Dotting The 'Eyes

News, notes and BBQ

Quick holiday weekend three-and-out of Ohio State football news, notes and BBQ -- minus the mutton.

-- Jack Mewhort is prepared to fill a vastly different role this fall. Oh, and he's moving from guard to left tackle. The St. John's graduate said the biggest adjustment this off-season has not been shifting to the edge but embracing an increased leadership role. After deferring last season to entrenched senior starters Mike Adams, Michael Brewster and J.B. Shugarts, the redshirt junior is now THE MAN on the offensive line.

"Being a leader, sometimes you've got to get on guys who are your friends," Mewhort said. "You've got to get a little tough on them. That's hard sometimes, but I embrace it. I want to keep growing as a leader. I know it's going to help me in life."

-- Johnathan Hankins could be among the top picks in the 2013 NFL Draft. ESPN's Mel Kiper pegs the oversized junior defensive tackle 11th on his latest Big Board while CBSSports.com's draft analysts project Hankins among the top five selections. But from the where-have-we-heard-this-before category, Hankins insists he plans to return in 2013. Hankins said he came to Ohio State to win a national title -- a goal, of course, that is unrealizable this fall with the Buckeyes' bowl ban.

"Well, if I happen to leave after my junior year, it's because I'm projected to go high," he said. "If I'm first overall, the top pick, then I'll probably go. But if not, I'm going to stay with my teammates and enjoy my life at Ohio State."

We'll see. Expect Hankins, who has shed 10 pounds under new coach Urban Meyer after playing last year at 330, to have another big season -- and a bigger decision to make this off-season. For now, the big man is enjoying his sleeker new frame.

"I think I'm going to be able to drop back in coverage a little bit more if coach will let me," Hankins said with a smile.

-- Among the personal goals for senior tight end Jake Stoneburner this fall: "I'd like to have more than 14 catches," he said, laughing. "That's a start."

Nobody is more giddy than Stoneburner about the reintroduction of the tight end in Columbus. If he stays healthy, Stoneburner should surpass Ben Hartsock -- 33 catches in 2003 -- as the Buckeyes' most prolific tight end of the last decade. Meyer and first-year offensive coordinator Tom Herman have proven to view the position as more than a glorified tackle. Under Meyer at Florida, for instance, Aaron Hernandez caught 102 passes over his final two seasons. And in 2008, Herman’s tight end at Rice, James Casey, pulled in 111 catches.

Meyer recruited Stoneburner while at Florida, and the Dublin native stirred at the prospect of playing in a spread offense.

“I loved him,” Stoneburner said. “I knew they how used the tight end at Florida. it was very appealing. I just didn't want to leave Ohio.”

In Stoneburner’s eyes, he now has the best of both worlds.

“I say it every year: I've been waiting for [a big season],” he said. “But with coach Meyer’s track record and coach Herman’s track record, they incorporate every guy in the offense, especially tight ends. To say I’m excited is an understatement.”

A look ahead ... way ahead

A couple notes and thoughts from the 2015 and 2016 conference football schedules the Big Ten released today:

-- Interesting that Big Red will be MIA on the Buckeyes' schedule. OSU hosts Nebraska under the lights Oct. 6, then will not play the Huskers until at least 2017. Strange, too, that defending division champions Michigan State and Wisconsin won't play between 2013-16. It's too bad. OSU-Nebraska and MSU-Wisconsin looked to have the potential to evolve into two of the Big Ten's better rivalries.

-- OSU will not play Iowa, Northwestern and Nebraska, which seems fair, though not as "fair" as the hand dealt to Northwestern. The pressure will be on Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats to take advantage of a soft conference schedule. Northwestern misses OSU, Wisconsin or Penn State.

-- The Buckeyes will face a Murderers' Row on the road in 2016, travelling to Oklahoma, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin before a breather at Indiana. Contrast that to Ohio State's road slate in 2013, when the Buckeyes visit California, Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois leading into the year-end brush at Michigan. Depending on how OSU performs this fall, national title talk could shift into overdrive heading into Urban Meyer's second season in Columbus.

Here is a complete look at the Buckeyes' future football schedules:

2012

Miami (Ohio) (Sept. 1)
Central Florida (Sept. 8)
California (Sept. 15)
UAB (Sept. 22)
at Michigan State (Sept. 29)
Nebraska (Oct. 6) 8 p.m.
at Indiana (Oct. 13) 8 p.m.
Purdue (Oct. 20)
at Penn State (Oct. 27) 6 p.m.
Illinois (Nov. 3)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 17)
Michigan (Nov. 24)

2013

Vanderbilt (Aug. 31)
Florida A&M (Sept. 7)
at California (Sept. 14)
Buffalo (Sept. 21)
Wisconsin (Sept. 28)
at Northwestern (Oct. 5)
Iowa (Oct. 19)
Penn State (Oct. 26)
at Purdue (Nov. 2)
at Illinois (Nov. 16)
Indiana (Nov. 23)
at Michigan (Nov. 30)

