After awakening to the news last weekend that two of his star players had run into trouble with the law, Urban Meyer was then forced to fend off a throng of reporters at the annual B1G media days event. Suffice it to say, Meyer hasn't exactly had the best of weeks.
The good news for Urban is that he'll be back in his comfort zone tonight as he hosts Ohio State's 2nd annual recruiting showcase dubbed Friday Night Lights.
The current coaching staff and a host of guest instructors will be on hand to tutor and evaluate over 100 of the nation's top prospects.
The core of Ohio State's 2014 class, including Damon Webb, Marcelys Jones, Jamarco Jones, Sam Hubbard, Lonnie Johnson, Kyle Trout, Terry McLaurin, Kyle Berger, Dylan Thompson, Dante Booker Jr., Parris Campbell and Sean Nuernberger are expected to participate, and hopefully work on convincing the likes of LB Raekwon McMillan, WR Curtis Samuel and DB Marshon Lattimore that they too belong in scarlet and gray.
As Jeremy noted Wednesday, McMillan is traveling with a large family contingent, providing Urban and company the chance to turn on the charm and further cement Ohio State as the leader for Raekwon's services.
Samuel already holds a Buckeye offer and with Urban acting as the lead recruiter, expect Samuel to get lots of face time with the head coach.
The event is free and starts around 6 p.m. but if you can't make the trip, don't worry, we've got you covered as the trio of Jeremy, Jordan and Mike will be your eyes and ears covering all the pertinent happenings and grabbing some quotes from all the key players.
BREAKING DOWN BRAXTON. Matt Brown of SportsOnEarth is in the midst of ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in college football and Braxton Miller checked in yesterday in the sixth position.
Obviously, that ranking seems a bit low considering Braxton has the 2nd best odds of winning the Heisman and is coming off a league MVP season but what good is a list if it doesn't piss some people off?
I'd have Braxton a little higher on the list but regardless of ranking, the article contained a few interesting nuggets regarding Miller's performance a season ago that will definitely need to change if Ohio State is to capture the national title.
First, I knew it wasn't pretty but I didn't realize Miller completed just 49% of his passes on 3rd down. That mark was overshadowed by a devastating ability to make plays with his feet on potential possession-changing downs but 49% likely won't lead the Buckeyes to the promised land this season. The article goes on to note that Braxton's 58% completion percentage overall marked just the 2nd time an Urban Meyer quarterback completed less than 60% of his throws (J. Harris).
Second, while Miller's rushing exploits last season are well-documented, so is the fact he was also susceptible to injury and if he's not under center against legit foes, the Buckeyes have little chance of running the table. That said, Meyer knows he has to strike a better balance between trying to keep Miller upright while still giving him opportunities to punish defenses with his feet. Last year, Miller racked up 227 rushes – the most of any Meyer-coached quarterback – and he did it in just 12 games.
Again, those carries are a large reason Ohio State was able to run the table (Brax had 14 runs of 20+ yards) but he can't help you win if he's in a full body cast. The hope is that Braxton's improved mechanics, grasp of the offense and overall maturation combined with a deeper receiving corps will allow him to attempt (and complete) more passes thus decreasing his carries but we've seen Braxton abandoned his learnings and rely on raw ability before.
If Braxton has truly matured as a quarterback, we should see him average roughly three to four carries less than the nearly 19 totes per game he racked up a season ago, a stat that could go a long way in determining whether or not the Buckeyes bring home the crystal.
HATE. WIN. REPEAT. With the Buckeyes now eligible for postseason play and Michigan in the opposite division for the final year, save another restructuring of divisions somewhere down the line, 2013 marks the last time Ohio State and Michigan could meet in consecutive games.
Urban Meyer talked earlier this week about just how stressful and exhausting such a scenario would be and afterward, players from both sides of the rivalry offered their thoughts.
Christian Bryant is always ready to rumble:
I think it'd be exciting. People who watch the sport of football, they know what type of rivalry Michigan-Ohio State is. Playing them back-to-back weeks, that'd be a big deal."
"Yeah, that would be intense. We have certain ways we go about things during that first meeting with them in the regular season. If we faced them again ... it'd be like 'we just did this.' But, you can't skip by that -- it'd be something you could tell your kids about one day."
