After Wednesday's practice afforded the media zero accessibility to the field or players for post-session interviews, the team will be back at it this morning for a regular session ahead of the first two-a-day of Camp Meyer, which is scheduled for Friday.
This morning's post-practice interview lineup consists of Ed Warinner and Everett Withers along with Evan Spencer, Andrew Norwell, Christian Bryant and Travis Howard.
I'm interested to see what Warinner has to say about the state of the offensive line, specifically how the battle at right tackle is shaping up. I'm sure Kyle and company will be digging hard to see if Taylor Decker is continuing his charge to overtake Reid Fragel's spot.
With the knowledge that 12-0 gets us nowhere this year, I honestly hope Decker can at least do enough to earn significant PT as we prep for next year's title run. No hate toward Fragel obviously, but I just struggle to think that a converted TE is the way to go in the B1G considering the circumstances in Columbus.
I'm also interested to see what Withers has to say about the secondary in general and the competition between Howard and Doran Grant at corner opposite Roby. I still get the impression that his starting job is anything but locked up and that Howard is the listed starter more so because of his experience advantage over Grant.
Check back later for Kyle's report. For now, enter thy skull.
SECONDARY SCHOOL. WolverineNation's and BuckeyeNation's writers, Rothstein and Ward (LLC), plowed forward with their series examining Ohio State and Michigan from a position-by-position standpoint and the latest installment focused on the secondaries.
As Rothstein notes, it's pretty amazing that Michigan's secondary is probably the best positional unit on the team, just a few years removed from being the biggest joke on a squad full of knee-slappers. Only two of the punch lines from previous sets remain and they are now key cogs on the defense as a whole. Jordan Kovacs, who even the great Chris Spielman checked leading up to The Game circa 2010, is now one of the better safeties in conference and J.T. Floyd has become fairly serviceable.
South of Canada's bowels, some folks are bullish on the Buckeye secondary but I'm personally taking a cautiously optimistic wait-and-see approach. As Ward notes, Roby is set to become the star of the group but I need Howard and Grant to show me something - consistently - to be excited about.
At safety, I agree with Ward's assertion that C.J. Barnett might be poised to breakout but while I love the wood Christian Bryant brings, he also needs to show vastly improved discipline with open field tackling and not gambling so much in coverage. With so much playing time under the true junior's belt, I'm confident he can show an improved football IQ, but seeing is believing.
Don't get me wrong, I think this group could easily be the class of the B1G - and it's definitely better than Michigan's unit as is - but being the best in the conference is contingent upon Bryant and Howard/Grant stepping up in a fashion that would significantly exceed last year's respective body of work.
I GOT FIVE ON IT. The four major pro leagues and the NCAA teamed up earlier this week to sue the state of New Jersey following Guvna Chris Christie's signing of a law back in January that would allow sports wagering within the state's gaudy confines.
The NCAA/Leagues assert that the law is "in clear and flagrant violation" of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a federal law enacted back in 1992. The law allows for sports wagering in just four states: Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon. Apparently, Joisey had a chance to become the fifth member of the club but didn't capitalize on a year-long window to do so after the act was passed.
In response, Christie lobbed the following questions:
"I don't believe that the federal government has the right to decide that only certain states can have sports gambling. On what basis? And it doesn't acknowledge that there is illegal sports gambling going on in every state in America, as we speak. So why is this more injurious than illegal sports gambling to the operations of the league or the NCAA?"
Obviously, the NCAA/Leagues cite concerns over fans becoming more worried that games are fixed but as a supporter of sports gambling, I hope Jersey wins if for no other reason than maybe it'll keep a few less knuckle draggers out of Vegas when I head there for the first weekend of the Big Dance every March.
Presenting the sickest helmet in footballHOOPS, I DID IT AGAIN. I know most of you are in such a football mode that you'll complain about a quick blurb about hoops but try not to hyperventilate.
The B1G conference should once again be very deep this winter and Eamonn Brennan recently took a look at the best case /worst case scenarios for each squad.
Examining the Buckeyes, Brennan calls Craft the "nation's best perimeter defender with a bullet" and cites Matta's general ridiculousness as a reason the Buckeyes could once again be contenders in March, while the worst case is listed as nothing more than falling short of the recent standards Matta has set for the program.
No question it's asking a lot to replace your best scorer and a four-year starter like Buford - warts and all - but I'm not sure I've been more excited to watch an OSU hoops team evolve since the Thad Five arrived on campus and took the Buckeyes to the national championship game.
I continue to believe Craft can will a team to do just about anything, Ross is going to be a game changer offensively come late December and Amir is primed to be Ken Johnson's sequel. That doesn't even take into account how Smith and Thomas matured last year.
So basically, just consider this a friendly PSA if you're salty reading seven sentences on OSU hoops right now.
JOKES ARE FUNN...WAIT, YOU SERIOUS?! There's no question the BTN.com guys do an outstanding job churning out a fantastic combo of basic coverage, deep analysis and opinion pieces combined with banter-inducing posts, and Brent Yarina's latest spot ranking the B1G helmets is no exception. Yarina's list puts Penn State in the top spot followed by the winged helmets of Ann Arbor before Ohio State's dome checks in 3rd. Third??
I'm not sure it's possible but I did try to put my homerism aside and I still end up having Ohio State holding down the top spot. What is "too sparkly" for Brent is the most dominant-looking helmet in college football if you want my self-certified opinion, especially in November when the thing is tatted up with Buckeye leaves (too soon?).
I have a sleeper in the 2nd spot. The fact that Ferentz gets so much national love despite the overwhelmingly mediocre record he's put up can't shake my love for the Hawkeye helmet. I love the Hawk on the sides, and the old school "America Needs Farmers" acronym that ran from '85-'92 was a nice touch.
My 3rd best helmet in the B1G reluctantly belongs to Michigan. I don't necessarily like the look. What am I saying? I flat out hate it - but I love how just seeing it immediately makes me want to break stuff.
As for Penn State's helmet, I don't get it. I understand and respect that many see a classic, historical vibe going on there but in my eyes, it looks low budget and overwhelmingly boring. What's your top three?
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