2013 4-Star Defensive Tackle Michael Hill Commits To Ohio State

2013 4-star defensive tackle Michael Hill has committed to Ohio State.

Hill had Ohio State at the top of his list even before he visited OSU in early June. He came back from the visit saying there was a 75% chance he would be a Buckeye.

Hill has a very impressive list of scholarship offers that includes Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Florida State, Tennessee, Clemson, North Carolina, South Carolina and Michigan.

Hill has made visits to a number of other schools including LSU, Florida, Alabama and most recently Clemson. But today Hill is a Buckeye.

The 6'2, 315-pound Hill has been a varsity starter since the beginning of his sophomore season. Hill made 79 tackles during his junior season including eight sacks. He had 27 tackles for loss and forced four
fumbles.

Hill is the No. 2 prospect in South Carolina in the 247Sports rankings. He is the country’s No. 12 defensive tackle and the country’s No. 197 overall prospect.

This is a huge grab for the Buckeyes. It gives Urban Meyer a super tackle in Hill to complement the great group of defensive lineman Meyer signed in February.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

Ohio State Offers Tyquan Lewis, Jamarco Jones At Senior Camp

Lewis has a mean streak

Ohio State’s first Senior Advanced Camp concluded Sunday with two more offers as the Buckeyes reached out to 2013 three-star defensive end Tyquan Lewis (Tarboro, N.C./Tarboro) and 2014 offensive tackle Jamarco Jones (Chicago/De La Salle Institute) after impressive showings. 

From RecruitingNation:

"Being recruited as a hybrid by Ohio State, Lewis made the trip this weekend with the purpose of stitching up a few loose ends.

“It was a non-committable [offer], but now it is committable,” Lewis said. “Today it changed.

“This one means a lot. I’ll have to get my mom back up here. We’re going to sit down and we’re going to discuss this and we’re going to talk academics and things like that and see how everything else is.” "

The 6'3", 220-pound Lewis is still mulling offers from LSU, Ole Miss, Clemson and North Carolina, but he certainly put the Buckeyes in the mix after Sunday. Lewis registered eight sacks his sophomore season. He made 63 tackles with 12 sacks during his junior season.

“They’re up there pretty high,” he said. “I loved it here. This was a great visit. I don’t want to make a decision based on a place I’ve never been. [The facilities] are top notch. Everything is nice here.”

As for Jamarco Jones, who has offers from Illinois, Toledo and Vanderbilt, he thought much of the same after his trip to Columbus.

“It means a lot to me,” the 6'5", 285-pound Jones said. “They’re one of the premier college football schools in the nation, so I was pretty excited.”

Jones has hit the recruiting phase early, being a 2014 prospect. He has 2 more years in high school, meaning that although he's not ranked right now, he has plenty of time to establish himself as one of the better offensive lineman in this class.
Ohio State’s second Senior Advanced Camp is June 23.

2013 3-Star OLB Lewis Neal Commits To Ohio State

Neal is the 13th commitment in the Class of '13

After landing a commitment from Alex Anzalone on Saturday and Joey Bosa earlier today, Urban Meyer has done it again as the Buckeyes’ boss has landed a star linebacker.

Lewis Neal announced on Twitter that he has picked the Bucks, making him the 13th commitment in the Class of 2013.

Neal committed to the Buckeyes earlier this afternoon, almost minutes after Joey Bosa had given his verbal commit to the Buckeyes.

After attending the Ohio State Spring Game on Saturday, rumors were floating around that Neal could commit to the Buckeyes before heading home on Sunday.

Obviously, it happened a little later than expected, but either way the Buckeyes have landed a solid player at the linebacker spot. Neal might even be considered underrated, while he's only 3 stars according to 247Sports, but he has started to shine at recent football camps.

The 6'2", 235-pound Neal has played mostly defensive end during his high school career. He played on the Hunt varsity during the second half of his freshman season. After a good sophomore season Neal was outstanding as a junior.

Despite missing three games, Neal made 88 tackles including eight sacks last season as Hunt finished 13-1 and made it to the regional finals.

Neal had ten scholarship offers before selecting the Buckeyes over Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest.

Neal will most likely play linebacker for the Buckeyes. With Courtney Love committing to Nebraska over the weekend, this looks like a solid fill-in for Ohio State. 

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

2013 4-Star Defensive End Joey Bosa Commits To Ohio State

Bosa is #12 for the Class of '13

It doesn’t get much better than the defensive end trio Urban Meyer signed for his 2012 recruiting class, which included Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington and Se’Von Pittman that Urban Meyer landed last recruiting season.

