The Raw Score: Talking Buckeye Football with John Pentagon, The Greek, and Coach Bart (2/24/2012)

I was recently the featured guest on The Raw Score, a great new sports talk show on TalkRadio99.com that airs nightly from 6-7PM.

The show was founded by the same guys (John, Joe and Bart) that brought you TheBestDamnPoll.com. If you're looking for the best forums on the web to talk college football, get over to the TBDPITL forums now!

We hit on several topics — including new head coach Urban Meyer, Braxton Miller's future, recruiting, and the renewal of the greatest rivalry in sports, Ohio State/Michigan.

Check out the show right here, then post your thoughts and feedback on Twitter, or right here with LIVE, REAL-TIME commenting from Livefyre!



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The Future is Bright for Ohio State Quarterback Braxton Miller

Judging by the following video highlights of Buckeye QB Braxton Miller from his freshman year at Ohio State, it's safe to assume he should will flourish in new head coach Urban Meyer's offensive system.

When you look at what he was able to do in 2011 with an inept offensive coordinator and practically zero in-game coaching, it's easy find yourself frothing at the mouth over the potential Miller has now that Ohio State has a top-notch coaching staff in place.

Miller ran the ball a lot and with great success at Wayne HS — often from a shotgun/spread/zone-read set — so he should feel very comfortable with what Meyer brings to the table.

Miller is much more than a scrambling quarterback, however, so he will also drop back and air it out as well. The Buckeyes have loads of young, talented wide receivers returning and several arriving in this years class. If as an offense, you want to pass the ball, it obviously helps to have playmakers at receiver, and Ohio State will have a handful of them in 2012.

Miller compares very well to former-Buckeye QB, Troy Smith, therefore, I expect Meyer to use Miller more like he used Chris Leak than he did Tim Tebow.

He has the athletic ability to run or to avoid the pass rush with his feet to buy extra time to find an open receiver down the field. His arm strength and passing mechanics are good. The only real improvements he needs to make would be to fine-tune his accuracy and tighten up the spiral on his passes.

As mentioned, here are a few highlight videos from the 2011 season that illustrate what a nightmare Braxton can be for opposing defenses — and remember, Miller made these plays, often on his own with little or no help from the previous, inept coaching staff.

There's no doubt Miller is an amazing and gifted talent on the brink of greatness. I can't wait to watch him blossom under Meyer in Ohio State's new and improved offense.













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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, DE Noah Spence

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

The already solid Buckeye defensive line got even stronger with the addition of 5-star DE Noah Spence, out of Bishop McDevitt HS in Harrisburg, PA.

The 6-3, 240 pound Spence is a pure rusher with great hands and an incredible burst off the line. He's a disruptive force in the backfield, but can also pursue and close on a mobile QB, or chase down a speedy RB practically anywhere on the field.

In addition to being listed as the No. 1 DE in the nation, Spence is listed as the No. 4 overall player in the nation regardless of position for 2012.

The following excerpt from Sporting News sheds some light on just how the Buckeyes were able to pluck Spence out of Pennsylvania.

Two weeks ago, Noah Spence told Sporting News he’d been in contact with new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. Apparently, Meyer is saying all the right things, because Spence is a Buckeyes commitment following an official visit to the school this past weekend.

“I’ve never met him, but I’ve talked to him,” Spence told Sporting News a week ago. “He’s a great guy, real down to earth and he wants to win.”

Spence also had considered Penn State, Florida, Notre Dame, Maryland and LSU, among others.

Spence hadn’t even met Meyer in person until recently—but by Sunday night, he had a picture of himself and the coach as his Facebook profile shot, with Spence wearing a mock Ohio State jersey.

“I’m so happy. I just felt so comfortable,” Spence told The Patriot-News in Pennsylvania. “It was all beginning to be too much. I’m more happy than relieved. I found what I was looking for at Ohio State.”

My favorite highlight in the video below is at 4:43. Watch as Noah overpowers and shoves two blockers aside on his way to the quarterback — Beast-mode, activated!




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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, OT Taylor Decker

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

With several key losses from the 2011 offensive line, signing some of the nation's best o-lineman was clearly on the mind of coach Urban Meyer and his staff.

We've already profiled Kyle Dodson and Joey O'Connor. The Buckeyes also made a huge addition to the future o-line with the signing of 4-star OT Taylor Decker from Butler HS in Vandalia, OH.

The 6-8, 310 Decker will be a literally huge and essential part of a rebuilding offensive line under coach Meyer. He's as strong, intense, and physically and athletically gifted as they come at his position.

Decker was previously committed to Notre Dame, but ended up at Ohio State when all was said and done.

The following excerpt from the Chicago Tribune sheds some light on just how the Buckeyes were able to "steal" Decker away from the Irish.

Urban Meyer plucked two of Notre Dame's assistants for his new staff at Ohio State. Now he's pilfering Irish recruits, too.

Offensive lineman Taylor Decker has switched commitments from Notre Dame to Ohio State after the Vandalia, Ohio, product took an official visit with the Buckeyes.

Decker had been committed to the Irish since last March, but Rivals.com reported that the move of Irish assistants Ed Warinner and Tim Hinton to Ohio State contributed to Decker's flip.

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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, OG Joey O'Connor

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

With several key losses from the 2011 offensive line, signing some of the nation's best o-lineman was clearly on the mind of coach Urban Meyer and his staff.

He and the Buckeyes made a significant addition to the o-line with the signing of 3-star OG Joey O'Connor from Windsor, Colorado.

