As is the norm, Urban Meyer and a handful of players met with the media after last night's practice and unlike in week's past, very few worthy nuggets came forth.
Meyer talked about how Jack Mewhort informed him there'd be no letdown this week, thanks to not only a team that says it's laser focused on the task at hand but also because it has a 2011 loss at the hands of Purdue to avenge.
Philly Brown and Bradley Roby echoed Mewhort's thoughts which does not bode well for the Boilers.
On the injury front, Meyer confirmed Braxton is 100% and said that while Evan Spencer will play, his practice time was extremely limited. While that's a blow, I think it could signal a potentially big day for Chris Fields.
The senior from Painesville had four catches, one going for a touchdown in the Penn State neutering, compared to just one grab over the previous four games. Beyond the receptions in relief of the injured Spencer, Fields was all over the field as a blocker, triggering touchdown runs by both Carlos Hyde (39-yard) and Dontre Wilson (26).
It will be interesting to see if Meyer makes an effort to reward Fields for his play, similar to the way he went out of his way to feature Jeff Heuerman and Evan Spencer in the Florida A&M game following their exceptional dirty work the previous week at Cal. I know Purdue is an upgrade over the Rattlers but that doesn't mean Meyer won't try to throw the senior plenty of bones out of respect.
CLIMBING THE LADDER. Much has been made of former Ohio State wide receivers coach and current Purdue shot-caller Darrell Hazell's first chance to square off against the Buckeyes, this Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette.
That's an interesting side story to be sure but it will also be former Buckeye linebacker Marcus Freeman's first crack at his alma mater, as well.
Freeman remains one of the more under the radar former Buckeyes when you consider his accomplishments. As a three-year starter, Freeman was part of four B1G championship squads and participated in two national championship games. He wasn't just along for the ride, trailing only James Laurinaitis in total tackles for three straight seasons, leading the team in tackles for loss in '08.
Forced out of the NFL after a year thanks to an enlarged heart valve, Freeman earned a graduate assistant spot as part of Ohio State's 2010 coaching staff and knew coaching would be his future now matter how much Luke Fickell tried to convince him otherwise:
"The first thing you try to do is talk them out of it," Fickell said. "Crazy business, a lot of things you give up. Obviously there's things you get. But the No. 1 thing is, especially if you played here and win here, sometimes you think I want to get into coaching because I want to coach at Ohio State. The reality is not every place is like this. The reason I tried to talk him out of it -- if you can't talk them out of it then you know they're fit for the coaching profession. As much as I tried I couldn't do it. You see why."
As it turns out, Fickell's comments were really meant as a test to help Freeman determine if he was truly on board with what it would take to be a successful college football coach, from committing to the X's and O's to coming to grips with the toll the profession could take on his family.
Now a handful of years in, with a master's degree in sports management from Ohio State in hand, Freeman knows he made the right decision:
"...it's almost like I've got a passion for coaching more than I did for playing. I get more excited to coach, and I think it's different because yeah, it's football, but you live through young men and you get fulfilled when you see a young man that you work with and you coached hard go out and be successful. That, to me, is more satisfying than anything I could've done on the field."
So, while your watching OSU throttle Purdue this weekend, don't forget to tip your cap in Freeman's direction in thanks for what he did for the Buckeyes and what he's now doing to help those that came after him. He's definitely one of the good guys.
Freeman was a two-time 2nd team All-B1G selectionRULES IS RULES. Everyone's favorite governing body, or at least multiple arms of it including Leadership and Legislative Council's, announced five new rules that will go into effect for big-time college football effective immediately.
A sample of the goods:
- During the summer, in prep for the upcoming season, kids are permitted to participate in eight hours per week of required weight training and conditioning. A max of two of those hours can be devoted to film study.
- School staff members can no longer attend all-star games or activities associated with those games nor can they have any in-person contact with the recruit from the time the recruit arrives at the event until he returns to his home or school.
- Schools are now allowed to pay for meals for up to four family members who accompany a recruit on an official visit. Gone are the days of a school paying for the recruit and his parents, legal guardians, spouse or children, but forcing his siblings or other family members to potentially fend for themselves.
In related news, the Leadership Council has been tasked with researching whether or not "heavy reliance" on online courses is is appropriate for student-athletes.
OSU HOOPS COUNTDOWN: 9 DAYS. Aaron Craft and company tip-off the season a week from Saturday against Morgan State, fresh off another B1G tournament title and a berth in the Elite Eight to cap a 29-8 campaign that saw the departed Deshaun Thomas carry Ohio State's offense, creeping into Ohio State's all-time top 10 scoring list with 1,630 career points.
This year, it's Craft's team and he's got a solid supporting cast led by LaQuinton Ross, Sam Thompson, Shannon Scott and fellow senior, Lenzelle Smith Jr. The squad could prove to be another dynamite defensive group which will be key as the offense figures out how to replace Deshaun's production and gel together while taking on expanded individual roles in the always-rugged B1G conference. It helps that the Buckeyes will have the kind of senior leadership they've lacked since the days of Lighty and Diebler.
In prep for the season, BTN.com asked a beat writer covering each school to chime in on some things.
Their results named Craft as a no-brainer 1st team selection and defensive player of the year with Ross taking 2nd team honors while Michigan State was the overwhelming favorite to win the league.
The BTN also asked their staffers to make some predictions and they were all over the place with regard to Ohio State. The crew of Bardo, Dienhart, Merriman and Yarina all had Craft as a 1st team pick with Ross picking up a 1st team nod and three 2nd team selections. All four tabbed Ohio State as runners-up to Sparty for conference supremacy and Yarina sees Thompson as the league's breakout performer.
Meanwhile, the B1G Geeks, Mike Portscheller and Josh Reed, weren't quite as bullish on the Buckeyes.
Portscheller had Craft as the lone Buckeye representative with a 3rd team selection though he did project OSU to finish 2nd in the league behind the nation's best defense.
Reed didn't have room for Craft on his three all-league squads, with Ross earning 2nd team honors and Ohio State finishing 5th overall behind Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. File that one away, folks.
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