2022 Ohio State Football Off-Season Thread.

[Omega]

OSU running back Marcus Crowley medically retires from team due to injury.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... y-injuries

[Omega]

Mitchell Melton to miss second straight season due to injury.

The third year defensive end suffered an ACL injury in the spring game. His absence will hurt Buckeye depth on the line as he was expected to garner significant playing time.
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... 022-season

[Omega]

Ohio State offers 8th grader?

From Eleven Warriors:

by Garrick Hodge


OSU MAKES FIRST 2026 OFFER

Occasionally when I write about recruits that Ohio State is interested in but are still a few recruiting cycles away from actually playing in college, we’ll get fan feedback that resembles something along the lines of “What’s next, you going to write about eighth-graders?”

Today, I am indeed writing about an eighth-grader. But it’s not without good reason.

On Wednesday, Georgia defensive end Tyler Atkinson became Ohio State’s first offer from the 2026 class, becoming the first recruit since Quinn Ewers to receive a Buckeyes offer before starting high school. Ewers landed his offer after camping at Ohio State in June 2018, but Atkinson received his offer before the Buckeyes’ summer camp season even began.(excerpt)

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... ick-up-osu

Part of me is disappointed that OSU would stoop to SEC tactics and offer a scholarship to an eighth grader. Then again with the way recruiting has changed with NIL cash, I guess the Buckeyes have to reassess recruiting methods to stay relevant.

[Omega]

Former OSU DLineman Noah Potter to transfer and play for Cincinnati. He will have three years of eligibility for the Bearcats.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... cincinnati

[Omega]

Ohio State season opener on September 3rd will be a 7:30 pm kickoff on ABC. The ESPN Game Day show will be in attendance.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... -primetime

Hopefully this will create a little "atmosphere" and "energy" to what is becoming a more and more mediocre fan experience in Ohio Stadium.

[Omega]

Ryan Day signs contract extension through 2028 @$9.5 million a year.

https://brobible.com/sports/article/ohi ... extension/

[Bleeding Red]

Ohio State season opener on September 3rd will be a 7:30 pm kickoff on ABC. The ESPN Game Day show will be in attendance.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... -primetime

Hopefully this will create a little "atmosphere" and "energy" to what is becoming a more and more mediocre fan experience in Ohio Stadium.

If they want to make the environment at the Shoe what it was, lower the ticket prices and kick the old money out of the seats. The people between the 20 yard lines sit on their hands the entire game and the adamant fans can't afford to go to the games anymore......

[Omega]

Ohio State season opener on September 3rd will be a 7:30 pm kickoff on ABC. The ESPN Game Day show will be in attendance.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... -primetime

Hopefully this will create a little "atmosphere" and "energy" to what is becoming a more and more mediocre fan experience in Ohio Stadium.

If they want to make the environment at the Shoe what it was, lower the ticket prices and kick the old money out of the seats. The people between the 20 yard lines sit on their hands the entire game and the adamant fans can't afford to go to the games anymore......

Great comment BR.

Even back in my student days, '68-'71 seasons, the "blue hair" donor class had the best seats and treated the games as social events to be seen rather than to act as loud fans. Throw in cost, the traffic hassles, and subpar amenities, I think you will continue to see empty seats at Ohio Stadium except for premiere games. Of course most college programs share the problem of fewer butts in the stand.

[Omega]

The Buckeyes got a possible break in scheduling as Penn State announced that their home game with TOSU will not be a white out game:

[Omega]

Ran across a rather surprising statistic regarding Ohio State's high powered offense from the 2021 season:

OSU failed to score a touchdown 35% of the time when the Buckeyes were in the red zone.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... e-red-zone

Most off season stories regarding OSU have been about fixing their porous defense. Looks like the Bucks also need to focus on running the ball inside their opponents 20 yard line if they are to regain the Big 10 championship.

[Bleeding Red]

Ran across a rather surprising statistic regarding Ohio State's high powered offense from the 2021 season:

OSU failed to score a touchdown 35% of the time when the Buckeyes were in the red zone.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... e-red-zone

Most off season stories regarding OSU have been about fixing their porous defense. Looks like the Bucks also need to focus on running the ball inside their opponents 20 yard line if they are to regain the Big 10 championship.

Totally agree. The reason tOSU best *ichigan 18 out of 20 years was from their ability to run the ball when they chose to or needed to do so.

Now we watch slow and not physical linemen with 10' wingspans that excel in pass protection but suck run blocking.

That must change and balance the offense.

[Omega]

It's good to be a quarterback at Ohio State:

C.J. STROUD GETS BRAND NEW BENTLEY VALUED AT $150,000 AS PART OF NIL DEAL

From Eleven Warriors:

C.J. Stroud has made some excellent use of his NIL and will now be driving a brand new Bentley Bentayga, valued at $150,000, as part of a partnership with Sarchione Auto Gallery in Canton.

