Toe Jam & Earl...Bruce? As mentioned here around this time yesterday afternoon, Chris "Beanie" Wells and his stiff arm that will end all that you know and love will spend Saturday afternoon on the sidelines as the Buckeyes go toe to toe with the Ohio Bobcats. While his status remains unofficial with respect to the regular season clash of '08 against the Trojans next week, all speculation remains Wells is expected to be 100% as the Buckeyes travel out to Los Angeles. As anyone who's ever had a serious toe injury will attest, what Beanie's going through is no walk in the park; for a position who's success is mandated on the ability to make sharp, planted cuts, with, well, your feet, the idea that Wells would be anywhere close to his full effectiveness without full functionality of his right foot is hardly laudable. Still, with Maurice Wells slated to get the start and the Boom & Zoom tag team of Dan Herron and the perpetually-dinged-up-in-his-own-right Brandon Saine expected to split the carries in thirds, this opportunity to showcase the Buckeyes' embarassment of riches at the position should be a good one.

Turf Theory of Everything (aka T.O.E.). As if Beanie's mystery toe ailment wasn't troublesome enough, evidently Buckeyes starting fullback/h-back Brandon Smith is ailing as well, as the 5th-year senior continues to battle through turf toe. Apparently Smith's suffered inflammation of the bridge between his big toe and heel since his middle school playing days, so ideally he should be conditioned to the discomfort by now. With The Vested Glory insinuating the fullback starting spot as being "the most important on the team" leading into the season, he and the coaching staff's continued trust in Smith speaks volumes to both Smith's grittyness as well as his playmaking abilities. With a cadre of immensely talented (albeit mostly green) halfbacks expected to carry the bulk of the Buckeyes ground game on Saturday, Smith's durability and overall blocking efficacy could prove important.

One order of athlete's foot, please. Buckeyes rookie tackle starter sophomore Bryant Browning received the dreaded "not a winning performance" grade on his opening week effort against the Youngstown State Penguins. His biggest offense? You guessed it: lively feet. A costly false start penalty on the first year starter brought an early drive to a grinding hault and forced the Buckeyes to instead settle for a field goal. He also allowed his man to re-introduce Todd Boeckman to the Ohio Stadium artifcial turf during a particularly rough blow following a pass, which causes The Plain Dealer's 2008 Eager Beaver award winner Doug Lesmerises to speculate what many have openly stated: that Browning's long-term future may instead be on the interrior line. James Patrick Tressel's thoughts on Browning's play also raise some interesting questions about the right tackle's future:

"We thought Bryant did well in the game," Tressel said Thursday. "There are some things he needs to do better. I think a young guy like J.B. Shugarts did well also. But that's not the kind of guy that Bryant Browning is (to worry about his job). He's not worried about if it's locked down. He wants to get better and he's working, but I think J.B. Shugarts is going to be good."

Tress' insistence on lavishly praising and repeatedly bringing up the freshman Texas native's play in a question aimed directly about another lineman tends to not reflect favorably on the aforementioned lineman's long term grasp on the position.

There are 120 feet in 40-yards. In case you head better things to do than take in last Saturday afternoon's Ohio/Wyoming clash, Hilliard/Columbus native (and Hillary Darby alumnist) Taylor Price is doing big things for the Bobcats. After largely being overlooked in a run first (which would seem to be the calling card of Hillard ISD football programs) offense during his time in Columbus, after a series of blazing 4.29 40-yard dash times Price found his way to Athens, where he set a Bobcat record with 14 catches last week. Price's speed and solid mitts should pose a nice dry run for Buckeyes all-world DB Malcolm Jenkins as he readies himself to chase Patrick Turner, Vidal Hazelton, and Damian Williams around the Colliseum.

