Our Honor Defend

A week ago, I followed up a previous feeble call for a Buckeye-specific Round Table with a comparably feeble call for the said Block O Table.  Unlike the last time, there was actually some feedback on this issue, with input from The Silver Bullet, MotSaG and Fear the Elf.  Combining the assurance of interest from those bloggers and the feedback from the post in question lets me know that it’ll be worth my while to do this again at the top of March.  It’ll also be more obviously an earnest endeavor, as some of the questions in the current set just reeked of “trial run”.

Until then, I’ve synthesized and summarized the responses below for your consideration.  I also chip in my own thoughts where they were previously withheld from the original questions.

Responses

Bloggers: Fear the Elf

Commenters: BK, blazers, Ron, Gabby, bup³, El Caballo del Sangre, Todd of the not-Boeckman variety, Wil, Palm Beach Buckeye, Mortal Wombat, Brian Fantana, E, J Mo

01. Heater at Bucknuts reported recently that Jake Stoneburner might be on the move to tight end after all².  I’m optimistic that some great things will follow.  But what do you make of this move, if it happens? Will Stoneburner get lost at a position that the Buckeyes’ offense hasn’t taken advantage of since Ben Hartsock? Or might this actually mean some diversification of playcalling (H-back sets, drag routes) and a chance for Stoneburner to be unstoppable?

Some good conversation followed from this question, mostly because it’s a very common critique of the Tressel-flavored offense to ignore the tight end or consign him to a glorified tackle.  Sadly, given how wonderful our offensive line has been in pass protection… and run blocking… sigh, this might be a sad, necessary thing to do.  Still, an underwhelming offensive line doesn’t completely atone for the tight end’s absence from the passing game considering how woeful some of the statistics are.  Drew Thurman, of The Silver Bullet (TSB), paints a gruesome picture.

2008 – All of 11 catches by the tight end (6 to Nichol; 5 to Ballard)! Brandon Smith did catch 8 balls but those were all out of the backfield as a fullback.

2007 – A whopping total of 32 catches (16 to Nichol; 13 to Ballard; and
3 to Smith) which actually gave us momentary hope for the future!

2006 – 15 catches by our tight ends (13 to Nichol; 2 to Ballard)

Ew.

With news that Jake Stoneburner might be on the move to tight end after all comes optimism for a few of the respondents that good things will follow.  TSB follows his statistics with optimism that Stoneburner, already a matchup problem as a gimpy true freshman who redshirted, would make the offensive arsenal that much more explosive.  Mike of Fear the Elf (FTE) says “let there be underneath routes!”, while noting that so much of the underproduction at the position could be attributable to personnel mismatching (i.e, senior Troy Smith and younger TEs, or younger Pryor and upperclassmen TEs).  Todd, Wil, Brian Fantana, bup³, E and J Mo also all seem to be in favor of it, underscoring an approval from the majority for this move.

Still, some uncertainties were raised.  Gabward correctly reminds us that Stoneburner is averse to a down formation on the offensive line.  While he should certainly learn if tight end is in his future, it’ll definitely be a learning experience as H-backs haven’t featured in Ohio State’s offensive sets since Hartsock’s final year.  However, if Ohio State were to ever bring those sets, Stoneburner’s transition should be a little simpler.  There’s reason for pessimism, though, as Ohio State brought in a player like Reid Fragel who turned down Michigan State, in part, for their use of H-backs.  El Caballo is especially pessimistic.

I’m despairing that ANY TE, even a potential nightmare for opposing LBs like Stoneburner, can get a fair chance to shine in a Tressel offense

I hope he’s wrong, but for no other reason than it would mean a more sophisticated offensive attack for the Buckeyes.  However, I don’t think anyone could fault El Caballo for his pessimism, unless they haven’t seen the statistics provided by TSB.

I say I’m optimistic.  I could go on a large, rambling explanation why, but Wil best summarized in one sentence why I’m optimistic.

Hopefully Stoneburner can be the type of TE that FORCES our offense to take advantage of him.

God willing, Wil.

