Tag: Demario McCall

The Tucson Sugar Skulls is the IFL team for Ohio State fans

Tucson Sugar Skulls is the IFL team for Ohio State fans #GoBucks #TheIndoorWar

The Indoor Football League has kicked its season off and there are only three former Ohio State football players in this league, but they are all on the same team, which makes being a fan much easier. If you are like me, you don’t necessarily pledge your allegiance to a specific IFL team, but you still want to root for former Buckeyes, the Tucson Sugar Skulls made it happen.

The three Buckeyes playing for Tuscon are IFL veteran, Torrance Gibson, Demario McCall, and Jalin Marshall.

Gibson is a former four-star lefty quarterback out of Florida in the class of 2015, who never found his footing at quarterback for Ohio State and made the position change to wide receiver.

He again struggled to see the field and transferred to both Cincinnati and Mississippi Gulf Coast at the JUCO level. Gibson has been bouncing around the alternative leagues scene, spending time in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos as well as a few other teams in the IFL including the Spokane Shock and Green Bay Blizzard.

Demario McCall is a former four-star running back from the state of Ohio in the class of 2016 and like Gibson never really found a positional home, but unlike Gibson stayed his entire collegiate career at Ohio State. McCall spent time at running back, wide receiver and cornerback before departing and had a cup of coffee with the Chicago Bears. He was supposed to play in the Major League Football league, but that league folded before it even kicked off. He is now a receiver and return man for the Sugar Skulls.

Last, but not least, Jalin Marshall was a five-star recruit from Ohio in the class of 2013 and shined as a wide receiver for the Buckeyes before declaring for the NFL draft early and going undrafted. Marshall still found a home with the New York Jets, but was suspended due to performance-enhancing supplements and eventually cut. He began his alternative football journey with the Orlando Apollos in the Alliance of American Football and dominated enough to get a second NFL shot, this time with the Oakland Raiders. Marshall also shined in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and spent a season with the Edmonton Elks.

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Former Ohio State player, 4-star recruit, joins MLFB team

Former Buckeye and 4-star recruit joins MLFB. #GoBucks #MLFB

The new and exciting Major League Football will be kicking off its season on August 6, and it has already made a splash announcing that former Ohio State assistant coach, Bill Conley, will be the head coach of the Ohio Force. We have also already covered that another former Buckeye joined their coaching ranks in Winfield Garnett as the defensive line coach for the Force.

With all of the excitement surrounding the coaches, it is now time to reveal some of the players hoping to make the final roster of the Force. One of the more recognizable names is a former four-star recruit, Demario McCall.

Every Ohio State fan should remember this name because McCall played just last season. He arrived on campus as a highly touted running back, but after struggling to see the field on a consistent basis, was moved to defensive back this past season. McCall had a less than spectacular Ohio State career, but the superb athlete was able to earn a cup of coffee with the Chicago Bears.

McCall finished his career with 865 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns after spending time at running back, wide receiver, and defensive back. In my opinion, McCall has a very high and enticing ceiling as a cornerback, but rumor has it that he will be returning to the offensive side of the ball for the Ohio Force.

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Former Four-Star Recruits Change Positions during OSU spring ball

The Ohio State football team has started spring football practice and have already made a couple of huge position changes.

The Ohio State football team is in the middle of spring practices and all of the attention is on the heated quarterback position and other position battles that will go a long way to determining what the team will look like in 2021.

Although position switches are less prominent in the day and age of transferring, they can still occur. Schools like Ohio State recruit five-star athletes by the dozen. With logjams occurring all over the place on the depth chart, it is a great idea to move some of these elite athletes around to get them on the field and improve the Buckeyes’ chances across the entire roster.

Ohio State is no stranger to position changes. We all remember when Braxton Miller moved from quarterback to wide receiver. Miller moving helped the offense become more explosive and also improved his draft stock. More recently, Cade Stover moved from linebacker to tight end to add depth at that position.

And now we have a couple of significant changes early on in 2021. A few days ago it was announced that two former four-star recruits are working out at other positions for 2021, but will the moves have the same effect? Will they stick, and will they last?

NEXT … An explosive, experienced athlete lost in the mix

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

If Ohio State would have played Illinois last weekend …

We can only guess how Ohio State would have done this past weekend. We take a stab at how the game would have played out.

With the season on hold, we can only guess how Ohio State would have done this past weekend if things would have gone on as expected with the conference-only schedule. It would have played a tough, but far from perfect Illinois team that gave Wisconsin fits last season. I think this would have been a Buckeyes win, but it would have started slow for them.

With the Illini bringing back their starting quarterback and top receiver I think they would have started the game strong as Brandon Peters would have found Donny Navarro for an early TD as they ground the clock on their first drive. The question about Illinois is on defense and this is where the Buckeyes would have blown past them.

On defense, I think that this would have been a coming-out party for Jonathon Cooper as he would have racked up two sacks and been disruptive as the game wore on. Baron Browning would probably have made some plays against the run and forced Illinois to go pass in the second half where there would have been a pick to seal the game for a Buckeyes score on a short field.

On offense, Justin Fields would have had about 290 yards and three TDs, one of them being on the ground. Chris Olave would have broken 120 yards and two TDs himself. The real surprise would have been Demario McCall rushing for 130 yards and two TDs himself.

We have no idea what the Buckeyes would have done, however, basing it off what they did last season, the turnover on both sides of the ball, and the lack of real training I think would have had them start a little slow and pick up speed as they forced Illinois to become one dimensional.

Final score Buckeyes 41 – Illinois 20.

Ohio State Football Profile Card: Trey Sermon

A profile of Ohio State graduate transfer running back Trey Sermon.

Name: Trey Sermon

Number: TBD

Position: RB

Class: Senior

Height: 6’

Weight: 221 lbs

Hometown: Marrieta, GA

High School: Sprayberry

2018-2019 Stats:

 

GP Rush ATT Rush YDs Rush TDs Rush YPA Rec Rec YDs Avg TD Rec YPG Total YPG
14 164 947 13 5.7 12 181 15.1 0 12.9 84.9

Overview:

Sermon is a huge offseason pickup for the Buckeyes, as they look to move forward in their offense without the irreplaceable J.K. Dobbins, who went to the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the NFL Draft. The former Oklahoma Sooner is coming to Columbus as a graduate transfer, and looks ready to jump into the top running back spot immediately.

Sermon’s raw numbers belie his athletic ability and importance to both his old and new teams. His potentially stellar career at Oklahoma was plagued by injuries. He only managed ten or more touches twice in 2019, and only appeared in eight games total. That’s why I used the stats from 2018, though Sermon was not fully healthy that season either.

Sermon’s potential injury issues have to be a concern for the Buckeyes as well, especially considering that Master Teague is still recovering from a back injury. The Buckeyes do have some other potential at running back, including Demario McCall, but having either Sermon or Teague (or both) available is certainly the best option.

Sermon’s jersey number is a question for now as he has yet to pick one. He wore #4 for Oklahoma, but that is not currently available at Ohio State.

Highlights

They’re not in Scarlet and Gray, but don’t miss seeing what Sermon can do.

 

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