The 6-4, 295 O'Connor is tenacious, hard-nosed, and just the type of player needed in Columbus if the Buckeyes are to have continued success up front in the trenches against the rest of the Big Ten.

Originally a Penn State verbal, everything changed when the Jerry Sandusky scandal and subsequent firing of Joe Paterno unfolded.

While O'Connor says he will always love what Penn State used to be, he's very happy with his choice to move forward at Ohio State.

A little bit about how his journey was forged from Windsor, CO to Columbus, OH can be found in this excerpt from the Denver Post.

Joey O'Connor found exactly what he was looking for in a recruiting trip to Penn State last June.

Then, On Nov. 5, a Saturday, the O'Connor family was watching TV when they noticed a crawl across the bottom of the screen making reference to child sexual abuse and the Penn State football program.

Within a week, O'Connor would decommit, his world turned upside down, not sure who he would be casting his lot with come Feb. 1, national signing day. He would eventually land at Ohio State, but not before his reopened recruitment exploded.

In late November, Ohio State hired Urban Meyer, the former Florida coach. Within a week, he was on phone with O'Connor. It was the one coach O'Connor had been waiting to hear from.

Meyer told O'Connor the Buckeyes coaching staff loved the way he played and would be going after him hard. A few days later, a member of Meyer's staff came for a visit.

A week after that game (the 2011 Under-Armor All-American game) he took his official visit to Ohio State. His only other visit had been to Penn State. And, when O'Connor went there last September, Joey was already committed - so, in a sense, he wasn't being wooed. At Ohio State, he was wooed.

More importantly, he found a comfort level with Meyer in a one-on-one breakfast during his visit to Columbus, Ohio.

The academic piece also aligned nicely: Ohio State has a top-tier criminal justice program, and O'Connor wants to go into law enforcement.

"What Penn State used to be will always be my No. 1. Always," O'Connor said. "So I felt, when I was (at Ohio State), that this was the closest I'm going to get to what my No. 1 was. So I figured, why look anywhere else.

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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, LB David Perkins

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

Coach Meyer said the linebacker position was the team's biggest area of need.

He and the Buckeyes made a significant addition to the linebacker corp with the signing of 4-star LB David Perkins from South Bend, Indiana.

Perkins is a physically gifted athlete and as you can see from the excerpt below out of the South Bend Tribune, he should make an impact on the field for the Buckeyes sooner than later.

"Now that recruiting is over, now it's time for the preparation
stage," Perkins said. "I'm going to get (to Columbus) as many times as I can before I'm officially down there and get acquainted with all the players and get down all the things that I need to know, so I'll be ready to come in and assume my role."

That role will be at linebacker. Many recruiting services has listed Perkins under the "athlete" category, but new OSU coach Urban Meyer has Perkins ticketed for linebacker.

"I remember him talking to me about that and I remember him talking to me about how big of a piece I am in this class and for the team because they're short on linebackers," Perkins said, "so me coming in as a freshman, it's not like a redshirt, or just do special teams this year. He said I'm coming in and I will be playing. There's no time to waste."

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Update — AWESOME Ohio State 2012 Football Schedule

Willie from ScarletBuckeye.com has been working on a sweet 2012 Ohio State Football schedule.

It wasn't finished yet, but we (recently) just had to share it as soon as we saw it anyway!

Here is (possibly) the finalized image posting, as promised!


(Click on image to view full-size)

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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, LB Camren Williams

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

Coach Meyer said the linebacker position was the team's biggest area of need.

In West Roxbury, MA 4-star linebacker Camren Williams, that need was addressed.

Williams joined his HS teammate, CB Armani Reeves, as a package deal in pledging to play for the Buckeyes.

Both had previously been committed to Penn State, before the Jerry Sandusky scandal and Joe Paterno's dismissal.



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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, CB Armani Reeves

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

Coach Meyer said the linebacker position was the team's biggest area of need.

That may be true, but with only three returning cornerbacks on scholarship — Travis Howard, Bradley Roby and Doran Grant — after the release of both Dominic Clarke and DerJuan Gambrell, Reeves was a significant addition to this class, and he'll have a legit opportunity to find himself in the two-deep of Ohio State's defensive backfield sooner, rather than later.

Armani Reeves, a 4-star CB and kick returner from Catholic Memorial in Roxbury, MA joined his HS teammate, LB Camren Williams, in pledging to play for the Buckeyes.

Both had previously been committed to Penn State, before Hurricane Urban made landfall in Columbus.



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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — 2012 Buckeye Commit, OT Kyle Dodson

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

Coach Meyer said the linebacker position was the team's biggest area of need. That may be true, but the needs on the offensive line had to be a close second.

The future of the O-line was shored up with the commitment from 4-star lineman, Kyle Dodson.

His commitment video was pretty cool, but his highlight video is even better!



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Ohio State Post-Signing Day — "Ridiculous" 2012 Buckeye Commit, LB Jamal Marcus

One by one, we will be video-profiling each member of the Buckeyes 2012 recruiting class.

Coach Meyer said the linebacker position was the team's biggest area of need, and they certainly made a significant pick-up with today's commitment of 3-star LB Jamal Marcus from Durham, NC.

Feast your eyes on him below, and scratch you head as I did while trying to figure out just how the recruiting services "only" rate him as a 3-star prospect.

Of course, we've all seen this before — AJ Hawk or James Laurinaitis anyone?




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