Remember when people were stressing about the #Elite15 class? That was comedic even before last night when the Buckeyes literally landed a big commitment. A 6'5", 300 lbs Virginian #teen, four-star OL Mathew Burrell, became the 21st commitment of the 2015 class. He's considered one of the best interior lineman prospects in the country and a Top 100 prospect overall.
I will be recieving my degree and competing for a national championship @ The Ohio State University #Buckeyes !!
— Matthew Burrll Jr! (@HeaftyLefty) November 18, 2014
(Notice how he listed a degree before the national title? That says a lot about the young fella's priorities, IMIO [In My Internet Opinion].)
INDIANA: NOT LOOKING TOUGH. Indiana always brings up a special memory for me. Back in November 2011, also during Indiana week, fellow Marionaire/college roommate/11W colleague, Kyle Rowland, disrespected the Indiana football team [sic]:
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Indiana football players credited an Internet report by buck eyegrove.com as an extra source of motivation in Saturday's game.
Kyle Rowland wrote in a prediction column that Indiana was little more than "a glorified bye week for Ohio State.''
"Indiana is 10 kinds of bad,'' Rowland wrote. "Some have gone to calling them Iniana because they have no D. Ohio State could have a letdown and still win by 20.''
Folks, Indiana was so fired up by Rowland's take it only lost to Ohio State by two touchdowns. In a twist of fate, however, Rowland now covers Indiana for The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Last night, I reminded him of the time a team of footballers wanted to kick his ass, and here's what he said.
@marion_ohio You can just re-write that for this week. All the info still correct in 2014.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) November 18, 2014
Is that so? For clarification on that idea, let's bring in Kyle Rowland of The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:
Indiana travels to Columbus on Saturday to take on seventh-ranked Ohio State.
Good luck, Hoosiers. IU hasn’t beaten Ohio State since it won back-to-back games over the Buckeyes in 1987 and ’88. Then-Ohio State coach Earle Bruce called the ’87 defeat the darkest day in Ohio State history.
If the Buckeyes lose this week, the sun may not rise in Columbus on Sunday.
Seems like my old friend is enjoying his time eyeing IU from Fort Wayne.
THANK YOU BASED REMY. Boss contributor Remy spent an amount of time that makes my head hurt compiling Ohio State's effect on the stats of its ten 2014 opponents.
Long story short: Ohio State is dominating its opponents statistically. Here's a peek at the offense just murking fools (the negative numbers are good for Ohio State):
Again, read the post in its entirety for the full dive into the stats on both sides of the ball. It's a fascinating look at just how underrated Ohio State likely is on a national scale.
Oh, and here's another statistical nugget:
How good has Ohio State's offense been? The Buckeyes have only punted 26 times in 10 games. And six of those were vs. Va Tech.
— Brian Bennett (@BennettESPN) November 17, 2014
That's ridiculous.
RUN D THE FOCUS HEADING INTO INDIANA GAME. Urban Meyer said at his presser yesterday there are NFL running backs toting the rock in the Big Ten. Ohio State got a big dose of one against Minnesota, and while Indiana running back Tevin Coleman is a different runner than the Gophers' David Cobb, Coleman's still an offensive threat.
From Marcus Hartman of Fox Sports Ohio:
The Hoosiers come to town with a record of only 3-7, but feature one of the best running backs not only in the Big Ten but the nation. Only Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon has run for more yards this season than Tevin Coleman of Indiana, who has 1,678 yards on 214 carries in 10 games.
[...]
"That's the biggest key -- being fundamentally sound and stopping the run," Johnson said. "You can't jump gaps. You can't just try to go make a play. Getting our guys to do that and understand the importance of playing gap football is really critical in stopping the run game. And it's the front seven -- we've got to do a great job of doing that. We've got great running backs coming up but this guy we're facing Saturday is a really good running back."
I'm hopeful the linebackers/defensive line can show some improvement against the run these next couple weeks and build some momentum — which is huge, by the way — towards the postseason.
Coleman can be electric at times, but he's prone to turnovers. It'd be nice if OSU chiseled the rock off him early to break up his confidence.
LOL. Imagining the look of befuddlement on the Jimmy John's delivery driver's face is what slays me:
The jimmy johns delivery guy put his hand out and I shook it and he was like "uhh can I have the pen back" ... Awkward
— Joey Bosa (@jbbigbear) November 17, 2014
THOSE WMDs. Help get a Columbus-area animal shelter a free $75k by voting for Jackie C... From Citro: States' soccer kits... From Dan: the hypnotic EmojiTracker.com... From K.M. Losh: Nerdwestern sure loves Chik-fil-A... From Trevor: Coach Champ: Don't let the new guy tell you he ain't got players... Canes and FSU fans brawl... In which the proprietor of MGoBlog admits to assaulting a #teen who trolled him... Check out Nikki Meyer's new business venture... BROW.