02. Ohio State will host no in-state MACrifices at the Shoe in 2009, though it will go to Cleveland to play Toledo.  The Buckeyes didn’t even have an in-state school scheduled for 2010 until it finalized an agreement with Ohio not too long ago.  I love this, and I’d love to see more of it (absence of in-state schools on Ohio State’s schedule).  What say you?

There seems to be a good split here in opinions.  FTE, Todd, E, Palm Beach Buckeye and J Mo all seem to like the MACrifices.  While the open-ended question generated some diversity in answers, the consensus appeared to be that keeping that money in-state is better than tossing it out to a place like Rice or Fresno State.  Todd was particularly vocal in this answer, noting that a 60pt beatdown of a cupcake is the same margin of victory whether or not it’s Rice or Akron.  If given an option, it’d be better to keep that money in the state of Ohio.  J Mo agrees.  FTE, El Caballo and E arrive at the same conclusion: 1 MAC-rifice, no 1-AA teams… ever.  I certainly agree with the latter point.

Again, there was a lot of diversity in the answers.  Gabby thinks MACrifices are nice, but only when they roll over and play dead.  When they come in to Ohio Stadium and make us look stupid, slow, and unable to protect a quarterback from a ferocious speed rush from our invalid grandparents, embarrassment follows.  This kind of leads to my point that I made subtle in my question, but El Caballo made explicit in his answer: probability theory dictates that one of these days, Ohio State will lose one of those games.  In other words, Ohio State will win 99% of the trials, but that one loss that will happen eventually will outweigh the previous unbeaten streak stretching back to 1921 (the last loss, to Oberlin).  Though El Caballo concludes that a MAC-rifice is in order for every season, his anxieties ring true with me.

On the other hand, simple mathematics dictates that, one of these days, Ohio State WILL lose one of these games – and that’ll be a day of Appy St.-style rejoicing for the haters.

Mirroring Todd’s train of thought, a 60pt victory over Rice is the same as one against Kent State, but a loss of any variety to a Kent State is far worse than a loss to Rice.  I’d just as soon like to see Ohio State’s unbeaten streak against in-state competition retired for good.  The Ohio State University is football in the state of Ohio.  Ohio State could make that the standard and never have to have it tested (or refuted) by ignoring in-state schools of all types going forward.

This brings up the issue of Cincinnati, a commuter school with a head coach that I’m anxiously awaiting to get hired away by someone of national consequence and the closest thing the state could produce to a competitor to the crown.  Wil recognizes this, but thinks that this is all the more reason to play them and help SOS.

I would love to see a rivalry started with Cincy now that they are a legitimate (using the word loosely) BCS contender. That could only help our SOS.

Mortal Wombat also sees utility in playing Cincitucky, both in SOS and the history the school had denying Fred Taylor, Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek national championships.  Thanks for reminding me of that again, Wombat.

Now that Cincinnati is in a BCS conference, why shouldn’t Ohio State and Cincy open their seasons against each other? It would help both teams’ SOS. An early loss by either team would not have that much of an impact down the stretch.

I disagree.  A loss to Cincitucky would be a mortal blow to the lore of Ohio State football around the state, given how good of a coach Kelly is, how well he’s recruiting Cincinnati, and how Cincinnati is basically it’s own little city-state that I still think is part of Kentucky.  El Caballo wins the award here for response that most resembles my train of thought, like Wil won for the previous question.

No Cincinnati. They’re just getting too good, and the bitch of it is that when/if they ever did beat us, the perception of it would just be too damaging (even though they’re in a BCS conference, have a different regional recruiting focus, etc., it would still be a David-Goliath thing w/ the media), and the other side of that coin is that we get no credit for beating them no matter how good they are.

Todd (not Boeckman) concludes this section with a quote that, if he were in the same room with me, would merit a chestbump and an elevated handslap for awesomeness.

The exception to that is the nimrods down in Northern kentucky who think they are going to surpass tOSU as THE football power in the state. Screw ‘em. If they have so little respect for tOSU, let find a juicy payday somewhere else.

Just as I’m fine with leaving the MAC schools to subordinated status, so am I in favor of leaving Cincinnati to being its own city-state and an island to itself.  Have fun being that team that loses to ACC schools in the BCS.

