Using Your Head

I'm not leaving. This is my serious face.

Yesterday on Christmas day, a "story" broke loose that was full of rumors and about no facts. Of course, like any rumor concerning Ohio State lately it got fans all riled up.

According to a man in a Blackhawks jersey, and his "sources", Jim Tressel will no longer be the head coach of Ohio State.

"Ohio State was rocked by the suspensions of five key players, including top running back Dan "Boom" Herron and Heisman-hopeful quarterback Terrelle Pryor, for the first five games of the 2011 season earlier this week.

The sources indicated that Buckeye recruits have been informed that Tressel will not be back as coach, and have been allowed to look for other options. 

Ohio State has one of the largest compliance departments in the country, yet they have reported 375 violations to the NCAA from 2000-2009, the most in the country.

Early in Tressel's tenure at OSU he had to deal with the Maurice Clarrett debacle, and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was suspended for two games for accepting money from a booster. The latest violations are just another dark page in the recent history of the Buckeye program."

Your Weekly Sports Mash Up

Cavaliers: The Cavaliers will open the season aganist the Boston Celtics, but the big game comes December 2nd, as the Miami Heat head to Cleveland. This is going to be interesting. For all your Cavs news, head over to Fear The Sword.

Reds: The Redlegs won another game aganist the Marlins last night, taking the series after they're tough 3 game sweep to the Cards. The Cardinals lost, giving the tie for first back to the Reds. Dusty doesn't like going for sweeps, but I think in this situation they have to. The next series they have is a tough 9 game series of West Coast teams including the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Giants. They need to take 2 out of 3 of those series to stay in this race. This in my opinion, is the toughest away stretch this half of the season. The other one that comes to mind is at St. Louis, and at Colorado. For all your Reds news, head on over to Red Reporter.

Bengals: After an opening loss to the Cowboys, the Bengals will look to bounce back against the team that gave them the immaculate deflection at the beginning of the regular season last year. Chad Ochocinco has informed the world that the starters will play all of the first quarter this time, instead of a couple of drives. For all of your Bengals news, go to Cincy Jungle.

Buckeyes: The Seniors and juniors lost the kick scrimmage, and Jermil Martin is transferring to Ashland, which is full of former Buckeyes. That's one spot gone, with about 3 other RB's to fill it. I wouldn't worry too much about it, as he was pretty much gone anyway since he never attended practice. My man, Jaamal Berry is soaking in the Buckeye camp, as he's full of good news. Berry says he hasn't dropped a pass, for fans to expect a lot of big plays and runs, and he expects to start on Kick Return! (There you go SBB). You should know where to go for your Buckeye news (maybe not).

The Evan Turner era has ended.

Evan Turner announced today that he would be headed to the NBA to "continue my quest of being one of the best". Many expected him to move on, but like most Buckeye fans, I thought he should would have stayed. Although that leaves us with only a little less talent, because we still have Sullinger and company to take the reins. The question stands on what team he will go to. Of course, being in Ohio, I think the Cavs should try and trade up to get Turner. Could you imagine the insanity? Lebron James and Evan Turner. The King and the Villian. On the same court? Awesome. Will it happen, probably not, but I guy can hope, right? The Buckeyes will really miss him around these parts, though. Turner said he made the decision last night, and hasn't even hired an agent yet, which I thought was pretty interesting just because I would have hired the agent first. We want to thank Evan for coming to play his hardest at Ohio State, and we will miss his services very much.

Preview: Ohio State vs. UCSB

The time has come at last. Fans, and especially the Buckeye's themselves have waited for this moment and opportunity for a whole year. Last year, Ohio State got upset by Siena, but now they have a chance to do what they do best. Ohio State (27-7), who are the Big Ten champs, are riding a 7 game win streak and winners of 15 out of their last 16. The UCSB Gauchos (20-9), who are Big West champs, are riding a 3 game wining streak and are coached by Bob Williams. The Gauchos are 0-2 against top 25 teams and lost to Cal by 21, a team Ohio State beat handily. UCSB is similar in match ups size wise with Ohio State and start no players over 6'7".

Dallas Lauderdale: Coming to a theatre near you.

