Saturday, September 7, 2013

Week Two: No. 3 Ohio State vs. San Diego State—History Lesson, Trends, Thoughts and Score Prediction

By HD HandshoeBlockONation.com Founder

The No. 3 Buckeyes look to improve to 2-0 on the young season this week as they host the San Diego State Aztecs.

The Buckeyes came out the gate fast last week against Buffalo before turnovers and the youthful inexperience of their defense allowed Buffalo to keep the game closer than was expected by myself and most college football analysts.

The Aztecs were among a handful of FBS teams that fell to FCS opponents last week, suffering a 40-19 defeat at home to Eastern Illinois.

On paper, this game should translate to an easy victory for tOSU, but only if the Buckeyes protect the ball better and improve defensively from last weeks performance.


Here are this weeks historical-data-tidbits and a few recent and/or ongoing trends for your consideration that might be of interest.

Ohio State—Buffalo History Lesson And Recent Trends

• Urban Meyer coached teams are 74-14 when ranked in the Top 25.

• Ohio State is 67-7 at Ohio Stadium since the start of the 2002 season.

• Ohio State is an astounding 276-0-1 all-time when scoring 35+ points.

• Head coach Urban Meyer is 43-4 in his career in games played in August/September.

• Ohio State's defense has only allowed 13 100-yard rushers in their last 62 games.

• Ohio State's defense has held opponents to 10 points or less 37 times since 2006.

• Ohio State looks to preserve the nation's longest winning streak, currently 13 games.

• Ohio State has held 74 opponents to 21 points or less since the start of the 2005 season.

• Ohio State has won 62 consecutive regular-season non-conference home games against unranked opponents.

• Ohio State is 3-0 all-time vs. San Diego St. and 7-1 all-time vs. current members of the Mountain West Conference.

A Couple Thoughts and Score Prediction

Last week, I, like many others, underestimated Buffalo. They had 17 or 18 returning starters from 2012 and as far as individual players, Bulls outside linebacker Khalil Mack might be as good of a pro prospect, though very much less heralded than, South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney.

After a lightning fast start in the first quarter, the Buckeyes jumped out to a 23-0 lead. That lead was cut to 10 twice after turnovers put the inexperienced Buckeye defense against the wall.

The good news is they say the biggest improvement all year comes in game two — AND — the Buckeyes are the big fish in the pond compared to the minnow that is San Diego State football.

Also, let's not forget that Ann Arbor's current coach was the SD State coach just a couple years back, so that's worth at least 2-3 extra "running it up" TDs in my book.

For the sake of bookies and/or betting men everywhere, hopefully the trends hold true for favored Ohio State this week.

Ohio State 66
San Diego State 10



"It takes a little something special to be a great player. We don't have enough great players. TO HELL WITH THAT! We don't want to coach average! I don't wanna be around ya, why be around average?! Did you push yourself to be great today?" - Urban Meyer


@BlockONation


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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Another "THIS Might Be The Best Buckeye Video EVER" Video—Ohio State Leadership 2013

By HD HandshoeBlockONation Founder

"This year's team has high expectations. It's very simple, if we get tremendous leadership from our coaching staff, but most importantly our players, then we'll have a successful season. Talent will get you about seven or eight wins, discipline will start pushing that to nine. Then when you get leadership, that's when magic starts happening to your team."

-Urban Meyer





"It takes a little something special to be a great player. We don't have enough great players. TO HELL WITH THAT! We don't want to coach average! I don't wanna be around ya, why be around average?! Did you push yourself to be great today?" - Urban Meyer


@BlockONation


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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Week One: No. 2 Ohio State vs. Buffalo—History Lesson, Trends, Thoughts and Score Prediction

By HD HandshoeBlockONation.com Founder

Before we kickoff the 2013 "History Lesson" season here at BlockONation, I thought this short video might get you more ready for Buckeye football than you already are—if that's even possible.



The No. 2 Buckeyes begin the 2013 season on Saturday as they play host to the Buffalo Bulls. ESPN2 will broadcast the game nationally at Noon.


Here are some historical-data-tidbits and a few recent and/or ongoing trends for your consideration that might be of interest.

Ohio State—Buffalo History Lesson And Recent Trends

• Ohio State is 32-2 in its last 34 season openers.

• Ohio State is 111-8-4 all-time in home season openers.

