4-Star RB Dontre Wilson Down To Ohio State And Oregon

Wilson has 4.4 speed

DeSoto all-purpose back Dontre Wilson, the 2013 speedster from the Texas high school powerhouse, has come out of nowhere in the recruiting world of Ohio State. Wilson is a 5'10", 165-pound running back from DeSoto, TX. He is ranked No. 107 in the country by 247Sports.

Wilson is the No. 15 recruit in Texas (TX) and is the No. 10 Running Back in the nation.

Having the 2013 class mainly focus on Derrick Green, a fellow 4-star, Wilson seems to be more of a speed back in the mold of LaMichael James or DeAnthony Thomas for Oregon. It makes sense, then that the Ducks are in his final 2 selections of schools.

Originally slated to make a decision between Texas and Oregon at the Eagle spring game in late May, Wilson told the Ohio State Rivals site that he is down to the Buckeyes and Ducks ($), making no mention of the Longhorns, who were supposed to be where the Buckeyes are now: In the top 2 finalists in a report published on Wednesday. 

There had been some talk in recent weeks that Urban Meyer's squad was in the running for the 5-10, 175-pounder, but no one really paid attention, as we mentioned before it seemed the '13 class was focused on Green. This has seemingly come out of nowhere.

Here's the quote from Wilson via BuckeyeGrove.com:

"It's just Oregon and Ohio State, that's my top two. I'm not looking at any other schools right now, just those two."

ITS's BlogPoll Ballot: Post Spring

Spring Football is all wrapped up and now college football fans will have to wait a couple of more months before the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Until that time is upon us, you can look at the Post-Spring Preseason BlogPoll. Spring practices are done, recruiting classes are in, and it's time to make our judgement as to who goes where among the top 25 best teams in college football.

Of course, we remind you that this BlogPoll is as much ours as it is yours. We want your feedback as to who should go where and why. What you post (within reason) will have an effect on where we place teams the next time the poll comes around. 

With that, here is our early look at the Post Spring BlogPoll:

* Keep in mind that we did NOT rank USC last season at any point because of their ban from postseason play. As much as it pains me to do so, I will not be placing any teams that are banned from postseason play which includes Ohio State.

   

 

 