UCSB implores for a match up zone which is reminiscent of the John Chaney defense that was used at Temple years ago. OSU will have to remain poised and be smart with ball as match up zone can become confusing (basically like going man to man in a zone). Look for OSU to push the ball A LOT tonight to keep UCSB from getting their defense set. Also,  look for Jeremy Simmons and Jon Diebler, who just got over the flu, to have lots of outside looks. Lauderdale will be very effective tonight on the defensive end. UCSB star players are led by super sophomore Orlando Johnson who averages 18 points per game and 6 boards a game and James Nunnally who chips in with 15 PPG. Johnson is the star and is similar to Turner in size and skill somewhat. He can shoot but likes to attack. If he doesn't score well UCSB will be demolished.  Despite many upsets in the first round, Look for OSU to win this one, 78-57.

Make Your Picks: Big Ten Championship

First off, let me just say I hope you will all be here for our Live Blog event, featuring The Buckeyes taking on the Gophers.

Ohio State has finally reached the final stage of the Big Ten Tournament. They won the regular season trophy, and are now vying for a second one to put in the trophy case next to the regular season one. The opponent is someone that they didn't expect, much like the rest of the nation. The Minnesota Golden Gophers come in after fighting all the way from round 1 against Penn State, to upsetting Michigan State and Purdue, both favorites to reach the semi and finals. Now the Golden Gophers are looking for some love from the media trying to get into the NCAA Tourney. I would be surprised if they didn't, as they took care of the top of the Big Ten, except Ohio State, which still may come. Last time these two teams met Ohio State won in Value City Arena, but the time before that, Minnesota won on their home court. It will be interesting to see what happens. Of course, the stat of the year is that with Evan Turner, Ohio State has become a legitimate contender for the NCAA tournament. So, here's the final game before the March Madness tournament you get to pick on for the GPC.

Ohio State vs. Minnesota 3:30 PM est, CBS

My Pick: Ohio State

Remember, anyone can join the GPC at any time, but you'd better sign up soon, otherwise your chances for winning are slim. All you have to do is leave your name and say you want to participate. Finally, go to this link, and sign up for the March Madness Challenge, and you will be set to try and win a free item of your choice from the ITS Shop! Good Luck! See you here for the Live Blog!

Recap: Ohio State vs. Michigan Big Ten Tournament

The game started off well, but I didn't get to see it because I was in class. The Buckeyes showed some heart when Michigan took the lead late in the game, 66-64. Then the Buckeyes managed to score and tie it up at 66. The Wolverines, led by a reDONKulous player in Manny Harris, who finished with 26 points and 6 rebounds. He ended up thinking that he had won the game when, with 10 seconds left, he drove down and shot the jumper for the lead with only 2.2 seconds remaining. He thumped his chest knowing he had almost single-handladly won the game for the Wolverines. The inbound pass went straight to Evan Turner, who proceeded to go over the half court line and shoot a deep three. What happend next will go down in history for Evan Turner. By the way, I love Thad Matta.

Turner went 1 for 8 in the second half, but you could certainly say he made up for it with that. Perhaps the worst part for Michigan was that they had started the season ranked at 15, and from then on, just crumpled, slowly, but surely. Now looking for some redemption, they took care of Iowa and almost up-handed Ohio State. David Lighty and William Buford each scored 15 points for Ohio State, making up for Turner's down play in the second half. Ohio State is now 14-1 in the past 15 games aganist the Big Ten, which is good for our running in the NCAA and Big Ten Tournament. Evan Turner obviously makes a huge diffrence to this team, and I would be shocked if he didn't win POY. Mark Titus had this to say about the crazy shot that the Villan took. Next up for Ohio State will be Illinois, who upset Wisconsin (Damn, there goes my perfect record already) to get to the semis. This doesn't spell good news for us, to me, it Illinois always seems like a dangerous bunch. We'll see what happens.

You can't defend this dude.

Video via 11W.

A look back in Buckeye History.

Last BH post.

Every now and then, we will look back to great moments in Ohio State history and recap what happened. Today we will be looking back to the 1974 Rose Bowl game aganist USC and a little bit of the Michigan game before that USC game.

