Things That Have Happened Since Michigan Last Beat Ohio State In Football  

When you’re a fan of arguably the most successful program in the history of college football, the Ohio State Buckeyes, you have a lot to brag about. However, for every single success story that is published or brought up in conversation about the men who have essentially made the sport of college football a secular religion in Ohio over the course of 100+ years, you have a Michigan naysayer around to remind you that the Womanrines have more total wins, more conference titles, more national titles, and have more wins in the rivalry.

For their sake alone, I have written this article. First and foremost, I would like to mention that, as of today, it has been 2,057 days since Michigan has beaten Ohio State in football. Their last win versus the Buckeyes came in 2011 when Ohio State was in between head coaches and had a true freshman at quarterback.

That was the year Luke Fickell was Ohio State’s interim head coach and the Buckeyes had their first losing record in 23 years. Of course that happened to be the year the Wolverines finally topped the Buckeyes (for the first time since 2003). Since then, however, be it due to controversial calls or utter dominance, the Wolverines have failed to beat their cross-state counterparts.

In the time since, a whole heck of a lot of things have happened. Thanks to Wikipedia and onthisday.com, I was able to concoct a small list of such things. Without further ado, here are some of the things that have happened since the Wolverines’ last victory over the Buckeyes on November 26, 2011:

  • December 18, 2011 – Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq: The last United States troops withdrew from Iraq under the terms of the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement.
  • September 11, 2012 – The Benghazi attack: An attack that was coordinated against two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia.
  • October 25–30, 2012: Hurricane Sandy: A devastating hurricane wreaks havoc for the Eastern United States coast.
  • November 6, 2012: United States presidential election, 2012: Barack Obama is reelected as president.
  • December 14, 2012: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Occurs in Newtown, Connecticut killing 20 Children and 6 Staff Members
  • January 20, 2013: Barack Obama is inaugurated for his second term as president.
  • April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombings: Two pressure cooker bombs explode during the Boston Marathon
  • April 16, 2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight of Malaysian airlines went missing and hasn’t been seen since.
  • May 23, 2014: 2014 Isla Vista killings occurs, killing 6, and wounding 14 others, perpetrated by elliot rodger.
  • June 2014: President Obama orders the return of a small number of troops to Iraq to help bolster Iraqi and Kurdish military forces
  • August 9, 2014: Michael Brown was shot and killed, in what was ruled by a grand jury to be self-defense, by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, igniting protests and riots in the following months.
  • November 3, 2014: New building, 1 World Trade Center, opens in New York City.
  • December 17, 2014: President Obama announces a restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961.
  • April 27, 2015: Baltimore protests: Protests and rioting occur in Baltimore, Maryland after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
  • June 17, 2015: Charleston church shooting: A gunman killed 9, including a state senator in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
  • June 26, 2015: Gay marriage is fully legalized in all 50 states
  • July 20, 2015: Restoration of relations with Cuba.
  • December 22, 2015 San Bernardino attack: Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married radical Muslim couple, kills 14 people at a center for the developmentally disabled.
  • June 11, 2016: Orlando Nightclub Shooting: A self-proclaimed Islamic State fighter, Omar Mateen, kills 49 and injures 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, before being shot and killed by an officer.
  • July 7, 2016: Shooting of Dallas police officers: Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed and fired upon a group of police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five officers and injuring nine others. Two civilians were also wounded.
  • August 12–22, 2016: Louisiana floods and prolonged rainfall in southern parts of the U.S. state of Louisiana resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses.
  • August 13, 2016: Milwaukee riots: A riot began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sparked by the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith.
  • November 8, 2016: Donald Trump wins the 2016 presidential election
  • January 20, 2017: Donald Trump is inaugurated as the forty-fifth president of the United States
  • February 22, 2017: Discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting star Trappist-1 announced in Journal “Nature” – raises possibility of alien life
  • March 22, 2017: Terrorist attack on London’s Westminster Bridge and Houses of Parliament kills 4 including a police officer and injures 40
  • May 10, 2017: President Donald Trump shares classified information about ISIS plot with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office
  • June 2, 2017: Trump announces the US is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement
  • July 5, 2017: 101 people reported shot, 15 killed in Chicago, Illinois over 4th July weekend

