Our Honor Defend

In the Hive

It’s the beginning of another work week, which means it’s the second rounds of Hive features that I’m trying to make a usual feature on this here blog.  The leading topic will nominally influence the title of the particular Hive feature.  Ever since my first installment last Monday, I had this particular leading topic in mind.  But Charlie Weis took it away from me dammit.

Regardless, here’s “Five in the Hive” for you to consider as you begin your work week.  Ideally, you’re not far from Christmas vacay either.

C’mon, Gun to Head: Bollman or Weis?

The 2012 Gator Bowl is a byproduct of unapologetic manipulation on behalf of the Gator Bowl committee to pit the Buckeyes against the Gators in order to discuss, ad nauseum, every horrible and irritating storyline conceivable.  Both Buckeyes and Gators fans have to suffer an already intolerable season with that annoying laugh Craig James does (*woo-hoo*) while he labels an inside zone play as “power football”.  From a Buckeyes’ perspective, there will be nothing enjoyable about this Gator Bowl beyond a win to ensure a winning season.  Everything that could be mentioned about this bowl game, centering largely on the 1978 Gator Bowl and the January 2007 game, is insufferable beyond words.  The other topic du jour of this game, Urban Meyer, will be annoying for Buckeye fans to hear soon enough.  We are far more interested in seeing Urban Meyer coach the Buckeyes, not hearing about how he used to coach the Gators and, OMG, will coach the Buckeyes!

The only redeeming storyline entering this game would have been Walrus v. Manatee, the matchup of the great football minds of Jim Bollman or Charlie Weis.  Ramzy already discussed the implications of this matchup, even producing this handy breakdown of the matchup (reproduced below).

Tale of the Tape: Jim Bollman vs. Charlie Weis (via @ramzyn, Eleven Warriors, Op. cit.)

Basically, it’s the sophistication of an 8th-grade Power I offense vs. the Erhardt-Perkins Offense, with all the bells and whistles of a moldy baseball card attached the spokes of your first bicycle.  So, I ask, who would you rather have: Jim Bollman or Charlie Weis? “Dave” or Corner Route?  Running into 9 man boxes or 3 yard checkdowns on 3rd and 7? Buckstache or Front Butt? Walrus or Manatee?

But, Charlie Weis and the Kansas Jayhawks had to be jerks about the one redeeming storyline we had and take that away from us.  Weis’ play calling duties will be handled by Brian White, running backs coach.

Taylor Graham Will Transfer

This one has been rumored for a while, but the hiring of Urban Meyer will cement it.  Taylor Graham, redshirt freshman quarterback, will leave the program.

This should not be surprising.  Graham was the fourth string quarterback this year.  Thus, in a year characterized by subpar QB play (Braxton Miller) to awful QB play (Joe Bauserman), Taylor Graham was often not on the travel roster to do what he could versus the likes of Purdue and Miami.  Having the same eligibility this year of a Braxton Miller, who could very well be anointed the future by Meyer, Graham was guaranteed almost no playing time in Meyer’s power spread offense.  Should a more pro-style offensive staff be coming to Columbus, Graham might have changed his mind.

I always hate when stuff like this doesn’t work out, especially with legacy players that we want to have the same success of the generation before them.  Ideally greater.  Ohio State has struck out recently with legacy players.  Duron Carter flunked out and is now rolling the tide with the Rammer Jammers in Tuscaloosa.  Sam Longo transferred out after two years in the program, as will Taylor Graham now.  Symbolically, it hurts a bit.  But, life goes on and the program will live.

Until then, we thank Taylor Graham for his two years in the program and hope he finds a good home somewhere to continue his collegiate career.

Ohio State Concludes Big Recruiting Weekend

Urban Meyer has been doing work on the recruiting end.  This is good, because he has to put in work to ameliorate what would otherwise be glaring roster deficiencies in 2012.  I hate using the blog to speculate on recruits that have not committed to Ohio State yet, simply because the news can be so fluid that I would be wasting your time with pure speculation.  Regardless, here are some things to consider.