03. Signing Day wasn’t that long ago.  What recruit in the 2009 class has a breakthrough performance in 2009 like Nathan Williams had last season?  In other words, is there someone in the class who will have an immediate impact in spite of low hype?

Responses varied here, naturally.  That said, Zach Boren was brought up by FTE and hinted at by Gabward (I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here).  FTE thinks Zach is just a true blue (Pun not intended.  Forget I said that.) football player, but seems to indicate that Zach would be a linebacker in 2009.  Gabby thinks that Zach, or Adam Homan, will contribute to a position where freshmen will feature quite heavily.  This is essentially true, though I’m expecting more shotgun sets for the Buckeyes in 2009 with the Buckeyes going back to an I-heavy set in 2010.

El Caballo and E both bring up Johnny Simon from Cardinal Mooney.  If you’re unfamiliar with Johnny Simon, think of him as an anthropomorphized mule.  He shows great strength in the trenches and that should give him an immediate leg up at the position.  Also helping: Ohio State is weak at DT.  While Garrett Goebel enters the rotation this season, there’s still ample opportunity for the freshman Simon to contribute.  I hope he does and I’d love it if he did.  He will have to work on being a little more explosive out of the gates and using his hands a bit better.

Boren and Simon were the only recruits to get more than one mention.  I love that Wil mentioned Jordan Whiting, and he wins the award for answering the question with the recruit nearest and dearest to my heart.  Whiting, the first commitment in the class, isn’t getting the hype that fellow classmates Storm Klein and Dorian Bell have gotten, but is aggressive and already built to play.  He should contribute to special teams.  J Mo mentions Corey Brown, who is one of the two players I want to watch in 2009.  Brian Fantana brings up Jordan Hall as a player that, surprisingly, everyone has forgotten about.  That’s the smell of desire, my lady.

For my responses to a similar question by Zombie Nation, see how interested I am in James Jackson and Corey Brown.

04. I think everyone agrees that Boom Herron will replace Beanie as starting tailback, but his backup will probably get some carries through the course of the season.  Lesmerises implies that’ll be Carlos Hyde, freshman from Naples, Florida.  Who do you think it’ll be and why?

There’s only a handful of real options here: Jaamal Berry and Carlos Hyde (true freshmen) and the junior Brandon Saine.

Todd was the only to speak up for Jaamal Berry, which sounds odd considering that he’s the highest rated tailback product of any of the 3 incoming freshman at the position.  I get a feeling that Buckeye fans in general think Jaamal Berry will slide into that backup role, but my sample need not be representative.  J Mo and El Caballo provide some hesitation towards Berry, thinking that he might be another Mo Wells.  I disagree, since Mo Wells always bounced to the outside in high school and Berry showed much more patience running between tackles.  Berry is more of Steve Slaton/Antonio Pittman mold.  The only thing I see holding Berry back from immediate participation are his feet.  Berry will need to pick up his feet plowing through the line, or risk getting ankle tackled at the line.  Heavy use of zone read running plays may help Berry in his first year, but this will happen only if Ohio State’s offense in 2009 resembles that of 2004.

El Caballo, Wil and J Mo all say Carlos Hyde, and with good reason.  Carlos is the no. 2 fullback prospect in America according to Rivals.com.  He was no. 1 for the longest time, but Rivals.com changed their rankings at the end to bump Hyde to no. 2.  In short, Hyde is a power back with nimble feet — think PJ Hill of Wisconsin fame, before Bret Bielema went out of his way to ruin that team — and should compliment Boom Herron well.  J Mo says he’s built like a mack truck.  El Caballo and Wil both think that’ll come in particularly handy on 3rd and short situations in 2009.

Gabby, Brian Fantana, and E all say Brandon Saine, though no one outside of Brian seems particularly enthusiastic about it.  Gabby and E seem to capture what I think will happen: A) Brandon Saine gets the backup nod because of experience on the team and B) we can only hope he breaks out his junior campaign and looks like something other than a track star trying to play football.  As Brian notes, the dude was otherworldly at the high school level.  After an okay start to his career in 2007, injuries derailed him and he hasn’t rebounded since.