It’s safe to say that for Wolverines fans, a win versus Ohio State is long overdo. This explains why so many of them were so upset about the double overtime fourth down spot in the 2016 edition of “The Game”.  Nevertheless, it has still been over 2,000 days since Michigan has beaten Ohio State in football.

This list could have literally been 100 pages long.

 

Ohio State at Navy: A Second Look

osuHelmetI had this written out, for the most part, right around Monday evening. Then came the Braxton injury, and my delete button got quite the workout. After exploring all the doomsday situations without Braxton, and watching the rest of Buckeye Nation go through the five stages of grief, I realized this team is still going to be very, very good, and it all starts with the Navy game.

As I said in my guest post, the Navy game is a possible “trip up” game for this team, and my point stands that it will be a huge test for the new Buckeye defense. Navy returns their quarterback, who was their leading rusher with over 1300 yards last season, to a team that was second in rushing yards per game in the country last year. Even with Butkus Award Winner (no, I’m not still bitter…) Ryan Shazier anchoring the linebackers last year, poor tackling was a major problem for this team. With Navy’s Triple Option attack, the defensive line and linbackers will be tested big time. The line will be solid, and it will be up to them to prevent the ball carrier, whoever it may be, from getting to the defensive secondary. Navy will run the ball, and they will run the ball well against Ohio State. There’s no way to sugar coat it; that’s just the way Navy is. They don’t throw often – their starting QB, Keenan Reynolds, only had 128 attempts for the entire season last year, with only 8 touchdown passes. Navy will only throw the ball in necessary positions, i.e. 3rd and 5 or more. Winning first down will be huge for the Buckeye defense. Keep Navy from getting 4 yards on first down, putting them in second and long, and the Navy offense will start to get in tough positions for their scheme to handle. We won’t see Chris Ash’s new secondary tested against Navy from a pass defense perspective. We will likely see them have to make open field tackles, something this team struggled with last year.

The Buckeye offense will be interesting, mainly because of who will be at quarterback. As of writing this, JT Barrett will be the starting quarterback over Cardale “I Ain’t Come Here to Play School” Jones. Given that fact, I will write this as if JT will be starting on Day 1. It’s been said that Barrett was a better pure passer coming out of high school than Braxton was, and now Barrett has had a year and a half to develop and learn the Tom Herman/Urban Meyer system. We saw what Braxton could do after one full year under the system, so I don’t expect Barrett to struggle with the offense. However, JT hasn’t seen real game action since halfway through his senior year of high school, prior to tearing his ACL that season, and redshirting last season. He has been getting reps all offseason, since Braxton sat out to avoid what happened Monday, but the first drive or two might be a tad overwhelming for the young signal caller. I don’t doubt his abilities, but don’t look for the offense to take a lot of big shots early on. Tom Herman will likely look to establish rhythm and to get Barrett to relax. Ezekial Elliot will most likely be Barrett’s partner in the backfield at the running back position, with Dontre Wilson playing the “Harvin” role. Expect these two to get the ball early and often against Navy. I expect we will see screens to Dontre to get him the ball quickly and allow him to make one move and get upfield. The biggest safety valve for a young quarterback is always the tight end position. Jeff Heuerman, one of Braxton’s favorite targets from 2013, is a senior in the position, and will likely see many passes thrown his way. Navy lost both of its leading tacklers in the inside linbacking core, but return their outside linebackers. This will potentially leave the middle of the field open for Heuerman and the TEs for short routes, and when (not if) Elliot, Wilson, Barrett, or other runners get to the second level, they will be able to make moves and get more yardage. Once Barrett is relaxed and into the flow of the game, expect the offense will open up more.

