OSU Recruiting Big Board - Never a Dull Moment

With less than month till signing day, the Buckeyes class currently numbers 16. As happens every year, new names start popping up, fans stress about keeping verbals in the fold, and there's a frenzy over the top uncommitted players. So how will OSU finish?

QB: At quarterback, the Terrelle Pryor saga has reached new heights. Buckeyes fans remain nervously optimistic, and there's no doubt that an ulcer-inducing visit to Ann Arbor will be raise the stakes even further. Pryor seems to get play in the Detroit papers on a daily basis, with some claiming that Michigan must get him, while others think OSU would be a better choice. The Buckeyes are still the favorites, but there's plenty of time left.

RB: Still no official word on Devoe Torrence, but there's plenty of speculation that he won't be part of the class. I have no idea what truth is, but OSU is expecting a visit from 4-star UCLA commit Aundre Dean from Texas. It now seems possible that this class will not have a running back, making it a priority for 2009.

Also look out for the name Jermil Martin. He's a 2-star DE/LB, but also lays fullback. Though he's a soft verbal to Iowa, he hails from Glenville. So if OSU decides it needs a fullback in this class, and offer might change his mind.

WR: The Buckeyes have apparently not given up here, and have a visit scheduled with Martin Bayless from Texas. He's being recruited as an athlete, with the ability to play safety or receiver. That's exactly the kind player Coach Tressel loves, so expect a big push on his official. He's inexplicably listed as a 2-star on Rivals, though his transfer in mid-high school could explain the lack of publicity. Bayless has offers from Florida, Cal, Washington and UCLA, and I think a Pac-10 school is the safest bet at this point.

OL: Josh Jenkins is visiting Florida State this weekend and Pitt the next. Though West Virginia now has a coach, it doesn't yet seem like Jenkins is planning to re-commit to the Mountaineers. He reportedly had a good time with the other Buckeye commits at the Army game, so OSU is feeling increasingly confident about their chances. I'm still somewhat skeptical just because of the way his recruitment has played out, but that's more of a gut feeling that based on evidence.

DL: There were reports that Illinois commit Corey Liuget was going to visit OSU this weekend, but that apparently fell through. His recruitment is still open, but OSU doesn't seem like a player anymore. This could mean good news on the Keith Wells front, or it could just mean Liuget isn't interested. Wells, who I continue to pimp on this blog at every opportunity, is looking around after the Florida State cheating scandal. No player left on the baord other than Pryor is more important in my estimation.

Dawawn Whiter, Donte's brother, still doesn't have an OSU offer and appears to be leaning toward Illinois. Academics may be the holdup, and the Buckeyes seem to have their defensive line class pretty full. Still, an offer from the Buckeyes would likely be accepted.

LB: The Buckeyes are done for 2008...right? Every year a player comes out of nowhere to join the Ohio State class, and this year's guy could be Zach Domicone. Rivals lists him as a 2-star athlete, though he looks like a safety that could grow into a linebacker. With 4.4 speed, Domicone had a Nebraska offer and just added offers from Oklahoma and Ohio State. He's on a official this weekend to Columbus and could commit at that time.

Though technically it falls under 2009 recruiting, Ohio State does have a greyshirt offer to Dublin linebacker Steve Gardiner. He's extremely fast but somewhat undersized. Sounds like a special teams demon, but would he rather play at Pitt or Northwestern without the depth chart logjam?

DB: Brandon Harris is also in for his official this weekend, and the Buckeyes will give him the royal treatment. Pulling him out of the south doesn't seem likely, but OSU is doing everything it can. Travis Howard is actually flying up to help show Harris a good time, and fellow Floridian Mike Brewster will certainly make his pitch. The odds are not high, but Harris would be a coup of epic proportions if the Buckeyes get this shutdown corner.

ATH: The Buckeyes continue to pursue 3-star athlete Orhian Johnson from Florida. Johnson played quarterback in high school but the Buckeyes are not recruiting him for that - or is this a disguised Pryor insurance plan? Not likely. Tressel just loves fast, rangy athletes with position flexibility. I'd be kind of surprised if Johnson was part of the class, but if OSU misses on guys like Harris or Bayless, they may want someone who can play both sides of the ball.

The All-Star Games...Buckeyes Shine

It wasn't too many years ago that the U.S. Army All-American game was playing to a very small audience. For fans that followed recruiting before the boom, it could be a little embarrassing to explain that you were watching a high school football game. But college recruiting has exploded into a veritable cottage industry, all-stars have proliferated, and the games have gone mainstream. Sort of. It's still going to be a tough sell if you a tell a woman what you're watching.

With three major games this year - the Army game was joined by ESPN's Under Armour game, as well as the Offense-Defense game - a majority of Ohio State's commits and targets were in action. So who improved their stock? Did anyone struggle?

