Welcome to another edition of Midweek News & Notes. I apologize for this being a day late, and not actually getting posted in the middle of the week, but it has been crazy week for the TSB team.
Better late than never...right?
Right. Let's get to what's grabbing the headlines.
Injury Updates: Yesterday, via Urban Meyer we got several updates on where things stand for Buckeye players. Obviously, the most important was on Braxton Miller. According to Meyer, it appears that everything looks good.
"No. 5 is doing good. 'Full-speed practices really yesterday and today. Sore neck, but today's much better. He lifted (weights) and he's good to go.'"
“That was my first time where something happened like that where I landed on my shoulder, head and neck,” Miller said. “I didn’t know what it was. I was nervous at first.”
“Yeah I think it is,” Meyer said. “I think it is now.”
As for the Buckeyes, thanks to Hyde and Smith stepping up, it would appear things are fine at the moment at tailback. Still, this means there will only be three tailbacks for the rest of the season, so any more injuries will make things thin.
Mauti Sounds Off: Looking ahead to this week, the Buckeyes going into a hostile environment against arguably the hottest team in the B1G at the moment in the Nittany Lions. Unfortunately, the matchup is meaningless to much of the country as both teams are unable to play in the postseason thanks to sanctions, dubbing this game the "ineligibowl" for the media. It is funny to hear one media member after another use the phrase as if they created it, while in fact, it is getting beat to death.
Speaking of sanction, Penn State linebacker Mike Mauti made it clear that he thinks the two teams are in different situations in terms of the penalties. Here's what he said:
"We're kind of in the same boat, but [Ohio State's] boat is a little bit different than ours. We [the Penn State players] didn't do anything to get our sanctions. Ours are unrelated [to football]. At the same time, we both can't go to a bowl game. Other than that, we didn't do anything to help our football team."
"We didn't do anything to help our program cheat. I'm not saying they're cheaters. We have a lot of respect for Ohio State."
More Dumb Comments: Continuing the theme is ill-advised comments, let's take a quick look at the recent article from David Jones of The Patriot-News on PennLive.com. In a piece he published yesterday, Jones questions whether or not the Buckeyes have playmakers outside of Braxton Miller. Okay, actually he doesn't question anything, he actually makes it clear OSU doesn't. He states his case:
"A combination of residue from the Tressel sanctions, flunk-outs and simple lack of development has left the Buckeyes with, other than Miller, weaponry that looks more like it belongs on a Minnesota roster than an Ohio State one."
"There is not a complete back on the team. By this time, the feature back probably should have been physical Miami product Jaamal Berry, but he was a constant discipline problem and eventually was tossed off the team."
"And the wideouts are as pedestrian a group as can be recalled at OSU since the Earle Bruce years. Devin Smith makes spectacular catches such as the 1-hander against Miami (Ohio) then drops too many easy ones. The most dependable is Philadelphia native Corey “Philly” Brown."
David - if you are going to pick on anyone being "pedestrian" start looking at the defense.
Simulating Saturday: Speaking of this Saturday, WhatifSports is a fun place to go check out on occasion, as they simulate weekly sports scores. I always check out what the have to say about the Buckeyes. This week they have the Buckeyes winning 63.4 percent of the time with an average score of 23.7-19.2. Here are the details of their simulation below:
Ohio is out and Maryland is in. That scenario is nothing new when it comes to football.
After 20 years of Ohio all-star high school football players squaring off against the best Pennsylvania has to offer, the Keystone State organizers of the annual Big 33 Football Classic have decided to give the Buckeye State the boot. Maryland will replace Ohio when the game is played in Hershey, Pa., on June 15, 2013 after it signed a five-year contract.
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