• Urban Meyer coached teams are 73-14 when ranked in the Top 25.

• Ohio State has opened the season with a win every year since 2000.

• Ohio State is 66-7 at Ohio Stadium since the start of the 2002 season.

• Ohio State and Buffalo are meeting for the first time on the gridiron.

• Ohio State is an astounding 275-0-1 all-time when scoring 35+ points.

• Ohio State is 17-0 vs. MAC teams since 2000, winning by an average of 27 ppg.

• Ohio State has won 34 consecutive home openers - Last loss was to PSU in 1978.

• Ohio State enters the season with the nation's longest winning streak at 12 games.

• Ohio State's defense has only allowed 13 100-yard rushers in their last 61 games.

• Ohio State's defense has held opponents to 10 points or less 37 times since 2006.

• Ohio State has held 73 opponents to 21 points or less since the start of the 2005 season.

• Ohio State has won 61 consecutive regular-season non-conference home games against unranked opponents.

A Couple Thoughts and Score Prediction

What to say about Buffalo? Hmmm. They are coming off a 4-8 season, and they probably aren't going to be very good in 2013. The good news is, I doubt there are many Bulls fans out there for me to offend with that statement.

Obviously the Buckeyes are superior and this game will be one-sided. The Bucks won't show much, or need to show much to win easily.

It should be interesting to see which young players get on the field and of those, which ones make a splash. That's all I got, so see you Saturday on Twitter—GO BUCKS!

Ohio State 55
Buffalo 6



"It takes a little something special to be a great player. We don't have enough great players. TO HELL WITH THAT! We don't want to coach average! I don't wanna be around ya, why be around average?! Did you push yourself to be great today?" - Urban Meyer


@BlockONation


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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

2013 Buckeye Football — The Beginning of a New, Non-SEC Dynasty Under Urban Meyer? Yes. The Answer is Yes.

By HD HandshoeBlockONation Founder

2012 was a great year for Ohio State and for Buckeye fans nationwide, as Urban Meyer lead his team to a perfect 12-0 season in his 1st year as head coach.

Last July, I predicted that going undefeated was a very real possibility. I also mentioned the Buckeyes could still be crowned National Champions via the AP Poll.

That didn't happen, but in the recently-released preseason polls, Ohio State is No. 2, behind only Alabama, and Braxton Miller is a serious Heisman candidate, even more so with the allegations and controversy swirling around ESPN's darling and 2012 winner, Johnny Manziel.

It's understandably infuriating to some degree that Ohio State was punished with a bowl ban for the 2011 tat-gate debacle where a few players received tats and/or money for their autographs when considering that all of a sudden everyone wants the NCAA to go away and to give Manziel a free pass for his bylaw-breaking, money-making broker deals.

It's pretty messed up that practically everyone wanted Ohio State to get the death penalty for the poor choices made by a small handful of players, but now want a massive NCAA overhaul. If it happens to a team from the SEC, or a star player from an SEC team like Manziel, THEN AND ONLY THEN do we want to affect change?

Interesting............

Before I get fired up any further, I will instead digress — for now. The primary focus of my ramblings here today is not about the what-ifs of the 2012 season, or the hypocrisy that we're seeing now over players making money off of themselves, for themselves, but rather Urban Meyer and his staff having wrapped up yet another stellar recruiting class in 2013 and already assembling a 2014 class that is looking just as stacked.

A huge Scarlet and Gray tidal wave is about to crash down on the Big Ten and all of College Football (I'm talking to you Alabama/SEC) in 2013.

The initial groundwork for Operation: 2013 Big Ten and National Champions was laid last fall when Ohio State hired Urban Meyer as head coach.

It wasn't always pretty, but neither were the close wins by teams like Notre Dame and Alabama either. And if those close wins and narrow escapes by those teams were gutsy and gritty, and "good teams find a way to overcome adversity and get the win, whatever it takes," so too were similar victories by the Buckeyes.

Because Ohio State is relevant and seemingly always challenging for conference and national titles, especially in the BCS era, there are many CFB fans who just happen to be AP poll voters, with personal vendettas against the Buckeyes, and so unfortunately, there IS a double-standard.

Let's compare the rise and fall in the rankings this season of Ohio State and Notre Dame, this years media (ESPN) darling, shall we?

