Ohio State football officially announces the hiring of Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator

It’s official. How do you feel about this hire? #GoBucks

News surfaced on Thursday via multiple outlets that former college and NFL head coach Bill O’Brien was set to be announced as the Ohio State football program’s new offensive coordinator. It didn’t take long for that news to become official on Friday.

OSU announced the hiring of O’Brien as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in a statement just a day after ESPN’s Pete Thamel broke the story. The announcement came from Ryan Day through an Ohio State spokesman.

“I am extremely pleased to be able to add Bill O’Brien to our coaching staff,” Day said in the statement. “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge – and a tremendous amount of success – at both the NFL and collegiate levels. He is an excellent and experienced offensive coach who has run NFL and Power 5 programs and developed some truly elite players throughout his career. He’ll be an excellent teacher and recruiter for us, and he absolutely strengthens our staff.”

Also of note is the news that Brian Hartline will still be the co-offensive coordinator, and that Corey Dennis will move to a analyst position on the staff. That is in contrast to several reports that the son-in-law of Urban Meyer would part ways with the program.

O’Brien brings a wealth of experience with him. He was as of most recently the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, but was a former college head coach with Penn State, and had a stint in the NFL with the Houston Texans as their head coach as well. He is a 34-year coaching veteran, and even had a stop at Alabama under Nick Saban as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.

Now, the Massachusetts native will head back to the Big Ten to try and allow Ohio State’s head coach to have more of a CEO approach and get the Buckeyes back to the top of the conference and beyond.

As any further news and developments occur in the offseason with Day’s coaching staff we’ll be sure to have the details for you.

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Week 6 US LBM Coaches Poll released. Where did Ohio State land after Maryland game?

Do you agree with where Ohio State landed in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll. #GoBucks

Each week of the college football season has been an interesting and wild one it seems, but that’s why we love this game. We again saw some unexpected results in Week 6, and it had the voters of the US LBM Coaches poll adjust their rankings once again.

Michigan, Georgia and Ohio State more or less did what was expected, but Texas and Notre Dame experienced a significant hit to their College Football Playoff hopes.

Here are the latest results of the Coaches Poll after Week 6, starting with a view of new top ten, followed by the complete poll itself.

Where do the Buckeyes land this week after a poor showing in the first half followed by a dominant second half?

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman talks about Ohio State leading up to the game

Watch and listen to what Marcus Freeman said about Ohio State leading up to the game on Saturday. #GoBucks

One of the most anticipated game weeks of the year is here. Ohio State travels to Notre Dame for a top-10 matchup, and almost all eyes will be on South Bend in what should be one of the pivotal matchups of the year.

The Buckeyes have had the Fighting Irish’s number lately, winning the last five contests, including a 21-10 result in Ohio Stadium last season.

This is, of course, is a different year, and Notre Dame looks like a much better opponent than 2022. Add that the Buckeyes are still kind of figuring things out on offense at key positions, and this could be a very significant challenge for OSU.

There’s now a former Ohio State player running the show for Notre Dame, and Marcus Freeman met with the local media in South Bend on Monday to preview the matchup with the Buckeyes. As you would expect, it was a far-ranging interview with him touching on the skill and respect he has for Ohio State.

We have the complete press conference thanks to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish YouTube channel for your contemplation. In it you can hear Freeman discuss the skill position players for Ohio State, the respect he has for Ryan Day, what a challenge it will be and more.

Ohio State and Notre Dame are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. E.T. on Saturday. The whole college football world will be watching and we’ll continue to have coverage before, during, and after the massive clash.

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WATCH: Former Ohio State star Jaxon Smith-Njigba wows with a one-handed catch

JSN is a highlight reel waiting to happen

Unfortunately for [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag], the greatness of [autotag]Jaxon Smith-Njigba [/autotag]really was around for just one season.

The first round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks played sparingly during his freshman season, then burst onto the scene during his sophomore season. The Texas native caught 95 balls for 1,606 yards and 9 touchdowns.

He capped the marvelous season with a FBS bowl record of 347 receiving yards, while the 15 catches were a Rose Bowl record. Smith-Njigba caught three scores that game which just tied the record.

His junior season didn’t go like anyone planned, injuring his hamstring during game one and then never being able to shake the issue. It didn’t stop NFL teams from salivating over Smith-Njigba’s potential, eventually getting selected with the 20th overall selection.

During camp, the former Buckeye star is showing why he was the first receiver taken, as he’s had multiple other highlight reel catches but yesterday’s might have been his best. Watch below as Smith-Njigba beats two defenders to make a one-handed catch into the end zone.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Smith-Njigba was on the short list of NFL Rookie of the Year candidates at the end of the season.

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Sade Olatoye Named Big Ten Honoree for 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award

Congrats to track and field star Sade Olatoye!

Ohio State track and field star Sade Olatoye was selected as the Big Ten honoree for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award on Monday. She is one of 152 conference-level honorees selected. The news follows a previously nominated 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

In the classroom, Olatoye was a four-time academic All-Big Ten honoree and six-time OSU Scholar-Athlete. She also won the Big Ten’s Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship towards her graduate studies after receiving the NCAA Winter Sports Postgraduate Scholarship last winter.

