New Era, Same Results: The Official Ohio State Buckeyes 2012 Season Thread

[MustafaSTL]

We're talking about this past and next year year. fukk you and fukk nas.

How dare you disrespect the GOAT. You just suck with everything.

 

[MustafaSTL]

I'll give you fukkers Mitchell. I cant say anything bad about him other than the shytty colors he'll be sporting in college. Fast ass white boy who is NEVER out of position. Hits hard and has a nose for the big play.

Congrats.

fukk ya'll still tho.

If we get Quick and/or Foster at wr our class is pretty set. We'd just fill out with the best of what we can get. This d line Meyer is putting together is gonna scare the Big Ten.

 

[Trust Me]

If we get Quick and/or Foster at wr our class is pretty set. We'd just fill out with the best of what we can get. This d line Meyer is putting together is gonna scare the Big Ten.

You seen the O-Line Hoke's putting together? A 2nd year in a row? Epic battles in the trenches coming up between our two squads.



Oh yea .. but we puttin in work on the D-Line too.

 

[MustafaSTL]

As Urban Meyer stood in front of the assembled media at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago’s Hyatt McCormick Place on Thursday morning, reporters were eager to see if the first-year Ohio State coach had some insight for how the conference could match the Southeastern Conference’s recent dominance on the field.

Though reluctant to get too opinionated about a conference he still admits he has much to learn about, Meyer had a simple answer – win bowl games consistently on the national level.

That may have been a painful thing for Meyer to say, particularly because Ohio State will not be allowed to partake in the postseason as it serves its NCAA penalties from scandals involving former coach Jim Tressel and a handful of players.

Meyer, however, scoffed at the notion that he’d have a “buffer year” to experiment with new things without the stresses of damaging postseason position while enduring growing pains.

“There is no such thing as a buffer year in college football, certainly not at Ohio State and certainly not with myself or my staff or the players,” Meyer said. “There’s no buffer year.”

Two big pieces that could go a long way in determining Ohio State’s success are seniors Jake Stoneburner and Jake Mewhort, both of which lost their scholarships and had to pay their own ways through summer school when entering guilty pleas to the charge of disorderly conduct after being found urinating in public.

Meyer said neither player – both seniors – have been reinstated to the team but both have worked diligently to take the steps needed to rejoin the Buckeyes for fall camp, which is set to kick off in eight days on Aug. 3.

“They're not reinstated yet, but they're actively working out,” Meyer said of the senior duo. “They have to fulfill their penance or obligation that we've asked them to do.

“Obviously the kind of people that they are, the families they're from, we did take their scholarships. They've had to pay for their summer school. Very expensive mistake. They're doing what they are supposed to do. Monitoring it closely. And that decision won't be made until we get to training camp. But as of now they'll be reporting to training camp a week from Friday.”

Both players completed spring practice as starters and integral pieces to an offense striving to grow from what Meyer has repeatedly described as an unacceptable unit moving into 2012.

Meyer wasn’t specific about the actual steps Mewhort and Stoneburner have taken off the field, though he was confident the two have done the necessary things to be worthy of rejoining the team in just more than a week.

“It is eight days away, but if they fulfill their community service and a variety of things I am not going to list, if it continues as-is, they’ll report next Friday,” Meyer said.

Meyer updated the status of two other players in running back Jordan Hall and defensive end Nathan Williams, both of which will be sidelined in fall camp while recovering from injuries.

Hall, a senior running back that was expected to play a major role in the Buckeyes’ offense, has been recovering from foot surgery after mistakenly stepping on a piece of glass roughly a month ago.

Meyer envisioned Hall would be the perfect candidate to make plays for Ohio State in a variety of different ways, whether it was as a ball carrier out of the backfield or as a receiver. The running back, who was initially slated to miss 10 weeks while recovering from surgery, is making progress in his rehab.

