A Penn State Chase Young return, you say? Hmmmm. That game seems to have gone well for him last time.
This Chase Young tackle for loss was Ohio State's final defensive play in its 27-26 win against Penn State last year. pic.twitter.com/xyyBSVWcBx
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) November 13, 2019
God help Sean Clifford.
ICYMI
- Chase Young will return against Penn State.
- Gene Smith says full cooperation with the NCAA was the only option.
- The Ohio State hoops team absolutely routs Villanova.
- Kaleb Wesson was a big difference in the game.
- A look at Ohio State's year-end performance reviews.
- Some Big Ten freshmen destined for stardom.
- Jeff Hafley nominated for Broyles Award.
- Game poster.
Word of the Day: Virtuoso.
FINAL FOUR BOUND. We're all occupied with our College Football Playoff scenarios, but the Basketbucks are out here looking like a Final Four team of its own kind by absolutely curb stomping a top-10 team on Wednesday night.
Ohio State is a potential Final Four team: Good young guards and wings, one of the best big men in the country in Kaleb Wesson and a terrific coach in Chris Holtmann.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 14, 2019
The best part was that Wednesday night's absolute mauling took place without two heavy contributors, one of which is the team's lone senior.
From John Gasaway of ESPN:
Ohio State faced Villanova on Wednesday without two players who combined for 47 starts last season. Andre Wesson is sidelined for two weeks because of a fractured eye socket, and Musa Jallow is out of action for an undetermined length of time after undergoing surgery on his ankle. None of that mattered in the slightest: OSU jumped to a 19-3 lead on the Wildcats and never looked back on the way to a strikingly easy 76-51 win.
The Buckeyes delivered a masterful performance on both sides of the ball, as Chris Holtmann's men made 62% of their 2s while holding the Wildcats to 28% shooting inside the arc. Ironically, it was a Villanova-style display of lethal and, above all, collective efficiency on offense: Duane Washington Jr. took home leading scorer honors with 14 points. Ohio State spread out the Wildcat D, made the correct reads and spotted opportunities both on the perimeter and in the paint.
The concern with OSU coming into 2019-20 was that a team that struggled to score in Big Ten play a year ago might do so again this season. But if the performance of a short-handed version of the Buckeyes on offense against a top-10 opponent was any indication, those concerns might soon prove to be yesterday's news.
I can't wait until the Buckeyes blast No. 6 North Carolina on their own home court in a few weeks. Maybe then folks will hop on the bandwagon.
TWO-WAY BERRY. I'm going to be honest, of all the players on the roster, Rashod Berry was probably the last one I would expect to be making Ohio State history by doing something nobody's done in a decade, and only one person's done in 15 years.
But then he did the thing – he played both sides of the ball in a single game.
From Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com:
“It’s always a 50-50 chance,” Berry said of continuing to ask about his quest to double up in a game. “It’s like when you ask your mom, ‘Can I stay the night at my friend’s house?’ You don’t know. It’s a 50-50 chance. You never know. So I kept asking."
...
“It felt amazing,” said Berry, who referenced the pending two-way play on social media hours before Saturday’s game with a promise that history would be made. “From high school going into college, I always wanted to play both sides. So for this opportunity to open up like this, it was like, ‘Wow, this is real. I’m really about to do this.'"
Berry did it by abandoning his free time during the week. He said preparing for a game on one side of the ball still leaves time for a life. But learning the defense as well as the offense?
“It’s focus through the whole week,” Berry said. “I had to watch both films and study both offense and defense. It’s just focus. I really took that and ran with it.”
He practiced both ways all week. He left Kevin Wilson’s tight ends meeting room to join defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s meeting room at times.
He was damn close to getting a sack too, before Zach Harrison selfishly stole it from him (smh, freshmen) but something tells me he'll get another shot against Rutgers.
CHASE YOUNG – FUTURE HALL OF FAMER. In a world where television personalities are making pallets of money for being loud and sticking to soundbytes, Joel Klatt is perhaps the most-level headed, patient and thoughtful college football analyst I've ever seen, and I appreciate the hell out of that.
Probably intentionally, he's the perfect foil for Colin Cowherd every week when he joins his show, and every week it's entertaining as hell.
This time, he calmly explains to Cowherd (and by extension, everyone else) why he thinks Joe Burrow is the best quarterback in the country and why he thinks Chase Young is the best player in the country, even if he might not go No. 1 overall.
I believe theres only one guy a draft where you can be like, Thats a Hall of Fame talent, and Chase Young is that guy I know hes going to work out in the NFL. These QBs, Im not sure. @JoelKlatt pic.twitter.com/Ojys0Yj4Lx
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 13, 2019
These guys are absolutely fantastic compliments to each other. Most of the time, I don't believe for a second that Cowherd really even believes what he's saying (or at least not to the extent that he argues it), but he's playing a sort of character in order to tee Klatt up. And it works masterfully every time.
But regardless, Klatt is refreshingly rational and level-headed, and I appreciate the hell out of that, regardless of his actual opinions (which just so happen to be that my very good favorite football team is, in fact, very good). Keep fighting the good fight, Joel.
MEANWHILE, IN THE ACC. This should tell you everything you need to know about the state of the ACC/Clemson's strength of schedule.
Interesting note from CFP conference call tonight on ACC/Orange Bowl, if Clemson makes it to the playoff, the Orange Bowl is supposed to take "highest ranked ACC team not ranked in the top four", but they won't keep ranking teams even if there isn't another ACC team in top 25 pic.twitter.com/dtotCj7wwo
— michaelniziolek (@michaelniziolek) November 13, 2019
Of course, there will be at least one other ranked team when the Deacs and their absolutely obnoxious mesh point dump Clemson in Death Valley this week.
Dabo's not going to have an answer to this work of art:
I know I've tweeted this before but the mesh point just makes Wake Forest mentally exhausting to watch. I'm DYING over here pic.twitter.com/0z9OesJitF
— RichardJohnson (@RJ_Writes) November 12, 2019
I want them to make the Orange Bowl so badly just to subject this to a national television audience. NFL purists ignoring their family gonna be SICK pic.twitter.com/HrmWLTcbDz
— RichardJohnson (@RJ_Writes) November 12, 2019
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Feral hogs find and destroy $22,000 worth of cocaine in the woods... Iowa paid a security firm to break into a courthouse, then arrested employees when they succeeded... Why dad killed mum – my family's secret... Rod Stewart reveals his epic model railway city... Cows swept away by Hurricane Dorian are found alive in North Carolina... South African gin company infuses their alcohol with elephant dung... AI that can impersonate a voice after listening to just a five second sample.
