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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Starting Guard Justin Boren Out With a Knee Injury

Tim May and Ken Gordon, of the Columbus Dispatch, are reporting that starting left guard Justin Boren injured a knee in practice yesterday and is expected to be sidelined several weeks.

No other details are available, except that this is not considered serious: i.e., an ACL tear or something that would keep Boren out for an extended time.

Remember, injuries "affect" a player differently depending on the time of year, if you know what I mean.

If this had happened in the opener against Navy, maybe Boren would play the next week against USC. But it's preseason camp, so there's little reason to have him get back in there and bang it right now.

It's still enough to send shivers down the spine of OSU fans. Boren has quickly become the face of the "new and improved?" offensive line.


Dispatch Link:
http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/2009/08/boren_out_with_knee_injury.shtml