Norman, OK - Following Ohio State's 60 and 70 point wins in weeks 1 and 2 against FCS schools, the team made a trip to Oklahoma to take on the #2 Sooners in what was billed to be a showdown between the nations best. That talk disappeared halfway through the first quarter as Ohio State gave the rest of the nation a reason to take notice.
The Buckeyes used 210 yards rushing and 3 scores from Heisman hopeful running back Chris Thomas and a ball hawking, lockdown defense that forced 2 turnovers en route to a 34-14 dismantling of the Sooners. Freshman quarterback Danny Graves threw for 225 yards in an impressive display of poise on the road as an 18 year old. Ohio State drove down the field in the first after holding Oklahoma to a 3 and out and picked up a field goal to go up 3-0. Less than a minute later Thomas walked into the endzone from 5 yards out following a fumble recover to make the score 10-0. The Buckeyes iced the game early in the third when Thomas broke off an 81 yard score to make it a 27-0 lead.
On a down note for the Buckeyes, Thomas bruised his shoulder early in the 4th and is expected to miss next weeks game in Columbus against Minnesota in the Big Ten opener for both squads. 'We couldn't have looked any better. Gave up a few late scores, but I'm incredibly proud of these guys. We came in to an extremely hostile environment against what many pundits referred to as the best team in the country and we were relentless. Not a perfect game by any stretch of the means, but as close as you can get 3 weeks into a season. I'm just sick for Chris (Thomas) however, it looks like it (shoulder) won't keep him out long, but one or two weeks for that kid is a lifetime for others. He works so hard and is so intense that he's pretty upset we have to hold him out. I know our backups are ready for the challenge however.' Aaron Jones commented after the game.
The Buckeyes head home next week to face the Gophers with a kickoff at 11am.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Buckeyes Cruise
Columbus, OH - The defending national champs and preseason #1 team in America wasted little time Saturday showing off their skills. The Buckeyes faced highly undermanned FCS MW and rolled to a 70-0 victory. Highly touted true Freshman QB D. Graves showed his skill by throwing for 346 yards and 6 touchdowns, albeit against a porous defense, it was still a good showing. Senior running back C. Thomas ran for 203 yards and 4 scores and added a 42 yard touchdown catch to cap his brilliant day. 'It was better than I expected today. You usually struggle in your first game to find a rhythm, regardless of who you play. It was a great tuneup, we have another game next week against a FCS school then hit the road to take on #2 Oklahoma, so needless to say these first two weeks are a great way to get our ducks in a row before the crunch begins.' said head coach Aaron Jones.
On the recruiting front, the Buckeyes have already inked 6 athletes for next season, highlighted by a trio of five star defensive prospects at SS, CB and DT. They also inked a trio of 4 star prospects at TE and 2 OLB's.
On the recruiting front, the Buckeyes have already inked 6 athletes for next season, highlighted by a trio of five star defensive prospects at SS, CB and DT. They also inked a trio of 4 star prospects at TE and 2 OLB's.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Gauntlet:Complete
Columbus, OH - The Ohio State Buckeyes arrived back to campus late last night after completing a perfect season with a 31-8 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the BCS Title Game. The Buckeyes dominated the game end to end led by Heisman winning running back Greg Matthews who ran for 3 scores and 188 yards. 'This was a special group. Outside of Greg and our loaded offensive line, there were alot of question marks heading into the season. i feel that our defense especially rose to the challenge and helped us get to this point.' said Jones after the win, his 6th National Title in as many years as a D1 coach.
The Buckeyes placed 8 players on the All-American list and an impressive 19 on the All-Big Ten team. 'We had a bunch of guys raise their level of play. Going forward, although we lose a lot of talent, what we're bringing back and bringing in will certainly raise the overall level of talent on this team. We may once again have the best running back in the country in Curt Thomas and our defense may be as talented as any I've had the pleasure to be around.' said Jones.
The future looks great for Ohio State who inked 9 five star players and 8 four stars. Among the stars are 2 five star quarterbacks. Senior running back Curt Thomas should pick up right where the departing Heisman winner Matthews left off. Thomas is a burner, he won't shake as many tackles as the uber talented Matthews did, but if he gets the corner, there are few at this level that have a chance to catch him.
Going forward, we'll provide game recaps for each of the Buckeyes games as they look to repeat as National Champions in a very tough Big Ten that placed 5 teams in the preseason top 15. Ohio State also has tough road games at 3rd ranked Oklahoma and at 12th ranked Oklahoma State.
The Buckeyes placed 8 players on the All-American list and an impressive 19 on the All-Big Ten team. 'We had a bunch of guys raise their level of play. Going forward, although we lose a lot of talent, what we're bringing back and bringing in will certainly raise the overall level of talent on this team. We may once again have the best running back in the country in Curt Thomas and our defense may be as talented as any I've had the pleasure to be around.' said Jones.