Week               Ohio State             Notre Dame
Preseason             #18                     NR
Week 1                #14                    #22
Week 2                #12                    #20
Week 3                #16                    #11
Week 4                #14                    #10
Week 5                #12                    #9
Week 6                #8                     #7
Week 7                #7                     #5
Week 8                #9                     #5
Week 9                #6                     #4
Week 10               #5                     #4                    
Week 11               #6                     #3
Week 12               #4                     #1
Week 13               #4                     #1
Week 14               #3                     #1

So what exactly does the chart above show? Well, both teams had a handful of lackluster wins and at least one very near loss, but Ohio State dropped in the rankings on three occasions, all after wins, while ND didn't drop once.

In addition to the obvious rankings-bias illustrated against Ohio State above, I'd also like to mention how nice it is that Ohio State can win and drop 4 spots in the polls, but when No. 1 Alabama lost to a 2-loss Texas A&M team AT HOME, they plummeted all the way down to No. 4—three whole spots, after a loss.

Wait, what? Was I talking?

Haha, nevermind, I digress,.....AGAIN!

Looking forward to 2013, none of that matters. The No. 2 Buckeyes will undoubtedly be one of the top contenders battling to earn a berth in, and win, the final BCS championship prior to the end of the BCS era and the start of the new 4-team playoff system that goes into effect starting in 2014.

While several Buckeye starters from the 2012 team are gone, Ohio State is one of those schools that never rebuilds, but instead, reloads.

That has never been truer now that Urban Meyer, arguably the best recruiter in college football, is on the recruiting trail for the Scarlet and Gray.

While Jim Tressel was often criticized for not being able to close out his classes, Urban Meyer has the complete opposite reputation when it comes to pursuing and signing elite targets.

His ability to recruit and land the nation's best HS players are evidenced by OSU's class rankings in 2012 (3rd), 2013 (1st) and 2014 (6th already as of now).

Here are the recruits in the 2013 Ohio State recruiting class:

Player              Position            Star-Rating
======              ========            ===========
Tracy Sprinkle         DE                  ***
Tim Gardner            OG                  ***
Christopher Worley     LB                  ***
Trey Johnson           LB                  ****
Darron Lee             S                   ****
Donovan Munger         DT                  ****
Tyquan Lewis           DE                  ****
Jayme Thompson         S                   ****
Billy Price            DT                  ****
Gareon Conley          CB/WR               ****
Michael Hill           DT                  ****
J.T. Barrett           QB                  ****
Cameron Burrows        CB                  ****
Eli Apple (Woodard)    CB                  ****
Dontre Wilson          RB/WR               ****
Ezekiel Elliott        RB                  ****
Evan Lisle             OT                  ****
Corey Smith            WR                  ****
James Clark            WR                  ****
Marcus Baugh           TE                  ****
Jalin Marshall         WR                  *****
Joey Bosa              DE                  *****
Mike Mitchell          LB                  *****
Vonn Bell              S                   *****

It's good to be back blogging and I can't wait to spend this potentially magical season with all of Buckeye Nation, especially my readers here and my followers on Twitter — HD




@BlockONation


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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Finishing Touches: Highlights of BlockONation's Top 6 Ohio State 2013 Recruits

By HD HandshoeBlockONation.com Founder

It's The Final Countdown.....bah-bah bah bah,......bah-bah bah bah bah,.......

Just be glad you're only reading this and not actually listening to me sing!

With signing day just one day away, and the the 2013 class more or less at capacity, it seemed like the appropriate time to shine the spotlight on the best of the best from this loaded class.

Words alone cannot express the ridiculous infusion of talent the top recruits that have committed to play football for Ohio State beginning this fall possess.

Thankfully, video can create a much more vivid picture than I or my words. Here are highlights of my personal top 6 recruits in the Buckeyes 2013 class.

No. 6 — Marcus Baugh / Tight End / Riverside, CA



No. 5 — Dontre Wilson / RB/WR / Desoto, TX



No. 4 — Ezekiel Elliott / RB / St. Louis, MO



No. 3 — Joey Bosa / DE / Fort Lauderdale, FL



No. 2 — Mike Mitchell / LB / Plano, TX



No. 1 — Jalin Marshall / WR / Middletown, OH



NSD Wishlist Bonus Video — Vonn Bell / S / Rossville, GA



Be sure to visit BlockONation.com for all your Ohio State football news, recruiting info and updates.

— HD




@BlockONation


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