Now, though, Meyer may just be outdoing himself as the Buckeyes added a fantastic defensive end earlier this afternoon.

Joey Bosa, the country’s No. 2 strong-side defensive end in the 247Sports rankings, has tweeted that he has committed to Ohio State. This makes Bosa the 12th commitment to Meyer and OSU's Class of 2013.

Bosa made his decision while visiting Ohio State over the weekend and attending the Ohio State spring game on Saturday. However, he waited - for good reason - to make his announcement this morning.

Bosa is more familiar with Ohio State football than most high school football players in the state of Florida. Bosa’s mother is from Chicago and his uncle Eric Kumerow was a high school star there before heading to Ohio State where he became a star defensive end for the Buckeyes.

The 6'5", 260-pound Bosa played in every game during his sophomore season and started two for one of the country’s top prep teams. He missed four games during his junior season with a concussion, but still made 50 tackles including eight sacks. Bosa had 16 tackles for loss as St. Thomas Acquinas finished with a 10-3 record.

Bosa picked Ohio State over an impressive list of scholarship offers that includes Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Wisconsin, Michigan, Boston College, Notre Dame and Iowa.

In addition to being the country’s No. 2 strong-side defensive end prospect, Bosa is the country’s No. 24 overall prospect and the No. 7 prospect in the state of Florida.

This defensive line recruiting is just getting out of hand - in the best way possible. This a fantastic pick up for Ohio State and one that they really wanted to add to their class. Now that they have him, they can focus more on the other key recruits. 

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

2013 3-Star Defensive End Tracy Sprinkle Commits To Ohio State

Sprinkle is #9 in the Class of 2013

Defensive end Tracy Sprinkle visited Ohio State eleven days ago with his mother and father and was offered a scholarship. As of yesterday, Sprinkle is a Buckeye.

Sprinkle picked Ohio State over a dozen offers including Michigan State, Arkansas, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Indiana, Kentucky, Syracuse and Toledo. 

Sprinkle confirmed via Twitter that he had become commitment No. 9 for Urban Meyer’s 2013 recruiting class.

His final three were the Buckeyes, Michigan State and Arkansas.

The 6'4", 250-pound Sprinkle was a varsity starter at guard his sophomore season. He moved to the other side of the ball his junior season and played defensive end. Sprinkle made 80 tackles including eight sacks. He had a whopping 25 quarterback “hurries.”

Sprinkle has been recruited as a defensive lineman and will most likely be lining up on the outside as a defensive end. While only a 3-star, Sprinkle's commitment is very good for the Buckeyes in more ways than one. The first reason is that Sprinkle has only been playing on the defensive side for 1 year. 

Starting next season, you can bet that Sprinkle will be much improved after Urban gets a workout set up for him at his high school and you'd better believe that's going to happen. When it does, it would not shock me one bit if his ranking rose to a 4-star. 

The second reason is that Ohio State is limited to the number of players they take in recruiting classes and this particular offer was rumored to not be commitable.

The interesting thing about it, is that it might force another Buckeye recruit in Joey Bosa to make his commitment to the Buckeyes sooner rather than later because room is starting to run out. 

Be prepared for recruiting to heat up here for a little while as the space in the class of 2013 starts to narrow down to the main targets as more recruits make their decisions on where to play for school.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

2013 3-Star Safety Jayme Thompson Commits To Ohio State

Thompson adds depth to the '13 safties

Very late last night, according to Bucknuts ($), Ohio State received their 7th commitment for the 2013 class. That commitment came from 3-star safety Jayme Thompson (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic). The 6'2",183-pound Thompson originally committed to West Virginia.

Thompson had scholarship offers from West Virginia, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Missouri, Illinois, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Toledo, Bowling Green, Buffalo and a couple others before committing to the Mountaineers in early February.

However, an Ohio State scholarship offer last Tuesday has turned into a commitment for the Buckeyes.

Thompson played free safety and returned kickoffs during his junior season, his first as a varsity starter. Thompson averaged over 11 tackles per game and had three interceptions.

Thompson becomes the third 2013 defensive back to commit to Meyer joining to super cornerbacks, Cam Burrows (Trotwood, Ohio/Madison) and Eli Woodard (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern). Meyer is still looking to add one more great corner and another great safety to his 2013 class.

He joins Ezekiel Elliott as another commit for the Buckeyes on Sunday. Thompson runs a 4.69 40-yard dash, which isn't as fast as Elliott's 4.4 speed, but safety was an area for concern coming into the 2013 class. Now that the Buckeyes have nabbed Thompson, the depth is slightly getting better. 