Inside The Shoe Ballot - Week 18

Rank	Team	Delta
1	USC Trojans - The Trojan's first season off of the postseason bans have them coming in at #1. With Matt Barkley leading the charge, USC has a chance at a title run once more.	--
2	LSU Tigers - Les Miles and his squad are picking right up where they left off. Solid recruiting and playmakers all over the field will help LSU contend for a title again.	--
3	Alabama Crimson Tide - The Crimson Tide are right there with LSU, just like last season. With returning starter A.J. McCarron improving and a more-than capable running back in Eddie Lacy, things are looking bright for Bama.	--
4	Georgia Bulldogs - One of the darkhorses in the SEC this season, the Bulldogs have the talent to compete with the best of them, starting with QB Aaron Murray. A favorable schedule helps as well.	--
5	Oregon Ducks - While Chip Kelly and the Ducks lose LaMichael James and Darron Thomas, Oregon still has plenty of firepower in DeAnthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner.	--
6	Oklahoma Sooners - Landry Jones is back again and the receiving core is one of the best in the country with Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds returning, as well as signing top receivers in the 2012 recruiting class.	--
7	South Carolina Gamecocks - Marcus Lattimore is coming off of an ACL tear, but Connor Shaw will try and lead the Gamecocks without WR Alshon Jeffrey. This really comes down to Lattimore.	--
8	Florida St. Seminoles - Jimbo Fisher is recruiting like a madman, signing top prospects such as Mario Edwards and Eddie Goldman. E.J. Manuel returns to quarterback the offense in 2012.	--
9	West Virginia Mountaineers - The Mountaineers have everything going for them, following the Orange Bowl smashing of Clemson, 70-33. Geno Smith and Dustin Garrison look to improve on the 2011 season and become an early favorite to win the Big 12.	--
10	Arkansas Razorbacks - Arkansas lost a lot of talent at the wide receiver position, but with Knile Davis returning from an injury and QB Tyler Wilson, the Razorbacks will try to take the SEC by surprise under John L. Smith.	--
11	Michigan Wolverines - Coming off of a Sugar Bowl-winning season, the Wolverines look to finally take back the Big Ten title in 2012. Early Heisman candidate Denard Robinson will lead UM on offense while Greg Mattison continues to improve the defense.	--
12	Wisconsin Badgers - Russell Wilson is gone, but the Badgers were able to nab Montee Ball from joining the NFL, instantly making the Badgers competitors in the Big Ten. The coaching staff lost 6 assistants over the course of the off-season, so it's up to the school to replace them with quality coaches.	--
13	Clemson Tigers - Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins are back as one of the top dynamic duos in the country. While they need to figure things out defensively, Clemson can still get back to national prominence under Dabo Swinney.	--
14	Michigan St. Spartans - The Spartans will have to replace some key positions, including the QB spot that Kirk Cousins held down for the past couple of years. A stingy defense will help propel any offensive troubles, as MSU tries to head back to Indy for the B1G Championship Game.	--
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers - Taylor Martinez enters his 3rd year as a Cornhusker and again big things are expected from the Big Red. Rex Burkhead will have to be more than efficient to help Nebraska in it's second season in the Big Ten.	--
16	TCU Horned Frogs - A recent addition to the Big 12, TCU will try to show what they've got under head coach Gary Patterson. TCU brings back much of its firepower on offense, with quarterback Casey Pachall, tailbacks Waymon James and Ed Wesley and receivers Josh Boyce and Skye Dawson coming back.	--
17	Kansas St. Wildcats - With quarterback Collin Klein and linebacker Arthur Brown coming back this season, the Wildcats might be among the Big 12 favorites, along with Oklahoma and West Virginia. Klein is also an early candidate for the Heisman trophy.	--
18	Illinois Fighting Illini - You might be surprised to find the Fighting Illini this high, but don't be. With Nathan Scheelhaase in his third year as a QB, expect him to be among the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Under new head coach Tim Beckman, the Illini should not be overlooked.	--
19	Texas Longhorns - The Longhorns rebounded nicely this past season, after a head-scratching 5-7 finish in 2010. David Ash will have the edge entering spring practice, but he'll continue to be pushed by Case McCoy. The running game should be better if tailbacks Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron can stay healthy, and incoming freshman Johnathan Gray.	--
20	Washington Huskies - Quarterback Keith Price has given Huskie fans some hope for this season. Price has the offense resting completely on his shoulders, but after dazzling against RG3 in the Alamo Bowl (though they lost), Washington should be pretty decent this year.	--
21	Virginia Tech Hokies - Quarterback Logan Thomas will be back for his second season as a starter and he showed he was capable in 2011. Incoming freshman Joel Caleb might need to emerge as a big-play threat early in his career. The good news is that as many as eight starters might be back on defense.	--
22	Oklahoma St. Cowboys - If OSU coach Mike Gundy is going to keep his program near the top of the Big 12, he's going to have to rebuild his record-setting offense after losing quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon. Rising junior Clint Chelf, RS FR J.W. Walsh and incoming FR West Lunt will battle for the starting QB job this spring.	--
23	Boise St. Broncos - The Broncos went 73-6 in coach Chris Petersen's first six seasons and flirted with playing for a BCS national championship in each of the past two seasons. Rising junior Joe Southwick will be the favorite to replace Moore, but he'll get competition from rising sophomore Grant Hedrick and incoming freshman Nick Patti.	--
24	Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Brian Kelly will again oversee a quarterback battle in the offseason, with Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson and freshman Gunner Kiel (who enrolled in January) battling for the starting job.	--
25	Stanford Cardinal - David Shaw lead Stanford to an 11-2 record and BCS bowl game in his first season and also signed arguably the best recruiting class in school history. Stanford signed top offensive line prospects, including tackles Andrus Peat and Kyle Murphy and guard Josh Garnett. Tailback Barry Sanders Jr., the son of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, also was a big recruiting coup. Of course, the Cardinal have to replace quarterback Andrew Luck.	--

Receiving Votes: Florida, Auburn, Miami (Fl.), Washington State

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Recruiting: 5 Star DE Adolphus Washington Is A Buckeye

Making an impact

This morning, Tuesday the 22nd, Ohio State received a commitment from Cincinnati Taft 5-star DE Adolphus Washington over scholarship offers from Michigan State, Cincinnati, Michigan, Alabama, Miami, Kentucky, Oregon and many others. Washington is now the Buckeye's 15th recruit in the class of 2012.

Washington said during the conference that he made his final decision after his official visit to Ohio State for the Wisconsin game, where Braxton Miller threw a Hail Mary to win the game. When asked what he thought about playing for Urban Meyer, he didn't take any bait and simply said "I hope so". Washington also becomes the first 5-star prospect in the Buckeyes’ 2012 recruiting class. You can read more on him here. 

Adolphus has a very realistic shot at playing and maybe even starting as a true freshman when he comes in. Washington was a varsity starter his freshman year at Cincinnati Roger Bacon. He transferred to Taft for his junior season and made 101 tackles with 15 sacks. As a junior, Washington racked up 119 tackles and 17 sacks. He made 90 tackles with 23.5 sacks during his senior season and hopes to add some serious depth to this defensive line next year.

