Poor, poor Lane Kiffin, the man assassinated by the Internet on Thursday. Is any of it true? Let's turn to the only man I trust when it comes to Alabama football, the Tuscaloosa News' venerable reporter, Cecil Hurt:
No.
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) September 24, 2015
Fair enough, Cecil.
Will that stop me from only referring to Lane Kiffin as "Joey Freshwater" from now on?
Not. A. Chance.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- Talk to 'em, Nature Boy.
- Drunk History: Harriet Tubman leads an army.
- My new favorite Vine.
SFW BONUS #BANGER:
- Young Jamaican trainer.
WHY DOLO? I'd like to clarify yesterday's statements:
- It's OK to question football things as long as you realize you're coming from a place of ignorance compared to Urban Meyer and do it in a tactful manner.
- A hater at this point is somebody that's spending "IRL Angry Points" on this decision. "If that doesn't apply, then let it fly."
Getting off my soapbox now... here's some thinking on why Dale got the nod from ESPN.com:
2. The pro-style shift favors Jones: On numerous occasions over the last couple weeks, Meyer has gone out of his way to stress that Ohio State is now aiming for a more pro-style attack out of his familiar spread formation. He’s even gone as far as proclaiming that the zone-read rushing scheme isn’t really a part of the game plan anymore.
And if the Buckeyes are serious about that transition, there’s nobody with more pro-style traits at quarterback available than the 6-foot-5, 250-pound, rocket-armed Jones. For all of Barrett’s strengths as a nimble rusher and accurate distributor of the football, he can’t stretch the field like Jones and also doesn’t have the ability to just shrug off potential sacks in the pocket like the big man did against Virginia Tech.
And it’s often overlooked, but Jones is much more mobile than he typically gets credit for, continuing to give the Buckeyes the option of a multipurpose weapon at the position with legs that have already produced a long run of 24 yards and a touchdown so far this season.
Urban said on Thursday's Coach's Show if Ohio State does these three things they're "tough to stop:"
- Control the line of scrimmage.
- Block on the perimeter.
- A play-action game to compliment the run game.
Everything starts with the offensive line (not even Andrew Luck can escape that rule of law), and Dale is better equipped to handle No. 3.
TYVIS POWELL STAYS FROSTY. BREAKING NEWS: Ohio State's secondary is in good hands with Tyvis Powell.
From CampusRush.com:
"[There's] nothing else in the world that I'd rather be doing but to be playing football in front of 110,000 fans, and they're all screaming for us to do good," Powell said. "You just want to go out there and make a play for them, man, because that's what they want us to do and the way that place lights up, it's just the best feeling in the world."
[...]
"Some people, they say that we have the potential to be the best defense to ever come here (OSU), and I want to actually fulfill that dream," Powell said. "From a team standpoint, I definitely want to go back-to-back, because it hasn't been done here. And this program has so many great traditions, and the history is incredible … that's a strong point that we could leave here, if we won back-to-back national championships."
Some say Cardale Jones was mercurial after Ohio State's closer-than-expected victory over Northern Illinois, but they should know Cardale's father/guardian is out there keeping a watchful eye on his son:
"I take care of him. I'm the reason the rent gets paid on time. I'm the reason the bills get paid on time … he was a loose cannon," Powell said. "Cardale was off the hook—and I'm the one who got him sort of situated.
"He tends to veer back to his old ways here and there, but you know that's when I have to step in and do my fatherly duties and tell him you can't do that."
Dear Browns: You need another safety and — are you sitting down for this one? — another quarterback. The NFL is sticking you with Hard Knocks next year (unless Mike Pettine is fired).
Do the right thing. Keep a young single father and his son together and bring them home. It's only right.
RECRUITING AGAINST THE BIG BOYS. Imagine having to recruit against Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Mark Dantonio, and James Franklin. Now imagine having to do it from a three-star MAC school.
This is the reality faced by MAC coaches.
From Cleveland.com:
"The identification process is so completely different," said Meyer, who used to coach at Bowling Green. "You're looking at 250 names. Each coach has 50 names. Each coach here has four. There's a huge difference."
[...]
Ohio State can wait until the end to go after a MAC recruit and get him without issue. So if Fleck earns a commitment from a diamond in the rough, and that diamond is identified by Ohio State or another Power Five team, forget about it.
[..]
"You're just recruiting a different type of athlete at Ohio State," said Kent State coach Paul Haynes, a former Buckeyes assistant. "It's kind of far and few at the elite programs. The identification is a lot earlier. You have more help to identify them, also, with the staff that you have compared to the staff that we have in the mid-majors."
"The identification is easier," eh? Makes you think about some of these "historically great" teams with no talent in the cupboards.
BUCKEYE GRAD LIVING THE DREAM. Perhaps this will become a new series in the Skull Session: Buckeye grads who are balling.
From Complex.com:
By the time Stauffer enrolled at Ohio State University to study middle school education in 2008, he’d developed a methodical system around [NBA 2K's] roster modification. He created his own mathematical formulas based upon multiple statistical measures, using them to try to bring order to an imprecise and, by nature, imperfect system.
[...]
“I had just finished my master’s degree in education, and I was teaching fourth and fifth grade math when I got the call,” he says. “[2K Sports] flew me out for an interview, and we just talked about the things I’d done as a community member. They were on board from the start about my vision for the ratings, and they decided to bring me on and let me start to implement that.”
Because Stauffer was brought on somewhat late in the development phase of last year’s release,2K16 is his first opportunity to put his mark fully on a release from conception to completion. When users fire up the game for the first time, they should be able to feel the changes immediately.
The first thing they’ll notice is that just about everybody has had their overall rating reduced since 2K15. Even LeBron James, whose overall rating hasn’t dipped below 98 in any of the last five iterations of the franchise, will open at a 94 this year. In fact, only six players, including James, are rated in the 90s; Steph Curry (93), Anthony Davis (92), James Harden (92), Kevin Durant (91), and Chris Paul (90) are the other five.
#Shoutout to Ohio State's middle school education program for getting Mr. Stauffer prepared for real life.
CANE RUSHES WERE WILD. Yesterday, I wrote about Ohio State's 1915 Cane Rush, which were basically coordinated brawls between collegiate classes in which one team attempted to move a cane from one end of the field to another.
Now — for some reason — I can't stop reading, writing, and thinking about cane rushes!!!!
From OSU's Archives (via @MikeOSU2):
The Cane Rush was undoubtedly one of the most brutal student traditions to ever taken place on OSU’s campus. In fact, some have described the event as a mixture of rugby, football and WWF wrestling.
[...]
The Cane Rush in 1894 was so violent that one Lantern reporter wrote:
“If our young men are to do that for which in the ordinary walks of life they would have to answer to the law of the land, it is high time that the iron hand of discipline be imposed. University history should not be blotted by the record of many such affairs as occurred last Thursday."
TIL: A young, hatin'-ass Edgar J. Hoover wrote for The Lantern.
The Cane Rush became a beloved student tradition under [OSU President William Oxley] Thompson’s administration and in 1908 it reportedly drew some 10,000 spectators. Because of its reputation, students even began charging admission to the event.
I propose Ohio State ditches the Quick Cals and replaces it with a 21st century cane rush. I dare anybody to name a better pregame banger than watching freshmen and sophomores beat the teeth out of each other over a cane.
THOSE WMDs. Niagra Falls: Time lapse, tilt shift... Years you have left to live, probably... Sending out Treasury checks in 1936... The Boston Fish Guy video is a 21st century Moby Dick... There will never be another Yogi Berra... Do you live in a pumpkin desert?
