After today, only 31 more Saturdays until Buckeye football is back in our lives, and that includes an open Saturday due to the local team kicking off that Thursday night against vile Indiana.
We got this in the bag.
ICYMI:
- Former Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd will visit Ohio State this weekend.
- Columbus Police arrested four-star WR James Robinson while he officially visited Ohio State.
- Lawsuit alleges 52 rapes by Baylor footballers over four years, "show 'em a good time" culture.
MALIK HARRISON. Ohio State added Malik Harrison, then a three-star athlete from Columbus' Walnut Ridge High School, on National Signing Day in 2016.
He is another under-the-radar athlete spotted by Luke Fickell, which means Harrison naturally draws comparisons to Darron Lee.
While other teammates came into Columbus more hyped, Harrison quietly appeared throughout the season on special teams, a key indicator for future success.
From 247sports.com:
As the season wore on, Harrison was used on special teams and in mop-up action on defense. He ended up playing in 11 games and tallied 10 tackles with a sack late in the win at Maryland.
Harrison is one of several players that former OSU defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Luke Fickell stumped for to get a scholarship offer. His story is similar to former OSU linebacker Darron Lee in that regard. But Harrison was fine with seeing Fickell leave to be a head coach at Cincinnati.
[...]
“I know in the beginning, I wanted to play receiver,” Harrison said. “But as I really started to think about it, I thought linebacker would be a better decision for me.
A guy with the option to play linebacker or wide receiver? Yeah, that's an "athlete" alright.
Harrison may still be a year away from primetime with fifth-year senior Chris Worley and breakout junior sensation Jerome Baker slotted to start at outside linebacker. But as the injury to Dante Booker showed last year, depth is of the utmost importance.
Harrison has all the tools to be a major player:
Here's his basketball tape too, for those inclined.
DOWN GOES MICHIGAN MAN. Michigan fans don't like to travel Columbus because they all have stories about one buddy who made the trip and ended up naked and bruised in the Olentangy River.
Apparently, this tradition goes back to 1955, when the Buckeyes whooped the Wolverines 17-0. Fans tore down the goal posts before time expired, and one Michigan man took it on the chin (right at the end of the clip in the middle of the fracas)
...followed by Ohio St. fans doing the exact same thing vs. Michigan. Also this clip ends with a guy getting straight up decked in the face. pic.twitter.com/nEG1BGZvax
— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) January 27, 2017
DISCLAIMER: Violence is never the answer. Unless it's perpetrated against Michigan fans or Nazis.
ABOUT THAT BLOCK "O" TATTOO. Danny Clark committed to Ohio State as a freshman in high school. A couple years later, he tattooed a Block "O" on his left arm to show his loyalty.
A year after that, Ohio State lured Tate Martell from Texas A&M and told Clark it would be in his best interests to look at other options.
Clark landed at Kentucky, where he still plans to rock his Block "O" tattoo unless Kentuckians lose their minds over it.
From courier-journal.com:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Yes, new Kentucky quarterback Danny Clark has a tattoo of the Ohio State logo on his left arm.
No, he does not think it’s a big deal now that he has officially enrolled at UK after ending his almost three-year commitment to the Ohio State and pledging his future to Kentucky in October.
“No thoughts of removing it,” Clark said Friday in his first interview as a Wildcat. “If it becomes such a big deal for people it can be covered up in an hour. So it’s not really a big deal.”
It'd be bizarre to watch an OSU quarterback operate with an Arkansas tattoo, but this is another example of why I thank God every day that I didn't go through with the multiple horrendous tattoo ideas I conjured while Clark's age.
At least he's already looked into covering it up, should it ever come to that.
OKLAHOMA ON THE HUNT. Oklahoma, also known as Ohio State's Week 2 opponent in 2017, is arguably on the verge of signing the best wide receiver class in school history... and it could still add two other pieces.
From crimsonandcreammachine.com:
The Lone Star State combo of CeeDee Lamb and Charleston Rambo received their highest ratings by Rivals (Nos. 10 and 12, respectively). Both are tall, explosive and versatile deep threats, and lining up with the quick-footed Marquise Brown inside, look to form a prolific pass-catching class to develop together over the next couple of seasons. The snaps and opportunities will be there for these young receivers, and oh yeah, so will the nation’s best passer.
The key targets still out there, as aforementioned, are James Robinson IV and Ryan Jones. Despite an official visit to Ohio State last weekend, the Gators still appear to be the leader in the clubhouse for Robinson, considered among the most promising in this class. It’d be a shame to lose out on a star like him, but if he’s still on the fence between catching a first down or two per game in Gainesville instead of two touchdowns a half from Baker the Touchdown Maker, then we’ll probably be fine without him. It really doesn’t get more Florida than that.
I just don’t get how all wide receiver prospects aren’t lining up at Lincoln Riley’s door during this current run at OU. Are recruits being told he’s only going to be here for a season? Even then, just one season in Norman would mean so much more to a wide receiver’s career than Florida’s anemic, non-existent pass offense. Plus, there are literally man-eating, dinosaur lizards there. Seriously.
The reason wide receivers aren't lining up at Lincoln Riley's door is because 18-year-olds have no memory of the last time Post Boobs won a national title. Not many of them grow up aspiring to spend the prime of their life in Oklahoma, either.
Still, one of these freshmen will probably play against Ohio State. We'll see how this summer shakes out, but it should be more competitive this time around.
AH, THE OLD HOMOPHONE TRAP. Poor Cris Carter. If anyone knows how easy it is to type "bread" when you meant "bred," it's me:
.@criscarter80 is ready to go pic.twitter.com/eXfrZ0kIz7
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 27, 2017
On second thought, Buckeye bread sounds delicious. I'll take three loaves to go, please.
THOSE WMDs. Confessions of a Chik-Fil-A junkie... The untold story of the Apollo 1 fire... We're building a world-sized robot, and we don't even know it... Chess needs checks for performance-enhancing drugs... The future of advertising is "fewer, better ads."
