Tag: Buckeyes

Notre Dame-Ohio State: Ryan Day previews showdown in South Bend

The key things Ryan Day had to say on Tuesday…

Notre Dame is getting set to host annual powerhouse Ohio State on Saturday in one of the biggest games South Bend has seen in quite some time.

In Columbus, they’re preparing for a trip they’ve made just twice previously, and not at all since September of 1996.  Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day met the media for his regular availability on Tuesday.

What did he have to say about his team as they prep for their first real test of 2023?  And what are his impressions of [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] now that the Ohio State graduate has been on the job more than a year?

Here are the key things Day had to say about the Notre Dame-Ohio State showdown on Tuesday.

Notre Dame-Ohio State: Best photos of previous meetings

Notre Dame won the first two but haven’t beat the Buckeyes since before WWII.

There are few brands bigger in college football than Notre Dame and Ohio State.  They’re the standard in college football when it comes to the Midwest and right towards the top when it comes to a national perspective, too.

But for all the winning and history the two have had, they’ve barely met historically, doing so just seven times ever.  In fact, until the kickoff Saturday’s epic showdown, the two will have met just as much in the Fiesta Bowl all-time as they have at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame won the first two meetings of the series way back in 1935 and 1936 but haven’t beat the Buckeyes since.  Ohio State swept the home-and-home series in 1995 and 1996 and won both Fiesta Bowl meetings as well (2005, 2015).  Will they sweep this home-and-home with the Irish as well?

We’ll know exactly what happens late Saturday night.  But until then, enjoy some photos of the two powerhouse programs taking each other on over the years.

Notre Dame football: Who would you take to the Ohio State game if you had 2 tickets?

Who are you taking with you?

Imagine just for a second that you were gifted a pair of tickets to one of the most anticipated games in the long history of Notre Dame Stadium next weekend.

Notre Dame is playing host to Ohio State for the first time in almost 30 years and it could be the last time in any of our lifetimes the Buckeyes come to South Bend.

So say you have been gifted a pair of tickets to the game.

Who are you taking?

I ask because one of my favorite social media accounts having to do with college football posted quite the dilemma a Notre Dame fan is facing next weekend.  See below:

Would you be taking your significant other if the game doesn’t mean as much to them?

That’s dandy and all to think to yourself but to actually do it takes some guts.  I think it to myself but would I actually be able to pull the trigger and tell them they’re not going?

Personally, if I had a pair of tickets (which I don’t) I’d be inviting my same friend that invited me to what wound up being the Bush Push game against USC in 2005.

Except this time the ending would hopefully be better.

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The day after: Last thoughts on Ohio State football’s win over Youngstown State

What still has stuck out in your mind about Ohio State’s win over Youngstown State? #GoBucks

It’s been just over 24 hours since [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] defeated Youngstown State 35-7 in it’s home opener.

We all know that the Buckeyes dropped in one poll, but that doesn’t really matter at this moment. There are more pressing issues at hand, that have nothing to do with how anyone outside the Woody Hayes Athletic facility thinks.

Head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] is still assessing his 2023 group, because at this moment, there are more than a few questions surrounding this team. It’s the day after, with penalty of Buckeye thoughts still on my mind. Find out below what has continued to stick out to me after Ohio State improving to 2-0 on the season.

Notre Dame football: Marcus Freeman’s NCAA video game ratings

Besides Notre Dame who was your go-to team in the NCAA Football video game?

Full disclosure, I was born the same month of Marcus Freeman. While he is the head coach at Notre Dame, traveling the world in private jets and dining at the White House, I sit here writing about all of it.

I may have other responsibilities, but for effect let’s only cite that one.

Being the same age as Freeman I can assume part of our college experiences were at least somewhat the same.  Being 35 years old today means being in college during what was the peak of the old NCAA Football video game by EA Sports. My college, Division III powerhouse North Central College, unfortunately wasn’t in the game (Kam Kniss would have been a 99 if they were) but Ohio State obviously was.

News came out this week that a year from now the game will be re-released with players getting compensated.  It’ll be the first new game since the NCAA Football ’14 (based on the 2013 season) edition.

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So back to Freeman.  Just how good did the video game say Freeman was as a player entering his senior year?

