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Happy Monday!
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the kings of college football.
The Worldwide Leader in Sports (ESPN) employs the supremely obnoxious “analyst” Mark May, who absolutely hates Ohio State. His “genius” insight led him to declare the Buckeyes didn’t deserve to be in the college football playoff and even refused to admit OSU belonged to be in the national championship game against Oregon after they beat Alabama.
The relentless cycle of May’s classless ways and disdain for Buckeye Nation has always been known by its fans, but his “expert” analysis and refusal to accept reality wasn’t lost on head coach (and former colleague) Urban Meyer. On Friday night, while at the Ohio Union to celebrate the national championship with students (before Saturday’s 45,000 + attendance in the Horseshoe in the cold), Meyer arranged a short message for the Worldwide Loser in Sports: ESPN’s Mark May.
It’s probably a safe bet that ESPN’s Lou Holtz will send May that video too.
Happy Monday!
Happy Duck Hunting!
Dear 12-Gauge,
There will be a superfluous amount of quacking, football playing ducks at AT&T Stadium in Texas tonight. In the purely metaphorical sense, please take care of that. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Buckeye Nation
The Ohio State Buckeyes are playing for the National Championship against the formidable Ducks from Oregon this evening at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN. These two teams are similarly fast, creative and talented. However, these two teams’ identities are different in that one program is built on strength and the other on flash. Urban Meyer will be competing for his 3rd national title, while Oregon’s head coach Mark Helfrich is hoping to hoist up his first national championship trophy.
Style wise, it’s tradition v. new school.
Offensively, it’s expected that both teams will have a great amount of success, especially after their respective Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl performances. Starting quarterback (and yes, 3rd stringer) Cardale Jones will lead the Buckeyes behind a strong offensive line with the dynamic and explosive Ezekiel Elliott, along with a tremendous wide receivers corps. The Ducks will rely on the deserving Heisman trophy winner Marcus Mariota and his electrically-charged high-tempo offense.
Predicting a bit of an offensive shootout, the key to this game will likely be in each squad’s defense. Which team can force that game-changing turnover(s), limit 3rd down conversions and sack the quarterback? For the Buckeyes, they will need to make sure that their defensive line is relevant throughout the entire game. Their front line is the strength of their defense and they will need to stop the run game and consistently pressure Mariota into sacks and/or poor throwing decisions if they want to win.
Plus, long OSU drives will help. Mariota can’t hurt you if he doesn’t have the ball.
And, for all those Buckeye fans, here’s a cool video to get ready for tonight…
Go Buckeyes and OH-IO!!!
That Sweet Buckeye Roll
(ESPN)
“Ohio Against the World”
There are shirts and sweatshirts with the above phrase proudly printed on them, one of which caught the eye of an ESPN cameraman. To say the least, it was fittingly awesome to see it on national television at the 2015 Sugar Bowl last night/this morning. After an exhilarating upset, a majority of people will say that Ohio State was a sleeping giant against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
And you know what, they’re right to some extent.
The Buckeyes were serious underdogs versus the cream-of-the-crop of the SEC in New Orleans (SEC country, by the way). After running, throwing, blocking, leaping and hitting the hardest they had all season, Ohio State continued to shock the college football world by slaying the biggest, baddest dragon in all the land.
42-35 is a score that will be remembered well beyond January of 2015. The dominating era of the SEC is over, while the Buckeyes have entered a new era of success that’s continuing to rise without a visible ceiling. Plus, the Big Ten (Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Wisconsin) is having one hell of an impressive bowl season. The results are changing and so is the perception, including Ann Arbor signing Jim Harbaugh.
It was also fitting that earlier yesterday Oregon absolutely blitzed and blew out the Florida State Seminoles 59-20 in the first College Football Playoff Semifinal in a national championship-like environment in the perfectly pristine Rose Bowl in picturesque Pasadena, California. It was fitting because the go-to college football blowout was Ohio State’s national championship disaster versus the Florida Gators 42-14 (we all remember who Florida’s coach was then too). On the same day the Buckeyes “officially” (2011 Sugar Bowl) beat the SEC and #1 team in the country, Winston and the Seminoles are now the standard-bearers for worst college football performance in a major game in recent memory.