2014

Navy (Aug. 30) Baltimore, Md.
Kent State (Sept. 13)
Virginia Tech (Sept. 20)
Cincinnati (Sept. 27)
Purdue (Oct. 4)
at Iowa (Oct. 18)
Northwestern (Oct. 25)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 1)
Illinois (Nov. 8)
at Penn State (Nov. 15)
at Indiana (Nov. 22)
Michigan (Nov. 29)

2015

North Carolina (Sept. 5)
Northern Illinois (Sept. 12)
at Virginia Tech (Sept. 19)
at Purdue (Oct. 3)
Penn State (Oct. 10)
Michigan State (Oct. 17)
at Minnesota (Oct. 31)
Wisconsin (Nov. 7)
at Illinois (Nov. 14)
Indiana (Nov. 21)
at Michigan (Nov. 28)

2016

Sept. 3: Bowling Green
Sept. 17: at Oklahoma
Purdue (Oct. 1)
at Michigan State (Oct. 15)
Illinois (Oct. 22)
at Penn State (Oct. 29)
Minnesota (Nov. 5)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 12)
at Indiana (Nov. 19)
Michigan (Nov. 26)

2017

Oklahoma (Sept. 16)
at North Carolina (Sept. 23)

2018

Cincinnati (Sept. 8)

Meyer's candidness a change of pace

Jim Tressel was adept at saying a lot without saying anything, an eloquent speaker who could fill time but not notebooks.

Urban Meyer? So far, the football media gods appear to have delivered a winner.

To wit: After Meyer answered a question Wednesday during a half-hour meeting with reporters, he added, “I hate to be so brutally honest.” Then he continued to be brutally honest.

A sampling of Meyer from Wednesday:

On the Ohio State receivers: “Probably the most unprepared group I've ever dealt with.”

On the offense early in the spring: “Our guys have been instructed not to watch that tape because it was a clown show.”

On the reason for moving Chris Carter from the offensive line to the defensive line: “He wasn’t really producing.”

Meyer’s candidness with the media is a blast of fresh air, and I sense we're only getting a small taste of his analysis. Behind closed doors, Meyer said his assessments are not always easy to hear, as some players learned the hard way when their football report cards came out over the past weeks. Meyer scheduled 15-minute evaluation meetings with every man on the roster, sitting them down to go over reviews from their strength coach, academic adviser and position coach. Not all earned boffo marks.

Meyer said a meeting might begin with the following: “You’re not very good in the weight room.. You’re weak here, weak here, weak here. Your energy level is too low.”

On to academics: “Our people grade you a 6 out of 10, which means you’re failing right now. That’s not very good. As opposed to [fullback] Zach Boren, it's by the way you’re a 9, keep going, keep going. Or C.J. Barnett, you’re a 9.5, keep going.”

Meyer then goes over the evaluation from the players’ position coach.

"We do mental ability, physical ability and then off-the-field behavior and everything else,” Meyer said. “I’ll tell them exactly where they’re at. Sometimes it’s very uncomfortable. Other meetings are what they expect. I’ve always believed that one of the worst things that can happen between a coach and a player is some misunderstanding and some cloudiness about what’s going on. We try to eliminate that with all our evaluations.”

Meyer also left little room for interpretation in his take on a number of different topics in his post-spring media briefing. A few more of Meyer's thoughts:

On the formula for success: “Talent will get you about seven or eight wins, discipline will start pushing that to nine and then you get leadership and that’s when the magic starts happening. That’s when you start getting rings and some really cool things happening to your team. Talent, I say there’s enough talent here to win some games. Discipline, we’re still evaluating that. And leadership is not where it needs to be.”

On the spring development of sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller: “He’s come a long way … just his want-to. I hate to stereotype a guy as the typical really good high school player. But I got that sense when I I first got here. He’s kind of a cool guy. I’m going to go lift weights and take care of my business as opposed to no, you’re going to finish first in every drill, you’re going to be the first one in the office, you’re going to do extra work, you’re going to come in and ask for cut-ups of spring practice. You’re going to push yourself to be the best, and he’s doing that now.”

On Chris “Big Hungry” Carter, a 358-pound redshirt freshman who moved from the offensive line to defensive tackle midway through the spring: “He wasn’t really producing on offense, and he wanted a shot. He did pretty good. Our whole thing with him is conditioning and he’s doing that as we speak. He’s in the conditioning mode. If he can learn to get himself in shape, he’ll play here. If not, no chance.”

On the importance of the 'intangibles': "Toughness and leadership and competitiveness are so much more important to me than vertical jump, speed throwing motion, the whole deal. Football is the same as it was 100 years ago. The toughest and the team that’s most committed is going to find a way to win. When we go recruit and we elevate people to a certain status around here, it’s because of their competitive nature and going about it the right way more than anything else."

On the importance of leadership at quarterback: "The greatest definition I’ve heard of leadership is when he sets a standard and demands everyone around him lives up to it. If we get that out of Braxton Miller and Kenny Guiton, you’ll see our throwing game be much improved this year. If you don’t, you’ll see it fail."