Foot in mouth disease takes another. Congratulations Buckeyes, we finally have our very own Kige Ramsey! GO82BUCKS wins hearts and minds with commentary utterly deprived of analysis, charm, or gravitas, but he does appear to record his brave videos from the inside of an air turbine of some sort (steer clear of the blades, kind sir). I won't spoil whom he picks for Saturday's epic battle for Ohio, but I will enthusiastically endorse the Catlab/Spike & Mike-esque demented homertastic animation that graces the end (the 1:45 mark). Brutus + Decapitation = High Art (Warning: for those easily offended by/unable to watch at work rough animations containing slang for female cats and cartoon blood, steer clear)

 

Okay, I am a Michigan fan, but I come in peace with a question to all of you Buckeyes. Do you prefer a Michigan team that sucks and you get to beat up on or do prefer Michigan to win every game and then have the chance to ruin their season come November?

 

I know that in years past, my wish was to be a spoiler to tOSU, and always hoped they did well (although I never openly rooted for them). With the who’s the best conference thing though, I actually do find myself cheering for Ohio State whenever they play out of conference. So I was just curious if you guys feel them same at all? Did you cheer when you heard (or watched) Michigan beat Florida?

 

Right now I secretly hope that, if Michigan does not beat tOSU this year, that you make it to the National Championship game (preferably against an SEC opponent) and win 77-3.

 

Anyways, comments anyone?

2007 Look Back

2007 Record: 6-6 (4-4 - 4th Place MAC East)
2007 Road Record: 2-4
2007 vs Teams w/ Winning Records:  2-1
2007 vs. Ranked Opponents:  0-1
2007 Bowl:  None
Last year vs Ohio State:  N/A
All-Time vs. Ohio State:  0-5

2008 Key Stats

Last week: L 20-21 vs, Wyoming
Record: 0-1 (0-0)

OFFENSE
Yards/Play, Offense:  4.6 (#79, nationally)
Scoring Offense/Game:  20.0 (82)
Rush Yards/Att:  1.86 (101)
Pass Yards/Att:  6.0 (69)
3rd Downs Conv-Att:  3-13-23.1% (96)
Red Zone Scores-Chances:  3-4-75.0% (76) (1 TD / 2 FG)
Turnovers lost:  2 (44)

DEFENSE
Yards/Play Defense:  4.4 (48)
Scoring Defense/Game  21.0 (57)
Rush Yards/Att:  4.0 (75)
Pass Yards/Att:  5.0 (38)
3rd Downs Conv-Att:  6-12-50.0% (50)
Red Zone Scores-Chances:  3-3-100.0% (54) (3 TD / 0 FG)
Turnovers gained:  2 (36)
Turnover margin:  +0 (43)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Yards/Punt Return, Ohio:  N/A (Haven't returned a punt yet)
Yards/Punt Return, Opponent:  13.0 (64)
Yards/Kickoff Return, Ohio:  46.67 (6)
Yards/Kickoff Return, Opponent:  26.33 (95)
FG Att-Made: 2-2-100.0% (1)

Personnel

Returning Starters From '07:  13 (6 offense, 7 defense)
Best Player, Offense:  Andrew Mooney, TE #81 (SR) (3 catches for 10 yards, 1 TD vs Wyoming) (34 catches, 498 yards, a school record 9 TDs, 2nd Team All-MAC in '07)
Best Wide Receiver:  Taylor Price, #23 (JR) (14 catches for 139 yards vs Wyoming) (33 catches, 464 yards, 4 TDs in '07)
Best Running Back:  Chris Garrett, #2 (JR) (12 carries for 30 yards vs Wyoming), (17 carries, 99 yards, 0 TDs in '07)
Best Player, Defense: Jameson Hartke, DE #90 (SR)
Best D-Lineman: Hartke
Best Linebacker: Lee Renfro, #32 (JR)
Best CB: Mark Parson, #24 (SR)

Updated: 09/04/08 at 11:25 EST

Offensive Starters:

 

 

Complete Offensive Depth Chart:

Pos.	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
QB	#17 Todd Boeckman (SR)	#14 Joe Bauserman (R-FR)	#2 Terrelle Pryor (FR)
HB	#34 Maurice Wells (SR)	#1 Daniel "Boom" Herron (R-FR)	#3 Brandon Saine (SO)
FB	#87 Brandon Smith (SR)	#49 Ryan Lukens (SR)
WR	#80 Brian Robiskie (SR)	#12 Dane Sanzenbacher (SO)
WR	#9 Brian Hartline (JR)	#82 Ray Small (JR)
TE	#88 Rory Nichol (SR)	#86 Jake Ballard (JR)	#87 Brandon Smith (SR)
LT	#75 Alex Boone (SR)	#74 Mike Adams (FR)
LG	#71 Steve Rehring (SR)	#55 Andrew Miller (SO)
C	#64 Jim Cordle (JR)	#66 Andrew Moses (JR)	#50 Mike Brewster (FR)
RG	#63 Ben Person (SR)	#77 Connor Smith (SO)	#73 Josh Kerr (SO)
RT	#70 Bryant Browning (SO)	#73 Josh Kerr (SO)	#76 J.B. Shugarts (FR)

 

Defensive Starters:

 

 

 

Complete Defensive Depth Chart:

Pos.	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
DE	#87 Lawrence Wilson (JR)	#90 Thaddeus Gibson (SO)	#99 Curtis Terry (SR)
DT	#92 Todd Denlinger (JR)	#72 Dexter Larimore (SO)
NT	#93 Nader Abdullah (SR)	#84 Doug Worthington (JR)
DE/DT	#97 Cameron Heyward (SO)	#9 Rob Rose (JR)
WLB	#51 Ross Homan (SO)	#36 Brian Rolle (SO)
MLB	#33 James Laurinaitis (SR)	#38 Austin Spitler (JR)
SLB	#1 Marcus Freeman (SR)	#26 Tyler Moeller (SO)
BCB	#2 Malcolm Jenkins (SR)	#29 Shaun Lane (SR)
FCB	#5 Chimdi Chekwah (SO)	#13 Andre Amos (JR)
FS	#21 Anderson Russell (JR)	#8 Aaron Gant (JR)
SS	#4 Kurt Coleman (JR)	#7 Jermale Hines (SO)

 

A few quick thoughts:

Quarterback: Only a modicum of surprise here that the more senior (albeit infinitely less talented) Bauserman is still listed ahead of TP2. Although as we saw in the YSU game, the order of the depth chart bared no correlation to the order of substitution or the amount of playing time for each of the 3 QBs. Color me selfish as my dream scenario would be for Boeckman to get 2-quarters worth of snaps, Pryor a quarter and a half, and Bauserman mop up duty, but it's likely the split will be more along the lines of 2/1/1.

Halfback: It absolutely kills me that even the fan base and regional media is beginning to buy into the national sports media's myopic perspective that this position is turning into some sort of gaping question mark. Obviously you want your best players (health permitting) to get their reps going into a potential team/conference reputation restoring match up, but I'm of the mind set that allowing the three-headed Cerebus of Herron/Saine/Wells to get extended duty will only serve this team better, both in the Battle for Los Angeles and long term. Herron, by all accounts, absolutely tore up summer camp, we already know what we're getting with Brandon "Zoom" Saine, and Maurice Wells showed new life in the presence of the fleet footed magician freshman quarterback we call Terrelle. With the added benefit of letting Beanie return to 100%, I see no reason the Buckeyes' depth at running back can't compete with that of anyone in the country's (including a certain Los Angeles based juggernaut tOSU may or may not square off with in the week ahead).

Offensive Line: Perhaps the highlight of the YSU game was seeing "the second line" of offensive linemen, which at one point included virtually the entire Brew crew as Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts, and Mike Brewster all played concurrently. If anyone wants a crystal ball to see the make up of the Ohio State offensive line in '09/'10, that's your portal. Getting these guys repetitions against the Bobcats will be huge in adding additional depth should the unthinkable happen in either of the next 2 contests.