NCAA Football ’09 (which was based on the 2008 season) rated Marcus Freeman aka ROLB No. 1 as his name was in the game, the following:

Overall: 96
Speed: 87
Strength: 80
Agility: 86
Acceleration: 92
Awareness: 84

The 96 overall clearly screams star, but that 84 for awareness should be concerning for a future head coach.  Now I’m wondering what Tommy Rees’ awareness was in the game and if at times it randomly dipped to 40 (said in sarcasm font).

If you’re curious, Freeman’s 96 overall wasn’t even the best for a linebacker on Ohio State that year. James Laurinaitis was one of two players to get a 99-overall ranking in the game, joining Tim Tebow.

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Chris Olave shares his Mount Rushmore for Ohio State wide receivers

Chris Olave shared his Mount Rushmore for Ohio State wide receivers — earning points for humility after declining to name himself as the school’s receiving TD leader:

This was a fun conversation: New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was interviewed on the Richard Sherman Podcast to explore a range of topics, including something he’s uniquely positioned to cover — the greatest wideouts in Ohio State Buckeyes history. Olave had the privilege of sharing a locker room with some talented future pros as well as the opportunity to watch elite prospects setting the standard in his youth.

When Sherman asked for his four-man Mount Rushmore, Olave singled out these names as the best he’s ever known:

Mock Draft Monday: Saints pick Ohio State’s fastest defender in 2024 projection

Mock Draft Monday: The Saints picked Ohio State’s fastest defender from spring training in this 2024 projection — defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr.

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Another week, another mock draft: the latest 2024 projection from Pro Football Network has the New Orleans Saints as a low playoff seed in the NFC, which helped them land Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. at No. 19 overall. Hall was just the second interior defender to go off the board in this mock draft, following LSU Tigers standout Maason Smith to the Chicago Bears five slots earlier. PFN’s Dalton Miller wrote of Hall’s fit in New Orleans:

The New Orleans Saints defense is in a transition period. Cameron Jordan is aging out, David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle are gone, and it appears the team is branching out a bit from their normal mold on the defensive interior.

Michael Hall Jr. doesn’t have the ideal size New Orleans usually opts for, but his athleticism allows him to really threaten interior blockers with consistency.

Hall, listed at 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds, does fall beneath the Saints’ usual standards for height and weight but not to the degree of players like Calijah Kancey, who was a lightning rod of debate among fans this offseason. If that’s an accurate number, his playing weight lines up with some recent Saints defensive tackles like Kentavius Street and Shy Tuttle, who were both listed at about 290 pounds when they first joined the team.

But what sets Hall apart is his speed. The Buckeyes are clients for Zebra Technologies, whose real-time player tracking tools have also been popular with the Saints, and their results from a Feb. 6 practice session found that Hall was the fastest defender on the field — hitting a max speed of 21.4 miles per hour. Next-best were 239-pound linebacker Cody Simon (20.9) and 182-pound defensive back Jermaine Mathews Jr. (20.6). That’s impressive any way you slice it.

A shoulder injury slowed Hall down in the second half of last season, but he’s eager to build on the momentum he established early on. Despite playing a limited role, he was tied for the team lead in sacks (4.5) and led the defensive interior in tackles for loss (7.5). That would be welcome production in New Orleans even if he’s in a part-time role.

And that’s probably going to be the case for whoever the Saints add to the mix, if anyone. They’ve always managed the rotation carefully inside by having three or four players all seeing 25 to 35 snaps per game. It’s an approach that makes sense in keeping everyone fresh to avoid burnout late in games. That’s also been the norm for this offseason’s additions: Saunders, Shepherd, and Bresee were all deployed in a rotation on their previous teams as opposed to being every-down players like, say, Cameron Jordan at defensive end or Demario Davis at linebacker.

So defensive tackle could remain an area of need next year. If durability issues persist for Saunders and Bresee, the Saints could use more help in the middle of their defense. With Saunders and Shepherd each signed to short-term three-year deals, it might be wise to pair Bresee with another young athlete even if injuries aren’t a problem in the fall.

We’ll be adding Hall to our college football watch list. His first big game will come against Notre Dame’s well-coached offensive line on Sept. 23, a national broadcast on NBC. It’s safe to say a lot of eyes will be on that matchup between two highly-ranked opponents.

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Ohio State gets commitment from 4-star QB recruit Tavien St. Clair

They’ve since added two blue chip quarterbacks to their upcoming classes.