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

Spring Practice Notes: Day 1

Football is back. Take a couple of seconds to soak that sentence in. Now that you've let that float into your mind, it's time to get to business.

The 2012-2013 Ohio State Buckeyes have a brand new head coach in Urban Meyer, who has won 2 national championships (both with Florida). Spring football has hit in Columbus as of yesterday and here's the breakdown from what we gathered.

The first day of official practice started off with the players and coaches moving inside to the WHAC due to the heavy winds in Columbus. At this point in time it doesn't make a difference whether they practice inside or outside, this is a time to see who's got what, no matter where they are playing.

The practice started quickly and ended much of the same way. The entire practice, the Buckeyes full-out sprinted to just about every drill once they completed whatever station they were at. This continued for the whole practice, giving us the hint that the coaching staff is stressing speed onto this team. Whether or not Ohio State is ready to be sprinting right now, they have to get to that point. Urban must have known this:

"I think they got exhausted. The amount of plays we got was incredible. That was even a lot for me," Meyer said Wednesday, crediting offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who came from Iowa State, for bringing that to the offense. "We weren't that way at Florida. We weren't rapid fire. But we're rapid fire now."

While having spring practice is great, it won't last long. The second practice is Friday and the spring game is April 21. It's important to Urban that this team is well prepared for what they have ahead. Many times before, Meyer has explained that the two-deep will be set before fall camp.

In fact, right after spring camp, the depth chart will most likely be just about finished with some wiggle room for incoming recruits and injuries, etc. As for right now, we already got a good in-depth look at what the Ohio State offensive depth chart looks like right now. Join us after the jump for the goods.

2013 4-Star DB Eli Woodard Commits To Ohio State

Woodard is Meyer's 4th commit in 2013

Voorhees (N.J.) Eastern four-star cornerback Eli Woodard committed to Ohio State last Friday, and went public with his decision six days later via Twitter. 

The future U.S. Army All-American is the fourth commit for Coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes in the class of 2013, joining five-star athlete Jalin Marshall and four-star safety Cameron Burrows and four-star defensive lineman Billy Price.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Woodard has been an Ohio State lean throughout the recruiting process, and chose the Buckeyes over offers from the likes of Alabama, California, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Wisconsin.

All four of Ohio State’s commits are ranked inside the Top247, with Woodard checking in as the nation’s No. 5 cornerback and No. 82 prospect overall. He joins Cameron Burrows as the second cornerback to commit to the Buckeyes, and will look to make an instant impact. 

If it wasn’t for the coaching turnover and the NCAA cloud that was hovering over the program during the 2011 season, Woodard says he may have given his pledge sooner. That spells out a true Buckeye, and we can't wait to see what becomes of this talent.

2013 4-Star Offensive Lineman/Defensive Lineman Billy Price Commits To Ohio State

Price is #3 in 2013

The Buckeyes had already landed commitments from the top two 2013 prospects in the state of Ohio, defensive back Cam Burrows and quarterback/athlete Jalin Marshall. Now, according to the man himself, 2013 4-Star OL/DL Billy Price has committed to Ohio State, giving Urban Meyer his third commitment of this class. 

Price was in Columbus on Saturday. He spent the afternoon visiting Ohio State, and then was honored at the Touchdown Club Of Columbus’ banquet on Saturday night.  The 6'4" 300-pound Price plays defensive end and offensive left tackle for Fitch. He rarely came off the field the past two seasons.

As for his future at Ohio State, Price has said that he will play on the defensive line for Luke Fickell, and be a defensive tackle. Price had numerous scholarship offers including Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Pitt, West Virginia, Tennessee, Nebraska, Arizona, UCLA and SMU before selecting the Bucks.

Coming into the 2013 recruiting class, there were three main targets. Those were Cameron Burrows, Jalin Marshall, and Billy Price. They are 3 of the best prospects in Ohio, and now they are a part of the 2013 class which is already shaping up to be a great haul.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates, and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

4-Star Linebacker Jamal Marcus Commits To Ohio State

Marcus is excited to play for the Buckeyes

On signing day, the Buckeyes picked up two excellent recruits. The first was 4-star linebacker Jamal Marcus who was down to East Carolina and Ohio State. I made the prediction for Marcus to attend ECU, based off Ohio State picking up Camren Williams and David Perkins who, like Marcus, are 4-stars.

