What one area does Ohio State have over Clemson that it can exploit to win the 2019 Fiesta Bowl? Members of our staff discuss in our BBC.
Okay, it’s almost time for the biggest of the big ones. Ohio State and Clemson are finishing up their preparations for one of the College Football Playoff national semifinals, and doing it all in the desert at the Playstation Fiesta Bowl. And it’s Friday, so it’s time for our weekly roundtable we like to call the Buckeye Battle Cry.
So far there’s been a lot of build up and a lot of talk, but it’s almost time to put the pads on, strap up the helmets and settle it all on the field. Oh but wait. Seems like nobody is giving Ohio State a shot in this one because last time the two met, the Buckeyes got taken behind the woodshed to the tune of a 31-0 drubbing.
But it’s a completely different team on both sidelines so that should mean little in this one. In fact, Ohio State has some advantages over this Clemson team. On that note, we decided to ask our contributors the one thing about this Buckeye squad that could mean all the difference in beating the defending champions and moving on to New Orleans for a national championship.
According to sources close to Lettermen Row, Wyatt Davis, Thayer Munford and Josh Myers all appear to be returning for their senior seasons.
It’s that time of the year when we start to hear rumblings about players that could leave early for the NFL. That might be put off a wee-bit because Ohio State is in the middle of a College Football Playoff run, but at some point we’ll begin to hear who is declaring and who isn’t for those players three years removed from high school.
On that note, the Buckeyes have already received good news on its offensive line — at least according to a report from Lettermen Row. You could even say that Christmas came a day late for offensive line coach Greg Studrawa. That’s because according to the online Ohio State fan site, both right guard Wyatt Davis and center Josh Myers are planning on returning for their senior seasons.
Both spoke to Lettermen Row and confirmed the intentions to forego the NFL Draft and come back for another year in Columbus.
“Yes, I did [submit draft feedback paperwork], but I want to put out there that I’m returning next year,” Davis told Lettermen Row. “I haven’t received [feedback] yet. I’m still waiting on it just to see it. But, yes sir, I’m coming back.”
The report also cites sources close to the program that also say left tackle Thayer Munford could also return, confirming that he did not even submit paperwork for feedback in preparation for the draft. The same boat that Josh Myers is in — having completely skipped the process with the intentions of coming back.
If true, the return of all three could be an important development for an offensive line that was one of the best in the country this year. The program could have lost all three and had to go through another rebuild year.
Myers took the starting center job and has excelled to the point of being one of the best in the country. Davis earned All-American honors, and Munford is the anchor on the left side that protects the blind-side of the right-handed Justin Fields.
Now, Davis could potentially change his mind if he gets a first round grade that would be enticing, but he appears to be well set in his decision to come back and be a big part of embarking on another run in 2020.
You can bank on other early departures on the team, but this is at least some very good news for the future of the Ohio State offense.
Ohio State football had a nation-leading seven players named to the Associate Press All-American teams Monday.
Ohio State had a nation-leading seven players named to the Associated Press All-American teams Monday. Three players — Chase Young, Jeff Okudah and Wyatt Davis, led the way on the first team, while Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins earned second-team honors. Not to be forgotten, both Jonah Jackson and Malik Harrison were named to the third-team.
It’s been stated several times, but Young leads the country with 16.5 sacks and was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy along with Justin Fields. Young also made the Big Ten first-team, and was named the Defensive Lineman and Defensive Player of the Year in the league.
Okudah was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and is projected to go high in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft along with the aforementioned Young. He is a lock-down corner that can come up in run support.
BREAKING: LSU, Ohio State dominate Associated Press All-America teams presented by @askRegions.
Ohio State landed a nation-leading five players on the Walter Camp All-American teams.
Ohio State players may be missing out on some of the bigger awards as college football parades its annual circuit of trophies and recognition around the country, but there sure has been no shortage of Buckeye players in the running.
And as it relates to All-American and All-Big Ten teams, OSU has had its fair share of players get recognized. We’ve already seen a slew of Buckeye players make the Big Ten’s list of All-Conference performers, and now we’ve got more on a national scale.
Defensive end Chase Young added to his already impressive list of notoriety and awards by being named to the First Team along with cornerback Jeff Okudah. But three more players also made the Second Team which is also nothing to sneeze at.
Quarterback Justin Fields, running back J.K. Dobbins, and right guard Wyatt Davis all made the second team. That gives OSU five Walter Camp All-American selections which leads all programs including the likes of those that like to drink sweet tea and eat grits and crawfish.
Players who will be going up against each other in The Game each share the moment they came to understand the importance of the rivalry.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan and Ohio State are two programs that hate each other, with significantly different cultures and styles.
Yet, are they really all that different?
In some ways, yes — dramatically. That’s reflected to some degree in the recent record, with Ohio State having dominated the rivalry going back to 2004, as Michigan has but one win since then. But the Wolverines also had a 10-2-1 record during the Jon Cooper era, so these things can be cyclical.
But when it comes down to it, there’s a lot of similarities when it comes to motivational tactics.
No, Michigan isn’t in the business of crossing out all the Os on campus, like Ohio State does with the Ms, but it’s certainly passé to wear the colors of the other school on campus.
On Tuesday, a player from each team spoke about when they learned the hard way about wearing the rival’s colors while in their respective city of choice.
Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye
For the junior Michigan defensive end from Rhode Island, he didn’t know much about the rivalry, as the Wolverines weren’t really on his radar until defensive coordinator Don Brown offered late. So his indoctrination came after he enrolled.
He didn’t really get to know or understand the rivalry until The Game actually came, but he learned an important lesson earlier in the season.
“My freshman year, we were doing a walk-through at (Schembechler Hall) and I came in and I was wearing a long red long sleeve,” Paye said. “And we were doing our walkthrough, and they were just looking at me. Everyone was staring at me. And I had to take the long sleeve off and I did the walkthrough shirtless.”
As Paye tells it, first former star Rashan Gary came up to him and told him that wasn’t the right color to be wearing in that building. When Chase Winovich also said the same thing, he knew he had made a huge mistake.
Ohio State offensive guard Wyatt Davis
Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana, USA TODAY Sports
For Davis, the Bellflower, California native, it was during a recruiting trip that he learned that blue wasn’t exactly a welcome color in Columbus.
Davis was considering Michigan, but chose the Buckeyes relatively early in the process. When he was on a recruiting trip visiting Ohio State during the summer, he came dressed in blue.
As we said, he learned the hard way that that’s not a welcome color there on campus.
“Before I got here, I never understood the rivalry but I was wearing like a blue tank top in the facility and one of the hosts was like, you have a jacket or anything you take that off because, you know you’re not allowed to wear blue,” Davis said. “And I’m just kind of sitting there like, well, it’s like 100 degrees down the summer. I got a full jacket on but I did and then after, I guess word got to Coach Meyer, and I had the jacket on. He unzipped it and he was like, do you have that ugly color on? And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He’s like, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, well, yeah, I definitely won’t do that again.’
“But now that made me realize that, you know, this is this is real. This is — you know — it’s very historic and we take that very serious around here.”
So while the programs might be entirely different in their cultures, their approaches, and their dominance over one another, one thing is for certain — they’re awfully similar in their disdain for one another.