“Jordan Hall and I spoke yesterday and he is a little bit ahead of schedule,” Meyer said. “It was a very unfortunate injury to a guy, I hate to use the term ‘bought in,’ but was completely bought and was getting more than a 3.0 his last two quarters. He was a guy who had a great spring, and then an injury to this day I am still trying to figure out what happened. He stepped on a piece of glass at three in the afternoon, but he is also moving along very fast.”

Lost since Ohio State’s season-opener a year ago, Williams’ injury is the reason he’s gone from being one of the most impactful players on the Buckeyes’ defense to somewhat of an afterthought.

It still remains to be seen if Williams can make a full recovery in time to be the same player he was before his injury – he was one of the best pass rushers in the Big Ten – but the senior told BSB that he expects to be a main contributor once again.

Meyer said Williams is ahead of schedule for his return from micro-fracture knee surgery and could be a big addition to an already deep Ohio State defensive front.

“Nathan Williams I’d say is right on schedule, if not a touch ahead,” Meyer said. “He’ll be on the team, he’ll report, but he won’t be at full speed. He is cutting, he’s accelerating and doing things a little bit ahead of schedule and the training staff and him are doing a great job.”

Cant' wait

 

[MustafaSTL]

CHICAGO — Urban Meyer knew what kind of player he was getting with Braxton Miller when he first took the job back at Ohio State.

He had seen what the rest of the country has seen—a youthfully unpolished, yet powerfully explosive quarterback who, on the surface, would appear to fit Meyer’s system as well as anyone not named Tim Tebow.

Maybe more.
Urban Meyer watches Braxton Miller roll out.
Photo by Dan Harker Braxton Miller and Urban Meyer

“Braxton Miller is dynamic,” Meyer said at Big Ten media days in Chicago last week.

“He’s the most dynamic athlete I’ve ever coached. (He) has a lot of the skill set that even (Tebow) didn’t have.”

What Meyer said was intended to make people go, ‘Whoa!’ He has a tendency to do that, especially when he’s trying to make a point. In this case, however, Meyer’s point was exactly what it sounded liked.

“He is, by far,” Meyer added for emphasis.

“That’s how good an athlete he is.”

Miller’s athleticism is off the charts for a quarterback, and it’s a different type of athleticism than what guys like Troy Smith or Terrelle Pryor brought to the position. According to some of his teammates, Miller might be the fastest player on the entire roster.

It was one first things that popped into Meyer’s head when got off the phone with OSU athletic director Gene Smith back in November, before he had even hammered out the details of a contract that would bring him back to Columbus.

“His acceleration is off the charts,” Meyer said with excitement.

“I’ve had very few people that can accelerate like that, and I’ve had first-rounders all over the place. His acceleration from Point A to Point B, our strength coach and I laugh at it. And he’s strong. He’s 215 pounds. Real strong.”
Braxton Miller
Photo by Dan Harker Braxton Miller

He will need every ounce of that strength and every step of that acceleration to run Meyer’s offense, which places as much or more emphasis on the quarterback position than any other system in the country.

“The one thing about our offense, you can’t have a bad quarterback,” Meyer said

“And the quarterback can’t have a bad day or you’ll lose.”

That tends to be true with almost any offense. While Meyer says quarterbacks typically get too much credit and too much blame, he also said there will be games where Miller will have to “make a read” on every snap.

That could be as many as 80 plays if the Buckeyes can play the kind of hurry-up offense Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom Herman were working on in the spring.

“Some offenses turn around and hand the ball off, that doesn’t happen here,” Meyer said.

“We’ll do that a little bit this year; we’ve got some plays in. There are a lot of games where the quarterback has to make a read every play. I don’t think there is any other offense that does that. Usually there’s no read.”

Not only will Meyer’s offense put a lot on his young quarterback to make good decisions, but Miller has to stay healthy if the Buckeyes are going to have any measure of success in 2012.
Urban Meyer looks on as Kenny Guiton gets ready to throw.
Photo by Jim Davidson Urban Meyer and Kenny Guiton

That, or backup Kenny Guiton had better be ready to make the kind of plays Ohio State will need from its quarterback under the new system.

