The portal to Dec. 31st is canceled. I'm sorry. Medieval wizards are more expensive to rent than I thought.
LUKE FICKELL READY TO LEAVE THE NEST. Luke Fickell has 15 pairs of Gold Pants, which has to be a record.
Yet despite an admirable care-taking of the 2011 season and coordinating stingy defenses the last three years, he's been overshadowed by Chris Ash and Greg Schiano.
Fickell will never get the props he deserves, but he hasn't been forward in looking for head coaching jobs as Chris Ash and Greg Schiano, who reportedly interviewed with Oregon last week in New York.
That changed, however.
From cleveland.com:
Fickell's discomfort is palpable. He doesn't want to talk about this but now believes many others do. Chris Ash, for example, arrived at Ohio State for the 2014 season as the co-defensive coordinator to Fickell, said in his first interview with reporters that he came in large part because he wanted to be a head coach and after two seasons in Columbus got the head job at Rutgers.
Fickell realizes that the world has changed, that Jim Tressel's old advice about do your job well and good things will happen doesn't apply as much when getting your name out there is part of the game.
[...]
"He said, 'If you want to do this, it's a different world. I know the things we said, and how we preached it. But you've got to do some things a little different,'" Fickell said.
Good on Jim Tressel to let his former charge know the game switched on him. Looks like Fickell took heed.
From dispatch.com:
Some immediately linked Fickell last month to the opening at Florida Atlantic, whose athletic director is his friend and former OSU associate AD Pat Chun. But insiders say Fickell would prefer to stay in the Midwest and that he is aggressively pursuing the UC job.
Schiano, Kerry Coombs, and Ed Warinner are also in the running for the Cinci job, which is a good job for any competent coach.
P.J. Fleck, however, is holding out for greener pastures.
From cbssports.com:
Fleck's representatives told Cincinnati officials the coach wants a Power Five job to the point he wouldn't speak to the Bearcats' hierarchy. "P.J. is not in play here," a Cincinnati official said.
We'll see what happens, but Urban Meyer could lose his two defensive coordinators, an offensive coordinator, and a special teams coordinator in the same cycle. Probably won't lose all of them, though.
GURUS CRUNCHED THE NUMBERS. People pointed out yesterday they didn't want to skip to Dec. 31 because it meant skipping institutions like the Potato Bowl, the Belk Bowl, and the Bowl Formerly Known as the Little Caesars Bowl.
Not me. I want to skip to the part where we see how the local team stacks up against national competition. Until then, we only have speculation, analysis, and numbers.
From sbnation.com (via EtTuBrute):
| TEAM | CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCES |
|---|---|
| ALABAMA | 44.8% |
| OHIO STATE | 29.1% |
| CLEMSON | 14.3% |
| WASHINGTON | 11.8% |
The biggest reason Ohio State will win: Efficiency. It is the most important of the Five Factors, and the Buckeyes nail it. They are second in rushing success rate on offense and sixth in defense, and they are fantastic in short yardage situations on both sides of the ball.
The Buckeyes peck and poke at you, five yards at a time, with running back Mike Weber, quarterback J.T. Barrett, and do-everything Curtis Samuel. They move the chains and prevent you from doing the same.
That will win you a lot of games. It has won Urban Meyer 61 of his 66 games at Ohio State, in fact.
Sounds damn good to me.
However, Bill Connelly (the author), says the reason the Buckeyes won't win is because their passing game will fall apart with the stakes at home. That sounds like something that will keep me from sleep for the next three and a half weeks.
The article also gives Ohio State a 61.2% chance to beat Clemson. If it advances to the finals, it has a 63.2% chance to beat Washington, and a 41.2% chance to beat Alabama.
Those numbers sound right to me.
I recognize Alabama as the best overall team right now, but I'm not bending my knee to them before the game is played.
TRANSFER SEASON COMETH. Ohio State has 16 commits in its 2017 recruiting class, which ranks second in the nation. Kicker Blake Haubeil will grayshirt, but if the dominoes fall the Buckeyes' way, they could end up with 20-22 commitments in the class.
That's a bad number considering the lack of seniors on the roster. There will be early draft declarations, medical disqualifications, etc.
There will also be transfers.
From 247sports.com:
“Watch the [Ohio State] 2016 [recruiting] class,” the source began. “I’m told several of those guys might not be back. It’s a very good class and a lot of them played this season. But some didn’t and you may be looking at one to three that might not be back. And they can use every single spot they can get. I’m telling you, keep an eye on that class.”
Hate to see any recruit come to Columbus and not leave as a surefire NFL Hall of Famer, but I understand some players see entrenched talent in front of them and more talent behind them.
After all, only 11 former blue-chips can play at a time.
LOCK 'EM UP. #Shoutout to the 39-year-old Penn State fan that went out in State College and caught a case.
From ap.org:
Police say the four identified through surveillance video from Saturday night so far include three students and a 39-year-old man.
Police used pepper spray and mounted officers in riot gear to disburse what they called an "unlawful disturbance" following No. 5 Penn State's 38-31 win over No. 8 Wisconsin.
Police say some fans climbed on street signs, others removing a street light and even one report that a fan sprayed a police horse with a beer.
Not making the playoffs had to be a kick in the testicles when they posted bail Monday morning.
And kids, if you're going to destroy your community's property because your team won its biggest game in over a decade, don't do it with a middle-aged man. They're dead weight in situations like that because they don't walk around in rioting shape.
BOW DOWN TO THE INTERNET. Last month, I brought you footage of the No. 1 prospect in the 2017 class, five-star Iguana from the Galapagos Islands.
The only way it could get better is overdubbing Marshawn Lynch's explanation of the "Beast Quake" over it:
From Reddit.com:
My favorite part is Lynch's silky shift from "Uh-oh, looks like trouble" to "Oh, I know it's trouble" like he's sliding into second gear to break away from the tiny defensive backs.
THOSE WMDs. Start New Year's resolutions right now... Video: That mate who's too into his beer... Four million commutes reveal U.S. megaregions... Rethinking the commute... NJ will no longer collect loans from families of dead students... ASU's upset of UM legitimized BTN.
