The Ohio State Battlin' Buckeyes are in Arizona.
This ghoul emissary (via @_pat_murphy) tested the fortitude immediately upon landing:
Perhaps this is what happens when a Big Nut is left outside in the sweltering Arizona heat? Perhaps a Fiesta Bowl intern got into grandpa's LSD cabinet? Perhaps this is what Hell looks like?
I don't have those answers, but I am glad the team escaped without injury.
ICYMI: Keita Bates-Diop and A.J. Harris led Ohio State men's basketball past South Carolina State on Sunday night, 73-57.
HOW TO ATTACK THE BUCKEYES. The Buckeyes, like all football teams, can be beat. But what's the best way to attack them?
From rivals.com:
1. Attack Up Front
Nothing is more important against Ohio State than playing well up front. When Michigan State shut down the Buckeye offense - holding it to 14 points and 132 yards of offense - the key was using its front to attack the Ohio State backfield. The Spartan defense got solid penetration, but more importantly they kept the Ohio State linemen engaged at the line of scrimmage, allowing the linebackers and safeties to fly downhill and get to the ball carriers.[...]
2. Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
Attacking up front does not necessarily mean blitzing all game, or even blitzing at a high level. Notre Dame does not have to bring 6-7 defenders in this game. What it must do is consistently bring 4-5 players and keep the Buckeyes from getting momentum going with its run game.[...]
3. Don't Get Out-Leveraged
Ohio State constantly looks for opportunities to get leverage and numbers advantages against the defense. When it has success one of two things happen. One is they do in fact use a formation or a motion/shift to get gain an advantage. The other is teams overreact to its motions and shifts, which opens up backside plays or cut back opportunities.
It's a "key to the game" for every game, but Ohio State can't be beat if it controls the trenches. All of Urban Meyer's losses—Michigan State 2013, Clemson 2014, Virginia Tech 2014, and Michigan State 2015—came during games in which the Buckeyes got bludgeoned up front.
Both teams have maulers on their offensive lines—Bosa will be blocked by All-American tackle Ronnie Staley—and I think the game could be decided by whichever defensive line performs better.
SEND CARDALE OUT WITH ALL 12 GAUGES BLAZING, PLEASE. Cardale Jones is an undefeated national champion as a starting quarterback, yet he will enter his final Ohio State game as a backup.
Despite the disappointing end to a unique career in Columbus, could Urban Meyer dust-off the trebuchet?
From cleveland.com on possible wrinkles to the Iron King's Fiesta Bowl role:
"There could be," Meyer said. "We're still working through that."
I asked Meyer if I could read anything into that "could be." He just smiled and repeated himself.
Urban better not be playing with my heart. I don't care what his psychology degree dictates... there are some holy things you don't mess with.
THAT TIME LOU HOLTZ MADE SHELLEY MEYER CRY. Back in 1996, Shelley Meyer had a beautiful young family in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her husband, a wide receivers coach Colorado State, was a young-up-and-comer.
And then Lou Holtz strolled into her life and wrecked everything.
From dispatch.com:
“I answered the phone,” Shelley said. “He just said, ‘Hi, this is Lou Holtz. Can I please talk to Urban?’ I handed the phone to Urban and just burst into tears. I knew he wasn’t calling to tell him he didn’t get the job.”
It was a call Holtz didn’t expect to make, either. Meyer was not a candidate at first when Notre Dame receivers coach Tom Clements decided to leave.
“I didn’t want to interview him,” Holtz told The Dispatch last week. “I’d interviewed two people and pretty much had my mind made up who I was going to hire.”
That's a natural reaction for anybody getting sentenced to residence in South Bend, Indiana. If I were Shelley, I'd have pulled the classic "You're breaking up; I can't hear you" hustle before disconnecting the phone.
She didn't though and her family ended up in South Bend. Meyer, who only earned the job because Skip Holtz endorsed the young fella that replaced him as receivers coach at CSU, made the most of the opportunity despite Bob Davie and his mediocre offense eventually replacing Holtz at Notre Dame.
Let's all be thankful he didn't stay there. The idea of "Urban Meyer, Notre Dame coach" makes me want to curl up in a trashcan.
JOE BURROW SUFFERS CAR CRASH, WILL STILL MAKE FIESTA BOWL. Joe Burrow, likely to be next year's backup quarterback, apparently suffered a car accident over Christmas break.
Meyer also said 3rd string qb Joe Burrow not on plane because of concussion from auto accident, but will come later.
— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) December 27, 2015
Great to see Burrow walk away, but I'd be shocked if Ohio State honestly considered him the No. 3 quarterback. (Would they burn his redshirt for a fancy exhibition game in Arizona? I don't think so.)
KIERRE HAWKINS: TATTOOED COMMIT. There are three levels to verbal commitments: Soft, hard, and tattooed.
Four-star 2016 TE commit Kierre Hawkins joined 2017 four-star QB commit Danny Clark in that last group.
Block 4Life pic.twitter.com/gyOboW3Uzz
— Kierre HAWKINS (@HumbleKing16) December 28, 2015
The Block 'O' is butchered more often than not. Hawkins' artist didn't duff it, which puts him near the head of the pack. That skyline of Maple Heights(!?), however, could use a touchup. That skyscraper underneath the 'O' is on tilt.
THOSE WMDs. The tax sleuth who took down a drug lord... Eating through the weird Hard Rock Cafe World Burger menu... Woman accused of shooting meth, riding motorized cart through Wal-Mart while eating chicken, drinking wine... A janitor, once an addict, cleans up his life.
