Sitting Down With 2012 Offensive Lineman Commit Jacoby Boren

The third Boren to come to OSU

Our coverage of the recruiting front continue with another interview.

This time Jacoby Boren, a 3-star offensive guard, answers our questions. Boren is the youngest of the Boren brothers, with former Ohio State offensive lineman Justin Boren and current OSU fullback Zach Boren.

Jacoby committed to Ohio State well before Jim Tressel was forced to resign (December 4th to be exact), but has stayed true to his commitment to the Buckeyes. Now with a class that is depleted in offensive line recruits, Urban Meyer has made it a priority to try and land top offensive linemen across the country. Keeping Boren is just as important, and Meyer proved it by calling Boren up recently.

We talked with Jacoby on Wednesday night to get his thoughts and feelings on Ohio State and his recruitment overall.

Ex-Buckeyes Find Home In NFL

Ready to go

When all of the undrafted free agents saw that the lockout was lifted, their agents quickly moved to action, and just about a day later they had homes. Some big names like Dane Sanzenbacher and Justin Boren were quickly taken off the free agent list. Now we get to see how they turn out in the NFL. So let's take a look at who was drafted and where they ended up.

- Dane Sanzenbacher, Chicago Bears
- Devon Torrence, Minnesota Vikings
- Brandon Saine, Green Bay Packers
- Dexter Larimore, New Orleans Saints
- Justin Boren, Baltimore Ravens
- Bryant Browning, St. Louis Rams

I really wanted Sanzenbacher for the Bengals, but it's a smart move for him to go to Chicago, because he'll get a lot of playing time with the thin lines of the Bears receiving core. I'm really interested to see if he can have a break out year in the next couple of years. I think it's interesting that the Packers signed Brandon Saine, and I have to think he will some sort of a returner, but I don't see him in a running back role in the NFL. Justin Boren is going to be a fantastic lineman for the Ravens, and could fit in nicely with the running game-style of play. I really think these group of guys will do well in the NFL, and we can't wait to see them on Sundays.

The Downfall of the Wolverines

Lets take a trip back to November 2006, the Big Ten was in the national spot light as No. 1 Ohio State (11-0) prepared to face No. 2 Michigan (11-0). Buckeye QB Troy Smith was at the top of his game and leading the Heisman race and these two bitter rivals were battling for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. In one of the best games in the rivalry (and one of the best games I've ever seen live) the Buckeyes held on for a trip to Glendale with many pundits clamoring for a re-match for the national championship.

A little over a month later things began to spiral out of control, the No. 3. Wolverines lose in the Rose Bowl to USC 32-18, and the downward spiral began. A week later their bitter rivals, the Buckeyes, lose in a similar embarrassing fashion to Florida 41-14. All of a sudden a conference that was on top of the world immediately had its reputation "tarnished" as a result of these bowl losses. Following the end of the 2006 season, current UM coach Lloyd Carr's hot seat only got hotter and his team needed a great season to save his job.

 

I wasn't smiling for long..... 

The 2007 Wolverines were riddled with injuries all season and limped into a Capitol One Bowl game vs the Florida Tebows (oops I mean Gators). The Wolverines destroyed the 2006 National Champion Gators in their best performance of the season, however the writing was on the wall and that bowl victory was Coach Carr's last game on the sidelines as Michigan head coach. A change needed to be made, however in my opinion, the fact that UM chose to hire Rich Rodriguez from WVU as opposed to one of Carr's assistants or another candidate that would continue to run the UM system set the Wolverine football program back at least a decade.

It was clear that Michigan needed to make a change, however nothing was really "wrong" with their system. I think hiring one of Carr's assistants or maybe a top assistant/coordinator from within the conference would have been the best choice in the long run for the Wolverines. Before the RRod era, UM's system was pretty simple but every effective.

On offense: -Smart, Strong Armed QB -Big, powerful OL -Tough RBs -Big Play WRs They ran pro sets which allowed them to run the ball and set up for the pass and sometimes vice versa.

 On defense: -Big, strong, hole clogging DL -Quick, play making LBs -Smart, Athletic DBs They would concentrate on stopping the run and forcing you to beat them through the air while blitzing their LBs off the edge and trying to force turnovers. When it worked they won (Exhibit 1), when it didn't (Exhibit 2), they lost. Coach Rodriguez came into Ann Arbor in 2008 immediately implementing his "system" and soon after, players who represented what Michigan Football was all about began to leave one way or another. Some declaring early for the draft, others (like freaking HEISMAN CANDIDATE Ryan Mallet and Justin Boren) just outright transferring.

After RRod's first few horrible seasons, I feel it was proven that his "system" will not work in Ann Arbor. Coach Carr's system was similar to what Coach Schembechler used with a few tweaks to keep up with the times and that's all that was needed back in 2007, just a few tweaks, not a full system overhaul. In my opinion, Coach Rodriguez's drastic changes will also continue to hurt the program for years when it comes to recruiting. Today's college recruit isn't just looking at being part of a schools tradition, he's looking to see which coach and program can give him the best opportunity to make it to the next level. A perfect example illustrating my point would be the Terelle Pryor situation.

One of the major reasons Pryor chose the Buckeyes over the Wolverines was due to the fact that Pryor knew Coach Tressel ran more of a pro style offense, which would allow him to develop his skills as a true QB and not a "system guy" (see White, Pat). This is not to say that they wont still recruit good athletes, however the 5-star QBs aren't looking to play 4 years in a option oriented system, which will force them to take their talents elsewhere.

Conclusion (c) SBB As a lifelong Ohio State fan and Alum, I hate the Wolverines as much as the next guy. However it hurts the rivalry and the conference when Michigan is down in the dumps. Michigan needs to make a change and do it very soon, barring a major miracle, I'm sure that RRod will coach his way right out of Ann Arbor this season. When give the opportunity, the Wolverines need to choose a coach that will bring this program back to life which means they need someone that will get UM back to playing tough physical Big Ten Football, none of that namby pamby "spread" crap.

Spring Finals: Offensive Line

We all know by now that spring has come and gone, football wise that is, so we will be taking a look into all the positions, tell you how they did, and where they might be this fall. Today's topic is the Offensive Line.

Ohio State has been criticized so much about the offensive line that in 2008, Jim Tressel himself took over for Jim Heacock. Much of the blame had been put on him as well for losing and collapsing against top-tier teams. It didn't help much, but in 2009, the O-Line turned the corner of destiny, making themselves a decent line. Against USC, they held their own, and opened up lanes for Boom Herron to find, and to cut through. Then against Penn St. they opened up holes for Boom and Zoom to destroy the D-line, and then gave up no sacks the the Nittany Lions. Now in 2010, with the majority of everyone returning to their spots, things are looking up for this group of talented linemen.