I support this decision in a vacuum very much so. But holy shit is this so inconsistently weird with the way the NCAA has ever operated in the past. All in all, good for those kids.
Not sure what the national stats are, but there’s no WR in college football who had a bigger affect on the biggest games
No. https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4429086/michael-mayer https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4432665/brock-bowers
819-809 yards in favor of bowers. 9-9 tie in tds. Not sure what to tell you. The stats are right there in your links.
Mayer cheated and played for a team with nobody else capable of catching footballs. That doesn't feel fair either.
Feel like either would have deserved it? ND fans are going crazy bc Mayer didn’t win it, but that doesn’t make sense either. Two very good college TEs
Smart career move, hopefully the bowls get more and more pressure to pay all the players participating
Maybe the majority of Oregon State fans are burly homosexual men and the tweet is accurate. Ever thought of that?
Spoiler There are two ways to view the previous month of Ohio State football if you’re a Buckeyes fan. It really just depends on your personality type and/or how you look at the world. So let’s begin this column with a question to determine what side of the fence you’re on. Which of the following two choices better describes your view of Ohio State football since the Michigan loss on Nov. 26? A. My favorite team lost a hard-fought battle to our rival at home, which stings because you never want to lose that game. But, on the bright side, Ohio State has dominated the rivalry for most of the last 20 years. And the Buckeyes still lost only one game this year, which affords them a chance to compete for a national title with an exciting upcoming game against Georgia in the College Football Playoff. In recruiting, it looks as though five-star edge rusher Damon Wilson is trending toward Georgia and five-star Class of 2024 quarterback Dylan Raiola decommitted Saturday. While recruiting losses like that are annoying, Ohio State still has a top-10 class and a real shot at landing five-star edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei. The Buckeyes also have an entire year to find a replacement for Raiola, and their track record of signing elite talent at the position is off the charts. Oh, and Ohio State landed five-star 2024 receiver Jeremiah Smith — the No. 2 overall prospect in the nation — less than a week ago. Life is good as a Buckeye, and 99 percent of other programs would kill for the opportunity to play in the Playoff. Beat Georgia and everything works out according to plan. B. Despite having a year to prepare for the Michigan game — after last season’s humiliating loss in Ann Arbor — Ohio State suffered an even worse defeat at home to Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines. Ohio State is no longer even the best program in its own division of the Big Ten, let alone a top-three program in the country. Ryan Day has lost all but one of his biggest games as Ohio State’s coach, and there’s no chance the Buckeyes are making it into 2024 without getting pounded by Georgia first. On the recruiting front, things are trending in the wrong direction. The program hasn’t properly deployed NIL and is losing players as a result. And now Day — who is supposed to be a quarterback guru — can’t even hold onto Raiola, the No. 1 overall player in the country in the 2024 cycle. Because of all of these things, it is really hard to have any faith in Day or his coaching staff to turn things around. The program is in way worse shape now than it was when Day took over. The world is burning and it keeps getting worse. Which one are you? If you’re Person A, hey, that’s great. It must be nice to have a glass-half-full mentality. Life with you is probably pleasant, as you have a pragmatic view of the world and take things in stride. But here’s the reality: Most Ohio State fans, steadfastly passionate about their team and holding it to the highest possible standard every day of every year, are Person B. That’s not a bad thing. Caring about your team and wanting it to be excellent in all facets of the sport — which is what you’ve become accustomed to — isn’t something to apologize for. In order to achieve great things, the program must be held to a higher standard. And when things don’t go well — such as the occurrences of the past month — the people in charge know they are inexcusable and feel the pressure to change. Maybe that’s why Ohio State is basically the only program in the sport that has avoided being down for an extended period of time. Here’s more reality: Person B is also miserable even though the Buckeyes are preparing for a Playoff game. That’s the problem. How much enjoyment is there in being an Ohio State fan? You could make the case that it’s the hardest team to root for when it comes to extracting pure, unadulterated joy. Why? Because things have to be so perfect at all times to be blissful. There are no moral victories. There are no bright sides. It’s perfection or terror. No in-between. After the magical 2014 season, Urban Meyer had Ohio State set up like Georgia is now. The Buckeyes beat Alabama and Oregon, captured the national title and had their entire team back the following year. The dynasty was set to take off. The Buckeyes had reached the mountaintop. Then they quickly fell down the mountain. In the time since, Ohio State missed the Playoff four times, which is incomprehensible given the talent level on its roster in comparison to the majority of its opponents. It suffered blowout losses to Purdue and Iowa in consecutive years. Meyer was involved in a scandal with a former assistant coach that knocked the program down a few pegs. And while the recruiting results and the NFL Draft numbers have both been consistently remarkable, it’s also a reminder of what could have been with the talent that developed in the program. For as good as Ohio State has been since that 2014 season, you could also make the case there isn’t a program in college football that has done less with its talent and resources than Ohio State. It’s been almost a full decade since pure fanhood nirvana. That’s a long wait. Ohio State fans don’t take joy in beating the overmatched teams on the schedule. Beating Rutgers doesn’t release dopamine. Neither does beating Michigan State. Doing what is expected isn’t exciting. The fans expect the Buckeyes to win every game by 40 points. Rarely are there big games in the regular season. And in the last two years, Ohio State has lost three of those rare big games — one to Oregon, two to Michigan. If you’re Person B, where does your joy come from as an Ohio State fan? What makes you happy? Beating Michigan, winning Playoff games and claiming national titles. That’s the bar, and it’s pretty high. Now here Day sits, 24 hours from the beginning of the early signing period, and he’s trying to right the ship. He is trying to sign another elite recruiting class while preparing to face Georgia. The large portion of the fan base has either lost — or is close to losing — all faith in his ability to guide the program despite the fact that he’s 45-5 as the head coach. Of those 45 wins, how many caused joy? Two? The Clemson win in the Playoff and his first Michigan win? On top of what is happening on the field, there seems to be a general worry from the fan base about whether Ohio State has what it takes in the NIL game to win over recruits. It’s been a constant talking point for much of the past week as Wilson’s recruitment cooled. Georgia, Ohio State’s opponent in the Playoff, seems to be on the verge of landing him. That, of course, sparks a secondary concern about whether Ohio State is losing its footing as a national power. What brings you joy? Maybe this was a hard column to read if you’re Person B, a fan with incredibly high standards that you expect to be met. It’s hard to dissuade you against being that type of fan because Ohio State is supposed to be bigger than winning Big Ten games over 28-point underdogs and smashing its rival. Ohio State is supposed to be one of the best programs in college football, not a team most assume is going to get run off the field by Georgia. My solution? Try being Person A for this month. Take a deep breath, revel in the opportunity of playing in a Playoff game — which is what this sport is about — and maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised on New Year’s Eve. If you want to go really crazy, you could even look forward to possibly facing Michigan in the national title game. Wouldn’t that be something? Isn’t that fun to think about? Shouldn’t that bring you joy? Sports are supposed to be entertaining, but being an Ohio State fan is hard. You know what’s even harder? Being Person B.
ESPNU is showing old bowl games. 2000 Peach Bowl is ending now and the 2006 Orange Bowl between PSU/FSU is next.
Watching this Charlie Ward doc on the ACC Network and thinking of two of my favorite posters Saul Shabazz and w2b