Ohio State Football: Jermil Martin and Additional Unfavorable Staff News
Sadly, the Ohio State University football program received more unfavorable news today.
Following the announcement that DE Keith Wells and wide receiver Duron Carter had both left the university, it now looks that RB/FB Jermil Martin’s long-rumored departure has now materialized.
Even though he is enrolled at OSU for the summer quarter, he may decide to drop out soon. There are rumors that he is going to Youngstown State, so keep an eye out.
Behind co-starters Brandon aineS and Dan Herron, Martin was viewed as the fourth or fifth option in the 2010 Buckeye backfield at best. He would have been competing with Jamaal Berry, Jordan Hall, and Carlos Hyde for playing time.
The other unfortunate news at this time is that the sole player who has not registered for summer quarter classes and has not spoken with the team about his status for the upcoming season is RB Roderick Smith, one of the top prospects in the 2010 class.
It appears that he might not be able to enroll in time for the 2010 season due to certain academic issues.
If Smith doesn’t make it for the 2010 season (see Carlos Hyde, 2009), the Buckeye coaching staff won’t go into panic mode, but if he never makes it on campus, that may be a major blow to the RB depth starting in 2011.
I’ll make updates to this post as
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Nov.
1 – This week at Ohio State football, we look at the pursuit of perfection, no matter how realistic it may be.
That’s right, every team’s goal is to go undefeated every season.
Some even achieve this goal, but that seems a bit silly, doesn’t it?
One major downside in the run-up to the playoffs is that you need to go undefeated if you want to win the national championship.
Why is it bad?
Because being undefeated is as much a coincidence as anything else.
Still, it created a lot of drama, and that’s part of the appeal of following college football.
The 12-team playoffs would ruin next year for minimal gain, but let’s leave that discussion for another day.
The pursuit of perfection remains everyone’s goal, even if the losing teams are all but alive in the race for the national championship until the end of the season or at least until the end of the season.
season ends.
I think that expectation of perfection also has a long tail that bleeds into a lot of analysis of college football teams.
Even though it is not realistic, and everyone pretty much knows it’s not realistic, Ohio State games (and games of other powerhouse programs) are viewed with an eye cocked toward those weaknesses that could be their undoing if not today then down the road.
That’s maybe not the most healthy approach, but it is the way things are.
And say this for Ryan Day: Ohio State’s head coach has not backed down from such expectations.
This week he went further when he said he tells his players they are not allowed to have a bad day.
“I think it’s a state of mind,” Day said.
“You’re not allowed to have a bad day at Ohio State – for us.
That’s the way it is.
So I always say, on your bad days, you have to be at least average Average, if not better.
On normal days, you have to be really good, and on good days, you have to be great.
So how do the Buckeyes eliminate their weaknesses?
Surname?
Let’s look at three areas: 1.
The offense has at times been exposed by good opponents, even if some of its mistakes have been self-inflicted.
These would include occasional lapses in judgment from Kyle McCord, with his mechanics occasionally breaking down and hindering the offensive line’s misses (and tight ends ).
Many things can be fixed, but that doesn’t mean they are.
Day doesn’t shy away or give up on fixing them, even as the season comes to a close.
The coach of course also plays a role here.
Day and Co.
need to gather all the information they can get about what their people can and cannot do and use it to develop game plans that emphasize the former, not the latter.
Day said McCord “made some good shots” but admitted he needs to avoid some mistakes in the future.
Coach also gave a pretty positive view of Madison’s offensive line, and after watching the game again, I agree with him more than I thought.
Having a lightning-fast defender like TreVeyon Henderson helps, but the running game is generally very effective.
The biggest problem was the number of times he was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage.
This is usually the result of an unblocked man coming from behind rather than being pushed to the point of attack.
This is something employees could have taken advantage of in the future.
2.
Some skepticism was raised because of how last season ended, but the defense’s success appears sustainable.
Plus
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