“It depends on who your backup is,” Meyer added.

“We’ve been fortunate to stay healthy, but I like Kenny Guiton. We’re going to be more aggressive because I have trust in two quarterbacks. The year we had Chris Leak and Tim Tebow, they fed off each other. They were different, but we’ll have a contingency plan.”

One thing Miller does have in common with Tebow is an unassuming nature that is rare in this day an age.

“He has a degree of humility that you almost never see in quarterbacks at Top 10 programs,” Meyer said.

“It’s refreshing to see that. It’s good for college football. It’s good for my son to see it. He’s a hard worker.”

He is also extremely competitive, which was something Meyer was a lot less sure of when he first got to see Miller up close as the quarterback of the Buckeyes. His laid back personality, coupled with the ease at which he seems to play the game, often makes it look like Miller isn’t giving everything he’s got.
Urban Meyer coaches up Braxton Miller
Photo by Jim Davidson Urban Meyer and Braxton Miller

That’s simply not the case, according to Meyer: at least not anymore.

“His positives are that he’s extremely competitive,” Miller’s coach said.

“If you put him in a winner-loser day, he’s going to try to find the best way to win.”

Everything Meyer saw out of his sophomore quarterback in the spring was positive, but the real test of Miller’s ability to lead the Buckeyes the way Tebow led the Gators is about to be put to the test.

“I’ll tell you after the first week of practice if he’s a good leader,” Meyer said.

“If we throw the ball decent and guys are catching, that means he led them all summer. If we don’t, that means he’s not where he needs to be.”

With how much Meyer puts on his quarterback, the entire 2012 season may very well hang in the balance.

 

[MustafaSTL]

Two-Minute Drill: Updates from First Day of Fall Camp
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was an early-morning wakeup call for Ohio State players Thursday, as the Buckeyes hit the practice field for the first time this fall.

Head coach Urban Meyer had his group out there by 5:45 a.m., and there will be a freshmen-only practice later in the day.

A handful of players spoke to the media after this morning’s practice. That group included quarterback Braxton Miller, tailback Carlos Hyde, defensive tackle Garrett Goebel and cornerback Bradley Roby.

First Day Excitement

* Bradley Roby said he only slept 3 hours last night because he was so excited for camp. Said he never felt that way about camp before.

* Roby said he finally fell asleep around 1am, had to be up at 4:30. Camp started at 5:45am, sharp, this morning.

* Braxton Miller said his alarm was set for 4:30 this morning. Coaches called to make sure he was up at 4:40...he was brushing his teeth.

* Carlos Hyde said the offense looked "really crisp" during this morning's practice. So much different than first practice of spring ball.

* Roby said it was the most intense first day of camp he's ever been to. Guys flying around, high energy, coaches yelling & getting fired up.

* Garrett Goebel said Nathan Williams was at practice today, but he did not take part in the action.

Undefeated Talk

* Roby was asked how good Ohio State could be this year, and said they could go undefeated, and that's the goal of everyone on the team.

* Hyde echoed that sentiment, saying everyone on the team is thinking 12-0 right now.

*Roby said the Buckeyes are looking for "redemption" after last season. Said they need to redeem the OSU brand back to what it should be.

Braxton Turning the Corner

* Roby said Braxton Miller is just a natural athlete. Called him the "best scrambler since Michael Vick."

* Roby couldn't give an update on Miller's passing because "he never throws to my side of the field."

* Hyde said Miller is working hard on becoming a leader, but the most vocal leader in the huddle is...Corey Linsley.

* Miller said the coaches have talked to him about being a "pass first" quarterback. Not always relying on athleticism.

* Miller said he is more comfortable in the huddle now that he "knows what he's doing."

