Our Honor Defend

This is the second time in 3 years where Ohio State plays a schedule without a bye week.  Other schools, USC that I can think of, like to cram as many as two bye weeks into the schedule.  Others will always have one.  Ohio State has none.  New Mexico State, a 40 point underdog to the Buckeyes, is the closest thing we have to a bye this season.  The challenge for Ohio State: approach the game with the same focus you would for an elite team and turn the game itself into a de facto bye week.  More discussion on this will follow in the forthcoming preview post.  Here are some other things for your consideration.

Thaddeus Gibson Wants You to Take It Like a Man

Castel had a piece on Thaddeus Gibson, who — I did not know — had serious aspirations of being a quarterback at this level.  It didn’t quite work out for him, but he seems to have found a comfortable niche for himself.

“Growing up I always wanted to be a quarterback,” said the Ohio State junior, who was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week after his three-sack performance against Minnesota this past Saturday.

As a freshman at Euclid High School, just outside of Cleveland, Gibson weighed less than 200 pounds when he tried out for quarterback. Despite being one of the fastest players on the roster, Gibson could not beat out the guy in front of him and didn’t take long for the coaching staff to realize his talents were better suited for the opposite side of the ball.

“They said that I was a better defensive player than I was a quarterback,” said Gibson, who now weighs over 240 pounds.

“I had some sacks as a freshman and the last two games of the varsity season I was starting varsity at defensive end.”

It felt good. Damn good.

While Gibson hurts quarterbacks rather than play quarterback, he did have some encouraging comments for teammate Terrelle Pryor.

“I think it’s a great position, and I think our quarterback is gonna hold that end of the deal and be one of the great quarterbacks that I wanted to be,” he said of OSU sophomore Terrelle Pryor, the one quarterback he isn’t out to get.

Every other quarterback, though, will suffer the consequences:

“I want (them) to see me coming. Whatever he wants to after that, whether it’s run away or take it like a man, let’s do it,” Gibson said with a smile.

The article discusses Gibson’s self-described approach to the all too important study of film from there forward, but it does conclude with Thad channeling the thoughts of your average Buckeye fan watching the games on TV.

What doesn’t excite him, or any other defensive lineman for that matter, is when an offensive lineman has to use too much hand to keep him from getting to the quarterback.

“Holding. Please stop holding. If I beat you, I beat you. If you got me, you got me, just please stop holding.”

More John Simon Fluff

When I better knew John Simon, I thought he could be special.  I was not expecting him to make an immediate impact.  I struggle to think of another defensive tackle under Heacock who did not redshirt as a freshman.  Cam Heyward played as a true freshman, but mostly for the injured Lawrence Wilson at the other end spot.  Remember: the staff was really high on Garrett Goebel coming into this season.  They’re now talking about Simon.  That’s not bad news for Goebel.  As far as I can tell, he’s still a quality player in the coaches’ eyes.  Simon is just that special.  Heacock had this to say recently.

Heacock raved about DT John Simon. Said he’s a coaches dream, loves his work ethic, and said flat-out, “he will be a great one if he stays healthy.” That’s something, coming from a guy who coached Luke Fickell, Mike Vrabel, Ryan Pickett, Darrion Scott, Kenny Peterson, Vern Gholston, and Will Smith, to name a few.

In that same update, Ken Gordon mentions that Heacock thinks Sabino’s light has finally come on.  Goooooood.

Tale of the Tape: Minnesota

Ken Gordon’s weekly tale of the tape feature looks over the Minnesota game.  He concludes that this was the best performance by the offensive line this season and speaks on the specifics of Terrelle Pryor’s play that game.  Read accordingly.

Per the Presser Notes

I did not address the presser notes yesterday, and perhaps I should.  Here are some bullet points to consider:

• Mike Adams had surgery and will be out two weeks or so, says the coaches.  I think this is a little optimistic.
• Larimore will not play against New Mexico State, but is in very good position for a return against Penn State.
• Brandon Saine and Orhian Johnson were concussed against Minnesota.  If both are cleared to play, they’ll play.  I admit I didn’t know that OJ was concussed, or at least has concussion-like symptoms, against Minnesota.  ESPN dropped the ball on that.  I’m surprised they didn’t have wall-to-wall coverage of that.  Hmm..
• This is the first time Ohio State has been favored by near 6 TDs since the 1999 Ohio game.  That game was a strange one.

When Was the Last Time We Played a School with an NCAA Women’s Equestrian Program?¹

Link.

Oh it's true. It's true.

1. I’m pre-empting someone being a smarty-pants and answering this. In the past 10 years, we’ve played Fresno State, South Currrolina, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State and all have NCAA equestrian programs. [↩]