Man, the Dubgate was too trill. I love Ohio State, and I love y'all. I don't know the final numbers, but I do know Dubgate V was a rousing success.
I also have about seven numbers in my phone, and I don't know to which gents they belong. (This is the closest I will ever come to being a beautiful woman.) Please, help me.
I do now I promised to eat some Skyline, and I try to keep my promises (especially those sworn on my Ohio tattoo). If this sounds like a conversation we had at the Dubgate... drop me a line, and we'll get those details ironed out. (Browns play in Cincinnati on November 6th, for the record.)
And special shoutout to my dudes TheBadOwl, @CoalGuy1992, Corey, and the Tennessee bro with a cool accent, for keeping things frosty at the Dubgate.
Now, with that stuff out of the way... let's talk news and #takes.
DONTRE WILSON WANTS MORE TOUCHES. Dontre Wilson was committed to Oregon, until Chip Kelly rolled onto the NFL. The Buckeyes were the beneficiaries of the late flip, but it'd only be natural for Dontre Wilson to ask "What if?" (Especially since Oregon is on pace for the inaugural playoff.)
A reporter asked Wilson about this on Saturday night, and Wilson apparently bristled at the query. From cleveland.com's Ari Wasserman:
"I never watched them," Wilson said firmly. "I never watched them. I put that in the past once I came here. I am all in. I am a Buckeye, and I'm not really worried about anything else."
Fair play there, Dontre. I certainly haven't seen anything to take umbrage with this statement. But the DeSoto, Texas, product didn't stop there:
"Percy Harvin, he's a great player and you see what he does when he gets all those touches. I am pretty much doing the same thing," Wilson said, bringing up Harvin's name unprompted. "I feel like when I get those touches, the offense pretty much goes."
Reading between the lines: it's easy to see Wilson wants more touches, because in his mind, that's what gets the offensive humming like it should. That's how players with electricity in their veins think.
And fair point to him; Wilson led all receivers with six receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown... and Ohio State had a record-breaking night. But there wasn't a concentrated effort to get the ball to Dontre:
It wasn't a conscious effort, and he's our starting H right now, and when the game and the game and the defense dictates the ball is going to the H, that's who's going to get it," [Offensive coordinator Tom] Herman said of Wilson. "I am glad that he got the touches he got and he should sleep a little easier (Saturday), but I don't know if it was a conscious effort."
So, that's interesting.
Like Ari notes, it's a stretch to compare Wilson to Percy Harvin, but the potential is there. I understand Wilson wanting the ball, but Ohio State has a ton of young weapons in their stable. Yes, Wilson is a heckuva player, but is he head-and-shoulders above other young guns like Ezekiel Elliott, Jalin Marshall, and Curtis Samuel? I'm not so sure.
IDIOT ON THE FIELD GETS A NAME. So, you might have heard: an idiot on the field during the Cincinnati game almost got thrown through earth's crusts by former LB/current strength coach Anthony Schlegel. (Here are some players' reactions to their coach choke-slamming a student.)
If you're going to be an idiot on the field... you gotta summon your inner-Gingerbread Man and go hard. That kid had no plan, as evidenced by his boat shoes and visor. (BTW: Who is under 40 and wears visors in Ohio?) And pointing out Schlegel like the idiot had a blocker in front of him? Bad, bad idea.
That bro's ride through our legal system, however, is just beginning. From Cincinnati.com:
Anthony Wunder, 21, was cited for criminal trespassing Saturday night after rushing across the field and meeting the ruthless forearm of Schlegel, according to Franklin County court records.
Wunder posted bond and is scheduled to face a judge on his misdemeanor trespassing charge on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Not willing to comment further on the event, Wunder did note that he was feeling "fine" a day after the big collision.
[..]
Wunder is [a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and is] listed a Cincinnati native on the Evans Scholar website at Ohio State University.
You're damn right his friends had bail lined up for him. I'm sure that was all it took — his friend saying "I got your bail, bro!" — and the idiot was off the blocks.
Unfortunately, his friend won't be able to do anything about Anthony's arrest being the first thing potential employers see when they Google his name. Unlike a criminal trespassing charge, you can't expunge news reports. (These are not the things you're thinking about when you're 21, drunk, and thinking thinking about illegally storming the field.)
And who did this? Because I'd like to shake their hand (audio needs to be on):
TROY SMITH: STILL BALLIN'. Troy Smith — who doesn't want Braxton's athleticism to be his downfall at quarterback — was honored on Saturday night for his induction into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame.
97.1 The Fan's Lori Schmidt was able to catch-up with Troy on things like his favorite Buckeye memory:
Troy Smith today, Troy Smith tomorrow... Troy Smith forever. He will always be a national title-winner in my heart.
LET'S LAUGH AT MICHIGAN. Michigan released a statement regarding their handling of Shane Morris, and it was devoid of any mention of the concussion Morris likely-suffered after Michigan coaches rolled out their gimpy, statue-like quarterback on a bootleg.
Here's a video of the statement (Luke is wrong as hell for this one, lmao):
Brady Hoke releases a statement defending his handling of a clearly injured player Saturday: https://t.co/WOdpPGPGCi
— Luke Zimmermann (@lukezim) September 29, 2014
While Brady Hoke will soon be riding his Segway out of the war-torn gates of Ann Arbor for the final time... we will always have memories like this:
Brady Hoke = Marlo Stanfield. Urban Liar = Avon Barksdale. #youknowwhowon
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) November 26, 2011
And here, for good measure, is a gallery of sad, broken Michigan fans. Before you feel bad for them, remember: those bums chose this life.
THOSE WMDs. 1986 Cleveland Browns: Masters of the Gridiron... Does Michigan know Jim Harbaugh doesn't have a torso?... Boss: the cheapest pee wee footballer in America... LOL Steelers fans... The resemblance between NFL owners and Dick Tracy villains is surreal... A great GIF.
