Tick, tick, tick, Virginia Tech.
OSU QB RUN CONCEPTS. It's always a treat when James Light of JamesLightFootball.com drops an X's and O's piece on Ohio State. Yesterday, he took a look at Ohio State quarterback run game concepts.
The more Ohio State film I watch, the more it becomes apparent that the Buckeyes approach in the run game is to block linebackers and safeties with their receivers, leaving cornerbacks unblocked and challenging them to make tackles on the perimeter in one on one situations.
[...]
I’m never disappointed when I sit down to study and analyze Urban Meyer’s offense. The volume of run game that they have available and how well they execute it is remarkable. They have the ability to stress defenses in so many different ways with QB run concepts, whether it’s gap schemes, zone schemes or RPO’s.
The full article contains graphs, GIFs, and step-by-step walk throughs, but it's just more ammo for the "If Braxton Miller is healthy" camp. It's also easy to see why there's been quarterback durability issues during Urban Meyer's reign.
OSU WIDENS THE TALENT GAP. Jim Delany to every non-OSU member at the next B1G meetings: "Are y'all going to get your shit together, or what? We have a TV contract to earn he—wait, WHERE THE HELL IS PURDUE!?"
From u/mahout13 on r/CFB:
Currently, Ohio State’s recruiting prowess has placed them in the #2 overall spot for FBS 4 year recruiting class rankings. The only other B1G team with a four year average in the top 20 is Michigan, at #17. How big of a recruiting advantage has this given OSU over their conference opponents? OSU has, on average, a near 40 spot recruiting ranking advantage over their conference opponents this season.
When a Michigan fan (of course) pointed out that recruiting rankings don't always mean results on teh field, u/hythioday10 popped that bubble.
Here's each conference's top team (in winning percentage) from 1998-2014:
B1G: Ohio State, 79%
XII: Oklahoma, 77%
ACC: Florida St, 77%
Pac: Oregon, 75%
SEC: Florida, 70%
Part of me almost feels guilty for being an Ohio State fan right now. It's like being a sports fan... but with cheat codes. (Yes, OSU has been good before Urban Meyer, but Urban Meyer is basically a cheat code.)
COOMBS AFTER FIVE-STAR OHIOAN. To put it bluntly, Urban Meyer doesn't give a damn about your verbal commitments. He'll pursue talent up until the closing minutes of National Signing Day (see: Weber, Mike).
Cincinnati's Tommy Kraemer, a 2016 five-star OT, committed to Notre Dame last October. He's still in Ohio State's sights, though.
From Ari Wasserman of cleveland.com:
This year's target is four-star offensive tackle Tommy Kraemer of Cincinnati Elder. A 6-foot-5, 305-pound prospect rated in the 247Sports composite rankings the No. 5 offensive tackle in the 2016 class, Kraemer has been committed to Notre Dame since October 2014.
"Coach (Kerry) Coombs called me last week and was at the school last week," Kraemer said. "They have not stopped. Coach Coombs said they aren't going to stop until I sign, so I'll take it as it is and focus on Notre Dame."
That doesn't sound too promising for Ohio State, but Kraemer is worth fighting for. He's that good.
That doesn't sound too promising, indeed. But hey, you never know: There's like a 49% chance Brian Kelly gets fired after a five-loss season.
If a teen can look at Ohio State and say, "I don't want a part of that," then I can do nothing but tip my cap. Ohio State rolls on without them.
LARBON JIM, THE KANG. I realize this is high-priced #branding produced by out-of-state shills that's cynically engineered to make me feel some type of way... but I am feeling some type of way. (Somewhere in the distance, a Nike ad executive just lit a blunt with a burning 100-dollar bill.)
I hope all the "Warriors fans" in Ohio are forced to watch this, Clockwork Orange-style, until they confess their sins against the state.
R.I.P. TOYS "R" US. I remember Toys "R" Us as a mythical playhouse of childhood euphoria. I don't even have a kid (fingers crossed), but I now see the toy chain for what it is: Purveyors of overpriced junk marketed to parents who use bribery as a child-rearing technique.
I always said I would shield my kids (and my pocketbook) from such evils, but it appears Toys "R" Us isn't long for this realm anyway.
From Suzanne Kapner of WSJ.com:
Toys “R” Us Inc. appointed a new chief executive with little retailing experience but a track record of taking companies public.
David Brandon, the former CEO of Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Valassis Communications Inc., will become chairman and CEO of the big-box toy retailer on July 1.
Yes, that's 100% real.
Dave Brandon — Michigan's fallen athletic director — is now the head of a toy company. I assume the absence of his Michigan tenure from this write-up isn't a coincidence either.
Alas, true greatness — is there any other way to describe Brandon's reign in Ann Arbor? — is never understood by contemporaries.
THOSE WMDs. One last savory hit of anti-Mark May ether... A fascinating look at The Agency, Russia's troll army... Chris Webber puts on a show in front of a hostile Detroit crowd... Judge gives Ohio #teen who didn't pay cab driver a choice: Walk 30 miles or 30 days in jail... Phony Tax Refunds: A Cash Cow for Everyone... Cork "Wheelchair" Helps Sick Fish Swim Properly.