When he comes to Ohio State he wants to major in nursing. With the addition of Washington the Buckeyes now have 15 verbal commitments for a recruiting class that is expected to number at least 19 come National Signing Day.

Washington's teammate however, 3-star wide receiver Dwayne Stanford, announced he has committed to Oregon over scholarship offers from Ohio State, Cincinnati, LSU and many others.

While not getting Stanford might affect some other recruit's decisions, Washington's commitment stands out by far as the best get for Ohio State recruiting in awhile. It's a huge pick up, and might sway Urban Meyer even more out of retirement.

Video highlights after the jump.

Recruiting Update: JaJuan Story

Fans, get to know this wide receiver. The #33 ranked WR in the '11 class, according to Scout, just finished his visit to Ohio State, and you may be wondering how it went for the Florida commit:

"2011 WR JaJuan Story says his #OhioState visit is "amazing" so far.#gators #Oregon"

via Laura McKeeman 

Ohio State still has a chance with the 6'4'' 192 receiver, and Buckeye fans can only hope for the announcement they are looking for. Laura also dropped the bomb that an update would be given, saying "Florida fans won't be too happy".

Story is one of the more physically imposing receivers in the country, and has all the tools to be a great receiver on the college level with excellent size and speed. He needs to work on honing his skills and the finer points of the position as his routes can be loose and he needs to recognize coverage better. His hands will get better with more experience as should the rest of his game.

Quick Hitters

For the most part, Auburn shut down LMJ

MNC- The college football season wrapped up last Monday when Auburn escaped Glendale with a 22-19 victory and another notch on the belt for the SEC. I was pulling hard for the ducks to end the reign of terror by gods’ conference but it was not to be as the Oregon defense could not contain the final push by the Tigers with 2 minutes remaining. While there is no real argument to be made that the SEC isn’t the top conference in the nation, in no way was I impressed by this victory (or the whole game for that matter). Sure, it ended in a field goal with time expiring but did anybody in Buckeye nation think that our silver bullets couldn’t hang with either one of these teams on Monday night?

Did anyone think this was a “game for the ages” that the four letter network would have you believe? We were supposed to watch these teams run up and down the field all night with their explosive offensive attacks but instead were treated to lots of punts, tentative play calling and a bunch of misdirection plays that went nowhere. There were a couple big plays by either side but nobody could string any together and give us the game that was hyped for 2 months. Oh well, at least OSU still possesses the greatest MNC game in the long and illustrious history of the BCS (don’t give me Texas-USC either… I don’t want to hear it).

The BCS Bowls Are All But Set

With yesterdays much expected wins by Auburn, Oregon, and Virgina Tech, the BCS bowls have finally shaped up for good. Barring anything insane happening the BCS Bowls are set, and ready to go. Here's what they look like right now:

BCS Championship: #1 Oregon vs. #2 Auburn

Rose Bowl: #3 TCU vs. #4 Wisconsin

Sugar Bowl: #6 Ohio State vs.#8 Arkansas

Fiesta Bowl: #9 Oklahoma vs. UConn

Orange Bowl: #13 Virgina Tech vs. #5 Stanford

At first glance, these are pretty decent match-ups. Oregon vs. Auburn is going to be a fun one to watch, because of the no defense policy they strictly enforce there. I honestly think that Oregon wins because they have a slightly better defense. TCU gets the first "At Large" bid for the Rose Bowl and will get a true test against Wisconsin (please, god Wisky, don't screw this up). Obviously the Sugar Bowl has been looked at, but it's still a very nice game. I might be a little of a homer, but this one should be a Buckeyes win as long as they can do what they have done in November.

The Fiesta Bowl this year is a scrub, and UConn literally has little to no chance against Oklahoma. The Orange Bowl to me seems like a very good match-up. Virgina Tech isn't someone to sleep on, but Stanford is obviously going to be the favorite in this game. The Cardinal have Andrew Luck and a stout defense. I want to see how these play out.

Of course, nothing is set in stone, until the BCS Countdown tomorrow. After that, we're going bowling!

Projected BCS

ESPN came out with their BCS Projections for the first poll. Here's the list

1. Boise
2. Oregon
3. TCU
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Nebraska
8. Auburn
9. MSU
10. Alabama

While I don't agree with the list, I do have to say that MSU is right where they should be. They are a team on the rise, but they can't be in the top 5. I can also understand Oregon being #2, but some things have to change. Here's my personal list:

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Boise State
4. Oklahoma
5. Nebraska
6. LSU
7. Auburn
8. TCU
9. MSU
10. Alabama/Utah - Utah is undefeated..but Bama is an overall stronger team.

Your thoughts?

