In case y'all missed the early frontrunner for Tweet of the Week:
The Patent & Trademark Office has more wins against Ohio State than Jim Harbaugh https://t.co/XgF3ZneT0P
— UConn is home (@NoEscalators) September 11, 2019
Realistically, would last year's defensive showing have been that much worse if Michigan replaced Don Brown with an intern from the United States Patent and Trademark Office?
ICYMI
- Indiana Game Poster.
- Mike Nugent reflects on his best kicks.
- "THE" trademark request denied.
- Hoops assistants ink deals.
- Ohio State dishing $1.8 mil to opponents.
- Five key 2021 targets.
- Real pod Wednesdays.
- The situational.
Word of the Day: Logy.
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM? My paranoid ass is so rattled by what happened at Iowa and Purdue the past two years that I'm heading into every road game against an inferior opponent like a terrified child peeking around the corner at a haunted house.
"If I *expect* the murder clown, maybe it won't be so effective at terrifying me?"
The good news is, after two years of getting absolutely railed by inferior opponents on the road, the players won't be taking those games lightly either.
From Rob Oller of the Columbus Dispatch:
Senior receiver K.J. Hill described both losses as “unexplainable.”
“Things didn’t go right in those games,” Hill said Tuesday, suggesting that lack of red zone offense contributed to the stunner. But otherwise? Emoji shrug.
“We went in feeling good about the game. It just didn’t work out,” Hill said. “We prepare the same each week. We have to execute our plays, and if we don’t, we’ll end up with an ‘L.’”
...
“The mentality we have is if you’re the champ, if you’re the boxer, they’re going to try to knock you out every time you go in the ring,” he said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best shot, we know that. Don’t be surprised.
I can feel it. This is it. This is our year. This is the year that Ohio State doesn't get slugged by a fringe bowl team.
FIVE-STARS PLAYING LIKE FIVE-STARS. My favorite thing about having a defense full of five-star defenders would probably be not watching mediocre scat backs run down the sideline for 70 yards.
Unfortunately, that was not a luxury I was afforded last year as the defensive scheme presumably called for those five-star defenders to be either a) on the bench or b) chasing the mediocre scat backs down the sideline.
Needless to say, I'm pleased that they now look like the most talented players in the country, because they are.
From Doug Lesmerises Cleveland.com:
In the Class of 2017, No. 7 Chase Young, No. 8 Jeff Okudah, No. 11 Baron Browning and No. 17 Shaun Wade were ranked among the top 20 recruits in the nation, all of them 5-stars. They were also the third-, fourth-, sixth- and eighth-best defensive players in that class. Of the other four top defensive players in 2017, one (Alabama LB Dylan Moses) is out with a knee injury, one is sitting out this season after a transfer, and one is a backup.
The four 5-star Buckeyes? They’re changing Ohio State’s defense.
“When you bring in two of the top-three corners, a top linebacker and a top defensive end, you expect to have a real strong defense eventually,” Okudah said.
“I just knew I was coming in with some dawgs,” Young said, “and they’re displaying that every week.”
Yeah, there was no reason for that defense to be bad last year, but I'm working on getting past that and just appreciating that Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison bravely took on the tast of fixing the most talented defense in the country.
MIKE HART ON BEATING OHIO STATE. If y'all were running short on confidence heading into this week's matchup with the Hoosiers, remember that Mike Hart is coaching on the other sideline.
Indiana running backs coach Mike Hart on running against Ohio State. As a former star running back at Michigan, he would know. #iufb pic.twitter.com/btfSbFi6yB
— Taylor Lehman (@TaylorRLehman) September 10, 2019
Ah yes, Mike Hart, the nation's authority on beating Ohio State. Indiana should hire Chad Henne as their quarterbacks coach. That'll really have the Buckeyes rattled.
I don't really know what Hart is supposed to say here, but if "we just need to control the front" is anything close to Indiana's actual complete offensive gameplan... Uh, good luck!
MOTHER PREDATOR. I won't truly know what it's like to parent an All-American until the NCAA has a place for my four-lagged purring fuzz creature of a son, but Chase Young's mother is giving us a peek at a day in the life.
We've all seen @youngchase907 make plays on the turf.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 11, 2019
But just off the field is his biggest supporter: His mom, Carla.#GoBucks #ToughLove pic.twitter.com/T4purgXRpe
"We need 20 sacks this year. I know they're going to triple team you but come on, boo, you can do it."
Carla speaks for us all.
3.5 YARDS AND AN UNDEFEATED SEASON. Forget all that Urban Meyer to USC speculation. Meyer's going to be coaching Navy to a national title in 2022.
Ever wonder what @CoachUrbanMeyer would say to fire up his team as a service academy coach?
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) September 11, 2019
Neither had we, until he tried it out on @gerrydinardo.
We also have chills. pic.twitter.com/aceQSRJqrC
If he gave this speech to Army before last weekend's game, that would make a ton of sense. If he didn't, why the hell not?
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