05. On Lesmerises, his secondary projections didn’t include Donnie Evege.  This is obviously not a reflection of his talent, but more an anxiety on the coaching staff that the world is not yet ready for Donnie Evege.  Extended playing time for the Wayne HS alum will be too momentous of an event for this feeble planet to handle, and many people feel that it could possibly tear apart the very fragile fabric of time³.  But is the world ready for Donnie Evege?

I can’t figure out if El Caballo, Todd and J Mo love America or hate America.  El Caballo likes Evege as the hype man on the sideline, and Todd agrees, thinking that being an All-American Towel Waver will get him more TV time than anything else he does.  J Mo still has bad dreams about Lydell Ross.  I can’t figure out if this willingness from these 3 to keep Evege on the sidelines underscores a deep-rooted hatred of America or not.  On the one hand, Donnie Evege embodies the spirit of America and any willingness to consign him to a novelty act on the sidelines could only be construed as malice towards this great country.  As some woman with a husky baritone voice at the bar I frequent told me on Saturday night based¹ from her experiences as a missionary in Ukraine, channeling the spirit of Ricky Bobby, “you (in this case: El Caballo, Todd and J Mo) just don’ understand liberty.   Nossir, noooossir, you just don’ understand freedom until you’ve seen, until you’ve seen, what it’s like to see people, REAL PEOPLE, fighting for freedom inch by inch.  ‘Til then you just don’ understand.”².  Substituting Donnie Evege in lieu of that deluge of poor English and southern drawl that followed the word “until” gets at the heart of the matter.  You all Y’all just don’t don’ understand liberty.  Nossir.  Nooossir.

On the other hand, all three might actually be the greatest patriots of all.  Considering the consequences of extended playing time for Donnie Evege may result in the new world order where this country is rebranded in his image.  All three should be rightfully praised for upholding the American values we all cherish dearly.

FTE decided to play ball, knowing full well that Chuck Norris checks underneath his bed every night, sleeping a quiet sleep only when assured that Donnie Evege is not waiting to pounce.  E believes in the dirtstache.  It is indeed a triumph of the human spirit.  Wil chastises me, and rightfully so, for trying to start a worldwide panic.  Indeed, my suggestion that Donnie might see the field is tantamount to yelling fire in a crowded movie theatre… times 100.  Gabby succinctly states what’s developed as a practical joke between us: the world just ain’t ready for Donnie Evege.

Bonus

The correct answer is that Jeff Logan is indeed man-pretty.  Wil’s incredulousness at any assertion to the contrary mean he’s the winner of the bonus round.  BK, Gabby and myself bemoan what’s become of his hair, but let that not detract from those epic pictures of him from the 1977 Orange Bowl.  El Caballo and Todd are just hatin’.

Todd and blazers give Tony Reed the nod for best overall pic, since he just looks soooo smooooooth.  Did humanity jump the shark after disco? I think so.  Gabby isn’t giving up on shirtless Emery Moorehead, though.  Kudos to you, Gabby.

Ron and El Caballo are drawn to Ray Griffin, albeit for two different reasons.  Ron had flashbacks to watching Ray Griffin play in person and had the opportunity to share some of that via private correspondence.  His comments from his past reflections and my early observations seem to coincide: Ray might have been the most athletic of the Griffin family.  The only difference was that Ray ended up at safety, where Archie played a position more amenable to winning two Heismans.  Great family though, all of them Buckeyes in spirit.  El Caballo didn’t seem to volunteer those thoughts, instead thinking that Ray Griffin’s pic screams “I’M ON A BOAT”.

And it does.  It does.  Take a picture, trick.  Ray Griffin’s on a boat, bitch.

Thanks again to everyone who took their time to chip in their thoughts during this trial run.  I hope to have another one up in early March for your consideration.

1. …while her husband wouldn’t stop puffing that fucking cigar in my face.  Feeling’s mutual, buddy. [↩]
2. This woman in question went on a missionary trip in 2006, so I don’t know what in the sam hell she thought she saw, or what conflict was going on in Ukraine two and a half years ago… I hate this place.  I really do.  Someone save me. [↩]