A Comparison of 2nd Chances

Normally I'm all for giving guys second chances who have made mistakes in life. Take Maurice Clarett for example, who has re-enrolled at THE Ohio State University this summer after serving time in prison. He was a guy that made some mistakes, broke some laws and paid his debt to society. I am all for him receiving a second chance in putting his life back on the right track.

However in the case of former Oregon QB Jerimiah Masoli, I am not so sympathetic. Masoli was a guy that had several run ins with the law following the Ducks' loss to our beloved silver bullets in the Rose Bowl this past January. After he was arrested for burglarizing a frat house on campus this past March (hilarious 911 call), he was suspended from the team for the upcoming 2010 season. He was then subsequently kicked of the team in June after another arrest, this time for possession or marijuana. Most people would think this would end the major Division 1 football career of most players (see Perilloux, Ryan). However, Yahoo is reporting Masoli will be visiting Ole Miss, and if he enrolls in graudate courses there, he would be (somehow) eligible to play for the Rebels this season, immediately making him the favorite to start.

Although there is no rule against this happening, there needs to be one created ASAP. He should at least have to sit out a year or not be eligible to play at the D1 level anymore, or else this phenomenon will become more of the norm. This sends the wrong message to young players across the country, "Hey I screwed up at this school, but since I already graduated I can just go here and play next season with no real punishment". One value I've instilled in all the players I've coached is that when you break the rules, you have to face the consequences, no matter how small the violation is and that's the same message the NCAA needs to send, NOW.

What are the odds...

Oregon got another one. This time it's the sensational running back LeMichael James getting arrested. He was arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident. I think it's intresting that Oregon, who just came off a loss to Ohio State, is falling apart once again. Of course, the first thing to happen was the punch heard 'round the world. Then they cleaned up in time for a Rose Bowl appearance. Now they go back to Jerimieah Masoli getting (almost) jailed, and now James has to step in for more face time. Oregon is making headlines, certainly, but not in the fashion they would have hoped to this offseason. I wonder what Chip Kelly must be thinking..Would he bench the best players on his team? He's a fairly young coach that is willing to take risks, so I don't see why not. If he does, then the NCAA will come a 'callin, just like they are now with USC. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I don't like Oregon. I actually like Oregon a lot. It shocks me what these guys do. The worst part for me, though, is that no one will do anything about it. After their jail time, they will go back to trying to win game and MNC's, and no one will say anything about it. I guess that, more than anything, frustrates me about College Football. These guys are given 5 chances, knowing they have it. Then they go to the NFL, and besides some (See Maurice Clarrett) don't get weeded out. That's the saddest part for me, watching football at the college level. Anyway, just some thoughts to ponder. What do you guys think about all this?

Big Ten starting to make some moves.

It has been reported throughout the day that the current Big 12 school, Texas, is currently having "preliminary exchanges" with the Big Ten and it's need for expansion. Most Buckeye fans, including other Big Ten schools, like this idea, or so we think. Personally, I would love the idea, because it seems every so often, Texas and Ohio State duke it out for the top spot. So this automatically makes the conference THAT much tougher on us, and we can continue to do better in bowl games. In this case, it would not only help the Big Ten, but also help Texas. The past year has led to a nice little downfall for Big 12 fans, and this would seem like a good time to get out. Unlike last time, this story HAS a source, and may in fact, become true.

Final Thoughts: Oregon

Well, that was pretty freaking’ awesome. Ohio State and Jim Tressel came out with a plan on offense. Pass, when they expect run. It’s a really simple concept, but Tressel hasn’t really gotten that until now. Speaking of Tressel, did you see his face once it was over? I haven’t seen him that happy since the 2002 National Championship game against the U. Terrelle Pryor came out looking to prove he is a QB, and not just a running back that has good arm strength. He threw for career highs in attempts and more importantly, yards. I know that Thad Gibson is a man, as is Cam Heyward, but if we get them back next year as well, I don’t see why we couldn’t take it to the BCS Championship game. That’s not an opinion really, they will have so much talent next year.

You may not remember, but last year’s loss to USC, before the game, all the experts were talking about the stable of running backs that they had. Hmm, Brandon Saine, Boom Herron, Jaamal Berry, Carlos Hyde, Jermil Martin, and finally Jordan Hall. Out of all those RB’s only one is not on the team at this moment due to academics, and that is Hyde. It would not surprise me to see Brandon Saine or one of the other smaller backs be moved to a WR spot. We could use a 4th option in there, as we will have Sanzenbacher, Posey, and Duron Carter. I hope to see T Wash in the mix, but there is no word yet. Laamar Thomas is in the same situation, unfortunately.