 

Navy Players To Know

QB Keenan Reynolds

FB Chris Swain

WR DeBrandon Sanders

OLB Chris Johnson

 

Prediction:

This might be a clencher early on for Buckeye fans to open the season. I fully expect Navy to score, but even with a new QB, I expect Ohio State to score more. I’ll take the Buckeyes.

Ohio State 31

Navy 17

Q&A with a San Diego State Blogger

This week I had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming game with DavidSDSU of SanDiegoSportsDomination.com You can check out the link to see his in depth preview for tomorrows game and the questions he asked me and my responses.

MotSaG: In 2005 the Aztecs ran their first possession in for a touchdown and you could hear a pin drop right when it happened (I was there) are you hoping to quiet the ‘Shoe again?

SDSDomintation: If we are able to quiet the Shoe that would greatly improve the Aztecs chance at winning the game.

MotSaG: Is there going to be a hangover effect from last weeks loss?

SDSDomintation: There will be no hangover from last weeks loss. The Aztecs have not been known as a team that keeps lingering thoughts about their last game (during our winning era). The Aztecs will bring there best game into Ohio and will come out fighting against Ohio State.
[Read more…]

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

OSU FootballOSU LogoBest Damn Band in The Land: This isn’t shocking but as every Buckeye fan knows that Script Ohio has been selected as the B1G’s Best Traditions. The folks at Athlon Sports has an article out and talks about how great Script Ohio is. Every time I witness it I still get goosebumps (of course anytime I’m walking into the Shoe it happens too). They also selected the Rivalry as Number Three. Beaver Stadium’s “White Out” was chosen second. The O-H-I-O chant was selected but low on the board.

Return of the Night Lights: According to Buckeye Planet Friday Night Lights will be returning July 26, 2013. This is the second year Coach Meyer has held the camp in Columbus, he originally started it in Gainesville with much success.

Media Days: The B1G has announced who will be attending the Media Days at the Hilton Chicago July 24-25th. The Ohio State University will be represented by Senior Jack Mewhort, Juniors Braxton Miller and Bradley Roby. Of course Coach Meyer will also be there.

Big Man Wanted: Thad Matta is on a mission to find the elusive Big Man. The Buckeyes only have one opening remaining for the 2013-2014 basketball team and they need a center to replace Evan Ravenel who graduated. Lets send out positive vibes for this to happen and lets see Buckeye Basketball back in the Final Four and beyond.

Coach gets Extention: As I reported to you before the B1G will now officially have Lacrosse as a B1G Sport. Nick Myers the coach of the Buckeyes Lacrosse team for the last five seasons just received a five year extention running until 2018. Coach Myers led the Buckeyes to the best season in Ohio State history. Congrats to Coach Myers and continued success.

Thank You for taking the time again for joining us today Buckeye Fans and remember if your on Facebook like us on there, follow us on twitter @MotSaG (or each writer who’s handles are on the right side of the page, plus we are working on getting back on Google+. You can also subscribe to get your daily dose of Men of the Scarlet and Gray emailed to you and please if you have any news, videos, memes, anything Buckeye related send it through the “contact us” tab.

We are planning on running 3 yards and a Cloud of links every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I will be on the look out for other Buckeye sports news than just Football and Basketball to inform all Scarlet and Gray fans whats going on with their favorite University.

Well Buckeye Nation until next time.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

OSU FootballMorning Buckeye Nation!!

First off I would like to thank MotSaG adding me to their staff. It is great to be a part of the Buckeye Nation. Thank You to all our readers for taking the time to be a part of our family. I hope to keep you entertained and informed as we go forward.

That being said these are going to be the longest weeks in college football. I mean the coaches are going on vacation, players working out getting ready for camp approximately a month away. Recruiting slows to a crawl and its my job to find Buckeye info to share with you.