* Miller said he thinks the offense has come a long way, could beat the defense right now.

Playmakers Starting to Emerge

* Braxton Miller said the two guys who really improved the most this summer were WR's Devin Smith and Corey "Philly" Brown.

* Miller said Smith was a little bit lazy as a freshman last year, but not anymore. Working hard every day to be the No. 1 guy.

* Roby said he has been one of the No. 1 kick return guys this offseason and has petitioned to play some offense.

* Roby was clocked at 4.31 in the 40 twice this summer. Down from a previous best of 4.4 last summer despite being 5lbs heavier.

* Roby confirmed he will switch to No. 1 this season. Meyer called Roby to tell him he had earned the right to wear No. 1 by doing everything he said he would do.

* Roby hasn't spoken to Meyer about playing both ways yet, but he has mentioned it to coach Kerry Coombs and coach Zach Smith.

* Roby said that while he came to OSU as a WR, he feels like he was born to play corner. Former OSU safeties coach Paul Haynes told him that.

Hyde’s Time Now

* Hyde feels like pressure is on his shoulders with Jordan Hall out, but feels they would be better with both of them.

* Hyde said last season was a roller coaster ride for him. Lot of ups and downs, but he never though about leaving. Teammates kept telling him his time would come, and now he really feels like this is his time to shine.

* Braxton Miller said Hyde lost his "jelly fat" from last year. Hyde said he's down from 240 to 235, but stronger.

* Hyde said he was always fast, even at 240, so he never worked hard on conditioning...until now.

 

[MustafaSTL]

The Next Two-Way Star?
Roby Could Fill Playmaker Role on Offense
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Once a receiver, always a receiver.

At least that’s the way Bradley Roby looks at it.
Bradley Roby
Photo by Jim Davidson Bradly Roby

While he now believes he was “born to play cornerback” at Ohio State, the third-year sophomore out of Georgia is throwing his name in the ring as a candidate to help replace the injured Jordan Hall as a playmaker on the other side of the ball.

“I always tell the coaches I can play receiver too,” Roby said Friday as the Buckeyes broke fall camp for the first time under head coach Urban Meyer.

“One of these days, they’re going to put me on the other side.”

Roby, who led the Buckeyes with three interceptions a year ago, said he spoke to position coach Kerry Coombs, as well as wide receivers coach Zach Smith about the idea, but has yet to address it with his head coach.

He may not have to.

Meyer may be the one who ultimately approaches Roby during camp if none of his other candidates prove capable of handling such a critical role in Ohio State’s new offense.

“As we start (camp), we don’t have that hybrid No. 3,” said Meyer, who recently called Hall’s injury ‘a punch across the mouth.’

“I call him the No. 3. He’s the guy on the left side of the hash that can do it all. We don’t have that guy right now.”

Meyer was worried he might not have one on his entire roster when he first took the job back in November. That’s why he made it such a point to go hard after offensive skill guys like Stefon Diggs and Davonte Neal in his first recruiting class.

It was Hall who emerged as that offensive playmaker in the spring.

Now Meyer is searching just about anywhere and everywhere to find someone who has the kind of speed it takes to stretch the field, both vertically and horizontally, the way he likes at that position.

“Philly Brown, Evan Spencer ran an extremely fast 40. You have to be really fast because we run a jet sweep off of that,” Meyer said.

“If you hand a jet sweep to a slow jet, it’s like a citation compared to a king air. We got a little issue there, but there are some candidates.”

Meyer named freshman cornerback Najee Murray as one of the guys he is looking at for the playmaker role on Ohio State’s offense.

“He’s had a really good summer,” Meyer said of the youngster out of Steubenville.

“We’re always going to look at body types that don’t have to run east-west all the time. That’s where Jordan was a perfect guy. Percy Harvin, Brandon James, Jeff Demps; those were perfect boy types (at Florida). Great acceleration and great speed, but also toughness.”