On the field, she was dominant in the shot put and weight throw for the track and field program. She tied the school record for most individual Big Ten championships in field events – six. Four of those came in the shot put with three of those coming indoors (2017, 2018, 2019), and one of the outdoor variety (2017). Olatoye took two Big Ten championships home in the weight throw (2017, 2019).

As a 2019 First-Team All-American in the weight throw, she also owns four school records. shot put indoor (17.88m), shot put outdoor (17.88m), weight throw (24.46m), and hammer throw (67.49m).

Congrats are definitely in order for Olatoye for not only a great career, but for this distinguished honor.

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Ohio State football has never lost to these teams it has history with. Can you guess them?

Ohio State has an undefeated record against 49 FBS teams it has played. Can you guess who they are? Here’s a complete list.

There aren’t too many college football programs out there that have the upper hand on a blue-blood like Ohio State. We’ve already looked at some of the teams the Buckeyes have never gotten the best of, and now we’re continuing that thought. We now look at teams OSU has a history with that have never beaten Ohio State.

Can you guess the teams? There are 49 total. Like the list of teams the Buckeyes have never handed a loss to, some of the matchups include a very small sample size, so take it for what it’s worth. Unlike the previous list of despair, this one is a bit longer.

So here we go as we traverse through this journey of teams that have never gotten the best of Ohio State. Credit to Winsipedia and Sports Reference for the research. We’re breaking this one down by conference since the list is longer.

Next … The American Athletic Conference

Ohio State football hasn’t ever played these 39 FBS teams. Some are surprising.

Despite its long history of playing college football. Ohio State has yet to play 39 FBS programs. Some are surprising. Here’s the list.

Ohio State has a long and illustrious history among the college football elite. You could make the argument that it is THE best college football program of all time. At least, it’s easily a top-five blue blood. The Buckeyes’ first season began in 1890, and they’ve been to a slew of bowl games, and have scheduled many intersectional non-conference games to fill out the almost 130 years of scheduling.

But there are some teams in the FBS (formally Division I), that the Buckeyes have yet to play. Now, to be fair, some of those teams are newer to college football’s top division, but there are some others that you may be surprised have never matched up with Ohio State. Also, four of the teams are confirmed as future opponents, so the list will shrink in the upcoming years.

We’re going to run through all of them for you, broken down by conference.

Next … The American Athletic Conference

How Ohio State players reacted on Twitter to the loss in the Fiesta Bowl

Many Ohio State football players took to Twitter to either thank everyone for the magical ride, or to tee up momentum for next year.

Is it too early still?

Many Ohio State fans are still licking their wounds after the bizarre, chaotic, heart-pumping affair in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl Saturday night. The dust is beginning to settle, but the loss still hurts and feels much like a missed opportunity.

I’ve been around long enough to experience painful losses, and this one should have been in the win column. It stings more than getting wiped off the map 31-0 like what happened in 2016. Never in covering OSU football have I ever left a game as disappointed and surprised a game wasn’t won that what I experienced from the press box Saturday.

But I digress …

But there’s some good that can come of that, and it’s in the way of adding fuel and momentum to what will take place in 2020. In fact, many of the current players took to Twitter to let their thought be known about the next run Ohio State is looking to make next year. Others that are moving on from the program simply expressed grattitude.

Here’s a look at some of the best Twitter responses in-line from a sampling of players.

Justin Fields:

Running back J.K. Dobbins:

Defensive tackle Taron Vincent:

Star wide-receiver, sophomore Chris Olave:

Freshman wide-receiver Garrett Wilson:

Linebacker Baron Browning:

Wide-receiver Binjimen Victor:

Wide-receiver Austin Mack:

Offensive lineman Branden Bowen:

Cornerback Jeff Okudah:

Safety Jordan Fuller:

I’m sure there are others, and there’s no doubt other teams that do this, but it’s just another bit of evidence on how tight this team was and will likely remain as time goes by. The 2019 Buckeyes may not have won a national title, but it very well could — maybe should — have.

It’ll still be remembered as the years go by.

 

Colin Cowherd admonishes Ohio State fans for complaining about Fiesta Bowl officiating

Colin Cowhered went on an almost eight minute tirade on Ohio State fans for complaining about the Fiesta Bowl officiating.

He’s back.

Not one to worry about what large fanbases think of him, radio talk show host Colin Cowherd has thrown all kinds of shade at Ohio State fans for their perception and complaining about the officiating in the Fiesta Bowl Saturday night.

In an almost eight-minute tirade, Cowherd criticizes Ohio State fans for feeling the team got robbed by a couple of controversial calls in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Though Cowherd agrees that the overturn of the fumble return for a touchdown was a so-called “overreach” by the replay booth, he still points to other things that had more of an impact on the outcome. He believes OSU’s two turnovers, field goals in the redzone, and inability to stop Clemson consistently in the second half was more impactful than anything the SEC crew assigned to the game did.

You can listen to Cowherd sound off if you haven’t heard it already by clicking on the below video shared by @TheHerd. But be warned, if you’re an Ohio State fan, it might get your blood boiling.