Our Honor Defend

Kickoff for the 2010 season is coming soon, so I am pulling the blogging version of the all-nighter in order to finish the third edition of this now 19-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye.  All Buckeyes must be better known.

This 16th installment covers Bradley Roby, who came to Ohio State with cornerback in mind.  Roby had an interesting road to Columbus.  A high school teammate and family friend of Cameron Heyward, the Suwanee, Georgia native entertained interest from Ohio State before quickly committing to Vanderbilt to play wide receiver.  Though committed to the Commodores, Roby began to look around.  Ohio State extended an offer at the end of 2009 and Roby committed thereafter.  He is better known in this feature in the usual manner.

Height: 5’11
Weight: 176lbs
40: 4.4
Bench Max: 245lbs
Vertical: 40 inches
GPA: 3.86
High School: Peachtree Ridge High School; Suwanee, Georgia

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Kickoff for the 2010 season comes on Thursday and I still have four Buckeyes I need to better know.  So, consider this a clearance sale.  All Buckeyes must be better known!

Johnathan Hankins, a defensive tackle from Detroit’s Southeastern HS, will be the 15th installment of this now 19-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye, currently in its third edition.  Hankins was a curious case through the recruiting process.  Uncertainty about who exactly offered was omnipresent through the recruiting process.  He acquired offers from Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida, but was the sixth or seventh option for the in-state (and apparently childhood favorite) Michigan Wolverines.  Michigan State passed on him outright.  He is better known in this feature, in usual fashion.

Height: 6’3
Weight: 336lbs
40: 5.1
Bench: 365lbs
Squat: 550lbs
High School: Southeastern HS; Detroit, TSUN

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By this time next week, Buckeye fans will hopefully be discussing the details of a comfortable, yet exciting victory over Marshall in the previous night. The enthusiasm for the product that has once more resumed normal activity for the 121st season will hopefully carry over into the anticipation for the matchup with the Miami Hurricanes the next Saturday, marking the first meeting between these two programs since Ohio State bested them in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl to secure the program’s seventh national title. May this season bring us number eight.

As such, the news that Ohio State has concluded fall camp, named its captains for the 2010 season and has released the tentative depth chart for the Marshall game reminds us all that the season is just around the corner. I will discuss these news items below.

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The 2010 football season is rapidly approaching, eliciting the excitement that only Ohio State football in the fall can bring.  The third edition of my now 19-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye is wrapping up as well to make proper way for the season.  In this 14th installment, I fast forward to Verlon Reed.  The athlete from Columbus’ Marion-Franklin HS, ended a recruiting lull in an otherwise limited recruiting class with his December 16th commitment.  Holding offers from  in-state MAC snacks like Kent State, Toledo and Bowling Green, Verlon is not your typical Ohio State-caliber recruit.  Ultimately, the coaching staff saw much to like about him personally as well as his athletic potential and extended a scholarship offer.  He was all too eager to take it.  As such, Verlon is typical of the Buckeye recruit in this class.  There is interesting potential and a winning attitude, which is discussed in this feature that follows the regular order.

Height: 6’2
Weight: 185lbs
40: 4.5
High School: Marion-Franklin HS; Columbus, OH

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The addition of Nebraska to the Big(ger) 10 means that most games scheduled for 2011 are now in flux. Some of the implications of the change are not good at all, but some are. As Ohio State is not the only program in college football having to adjust its schedule accordingly, it is has found a BCS program in a similar position: Colorado.  Colorado will be leaving the Big XII to join the future Pac 12.  Its scheduled non-conference game with California now a game in-conference, Colorado contacted Ohio State about the possibility of a one-time visit to Ohio State.  After some wrangling, the two sides have agreed to meet next year on September 24th.

I think that date on the schedule had been previously allocated to Michigan State as a conference game, though that was pushed forward to October 1st.  That date, and October 15th, are open dates on Ohio State’s schedule as the new conference alignment is being finalized.  As it stands, Ohio State will host another BCS opponent shortly after coming back from Miami, Florida for the return leg of the series with the Hurricanes.  Colorado will receive $1.4 million dollars for their troubles, something that will probably go to Dan Hawkins’ buyout.  I can’t imagine he sticks around much longer.

Ohio State and Colorado have a little bit of a history.  The two sides first met in Ohio Stadium in 1971, an ill-fated season for the Buckeyes and the first after the Super Sophomores had all graduated.  They met again in the 1977 Orange Bowl, Ohio State’s first non-Rose Bowl game.  The Buckeyes conceded the first ten points of the game, but scored the next 27 en route to a 27-10 victory.  A home-and-home series was scheduled shortly thereafter, taking place in 1985 and 1986.  The Buckeyes won both games.  I have both the 1977 Orange Bowl and 1985 matchup in my collection.  You can watch them below.

The schedule is still in flux and we’re all praying that the Big Ten does not screw up and put Michigan and Ohio State in separate divisions.  Nevertheless, as Ramzy noted, a 2011 schedule including Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Colorado  and possibly Iowa ranks as the most obscenely difficult schedule in the history of college football… of 1990.

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