Good morning 11Wsters and welcome to your Wednesday Skull Session.
Just in case you missed it yesterday, this group of basement dwellers will venture into the sunlight for the Nebraska game and Eat Too, Brutus 2012.
Eat Too is the preeminent tailgating experience and it's returning this year against the Huskers. We're undefeated at Eat Too, and that trend will undoubtedly continue.
Listen, it's easily the most important thing you'll do this year - meet the lot of us, eat some excellent food, watch the Buckeyes get revenge, and give to charity.
Seriously, be there. Oh, and give @EatTooBrutus a follow on Twitter as well.
AN HEIR TO THE BIANCHI THRONE. Bianchi started it off a week ago with his "not-surprisingly incorrect facts", and now a new challenger appears:
Enter Tim Brando.
Brando argued on his radio show that Urban has shamelessly lobbied with Delany to be considered for the Leaders Division championship (because who could resist "2012 Leader Division Champs" t-shirts and bumper stickers??) as a motivating tool.
Luke had this to say in response:
Urban Meyer has never once campaigned to play in the Big Ten title game, win a division championship, or otherwise. He's gone record as saying he and Gene Smith were both caught off guard by the NCAA's sanctions, calling them a "punch to the gut". But he has consistently (and since the beginning) accepted them:
"I'm not going to worry about what I can't control," Meyer said, "so we're going to worry about tomorrow, not yesterday. There were mistakes made. You handle it and move on and go forward because players need to follow the leadership of the coach."
Brando didn't just stop with his radio show, but took to Twitter in an embarrassing conversations with Ohio State fans, which was chronicled by Tony Gerdeman:
@gerdozone @timbrando We were there right after Meyer found out his team could win Leaders title. He seemed, what's the word? Underwhelmed
— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) September 11, 2012
Meyer was underwhelmed because winning the Leaders division of the B1G in one of the B1G's worst years shouldn't really motivate anyone – it's not that impressive. Brando called out Tim May, even throwing around "pathetic":
@tim_maysports Gee Tim surprised you would play along. Pretty funny stuff. I stand by my opinion and Urban's needs for a Div Title. Pathetic
— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) September 11, 2012
So yeah. Which journalist will be next?
THEM'RE FIGHTIN' WORDS. Because we can't go a week without an opposing team providing bulletin board material for our Buckeyes, Cal defensive end DeAndre Coleman had a few words about the Ohio State offensive line:
Cal DE DeAndre Coleman: "I feel like we're more physical than them up front. I really don't see them being that good or anything."
— Brandon Castel (@BCastOZone) September 11, 2012
While I think "bulletin board material" is way over-analyzed by game commentators (see: "the Horseshoe isn't loud", "old man football") and doesn't really affect the game outcome, it's kind of fun to see nonetheless.
Not to mention I actually disagree with Coleman this year - the offensive line actually isn't my biggest worry on offense for once! Ok, maybe the right side of the line could use work and depth isn't fantastic, but Norwell, Linsley, and Mewhort are certainly stout.
MORE HEISMAN HYPE. Even though there is certainly cause for concern about how frequently Braxton has carried the ball this year, our fearless ball-carrier extraordinaire deserves some love for record-setting statistics so far this season.
After two games, Braxton has 302 rush yards, which is good for 4th most among NCAA FBS players, the most in the B1G, and the most of all quarterbacks.
These crazy statistics have warranted some national attention, with various ESPN writers and entities doing their part to (over) hype players across the country (as an aside, UGA linebacker Jarvis Jones actually deserves some attention as a serious Heisman candidate). My two cents: I stand by my original prediction that Braxton becomes a serious Heisman competitor by next year, but remains in the "also receiving votes" category this year.
Some more cents: let's remember that TSUN fans trumpeted Denard's September accomplishments incessantly the past few years. Remember? It got old. In fact, only this got older.
I think Braxton's numbers will be better than Robinson's sophomore numbers during Big Ten play, primarily because Brax is a better passer and has better weapons around him than Denard did. However, let's not promote the "September Heisman" thing for Braxton - the national media will do that well enough on their own - and we can just wait to see whether Braxton's October and November numbers speak for themselves.
DEFENSIVE LINE WOES. It's no secret that the 2012 iteration of the Silver Bullets has been somewhat underwhelming in terms of pressuring the quarterback, recording just three sacks by Noah Spence, Diesel Washington, and Steve Miller.
However, compare this to the similarly dominant Michigan State defensive line:
Michigan State has just one sack this season. They might want to quadruple that number this weekend against ND.
— Tony Gerdeman (@GerdOzone) September 11, 2012
Crazy, right? Most national analysts predicted the Buckeyes and Spartans to not only have the top D-Lines in the B1G but the entire country, yet the two teams combine for just four total sacks across four games.
Maybe, just maybe, sacks aren't a perfect indicator of quarterback pressure... In any case, look for both teams to improve their sack totals in coming weeks.
YO DAWG, I HEARD YOU LIKE LINKS. Tom Brady: "The toughest metrosexual I've ever come across"... Buckeye national award updates... As Coombs said, the OSU D is 3rd in the country in interceptions. If only they'd have less communication breakdowns... Some fun with small sample sizes - very surprising stats that might not mean much, but are interesting... You guys and your fancy phones... McMillan's ridiculous stat line... Stop eating the junk food... Proofs, for those of you that are in to that sort of thing... The Alphabetical.
