Very Official 2013 Football Thread

[bicranium]

Some ESPN recruiter was on The Fan and said he thought Bell is going to stay home and be a Vol. Is Bell the best "get" for us in the draft?

 

Like I said, I'd take Bell over any remaining recruit on the board. Over Wilson, over Clark, over keeping EzE, etc. Will be interesting to see if Urban can pull that one off.

[bicranium]

And holy fucking shit he pulled it off. Clark and Bell this morning. Tons of reports flying for about a half hour that Bell was a done deal to Tennessee and that Urban had leaked it to ruin his announcement in bitterness... then Bell just goes and announces for OSU. Unbelievable. As Brady Hoke once said and is probably saying again today... not... not good.

[sol740]

Yes!

[bicranium]

#1 class now on Scout and Rivals, #2 on 247 Composite,, #3 ESPN.

 

And as expected 3* WR Taivon Jacobs will be staying home and playing for Maryland.

 

Now just need to wait for Ezekiel's decision/announcement/signing/whatever at 5PM. Heck of a day so far.

 

OSU's "war room" as Bell announced...

 

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2129063/kerry-coombs-vonn-bell.gif

[1fast5gp]

And holy fucking shit he pulled it off. Clark and Bell this morning. Tons of reports flying for about a half hour that Bell was a done deal to Tennessee and that Urban had leaked it to ruin his announcement in bitterness... then Bell just goes and announces for OSU. Unbelievable. As Brady Hoke once said and is probably saying again today... not... not good.

 

Fuck yeah!

[Dr. Pomade]

Wow, fucking fantastic.

 

Urban is spectacular.

[BStowers023]

Urban's first year coaching...12-0.

Urban's first real recruiting class...#1

Urban's first eligible post season year...national champion?

[1fast5gp]

#1 class now on Scout and Rivals, #2 on 247 Composite,, #3 ESPN.

 

And as expected 3* WR Taivon Jacobs will be staying home and playing for Maryland.

 

Now just need to wait for Ezekiel's decision/announcement/signing/whatever at 5PM. Heck of a day so far.

 

OSU's "war room" as Bell announced...

 

 

Ohio State up to no.2 now on ESPN.

 

I thought Ezekiel already committed to Ohio State? Why does he need to make another anouncement unless he is going to pick a different school.

 

I don't see how he can pass up a National Championship with Urban Myer over Mizzou, who probably will continue to have losing seasons for the rest of it's time in the SEC.

[bicranium]

He visited Mizzou the weekend before last and kinda shut everything down. No interviews or anything. Obviously people started worrying. nevadabuck on Scout says not to worry but it's still worth paying attention to for sure.

 

And now I guess OSU might lose their punter to Alabama...lol. Saban trolling Urban for a punter. C'mon son.

 

Update: Townsend, the punter, was supposed to have a signing ceremony thing at noon. Now pushing it back to 4pm. He would likely start as a true freshman if he went to OSU. Bill Greene on Scout says it's not a big deal because there are 10-15 division 1 caliber punters who will sign with no one today. So if they really want/need a punter they can find one today or even over the next couple weeks if they really wanted to.

[bicranium]

Another update on THE PUNTER...lol

 

Apparently OSU did not expect the clean sweep with Bell and Clark. They knew Clark last night (nevada gave the ====) but Bell let UT and OSU know just before he announced. Now with everyone pretty confident OSU keeps Zeke OSU is a little worried about numbers. I thought they were in the clear when Jacobs stayed home (as suggested by OSU) but I guess not.

[1fast5gp]

Another update on THE PUNTER...lol

 

Apparently OSU did not expect the clean sweep with Bell and Clark. They knew Clark last night (nevada gave the ====) but Bell let UT and OSU know just before he announced. Now with everyone pretty confident OSU keeps Zeke OSU is a little worried about numbers. I thought they were in the clear when Jacobs stayed home (as suggested by OSU) but I guess not.

 

Don't they have some low profile recruits they can cut?

[Dr. Pomade]

Do you really need to waste a scholarship on a punter? I figure you could find a decent one through walk-ons. Or am I missing something here?

[bicranium]

Townsend is an exceptional punter. And most big-time schools find a way to get a punter on scholarship so if you want a really good one you've gotta use one too. But it's definitely a position you can get by on without using a scholarship and with OSU limited to 82 right now it's a good place to start trimming the fat. Plus they do have Frank Epitropolous who plays WR but was a pretty good punter in HS himself.

