Our Honor Defend

The weekend of the spring game is finally here.  The scarlet and gray teams will take the field on Saturday to scrimmage before a waiting audience, who hope that their one glimpse of Ohio State football for the next several months will not require parkas and umbrellas.  The forecast for Saturday in Columbus is not looking good at the moment.  Nevertheless, there will be all sorts of football to consume this weekend.

Ohio North-South Classic

Tonight, the Ohio North-South Classic will be played at 7pm (local) at Ohio Stadium.  The North-South Classic is the oldest high school football all-star game in the country, entering its 65th consecutive year.  A staple of Ohio high school football, this game will mark a new direction for the exhibition.  This year, it was moved to the venerable Horseshoe, to be played the day before Ohio State’s spring game.  If nothing else, this should be a wonderful little attraction for Ohio State football fans who may want to watch some football, featuring some players from their native high schools, before heading out to High Street to enjoy the Ohio State nightlife.  This game, however, has some future Buckeyes you will want to watch.  The full roster can be viewed for your consideration, but be mindful of Verlon Reed, Darryl Baldwin, Christian Bryant, JT Moore and Tyrone Williams.  All five future Buckeyes will be playing in this game, with Verlon Reed the lone future Buckeye on the South roster.

Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money, but the $5 ticket price is worth about two beers, all else equal, and should serve as a nice, cheap thrill for the football mad Columbus locals.  I can’t tell if it will be on TV, but Eleven Warriors will have people on the ground providing their thoughts.

Spring Game

The rain is threatening to, well, rain, on Ohio State’s parade on Saturday, but Wednesday’s draft orchestrated by the seniors culminated an interesting set of competing rosters for the game.  A position-by-position breakdown is available on The O-Zone.  I will try to be brief with my thoughts, but I’m keeping the following in mind.

• I don’t expect Pryor to play too much, and this will much more true if it’s raining on Saturday.  Therein, Kenny Guiton will be an intriguing player to watch.  Terrelle Pryor was the first overall pick in the draft by Scarlet.  Gray immediately went with Guiton.
• I think every tailback outside of Boom Herron is hurting to some capacity.  As it is: Scarlet has Jermil Martin, Jordan Hall and Bo Delande.  Gray has Brandon Saine, Boom Herron, Carlos Hyde and Jaamal Berry.  Tailback was the last position “opened” in the draft.  Herron was selected first by gray.  Berry was selected fifth.
• Scarlet’s wide receiver corp is comprised almost entirely of slot guys: Sanzenbacher, Fields, Schwartz, and Jackson.  Who do you put as the X?  Schwartz or Fields?
• Dominic Clarke was taken first at cornerback (by Scarlet), over Donnie.  They will regret that.  Nate Oliver was taken first at safety, over Orhian Johnson.
• After Scarlet opened with quarterback, Gray opened with center and took Michael Brewster.
• Both offensive lines appear to be solid, but Jack Mewhort and Corey Linsley are playing out of position.  Linsley is Scarlet’s center by default (because Gray took Brewster as soon as they could) and Mewhort is playing right guard out of necessity.

NFL Draft

The NFL Draft’s move from Saturday morning to Thursday night (for the first round, at least) has cleared up the schedule for Ohio State fans on the day of the spring game.  To be sure, the final three rounds will be Saturday morning but, really, who cares?  I’m not sure how your favorite NFL team is doing, but mine fortunately passed on Jimmy Clausen with their first round pick… as did everyone.  Not many Buckeyes matriculated to the NFL Draft, something we hope will serve us well for the 2010 season.  As such, no Buckeye has been taken yet.  Thaddeus Gibson is our most likely candidate to be taken first, something that may occur tonight in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.