No alarms and no surprises as the defensive depth chart remains virtually static this week. It remains interesting that The Vested One lists the right end spot as a sort of hybrid defensive end/defensive tackle slot, but makes perfect since when you consider the bodies occupying the slot are more than fit for both positions. Brian Rolle and Jermale Hines were both all over the place against the Penguins; it'll be interesting to see how their energy and speed translates against the quicker receivers and backs of Ohio U., and then the even speedier weapons they're sure to see in Southern California the following week.

 

 

Big 10: OSU over Ohio U, Illinois over E Illinois, Michigan over Miami OH, Wisconsin over Marshall, Penn St over Ore St, Iowa over FIU, Indiana over Murray St, Mich St over E Michigan, Purdue over N Colorado, Northwesten over Duke - All home games

ACC: BC over GA Tech, Clemson over Citadel, Wake over Ole Miss, Fla St over Western Carolina, Maryland over Mid Tenn St, NC St over William & Mary, VA Tech over Furman, Virginia over Richmond - ACC makes a slight comeback this week, albeit against 5 FCS teams

Big12: Missouri over SE Missouri, Kansas over LA Tech, Colorado over Eastern Wash, Montana St over Kansas St, Nebraska over San Jose St, Oklahoma over Cinncinnati, Texas over UTEP, Tex Tech over Nevada, Tesax A&M over New Mexico, Okla St over Houston, Baylor over Northwestern St

BigEast: West Virginia over East Carolina (barely), UConn over Temple, South Fla over UCF, Louisville over Tenn Tech, Pitt over Buffalo

Pac10: Az St over Stanford, Oregon over Utah St, AZ over Toledo, Cal over Wash St

SEC: Georgia over Central Mich, Florida over Miami (will be closer than you think), Kentucky over Norfolk St, Vandy over South Carolina, LSU - Troy postponed, Auburn over Southern Miss, Arkansas over LA-Monroe, Miss St over SE LA, Alabama over Tulane

Conf USA: Memphis over Rice, SMU over Texas St - gonna be a beatdown weak for the Conf USA

Independents: Army over New Hampshire, Notre Dame over San Diego St, Western Kentucky losing to Eastern Kentucky

MAC: Bowling Green over Minnesota, Kent St over Iowa St, Ball St over Navy, West Mich over Northern Illinois

MWC: BYU over Washington, Air Force over Wyoming, TCU over Stephen F Austin, Utah over UNLV, Col St over Sacramento St

Sun Belt: FAU over UAB, Ark St over Texas Southern, North Texas over Tulsa

WAC: Hawaii over Weber St, Idaho over Idaho St, New Mex St-Nicholls St postponed

Unfortunately not too many upset picks in that group other than Bowling Green, Ball St, Kent St and Vandy. Other bolded games are the ones that "should" be more competetive.

 

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First off, this isn’t meant to rank conferences by overall strength. This is meant to rank just the quality of this weekends games.

 

First, the BCS conferences

 

1. Pac 10: 4-1 OOC, Wins at Virginia, vs Mich St, vs Idaho, 1 FCS team; loss vs Oklahoma St; plus 2 conference games Stanford W vs Ore St and Oregon W vs Washington; UCLA still to play Tennessee

 

Quality wins by USC and Cal, Okla St loss not all that bad.

 

2. SEC: 10-1, Wins at Clemson, at Louisville, vs NC St, vs Hawaii, at Miami OH, vs Memphis, vs LA-Monroe, 3 FCS teams (including Appy St); Loss at Louisiana Tech; Tennessee still to play at UCLA

 

Quality wins by Bama and Kentucky, Clemson, but the loss by Miss St hurts.

 

3. Big 10

 

7-3, Wins vs Syracuse, vs Akron, vs Northern Illinois, vs Western Kentucky and 3 FCS teams; losses at Missouri, at Cal, vs Utah

 

No real significant wins, but the 3 losses are all of quality,

 

4. Big 12: 10-2 Wins vs Illinois, at Wash St, vs Colorado St, vs Western Michigan, vs FIU, vs North Texas, vs FAU and 3 FCS teams; losses vs Arkansas St and vs Wake Forest

 

Quality win vs Illinois, Loss to Arkansas St stings.