 

It looks like this is something that is going to work itself out though. Regardless of position, this is a Florida kid and Urban doesn't want to ruin his reputation down there by dropping a kid at the last second.

[Dr. Pomade]

Makes sense - thanks for the explanation, Zack.

[1fast5gp]

It looks like this is something that is going to work itself out though. Regardless of position, this is a Florida kid and Urban doesn't want to ruin his reputation down there by dropping a kid at the last second.

 

That's SEC football and it really hasn't hurt their reputation much with the recruits.

[bicranium]

They have other special incentives to offer though. Ole Miss' class this year being a lovely example...lol.

[LJ]

If this is what desperation gets us, I can't wait to see what happens when the staff is on their game with recruiting

[bicranium]

Haha... think it's time to stop piling on with that one.

 

So it looks like the plan is to "grayshirt" Townsend (typically means the player pays his own way for a year without playing - kinda like a walk-on) but when a scholarship inevitably opens up before the summer he will get it.

[bicranium]

And Townsend decided that he didn't want to wait (even though I'm certain there will be at least 1 guy gone before now and the summer) and signed with Florida. Probably looking at some kind of walk-on or Frank Epitropolous punting next year now.

 

And what this situation was presented as to Townsend and his family from the start was that it could eventually end up being a grayshirt situation but it looked all the way up until Clark AND Bell chose OSU on signing day like he'd have the scholarship available to him. Sucks we couldn't fit him in but he's landing at a high-caliber SEC school closer to home. Not too shabby.

[LJ]

And Townsend decided that he didn't want to wait (even though I'm certain there will be at least 1 guy gone before now and the summer) and signed with Florida. Probably looking at some kind of walk-on or Frank Epitropolous punting next year now.

 

And what this situation was presented as to Townsend and his family from the start was that it could eventually end up being a grayshirt situation but it looked all the way up until Clark AND Bell chose OSU on signing day like he'd have the scholarship available to him. Sucks we couldn't fit him in but he's landing at a high-caliber SEC school closer to home. Not too shabby.

 

Townsend and his family claim that he was all in for OSU, but UF offered on signing day and he decided he just couldnt turn down his dream school. apparently he loves Meyer, but has always been a huge UF fan. In the end, it seems like it had nothing to do with scholarships available.

[bicranium]

That's what the kid and his family are saying but the fact is that OSU has 0 scholarships available right now so to say it has nothing to do with that is probably a little inaccurate.

[LJ]

That's what the kid and his family are saying but the fact is that OSU has 0 scholarships available right now so to say it has nothing to do with that is probably a little inaccurate.

 

Alex from 11W said that the offer was always a Grayshirt unless something else happened (another early transfer, etc). Basically that they have always wanted to fill the class with other positions of need, and said that a scholly would most likely open up after spring.

[bicranium]

3 commits (so far) today.

 

4* OT Kyle Trout from Lancaster

4* DE Lawrence Marshall from Michigan

RB/ATH Parris Campbell Jr. from Akron

 

Marshall is a top 5 recruit in the state of Michigan which means Urban has 2 of the top 5 in that state now and people wouldn't be surprised if he eventually gets Drake Harris. Michigan fans are once again in meltdown mode right now. They bragged so much about getting all those Ohio kids the last 2 classes (several which didn't even have OSU offers) but Michigan doesn't have half the talent Ohio has on a regular basis so for Urban to go up there and take big-time Michigan talent in kids who have Michigan offers... it's a much bigger deal.

Edited February 10, 2013 by bicranium

[SpaceGhost]

Not so fast Zack....

 

Ohio State’s 2014 recruiting class lost a member last night when defensive end Lawrence Marshall of Southfield, Mich., confirmed on Twitter that he had decommitted.

 

Marshall committed to the Buckeyes after a visit last weekend, increasing the class to five members. But he attended the Michigan-Michigan State men’s basketball game on Tuesday, and last night, he tweeted: “I had a great time at Michigan State yesterday, I had a wonderful time at Michigan today, and an ever better time at Ohio State but I want to consider other schools so I am decommitting from Ohio State.”

 

 

[bicranium]

Pretty funny the line Dantonio used on him...

 

Paraphrasing here but basically told him that Meyer only wanted him because he's from Michigan...lol.