Well it’s bittersweet ladies and gentlemen, the last Saturday Skull Session together before the beginning of the 2012 college football season. We had our jollies, but now it’s time to get down to actual, real live pad popping.
Remember how good that feels? Here's a little refresher:
If that doesn’t get your blood pumping…you’re dead. Get off the Internet and get on with your afterlife.
DOUBT NO MORE. Heading into spring practice, the biggest doubter of Ohio State’s wide receiving unit was the Buckeyes' own head coach. According to Rusty Miller, Coach Meyer lambasted the corps so much that the team’s receivers describe the ordeal as surviving “a trauma together”.
''It did get to us,'' said Devin Smith, one of the starters. ''Every single day after practice we were, like, `Man, Urban is on us.'''
Here’s a small, "press-friendly" window into some of the things Meyer probably let loose in practice:
"I didn't enjoy being around noncompetitive (players). They weren't competing in the spring.”
With a passing attack as close to dead last in college football as you can get (115th out of 120 FBS schools), Meyer knew he had to light a fire. In a move akin to an elementary school boy making fun of the girl he likes, Meyer took to criticism.
Personally I love the move. You’ve got to believe these blue chippers have been told since the age of 10 they’re the best thing to grace a football field. Hearing, “hey, you aren’t good enough” was jarring, no doubt.
As I’m sure Coach Meyer envisioned, the players used the criticism as fuel for the offseason.
This from receiver Evan Spencer:
"I think coach Meyer said those things to get us to step up. We needed it and we took it on as a challenge and I love that. The fact he expects so much of us, deep down, makes us realize we need to get out there and do our thing. I'm glad to see that as a unit we've been taking on the challenge positively.''
The receivers realize they’ve still got work to do to pull themselves out of the college football passing cellar, but Meyer likes the change he’s seen stating,"they're competing now. It means something to them. That's kind of neat to see."
OH THE PAGEANTRY. Coach Tressel pioneered the postgame singing of Carmen Ohio facing the student section. If the Spring Game is any indication, Meyer plans to embrace that ritual, but it seems he’s also going to add one of his own.
I’ll just let him explain:
I absolutely can’t wait to witness a fired up student section breaking this down in unison. Bookending each home game with a tradition involving the student body is why Ohio Stadium is the best place in America to catch a college football game.
Good luck tackling this down-field.NOT A BLOCK HEAD. The Dispatch’s Tim May had a great run-down on Zach Boren’s potential new role in the Ohio State offense.
The speculation all offseason has been Boren’s days as a “hey go block that guy” player are officially over.
According to May, Offensive Coordinator Tom Herman had this to say to Boren at the beginning of spring ball:
"Hey, just show up every day to work, and if you’re good enough, we’ll find a place for you on this football field and in this offense."
Boren answered the call, slimming down from 255 lbs to 230 to improve his quickness and playmaking ability while still maintaining his strength. His sterling work ethic in the weight room and on the football field earned him the title of co-captain, and it’s clear the coaching staff has found a place for the bruiser in the playbook.
“There are schemes that call for him to flank out wide like a receiver, to step up next to a tackle like a tight end, to stand next to the quarterback as a running back, not to mention at fullback or tailback.”
It will be intriguing to see how Meyer and Herman utilize Boren this season. Good luck to any defensive back trying to hang in and make a tackle on number 44.
Q AND A WITH KRENZEL. BuckeyeNation’s Brad Bournival sat down to talk with good ol’ number 16 about the 2002 national title and the coaching change he experienced as a player in 2001.
Personally, I’ve never heard much from Krenzel about the national championship so it was great to get his play-by-play perspective.
When asked about the “euphoria” of winning a national championship:
“It's one of those things that you don't realize how cool it is and what a big deal it is when you're actually going through it. When you're a kid like that in college, obviously you go out every day and train for that to be your goal… It's taken a little bit of time and being away from it as a player where you sit back, especially nowadays where you realize how big college football has become, you realize year in and year out you see good football teams and it reminds you of how difficult it is to accomplish that. It's one of those things that definitely grows on you as you get a little older.”
And about what was going through his head on the final play:
"(Laughs) I think more than anything, "Thank God, this game's over." We were all pretty tired and pretty beat up. You know, it's one of those things where you watch our defense. Miami has the ball first-and-goal on the 2-yard line or 3-yard line or whatever it was. And I remember thinking to myself, 'Man, if there's any defense in the country that can do this, it's our guys.
Then first down goes by, second down goes by, third down and the next thing you know it's fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line and Cie comes off the edge untouched. The ball goes up, Donnie Nickey slaps it to the ground and the first thing I did is look around and see, "Are there any penalty flags? Is this thing really over?" I didn't really even watch the play. I was sitting kind of down on the bench. I knew with the amount of fans we had there, when the place erupted and went crazy, I knew it was good for us. By the time I looked up, all our guys had scattered on the field. I just ran out there and enjoyed the celebration."
You ready for football yet?
THIS LINKS ON ME. How great is it to read one of these and not see Ohio State mentioned?... The anti instagram... What the Mighty Ducks are doing now. Who knew Karp would slim down so considerably? Must have been that trip to fat camp in Heavyweights... UrbanMeyerOSUHC has been a little dormant during the offseason, but something tells me he'll pick up right where he left off come Sept. 1.
