It's less than a week until Ohio State football and we've just heard from the team for the first time in a month. Needless to say, Monday's press conference was dense.
A heavy does of ICYMI:
- Scouting Oregon State.
- Ryan Day is still getting comfortable as Ohio State's interim head coach.
- Film study looks at the many ways Ohio State will run the ball.
- Ryan Day and Greg Schiano meet with the media.
- Michael Jordan will start at center, Malcolm Pridgeon will start at left guard.
- Pete Werner, Baron Browning and Malik Harrison will start at linebacker on Saturday.
- Ryan Day praises Dwayne Haskins ahead of the season.
- Greg Schiano is excited to start the season.
- Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Sevyn Bank shed their black stripes.
Word of the Day: Sockdolager.
“HIS OWN KIND OF DUDE.” Joe Burrow is officially LSU's starting quarterback.
That still sounds a little weird to me, because for the past few years, Burrow has been just about as Buckeye as it gets.
Though he never started a game, and never really took a snap in a meaningful moment, he's been an integral part of the team and was nearly unanimously liked and respected by his teammates.
Burrow didn't do anything special to get to that point, he was just unabashedly himself, even if that meant being nearly indescribably quirky. And everyone in the locker room grew to appreciate that.
From NOLA.com:
And this recruit walks up with dyed beach-blonde hair -- apparently an Athens football thing -- and he’s wearing these embarrassing shoes and Collier and the others are wondering: “What’s up with this guy?”
Burrow signs with Ohio State and enrolls a few months later. He still wears those awful, dirty, worn-out Nikes. He grows out his hair and wears these goofy headbands at practice. He dances to Meek Mill songs in the locker room. He rocks this weird Mickey Mouse shirt all the time.
And he wins over the team. He hangs out with the receivers and the linebackers, the walk-ons and the stars. He’s competing with Collier everyday, but they become close friends. Starter J.T. Barrett loves him, too. He’s even-keeled and keeps to himself, but he still relates to everyone.
...
By the time Burrow announced he was leaving Ohio State in May in the midst of a tight quarterback competition with Dwayne Haskins Jr., his teammates were all posting on social media how much they loved him. Players from all over the roster, even Haskins, tweeted “See you at the top.”
The more I read about how much his teammates loved him in Columbus, along with the absurd number congratulations tweets from a very wide range of individuals, I'm both sad to see Joe Burrow go, and ecstatic that he's going to get a shot to light it up.
And with his debut game on Sunday night, in no way conflicting with any Ohio State football activities, you can be damn sure they'll be one rowdy watch party somewhere.
BILLY BACK IN BUSINESS. Remember a few weeks ago when Billy Price made a few bad snaps during a mock game and Bengals fans would have thought the sky was falling?
I think it's safe to say everything is going to be fine.
#Bengals rookie center Billy Price allowed zero total pressures across his 30 pass-block snaps against the #Bills on Sunday. Price has yet to allow a single pressure through three preseason games (59 pass-block snaps).
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) August 27, 2018
Billy Price is going to a quiet 10-year starter in Cincinnati and it's going to be amazing. Between him and Sam Hubbard's preseason dominance, it's looking like picking Buckeyes might work out fine for the Bengals.
Who would have thought?
DIFFERENT KIND OF MIXTAPE. I vividly remember watching Austin Grandstaff's high school mixtape and telling my friend that I thought he could be the next James Harden.
Folks, I was extremely wrong.
My dude didn't even last a semester before transferring to Oklahoma, then didn't play a minute for the Sooners before transferring to DePaul. Now, it seems he's thrown in the towel on basketball all together, and is beginning a music career.
From Patrick Murphy of Bucknuts.com:
Despite coming out of high school a four-star prospect and the country's 14th best shooting guard according to the 247Sports Composite, Grandstaff struggled to make much of his time in college hoops. At Ohio State, he averaged 4.4 points in 11.5 minutes per game before announcing his decision to leave. Last season with the Blue Demons, Grandstaff averaged just 7.1 minutes and 1.3 points per game.