 

5. ACC: 7-4 Wins at Kent State, at Baylor, 5 FCS teams, Losses vs USC, Bama, at South Carolina, and at East Carolina

 

Hurts to say it, but at least the losses are at least of quality, wins are all very weak though.

 

6. Big East: 4-3, Wins vs 4 FCS teams, losses vs Kentucky, vs Bowling Green and at Northwestern; Rutgers still plays Fresno St

 

If Rutgers wins vs Fresno St, they would move up to 5, but 4 wins only vs FCS and losses to Bowling Green and Northwestern were not pretty.

 

Non BCS conferences

 

 

1. MAC: 6-6, Wins at Pitt, UTEP, at Army, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Wisconsin, vs Boston College, at Nebraska, at Wyoming, Vanderbilt, at Minnesota

 

This has to do mainly with the overall strength of the opponents. Losses to Wisc, BC, Nebraska are of quality, and the Bowling Green win was excellent as well.

 

2. Conf USA: 5-2 OOC, Wins vs Virginia Tech, vs LA-Lafayette, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Ole Miss and at Buffalo; plus 2 conference games, Tulsa W at UAB and Rice W vs SMU

 

East Carolina was best non BCS win of the weekend, but loss to Buffalo hurts a bit.

 

3. WAC: 4-3, Wins vs Miss St, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Florida, at Arizona, at UNLV; plus Fresno St still to play at Rutgers. Fresno St win bumps this up to number 2.

 

Louisiana Tech win was nice, and the losses to Florida and Arizona are to be expected, but UNLV, bleah.

 

4. MWC: 4-2 OOC, Wins at Michigan, vs Ohio U, 2 FCS teams; Losses at Colorado and vs Cal Poly (FCS school!!!!!!); plus 1 conference game TCU W at New Mexico

 

The Utah win was very nice, but the loss to Cal Poly really hurts here.

 

5. Sun Belt: 1-5 OOC, Win at Texas A&M; Losses at Texas, at Auburn, at Kansas, at Kansas St, at Southern Miss; 1 conference game Troy W at Mid Tenn St

 

Only thing that saves them from finishing below Army, Navy, and Western Kentucky is the win by Arkansas St.

 

6. Independents: 1-2, 1 Win vs FCS team, losses at Indiana and vs Temple

 

Yuck, double yuck, nothing to see here at all.

Is Todd Boeckman one of the best QB's in the country?  You can help him be recognized as the BEST in the country...read on.

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One guy's crazy projections for 2008 (I know 75% probably will be wrong) ... but oh well.

Here it goes:

Big 10

Ohio St 12-0, 8-0

Wisconsin 10-2, 6-2

Michigan St 10-2, 6-2

Penn St 9-3, 5-3

Illinois 8-4, 5-3

Purdue 6-6, 4-4

Michigan 7-5, 3-5

Indiana 6-6, 3-5

Minnesota 6-6, 3-5

Iowa 5-7, 2-6

Northwestern 3-9, 0-8

 

ACC

 

Clemson 10-2, 7-1

Boston College 10-2, 6-2

Wake Forest 10-2, 6-2

Florida St 7-5, 5-3

Maryland 4-8, 1-7

North Carolina St 3-9, 1-7

 

Virginia Tech 10-2, 6-2

Miami Fl 8-4, 6-2

Virginia 5-7, 3-5

Georgia Tech 6-6, 3-5

North Carolina 5-7, 3-5

Duke 2-10, 1-7

 

Big 12

 

Missouri 10-2, 6-2

Nebraska 8-4, 5-3

Kansas 7-5, 4-4

Colorado 7-5, 4-4

Kansas St 4-8, 1-7

Iowa St 3-9, 1-7

 

