Our Honor Defend

I’ve been thinking of some kind of awards to be doled out on this website for performances during the 2008 season.  Yes, the whole campaign was disappointing in the aggregate, but I appreciate all the efforts of the football players, provided the effort was indeed there.  That said, I couldn’t think of any award to give out that was intuitively obvious.  That is: Malcolm Jenkins is the team MVP, Pryor is the freshman of the year, and either Malcolm Jenkins or James Laurinaitis was your MVP on the defensive side of the ball.

Either way, those awards are boring.  Moreover, in spite of the rise of the Buckstache to national prominence, courtesy of the dearly departed M-Zone, no recognition is given to the Buckeye football player who did the most during the course of the season to advance the Buckstache cause.

In light of that, we here decided to inaugurate The Brian D. Baschnagel Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Facial Hair.  We I have chosen Brian Baschnagel as the titular Buckeye legend for this honor for a variety of reasons.  I believe Brian Baschnagel’s mustache might be the earliest, and most significant articulation of the Buckstache phenomenon that we hold so dearly here.  Football in the fifties and sixties was different from what we have now, with nary a whisker to be observed on the Buckeye teams of those times.  However, the 70s ushered in the revolt against the cut-and-tight look of the previous decades.  With said ushering came Brian Baschnagel, wide-receiver extraordinaire in the 1970s, whose Buckstache was the predecessor, not only in chronology but in spirituality, to the litany of Buckstaches to follow.  While many Buckeye fans will surely be quick to point to Chris Spielman as perhaps the most famous Buckstache, I believe it is Baschnagel who gave us the most divine Buckstache of all.

Besides, it might also give people cause to look up Baschnagel and learn his exploits.  Had he not played in the same class with a guy by the name of Archie Griffin, he might be better known.  Had he opted for Penn State over Ohio State during his recruitment, he might have been a Heisman winner.

Naturally, an award named (without consent) after such a larger-than-life figure in Buckeye lore is not to be given without regard to other considerations.  After all, the cultivation of Brian Baschnagel’s Buckstache was not reducible to the absence of a disposable razor to shave it.  No no.  His Buckstache is the end result — and visible confirmation of — of perseverance, integrity and tenacity both on the field and off the field.  While the facial hair in question should be given primary weight in the evaluation process, other Baschnagelian qualities should be considered as well.  Specifically, performance on the field (Baschnagel not only excelled at receiver, but also ran the ball on end-arounds as well.  He even played some defensive back in the pros with the Chicago Bears) and in the classroom (Baschnagel was a two-time Academic All-American) should be factored in to the equation.

I’d like to actually get input from anyone and everyone on this, including the other Buckeye bloggers, and don’t want to limit the result here to just a poll, but I’m not sure if anyone else is interested.

Alas, here are the nominees that I could gather to consider for this award.  Feel free to let me know if anyone is missing.  All that matters here is that the facial hair in question was spotted and documented during the course of the 2008 season.

Nader Abdallah

Abdallah’s facial hair is rather blasé, and certainly not in the same spirit of the amazing Buckstaches of the seventies.  However, Abdallah’s tightly shaved beard was a staple throughout the season and Abdallah should be given props for it accordingly.  Moreover, Abdallah exemplifies other Baschnagelian qualities as well.  On the field, I think he was the star of the defensive line during the second half of the season, with the breakout game coming against Purdue.  He finished the season third on the team in TFLs, and, believe it or not, tied for third on the team in pass breakups (behind Jenkins and Coleman).  Moreover, in case you weren’t aware, where most student athletes take no more than two classes a quarter at Ohio State during the football season, Abdallah took an outstanding 21 credits… and survived… and thrived on the gridiron in the second half of the season.  Also, if you weren’t aware, he actively observes Ramadan as a practicing Muslim and had to deal with his whole family eventually leaving the United States following Katrina.  Abdallah is one of those great stories in college football that never gets told and is certainly an exemplar of the path set forward by Brian Baschnagel.

Alex Boone

Boone’s facial hair varied through the course of the season, but the look you see in that preseason practice photo is the one Boone mostly wore.  The goatee/circle beard, combined with the extended sideburns was a staple on Boone as far back as his 2006 season.  Alex Boone finished his senior season as a first team All Big Ten selection at the tackle position.