From a Buckeye fan to all those down in Tallahassee, have fun with that sign on your back. And don’t think people will soon forget the poor sportsmanship of most of your players displayed when they walked off the field without shaking Oregon’s hands after the game. That nationally televised action spoke volumes regarding its program reputation.
The statistics in the 2015 Sugar Bowl are plentiful, but the ones that had the largest impact were:
- Third Down Conversions (OSU 10-18, AL 2-13)
- Total Yards (OSU 537, AL 407)
- Time of Possession (OSU 31:19, AL 28:41)
- Cardale Jones (243 Yards Passing, 43 Yards Rushing)
- Seven Different Ohio State Receivers Had Receptions
- Ezekiel Elliott (230 Yards on 20 Carries, Long of 85)
- Amari Cooper (71 Yards Receiving, Long of 15)
- Blake Sims (3 Interceptions, including a Pick-Six)
- Ohio State’s Reverse Touchdown Thrown by the 5th String Quarterback (Wide Receiver Evan Spencer) to Michael Thomas for the Catch of the Year
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has repeatedly said that the future is bright in Columbus and he’s absolutely right. In terms of his freshman and sophomores, plus another stellar recruiting class ready to arrive, the Buckeyes are here to stay. In fact, last night’s amazing upset was not only one for the ages, not only was it against the #1 team in the country, not only was it against the top team in the SEC and its top coach in the heart of SEC country and not only did the Buckeyes win with their third-string quarterback in his second career start (truly surreal), but Ohio State did it a year early. It was long-believed that the 2015/2016 season would be the year, but to Arlington, Texas Buckeye Nation will go.
The Buckeyes will be the underdogs in the 2015 National Championship game versus the sensationally electric Oregon Ducks at AT&T Stadium on January 12th. It will be a different type of challenge for the Scarlet and Gray, but not one that unfamiliar. Ohio State upset a similarly fast and dynamic Oregon Ducks squad in the 2010 Rose Bowl 26-17 when nobody in the national media gave them a shot. With that being said, the Oregon Ducks, led by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota (ie -“Super Mariota”), will undeniably be a challenge worthy of a national championship.
Buckeye Nation is really hoping that their sleeping giant hasn’t fully woken up and that Urban Meyer and Co. are really good at Nintendo…and not just at beating “Super Mario Bros.,” but also that “Duck Hunt” game.
P.S. The nickname for Ohio State’s quarterback is 12-gauge…
Happy Monday!
42-28
Awesome, bittersweet, complicated, suspenseful, devastating, resilient and glorious are just a few words that encapsulate the 111th gridiron match-up of The greatest rivalry in all of sports between The Ohio State Buckeyes and That Team Up North. The Buckeyes dominated the first and last two minutes of the first half, while Michigan controlled the other 26 minutes. The result was a 14-14 tie at halftime. The second half was a bit of a back-and-forth battle, before Ohio State pulled ahead by a touchdown.
Then, it happened.
It, for the second time this year, led to the starting Buckeyes quarterback suffering a season-ending injury. For freshman phenom J.T. Barrett, it was a fractured ankle in a cringe-worthy tackle/dirty move by the Wolverine defense. The only positive takeaway from this heartbreaking moment was when rival quarterback Devin Gardner knelt down beside Barrett to console him in a great act of sportsmanship.
Well done Gardner, well done.
Playing their third string quarterback for the duration of the fourth quarter, Cardale Jones and the rest of the Ohio State offense (and defense) held strong and even extended their lead in exciting fashion in front of their anxious home crowd. For Michigan’s head coach Brady Hoke, cognizant of his steady decline of success in Ann Arbor the past few years, it seemed fitting that Ohio State’s third string quarterback effectively signed his walking papers in his final appearance (very likely anyways) in The Game held in the state of his birth.
Brady Hoke always likes to poke at Ohio State by calling us “Ohio.”
Well, “OH-IO,” Mr. Hoke, “OH-IO.”
Then, news of a missing senior walk-on with concussion issues since mid-last week made local and national headlines. Devastatingly, the story did not end well. We don’t need to go into details.
The 111th edition of The Game featured a full-range of emotions. The Buckeyes won their treasured Gold Pants for the 9th time in the last 10 years in the best damn rivalry in the land. Even with the somber news, let’s try to remember the positives from this past Saturday.
Ohio State vs. Michigan really is the greatest rivalry in sports.
Have a Great Week (Especially For All of Us Buckeyes)!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 