Welcome to Free Kegger Thursdays: Meet at Midfield‘s olive branch to the free-loaders huffing exhaust fumes in the parking lot.
Come in from the cold, brothers and sisters! We’re currently running a 10% off sale in honor of Extra Points‘ Matt Brown stop by our forums yesterday. Use the code “EXTRA” at checkout to redeem.
- CATCH THESE HANDS, LEONHARD.
I discriminate against walk-ons unless they play at Ohio State. If they are Buckeyes, then they’re perfect lads who would start at numerous other programs but choose to play for the best one for free, which is entirely understandable.
If you’re a walk-on for another team, that’s weird to me. It’s time to grow up and do something productive for society, lad!
But hey, Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard began as a walk-on safety and forged a respectable NFL career.
Leonhard and his charges will make for the stiffest competition the Buckeyes have faced yet.
From Nathan Baird of cleveland.com:
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t have anything to do with the coaches,” Day said. “It comes down to the players. What do the players know? What can the players do?
“As much as sometimes it seems like matching wits between coordinators – sure, that that comes into play — but at the end of the day, it’s what your players know and what can they execute on the field.”
Coming into this season, during Leonhard’s tenure, Wisconsin ranks first in total defense (284.8 yards per game), first in opponents’ passing efficiency (110.5) and first in third-down defense (30.5%).
I love how coaches refuse to say anything when they speak. And when I say love it, I hate it, actually. I wish it worked like WWE where Day would taunt Leonhard about how Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to spring past his defensive backs as if he were standing still.
There’s no execution needed in that statement, which makes it more accurate than what Day said originally.
I don’t think the matchup will be particularly close. It would be fun to watch that chess match, assuming Day and Leonhard had equal talent. Unfortunately for Badgers fans, that won’t be Saturday night.
- HARTLINE MADE THE RIGHT CALL.
My childhood friends have known me for too long to be impressed by anything I do. That’s how I am with Brian Hartline.
Hartline and I are the same age and were on campus together, not that he would know that. I disliked him even back then when he used to roll around campus in an SUV with obnoxious rims and criminally loud bass.
I thought he was mediocre at Ohio State and worse than that with the Browns when he ripped Terrelle Pryor for no reason and then lost his job to the former quarterback.
At Eleven Warriors, I wrote a lede in which I called him a “former NFL receiver and current gas station proprietor.” It was a factual statement, but of course, he cried to my boss about how I wasn’t being classy enough for his liking.
But I will give Hartline this much: When our mutual love came calling, he decided he was about that action.
From Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com:
Several months later, Meyer again contacted Hartline, who had finished a seven-year NFL career as a receiver with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. Hartline wasn’t doing much. He lived in town. He liked sports media and did some radio and television, but soon found himself leaning into the criticism too much.
“If you know so much, why don’t you try to help?” Hartline asked himself.
He agreed to join the Ohio State staff as a quality control assistant in 2017.
“It was hard to get me back in, but once I did, I fell in love,” Hartline, Ohio State’s wide receivers coach, told ESPN. “Obviously, I haven’t left since.”
Hartline said he has seen first-hand the amount of bad coaching that’s out there—shoutout to former receivers coach Zach Smith!—that he wanted to rectify that.
My hater side says that anybody could sell teenage wide receivers on Ryan Day and Ohio State. (Look what the previous guy accomplished despite himself!) But I admit the results speak for themselves.
At this point, I’m willing to accept that Brian Hartline is likely the next coach of Ohio State. Luke Fickell might have the edge due to head coaching experience, but I did not envision myself ever thinking I would want Hartline leading the program.
We’ve come a long way.
- VEGAN GRANDPA DISPLEASED WITH ROCKET DEFENSE SYSTEM.
Ohio State’s defense performed well for the most part against Toledo. However, it had a couple of blown coverages and missed tackles allowed some points on the board.
I always feel like a dick being a fan and pointing that out. Like I’m some nerd adjusting his glasses and about to drop a “Well, actually,” on somebody in a live conversation.
But Jim Knowles has higher standards than I do, which might shock some of you.
From Griffin Strom of elevenwarriors.com:
“I don’t think we did a great job. That starts with me,” Knowles said. “I think it was not at the level that we want our defense to be. Silver Bullet caliber, it wasn’t there. Now, a lot to learn from it. Always great that you win and you can learn from that, but I think that starts with me, I just feel like I didn’t do a good enough job preparing them for it.”
In particular, Knowles was disappointed in how Ohio State defended dual-threat quarterback Dequan Finn, who threw two 40-plus-yard touchdowns and ran for another 23-yard score in the loss. Knowles said the Buckeyes weren’t surprised by what Finn brought to the table, but couldn’t quite execute what he had in mind to shut him down.
Knowles said preparing for a mobile quarterback on the practice field proved to be a challenge as well, and Ohio State never opted to use a non-quarterback with more athletic ability to give his defense a different look in the leadup to the game.
That last part makes me nervous. Ohio State won’t face a running quarterback like Dequan Finn until the last game of the season in Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
Knowles has identified that replicating a mobile QB is a problem in practice. He has nine weeks to fix the problem. He better think of something.
- ANTONIO PITTMAN: STILL FIGHTING FLAMES.
I’m old enough to where I almost enjoy seeing what Ohio State footballers do after their careers than what they do on the football field. (Note the almost in that sentence.)
Former running back Antonio Pittman is still fighting flames in the Greater Columbus area.
From Lori Schmidt of dispatch.com:
“I look at myself as the most underrated Buckeye in Buckeye history,” he says with the hint of a laugh. “And I’m cool with that. I’m cool with that because, all honesty, I never do anything for attention. I only do it if I love to do it. No one has ever forced me to do anything, and I’ve never been hungry to be noticed.”
Proof of that might lie in the way Pittman and his girlfriend, Janei, a Columbus school teacher, run their charity, Navigating Alternative Success. It organizes tutoring sessions for students needing ACT prep, helps them with college admission letters, holds coat drives and more, but it lacks any sort of web presence.
“We just never publicized it,” Pittman said, explaining why he simply can’t bring himself to be an aggressive fundraiser. “I never really liked taking stuff from people.”
You can tell Pittman is a good guy because he admits to being bad at self-promotion. It’s one of the worst aspects of my job that nobody wants to hear about since they have real jobs while I sell sentences online to strangers.
- WISCONSIN FANS’ TWISTED DARK BEAUTIFUL FANTASY.
I said on this week’s premium episode of High Street Freaks (which drops later today; check your inbox!) that Wisconsin is the perfect program.
I mean that in the nicest and most insulting way possible. But I know I’d drink 500 beers with Wisconsin fans if I could drink one beer without turning into a depraved maniac.
This post is why:
In the infamous words of Donald Trump Jr.: “If it’s as you say, I love it!”
THOSE WMDs. Purring is a love language humans cannot speak… Uncovering the online business of monkey torture… Consider the lobster… I can’t believe it’s butter… ABC6 reporter’s car was hit while reporting on a dangerous intersection.