• Do not at all be surprised if the next three commitments to Ohio State (in a row) are from prospects currently committed to other B1G TEN schools.  These include: Se’Von Pittman (Michigan State), Tommy Schutt (Penn Shtate), Kyle Dodson (Wisconsin).
• Anything can change, but, if I had to guess, Jordan Diamond signs with Ohio State on National LOI Day.  I can’t guarantee anything, but I very much like where this one is going.  Diamond with some boolean operator of Kyle Dodson AND/OR Evan Goodman AND/OR Nick Davidson would be great for addressing roster concerns at offensive tackle.  They will all be freshmen (and Davidson would certainly redshirt if/when he gets here), but, at last, options at offensive tackle.  It feels good to finally take that position seriously.
• I still think Bri’onte Dunn is searching for a reason to sign with That School Up North.  Importantly, he genuinely had a blast on his recruiting visit to Ohio State.  That’s as good as it is going to get in the short term.

I think I am going to really like recruiting updates under Urban Meyer going forward.

Meyer’s Coaching Search Expands to NFL

This much comes from a tidbit given by Jordan Diamond on his visit.  Therein, he noted that Urban Meyer told him that his quest to fill out his assistant coaching staff has expanded to the NFL, where he was apparently interviewing current NFL assistants.  Diamond did not specify, but I am assuming he was talking about OL coaches and not (necessarily) other positions.

The name every Buckeye fan probably conjured first was Jeff Davidson, father of Buckeye recruit Nick Davidson.  He spent two years with Meyer at Ohio State in the tail end of Earle Bruce’s tenure.  Jeff Davidson was a former offensive line coach for the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and, currently, the Minnesota Vikings.  His duties with the Panthers also included play calling, something he most certainly would not do under Meyer.  Davidson’s credentials as an offensive line coach are probably contingent on the reader’s perspective.  The Panthers were a trainwreck last year, as are the Vikings this year, but the Panthers did have two 1,000 yard rushers in 2009 and names tutored by Davidson include Jeff Otah, Jordan Gross (meh..) and Ryan Kalil.  Importantly, Davidson would not bring Erhardt-Perkins with him.  Even more importantly, I am speculating. Do note that.

If it seems more and more like Studrawa will stay in Baton Rouge, then an offensive line coach with an NFL pedigree seems very attractive.  The good thing about Meyer’s offense is that his particular version of spread football, viz, “Power Spread”, borrows liberally from concepts that are staples in NFL playbooks.  Urban Meyer is not Paul Johnson, nor is he Rich Rodriguez in what he wants from offensive lines.  There is nothing Meyer does up front that an offensive line coach from the NFL would not be used to seeing.  Add in the awareness that any (good) NFL offensive line coach has for the more exotic blitz packages proliferating through college football (see: Greg Mattison), and this becomes a plus.  I would think.

But again, I am speculating.  The one name I’m surprised has not entered conversation is John Hevesy.  Hevesy was co-OL coach for Urban Meyer, along with Steve Addazio.  He was probably Addazio’s better half.  Hevesy largely worked with offensive tackles and the awareness of Florida’s offensive tackles depreciated considerably when Hevesy followed Dan Mullen to Starkville in 2009.  Could we not simply “buy” Hevesy if need be?  Again, speculation.

Post #1000

Michael’s recap of the loss to the Kansas Jaybirds in Lawrence was the 1,000th post on the blog, right as it is on the verge of entering Year 5 on January 8th, 2012.  A big thanks to anyone and everyone who reads it, takes time to comment, follows me on Twitter and, especially, for Michael, Charles, Margie, Chris and Dan for contributing.  If not for them, I would have discontinued the blog after the 2010 season citing exhaustion.  I am still interested in adding another writer (or two) to take the load off myself and maybe someone else to allow us to focus almost exclusively on specialized afternoon features without having to worry about the Hives, but their contributions have been vital.  They have helped me keep my eyes on the ultimate prize: cake and beer.  It is with that in mind that I share the cake and beer with you.

Cake and beer, with beer in cake. It's like looking at the face of God.