Category: OSU Football (Page 42 of 42)

I’m not sure what to make of new Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith. Sometimes he sounds like a smart guy, and at other times he sounds like an idiot. Yesterday he laid out his plans for the football and basketball programs. His ideas for basketball sounded great, as he wants to start scheduling Cincinnati on the Buckeye basketball schedule. This makes a ton of sense. It’s ridiculous that Ohio State has been avoiding this series. Cincy is a great basketball school and these games will help to elevate the profiles of both programs. Ohio State needs to improve its basketball recruiting, and adding an in-state rival can only help.

On the other hand, Smith said he wants to add Division I-AA Youngstown State to the football schedule. This would be a terrible move. It would significantly weaken the Buckeye schedule in the eyes of voters, hurting their chances to play for a national championship. Smith says, “I am a believer in I-AA football.” How nice. If he believes in it so much, then he should apply for a job at Youngstown State. His current job requires that he protect the interests of Ohio State, and scheduling a I-AA school will hurt the program, not help it. There are plenty of respectable Ohio schools in the MAC that can fill in the schedule. so hopefully he’ll be pursuaded to scuttle this stupid idea.

Buckeye football fans should be breathing a sigh of relief, as the NCAA has cited only one violation arising from Maurice Clarett’s allegations against the football program. It appears that only the Troy Smith matter was cited, meaning that no additional sanctions are expected against the football program.

Unfortunately, the basketball program will probably be forced to forfeit games arising from their problems. OSU will have to face more PR embarassments as that process plays out, but it looks like Tressell and the football program will be safe, and the basketball program can get a fresh start.

There was some talk that he wouldn’t even be drafted while others said Maurice Clarett would not be selected until the fifth or sixth round. But with the final pick in the third round, the Denver Broncos chose the former Ohio State running back Saturday night. Denver has a couple young backs already in place (Tatum Bell and Quentin Griffin) so Clarett probably won’t see the field much in 2005, but if there’s a system he could be successful in, it’s Denver’s. I’m not surprised that the Broncos were the team to take a chance on Clarett, but I am surprised that they took him so early.

The New York Jets selected former Buckeyes kicker Mike Nugent in the second round (47th overall), becoming the highest-drafted kicker since the Raiders took Sebastian Janikowski in the first round in 2000. Getting a kicker in the second is a bit of a gamble but the Jets had two second-rounders, and if you’re going to tab a kicker that early it may as well be Nugent.

Meanwhile, OSU safety Dustin Fox was selected in the third round, 80th overall, by the Vikings.

…And that’s it so far from the Buckeyes. Last year, Ohio State had three players selected in the first round (Will Smith, Chris Gamble and Michael Jenkins) and four more in the third. Ouch.