when the Kareem Walker situation started to happen, the Buckeyes needed to really decide what they wanted to do: Grab a commitment from another RB, or wait for Kareem to visit other schools and see if he remains committed. Obviously, the Buckeyes grabbed a commitment from a guy they had offered a while back, and has had their eyes on for quite some time, Antonio Williams. Once he committed, there was simply no room in the class for Kareem. If Kareem really wanted in, I’m sure the staff would’ve found room, but for now, Antonio is the guy. He will be enrolling in January, and some people on the staff think he can really be an instant impact type of player, but you never know with freshmen.

Another guy many fans have been questioning is Curtis Samuel. He is one of the most electrifying players on the team, and because of that, he was moved to H-Back where he wouldn’t have to be behind Zeke, and he could better get the ball in open field. Those things didn’t really prove to work that great. It’s not because Curtis wasn’t suited for it, but because of many outside reasons. One being he struggled with back spasms for a lot of the early season, two being a log-jam at WR (mostly Braxton), and an overall struggle in the throwing game. Curtis has taken some snaps out of the backfield this season, and it helps that was his main position his true freshman year. Many fans have just assumed that Curtis will be moving back to RB next year. That isn’t necessarily the case. While there’s still a good chance it happens, he missed a full year of development at that position, and the coaches like him at the H-Back position. Still, I think he will move back partially because of his potentially Dalvin Cook-styled game, but also out of necessity.

Some of you might be wondering about Demario McCall. Plans are for him to play H-Back despite his RB listing. According to a staff member, Demario is probably a little better than what Curtis Samuel was when he arrived at Ohio State. They both are very similar in speed, but Demario is more polished in his routes and catching.

Right now, we’re looking at 4 true scholarship RBs on roster next season. That would be Bri’onte Dunn,  Mike Weber, Curtis Samuel, and Antonio Williams. Of course, the staff is always looking at other guys in the 2016 class in case Bri’onte might want to transfer, but as of now, no offers have been handed out. If Bri’onte did decide to leave, and there was another RB added to the 2016 class, that would mean 2 true freshmen, 1 RS freshman, and 1 junior who hasn’t played RB in over a year. It is scary to think about, but we’re talking about some of the most talented players in the nation, and some of, if not the best coaches in the nation.

It’s certainly going to be different without Zeke leading the way, but the future is bright. The talent is abundant. It’s going to be fun to see how well the young guys develop. One thing is for sure, Tony Alford and his guys will do all the can to be ready to go for September 3rd, 2016.

Welcome back to my weekly column, A Look Around the Country. I’m highlighting notable games from the previous week, the week ahead and of course, the Heisman and Playoff race. Special features include an in-depth look at the Ohio State and a Michigan update, mainly for folks to bask in their misfortunes. Feel free to comment with your opinions, I hope you enjoy!

Notable Games Last Week

Ohio State 42, Michigan 13

The Buckeyes looked like the team we all thought they would look like this season during a complete dismantling of Michigan in the Big House. Zeke Elliott was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and will likely be in New York for the Heisman ceremony. At this point, Ohio State will need some help to make it back into the playoff. If either Clemson or Alabama lose, I think they are in. If both of those teams win, then the Buckeyes will likely be headed to the Rose Bowl where they will play the winner of Stanford-USC.

Stanford 38, Notre Dame 36

Down goes the Irish. The Cardinal kicked a game winning field goal which knocked Notre Dame out of playoff contention and likely into the Fiesta Bowl. Stanford will play USC in the Pac 12 Championship with potentially a chance for the Playoff.

Oklahoma 58, Oklahoma State 23

Boomer Sooner. Oklahoma has looked as good as anyone down the stretch of this season and with their win over the Cowboys, are now in the playoff. The only thing Oklahoma has to worry about now is where they will be seeded and who they will play.

Big Games This Week

SEC Championship: Alabama vs Florida

This game was more fun to watch 6 years ago, but I digress. Alabama rolls into Atlanta being a huge favorite over Florida, a team who was embarrassed by Florida State last week. I expect Nick Saban to hand the ball off to Derrick Henry about 50 times and win by about 30. The Tide will clinch their spot in the playoffs yet again.

Saturday, December 5 at 4pm on CBS

Pac 12 Championship: Stanford vs USC

USC has played well down the stretch and now find themselves in the Pac 12 title game where they will go against Stanford, a team that has not been kind to them the past eight years or so. Both teams were preseason playoff favorites yet were dismissed after early season losses. They have been able to handle all kinds of adversity and are now a win away from the Rose Bowl. I think USC wins by 3.

Saturday, December 5 at 7:45pm on ESPN

ACC Championship: Clemson vs North Carolina

The top ranked team in the land will have one more test before heading to the playoff. Clemson has been the most consistent team all season but North Carolina has been coming on strong as of late with many experts picking the Tar Heels to complete the upset. If Clemson is upset, I see Ohio State making it as the final team yet again. If not, then Clemson will be number 1 and playing their semifinal game at the Orange Bowl.

Saturday, December 5 at 8pm on ABC

Big Ten Championship: Iowa vs Michigan State

Who had this matchup in Indianapolis back in August? With a playoff spot on the line, the Hawkeyes and Spartans will battle it out at Lucas Oil Stadium in a de facto Playoff quarterfinal. Iowa is undefeated but with the way Michigan State is playing, it will be hard to pick against them. The loser of this game will likely drop below Ohio State and out of Rose Bowl contention with a New Year’s six bowl still possible.

Saturday, December 5 at 8pm on FOX

Michigan Update

See ya next year in Columbus.

My Playoff if the Season Ended Today

*Editor’s Note: This will be a volatile poll every week based on performance in the past week and resume to date, very similar to the Playoff Committee.

1. Clemson

2. Oklahoma

3. Iowa

4. Michigan State

Just Missed the Cut

5. Alabama

6. Ohio State

7. Stanford

8. Florida State

9. Notre Dame

10. North Carolina