I can happily say that I was wrong here, as Marcus is now a Buckeye. The OSU staff recruited him as an outside linebacker, giving the Buckeyes their 24th commitment of the 2012 class.

Marcus (Durham, N.C./Hillside) made an official visit to East Carolina the weekend of Jan. 13. He then made an official visit to Ohio State the following weekend.

However, in the end Marcus narrowed his choices down to the two schools he made official visits to and announced moments ago at a press conference in his high school gymnasium that he is headed to Ohio State.Marcus’ mother wanted him to also take one last look at North Carolina State and North Carolina.

The 6'2" and 225-pound Marcus led Hillside to an 11-2 record this season. He made 89 tackles including 17 sacks playing a combination of outside linebacker and defensive end. Marcus is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the No. 8 prospect in the state of North Carolina and the country’s No. 151 overall prospect.

Scouting report: Marcus was a first-team all-state pick as a senior as he tallied 89 tackles and 17 sacks as a defensive end. Because of his body size, he may project as a linebacker at the college level. As a junior, he registered 45 tackles and 14 sacks. 40 time: 4.6

2012 4-Star Cornerback Recruit Armani Reeves Commits To Ohio State

Reeves is the 24th commitment in '12

2012 4-star cornerback Armani Reeves has just committed to Ohio State via Twitter, giving Ohio State it's 24th commitment.

Reeves picked Ohio State after decommitting from Penn State along with fellow Buckeye Camren Williams, and then choosing over the Wolverines, who were the only other choice besides OSU.

It has been a very busy week for Reeves. Last Saturday Michigan coach Brady Hoke visited him. On Monday, Urban Meyer, Everett Withers, Mike Vrabel and Luke Fickell met with Reeves. Then on Tuesday Michigan assistant Greg Mattison met with Reeves.

In addition to all of the football visits, Reeves is in the middle of his high school basketball season.

The 5-foot-11 and 180-pound Reeves made 57 tackles and intercepted a pass playing cornerback during his senior season. He is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings, the country’s No. 82 overall prospect and No. 7 cornerback, and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Massachusetts.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest updates, news, and opinions on Ohio State Athletics.

Bill Sheridan Hired By Ohio State, Urban Meyer

The 9th hire by Meyer

According to multiple reports, (now) former Miami Dolphins assistant Bill Sheridan has been hired, and is now a part of the Ohio State coaching staff under Urban Meyer. Sheridan is the ninth new staff hire, since Meyer has  been made the head coach at Ohio State.

Sheridan will likely be taking the spot of Taver Johnson, former defensive backs coach. Johnson left to coach at Arkansas with former safeties coach Paul Haynes on Jan. 15. Johnson's salary was set at $275,000, before he left to coach at Arkansas.

Sheridan worked under Lloyd Carr at Michigan for three years from 2002-2004, which means he was on the staff for one of the two wins against Ohio State since 2001. He later went on to coach linebackers for the New York Giants, from 2005-2008, which includes a Super Bowl victory in 2007. In 2009, he was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Giants. He was fired at the end of the 2009 season.

For the 2010 and 2011 season, he was the linebackers coach for the Miami dolphins under Tony Sparano. In addition to Michigan and his stint in the NFL, Sheridan has worked for Notre Dame, Michigan State, Army, Cincinnati and Maine. His son, Nick, was a quarterback at Michigan from 2008-2009. Nick competed for the starting job with Steven Threet, but both would end up transferring to other schools.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates, and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

2013 4-Star Defensive Back Cameron Burrows Commits To Ohio State

Burrows is the first '13 Buckeye

4-Star cornerback Cameron Burrows has just committed to Ohio State via a press conference at his school, giving the Buckeyes their first commitment to the 2013 class. He selected Ohio State over LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Burrows is a 6-2, 195-pound cornerback from Dayton, OH. He is ranked No. 30 in the country by 247Sports. Burrows is also the No. 2 recruit in Ohio (OH) and is the No. 2 Cornerback in the nation.

Cameron is every bit of his listed 6'2'' and 195 pounds. Prospects with that size usually get projected to safety, but Burrows is a lockdown cover corner with great speed and quickness. He played cornerback and saw spot duty on offense as a wide receiver for a Trotwood-Madison team that took home the Division 2 state title this past fall and finished with a perfect 14-0 record. 

On defense, Burrows finished with 26 solo tackles, 20 assists, 12 pass breakups and four interceptions, including one he returned 80 yards for a touchdown in a state semifinals win. He also added eight receptions for 198 yards and a touchdown. 