The future looks great for Ohio State who inked 9 five star players and 8 four stars. Among the stars are 2 five star quarterbacks. Senior running back Curt Thomas should pick up right where the departing Heisman winner Matthews left off. Thomas is a burner, he won't shake as many tackles as the uber talented Matthews did, but if he gets the corner, there are few at this level that have a chance to catch him.
Going forward, we'll provide game recaps for each of the Buckeyes games as they look to repeat as National Champions in a very tough Big Ten that placed 5 teams in the preseason top 15. Ohio State also has tough road games at 3rd ranked Oklahoma and at 12th ranked Oklahoma State.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Buckeyes Beat Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI - Following a first half that saw Ohio State tie the game on a field goal as time expired 3-3, the Buckeyes main man, running back Greg Matthews, showcased his talents in a big way. Matthews ripped off TD runs of 58 and 54 yards in the second half and added a 2 yard score in the 4th to seal the win for Ohio State, 30-15. 'It was a tense game, that's for sure,' said coach Jones, 'It may be the only game I've ever coached in where we were going to win the conference regardless of the outcome, but our fans would have been outraged with that result. We'd bring home a conference title, but a loss to that team would have put me on the hot seat.' he added.
Ohio State now turns their focus, and 11-0 record to similarly unbeaten and 11-0 Oklahoma in Norman. The Buckeys enter ranked #1 while Oklahoma currently stands at #3 with only unbeaten Notre Dame separating the teams. The winner is almost assuredly guaranteed a spot in the BCS Title game, more so for Ohio State who wraps up their regular season while Oklahoma will still have a Big 12 Title Game in store for them. 'Aside from a BCS Title game, this is as big as it gets. It's a playoff atmosphere for sure, win and you advance, lose and you're done, for a shot at the national title that is. The game at Michigan was an excellent tune up for us, it gave our guys confidence that we can in fact go on the road against a top team and win. I'm just a little concerned that Oklahoma's defense may be able to stop Greg(Matthews). With the state of our passing game, if he can't do his thing we may be in trouble. Just have to hold onto the ball, block and tackle well and we'll be ok.' said Jones.
The game was moved from an 11am kick to an 8pm kick on ABC's Game of the Week to showcase not only perhaps the biggest game of the year to date, but also the top two players in the Heisman race, the Buckeyes' running back Greg Matthews and the Sooners' quarterback Kenny Smith.
Ohio State now turns their focus, and 11-0 record to similarly unbeaten and 11-0 Oklahoma in Norman. The Buckeys enter ranked #1 while Oklahoma currently stands at #3 with only unbeaten Notre Dame separating the teams. The winner is almost assuredly guaranteed a spot in the BCS Title game, more so for Ohio State who wraps up their regular season while Oklahoma will still have a Big 12 Title Game in store for them. 'Aside from a BCS Title game, this is as big as it gets. It's a playoff atmosphere for sure, win and you advance, lose and you're done, for a shot at the national title that is. The game at Michigan was an excellent tune up for us, it gave our guys confidence that we can in fact go on the road against a top team and win. I'm just a little concerned that Oklahoma's defense may be able to stop Greg(Matthews). With the state of our passing game, if he can't do his thing we may be in trouble. Just have to hold onto the ball, block and tackle well and we'll be ok.' said Jones.
The game was moved from an 11am kick to an 8pm kick on ABC's Game of the Week to showcase not only perhaps the biggest game of the year to date, but also the top two players in the Heisman race, the Buckeyes' running back Greg Matthews and the Sooners' quarterback Kenny Smith.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Midseason Recap
Sitting at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference things are looking good for the Ohio State Buckeyes to date. The Buckeyes took care of business to date as to be expected, but some daunting challenges lie in wait the final five weeks of the season. The Buckeyes travel to 7th ranked Penn State this coming weekend followed by home dates against Wisconsin (4-3) and Illinois (3-4) before traveling to 5th ranked Michigan (6-1) and 3rd ranked Oklahoma (8-0). 'We have to be better in the second half if we want to get to where we want to be.' said head man Aaron Jones. Offensive leaders for the Buckeyes to date are Senior quarterback Jared Gary who is 72-143 on the season for 963 yards with 9 td's and 3 picks. Junior receiver Tim Brown has only 12 catches but 249 yards and 4 td's. The main man is senior running back and Heisman frontrunner Greg Matthews who has 1,055 yards and an amazing 16 td's on the season. Part of the reason for Matthews jaw dropping numbers has been the downright pathetic play from the quarterback position. Incoming freshman quarterback Dave Jackson has Buckeyes fans drooling for the first time since Terrelle Pryor first suited up for Ohio State. Despite Gary's flaws, he is the 4th rated qb in the Big Ten. Matthews is second in the conference in rushing yards but has 10 more touchdowns than anyone else and his 8.3 ypc is best in the NCAA.
Defensively the Buckeyes are headlined by sophomore strong safety Ronnie Love who has 3 picks on the season, 2 of which he took the distance. Sophomore d-end Chance Robinson leads the team in sacks with 4.