Ohio State - 42  USC - 21

Looking for revenge as well as redemption, the 1974 Buckeye squad was a good one. The 60th Rose Bowl then, the Buckeyes would be facing the USC Trojans. The Buckeyes won in a dominant way, with the running attack in Archie Griffin, but also with the precision passing of Cornelius Greene. Greene would end up being the MVP of the Rose Bowl that year, much like Terrelle Pryor was this year. He finished only 6 of 8 passing for 129 yards though. Griffin, a sophomore then, had his 11th straight 100 yard rushing game on the season. He ended up with 149 yards on 22 carries. Hayes said that the week before they had been working on passing the ball more because USC knew what was coming in Griffin. The Buckeye's defense was key, although allowing over 200 yards passing, they shut down the running game, including Anthony Davis, USC's leading rusher. The game was tied at 14 at the end of the first half, but the Buckeyes exploded in the second half scoring 28 unanswered points.

 Archie Griffin had the Buckeye's last play, a beautfiul 47 yard run late in the fourth quarter. This was a big win, not only for the Buckeyes, but for the Big Ten, as they had lost 4 straight in the Rose Bowl prior to Ohio State winning it. The Buckeyes coach said he thought they deserved the title of number one, on the fact they were undefeated, with a tie. That tie, though, came to Michigan. A 10-10 tie that will go down in College Football history as one of the greatest, and most controversial. To start, Ohio State ripped down the "Support Michigan" banner. Then, fierce play that resulted in a tie led most to believe that Michigan, not Ohio State, would be headed to the Rose Bowl. The band had started playing "California Dreamin", and most Buckeyes thought since they were the ones who got "upset" they woulnd't be going. The next day, however, the Big Ten wanted so badly to win the Rose Bowl, they deceided to give themselves a fighting chance. So they sent Ohio State.

How can you not love this??

• Bo Schembechler said the desicion was tragic.

• Most Buckeye fans didn't think so.

•  Ohio State's Archie Griffin would go onto to win the Heisman trophy as a junior, and a senior. The only two-timer ever.

How Sweet it is..

Big Ten Champs baby! Everyone at the GPC is still undefeated, so congrats to everyone who played, and good luck in future matchs. Expect a recap tommorow. Evan Turner had 16 Pts, 12 Reb, 5 Assits, and 1 Steal.

Champs of This!!!!

Ah, The beginning of a new year.

With Ohio State's first win in a BCS bowl game since 2005, people are already speculating what will become of the talent-laden Buckeyes. Tressel, the classy guy he is, is already telling his players to prepare themselves, and not to listen to what the media says, negative or positive.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is warning his players not to buy into the buzz that is certain to surround the Buckeyes after their 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

“First thing coach Tress mentioned to us when we had our first meeting after winning the Rose Bowl was DBTH – “Don’t Believe the Hype,” senior cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said.“Right now we’re getting a lot of hype and this is going to be a great season next year, but right now what we’re trying to do is just get back to the basics.”

Another storyline surronding spring camp, is the play of Tyler Moeller. The linebacker never got to play a game last season, due to the cheap shot given to him in a Florida bar. He was down as a starter then, but will look to come back and fight for it again. He is sounding like he has gotten better, but needs to be about 98 percent, if Ohio State's doctors say so. If we get him back, expect a fierce competitor come spring.

Jordan Hall, the tailback from Jeanette, said he will change his number to 7 from 29, due to Laamar Thomas transferring to NMU. Jaamal Berry, ITS's favorite running back until further notice, will look to compete for a job as he recovers from a hamstring injury, and finally, Kenny Guiton will give a go at taking over the back up position behind Terrelle Pryor at the quarterback spot.

Quotes and information from the Ozone.

_____________________________________________

Also, don't forget to make your picks tonight for the last regular season game against Illinois! 

Shout out to Doug for entering in the competition.

Good luck to all the competitors! 

Final Recap: Recruiting 2010 Part 1 of 2.

Part 1

As we look back on the recruiting trips Jim Tressel and his staff took this year, we see they brought in some good talent. I think the closest comparison to this class would be the 2005 class, where everyone thought that guys like Jenkins, Laurinatitus, Hartline, etc, were all labled as scrubs. Buckeye fans were wrong execpt on one note: Anderson Russell. (Sorry, had to stick it in there). We will recap the recruits we missed and hit, while giving them grades, and a rundown of their future as well as where ITS said they would go.