On defense, we come back reloading, depending on some NFL decisions. If, in fact, we do happen to get Heyward and Thad back, that would leave Jermale Hines, who really has a legitimate shot at the pros, and Chimdi Chekwa. I highly doubt Chekwa would go, simply because he has a lot to learn, and he has simply not lived up to expectations so far. If we keep all of those, which leaves a free safety spot open in place of Anderson Russell, who really shouldn’t be TOO hard to replace.

Oregon played a heck of a game, but we had our way upfront. I don’t know if you all noticed, but every one of our guys was so much bigger than theirs. Look back to the only sack of the game, and Heyward barely shoved him, and Masoli went down without another thought. That’s ok; I would have done the same thing if I saw all of that steam-train coming at me. I tip my hat to Oregon’s third option, Barnes. Inside The Shoe did not really mention him during the preview, or the Matching up posts. He defiantly earned a mention.

Bowl Week 3 (part 3)

On the aftermath of a great Rose Bowl game, and Florida took care of buisness, finally shutting up those darn Bearcat fans, and talking about how they could easily take on a good defense. Their are still games to be played, including another Big Ten team. As of right now, Inside The Shoe´s record stands at 25-19. It looks like our losses are catching up..lets get started!

Today

International Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. USF – 12:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Northern Illinois has the 17th best rushing attack in the nation, and USF will look to slow down the attack, while Northern Illinois will look to focus on shutting down do-everything QB B.J. Daniels. Look for some talented play, and USF to win, 17-7.

Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss – 2:00 p.m. (FOX)

At the beginning of the season, this could have been an easy OK St win, but now with injuries, and their best passing attack receiver gone, Zac Robinson will be running for his life, as Ole Miss´s Jevan Snead looks to make a good impression on pro scouts. Ole Miss will take their second Cotton Bowl, 38-24.

PapaJohns Bowl: UConn vs. South Carolina – 2:00 p.m. (ESPN)
UConn will want to prove a point early, but South Carolina´s Stephen Garcia looks to avoid the bust label, and the talent and (i can´t believe i´m saying this) speed of the Gamecocks will be way to much for the team that will be playing in memory of Jasper Howard, as they win it 28-17

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. East Carolina – 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)

East Carolina comes off a CUSA championship win, but has to face the Arkansas Hogs and their SEC speed. ECU will give it their best, but i don´t see how their defense can stop former Michigan QB Ryan Mallet, who has been absolutely monstrous this season. With it being ECU, though, look for Arkansas to sleep until near the end, and finally pull it out, 31-24.

Alamo Bowl: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Before the unfair firing of Mike Leach, I would have picked TT. Now, without their head playcaller, Texas Tech has to imporvise, and that generally leads to mistakes. Look for them to have a couple of INT´s or fumbles, as Mark Dantonio´s defensive squad takes advantage, and wins a close one, 21-19

Enjoy watching some good bowl games! The rest of the bowl game predictions will be in Bowl Week 4.

Matching Up: Special Teams

Kicking/Punting

Advantage: Ohio State

Pettrey/Barclay/Thoma: As far as the OSU kicking game goes for 2009, Jim Tressel probably was a little dissatisfied with how it ended up. After a dirty block on kicker Aaron Pettrey during the NMSU game, Devin Barclay had to fill in fast. The 23 year old kicker then proceeded to kick a simple game winning, rose bowl clinching, field goal in ovetime aganist Iowa. I think that Barclay is reliable, but I think we need to use Pettrey in long FG oppritunites, while using Barclay in shorter ones. As for punting, during the course of the season, the punting has been solid by Jon Thoma, but nothing compared to what usual Ohio State punting is. He has gotten the job done, and it has worked out just fine so far.

Rice/Flint: With Flint being the kicker, last year he had trouble getting them in, especially the 35-40 yarders, but this season he has done a pretty good job going 15 of 17 giving him an 88 percent. That is pretty darn good, and should help in the long run aganist Ohio State. Jackson Rice, the freshman punter, earned his starting spot in a duel with the other punter, and has a average of 40.3 yards a punt. For a freshman, that's not something to scoff at, and he will play a key role for the Ducks, because of Ray Small being suspended.

Returning

Advantage: Oregon

Ohio State: With Ray Small, and Duron Carter being gone, the Buckeyes will have to get creative on the punt returns. Laamar Thomas will return with Brandon Saine in the Kick Returns, but for the punt returns, Tress will probably go ahead and use DeVier Posey, and mabye Dane Sanzenbacher. Without Ray Small, though, the returning game, would have gone to the Buckeyes, but without him, it is a much less lethal attack.

Oregon: They to, lost a huge asset to their return game, by losing the Oregon version of Ray Small. Oregon has greater speed, and I wouldn't be to surprised if LeMichael James wasn't used in some sort of situation, either on kick returns or punt returns.