Joe Bauserman

The backup quarterback is always the most popular guy in town, except when the starter is named Terrelle Pryor.  Bauserman doesn’t get enough props, especially for a guy who has earned his way to a full athletic scholarship, but nomination for this award may help here.  While Bauserman’s beard might appear to be par for the course, he should get style points for tone.  The dirty-blonde on pale white combination makes this ordinary goatee extraordinary.

Donnie Evege

Donnie Evege is a redshirt freshman defensive back who did not see much action this year.  I’m not sure he registered a statistic.  Yet, in spite of the absence of production on the gridiron, Evege exhibits Baschnagelian production off the field.  Evege already has a Plan B for football in the form of his real estate license and is preparing himself to work in the real estate business after his playing days are over.

Oh, and the wafer thin Buckstache on this Huber Heights, Ohio native is a common occurrence statewide.  In the embodiment of Evege, it is a significant restatement of identity for Buckeyes all across the great state of Ohio.

Thaddeus Gibson

Gibson, like Abdallah, opted for more of a blasé tightly shaved beard for his breakout season in 2008, but given everything else about him, I’m sure it put the fear of God in more than a few quarterbacks.  Despite being rotated in and out contingent on formations, downs and distances, Gibson finished first on the team in sacks and second in TFLs.  His play of the year came on the fumble recovery for a touchdown against Michigan State.

Boom Herron

The redshirt freshman was one of the breakout performers in 2008, a feat started early in training camp.  Therein, his effort in practice was so exceptional that he leapfrogged both Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine into the backup spot behind Beanie.  Scientists believe that Boom’s facial hair contributed the most to his stellar performance this campaign.  While Boom’s beard varied throughout the course of the season, it his showing against Troy, pictured to the right, which puts him in the field here.  Normally, Boom was cut more tight in the beard, but he let it all hang out against Troy.  This beard became a staple on more than a few players on the roster throughout 2008.

Cameron Heyward

Heyward’s Van Dyck is neatly trimmed and tightly cut (see: below, for a contrast), but falls more on the blasé side accordingly.  However, the presence of said facial hair was enough to spur Heyward to a 36 tackle (7th on the team), 3 sacks and 4.5 TFL effort in his sophomore season.

Jermale Hines

Hines was another one of the breakout performers in 2008, quickly challenging Donald Washington for playing time and establishing himself as the nickelback for Ohio State. He finished 10th on the team in tackles, and tied for tops on the team in fumble recoveries. His highlight of the season was returning one of those fumbles for a touchdown against Michigan State in the final moments of the game. All the while, Hines rocked the Van Dyck style with the elongated sideburns.  Unlike the Van Dyck look from Cam Heyward, the Hines Van Dyck has a little more oomph in the goatee.

Beanie Wells

Beanie’s beard may have been the most celebrated on the team throughout the 2008 season.  Indeed, what makes his full beard thrive is its almost perfect match, in both length and texture, to the hair on his head.  The longer both got, the better Beanie got.  When the beard was trimmed short — as is the case of Youngstown State, and Texas, bad stuff happened.  But when both were longer, Beanie was better and the end result was much nicer with the Penn State exception.

Mo Wells

The departing Maurice Wells may not have had the career he envisioned coming out of high school, but his perseverance at Ohio State for all four years of his eligibility is more than enough to get Buckeye fans to respect him for staying the course.  That, and Mo Wells gave us a look for 4 years that was unmistakeably… well… Mo Wells.  The Rastafarian look carried through his career at Ohio State, sometimes with the beard cropped shorter.  In the Fiesta Bowl, however, Mo Wells let it hang out a bit more for his last go-around with Ohio State.  It almost worked too.  Who’s to say the result would’ve been the same if he had grown the beard out another half inch?

Nathan Williams

Nate Nathan Williams was one of the real surprises of the 2008 season, having a breakout performance in spite of his absence from summer training camp in order to make up a high school class in the summer.  He finished his freshman season with 4 TFLs and 2 sacks.  Perhaps his breakout game was against Purdue, where not only did the normally clean-shaven Williams register a crucial assisted TFL, but also grew what appears to be a Buckstache (pictured right) for the occasion.  I’m presuming it’s probably a fuller beard underneath the helmet and chinstrap, but it’s enough to get him on the list for now.

Doug Worthington

Doug Worthington usually rocked the circle beard through the 2008 campaign, but joined in with a few other Buckeyes during the Illinois game in promoting the Buckeye Beard.  In that game, the beard spurred him to a 2 tackle, sack and a QB hit.  Overall, Worthington finished 2nd on the defensive line in total tackles (behind Cameron Heyward) and 6th in TFLs.