Troy Smith and Howard "Hopalong" Cassady Autograph Session TONIGHT!

Former Ohio State QBs and Heisman winners, Troy Smith and Howard "Hopalong" Cassady are both signing autographs TONIGHT (5/18/12) at The Buckeye Room in the Polaris Mall from 6-8PM.

Here are the 8x10's I made to have each sign — although I have since decided to have Smith sign my Ohio State #10 jersey that I bought in 2005 — however, it's still a sweet image worth sharing!

BEFORE



AFTER



— HD

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Around The Block: BlockONation's Buckeye Bits, Volume 2 — May 16, 2012

Hello again all — I only have a few bits to share with you today, but I trust you will enjoy them thoroughly, so let us dive right in.

— First off, two former Ohio State Heisman Trophy winners, Troy Smith & Hopalong Cassady, will each be signing autographs at The Buckeye Room this Friday in the Polaris Mall, Columbus, from 6-8PM. Event details and info can be found here.

— I'm assuming there might be moderate interest in Ohio State's post-Spring depth chart that was just released. Click here to view the current two-deep. Although not listed yet, Noah Spence, David Perkins and Jamal Marcus should also all be expected to have an impact in 2012 according to coach Meyer.

— BTN's Tom Dienhart takes a look at Ohio State's 2012 schedule in his ongoing schedule analysis series.

— Ohio State AD Gene Smith spoke with ESPN B1G Blogger Adam Rittenberg regarding potential playoff models that the B1G conference favors.

— Yahoo's Dan Wetzel writes about the B1G's undying devotion to the Rose Bowl and the conference's decision to stay true to that tie-in tradition rather than fighting for potential near-future Midwest playoff games.

— Lastly, you may know of Robby Donoho and the Ohio State movie trailers he has created and posted on YouTube over the past several seasons. He just released his first video for the upcoming season today, simply titled, 2012 Ohio State Football Movie Trailer Prequel — Give it a look!



See you next time, around the Block — HD

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Around The Block: BlockONation's Buckeye Bits, Volume 1 — May 11, 2012

Today I'm introducing a new series here on BlockONation, called Around The Block: BlockONation's Buckeye Bits.

It's a chance for me to share any pertinent Buckeye news and/or links with the fans and my followers without having to spend several hours researching, writing, editing, and posting a full article, as time spent at work and with my family have made that seem a daunting and nearly impossible task recently.

So, without further ado, let's kick this baby off!

— Defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs, has been busy this week on the recruiting trail as evidenced by this recent Twitter update.

— Ohio State wants one more RB in their 2013 recruiting class, and that spot appears to belong to either Derrick Green, or Dontre Wilson. Most believe the Buckeyes would prefer Green, but it could come down to who verbals first. Green just received an offer from Alabama and plans to visit there over the summer. Regardless of who Ohio State wants more, the bottom line is they believe they must land one of them.

— In a recent ranking of the best backup QBs in the Big Ten, Buckeye QB Kenny Guiton was ranked No. 5 out of 12 in the B1G by BTN's Tom Dienhart.

— Sporting News released their list of the top coaches in college football. Urban Meyer is listed at No. 3, behind Alabama's Nick Saban, and Boise State's Chris Petersen.

— Former Buckeye and current Oakland Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor opened up about selling awards at Ohio State to "help his Mom pay her rent and other bills" in a recent Sports Illustrated article. He even referred to that act as, "doing God's work." Maybe he should have sold the 350Z to help her out and driven a used car instead.

— Former Buckeye and Minnesota Viking Cris Carter admitted that he offered bounties against certain defensive players that he felt targeted him during his NFL career. Carter said he did it as a form of protection for himself from players who were targeting him. Carter specifically noted putting a bounty out on former-Bronco, Bill Romanowski.

— Lastly, pretty much everyone knows by now that there was a sexual deviant contacting Ohio State players, coaches, and recruits using Facebook and/or Twitter by messaging them with "inspirational quotes", and while he may have had innocent intentions, his past and status as a registered sex offender makes us all cringe just a bit — understandably so.

