Per the official site.
John, how to get a raise:
I don't think there's an easier job in marketing right now.
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030512aac.html
Call me crazy, but I'm feeling pretty good about game 1 on Wednesday.
Not sure why other than a gut feeling, but here are some possible reasons:
The Beavs have gotten 9 of the 17 wins versus 200+ RPI teams. That's bad. They're 2-3 versus 100-200 RPI teams, 3-6 versus 51-100, and 2-3 versus 1-50. So, this is an average to bad squad. We know that. They're just playing their best ball right now (granted, against week opponents), so I'm thinking they have a good shot. It all boils down to defense. If they play intense man to man and give effort for the full 40 minutes, then they should win this game. After that, who knows–there's no clear favorite in this tournament. Anyone else feeling strangely confident?
Just a head's up, spring practice starts 4/3.
I was looking at Mannion's line. Pretty impressive (sans the turnovers) for a freshman.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/stats/_/id/504786/sean-mannion
Here's an interview where he discusses improving his game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Dc89rGdNQ
And here Markus Wheaton mentions he added 10lbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWDggQL2yEU
Some of these freshman lineman will make a push…this offense could be potent. Guys I really like are Grant Bays (C), Seumalo (OG), Gavin Andrews (OG), and Garrett Weinrich (OT). Caleb Smith should start at TE–this seems like a no-brainer. I'd love to see a Patriot style dual TE attack with Smith and Stanton (or Perry). It'll be interesting to see how spring pans out because the aforementioned may be better than the incumbents. Something else to watch is if Seumalo switches to defensive tackle. I hear he's open to the idea.
Since I will not be up before 10am, I'm making a game thread tonight.
Beavs start playing real teams after this, but they also return home. Let's face it, over two weeks on the road is a tough trip to open the season, even if the teams are bad. We should withhold judgment until they get some rest, play home games, and play real competition. They've been bad, but they might be wiped.
Game thread.