Wednesday Skull Session

I saw The Desolation of Smaug (REVIEW: two Marionaire gunz up) this weekend, and I figured Bilbo Baggins hustling the Arkenstone from under a fire-breathing dragon's nose was the best jewel heist I'd see for awhile, but that was foolish because Urban Meyer is quite the jewel thief himself. 

After 2017 quarterback Danny Clark pulled the trigger on his commitment last week, Urban Meyer has been busy chiseling gems out of SEC bedrock and shipping them back to Columbus. On Monday, it was the nation's top inside linebacker declaring his fealty to The Ohio State University.

Then yesterday, Johnnie Dixon, a four-star blue-chip wide receiver from Florida pledged to bring his talents to Ohio State and became the 19th prospect in the 2014 recruiting class. (BLANK STARE NEWS: Urban Meyer killed the in-home visit and won Mama Dixon over.)

Obviously recruiting is a bit of a crap-shoot, but getting blue chips out of SEC country (and guys coveted by Alabama, to boot) is pretty big for the program after the loss to the Spartans of Michigan State.

ENEMY REPORT ON OHIO STATE: BUCKEYES ARE PHYSICAL. It's always interesting to get a view from behind enemy lines on a team you've watched all year. Clemson's defensive coordinator, Brent Venables, however, seems to get the gist of what the Tigers will be up against:

"They play with toughness, running downhill. I admire them for that," Venables said. "In crucial crunch-time situations, they're not trying to trick you, they're trying to overpower you and out-physical you. They've been really successful doing that."

Asked specifically how to slow down the Buckeyes' ground attack, Venables turned to the word "physical" four times in a row.

"We're going to have to play really well physically, first and foremost," Venables said. "Probably our biggest challenge, physically, of the year, because they're physical on the perimeter, and the quarterback's a physical runner. He's big, and he's super fast. We haven't faced anybody with his kind of speed at quarterback."

[The image attached to the linked Post and Courier article is, fittingly, ElGuapoFlexingOnTheHaterz.jpg.]

KIRK FERENTZ LITERALLY TRASHED HIS PLAYER, SMDH. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was a star receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2007 to 2010. His senior season, however, was marred by a December arrest on numerous drug charges that led to a suspension for the Hawkeyes' bowl game. Despite eventually pleading to simple marijuana possession, Johnson-Koulianos was never able to get his shot at the NFL after trying the roads through the AFL/CFL.

And yesterday, old frustrations came to a head and Johnson-Koulianos took to Twitter to air some dirty laundry:

I'll spare you the river of tweets. The whole tirade (and it's quite the tirade) can be found HERE. 

It should be noted DJK is in the process of publishing a book on his time at Iowa, but if he was really made to wear a trashcan in front of recruits' parents... one, that's not very practical footballing equipment and two, I think Iowa administrators would frown on something like that.

Granted, I don't have a finger on the pulse of Iowa's athletics, but if I were an Iowa administrator I think I'd jump at an opportunity to get rid of Ferentz for cause and get out of that wretched contract to which they're bound.

Bradley Roby was ejected for this hit; B1G refs, everyone.

B1G IN THE BCS TITLE GAME AFTER ALL. Sure the Big Ten was poo-poo'd by the national media throughout the 2013 campaign, but Jim Delany has pulled some strings and delivered us a BCS title bid after all, albeit only for a B1G reffing crew:

The Big Ten Conference will officiate the BCS Championship Game between Auburn and Florida State, national officiating coordinator Rogers Redding said today.

Officials from the six automatic-qualifying conferences work BCS bowls on a rotation. The Pac-12 worked the 2013 BCS Championship Game between Alabama and Notre Dame after the Big 12 called Alabama-LSU in 2012 and the Big Ten did Auburn-Oregon in 2011.

Names of the officials usually are not released publicly until the day of the game. Officials get recommended by their conference coordinator to work bowl games and can't be assigned to any bowl involving a team from the conference they represent.

I HOPE JIM DELANY DIALS UP A LATE, GAME-DECIDING PASS INTERFERENCE CALL FOR THE LULZ's SAKE, LMAO.

MICHIGAN IS A SYNONYM FOR DISAPPOINTMENT. Urban Meyer is preparing for a BCS bowl and gobbling up blue-chippers. Brady Hoke has the Wolverines preparing for the historical Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, but his recruiting is trending opposite Ohio State's.

Here's 2015 Five-Star WR and Michigan commit George Campbell in August:

After I talked to my coach and my parents, that’s one thing we talked about, pretty much the committing process and not decommitting and staying with it. I was taught to stay with my commitment and that’s something I’m going to do no matter what with Michigan. I think that I’m 100% with it and no one has to worry about me flopping schools at all.

Fast forward to last night: here's that same five-star blue chip WR from Florida after watching Michigan limp through their second five-loss season in two years:

Campbell holds an Ohio State offer, and Birm says Ohio State will continue to recruit the Florida play-maker. He'd be a hell of an addition next to Canton's Eric Glover-Williams and fellow Floridian Jamel Dean in the 2015 class.

FICKELL HERE TO STAY. Here's an interesting tweet that was RT'd into my Twitter timeline yesterday (that sentence would have befuddled our Founding Fathers, but those idiots didn't know what a germ was, soooo):

That's Dieter Kurtenbach, Florida Atlantic beat writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel breaking the hearts of a large swath of passionate Buckeye fans.

Granted, Fickell would have had to uproot his family and (likely) take a pay-cut, but still interesting to see him turn the job down. He must be content in Columbus.

Urban Meyer has always said he values loyalty and recruiting ability in his assistants. Given Fickell was also instrumental in securing Raekwon McMillan's commitment... he's not exactly eating his meals in a dog-house behind the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. 

THOSE WMDs. Newsweek foresaw the end of newspapers (50 years ago)... The Most Searched-For Items of 2013... "The Bear Slayer" Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's lust for blood-sport... GREAT NEWS: Facebook is dying... Shit My Kids Ruined tumblr... That Johnnie Dixon kid is a quick learner... Ban the helmet?... Let's ban weddings and baby showers... Sammy Silverman congratulates All-American Ryan Damn Shazier... OSU ninth in social media presence... Widow can't sue for OSU elevator death, judge rules... Suspect wearing OSU gear sought in UA bank robbery... Traffic camera suit could affect cities across Ohio... Josh Gordon was down to his last shot at the NFL... Awful way to lose a FIFA match...