Awards Watch lists: The Maxwell Football Club has released their Maxwell and Bednarik Award preseason watch lists.

The Maxwell award is given to the best player in college football. No surprise but Braxton Miller is one of the Buckeyes offensive weapons that made the list. Also making the list is Carlos Hyde who has the chance to become Urban Meyers first 1000 yard rusher.

The Bednarik Award is given to the top Defensive player. Three Buckeyes made this list. C.J. Barnett, Bradley Roby, and Ryan Shazier.

I know preseason awards don’t mean much but it goes to show that the Buckeyes have some great players on both sides of the ball. The biggest question mark is going to be the Front Seven of OSU’s defense. Having Barnett, Roby, and Shazier as your leaders is going to help the young front. The Buckeyes might have one of the best secondaries in the nation this year. It’s going to be fun watching these players grow and get better each week.

New Uniforms for Sale: The Buckeye Room Tweeted about new Buckeye Uni’s on sale now

No official word if these will be the same as the players wear. Nike has added seven Golden Leafs on the back collar representing the Seven National Championships. I know Ohio State has seven Heisman Trophy’s too. If you want one and have 120 dollars I would get with the Buckeye Room before they are gone.

Mascot Love: Chomps the Browns mascot tweeted a picture of him and Brutus together playing in a mascot soccer game at Columbus Crew Stadium.

M*ch*g*n wins in football: Hahaha not really just a poll for the best B1G uniforms. We all know the Scarlet and Gray have the best uniforms but I guess we can be nice and let them win something. You know its not going to be on the field anytime soon!!

Beat M*ch*g*n: This is a story that even M*ch*g*n fans are embracing. A young Grant Reed was diagnosed with life threatening brain tumor 2 years ago. His parents, both former members of The Best Damn Band in the Land and die hard Buckeye fans, instilled the values of being a Buckeye which lead to them calling the disease “M*ch*g*n”. He has beaten Blue. He has been visited by Urban Meyer and his story is inspirational. There’s a chance it can come back but Buckeye Nation stands behind this young man.

Grant, from one cancer survivor to another, I say congratulations. You are an inspiration to so many.

Well Buckeye Nation until next time.

The View from Rutgers: Conference Re-Alignment, UFC, Recruiting and Other Matters of Amateur Athletics

b1g_icon“The campus is alive—people can tell you much more about the 2014 football schedule than they can about the 2013 schedule” says Scott Goodale, coach of the Rutgers wrestling team. Starting fall, 2014, the Scarlet Knights will begin competition in the Big Ten which will then expand to 14 members with the addition of Rutgers and ACC charter member Maryland. For the record, in 2014, Rutgers football will receive visits from Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin and will go on the road to play Ohio State, Nebraska and Maryland (by contrast, in 2013, the last season before Big Ten play, the Scarlett Knights play the likes of Arkansas, Houston, Louisville, Cincinnati,  Connecticut, Central Florida and South Florida).  The renewal of their long-time rivalry with Penn State has to be particularly exciting given that the two programs have not played since 1995—shortly after Penn State ceased being an independent power by joining the Big Ten.

While some treat this affiliation as a big yawn, one only has to dig a little deeper to appreciate why this could well be a move where the sum is much more significant than its parts.  I had a chance to sit down with Coach Goodale, who happened to be in my adopted home, Carlsbad, CA on a recruiting visit.  I was struck by how a wrestling program at a school like Rutgers now sits right in the middle of some of the big amateur sports and Olympic issues of our day.

Rutgers has certainly enjoyed football success, and much of it in the last decade, but few would pretend it has cracked into the level of consistently being an elite program, despite being a major football playing power in the talent rich Atlantic seaboard region.  While one always has to be careful about comparing football, which is species unto itself, to other athletics programs, in this instance Rutgers wrestling may be a useful comparator as it also sits in a talent rich region.