Seantrel Henderson - OL - 6'8"/330 - LOI - None - ITS said USC

As everyone knows, because we keep telling you over and over again, Seantrel Henderson has not totally decided where he wants to go to school at yet. On National Signing Day, he annouced he would attend the university of SC, but never signed his LOI. Many rumors flowed soon after, and Seantrel would proceed to say he wants to wait and see what the NCAA decides to do with the allegations involving USC. What this basically means is that he didn't have enough time to truly think about it, and wanted more descion time, but he said USC because CBS paid for the rights to televise it. (Which, in all honesty, is complete bull, since they didn't televise it on the CBS around the nation). It came so close that Seantrel sent a text message to his former high school coach with the word Miami. Not good news for Buckeye fans. Overall the staff seemed to go after him hard, but Tressel didn't want to spend all his time there, so he risked it and it eventually lead to this. Grade: D - (until further notice)

Jordan Hicks - LB - 6'2''/220 - LOI - Texas - ITS said Ohio State

Jordan Hicks was the lone "star" recruit in the nation to announce on Friday afternoon. Buckeye fans thought  he was either a Gator or a Buckeye. They were wrong. Hicks announced in front of his school that Friday to announce he would be playing for Mack Brown. Hicks shocked some Buckeyes and that's when the Henderson recruit became even bigger for the Buckeyes to pick. Many thought if we didn't get Hicks, we had to get Henderson, and we didn't (yet). Jordan is an outstanding linebacker, who has good speed and a good nose for where the ball is at all times. ITS posted some exclusive video of him a couple of months back. Jim Tressel and his staff recruited him fairly well, and in this case, there was nothing they could really do. Grade: B

Roderick Smith - RB - 6'3''/220 - LOI - Ohio State - Ohio State - ITS said Ohio State

Rod Smith is a very good running back that Ohio State was recruiting fairly hard, and was, most fans think, the lone gem in a heap. Smith has outstanding size and has rare athleticism for a kid with his frame. He is a great cutter, even when going full blown speed. He's known for his break out plays, which will help the Buckeyes with big play capability. We know he can block, and scouts had him down that he can catch fairly well. His weak point, would be his inside running, although that can be easily fixed by weight gain and good coaching, which we know Dick Tressel is reliable in that category. I think Rod can start his sophomore/junior year. There is so much talent at running back right now, that we have a stable similar to what USC used aganist us the past two years. Herron, Saine, Berry (Our favorite since recruited, love the kid) Hyde, Hall, Martin, and now Smith. Grade: A-

Come back tommorow for part 2, when we wrap up the last of the big name recruits.

Big day for Buckeyes.

Today is a big day for all Buckeye fans. For an investigation that started in 2006, the USC confrence starts today, and we will get see if they are guilty, or not innocent. The most recent USC "hmm's" are landing Seantrel Henderson right after Pete Carroll leaving USC and Lane Kiffin coming up in a Limo everywhere. Before that, just two months ago, running back Joe McKnight was caught driving a Land Rover provided by an LA businessman…and then, what the NCAA is looking at now, is Reggie Bush's treatment, (treated like a god, apparently), and OJ Mayo’s matriculation to LA broke in 2008 and the Trojan basketball program announced self-imposed penalties that included a postseason ban, forfeiting wins, the loss of scholarships and coach Tim Floyd leaving the program. If USC does somehow get away with all this, it will be, as i like to say, reDONKulous.

In more Buckeye news, Jim Tressel and his staff are already starting to recruit for next season, and the season after that. In fact, just yesterday, Quarterback coach Nick Sillicano found a 5 foot 3 kindergarden kid who can throw about 200 yards with a perfect spiral. It was to late, though, the kid, named Luke Sands, has already commited to Florida because Urban Meyer heard that Lane Kiffin got a 13 year old to commit, so he pulled the "I had a dream" speech with his parents. No, all kidding aside, The Buckeyes got early verbals from 2011 recruits Ken Hayes and Steve Miller and some people think that quarterback Braxton Miller may be a Buckeye come spring. This is huge, and there are plenty more recruits commiting to Ohio State quickly. The 2011 class is really looking a lot better than this class has looked.

