Two weeks from today, Ohio State heads to Bloomington to put a tax on Indiana. Better get your Loko lined up now because the price will spike in the 72 hours leading up to the game.
Hopefully Memorial Stadium has a set up like this:
. @WaffleHouse food truck outside Auburn Athletic Complex. I have yet to see Gus Malzahn tho. pic.twitter.com/jLDprG3TPl
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) August 17, 2017
ICYMI:
- G.O.A.T. Game Tournament: Regular season bracket.
- Special teams and kicking duties still undetermined.
- Kerry Coombs says Damon Arnette's swagger will remind fans of Bradley Roby.
- The Situational returns to preview the 2017 national chhh...uh Ohio State Buckeyes.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Whinge.
OLD DOG LEARNS NEW TRICKS. The NCAA restructured preseason football camps this year, lengthening the timeline by removing the two-a-day practices that were part of old school lore.
Coaches used to think grueling practices with game-like intensity were the power move. It's since switched.
Kerry Coombs, a guy who has been in the game for awhile now, is a fan of the move.
From Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch:
A veteran coach, he came up through the era when two-a-day practices were the true grind of preseason. But he has seen the benefits of the scale-back this season, though two-a-day sessions were only allowed for a limited time in the past several years, and not for two days in a row.
“It’s a completely different schedule (now), it’s the NFL schedule, and our kids, I think the routine is positive, they know what to expect every day,” Coombs said. “It’s morning meetings, morning practice, rest time, meetings, walk through – I think our evening walk-throughs have been phenomenal. I think they’re a difference maker for us.
“I think we’re actually getting more out of camp than we did when we had two-a-days.”
I don't know if there is a debate over if this move was "bad" or "good" but if there is Coombs just body bagged it and sent it to Hell.
I know it's partly due to my lizard brain bias, but it really does seem like the stars are shifting into place for the local team. Walk-throughs are a big help for an offense under a new offensive coordinator and a secondary replacing three first-round talents.
RYAN DAY: GOOD AT HIS JOB. It wasn't entirely his fault, but no quarterback played consistently well for Tim Beck before his departure to Texas.
Going from coaching grown ass men to 18-22 year-olds can be an adjustment. It doesn't appear to be a problem for new quarterback guru Ryan Day, though.
From theozone.net:
Day has met with the media several times since his arrival, and he has shared the work that he and his players have put in to prepare for this coming season. To a man, those players believe they are much better off than they were a year ago. While that should be the natural progression for any player regardless of the coach, the quarterbacks have had no problem crediting Day with their improvement, and it starts with the relationships that have been built over the last eight months.
“I would say just our relationship in general with all four people in the room is getting closer,” redshirt sophomore Joe Burrow said. “That might just be another year in the room together, it might be Coach Day, it might be Coach Beck, I don’t really know, I just know our relationship is closer now than it was last year.”
The room is now closer than it has ever been, and so is the competition. Players are pushing each other, they are learning from each other, and they are taking what Day is teaching and putting it to use each day on the field.
Start the bus to Indiana, folks. Because if not I'm about to just start walking there. Google says it's a 53-hour hike from Piqua to Bloomington. That leaves plenty of time to tailgate when I get there.
ELLIOTT CASE TURNS UGLY. Ezekiel Elliott officially appealed his six-game NFL suspension earlier this week. Wednesday, Yahoo reporter Charles Robinson exposed texts between Elliott's accuser and a friend in which she plots leveraging sex tapes in exchange for a payday.
From yahoo.com:
Exhibits accompanying the NFL’s report also included the exact exchange between Thompson and her friend, which took place on Sept. 21, 2016. The exchange was obtained by the NFL via a forensic sweep of Thompson’s phone, which was provided to investigators. The exact exchange was noted as Exhibit 74 in the NFL’s appendix accompanying the 160-page report. It is as follows:
[Thompson]: What if I sold mine and Ezekiel’s sex videos
[Friend]: We’d all be millionaires
[Friend]: We could black mail him w that
[Thompson]: I want to bro
[Friend]: Let’s do it
[Thompson]: Scared
[Friend]: Shit
[Friend]: Id be like look give me 10k or I’ll just sell our sex videos for the same amount flat
[Friend]: Me and my friends tryna go on vacation and get boob jobs
(the report notes a pair of blank texts)
[Thompson]: 10k Bitch I want 20k
[Thompson]: Go big or go home
[Friend]: That’s fine too
Not a great look, to say the least. The NFL was aware of the texts and issues the following statement that afternoon:
New NFL statement pic.twitter.com/KJ64RDHVB2
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) August 16, 2017
These new accusations don't prove she lied about the assaults (photographic evidence was never explained away), and the NFL is apparently planning to fight this with equal ferocity of Elliott's defense team.
Meanwhile, Urban Meyer admits he's worried about his former star running back:
Urban Meyer is concerned about his former player. pic.twitter.com/gF1I8rFxDJ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 16, 2017
So yeah, this story won't be going anywhere for awhile.
VERSATILITY. Damon Arnette looks to be the starting CB across from Denzel Ward. Part of that his because he can play inside and outside, versatility that will allow JUCO transfer Kendall Sheffield onto the field.
When Ohio State goes to three cornerbacks, Arnette moves inside to cover the slot receiver and Ward+Sheffield play on the outside.
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) August 16, 2017
Coombs loves his rotations, so this is good to see. Those guys are talented in their own right. Looking forward to them and the defensive line building a symbiotic relationship.
URBZ: NOT BIG HARBAUGH GUY. Turns out Meyer and Harbaugh aren't best buds.
Wait for it pic.twitter.com/Gj9rc9sXCe
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) August 16, 2017
I would pay $500 to read Meyer's unfiltered thoughts on the guy. My next move would be putting the entire passage into Ohio's constitution.
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