Overall

Advantage: None

Ohio State/Oregon: I'ts really hard to judge special teams, anything can happen. Both teams have speed and quickness, so they are pretty even. This game might come down to special teams, whether it be a FG to win it, or better field position for a game winning drive. Special teams has always been stressed and preached at Ohio State, whenever Jim Tressel is around. He is going to make it better, even with the loss of Small.

Matching Up: Defense

With 2 days until the Rose Bowl, Inside The Shoe is diving deeper into the match up between Oregon and Ohio State by looking at the three main points of the game, and choosing who has the advantage. With Oregon having the advantage on Offense, we now look at Defense.

Defensive Line

Advantage: Ohio State

Gibson/Heyward/Wilson/Larimore: I mean, do you really have to ask? These guys are about as studly as they come. All of the following linemen can pass rush, and of course, stop the run. Thad Gibson is a definte pass rusher and has great agile speed. Heyward and Wilson are similar, they both bring great run coverage and Larimore can do a combination. The D Line really showed their stuff aganist supposdly the best offensive line in the nation, USC. After a lackluster effort at Navy, it looked like the Silver Bullets were back.

Tukuafu/Bair/Ferras/Rowe: Although they all give pretty good pass rush, the defensive line for Oregon was porous when it came to the running game this year and to add on to that, their pass rush fell below expectations this year as well, as Oregon's opponets had a good time running and passing all day long to score a lot of points.

Linebackers

Advantage: Ohio State

Spitler/Rolle/Homan: When the Ohio State Buckeye linebackers took the field aganist Navy, they were filling big shoes, in Marcus Freeman, and James Laurinatis. Spitler was the only one who had game experince, although Ross Homan had quite a bit of playing time whenever the score was run up. As you know, Brian Rolle made an entrance by making the game sealing INT for 2 points aganist Navy. The season has been very good for the Buckeye linebackers, even if they had their downs. At some points they seemed to under achieve, or didn't seem to play all out. This was the closest match up, and the only reason they won this was because overall, they were better.

Matthews/Paysinger/Pleasant: At the beginning of the season, hopes were high for the linebacking core at Oregon, and they should have been. Casey Matthews, The son of former NFL star Clay Matthews, with Paysinger and Pleasant were hoping to carry this defense to a national championship. Overall, they did their jobs, but sometimes just doing your job means giving up big points to the opposing offenses. That will not win games for your team either, but you can't put it all on the linebacking core.

Secondary

Advantage: Oregon

Coleman/Torrence/Chekwa/Russell/Hines: Although very talented, Ohio State's cornerbacks really kill them, otherwise, they would have won. As you saw aganist Iowa, a quality WR gives them trouble. They also tend to leave a lot of space, which means big plays off of bubble screens, and slants. With that being said, Kurt Coleman, Jermale Hines, and (ugh) Anderson Russell have to pick up some of the slack. Russell started out awful, giving up the majority of the passing TD's, but has settled down, and is now a solid contribuitor. Kurt Coleman is, in one word, studly. Jermale Hines does his job effectivly, and likes to bring a big hit up every now and then.

Oregon: They get some players back from injuries, and coming off a huge 2008 season, Oregon's secondary has stepped up, but not to expectations. The secondary looks to correct it's final mistakes, but should worry about run defense more, as Ohio State said it would focus on the run.

Overall

Advantage: Ohio State

Ohio State: If you look at the Silver Bullets this year, they really stepped up, pitching a couple of shut outs at Toledo, Illinois, and New Mexico State. They held Penn State to 7 points, and USC to 18. In my life time, beside the 2002 national championship team, this is the best defense i've seen. That, is my opinion, but i like it, and support it. They will look to stop this crazy Oregon offensive attack, and will hope to have their final great performance.

Oregon: Focus: Stop the run. If you can force Ohio State to throw the football, you have a wayyyyy better chance to put this game under the win column. They have had an underwhelming season, giving huge points up, but it could have to do with always being on the field, because of the quick pace and up-tempo offense Oregon brings to the table.

Matching Up: Offense

With 5 days until the Rose Bowl match up between Ohio State and Oregon, Inside The Shoe will delve deep into the match ups of the game, as well as deciding who has the advantage point. First up is the Offense. The way this works, we will look at each key point in the offense\defense, and compare it with the opponent´s.

Quarterback

Advantage: Oregon

Terrelle Pryor: First off, this guy is a sophomore at Ohio State, just finishing up learning all the reads and plays. Then you look at his progression from last year, and you see it is definatly noticable, but not as much as expected. He has learned to throw the ball away more when he needs to instead of trying to make a play.  The descion making is not yet there, as well as overall accuracy. Descion making wise, just look at his INT´s this year. You can´t really say he has regressed from last year, because he wasn´t throwing as much when you had Beanie in the backfield. As far as accuracy goes, if you take a look at the Penn State game, he had a couple of deep bombs to Posey that would have been 6 both times, but resulted in an overthrow. Again, he is still young, and tends to get excited. If he can keep his arm under control he should be ok.