“The problem we have is that if a wrestler is interested in us, he is probably also interested and capable of getting into Princeton, Harvard, etc., so we often lose that wrestler. If he is capable of wrestling at a higher level, he often chooses the Big Ten, so we are somewhat caught in the middle.”  One suspects football is much the same—the Big East is typically not the recruiting draw that other conferences are for top tier talent, and while Rutgers may not have to compete with the Ivies for the next level of high school football talent, they still have to share that talent with a number of competing programs such as Boston College, West Virginia, Connecticut, Temple to name just a few.

Thus, at least for football, wrestling and many other sports, one suspects, the move to the Big Ten has to be seen as a recruiting bonanza, a point directly underscored by Coach Goodale.  There are some exceptions—while Rutgers may in fact be able to amp up the basketball excitement for moving to the Big Ten, the Big East was of course among the elite of basketball conferences (underscore “was” as the Catholic seven bolt from the rest of the old Big East—even retaining the name). Some sports might actually have a tougher go—men’s soccer for example where four current Big Ten teams do not sponsor a team (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Purdue).  Despite the overall prestige of the Big Ten, it might be tougher to recruit soccer players into a conference where less than all members are enthusiastic—one can only imagine how men’s lacrosse recruits in lacrosse-mad Maryland view the move to the much less lacrosse serious Big Ten (though the addition of powerhouse Johns Hopkins as a Big Ten lacrosse member does provide a powerful counter for that particular concern).

Obviously of course, the new money that will funnel through to Rutgers because of the move to the Big Ten will be felt across the board as the annual take, while uncertain at this point, will be millions more than it enjoyed before the move.  While football recruiting will not be affected at least in terms of scholarships, facilities will doubtlessly improve and recruiting in other sports will improve.  Wrestling was already fully funded in that the full NCAA allotment of 9.9 annual scholarships is provided at Rutgers—however, the dollar amount is based on in-state tuition, meaning it is quite a bit tougher to recruit out of state kids who typically have to pay a portion of tuition at out of state rates.  The increased budget as a result of joining the Big Ten is likely to allow filling those scholarships with out of state rates—a significant new bonus for the non-revenue sports.

Indeed, for 2014, the first recruiting year in which the jump to the Big Ten has had an effect as a recruiting tool, Rutgers has seen an impressive bump in the rankings of its commitments, highlighted so far by the overall number 60 ranked high school wrestler, Anthony Giraldo, ironically from nearby North Bergen NJ.  “Last year I would have been basically limited to driving around New Jersey looking for athletes. This year I am talking to you in Southern California as I recruit the best kids in the country—kids that know that by the time they arrive on campus they will have the chance to compete for a Big Ten title,”  says Coach Goodale.  With no disrespect whatsoever to the proud and successful Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, where Rutgers participates through the 2013-14 season, it is quite a step up to be able to tell recruits they will compete for their entire careers in the Big Ten—a conference that produced six of ten 2013 NCAA champions.

Football recruiting seems to be off to a similarly stalwart start.  College football recruiting rankings, inherently suspect, are even more specious when it comes to mid-year snapshots.  Nonetheless, after finishing 45th in the Yahoo/Rivals 2013 rankings, Rutgers football is up to 16th in the latest 2014 rankings (as of now, Maryland has not enjoyed a similar bump).

One also suspects this change in the state of Rutgers recruiting reflects an expanded travel budget in anticipation of Big Ten riches as much as it does the prospect of offering recruits the opportunity to wrestle in the dominant wrestling conference in the country once they arrive.

I was surprised to learn from Coach Goodale that the there is not a lot of buzz within the college wrestling community about the Ed O’Bannon case and its impact on collegiate sports.  It might be that wrestling is fighting too many other battles right now to worry about the speculative effect of what that case might bring.  Wrestling, which has been devastated perhaps as much as any sport because of Title IX, now worries about how the impact of a potential loss of wrestling in the Olympics might further erode its brand appeal with young athletes.  Since February when the Olympic executive board recommended dropping wrestling after the 2016 Olympics, many feel the battle being waged for permanent Olympic reinstatement September is being won.