As a team, the Buckeyes post the 3rd highest scoring offense at 36.7 ppg and the 3rd best defense, highlighted by their stout rush defense which has surrendered an NCAA best 257 yards. Ohio State is also +8 in turnover differential, good for 5th in the country.
It'll be an interesting second half to the campaign, in 5 weeks we'll know just where this version of the Buckeyes stand with 3 of their next 5 against top 10 teams, all on the road.
Defensively the Buckeyes are headlined by sophomore strong safety Ronnie Love who has 3 picks on the season, 2 of which he took the distance. Sophomore d-end Chance Robinson leads the team in sacks with 4.
As a team, the Buckeyes post the 3rd highest scoring offense at 36.7 ppg and the 3rd best defense, highlighted by their stout rush defense which has surrendered an NCAA best 257 yards. Ohio State is also +8 in turnover differential, good for 5th in the country.
It'll be an interesting second half to the campaign, in 5 weeks we'll know just where this version of the Buckeyes stand with 3 of their next 5 against top 10 teams, all on the road.
24 Point 4th Dooms Spartans
Columbus, OH - For nearly 3 and a half quarters last night in Columbus it looked like college football was bracing for an epic upset as the Michigan State Spartans 2-3(2-1) held a 14-7 lead over second ranked Ohio State 6-0(3-0). The final 2:49 of the game however saw just what kind of fireworks the Buckeyes possess this season. Following a 24 yard field goal by Rob Patterson to narrow the gap to 14-10, Ohio State turned it on. Heisman hopeful running back Greg Matthews had a 60 yard TD run followed 40 seconds later by a 16 yard run followed 10 seconds later by a scoop and score by Rob Sanders, and just like that, in the span of less than 2 minutes, the Buckeyes went from down 14-10 to up 31-14. 'We had them, no questions, they were on the ropes, but their talent eventually shined through. It was a disheartening yet magical 2 minutes there.' said Michigan State's head coach.
The Buckeyes were an embarrassment for the first 3 quarters, some for the entire game like starting quarterback Jared Gray who completed only 2 passes the entire night. Both were long gains however as he did have 102 yards passing, the big one being a 78 yard score to Tim Brown at the end of the first half. Greg Matthews was bottled up for all but one minute of the game. He finished with 122 yards and 2 scores on 11 carries, 76 of those yards coming on his two scores. 'It was ugly. We should be sitting at 6-1, no question about it. Greg saved us, if he's not the best player in the country I don't know who is...he's the most talented player I've coached in my lifetime.' said Jones.
The Buckeyes, who improved to 7-0(4-0) with the win travel to Happy Valley next weekend to face a formidable challenge in the seventh ranked Nittany Lions 6-1(4-1). On the recruiting front for Ohio State, the Buckeyes currently have the #1 rated class according to Scout.com with 8 five star commits, 4 four stars and 2 3 stars. Headlining the class to date is quarterback Dave Jackson, a 6'1" pocket passer from Texas, widely considered to be the best quarterback in the incoming class. Ohio State has 4 top 10 rated recruits according to the ESPN150 and 9 players overall on the list. 'We're looking really good for next season, I'm proud of what we've done so far, The Ohio State University is back on the national radar in these kids homes.' commented Jones.
The Buckeyes were an embarrassment for the first 3 quarters, some for the entire game like starting quarterback Jared Gray who completed only 2 passes the entire night. Both were long gains however as he did have 102 yards passing, the big one being a 78 yard score to Tim Brown at the end of the first half. Greg Matthews was bottled up for all but one minute of the game. He finished with 122 yards and 2 scores on 11 carries, 76 of those yards coming on his two scores. 'It was ugly. We should be sitting at 6-1, no question about it. Greg saved us, if he's not the best player in the country I don't know who is...he's the most talented player I've coached in my lifetime.' said Jones.
The Buckeyes, who improved to 7-0(4-0) with the win travel to Happy Valley next weekend to face a formidable challenge in the seventh ranked Nittany Lions 6-1(4-1). On the recruiting front for Ohio State, the Buckeyes currently have the #1 rated class according to Scout.com with 8 five star commits, 4 four stars and 2 3 stars. Headlining the class to date is quarterback Dave Jackson, a 6'1" pocket passer from Texas, widely considered to be the best quarterback in the incoming class. Ohio State has 4 top 10 rated recruits according to the ESPN150 and 9 players overall on the list. 'We're looking really good for next season, I'm proud of what we've done so far, The Ohio State University is back on the national radar in these kids homes.' commented Jones.
Friday, July 30, 2010
A Quick Thanks
I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that has subscribed to the site. We're approaching 400 page views and 20 subscribers to date. I'm just glad that there is some interest out there for this type of site. Continue to send feedback, either in the comments section or shoot me an email at alj7279@yahoo.com. Also, send in some info on your own dynasties so we can share the successes of everyone. I'll have a post later tonight on my Ohio State season, things are looking good so far in Columbus, I even had my return to Minnesota for the first time since leaving there for Alabama. Again, thanks everyone, continue to spread the word.
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