Jerimah Masoli: Building off of last year´s success, he lead his team to a 10-1 record (10-2 actually, but he didn´t play in the loss to Stanford) and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Masoli has been said to have one of the best fake handoffs in the game today, but he will need all of his talents to outsmart the Buckeye defense, with his uncanny ability to make a big play whenever need be. Masoli has proved himself capable of throwing in the pocket, and taking off with quick, agile speed. In the USC game, he seemed to know exactly where the defense was looking, and thinking, and would provide the sufficent play. Masoli understands the defense and all of the surrounding players abilitys to make sure the play goes smoothly.

Running Back
Advantage: Oregon

Brandon Saine\Daniel Herron: The Ohio State University is known for it´s power running game, and this year, you look at Boom and Zoom, you don´t really see that big power I-formation back. The closest to being that is Zoom, but the running game this year has been a bit confusing. You can´t replace a Beanie so says Jim Tressel, and that what this season has truly been about. Saine has started to come more into the role of an every down back, but Boom is trying to make his case, this could lead to some switching of the 2 during the Rose Bowl, and leading into next season, with the addition of Carlos Hyde(?) and Jaamal Berry.

LaMichael James\LeGarrette Blount: At the beginning of the season, Oregon fans probably were thinking something along the lines of "What happend to LeGarrette Blount?" After a 1,000 yard rushing season last season, he was held to -5 yards on 8 attempts aganist Boise State. And oh yeah, this. The result led to a year long suspension, but after further review, got taken back, and played his first game since then aganist Oregon St, in which he had 51 yards on 9 attempts with a TD. Enter LaMichael James. James burst on the scene as a true freshman and ended up with an outstanding 1,476 yards on 215 attempts. He is sure to be a great RB someday, and could look forward to a Heisman running in the next couple of years.

Wide Recevier
Advantage: Ohio State

Posey\Sanzenbacher: There´s not much you can say about either team´s receivers, although Ed Dickson for Oregon provides a bit of a knockout punch. Posey and Sanzenbacher are more than sufficant when it comes to making big plays, and more importantly, getting open. Sanzenbacher has deceiving speed, and doesn´t mind going over the middle and\or taking a hit. Posey always runs a good post or even better, a fade route. With the loss of Ray Small and Duron Carter, it looks like Laamar Thomas will finally get his chance. Taurian Washington will also join the mix of WR out on the feild, and it will be intresting to see what he can produce.

Ed Dickson\Jeff Mahel\D.J. Davis: The talented tightend in Ed Dickson is their main receiving threat, and looks to have a great career ending game. As for Mahel and Davis, they provide speed and talent, and will provide Masoli more options to go to. Don´t go counting out the running backs as a passing threat either, James had 13 receptions for 143 yards.

Offensive Line
Advantage: Depends.

Ohio State\Oregon: The offensive line is hard to judge. Both these teams amounted for just about as many rushing yards as each other, with Oregon having more on 2 more attempts. The reason I put depends is merely because the Ohio State line is complicated. On one hand, you can have the USC\Penn St. game line, or the Purdue game. If the USC one shows up, i would have to give it to Ohio State, but Oregon has done such a great job up front, I almost gave this one to them, seeing as they had the better stats, and have put forth a USC effort all year long. So this is for you to judge and decide.



Overall Offense
Advantage: Oregon

So Oregon is the winner of Offense. The Oregon offense has blown up this year, creaming teams like USC, Arizona, etc. Remember there is more to a football game then offense, and the defense and special teams play just as an important part. We here at Inside The Shoe have looked over some film, and decided that Oregon was better on offense..Ohio State, has growing pains at the moment. So, let us know your thoughts.

Merry Christmas from Inside The Shoe

What Christmas is REALLY about.

Merry Christmas all!

Look for some posts matching up some advantages for Oregon or Ohio State.

Speed is Key for Defense.

In my eyes, speed is a factor that is a luxury to have. Speed can define your team, or kill it. Oregon has speed, in both their running backs and our course, their QB Jerimeiah Masoli. Masoli is a reason Oregon fans are sort of glad that they didn´t land Terrelle Pryor. I mean, he can throw way better then Pryor can, by far. The dude can run, and has a the nastiest fake handoff in the book. That is where Jim Tressel and Buckeye nation hopes the defensive line can come in.

