It’s our weekly holiday around these parts – Thrifty Thursday. And by “thrifty” I mean free.
To my beloved freeloaders, the bad news is that you’re going to miss out on the bulk of our pregame juice as The Local Team welcomes the Fighting Choir Boys to the ‘Shoe on Saturday.
But the good news is that you can use the code KICKOFF for a 33% discount on a meetatmidfield.com subscription any time between now and Saturday.
Yes, for just a couple dozen cents a day, you can tap the Breakfast Kegger six days a week with me and D.J. Byrnes. You’ll also get a steady stream of content from the rest of our crew, the ability to join a college football forum that isn’t an absolute cesspool, and access to our premium podcasts (our first one drops this afternoon, and it’s rather juicy).
But for those of you who’d rather take your quarters elsewhere, no hate. We’ll be here with a free edition of the Breakfast Kegger every Thursday.
- DOLO TAKES THE GLOVES OFF
I don’t know what the hell Malik Zaire was doing between the years of like 2015 and 2017 (besides losing several quarterback battles at multiple schools), but I guess he must have missed that glorious period of time when Cardale Jones was just bodying people online.
Otherwise, he would not have sent this ill-advised Tweet basically begging Cardale to ether him with his Internet words.
Zaire might not have known what he was signing up for, but buddy got it anyway.
Despite Cardale’s best efforts, doesn’t seem like the two ever actually made a bet, even with Dolo generously spotting him three points on the betting line. I guess he wasn’t about that action, exactly as Cardale hypothesized.
That’s a damn shame because I saw several suggestions that the loser should have to wear the winner’s jersey, which would have been awesome for Zaire because he’d finally get to rock the jersey of his childhood dream school.
Fun fact: Malik Zaire, who grew up in Dayton, had an account on a prominent Ohio State fan website before he ultimately signed with Notre Dame. Oops!
- HE’S STILL GOING, FOR SOME REASON
Y’all probably thought we were done talking about Florida’s former backup quarterback, but you probably also thought he was done talking shit after Cardale put him in his place.
But apparently, he was just getting started.
I’m not sure my guy even knows what he’s arguing at this point, but I do know that he’s going to be very sad on Saturday night!
It’s also not completely clear whether he thinks C.J. Stroud is a God and the only reason Ohio State is good, or if he thinks he’s bad and unclutch in big games.
Either way, I think you should exempt yourself from any and all criticism of another quarterback if you lost a starting job to *checks notes* Feleipe Franks.
- THE TURF IS GOOD!
Ohio State’s new-look defense won’t be the only beautiful thing making its debut on Saturday night.
After playing an entire season on a surface that was probably only slightly better than the carpet in my house, the Buckeyes finally got some new turf this year.
And from the sound of it, the players are pretty stoked.
From Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors:
While a game hasn’t yet been played on the new field inside Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes have practiced in the Shoe multiple times in the weeks leading up to the season, and Henderson has noticed the difference from a year ago.
“Way better. Way better. I’m glad they finally got that done,” Henderson said when asked how the new turf compares to the old turf. “A lot of the turf last year was very hard. So this year it’s more softer and stuff. It’s safer, able to cut better and stuff.”
…
“We’re ready to bounce around on it,” Smith-Njigba said. “I’m just more confident in my cuts, for real. We were kind of slipping a lot, a little bit last year, but, you know, just more confidence. So it’s good to always have that.”
It’s kinda jarring how these responses are basically just “it’s pretty cool how we can actually just play football normally now.”
I don’t know whether the proper reaction to these quotes is to be very glad and excited for the new turf or absolutely astounded that somebody actually green-lighted them to play an entire season on last year’s turf. Maybe both?
In any case, it will be very cool that all the highlights from this year’s national title team won’t be on turf that’s colored like a sun-bleached beach toy.
- IRISH FANS FEELING FRISKY
Nothing screams “preseason college football” quite like the blind optimism of every fanbase across the country heading into Week One.
For example, there is nothing that should reasonably convince even the most homer of Notre Dame fans that their team is going to stroll into the ‘Shoe and win the damn game, much less win in a blowout.
And yet!
At first, I wanted to shit-talk these sunshine pumpers, but I honestly just can’t ruin that admirable innocence.
I have vivid memories of Ohio State taking on Wisconsin in the 2018 Big Ten title game and being genuinely perturbed that there were Badger fans who earnestly believed their team was going to win and go to the College Football Playoff. I’m getting similar vibes from the Notre Dame faithful.
They’re strolling into this game earnestly believing that their team can and will win. Meanwhile, I’m on podcasts and radio shows talking about how this will be a nice tune-up for the real games the Buckeyes are going to play from late November to January.
They have no idea they’re just a supporting character in this story and it’s absolutely adorable. Enjoy your 8-4 season. Sorry that the first loss has to hurt this bad.
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