Hey y’all. Good morning and welcome to the first official sunrise of the holiday weekend. I honestly couldn’t be happier you decided to stop by. Take a seat and put your feet up…can I get you anything? What’s that? You just want to read about Buckeye news? Excuse me for trying to be a gentleman. Take your feet offa my table and listen up…cuz here it comes.
EVERYBODY'S WORKIN(OUT) FOR THE WEEKEND. According to The Ozone and Buckeyextra there appear to be more than a few guys gettin-after-it in offseason workouts. This from safety C.J. Barnett:
“I’ve never seen it (like this) before, but guys are in here working on their craft nonstop. In past years, guys would take a lot of time off and, I guess be (regular) college students. I think they’ve figured out that being a college student is great, but being a football player is better. Guys are taking it a lot more seriously.”
And from TE Jake Stoneburner:
“(It’s) a lot different (this year)…We’ve been (working out) since the second spring ball ended. Guys have been out here doing extra every day, even on weekends. It’s expected with coach Meyer. That’s what makes his teams a lot different than most.”
Man, if that isn’t refreshing to hear from two upper-classmen I don’t know what is. It’s hard not to credit Meyer for this change of pace. Following the spring game Meyer, in his signature keepin-it-real fashion, handed each player a no-frills summary of his strengths and weaknesses (what I wouldn’t give to see one of those) in an effort to push them to improve. It sounds like the message was received.
While Meyer must be given most of the credit for this workoutapalooza, it’s simply got to be great for players to be having fun again. On this day last year, Tressel was 4 days away from being fired resigning, the program was in the news for all the wrong reasons, and “unprecedented turmoil” was the phrase of the summer (wow I just remembered how terrible last year’s offseason was…hold me).
Said environment had to make it hard for players to focus on football. Despite this team's lack of a post-season, and despite Gene Smith doing this every week, it’s refreshing to hear the squad is in good spirits and gearing up to play spoiler.
ENOUGH ABOUT YOU LET'S TALK ABOUT ME. Staying in the offseason conditioning vein, Brandon Castel of the Ozone recently caught up with some of the players at the WHAC where they had some interesting things to say about…themselves.
According to the players, the three fastest guys on the team are Bradley Roby, Devin Smith and Doran Grant who all ran 40s in the 4.3 range. Braxton was also called out as one of the fastest players on the squad, but his 40 time wasn’t listed.
Stoneburner said he’s been spending most of his time at WR including sitting in on wideout meetings and running WR drills. It’s been written about at great length, but I can’t wait to see what Stoneburner does in this new offense. Jake has been under-utilized during his entire career at OSU despite being a huge mismatch for opposing defenses. Get him the ball and get out of his way…MAMA THERE GOES THAT MAN!
Staying on the offensive side of the ball, OL Jack Mewhort said Center Corey Linsley is benching OVER 500lbs. Oh, and he ran a sub 5 second 40. So if you need a guy to move your car faster than anyone has ever moved your car…sans keys, you know who to call.
On defense, it was reported John Simon ran a 4.6 40, gets to the weight room at 5:30 a.m. (for the first of TWO lifts each day) and is sitting comfortably at 265 lbs. Stats like these have got to make opposing offenses hold eachother just a little closer.
Also on defense, DL Jonathan Hankins said he is down to 320 lbs and is feeling "better than ever". Big number 52 is poised to have an unreal season as he has lost weight while still maintaining his power. If things go as planned Jonathan and his new pant size will be blowing up offensive lines on the regular.
Where'd you put my car Linsley?SPEAKING OF BIG HANK. The junior has made it known that he wants a championship before he leaves OSU. For all of you playing at home, that's another way of Hankins saying he wants to stay for his senior season. While words are just words right now, it is good to hear Hankins wants to finish out his time at OSU in pursuit of a championship. This proclamation comes despite Hankins being listed anywhere from No. 11 to No. 3 on draft prognosticator’s big boards.
Here it is straight from the big man himself:
“My goal when I first got here was to win a national championship…If I happen to leave after my junior year, it’s because I’m predicted to go high. If I’m the first overall top pick, I’ll probably go…But if not, I’ll stay with my teammates and enjoy my life at Ohio State.”
You can't really argue with that. Well said Hank, well said.
WEEK 5 WILL BE A TEST. Tom Diehart of the BTN has been analyzing the upcoming Big Ten football season week by week. His latest write-up on Week 5 pegged Ohio State v. Michigan State as the game to watch.
All things considered, this week will be a big one for Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes. Week 5 is the opening Saturday for conference action and personally I couldn’t be happier it's opening with the Spartans. The game will be played at East Lansing, and the Scarlet and Gray should have revenge on their minds after the sloppiest game I’ve seen from Ohio State in years defensive battle that resulted in a 10-7 loss at the Shoe last season.
Despite not having a proven QB, MSU is coming into the 2012 season feeling confident they can ride their tough D to a second consecutive Big Ten Championship game. Watching the chess match unfold between Urban’s offensive mind and Dantonio’s defensive cranium should be a real treat. When it’s all said and done let’s hope the Buckeyes come out on top in their first trip away from the Shoe in 2012 (and #basketballschool starts trending on Twitter).
BIGGIE BIGGIE BIGGIE CAN'T YOU SEE, SOMETIMES YOUR LINKS JUST HYPNOTIZE ME. I hate this "Call Me Maybe" song on its own, but when it's mashed up like this... I'm kinda down with it. The 21 Absolute Greatest Problems in Life. So some kids were shooting a movie and Bill Murray was there, they asked him for an autograph but he gave them this instead...greatness personified. Some rare '91 MJ footage where he says some interesting things. Awesome people hanging out together.