Jim Tressel has used the big brain and has decided to use 3rd string quarterback Kenny Guiton as their "Masoli". If you look at the game aganist Texas last year, Colt Mccoy led an offense, not similar to Oregon´s, but ran a hurry up offense. Thad Gibson was arguably Ohio State´s main pass rush threat, and yet he lined up offsides due to the fatigue of the hurry up twice. If Ohio State´s defense can keep up with the speed, they can most certainly have a huge impact. I can argue that this is one of, if not the best, defensive line in the country. They tend to be at their best aganist the "big" teams (See USC, Penn St). They do have a tendancy to slack a little bit, (Purdue, Navy) but that is overcomable.

The secondary is what worries me the most. Although Oregon lost Jamere Holland, they still have some pretty decent deep threats. This secondary is home to some corners that are young, Torrence, under acheiving, Chekwa, and just plain bad, Russell. Their is one star that will have to have a huge game, and I expect him to. That man is Kurt Coleman. Kurt Coleman looks to make a lasting impression by leading the Buckeyes to their first bowl victory since 2005. Ouch. He will also most likely want to make a good showing for the NFL scouts bound to be there. As Yogi mentioned, our corners like to give a little space to the receivers. NOT ALLOWED. Oregon likes throwing the quick little hitches and slants. Of course, look out for the bubble screen to the James.

Once again, please remember. Speed is Key.

Go Bucks.

1st Marquee Bowl game\Ray Ray\Duron Carter\Rob Rose

Tonight on ESPN at 8:00 est, Oregon State faces off aganist BYU, in the first marquee game of the bowl season. Inside The Shoe has lost 2 of the last 3 bowl games due to Wyoming upsetting Fresno. We will post our new record when our featured games have been played.

In other news, The Buckeyes will be without punt return star Ray Small, with reasons unspecified. Meanwhile Duron Carter and Rob Rose are gone as well. This could mean bad news, as Small and Carter could have had a bigger impact then most people realize. With Small out, Posey or Dane might take over the duties. Laamar Thomas and Saine will probably be back at kick return. Carter seems to have had bad grades, as we said earlier in our posts. Jim Tressel will have to mix and match with the players to isolate the Oregon defense. Speed is key.

BCS Bowl Breakdown by Inside The Shoe.

Rose Bowl Presented by Citi - No. 7 Oregon vs No. 8 Ohio State

This is one of the BCS Bowl match-ups that almost everyone is looking forward to. It is sort of intresting in the plot. Here we have Oregon, looking to prove that the Pac-10 is not a one man team, and is trying to earn national respect. Ohio State, on the other hand, is trying to convince the nation that they still belong in that national spotlight. Oregon has a small defense, but will be facing a talented, big, but a very inconsistent offense, headed by sophomore Terrelle Pryor. On the offensive side of the ball, Oregon has one of the top 10 rushing games and faces the 5th ranked rushing defense in the Buckeyes. All very intresting. With all of this going on, Oregon is a 3 point favorite.

Allstate Sugar Bowl - No. 3 Cincinnati vs No. 5 Florida

In what many people view as a pretty big mismatch, the Big East champions look to take down the defending national champions. Florida comes in looking very strong on D, and a little blustered on offense. Alabama pounded them to the point it seemed like they didn't really want to seem to play anymore. On the other side, Cincy comes off a huge win over Big East rival, Pitt. After a long TD special, the Bearcats won by an extra point, showing they once again, have almost no defense. Giving Illinois 36 points is quite an amazing feat.

Tostitos Feista Bowl - No. 4 TCU vs No. 6 Boise State

I have to say, I am one of many that agree that the BCS voted for a cop-out. Instead of trying to prove a point that these confrences deserve BCS bids, and that they should have national respect, they will just be beating each other up in the face. The big key to this game is TCU's amazing defense aganist the best scoring offense, Boise State, in the NCAA. I would look out though, TCU has a pretty darn good offense.

FedEx Orange Bowl - No. 9 Georgia Tech vs No. 10 Iowa

Iowa got the 2nd BCS bowl for the Big Ten and Georgia Tech is feeling confident as they just won a close game aganist Spiller and the Tigers. GT's bread and butter is the triple option, though unfortunatly for them, Iowa's inside linmen are built for stopping the run. Just ask Ohio State. Right? Right?

CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - No. 1 Alabama vs No. 2 Texas

People are already wanting to give the crystal, when Texas had to use every second they had to beat the good defense of Nebraska. After Alabama crushed the defending national and SEC champs, who would argue? I think it was read into to much about the Big 12 champ game, but I would defintaly say it's never to early to start watching film.

Now We Know.

Well, now we know who to prepare for. The Ohio State Buckeyes will be facing the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl, for all the Roses in it. Jim Tressel and Co. need to learn how to shut down freshman running back LeMichael James, and Jermiah Masoli. This is a great game to watch, and for OSU to try and get their respect back, little by little. Ok Ohio State, let's see what you got.