Grandstaff is no longer listed on the DePaul roster and, according to Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, he is no longer with the team -- although it's unclear if he remains in school. According to Grandstaff's Twitter page, he has elected to go a different route when it comes to a career, one in music. The tweet pinned at the top of Grandstaff's page reads: "GET YOUR TICKETS, FIRST SHOW AUGUST 26th AT POOR DAVIDS. Austin Grandstaff performing live in POOR DAVID'S on SUNDAY AUGUST 26" with a link to purchase tickets.
A search for Grandstaff's name on the music streaming site Spotify shows five "popular" songs and one album called "Growth E.P." His music is listed as Hip-Hop/Rap and features what sounds like Grandstaff both singing and rapping. His bio on Spotify still lists him as "hooping for DePaul University," but also describes his sound as "in line with the smooth Melodies of a combination between Rap and modern R&B. 2018 could very likely be Austins year."
I gave Mr. Grandstaff's music a listen, and my assessment is that it's fine. I would never seek it out, but wouldn't complain if it was on in the background.
Personally, I think this is a great time to pursue a solo musical career as a rapper. That market is extremely ripe and absolutely not saturated with high schoolers Garageband on their MacBooks and Soundcloud accounts.
"SHEBRON" TALKS BUCKEYE COMMITMENT. The Ohio State women's hoops team got a commitment from one of the most dominating women's basketball players I've ever seen, and I say this as someone who covered Kelsey Mitchell every game for three years.
Kierstan Bell, out of Canton's McKinley High School, is the nation's top guard and No. 5 player overall. She's physically dominating, can shoot, pass, run and play any position on the court.
If Mitchell's game resembles Steph Curry, Bell's is LeBron James. In fact, that comparison is so apt, she's already earned the nickname "SheBron" and has played in front of the King. Bell is entering her senior season and has already been named Ms. Basketball in Ohio twice, and could be the first-ever three-time winner.
And after she finishes dominating the high school ranks, she'll head to Columbus to join Kevin McGuff's squad, where she already feels right at home. And with any luck, she'll bring a few more top-rated players with her.
From CantonRep.com:
“It was a hard decision, but I was just going with my heart. I was born and raised in Ohio. It’s two hours away, so my family and friends can come see me. I didn’t want to be too far from home, so it’s a great fit.
“I like the atmosphere, they have great coaches and I just see myself in Columbus for the next four years.”
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Bell is the third top-60 recruit in the 2019 class to commit to Ohio State, joining Indiana point guard Rikki Harris (No. 24) and Dublin Coffman guard Jacy Sheldon (No. 46). Two other Ohio seniors are ranked in the top 10 nationally by ESPN.com: Columbus Africentric guard Jordan Horston (No. 8) and Toledo Rogers guard Zia Cooke (No. 10). Both are on Ohio State’s radar, as is Detroit’s Rickea Jackson (No. 9).
“They all have Ohio State on their list, so I’m looking forward to their commitment,” Bell said.
The Buckeyes have not recruited exceptionally well the past couple of classes and it's resulted in Ohio State having a roster full of graduate transfers for this season. But that also leaves a ton of roster space available for a loaded 2019 class, and all will be forgiven if McGuff can land a handful of top-10 players.
EXPANDED TRAVEL ROSTER. The first road trip is always telling of which freshmen could see early playing time. Since the travel roster is somewhat restrictive, it forces the coaching staff to pick and choose which players should make the trip.
But this season, it seems they'll have a few more spaces to fill.
Pat Fitzgerald just dropped an interesting legislative nugget, saying that he learned this morning that the Big Ten will allow you travel 74 players instead of 70 this year. (I wonder if that's a byproduct of the new redshirt rule.)
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 27, 2018
There was a lot to talk about during Ohio State's Monday press conference so I guess I'll forgive Ryan Day for glossing over this.
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