Can we just skip to next Thursday, please? Nothing matters between now and then anyway.
ICYMI:
- The defensive line looks to be more aggressive this year, especially in rushing the passer.
- Associated Press: Ohio State No. 2 to start the season.
- Urban Meyer names school record nine captains.
- G.O.A.T. Game Tournament: Michigan bracket semifinals.
- Film Study: Why you should expect a better Isaiah Prince.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Emaciate.
BUCKEYE FANS WILL TAKE THAT BET. As I always say, if the Buckeyes faced Lucifer's Army at Prince of Darkness Stadium in the deepest pits of Hell, even Satan would be surprised at the number of OSU fans willing to sell their souls for a ticket.
That's part of the benefit of having an alumni base of 500,000 and fans from coast to coast.
So when I saw this quote from Indiana athletic director Fred Glass, I raised my glass in toast for what will probably be the wrongest take of 2017.
Fred Glass says based on zip codes of sales to date, he's confident it will primarily be an Indiana crowd for the OSU opener.
— Mike Pegram (@peegs) August 21, 2017
And I'm equally confident Indiana fans will succumb to the price inflation of a Hoosier football ticket when the Buckeyes roll into Bloomington on Aug. 31. Because deep down in their soul, they know how this game ends.
Why witness your team get butchered in person when you can conjure a windfall profit and black out in your basement off 14 Busch Lights? It's simple arithmetic, even for Hoosier fans.
MAKE WAY FOR SPRINKLE. Tracy Sprinkle rose from three-star recruit to scout team member to starting defensive tackle before tearing a patella tendon against Bowling Green last year.
It's been a long road back for Sprinkle — as our Dan Hope detailed last night. Coming into the season, Sprinkle wanted to be named captain of the team.
From the OSU beat G.O.A.T. Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch:
“I didn’t know it, but I kind of felt it, the feeling around the locker room, just helping guys all the time, being a great leader,” Sprinkle said of the captaincy. “I hope it happens. If it does it would be a humbling experience.”
He said a title won’t change his approach.
“I was already trying to take a leadership role; I’m just that type of guy,” Sprinkle said. “I like to help other people.”
He earned that right last night, when defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. called Tracy's mom to inform her.
That moment when you call your family to say you've been selected captain of The Ohio State Buckeyes.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 21, 2017
Congrats @TSprinkle93! #Testimony pic.twitter.com/fqC8k5lckN
Just glad nobody filmed me when the Dublin police called about arresting my mediocre son for vagrancy. (I let him spend the week in jail.)
BOSA RELOADED. Nick Bosa would be on an NFL roster right now if draconian NFL rules allowed it. Instead he's in Columbus for two more seasons, which will probably result in new criminal laws being passed in other states to prevent the Little Bear from mauling a hapless guard with a future in car sales.
From cleveland.com:
Nick said he's added moves to his repertoire this year. Joey talked in detail about his various pass-rush techniques in 2015, how he can tip over 300-pound offensive lineman by using a "long-arm" move where he hits them right under the armpit.
"They fall right over," he said. He's right. It actually works.
Nick, who had one go-to move last year, now says he has at least another three he's comfortable with -- including that long-arm technique. Maybe the Bosas can trademark it.
Between the roster and Greg Schiano's more aggressive approach, I don't see how any college offensive line will withstand the pressure for four quarters. There is at least one weak link on every offensive line, and Ohio State has the manpower to exploit it at any position.
WELP. Bo Pelini and, by extension, Jim Tressel took a gamble by allowing Ma'Lik Richmond, one of the Steubenville High School players convicted of rape back in 2012, to walk onto the Youngstown State football team.
After a tidal wave of backlash, Youngstown State announced Richmond would remain on the team but would not play this year. Monday, the sad saga took another dark turn.
From espn.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man who shot and wounded a judge outside a county courthouse before being gunned down by a probation officer was the father of a high school football player who was convicted of rape in 2013, authorities said Monday.
Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was shot Monday morning near the courthouse in Steubenville, across the Ohio River from West Virginia's northern panhandle and just west of Pittsburgh.
Authorities identified the gunman as Nathaniel "Nate" Richmond, the father of Ma'Lik Richmond. Ma'Lik, then 17, served about 10 months in a juvenile lockup after being convicted with another Steubenville High School football player of raping a 16-year-old girl during an alcohol-fueled party in 2012.
Dads have done insane things for their sons throughout history. But I will never understand how Mr. Richmond came to the conclusion shooting a judge with a concealed carry license would be in the best interest of his son. He only made the path to redemption that much harder.
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