The Game's cutthroat new era

For much of the Cold War -- and the entire Ten-Year War -- I seem to recall my middle school history book noting there were four superpowers: the United States, Soviet Union, Ohio State and Michigan. The Big Ten was mocked as the Big Two and the Little Eight. In Woody Hayes' final 11 seasons in Columbus (1968-78), the Buckeyes lost more than one league game just twice. Up North, meanwhile, Bo Schembechler was a regular conference bully, winning 85 percent of his league games in 21 seasons at Michigan.

Those days are gone, but for how long? Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke appear to have little interest in the concept of parity. After OSU and UM both landed top-five recruiting classes this year, the rivals are cleaning up with the Class of 2013. Scout.com's first rankings of the nation's 2013 classes put Michigan atop the field and Ohio State at No. 4. The Buckeyes have secured commitments from eight of Scout.com's top 125 players, including five-star defensive end Joey Bosa from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Michigan has signed a staggering 15 four- or five-star recruits.

Yes, these projections mean little. And schools like Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State have the resources and tradition to play with the big boys. But it is little wonder why many believe we are on the verge of the next great chapter in the rivalry's history. Not a bad time to be a football fan in Northwest Ohio.

Here's the full list of Scout.com's 2013 recruiting rankings:

1. Michigan
2. Texas
3. Texas A&M
4. Ohio State
5. Notre Dame
6. Georgia
7. Florida
8. Alabama
9. Florida State
10. USC
11. Auburn
12. Penn State
13. Oklahoma
14. Missouri
15. LSU
16. UCLA
17. Nebraska
18. Clemson
19. Miami
20. Michigan State

Recruit reconsiders Ohio State as father softens comments

When Alex Anzalone backed off his commitment to Ohio State on Friday, his father left no doubt about the reason. He was concerned that a registered sex offender had contact with OSU players and recruits, including his son. Alex Anzalone, a Wyomissing, Pa., native ranked among the country’s top linebacker prospects, posed for a photograph with the man during his visit to OSU last month.

“You don't want your son to go to a place where there's a potential issue [like this]," Sal Anzalone told the Reading (Pa.) Eagle newspaper. “You expect the [football staff] to have some sort of control on how things are handled with recruits when they visit. This is ridiculous.”

He added: “Something's just not right at Ohio State.”

A day later, after speaking Friday night with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, Sal Anzalone changed his tone. He told the Reading (Pa.) Eagle newspaper his son will still consider attending OSU.

“I want people to understand, I have no beef with Ohio State, at all,” said Sal Anzalone, who declined to discuss his talk with Meyer. “My issue is not with Ohio State: It’s a great institution, they have a phenomenal president, Urban Meyer is nothing but a class act to me.

“There's nothing wrong with Ohio State; it's a great institution. When I said there was something wrong with Ohio State, I was talking about the visit - there was something wrong with the visit, not with Ohio State.”

Charles Eric Waugh, 31, of Ashland, Ky., who pleaded guilty in 2008 to downloading child pornography from the Internet, recently began reaching out via Facebook and Twitter to dozens of OSU players and recruits. After the spring game, he posed for a photo with Anzalone and two other recruits at a Columbus restaurant.

“We can't implicate Ohio State for what happened (during that visit),” Sal Anzalone told the newspaper. “That's wrong. That had nothing to do with the university itself. I don't hold them accountable; they're not responsible for what fans do; it's not their fault.”

Sal Anzalone initially said his son, who holds scholarship offers from nearly every major program in the nation, had eliminated OSU from consideration. On Saturday, he said, “There's no reason we wouldn't consider the Buckeyes.”

“We love Ohio State,” he said. “The academic opportunities there are tremendous.”

Welcome

The son of a longtime religion writer, I can now say we cover the same subject.

Sort of.

I’m excited to be The Blade’s new Ohio State football beat reporter.

I have an idea what fall Saturdays in the 'Shoe mean to this state. Before I spent the past 3 1/2 years covering University of Missouri athletics for the Columbia Daily Tribune, I went to junior high and high school in Northeast Ohio — a basketball game my senior year at Avon Lake was moved to accommodate the 2002 national championship game — then covered Buckeyes football as an OSU undergraduate.

As Ohio State enters a new era under Urban Meyer, I look forward to being there to tell the stories. Here, I’ll add to our print coverage with news, notes, analysis, opinions and, most important, interaction with readers. I encourage you to leave comments in the section below. You can also contact me at dbriggs@theblade.com or on Twitter at DBriggsBlade. I’ll do my best to respond.

So welcome aboard. As I believe former OSU coach Jim Tressel said after deposing Miami for the 2002 title, “We’ve always had The Best Damn Band in the Land. Now we’ve got The Best Damn Blog in the Land!” I say this with tongue in cheek. At 6-foot-8, I am filling the shoes of the excellent Matt Markey, The Blade’s former OSU-beat-writer-turned-outdoors-editor, only in the literal sense. But I’m ready to dive in. I will spare no effort to gain your trust — and, hopefully, keep you entertained along the way.

Let’s get started. Look forward to hearing from you.