Speed certainly would not be an issue for Bradley Roby, arguably the fastest player on the entire roster. Especially in the eyes of, well, Bradley Roby.

“Yeah, I ran a 4.31,” Roby said of his 40 time over the summer.

“And I ran it twice, so it wasn’t a fluke. That’s just a result of the workouts we’ve been doing. I’m already kind of fast, so it just helped me.”

According to Roby, it was his fastest time ever in the 40-yard dash—a full nine-hundredths of a second quicker than his time from last summer—and the fastest time on the team.

Roby was only a redshirt freshman when he ran a 4.4 in the 40 last summer, when he was heading into his first season as a starter in Ohio State’s defensive backfield.

“I feel a lot faster. I gained five pounds and I’m still faster,” said Roby, who is up from 186 pounds last year to 191 pounds this fall.

“When your body gets stronger and you do more work, even with the extra weight it brings more speed.”

That quickness was something the new coaching staff noticed immediately in the spring. Before it was over, they had Roby back on both kick and punt returns. He expects to open fall camp as the No. 1 kick returner, replacing Hall, who had returned kicks for Ohio State the last two seasons.

“I’m excited about it,” said Roby, brimming with confidence.

“I’ve been trying to tell coach Meyer and the rest of our coaches to put me back there for a while. In the spring, I had a couple good returns, so they’re putting me back there.”

Roby also showed enough in the spring that he earned the right to wear the No. 1 jersey at Ohio State this fall. Switching his number from 25 to 1 was something he had been wanting to do for a while, but the new coaches wanted him to show them he was ready for the responsibility that comes with it.

“Coach Meyer called me one day and said, ‘I’m going to give you No. 1 like you asked,’” Roby said.

“‘You showed me the things that you said you were going to do. I can see greatness in you, so here you go. Now make sure you don’t slip up or anything.’”

A former high school receiver who originally committed to Vanderbilt as an offensive player, Roby wasn’t sure exactly where he would play at Ohio State. When the Buckeyes stuck him it corner, it was an immediate fit.

He won a starting spot last year, beating out Dominic Clarke during camp, but now Roby is ready for the challenge of being the next-two way star at Ohio State.

If they will let him.

“I just love having the ball in my hands, really,” he said.

“You can’t be scared. You’ve got just to run and when you see a hole, hit it and make a play.”

Right now, that's all his new coach is looking for..

 

[MustafaSTL]

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer came off the practice field feeling good about the first day his first Buckeye squad was together as a whole unit.

Preseason camp officially opened Friday with the veterans getting an early wake-up call for a 6 a.m. practice and the freshmen coming later in the day to work with the coaching staff as a group. Meyer explained that was to better address the specific needs of the freshmen without having to slow down for the veterans.

“We wanted to acclimate the freshmen – teach them how to get taped, teach them how to do everything, teach them how to stretch so we don’t disrupt and get guys hurt,” Meyer explained.

On Monday, he saw what he hoped to see from the offense, and that was plenty of carryover from 15 spring practices (including the Scarlet and Gray Game) spent installing his spread scheme.

“We were all disappointed (at the end of spring), but when we evaluated it we probably weren’t that disappointed from early spring to later in the spring because it was all new for them,” Meyer said. “I could tell you this: They did something in the summer. They sure did.”

Asked if he has the players to run his offense, Meyer answered in the affirmative but acknowledged some adaptation might have to be done. If so, it won't be the first time. He mentioned having to do so at Utah, where he was head coach in 2003 and '04.

He hopes someone steps up on offense and liked what he saw from Devin Smith, a sophomore wide receiver who played sporadically last season but produced some of the season's biggest plays, including a game-winning touchdown pass against Wisconsin.

“My gosh, do we need a guy like that to step up to do something,” Meyer said.

Curtis Grant, a sophomore linebacker expected to start in the middle this fall, was not at practice because he was in Virginia to be with his ailing grandfather. Meyer said he believed things were looking up on that front, and Grant could be back in Columbus on Tuesday.

