M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[Dr. Strangelove]

And ironically it's O'Brien that made it all happen when he took Vrabel to Texas

[iam416]

An irony not lost on PSU fans. Heh.

[iam416]

Not that there was much love lost to begin with, but the B10 East is shaping up to be a real hatefest long-term. OSU, M, MSU and PSU all have varying degrees of dislike for one another. Could be fun. Meanwhile, Rutgers and Maryland have been fed to the sarlacc.

[Hannibal]

Hopefully, Penn State will suck hard enough for a few years that it will derail the Franklin era and keep him from bringing that underachieving program back to dominance. Otherwise, the Big Ten East is going to be brutal and we're looking at a once-a-decade appearance in the CCG, at best, unless we make a home run hire.

[hack]

Who the heck knows? Just as likely Urban Meyer's somewhere else in three years as is any other outcome.

[whodean]

oLIEo is looking a bit less intimidating right now.

[iam416]

Intimidating or not, it's 10 of 11 next November. Ouch.

At least you still have the SEC and Sparty.

[iam416]

LJ Sr in as DL Coach.

Chris Ash is in as secondary coach and Co-DC, though I'd be shocked if that "co" wasn't mostly for Fickell's benefit.

Both are surprising in their own way. I'm absolutely thrilled with both. Love, love, love the Ash hire. There's a chance that the choice betwen blinding myself with acid or watching OSU play "defense" next season will actually be a toss-up!

[Hannibal]

I'm surprised that after all these years, this is when LJ Sr. finally left. Between him and Vanderlinden that's two big losses this offseason. Guys who were regularly churning out studs and overachievers.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It sounds like Franklin is bringing virtually his entire staff from Vanderbilt, though I'm not sure if I'm entirely right on that

[iam416]

I could be way off, but it did seem like PSU's DL was generally it's strength over the past 10-12 years. Lord knows that, with the exception of maybe two seasons, it wasn't anything on offense. And they always seem to have 1 first round pick on the DL -- a pick, incidentally, that has typically been way too high -- suggesting LJS made those players look good.

I liked Vrabel a lot and think his future is bright. I think a move to the NFL is probably what he needs to do to advance his career. But he's not LJS, especially as a position coach. I also think LJS is a recruiting force that actually matches Vrabel. I'm really excited about the hire.

WRT Ash, setting aside what a few insiders have raved about him, his Wisconsin teams were fundamentally sound. It makes me so sad to watch OSU play defense like an imbecilic group of undisciplined meatheads, especially after becoming accustomed to the standard set by Tressel Era teams. The talent is absolutely there. If Ash can get them to tackle well and play sound assignment football.....man, dare I dream. This team doesn't need the f'n '85 Bears. Frankly, the '11 Badgers will more than suffice.

[iam416]

I mean, for fuck's sake, those bumbling clowns gave up 41 fucking points to Borges and the worst OL M has ever had in my lifetime -- and I'm not sure the qualifier is necessary. 40 against Clemson was not good and 34 against MSU was sickening, but 41 to THAT shitball M offense was inexcusable on every level.

[Mike]

I think you've covered how bad ohio state's defense was last year with appropriate length and depth.

[iam416]

It feels like I could say soooo much more. Heh. Brevity is the soul of wit, I guess. Or, at least, brevity annoys people less. That counsels for further examination given the audience.

[iam416]

Wow. Ohio State has 17 commits in the 247sports top 247. The rest of the B10 has 23.

For the 247 Composite, OSU currently has 10 in the top 100.