Former Ohio State verbal commit Alex Anzalone retracted his commitment to the Buckeyes after a picture of him with Eric Charles Waugh, aka @BDubsTriviaGuru on Twitter, went viral.

Joey Bosa, who was also in the same photograph with Anzalone and Waugh, reaffirmed his commitment to the Buckeyes, despite rumors that he might follow in Anzalone's footsteps.

Waugh has since been arrested for violation of his parole, his Twitter account has been suspended, and Anzalone's father, Sal — after initially lashing out at Ohio State for not, in essence, babysitting Alex duing his unofficial Spring game visit, has backed off of his negative comments and said Alex is still considering OSU.

Thankfully, the situation was monitored and resolved quickly, and without incident.

Nobody needs Internet creepers submitting hundreds of inspirational or motivational messages to them on Twitter or Facebook, or anywhere else for that matter.

Instead, I'd recommend listening to Reach by Eve To Adam, if you're seeking out motivation. It's about reaching your goals and dreams, and it's one of my favorites — check it out!



See you next time, around the Block — HD

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A New Day Dawning At ESPN? College Football Live Roundtable: Ohio State At No. 20 For 2012

ESPN is not shy when it comes to their lovefest with the SEC and hatred of Ohio State and the B1G. Nobody can convince me otherwise on either account — period, end of story.

So, as an Ohio State football fan and blogger, you won't be too surprised to know that I'm not a huge fan of ESPN — quite the opposite most of the time, in fact — however, I was surprised at their recent feature on, and ranking of, the Buckeyes for the upcoming 2012 season.

I think we can assume a lot of their "attitude change" toward tOSU has plenty to do with former ESPN college football analyst Urban Meyer, who is now in his first season in Columbus.

In just over six months, Meyer has revitalized the program and pulled in a top five recruiting class for 2012, and is already on his way to more of the same with regards to the class of 2013.

There are still lingering question marks about this team and about just how well Urban Meyer's spread/zone-read/option offense will work in the B1G — not all that surprising when you consider the bad taste left in the mouths of B1G fans (specifically those who support the team from Ann Arbor) after the failed Rich Rodriguez spread experiment.

The problem in Ann Arbor had nothing to with the spread not working. Denard Robinson and the Michigan offense had been pretty successful moving the ball and punching it in the end zone. The real problem was Michigan's defense.

I've often said that referring to the Michigan defense during RichRod's tenure as a wet paper towel was an insult to wet paper towels everywhere...

The Defense WILL NOT be a weakness at Ohio State in 2012, or in any other year for that matter — they aren't known as the Silver Bullets because of mediocrity.

But enough about the epic failure that is Michigan, at least for the next 206 days.

We'll save further discussion of the Ann Arbor-ites for when Ohio State and Urban Warfare Choke The Hokes come November!

Let's get to the meat and potatoes — i.e., ESPN's take on what to expect from the 2012 Buckeyes.

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Ohio State Football — 2012 Spring Game: Thoughts and Highlights

The Urban Meyer era felt that much closer to officially kicking off Saturday as Ohio State held their annual spring game — their first under Meyer — in front of more than 81,000 Buckeye faithful.

QB Braxton Miller looked sharp running Meyer's new, fast-paced spread/zone-read/option offense as did RBs Carlos Hyde, Rod Smith, and Bri'onte Dunn, but the biggest surprise — thankfully — was the play of the receiving corp.

True freshman Michael Thomas, along with Corey "Philly" Brown, Chris Fields, and Devin Smith all looked ready to step up. Thomas posted a ridiculous first-ever-game effort en route to taking MVP honors with his 12 catch, 131 yard performance.

Just as a reference to how impressive Thomas' single-game stats were, last season, Jake Stoneburner, Smith, and Brown were tied for the team lead in receptions for the entire year with only 14 each.

The following game highlights were produced by lednerk, and are presented exclusively by BlockONation.com

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Ohio State Football 2012: Depth Chartin' Part I — Quarterback and Running Back

Ohio State finally began Spring Football this week.