Oklahoma 11-1, 7-1

Texas 10-2, 6-2

Texas Tech 10-2, 6-2

Texas A&M 10-2, 6-2

Oklahoma St 5-7, 2-6

Baylor 1-11, 0-8

 

Big East

 

West Virginia 11-1, 6-1

UConn 9-3, 5-2

South Florida 9-3, 4-3

Louisville 9-3, 4-3

Rutgers 8-4, 4-3

Cincinnati 6-7, 3-4

Pittsburgh 5-7, 2-5

Syracuse 2-10, 0-7

 

Pac 10

 

USC 10-2, 8-1

Arizona St 10-2, 7-2

Oregon St 9-3, 7-2

Oregon 8-4, 6-3

California 6-6, 4-5

Arizona 6-6, 3-6

UCLA 4-8, 4-5

Stanford 5-7, 3-6

Washington 3-9, 2-7

Washington St 3-10, 1-8

 

SEC

 

Florida 11-1, 7-1

Georgia 9-3, 6-2

Tennessee 9-3, 6-2

Kentucky 6-6, 3-5

Vanderbilt 4-8, 2-6

South Carolina 4-8, 1-7

 

Alabama 10-2, 6-2

Auburn 9-3, 6-2

LSU 9-3, 5-3

Arkansas 6-6, 3-5

Mississippi St 5-7, 2-6

Ole Miss 5-7, 1-7

 

Independents

 

Notre Dame 7-5

Navy 6-6

Army 4-8

Western Kentucky 4-8

 

Conf USA

 

East Carolina 7-5, 7-1

UCF 7-5, 6-2

Southern Mississippi 7-5, 5-3

Memphis 5-7, 3-5

Marshall 5-7, 4-4

UAB 2-10, 1-7

 

Houston 9-3, 7-1

Tulsa 7-5, 6-2

Tulane 7-5, 5-3

UTEP 4-8, 3-5

Rice 1-11, 1-7

SMU 2-10, 0-8

 

MAC

 

Bowling Green 10-2, 7-1

Miami OH 9-3, 7-1

Kent St 7-5, 4-4

Buffalo 6-6, 4-4

Temple 5-7, 4-4

Ohio U 5-7, 3-5

Akron 2-10, 1-7

 

Ball St 10-2, 7-1

Central Michigan 7-5, 6-2

Eastern Michigan 6-6, 5-3

Western Michigan 5-7, 3-5

Northern Illinois 2-10, 1-7

Toledo 1-11, 0-8

 

MWC

 

BYU 11-1, 7-1

Air Force 10-2, 7-1

New Mexico 8-4, 6-2

Utah 6-6, 5-3

San Diego St 6-6, 4-4

Wyoming 4-8, 2-6

Colorado St 4-8, 2-6

UNLV 3-9, 2-6

TCU 2-10, 1-7

 

Sun Belt

 

FAU 7-5, 6-1

Troy 8-4, 5-2

LA-Monroe 5-7, 4-3

LA-Lafayette 4-8, 4-3

Middle Tennessee St 4-8, 3-4

Arkansas St 3-9, 2-5

North Texas 5-7, 3-4

FIU 1-11, 1-6

 

WAC

 

Fresno St 11-1, 8-0

Boise St 10-2, 7-1

Hawaii 9-4, 6-2

Nevada 7-5, 5-3

San Jose St 6-6, 4-4

LA Tech 4-8, 2-6

Utah St 4-8, 2-6

New Mexico St 2-10, 1-7

Idaho 2-10, 1-7

 

Conferences

 

SEC

Big 12

Big 10

Pac 10

ACC

Big East

WAC

MAC

Conf USA

MWC

Sun Belt

Hey, a week from today (8/16) Troy Smith will be starting the 2nd Ravens' preseason game! 

It's about time we can create an all-OSU team on madden that is spectacular...  I remember making one with a 60-something rated Krenzel and not a whole lot else, and pretty soon there will be Wells...  and speaking of him, where's Pittman at?!  Well...besides the Rams, I mean, I hope he sees some more time than last year!