I’ve got good news – every Meet at Midfield post will be made available free of charge this week for the masses to enjoy and see what we have to offer.
On the Buckeye side of things, that means a morning roundup from either me or my posting partner D.J. Byrnes, a premium podcast, and maybe a few surprises throughout the week. That also means access to a ton of Big Ten, national, and Michigan (if you’re into that sort of thing) content from the rest of our crew.
If at the end of the week you like your free sample and want a more continuous drip and access to a forum that isn’t a complete cesspool, you know where to get it.
- JESSE MIRCO FOR PRESIDENT
Ohio State punter Jesse Mirco was responsible for arguably the coolest play of the year on Saturday when he went rogue and scampered for 22 yards and a first down before getting absolutely creamed by a late hit out of bounds.
He made the decision to tuck it and run all himself after seeing nothing but green in front of him, but somehow the reaction to that decision wasn’t overwhelmingly positive because God forbid the kid do something cool and good.
From Griffin Strom of Eleven Warriors:
“Yeah, I just grabbed him. I said, ‘What happened?’ And he said, ‘I rolled out to the right,’ he goes, ‘nobody was on me.’ I said, ‘Okay. Anybody tell you to do that? He says, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Okay, we’ll talk about that tomorrow.’”
If the conversation they had on Sunday was anything besides “good job, my good and faithful punter,” then this is absolute trash. What Mirco did was the objectively correct decision and I don’t want him even almost second-guessing doing it again. Rutgers had a problem with it? Tough shit. Be better.
But at least they did something right:
Although it was a massive missed opportunity to go full troll put his stats on the graphic, including “1 rush, 22 yards.”
- GREG SCHIANO BROUGHT THIS ON HIMSELF
You want to know who’s really to blame for Jesse Mirco stunting on Rutgers with a 22-yard first-down carry on fourth down of a blowout? Greg Schiano.
Down 49-10 late in the fourth quarter with backups playing on both sides of the game, that shithead called a punt block and had the audacity to get mad when Mirco handled it the perfect way.
From Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch:
When he was coaching Tampa Bay in 2012, Schiano caused a controversy when he ordered a blitz when the New York Giants attempted a kneel-down on the final play of a 41-34 victory. The Buccaneers knocked quarterback Eli Manning backward.
Schiano was unapologetic.
“Well, I know one unwritten rule: We gotta win,” Schiano told the NFL Network. “And if we still have a chance to win, we’re playing to win.”
Rutgers had no chance Saturday trailing 49-10 with under 10 minutes left. Ohio State had pulled its starters and was playing conservatively.
Yet on the punt, Rutgers put eight players at the line of scrimmage and overloaded the left side with five players where OSU had only two at the line.
To be clear, I don’t fault Schiano for calling a punt block in that situation. By all means, keep playing hard until the clock hits 0:00. But you can’t call an all-out punt block and then get mad that the other team reacts to it accordingly.
If Schiano wanted Mirco to punt the ball back so that he could run out the clock, all he had to do was call a safe return and not send 10 guys to try and block the punt while down 39 in the fourth quarter.
When you play games like that, these are the prizes you can win.
- FIVE-STAR PLAYING LIKE A FIVE-STAR
Zach Harrison has been weirdly hated on throughout his Ohio State career to the point that folks were actually putting him on blast for his decision to return to the team again this season.
The thing is, he has never been *bad.* He’s been a very solid player, especially in the running game, and was honestly the team’s best pass rusher last season. He just hasn’t been Chase Young or a Bosa – and that’s a problem for people when you’ve got those five stars next to your name.
But so far this season, he’s quietly looked like a five-star guy everyone expected him to be, especially on Saturday afternoon.
Also, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the two turnovers he caused came when he lined up inside. He may not be the pass-rushing defensive end Ohio State fans wanted him to be, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a game-changer somewhere on the field.
Tossing him out there on the same defensive line as J.T. Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer and Mike Hall during passing downs is just obscene.
- STUFF IS GETTING FIXED, AFTER ALL
My off-season wish list was for The Local Team to fix the damn defense and figure out how to score in the red zone.
At the risk of going all George W. Bush here, mission accomplished.
We’re only five weeks into the season and Ohio State’s toughest opponents are still ahead. But shit, so far the Vegan Grandpa is working his magic and it looks like kicking Greg Studrawa to the curb is paying dividends.
- HAPPY TRAILS, PAUL CHRYST
We got hit with some absolutely jarring news on Sunday afternoon: Wisconsin actually made a Big Boy football move and gave Paul Chryst the boot.
This was objectively the correct decision because I’m not sure a coach in Wisconsin history has done less with more. Dude somehow kept stacking the best recruiting classes in Wisconsin history and somehow his teams still got worse and worse every year.
As an Ohio State fan who benefitted from blasting his paper tiger-ass teams for over half a decade, I will miss him endlessly.
EAT ARBY’S. Jeffrey Dahmer’s prison glasses go on sale for $150,000… The government wants to survey your poop… A government intelligence agency has a UFO on its logo… A 10-year-old makes art that sells for over $100,000… The killer who cannot be “explained”… Turns out, billionaires don’t really think shit through…