There were no major surprises as far as personnel was concerned on either side of the ball aside from the absence of Grant, who was replaced by redshirt freshman Conner Crowell.

Jacob Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort were at their respective starting positions – tight end and left tackle – throughout practice, and Meyer said they remain on track to regain their scholarships at the beginning of the next academic period. The pair lost their financial aid and some team privileges during the summer after they allegedly fled from police on an early morning in June.

“I don’t know them that well because I’ve only been here (a short time), but they’re not good students, they’re great students,” Meyer said. “They’re on my leadership committee and I think the code word there is stupid. That is the word you associate, so are they less stupid now? I don’t know. I hope not. Right now we’re going to do the best we can to help them be less stupid. If there was a bad guy situation, they wouldn’t be playing.”

Freshman running back Brionte Dunn took part in practice, seeing time with both the first and second team offense. Meyer said he remains in limbo as his legal situation continues to play out following a traffic stop July 29. A small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in the car Dunn was driving, but police chose not to press drug charges after his mother, the owner of the car, told them the items were not his. He pled not guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct stemming from the stop. Police allege he ran over a crosswalk and nearly hit a patrol car.

“I’m still waiting,” Meyer said of Dunn, who is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Alliance (Ohio) Municipal Court. “He’s going to plead not guilty. We did a series of tests, and everything came back that he was honest with me. However, if there is some charge that sticks then there will be a penalty like all kids that have a charge.”

Senior defensive end Nathan Williams and freshman center Jacoby Boren were both limited as they recover from surgeries to the knee and shoulder, respectively.

Boren is expected to backup starting center Corey Linsley, but that job fell to sophomore Antonio Underwood with Boren sidelined during team drills.

Exactly when either will be back is not clear at this point, but Meyer acknowledged Williams' availability will determine how the defensive line is configured. As of now, senior John Simon is playing the Leo rush-end position, but he would slide to the other side if Williams is able to return.

Although Meyer made a point to say the depth chart would be set at the end of spring practice, he acknowledged spots remain open for freshmen to win this month. He singled out linebacker Jamal Marcus as a player who stood out to him for his effort on day one. Marcus saw time with both the second and third team.

 

[lamont614]

12-0 I would love do this to happen so whoever win the nat champ will have a asterisk next to it

 

[Freestyle Phantom3.0]

I'm fired up, hopefully Urban can grab some of those SEC type players that we've been missing for a few years now. Gonna be an interesting year for sure. Lets hope the offense is on some next shyt, bc the defense is gonna be status

 

[Freestyle Phantom3.0]

what are some good buckeyes blogs, reporters to follow on twitter etc. im out here in Rhode Island...

 

[MustafaSTL]

what are some good buckeyes blogs, reporters to follow on twitter etc. im out here in Rhode Island...

I don't use Twitter, but the majority of the articles I've been posting are from theozone.net website. I'm sure most of the writers of these articles have their twitter account posted somewhere at the top or bottom of the webpage in the article.

 

[Freestyle Phantom3.0]

I don't use Twitter, but the majority of the articles I've been posting are from theozone.net website. I'm sure most of the writers of these articles have their twitter account posted somewhere at the top or bottom of the webpage in the article.

good looks

 

[Trust Me]

what are some good buckeyes blogs, reporters to follow on twitter etc. im out here in Rhode Island...

http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Board/Ohio-State-Buckeyes-Message-Board-Forum-120

Eleven Warriors | Scarlet and Gray, Every Day

https://twitter.com/11W



That's all you'll need to keep up with that shytty ass school.

 

[Freestyle Phantom3.0]

Ohio State Buckeyes Message Board Forum - Bucknuts Message Boards

Eleven Warriors | Scarlet and Gray, Every Day

https://twitter.com/11W



That's all you'll need to keep up with that shytty ass school.

thanks breh