QB: Terrelle Pryor won the Army MVP and looked every bit the part of a Vince Young clone. He's a dazzling runner with a cannon arm, and he uses his 6'6" frame to effortless shrug off defenders. On the flip side, his odd throwing motion and tendency to attempt dangerous passes will cause some struggles early on.

Pryor was great, not elite, during the week of practice. He wasn't close to the best quarterback in the skills competition. But he turned it up when the game rolled around, which is obviously what you want. It will be interesting to see if he retains the #1 ranking in Rivals final 100.

RB: Still committed at this time, Devoe Torrence had a nice week at the O-D game. It's the least publicized of the three games, but Torrence was reportedly the most consistent back of a great group.

Though he's not being recruited as a running back, Lamaar Thomas looked like the real deal during the Army game. He showed great speed and vision, and is incredibly dangerous when he gets into the open field. It will be important for the Buckeyes to design packages for Thomas, but I'm very excited about his future.

WR: Though he didn't make much of an impact in the Army game, Devier Posey was excellent all week. He made his share of plays against the nation's top corner, Patrick Johnson, and looks to have good chemistry with Terrelle Pryor. Though the Buckeyes return their top four receivers, it will interesting to see if Posey can force his way onto the field. He's extremely smooth, and the only concern as a freshman will be strength.

TE: It probably was not the week Jake Stoneburner was looking for. Projected as a WR at the next level, Stoney was stuck at TE all week. With the Army East squad showing a predominately run-oriented scheme, the talented Dublin player was not in a position to show off his skills. When given the opportunity to stretch the field in practice, he caught some nice passes down the seam. Despite being a non-factor in the game, Stoneburner still looks like a matchup nightmare for linebackers and safeties in college.

OL: Still recovering from his shoulder surgery, Mike Brewster didn't practice or play in the Army game. That allowed Mike Adams to take center stage, where he exhibited all the skills of a franchise left tackle. After months of arguing about his Rivals ranking, Adams settled the debate with a dominating performance. He was probably the single most impressive Buckeye commit at any of the games. J.B. Shugarts and Josh Jenkins were also at the game, but neither really garnered much buzz. Shugarts is now enrolled at OSU, and will need to hit the weight room hard this spring.

DL: Current Florida State commit Keith Wells was reportedly a terror at practice, showing excellent burst and speed off the edge. For whatever reason, recruiting services have not given him the respect I think he deserves. Other than Pryor, he's right the top of my wish list. His speed and ability to disrupt will make him an elite player.

LB: Etienne Sabino and Andrew Sweat both had solid weeks at their respective all-star games. Sabino passed the look test at the Army game, and was among the most consistent performers on the East defense. Sweat exhibited great leadership skills at the Under Armour game, and looks very quick to the ball. I'm not sure if either are ready to step in next season, but the future is extremely bright for the Buckeyes at linebacker.

DB: Uncommitted cornerback Brandon Harris was lights out at the Under Armour game. With the possible exception of Patrick Johnson, there's not another corner in the country I'd rather have. Harris has consistently shut down some of the nation's best receivers this season, and is a surefire future star in my book. Though OSU faces an uphill battle, they're doing everything they can do persuade Harris to come to Columbus. His official visit is this weekend.

BCS Post-Mortem

Before getting to the gory details, a quick note to our loyal readers. Astute visitors to this blog might have been wondered, "No Ohio State posts since December 30th?" No, I didn't drink myself into oblivion on New Year's, and I certainly didn't forget that the Buckeyes were playing in the BCS Championship for a second year in a row. But a few important things to note:

First, this blog celebrates the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, but tends to focus a great deal on recruiting. After the debacle of 2007 when overconfident OSU fans were more concerned with Ben Martin than Chris Leak, I thought it best not over-emphasize the recruiting aspect with game coming up.

Second, there are professional journalists from many publications and web sites that write articles breaking down title games, and fill their pages with heartwarming personal stories about the players. You can get that elsewhere, and I'd probably have to slap myself I got bored and thought, "You know what this world needs? Another Nader Abdallah/Katina story!"

Finally, those journalists I just referenced weren't very keen on the "professional" aspect of things the last few weeks. Ohio State was berated so much for being in the game that I'm surprised they didn't just politely decline. So I didn't watch or read much coverage at all prior to the game. Which sort of made commenting on it a fruitless exercise, like having a conversation with yourself.

So with that as a backdrop, a focused Ohio State team showed in hostile New Orleans prepared to exercise the demons from a year ago. And in this unpredictable year, when upsets reigned supreme, consistent Ohio State...flopped again. So exactly what can be taken from this game? And what to expect in the offseason?

*I thought LSU would come out of the gates fast - healthy, playing a virtual home game, and thinking they could run OSU right out of that godforsaken building. But it was the Buckeyes, frustrated by the lack of respect, that jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The offense looked crisp and the fans that tuned in were probably surprised to see that OSU fielded something other than a junior high squad. How could any Big Ten player outrun a player from the SEC? Of course it was all downhill after that.