Cameron gives Urban Meyer his first commitment in the 2013 class, and could be a huge asset coming in after the recent news of Dominic Clarke and DerJuan Grambrell being released from the Buckeyes. A very good start to the class of 2013, and we at ITS would like to welcome Cameron to Buckeye Nation!

DerJuan Gambrell And Dominic Clarke Released From Ohio State Scholarships

Clarke released from OSU

According to Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, an Ohio State spokesperson has stated that defensive backs DerJuan Gambrell and Dominic Clarke have both been released from their scholarships to the Ohio State football team for violations of team rules. Gambrell is facing an assault charge, while earlier this week, Clarke was arrested for driving under the influence.

Clarke, a redshirt sophomore from Frederick, Md., has been charged with drunken driving as stated above, and also had been arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct after allegedly discharging a BB gun on campus. No one was hurt in the latter incident.

Gambrell, a freshman from Toledo, was also discharged for a "violation of team rules," but Ohio State did not specify what that violation was, but as mentioned above, it's believed to be an assualt charge. It's too bad these guys couldn't stay out of trouble, and the cornerback position doesn't have a lot of depth as it stands. The only upside to this is that it opens up 2 more scholarships for Urban's recruiting efforts.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates, and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

Ohio State Cornerbacks Coach Taver Johnson Leaving For Arkansas

Taver Johnson headed to Arkansas

According to the Dispatch, Ohio State cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson has said earlier today that he is leaving for Arkansas to become a defensive assistant and also will be the assistant head coach under Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino.

“This is a great opportunity, getting the chance to be an assistant head coach and some of the added duties that will come with that,” Johnson said. “With that said, I love Ohio State. Urban Meyer is an incredible coach, and I really am appreciative of the opportunity coach Jim Tressel gave me (six years ago) to come to a place I’ve always wanted to be a part of.

Johnson, a 1994 graduate of Wittenberg, new OSU coach Meyer, who was hired on November 28th. Also kept from the previous coaching staff were interim head coach Luke Fickell, now defensive coordinator; linebackers coach Mike Vrabel, now defensive line coach; and wide receivers coach Stan Drayton, now running backs coach.

This is a surprise for me personally, as Urban Meyer had decided to keep Johnson on his staff. With Johnson leaving, that might open up another spot, or could make one of the coaches already in place take on more duties. We'll have to see how it plays out, but I'm happy for Taver, as he has produced some very good cornerbacks in his time here, including Malcolm Jenkins. 

Taver will also be re-uniting with former Ohio State coach Paul Haynes. 

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for all of the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

Ohio State Targeting Everett Withers For Co-DC?

Is Withers talking with OSU?

Rumors are starting to be put in motion that Urban Meyer and Ohio State are looking at another candidate for defensive coordinator. That person is Everett Withers, the interim head coach at North Carolina. 

This is coming after Mike Stoops to Ohio State was shut down by Stoops himself, claiming that he didn't want the title of co-defensive coordinator. While Luke Fickell hasn't even been announced as the other co-defensive coordinator, all signs point to that being just about true. 

Backing up to Everett being a targeted man for the job, this might be an even better hire than what Stoops would have been. This is Everett's 24th season as a coach and has experience not only at the collegiate, but the pro level as well. Let's take a deeper look into who Everett Withers is after the jump.

Recruiting: 5 Star DE Noah Spence Set For Official Visit

Playing opposite of Washington?

Bishop McDevitt five-star defensive end Noah Spence is busy enough preparing for the District III Class AAA title game on Friday night against Lampeter-Strasburg, but he has also made time for several college coaches to come through and make their pitch.

Spence is a pure pass rusher to play in the state in a long time. He has a long wing span and uses his hands well. He is well versed in a number of pass rush moves. He gets a good up-field push and always seems to be a disruptive force in the backfield. Of course, he's also an athlete (4.50 40-yard dash) and is outstanding in pursuit from sideline to sideline.

Imagine this: With Ohio State having already locked up Adolphus Washington, having another 5 star DE on the other side of the ball could be an offensive nightmare for quarterbacks and opposing offense's in general. I'm sure that both together could be dominate. 

The former Penn State commit has been talking with a number of different schools and coaches, but since Urban Meyer has been hired at Ohio State, Spence has announced his interest in the Buckeyes. That interest, is that Noah has Ohio State as his #1 school as of right now. That can change at any time, but I have a good feeling it won't.