Finally, you may have already seen this in our "Inside The Shoe News" but Miami quarterback Jacory Harris is out for the whole spring, including the spring game, due to surgery on his throwing thumb. Rustiness will only follow Harris into the big game, we hope, and highly touted running back Graig Cooper is most likely not going to see the playing field all season, let alone the Buckeye game. This is some more of the injures coming from the camp: Kicker/punter Matt Bosher, seen recently wearing a sling; linebacker Ramon Buchanan (shoulder); running back Cooper (knee); guard Joel Figueroa (upper extremity); linebacker Jordan Futch (knee); defensive lineman Levi Paalua (upper extremity), running back Lee Chambers (lower extremity). UM listed defensive tackle Marcus Forston (upper extremity), defensive back Ryan Hill (upper extremity) and safety JoJo Nicolas (upper extremity) as limited. Most of these players were projected starters, so even more good news for the Buckeyes. It seems like a good day to be one. Oh, and go on over to tBBC to wish congrats to Jeff, Eric, Jim, and Mali  for getting linked by ESPN. We here at ITS can only hope to follow in their footsteps. Great job guys.

P.S. If you all didn't notice the great post by Lee, head on over there to read the recap of the game last night.

A look back in Buckeye History.

Last BH post

Every now and then, we will look back to great moments in Ohio State history and recap what happened. Today we will be looking back to the 1984 game against Illinois.

Ohio State - 45 Illinois - 38

Many people will remember this game as the game that Keith Byars broke a ton of rushing records, and at the same time, lost his shoe doing a 67 yard touchdown run. In front of the second largest crowd in history (back then), 89,937, the Buckeyes had rallied from a 24 point deficit to win it out. Byars, led the attack, rushing for 274 yards on 39 carries. He also added 5 touchdowns for the day. This broke a record held by Archie Griffin, who had rushed for 246 against Iowa in 1973. Also, the 5 touchdowns resulted in a tie for most touchdowns scored which was held by Pete Johnson. This win was a marquee win for the Buckeyes, as it moved them into a tie for the Big Ten with Iowa, Michigan, and Purdue. It all started in the second quarter, when Byars led his team to a 91 yard, ten play drive that resulted in Byars scoring on a 16 yard run. On the next possession, quarterback Mike Tomzack threw a 30 yard pass to freshman receiver Cris Carter, and Byars jumped into the endzone on a 4 yard run. In Ohio State's fourth scoring drive, Byars did it all. He had all 26 yards of their offense, and put tOSU ahead 27-24.

Chris White, for the Illini, then boomed a kick deep from 46 yards, to put the teams at a tie. The game then became tied again, this time at 35. Illinois's offense then had a chance to take the lead again, and maybe secure a win, but they stalled which resulted in Ohio State's ball. Byars and Ohio State's other running back, Wooldridge, alternated in the last drive, which started at their own 20 yard line. On second and goal, Byars took a pitch left and went around the pile, and ran into the endzone for the 5th, and game winning, touchdown for Keith Byars. The 1984 Buckeyes would proceed to win against Michigan 21-6, which would propel them into the Rose Bowl to face USC. Earle Bruce led the team to the Rose Bowl, but couldn't pull it out, as Mike Tomzack threw 3 interceptions, and Byars was used sparingly, as Tomzack threw 37 times, resulting in USC winning 20-17. As an endnote, Keith Byars did not win the Heisman trophy, although many thought he should have. Maybe if Doug Flutie hadn't thrown that Hail Mary, it might have been Byar's name on that trophy, and not Flutie's.

Oh and 1 more thing..

We want to wish a belated Happy Birthday to the greatest Ohio State coach to ever live, Wayne Woodrow Hayes. Hayes accumulated a record of 205 victories, sixty-eight losses, and ten ties. His teams won three national championships (1954, 1957, 1968) and thirteen Big Ten Conference championships. Because of this impressive coaching record, Hayes received National Coach of the Year honors on two separate occasions. He was also one of the first college football coaches to recruit African-American players. The coach was legendary on all accounts, and I simply cannot believe we forgot his birthday. Woody Hayes was always said to have a big heart, and you could see it when he coached during games. He always went in and had his players play the game as hard as they could. It may just be a conicidence that he was born on Valentine's Day, but most people thought it was God's intent to do that. So again, Happy Birthday to him, on behalf of the staff of ITS.