*This is not more disappointing than last year. In fact, this is ony disappointing because of last year. Any rationale OSU fan will admit that this team overachieved. It's a credit to the coaches and players that they followed up a 12-1 season with an 11-2 season. But the Buckeyes were playing not because of an incredibly regular season. They were playing because more experienced, talented teams choked hard. Where are you USC, with your home loss to a 40+ underdog? And let's not forget how they were pushed to the limit by a Washington team that OSU mauled. West Virginia losing to Pitt? Kansas and Missouri failing to win with the title game in their grasp?

This was the equivalent of a bowl team getting pulled up but getting no recognition for it. And hey, I'm not asking anyone to feel bad for Ohio State, a huge juggernaut of a program. But the pre-game bashing was off-the-charts, and why? This team has just two senior starters (more on that later) and it's almost bad luck that they achieved this much. The team would have been better off perceptually with a dull 9-3 season and whomping some mid-level SEC or Pac-10 team in a January 1 bowl.

*If the last year was bad, the next one might be unbearable. OSU fans, who are plenty loud themselves, better be ready to take their lumps. You can expect a healthy dose of articles like this and this from columnists we already love to hate. So when Mike Freeman writes, "Ohio State brought it's slow-ass players and corn-fed bullies into New Orleans and were utterly embarrassed, 38-24, by a speedier, better-coached group. If Ohio State played in the SEC, it'd be known as Mississippi State." you've got to suck it up and take it.

*There can be no doubt that Jim Tressel's reputation as a big game coaching has been severely damaged. Just one year ago he was on the short list, boasting an incredible record in BCS games. But with back-to-back title game losses, right now he's the Marv Levy of college football. And if you don't want to hear about it from a redneck SEC fan whose team oversigns every year, you better find a Unabomber-style bunker with no Internet access. Maybe Vice President Cheney can suggest a quiet, hard-to-locate bungalow somewhere.

*Is there a silver lining here? There might be two. The first is that Ohio State's juniors have to be closer to staying than going. The fact is that Malcolm Jenkins and Jim Laurinaitis didn't look like sure-fire first round picks last night. Along with watching Ted Ginn struggle to get a win and Antonio Pittman slide in last year's draft, there has to be a great deal of motivation to return. The opportunity and the money might win out, but you could be looking at a very seasoned defense next year. Surely Brian Robiskie will be back, and our fingers are crossed on Alex Boone. I'm less confident about Marcus Freeman, but we've got plenty of talented linebackers.

The other issue is how to escape the current laughingstock status. If Ohio State played another slate like it did this year - creampuff non-conference foes (yes that means you, Pac-10 lovers) and a weakened Big Ten, they would be doubted all of the 2008 season. My stomach turns at the thought of even listening to one word from mark May's mouth next season. But don't worry. Just mark September 13 on your calendar. It's the date OSU visits mighty USC for a road game from hell. It went from the marquee matchup of the nonconference schedule to an absolute must have game for the Buckeyes. It is the only thing that can save their reputation, and will a very tall order to accomplish. That win is an iron-clad alibi for the program in '08, but a loss - especially an ugly one - will marginalize Ohio State on the national scene.

*So what about the actual title game? Despite the inexperience, Ohio State could have won. They needed to capitalize early when LSU was on its heels. Not punching in a TD on the second drive after that stupid penalty was bigger than it seems. Having Robiskie drop that TD pass was game-changing. When your best player is a power back like Beanie, you can't get down by more than 2 TD's. The nail in the coffin felt like the roughing the punter penalty at the beginning of the second half, because the defense was too deflated to make a stop on the ensuing drive.

*What was evident about this game? It nothing to do with SEC speed, that's for sure. The dominated the line of scrimmage, much like Illinois did. They ran the ball down OSU's throat, constantly putting themselves in third and short and putting together lengthy drives. I would ask the defensive line to play better, but you're asking Todd Denlinger (sophomore), Dexter Larimore (redshirt freshman) Cameron Heyward (true freshman) to play well above their experience level.

The OSU receivers had no creativity in their routes and had problems getting open. Ray Small looked like he was running a permanent fade pattern, and Hartline had no separation. Todd Boeckman played better than OSU fans are giving credit for, but he did look uncomfortable in the pocket at times. LSU was obviously bringing the house on third and long, so it's unclear to me why he seemed so rattled. It might have been the inconsistent performance of the offense line, which was decent at times but seemed to lose confidence as the game progressed.

I could go on, but it what would that accomplish? No time to look back, especially when the view is so hideous. Ohio State is just days away from having some top-notch recruits to Columbus, which is great timing with everyone feeling down right now. We've got a month left of Terrelle Pryor drama, so that should be fun too.

Mourning for another day or so before reviewing the all-star game performances...