The Buckeyes may have lost 2024’s No. 1 overall QB recruit Dylan Raiola to Georgia. However, they’ve since added two blue chip quarterbacks to their upcoming classes. The first was Langston Hughes (Ga.) four-star QB Air Nolan, who committed to Ohio State’s class of 2024 back in April.

Yesterday they got another when Bellefontaine (Ohio) four-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair announced his commitment to the Buckeyes.

St. Clair (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) had offers from 24 other programs, including Alabama, Florida and arch-rival Michigan.

Asked about his decision, St. Clair told Steve Wiltfong at 247Sports that it’s about tradition and QB development.

“Just the tradition, the excellence in football and the people outside of football really, The quarterback development is the best there is. Being a kid in Ohio you dream about being a Buckeye. I felt in my heart this is the spot for me…”

Ohio State’s class of 2025 now has two members – the other being Douglass (Ga.) five-star safety Jontae Gilbert. They rank fifth in the nation in the too early to matter rankings for the 2025 recruiting cycle.

More football stories

Dylan Raiola transfers high schools again, this time to Buford

5-star WR Micah Hudson calls off an official visit to Texas

Saints host former Bengals first-round pick Billy Price on free agent visit

The Saints hosted free agent Billy Price on a free agent visit. The ex-Bengals first-round pick was a three-time All-Big Ten center and team captain at Ohio State:

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This is interesting: NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that the New Orleans Saints met with former Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Billy Price, selected at No. 21 overall in the 2018 draft. He was traded top the New York Giants in 2021 and started 15 games for them, but he spent time with the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals last season.

A three-time All-Big Ten center and two-time team captain at Ohio State, Price was college teammates with Saints stars like Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore but he hasn’t experienced as much success at the pro level. Price has short arms for someone his height (with a wingspan of just 75.25 inches; for perspective, there wasn’t a single offensive lineman at this year’s Senior Bowl with a wingspan under 77 inches) and it’s led to him grasping at opponents as they pass him by, too often resulting in penalties.  He’s also simply dealt with the yips: Price has been fouled 31 times on 3,091 career snaps across 69 games and 16 of those penalties were false start infractions.

But the Saints like to keep a strong backup plan at center in light of recent injuries to Erik McCoy, who missed five games in 2021 and four in 2022; Cesar Ruiz has been his principle replacement, but that opens another hole at right guard. Guys like Will Clapp and Josh Andrews have filled in, too, and New Orleans has also stashed veterans such as Nick Martin and Austin Reiter on their practice squad, though they’ve left for other opportunities before their services were needed. Right now the only other player with much of a resume at center is undrafted rookie Alex Pihlstrom (Illinois). Maybe they see Price as someone similar with extensive pro experience who could be brought in later.

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Saints reopen Ohio State pipeline in 2024 NFL mock draft

The Saints reopened their Ohio State pipeline in this 2024 NFL mock draft, selecting Buckeyes defensive end JT Tuimoloau, via @DillySanders:

The history between the New Orleans Saints and the Ohio State Buckeyes is no secret, so as the 2024 mock draft season starts up it’s no surprise to see the two connected yet again. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar just released a 2024 mock draft that had the Saints dipping back into the scarlet and silver pool with defensive end JT Tuimoloau at 20th overall.

You may be confused as to why the defensive line would be a top need yet again after the Saints worked so hard to address it in the 2023 draft, but an aging Cameron Jordan is always a retirement possibility, and he’s not under contract beyond 2023 (though he and the team are working on an extension). Even if Jordan continues playing, and all signs are that he will, both Jordan and Carl Granderson are on track to be free agents after the season. Contract extensions could absolutely address that, but adding another defensive end would not be a bad idea especially with Payton Turner not yet turning the corner. There’s a lot of pressure on second-round rookie Isaiah Foskey to be a long-term fix.

Tuimoloau had a stellar 2022 season at Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ edge threat had 32 quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus charting, to go with 10.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, four pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a pick-six to boot. He fits the Saints’ mold of a big and athletic defensive end at 6-foot-4 and 271 pounds. He needs to work on holding ground in run defense, but he really shines as a pass rusher.

He’s not the only Ohio State Buckeye that would make sense for New Orleans, as wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka also have a lot of traction early on in the cycle. The big early test for the Buckeyes that you would want to keep your eye on is their game on the road against Notre Dame on Sept. 23.

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