 

More thoughts on Maurice Clarrett.

Maurice Clarrett is filing for early release out of prison. You all know the reason he was in there, so I won't go over the ugly details. My thoughts are to let him go, as he should have learned his lesson by now, seeing as he will most likely never see the NFL again, although he doesn't seem to think that. I would go ahead and tell you to join the "Free Maurice Clarrett" campaign on Twitter, or, if you still are a Clarrett fan, head on over to the 11W shop for the Free Maurice Clarrett shirt. I do believe he was, or at least could have been, as good as Archie Griffen. He was sure to win the Heisman his sophomore year, if he would have played. No telling where he would have stopped during his junior year. (Obviously if he didn't want to stay for his sophomore yeare, why would he stay for his senior?) Even when he did try to leave, if he was so intent on becoming an NFLer why did he mess around? 

Signing Day Predictions

Who will be the Next Ohio State Buckeye?

One day until National Signing day, and I think it's going to be a good one. We Buckeye fans should be excited, as well as hopeful. Matt James and Seantrel Henderson is whom we have focused on here, but there are plenty other great recruits that are looking to become Buckeyes as well. Inside The Shoe will recap the days events, and also tell you who we got, as well as who got away from us. Below shows my predictions of who the Buckeyes will end up with out of the 2 biggest names. No homerisim involved. I do wish you all Happy Signing Day Eve.

Seantrel Henderson

You've heard about him frequently, as well as seen some video on here and youtube. You've heard he's the next Orlando Pace. You've heard he will start as a true freshman wherever he ends up. What you haven't heard is where he WILL end up. It seems, in most experts eyes, that it is down to three, but Henderson pleads it's all 6. I say it's four. The 3 are unanimous. Ohio State, USC, and Notre Dame. Most people forget to mention the fact that he WAITED for the Miami Hurricanes to send him an offer. That's why there is four. If he was waiting for Miami to send him an offer, I would think that would be in my top 3. So, with Notre Dame and USC going under coaching changes, who has the edge? Ohio State? What happens if the coaching changes doesn't really effect Henderson? Oh, wait. That already happend. It seems to me it's going to come right down to the last hour for him to decide. Then again mabye he already has, but I'm here to tell you where I think he did already.

My Pick: USC

Matt James

Matt James has received much less hype than Seantrel, but has still received some love from tBBC, and 11W. We recently started posting about him, so theres not to much to tell. He is an amazing talent, who could start his sopohmore year, and is a great pass blocker.

My Pick: Ohio State

Check back here tommorow for more news, and of course, the recap.

Go Bucks!

Pitt is doubtful

It has been almost confirmed that the University of Pitt will, in fact, NOT be joining the Big Ten. At least, not yet. The Big Ten commitee shot down the rumors of Pitt joining by announcing that they are standing by their 12-18 month plan to sit around and relax, while college football fans are running around screaming names such as "Missouri! Notre Dame!! Cincy! Pitt!". I am really not to surprised, but have to say, dissapointed. I would have loved to see a quick, painless move for a team to join us. After all, what college football, or in this case, Big Ten fan wouldn't? Can it even be that simple? No, to put it simply. It can't. So, we will have to wait and see what will happen next. Expect to see some more rumors floating around, like the Big Ten is slow, or something. Meanwhile, 2 days away from the announcement of Ohio State recruits Seantrel Henderson, Matt James, and many more. Keep it here for more news.

Story link: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/02/bogus-report-has-pittsburgh-set-to-join-big-ten.html

Here's some video of Matt James and Seantrel Henderson for you.

James

Henderson

Almost Here..

National Signing day is just a couple of days away, but Jordan Hicks said he will announce where he will go on Friday at his school. Meanwhile, other recruits in Seantrel Henderson etc. are probably going to wait until the very end. Either way, stay tuned, and next Wedensday, we will recap all that has happend that day. Stay here for more Buckeye news.

Basketball: Chris and Yogi have seemed to take a little break, so I will just say Ohio State basketball in a sentence. Upset Purdue, lost to WVU, playing Iowa, pretty good chance in my eyes to win the B10, IF they can upset MSU.