The Illinois coach Lovie Smith, makes a return to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Smith returns after a 22 year absence. His prior appointment was as the assistant coach and a lot has happened since this time.
In those 22 years, Smith has coached for several teams in the NFL including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the St. Louis Rams, and the Chicago Bears. Before making his way to the NFL he spent a brief season coaching for Ohio in 1995.
However, the 59 year old coach has made a return to college ball in what is now his second season as head coach with Illinois. Smith is looking forward to being back in the Buckeyes stadium when his team competes against the Buckeyes in Saturday's game.
Smith has fond memories of his time with the Buckeyes. He fondly recalls working John Cooper and the amazing traditions of Ohio State. He also recalled his time coaching several defensive backs for Ohio that would go on to the NFL like Ty Howard and Antoine Winfield.
Chris Holtmann and Ohio State welcome in four new members for the 2018 Men’s Basketball roster. With the early signing period starting Wednesday this week, Ohio State and the men’s basketball coaching staff welcomes in four members of the new 2018 recruiting class. Previous verbal commits got the opportunity to make it official and begin their careers as Buckeyes.
Luther Muhammad 6’3”
Luther Muhammad was the highest rated player in the class and comes at a position the needs more depth. From Hudson Catholic NJ, Muhammad is a four star shooting guard who rated 72nd to 75th overall nationally.
Justin Ahrens 6’5”
Small Forward Justin Ahrens is the only player from Ohio to sign in the class, he’s from Versailles. Ahrens is a three star prospect ranked as the 10th best in Ohio. He had opened up his recruiting after Thad Matta was let go from the program but returned to Buckeyes after Holtmann offered him another scholarship.
It comes as little surprise to anyone that J.T. Barrett of Ohio State was named Big Ten's offensive player of the week. The quarterback for Ohio State was a practical shoe in after this stellar performance against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The comeback on Saturday night was historic and certainly worthy of the title for J.T. Barrett.
Barrett's amazing stats for the night included running for 95 yards, four touchdowns and 33- for-39 for an impressive 328 yards. His performance did have its flaws with a turnover caused by a poor hand-off. He made up for his transgressions in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns and 13 for 13 for 170 of those 328 yards. The game ended with 16 straight attempts completed.
When the Ohio State Buckeyes play, they bring major ratings for TV networks. This is especially the case when they are up against another popular, ratings-drawing foe.
Before kickoff even took place, Penn State vs. Ohio State was already being billed as the biggest game of this season. It's safe to say it was, and the TV ratings proved it.
The game was the highest rating for a college football match in network history. As for that the metered market rating was, FOX said it was a 6.4. This also means it was the second-highest rating for a college football match on any network this season.
Ohio State will host the Penn State Nittany Lions this Saturday at 3:30pm in Ohio Stadium. A number of national television broadcasts will be on-hand in addition to some special pre-game events. The game will be broadcast on FOX for those watching from home. The Big Ten Network, FOX, and ESPN will all be in town for special shows leading up to the second ranked Penn State against the sixth ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes will be wearing new alternative Gray Uniforms and are asking fans to wear all black for the infamous Black-out. Make sure to purchase your tickets through authorized sites to avoid fakes. And make sure to print out your print-at-home tickets to insure you get into the stadium.
Ohio State Basketball Open Practice
If you’re an Ohio State Basketball/Chris Holtmann fan, there’s a special open practice in the Schottenstein Center staring at 11am until 12:30pm. Fans can enter the building starting at 10am.
Already the superstar of the Ohio State 2017 recruiting class, a lot was expected from Kaleb Wesson in Columbus. Surprisingly, Kaleb Wesson is yet to disappoint. Kaleb was born in Westerville, Ohio and the younger brother of Andre the Ohio State forward.
Kaleb Wesson has come a long way from No. 74 in Ohio to the state's top player. Kaleb Wesson had to shed 60 pounds to assume an Olympic stature at the collegiate level. Like a snake shedding its skin to achieve the impossible dream, Jae'Sean Tate says that Kaleb Wesson has become as multifaceted as a diamond in his play.
With comments like that, it was quite clear that Kaleb Wesson has surpassed the diamond in the rough stage of his career. Tate was also quick to notice that Kaleb Wesson owned the ball at every practice and concluded that Wesson was ready for prime time.
Ohio State has released photos of the alternate gray uniform the Buckeyes will be wearing when they play Penn State on October 28th via Eleven Warriors. They have a week off prior to the big match-up at Ohio Stadium. Two years ago the OSU sported Black Uniforms against Penn State.
The template used for these jersey’s is Nike’s Vapor Untouchable, which is the same template used for the team’s Fiesta Bowl 1916 throwback uniforms. The numbers have a distinct wolf pattern resembling fur. Paints and helmet’s will also be gray for the game.
These jersey’s will be available October 23rd for $150.
Big Ten has announced that junior DB Denzel Ward should not have been called for targeting in last weekends game against Maryland.
The play was sent to the Big Ten for review and the conference determined that there was no penalty. Ward hit Terrapins receiver Tavion Jacobs early in the first quarter of the game and was sent to the locker-room for the remainder of the match. He led with his shoulder into the chest of the opponent and did not make contact with the neck or head of the offensive player.
Every week the Buckeyes send film to the conference office for review of calls. This week it was determined that the call on –the-field was fine but that the replay review should have overturned the targeting call. Coach Urban Meyer was very frustrated and irate that such a mistake could be made during a game. The call this week had no impact on the overall outcome as Ohio State won easily 62-14, but in a close game could be a huge issue.
DJ Durkin got his start as an graduate assistant in 2001 under Urban Meyer at BGSU after playing outside linebacker for Bowling Green.
He also coached under Meyer at the University of Florida as a defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2014 before taking the Michigan defensive coordinator position in 2015.
In 2015, Durkin held Maryland to 105 yards in a Michigan 28-0 victory. The win made the Terrapins take notice and later offer him the head coaching job.
In 2016 Durkin took over the Maryland program after they had gone 5-11 in conference play over two years since joining the Big 10.
Cade Kacherski accepted an offer as a preferred walk-on at the Ohio State University in 2018 this week. The Dublin Jerome linebacker is a legacy recruit as his father played for the Buckeyes. He jumped at the opportunity when called Tuesday night.
Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni and Eron Hodges contacted Kacherski to offer him the opportunity.
He currently has offers from Indiana State , Brown and Western Illinois. Both academic an athletic.
Kacherski is 6’3” 190lbs and a leading tackler in Central Ohio this year with 63 tackles and 5 sacks.
Kacherski attended Junior Day in January and returned to Ohio State for a June camp this past summer. At the camp he got to work with linebackers coach Bill Davis.