It is ironic that one of the adjustments made by US and International wrestling to save wrestling in the Olympics has been to further embrace women’s wrestling.  One wonders, as Title IX continues to chip away at wrestling (for example, proponents were saddened to learn of Boston University’s recent decision to drop wrestling), could women’s wrestling not only help on the Olympic level but on the collegiate level as well? Wrestling is not a capital intensive sport—if a college can adopt a women’s program, the same facilities could of course support a men’s team.  And if the O’Bannon case does shrink the dollars available for non-revenue sports, could a sport like wrestling address Title IX and still restrain costs in a post-O’Bannon era? While women’s wrestling is still not on the shortlist yet of programs to be added by major universities, the list of smaller colleges adopting wrestling programs is impressive and growing.  Coach Goodale could not speculate on the future of women’s wrestling except to indicate there is a palpable buzz that did not exist in prior years and added: “if you watch women wrestlers at the highest level, it is really impressive how far they have come in just a few short years.  If this catches on, I could see women’s wrestling becoming a major force.”

Among the changes that wrestling adopted to save its Olympic cache was a revamp of bizarre and almost random scoring rules.  The most hated was a “ball drop” to decide a tie where one wrestler was awarded a starting position that led to a win nearly 90% of the time.  For the most part, fans and wrestlers have applauded the move to the new rules which penalize passivity and end a lopsided match more quickly.  Coach Goodale thought some of the new freestyle rules could have a beneficial effect at the collegiate level, especially the passivity rule which, if there has been no score for a set period, the referee declares one wrestler as the passive wrestler.  If no one scores in the next 30 seconds, the non-passive wrestler is awarded a point.  “I also like the one point awarded on a push out—make them wrestle in the middle.” Continuing, Coach Goodale adds, “and recently, someone suggested awarding three points for just the first takedown—that might make things more exciting too if a premium was put on early aggression.”

Despite potential challenges on the horizon for wrestling, in some respects the future of wrestling has never been brighter.  As the key building block for the immensely popular MMA/UFC, wrestling has an opportunity to reach a young, excited and huge audience–a genuine opportunity for mass appeal. Former Buckeye wrestling star Tommy Rowlands has been one of the most active persons in linking the popular consciousness of MMA to its wrestling roots.  Some of the most dominant fight names are and have been collegiate wrestlers, including Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Chael Sonnen, Phil, “Mr. Wonderful” Davis and Buckeye strongman and pioneer Kevin Randleman.  Wrestlers watched former Hofstra star Chris Weidman rock the world by ending the seven year reign of former middleweight champion Anderson Silva.  The night was particularly sweet for the Rutgers wrestling community, Coach Goodale and his close friend,  volunteer Rutgers coach Frankie Edgar, former featherweight champ (currently ranked No. 3).  Edgar, one of the most popular UFC fighters of his era, shared the card with New Yorker Weidman and won an exciting and decisive bout against physically imposing up and coming Charles Oliveira.  Wrestlers now have exciting options beyond coaching—and the potential to earn enormous income.  “You see a great guy like Frankie Edgar, how much he means to the UFC and how much wrestling has meant to him.  He works out with our team as one of the guys–it is exciting to the kids, but you can tell Frankie gets a lot out of it too in terms of his own fight preparation.  I would never want to get hit in the face, but these guys come out of college, and they are so tough, and they have mastered the art of close contact and precise maneuvers.  For most of them, picking up boxing and cementing the other pieces is actually pretty easy given what they have already mastered, and before long, they are the ones dishing out the punishment. This fight game has gone way past boxing, and it is exciting that our young men are so much a part of it” observes Coach Goodale.  Then, siting back with eyes on the horizon, he added, “and hey, young women too. It’s an exciting new time, and I’m glad I’m a part of it.”

Indeed it is.  Welcome Scarlet Knights.