Wolverine safety Thomas Gordon also expressed excitement at the potential opportunity:
"You'd be so tired after that whole process. The amount of preparation you put in for that team, and everybody outside practice pouring in to talk to you -- it'd be a lot."
"But it'd be an experience you'd never forget, and it'd be something no other team has ever gotten to experience."
Like most fans, I'm glad the powers that be put Ohio State and Michigan in the same division but for one year, the thought of having the chance to beat Michigan in back to back games is pretty damn delicious. Like Halle Berry in her prime delicious.
"Where is AAron right now?!ALABAMA SNAKES. The University of Alabama reported 31 secondary NCAA violations across 11 sports yesterday including seven committed by the football program.
For the most part, nobody gives a rat's ass about what are typically mundane violations that mean nothing in the grand scheme of things but the report did contain one interesting football related tidbit.
Though the report doesn't mention names, it does note that a football staffer, while at another institution, "provided impermissible benefits to a prospect and his family and introduced prospect to a booster while at another institution."
The staffer is believed to be Nick Saban's current Director of Football Operations, Joe Pannunzio.
Pannunzio, According to the Yahoo! report that got Miami in hot water thanks to their relationship and blind-eye toward booster Nevin Shapiro, was a an assistant coach with the 'Canes and "facilitated and was present for a meeting between top offensive line recruit Matt Patchen and rogue booster Nevin Shapiro at Shapiro's Miami Beach mansion. Yahoo! also obtained phone records that showed Shapiro and Pannunzio communicated 422 times via text message or call from 2006 to 2010."
For his transgressions, Pannunzio had his salary frozen by Alabama and his contract was not extended for a year while most of Saban's assistants enjoyed both a raise and an extension following last season's national title.
Former Tide assistant Jeff Stoutland also reportedly attended the meeting with the recruit and Shapiro. Stoutland was a 'Bama assistant for two years before joining Chip Kelly's staff in Philadelphia earlier this year.
THE COMPANY LINE. PAC-12 leader Larry Scott became the latest of the big five conference commissioners to call for NCAA reform. As with his peers, Scott trumpeted the notion that the power conferences with unmatched resources should face less restrictions on how they deploy them.
Like his peers, Scott was quick to imply sweeping changes that would give the power conferences more flexibility to do things like provide stipends to athletes that smaller conferences/schools couldn't match didn't mean that all the FBS schools still couldn't't coexist on some level:
'I don't think of it as much of an us vs. them situation as maybe is the impression out there. I'm certainly aligned with what you heard from my colleagues this week in terms of the need for transformative change, but I think it can be evolutionary and not revolutionary. 'I don't think it will be as confrontational and controversial a process as some of the reports I have heard this week.''
''Schools that have resources and want to be able to do more for student-athletes are frustrated, concerned that we're being held back from doing more for the student-athletes in terms of the stipend. 'The idea that there is an even playing field in terms for resources is a fanciful and quaint notion.
Scott also backed the trend of power conference schools avoiding "guarantee games" with FCS schools that come with hefty paydays for have-nots in the equation, citing the move to nine-game conference schedules in many leagues as a chief reason why.
''I'm not very sympathetic. I just don't think the concept of buy games is a healthy thing for college football or for fans. It's been a quirk in the system that they've benefited from and good for them. I certainly don't feel like it's an entitlement or right they have. To me that's not a higher priority than creating higher quality college football matchups. 'There is plenty of socialized revenue distribution through the NCAA.''
The eventual extinction of FBS vs. FCS matchups is a no-brainer but the issue of all FBS schools not being able to afford stipends for athletes across multiple sports will undoubtedly become an increasingly contentious and sticky issue as the talk of NCAA reform progresses.
EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN LINK. BREAKING: The Hyde footage is finally available. YOU be the judge... Deebo's backyard... Trey talks Phish... Subway: Eat flesh... Ryan Braun's forearm... Slow motion video of an AK47 being shot underwater... Butter is good and good for you... If the Largest U.S States had the Largest Populations... The Onion gives Greg Oden the treatment... The goods on Brady Hoke... A reminder of Beanie's stiff-arm... Urban already ratcheting up his player discipline.