Practices under new head coach Urban Meyer have been labeled intense, but that's not exactly shocking given the annual expectation level at Ohio State.

With many early-arrivals from the highly-touted 2012 recruiting class already on campus, several position, and depth chart battles have emerged.

Just after NSD, Meyer stated that he did not recruit guys to redshirt at Ohio State — a refreshing and welcomed change from previous seasons where seemingly seniority sometimes mattered more when it came to playing time than on-the-field talent.

Jim Tressel was a great coach but most would agree that he was often too loyal to his upperclassmen.

It does not matter how long any player has been in the program. No one should earn their playing time based on seniority (cough, Joe Bauserman, cough). The best 22 players should start regardless of what class designation they belong to, period — and Meyer gets that.

By the time the Scarlet and Gray game is played on April 21st, the depth chart should be pretty firmly set. There is, however, still some time to jostle things around a bit and for guys to move up in the ranks, so with that in mind, here's a very early look at how the depth chart is shaping up at several key positions.

Quarterback

Obviously, there's no quarterback controversy in Columbus — Meyer was practically frothing at the mouth during his introduction press conference over the prospect of coaching Braxton Miller, but Buckeye fans shouldn't soon forget that Meyer played two quarterbacks while at Florida back in 2006 (Chris Leak and some guy named Tebow) and that turned out pretty well for them (41-14).

Miller is the starter, but a solid backup QB is just as important, especially when you have a dual-threat QB who's going to take some hits — which means backup Kenny Guiton and freshman Cardale Jones will both need to be game-ready.

So far, Meyer has liked what he's seen from both Miller and Guiton, saying "Both those kids, the answer is yes, they can throw." Now, there's all the other stuff that goes on, but they can physically throw the ball, both of them. I feel good about those guys."

When he's gotten the chance to play, Guiton has shown he can guide the offense, and given Meyer's comments, he could occasionally find himself on the field, if for no other reason than to mix things up and keep opposing defenses guessing, or to give Braxton a quick breather and/or some in-game coaching — something he sorely lacked in 2011.

Depth Chart

Braxton Miller

Kenny Guiton

Cardale Jones

Running Back

While the hierarchy at quarterback has been established, determining the backfield pecking order could be described as a blurry quandary — not so much because of a lack of talent or depth, but rather, a lack of "working together" experience between the new staff and the players, and because the incumbent, Boom Herron, is gone.

Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde are experienced-ish, while Rod Smith isn't — when he did play (ever-so-sparingly) in 2011, he fumbled away the ball, and his spot on the offense altogether temporarily when he was moved to defense — nor is 5-star true freshman, Bri'onte Dunn.

With the loss of Herron to graduation, no clear-cut starter returns or has emerged as of yet, so all four backs have been getting reps early on. Meyer said they have momentum and "as long as that continues the talent there is fine."

Hall is the most experienced, but unlike Hyde, he is unlikely to be a workhorse back that could carry the ball 20 times per game. Instead, dumping the ball off to him on a halfback screen or out of the slot would suit Hall's talents much better.

Hyde has drawn comparisons to Beanie Wells and even Eddie George. He's not as fast as Beanie, or as dynamic as Eddie, but he does have decent speed and power, and most importantly, he protects the football. In 2011, Hyde averaged 5.4 yards per rush and fumbled just twice in 106 carries.

While Smith and Dunn were both heavily recruited and highly rated coming out of H.S., they must both prove themselves on the field the rest of the spring and this fall.

The arrival of Warren Ball, a 4-star RB in the 2012 class, will also affect the final depth chart this fall. Between Ball and Dunn, one of them might have to redshirt this season, rather than waste a year of eligibility.

Depth Chart (subject to change)

Carlos Hyde

Jordan Hall

Bri'onte Dunn

Rod Smith

Warren Ball

Coming soon

Part II — Wide Receiver

Part III — D-Line / Linebacker

Part IV — Safety / Cornerback

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