As part of the deal, Stroud will promote the auto dealership on social media and make public appearances at its gallery, the Columbus Dispatch reports. (excerpt)

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... f-nil-deal

With apologies to Waylon, mammas do let your boys grow up to be quarterbacks and not doctors, lawyers and such.

At least it is now legal.

[countywide35]

It's good to be a quarterback at Ohio State:

C.J. STROUD GETS BRAND NEW BENTLEY VALUED AT $150,000 AS PART OF NIL DEAL

From Eleven Warriors:

C.J. Stroud has made some excellent use of his NIL and will now be driving a brand new Bentley Bentayga, valued at $150,000, as part of a partnership with Sarchione Auto Gallery in Canton.

As part of the deal, Stroud will promote the auto dealership on social media and make public appearances at its gallery, the Columbus Dispatch reports. (excerpt)

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... f-nil-deal

With apologies to Waylon, mammas do let your boys grow up to be quarterbacks and not doctors, lawyers and such.

At least it is now legal.

When he walked off the practice field today at the youth camp. He got swarmed pretty good by a handful of kids that knew just wat to look for ha.

[Omega]

For those of us who are ordinary fans, your chance to buy tickets:

[Omega]

Recruiting Class of 2023 5 Star WR Commits to OSU

Carnell Tate, the third rated wide receiver in the class of 2023, commits to be a Buckeye. Tate is from Chicago but plays for IMG in Florida. He chose the Bucks over the UT Vols and Notre Dame.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... s-catcher/

Looks like OSU will continue to have an elite receiving corps. Would be nice to land some mean a$$ five star linebackers though.

[Omega]

Buckeyes snare another commitment from a 5 Star reciever, Brandon Inniss. From Ft Lauderdale, Fl, In miss is rated the #2 WR and #18 overall for the class of 2023.

Inniss originally committed to Oklahoma but reopened his recruitment when Lincoln Riley left the Sooners for the USC Trojans.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... ohio-state

[Omega]

Four Buckeyes Named To Walter Camp Preseason All American Team:

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Jr WR) and TreVeyon Henderson (So RB) were named to the first team.

Dawand Jones (Sr OT) and Noah Ruggles (GS PK) were named to the second team.

Notably absent from the list was CJ Stroud, the Buckeye QB who was a Heisman finalists last season.

https://waltercamp.org/walter-camp-2022 ... -partners/

[Omega]

Ohio State Currently Has The Highest Recruiting Class For 2023

After a flurry of commitments of the four and five star variety, the Buckeyes have overtaken Notre Dame for the top spot in the 2023 recruiting rankings.

https://247sports.com/Season/2023-Footb ... mRankings/


I know recruiting rankings do not automatically translate to on field performance. It is also early in the 2023 recruiting cycle, so the rankings will change. Yet it is encouraging to see OSU recruiting not fall by the way side in the NIL era. Ryan Day and Brian Hartline have their cupboard full on offense. It would be nice to see some defensive studs commit on the defense.

[Omega]

OSU Announces Themes For Home Games

From Eleven Warriors:

Ohio State will host both a black-out and a scarlet-out at Ohio Stadium this season.

After announcing earlier this week that it wants fans to wear black at the Sept. 24 home game against Wisconsin, Ohio State announced Wednesday that it will “Scarlet the Shoe” for the Oct. 22 game against Iowa, encouraging fans to wear scarlet apparel for the Buckeyes’ home tilt against the Hawkeyes.

The proposed scarlet-out could also mean a return of the all-scarlet “Color Rush” uniforms Ohio State debuted last season against Penn State in a game that was also designated as a “Scarlet the Shoe” game.

Ohio State also announced Wednesday that its Oct. 1 game against Rutgers will be the homecoming game, which will also feature a celebration of Ohio Stadium’s 100 years.

OSU has now announced the game themes for each of its six September and October home games. The home opener against Notre Dame will feature a reunion of the 2002 national championship team, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The second game of the year against Arkansas State will be a “Scarlet & Gray Game” and include a celebration of this year’s Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame class, while the third game of the year against Toledo will be the alumni band game.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-sta ... s#comments

[Omega]

3 Buckeyes Named To Maxwell Award Watch List

From Sports Illustrated:

Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba On Maxwell Award Watch List

The Buckeyes are the only program in the country with three or more preseason selections.(excerpt)

https://www.si.com/college/ohiostate/fo ... watch-list

Ohio State's offense could be better in 2022 than it was in 2021. If they can figure out how to get a 3rd and 3 stop on defense, the Buckeyes might have a banner year.