It's officially game week. And for the first time in months, we'll get to hear from the head coach of the football team – it just won't be Urban Meyer.
Interim head coach Ryan Day and defensive coordinator Greg Schiano will meet with media at 11:45 a.m. Be sure you're following @11W, @Dan_Hope, @DW1509 and @AndrewMLind for updates.
IT'S GAME WEEK #BUCKEYENATION
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 26, 2018
The Buckeyes open the season against Oregon State in The Shoe
Sat. 9/1
12:00 PM ET
ABC#GoBucks #WinTheMoment pic.twitter.com/4BVo2bXkCs
ICYMI:
- Ohio State's coaching staff deals with unexpected changes, but is still going strong.
- There are no shortage of storylines this 2018 season.
- Kierstan Bell, a five-star women's hoops phenom drawing LeBron James comparisons, commits to OSU.
- Ohio State officially announces the addition of West Virginia graduate transfer QB Chris Chugunov.
- An in-depth look at each player vying for the starting center spot.
- Ohio State names seven captains for the 2018 season.
- Several former Buckeyes are preparing to play meaningful snaps elsewhere this season.
- Conference champions and College Football Playoff picks from the Eleven Warriors staff.
Word of the Day: Habile.
KEEP THE SHIP AFLOAT. We're officially in the Ryan Day era at Ohio State, and if he finishes with anything less than the best win percentage in Buckeye head coaching history, it will be a disappointment.
Thankfully for Day, that only means winning three games, then handing the keys right back to one of the greatest head coaches of all time to do the rest.
From Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports:
Those who know him best along the way say he’s spent a lifetime preparing for this moment.
“He’s ready, he’s built for this,” said UCLA coach Chip Kelly, who was Day’s offensive coordinator at New Hampshire. “He’s always been the captain and the leader. He’s unique. There’s always a sense of calm when you’re around him. I don’t think people will see a guy drunk with power. He has the ability to make everyone else feel calm.”
Day’s early actions as interim at Ohio State give a window into his personality. He’s operated as head coach out of his own office in the assistant coach wing of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Meyer’s centralized office has remained empty. Day also has continued to coach the quarterbacks during practice, not taking the overseeing role of a walk-around head coach. Logistically, Day is expected to call plays from the sideline instead of his typical perch in the box. He’s expected to head back upstairs when Meyer returns.
Day, who declined comment for this story, has told those around the program that his main goal has been as little disruption as possible. He’s comfortable enough in himself to lean heavily on seasoned veterans – defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, co-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, defensive line coach Larry Johnson and strength coach Mickey Marotti.
It's refreshing to hear Day isn't planning a coup, but if the Buckeyes drub Oregon State, Rutgers and TCU by an average of 47 points, then lose to Penn State shortly after Meyer's return, the reaction on the message boards will make the J.T. Barrett/Dwayne Haskins quarterback controversy of last season look like nothing.
But we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
FELDMAN FORESEES THINGS GOING FINE. Urban Meyer can't return to his team for another week, and can't return to the sidelines until two weeks after that.
I think the Buckeyes will be more than fine until he returns, and it seems I'm not alone in that conclusion.
.@BruceFeldmanCFB on how Ohio State has handled Urban Meyer's absence pic.twitter.com/RFewQrbK81
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 26, 2018
I've never understood the fatalistic "Ohio State isn't even a top-10 team without Urban Meyer!" #take guys like Stewart Mandel were spewing when Meyer's future was uncertain.
Yeah, it would have pretty extreme long-term consequences if Meyer was fired, but even if he were suspended for an entire season, the Buckeyes would be fine. The team's loaded and the position coaches aren't exactly parent volunteers, either.
This team is built to survive without its head coach, because all of the actual, hands-on coaching is delegated to people who are still there.
Meyer is a CEO. It's not like he's out there hitting running backs with pads or correcting defensive line hand technique anymore than Tim Cook is managing production plants.
STILL CLAIMING TITLES. I'll say it: I'm sick of UCF. I loved everything about their win over Auburn, and was even amused by the initial national championship claim, but everything after that has made them absolutely unbearable in my mind.
The parade was annoying, the inferiority complex on Twitter is annoying, Mike Bianchi calling them "the most hated team in college football" is annoying, the general "us against the world" mentality is annoying, and pretending they wouldn't have gotten blasted by any of the four teams in the College Football Playoff is TCU-in-2014-level annoying.
So when I saw this, my eyes rolled so hard I thought my contacts were going to fall out:
The NCAA has officially recognized UCF's 2017 National Championship. Page 115 of their just released 2018 Records Book. No more "so-called" or "self-proclaimed." It really happened. https://t.co/88Y6gokLk9 pic.twitter.com/jr4OZpLP1o
— Brandon Helwig (@UCFSports) August 25, 2018
No, it didn't. And if it did, Alabama should be given credit for 21 different national titles.
DONTRE WILSON – CELEBRITY ENDORSER. A career in football didn't seem to be working out for Dontre Wilson, so he's going for the next best thing – working for an offshore sports book based out of Panama.
It seems Dontre will be brought on as a social media influencer, as the release referred to him as a "current Social Media Phenom."
Personally, I wanted to see him tear apart some arena football league, but I certainly wish him the best.
NEW YEAR, NEW FOOD. Some new eats are coming to Ohio Stadium this season, including a rotational meal based on each visiting team.
Here's a look at the new deliciousness:
That reuben dog looks absolutely phenomenal. 10/10, would eat.
It reminds me of the masterpieces Boss Doggs would put together before they were tragically ripped from the heart of the university and replaced with some whitewashed, cringeworthy abomination of a food truck called "Thyme and Change."
Boss Doggs is gone forever, and I will never forgive my alma mater for that.
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