Here's his thoughts on Meyer at OSU:

"Urban Meyer has done a lot of great things, a lot of players have developed and succeeded under his tutelage and guidance. His personality is wonderful, very down to Earth, easy to talk to and energetic with myself and my son. He let us know that he was very interested in Noah as a young man and a prospect as a rush end for them. We listened and Noah left the conversation very excited with having spoken with coach Urban Meyer."

Ohio State assistant Luke Fickell will be swinging through Bishop McDevitt on Thursday, while Spence will head to Ohio State for his official visit on December 12th, which is this Monday.

Mike Stoops Offered Ohio State Defensive Coordinator Position

Like I had predicted earlier in my coaching staff post, Mike Stoops rumors have been flying around, but here's some solid evidence that Stoops might be on his way back to the Buckeye state.

"Mike Stoops has been offered the co-defensive coordinator position at Ohio State by Urban Meyer. Stoops spent yesterday in Columbus and is currently considering the position."

The assumption is Meyer will want to make the move sooner rather than later. I think it's wise for Urban to hire the man. He has Ohio ties, and put Arizona on the map.

The report did not indicate whether Stoops will accept the job, and says that he's been offered opportunities to become a head coach at a few other undisclosed schools as well.

Then there's the option of Stoops returning to Oklahoma to coach alongside current Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables and under his brother, Bob Stoops.

Mike Stoops spent five seasons at Oklahoma before moving on to take the head coaching position at Arizona in 2004. He spent eight seasons at Arizona, appearing in three bowl games, before being fired this season after getting off to a 1-5 start.

Buckeye Defense

Howard came up big

Where to start? The Buckeyes defense is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle, within a Rubik’s Cube. I just don’t know what to say. We are young, we have athletes, we are young, we are fast, oh yeah by the way we are young. Obviously, I see being young as a major problem for our defense. We replaced at least 8 starters or contributors from last season’s dominating D. It is not like we replaced scrubs, we lost the likes of Cam Heyward, Brian Rolle, and Chimdi Chekwa to name three. These three players are not easily replaceable, but this is OSU and we don’t rebuild we reload. Now we have reloaded, but not with experience, and this is showing.

In almost every game our D has come out ready to play and they have hit and hit hard, but as games have progressed, the have also hit the wall. I have witnessed our defense miss tackles, get beat, and obviously look tired. This was painfully obvious in our loss at Nebraska. For over three quarters we dominated, Nebraska could not run, they could not throw, they couldn't do anything. Then all of a sudden Braxton Miller gets hurt and our defense stops playing and Nebraska scores 21 unanswered, and boom we lose. However, then comes Illinois and our D plays a great game and shuts down the Illini. Wisconsin comes next, and look at our D again. For 3 plus quarters we shut down the Badgers (for all intense purposes we shut down the powerful Badger run for the entire game, holding them to under 100 yards rushing), but late in the 4^th quarter Wisconsin began to move the ball through the air and boom, we were losing again, but this time Braxton Miller and Devin Smith’s heroics saved us. Now we have the Indiana game.

Inside The Shoe: Game for the Ages

Braxton was all smiles

Ed. Note: Brady was at the game Saturday, giving his view/look and opinions from being "Inside The Shoe". Literally.

What a game to select as my only trip to Columbus for football this season! I'm not claiming to be a genius as any Buckeye fan would've picked the Wisconsin game if put in the same situation but damn that was F'n awesome! That trip was everything I could have hoped for and more. I got to party like a rock star the night before in my killer pilot costume, tailgate my ass off behind the varsity club in a private party, watch our freshman quarterback become a star right in front of my eyes, witness one of the great moments in Horseshoe history and watch fat Wisconsin children dressed in cow outfits be taunted on the way out of the stadium.

What more could you ask for? Sure I ended up with a hangover that lasted two days and a hoarse voice from yelling all night but those were just minor inconveniences. The magic and excitement of Buckeye football is back... for another week at least. So how did OSU come out on top against the Badgers? Let's hand out some game balls to those who were able to help the bucks come out on top.

Booooooooooom Herron- The crowd was all over this chant the entire game and for good reason. Boom ran hard all night and was pretty much the only consistent weapon for OSU on Saturday. It was a helluva weapon though. Wisconsin did not have an answer for Herron, especially in the 2nd half. There were many occasions that he was only getting 2-3 yards on first down but it was still positive yardage. Even though we all would like to see 5 yards on first down the Badgers were never able to bottle him up behind the line to force Ohio St. to throw on second down. The offensive line definitely had a part in Herron's huge night but the majority of those yards came from Boom's sick moves, surprising speed and brute strength. We really missed this guy during the first half of the season.