The Buckeyes start the season in one week, and with everything that's been going on, it feels like we've barely even talked about the actual football team playing the games. But then again, I'm not even sure where we'd start.
We haven't spoken to anyone on the roster or coaching staff since fall camp started. We still have no idea who the starting field safety, center or linebackers will be, couldn't tell you who the captains are – hell, we can't even confirmed that Dwayne Haskins is the starting quarterback.
So while I'd love to talk, there's not much new info to share. But what I can tell you is that even with all those unknowns and an interim head coach, I'd confidently bet Ohio State -50 against Oregon State next Saturday.
ICYMI:
- Urban Meyer apologizes to Courtney Smith and her children in a statement.
- Four-star linebacker Kane Patterson decommits from Ohio State.
- Urban Meyer's three-game suspension is Ryan Day's three-game audition.
- Hindsight Roundtable: What *should* have happened?
- Ohio State's September games might not be competitive, but they can still be fun.
Word of the Day: Lagniappe.
HERBY IS READY FOR FOOTBALL. Noted football knower Kirk Herbstreit took to the phone lines to answer questions from fellow college football media members. Herby was of course asked about Urban Meyer's suspension and all the off-field drama,
He gave some brief thoughts on the matter and didn't go in depth or give any scorching takes.
He then hit the nail on the head a few questions later, pointing out that Buckeye fans are just ready to watch some football.
I think first of all -- there's a lot of great college football communities, but I don't know if there's a city and maybe an entire state that gets as excited for the start of college football the way Columbus and the state of Ohio does. I don't know if I've ever seen a town impacted, positively or negatively, by a typical Saturday afternoon, the result of a football game, let alone when something like this happens to its program.
So it's kind of unchartered waters, I think, for the university and for that fan base. I think many of them are anxious for the ball to get up in the air and for them to be able to break down and talk about Oregon State and how the team did and how Dwayne Haskins did and actually talk about football. But like you said, it's hard to turn the page. It's hard to do that. Maybe until the games next week, maybe it will take that for this to start to subside a bit and allow the people to be able to focus on football.
I don't think it will take all that long for Buckeye fans to get excited about actual on-field football. I think they're already there.
CHART LOVES LOCAL TEAM. I'm a huge fan of charts, and today, I stumbled across a very good chart that happens to say favorable things about Ohio State's playoff hopes.
Essentially, it plots the team's ranking against its probability of making the playoff based primarily on its schedule. Ideally, you want to live in the top right corner – a strong team, with a high chance of making the playoffs.
And that's exactly where the Local Team sits.
Our Top 25 teams and their chances to make the playoff. World ain't fair, man. We'd make Auburn a 4-point fave vs. OU on neutral field, but they have less than 1/2 the Sooners' chance of making the playoff (12% v 28%). pic.twitter.com/NYchHZNssa
— Massey-Peabody (@MasseyPeabody) August 24, 2018
That separation between Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama is hilarious, but honestly makes complete sense based on how all four of those teams have recruited and developed talent the past few seasons.
It's really those four teams, and everybody else. Thankfully, there are four spots in the playoff.
NOT QUITE, BRETT. Urban Meyer Tweeted a statement yesterday evening apologizing for seeming insincere during his press conference.
There are a lot of valid responses to the statement – positive and negative.
Personally, I grade it a solid B-. It was definitely the right thing to say and is a better look all around than saying nothing, but it would have been more effective as a video instead of impersonal text and probably should have come sooner than 23 hours after the fact.
Again, there are many reasonable reactions. If you want to be critical, there are certainly things about it to criticize. But Brett McMurphy somehow landed on a reaction that was just horrifically incorrect.
Urban Meyers apology affirms Courtney Smiths account of events https://t.co/Vj8Q2QMfGM
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 24, 2018
I read the statement at least 10 times trying to understand how Brett arrived at that conclusion, but I still have nothing. There's no way I can twist it around to read the way he claims it reads.
Even folks that have been blasting Meyer all week were scratching their heads.
Thats an enormous leap. I mean I believe her. But Urbans statement does not affirm her story. https://t.co/zdXivv2dVA
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) August 24, 2018
As if we needed to, we did get confirmation from a source close to the situation that Brett was extremely wrong in his interpretation.
A source close to the situation is pushing back on reports Urban Meyers Friday statement confirms Courtney Smiths account of events. Source: while the apology is sincere his statement in no way affirms her account based on information he received from law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/2MxZMjvUfo
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 25, 2018
RETURN OF THE MC(MILLAN). Raekwon McMillan's rookie season was over on his first play of the preseason. Now, after a year of rehab, he's back and ready to pick up right where he left off.
A minor setback for a major comeback.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 24, 2018
This is #TheGrind: Raekwon's Return pic.twitter.com/8txgqzJOr4
The injury bug hit Buckeye rookies hard last season – McMillan, Malik Hooker and Curtis Samuel all suffered season-ending injuries. It'll be fun to see them all back to 100 percent.
LSU QB ANNOUNCEMENT COMING. Somehow, Joe Burrow has not yet been officially named the starting quarterback at LSU – though to be fair, neither has Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State – but that should be happening soon as LSU plans to have that conversation this weekend.
From Nola.com:
Burrow has been believed to be the frontrunner for the job since the moment he signed with LSU from Ohio State. Orgeron and Ensminger have gone out of their way to publicly say it was an even four-man competition. All four earned even reps before the two transfers, and the company message was that all four brought different skills and LSU would be happy if any started.
Two days in a row, Orgeron has said a decision for the starter doesn't necessarily mean it will be one quarterback for the entire season.
So while many think it's Burrow's job, Orgeron still says it's close.
"If we name one starter, he goes out there and is having a great game, obviously you keep him in," he said. "If he's not doing the things we expect him to do, we have another guy who can go out there and play. We're gonna keep the other guy alive."
Yeah, I'm not playing into this charade. Joe Burrow is going to be the starter.
He's going to be the starter on day one, he's going to be the starter for the entire season, and he was always going to be the starter from the second he announced his transfer to LSU.
There's nothing Ed Orgeron, bless him, can say to convince me otherwise.
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