On Senior Day in the Shoe, No. 17 Buckeye men's lacrosse took down the top-ranked Denver Pioneers 16-7 to open the season 9-0 — and extend the program's best start since the 1966 team went an unbeaten 14-0.

Buckeyes win!!

FINAL: No. 18 Ohio State 16, No. 1 Denver 7.

Buckeyes are now 9-0 this season. #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/U0IcG8CK4M

— Ohio State Men's LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) March 19, 2017

Freshman attackman Tre Leclaire had a career-high day for the Scarlet and Gray, racking up seven points (five goals, two assists) in the victory. Senior attackman Eric Fannell and senior midfielder Johnny Pearson also found the back of the net three times each for Ohio State, and junior attacker Colin Chell registered three assists in the upset.

The Buckeyes third-ranked scoring defense was spectacular in the win, holding the Pioneers to just seven goals on 31 shots while redshirt senior goalie Tom Carey pitched in with 11 saves between the pipes.

Ohio State is one of four undefeated teams remaining in Division I lacrosse this season, including Big Ten squads Rutgers and Penn State. The Buckeyes will take on teams in the top-15 in five of their final six games, including No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Maryland, No. 5 Rutgers and No. 14 Johns Hopkins.

This stretch begins next Saturday, as the Scarlet and Gray travel to South Bend, Indiana for a clash with the Fighting Irish at 2 p.m.

The idea of unfinished business is an oft-discussed topic among college athletic programs that fall short of a goal the previous season. Especially when it happens on a national stage and the team's leaders subsequently elect to return to school.

Ohio State made the 2016 College Football Playoff with the youngest team in the nation. Things ended about as terribly as they could have, though, as eventual national champion Clemson bludgeoned the Buckeyes 31-0 at the Fiesta Bowl. In the two weeks following, six members of that team decided to enter the NFL Draft as underclassmen.

A handful of others — namely captains Billy Price, Tyquan Lewis and J.T. Barrett — all chose to return for a fifth season. With Ohio State back on the practice field Tuesday and Thursday this week following spring break, Urban Meyer and his staff will increase the intensity. It will be those seniors to lead them to the push through the final 12 practices before the program's annual scrimmage on April 15.

“I think when the winter workouts came and the grind came, it was about the guys,” Barrett said recently. “I think my class, we love Ohio State. We love this team.”

Barrett is in line to be the man at quarterback when Ohio State takes the field for its season opener for the third time in his career. He stepped in for an injured Braxton Miller in 2014 and started all 13 games a year ago. In 2015, he eventually beat out Cardale Jones for the job too. The Buckeyes visit Indiana on Aug. 31 to kick off their 2017 slate.

“We want to do the best for Ohio State and make sure we end the season on top. I think that's our focus.”– J.T. Barrett

Lewis and Price will be captains yet again and are also multi-year starters. And even with James Clark's decision to move on from the program after he earns his degree this spring, there is still set to be seven fifth-year seniors on Ohio State's roster.

The others: linebacker Chris Worley, defensive tackles Tracy Sprinkle and Mike Hill and tight end Marcus Baugh. The seven is much more than normal in the Meyer era.

“They my boys. For a long time — me, J.T., Tracy — we came in early together. Worley and Marcus — we’ve all been tight since freshman year,” Lewis said. “It’s a bonus for us. We’re all close still.”

Lewis, Barrett, Price and running back Mike Weber were all recognized at an Ohio State men's basketball game in January after earning national recognition in 2016. Barrett was named Big Ten Quarterback of the Year and shared the Silver Football with Penn State running back Saquon Barkley while Lewis was named the Big Ten's Defensive Lineman of the Year. Price was named a first-team All-American and Weber was the conference's freshman of the year after rushing for more than 1,000 yards.

The upperclassmen all have different reasons for why they returned to school but one overarching theme stood above all when they spoke with reporters either that day or in the months since. How last season ended was not the final mark they wanted to leave at Ohio State.

“I just think there was unfinished business with a lot of guys. None of us liked the way we went out. You can’t leave on a mark like that,” Price said. “You leave your legacy with your last game playing with Ohio State and just the way we went out is not acceptable to a lot of the guys who are coming back.”

“Had a real, real bad feeling in my stomach and it was just, that game just didn’t sit well,” Lewis added.

So while the Buckeyes could have a draft class that steals headlines once again, the focus in Columbus is on those leaders that stayed. Meyer knows this is a critical spring for what he dubbed a refresh of his program heading into year six of his tenure. It's on Barrett and Co. to lead it — especially now that spring break is over.

“We're very strong at the top, we're very strong at the bottom and now we gotta squeeze it to make sure everybody's productive and provides value,” Meyer said. “You do that, you'll have a very fine team. If you don't, you won't.”

Barrett is someone who knows his college football resumé is missing one very distinct thing. The 2017 season is his final season to get it, and the last shot for his classmates to go out on a winning note.

“Years past, there haven't been a lot of fifth-year guys but I think the guys that are here now are committed to this team,” Barrett said. “We want to do the best for Ohio State and make sure we end the season on top. I think that's our focus.”

Four-star Ohio State 2017 center commit Kaleb Wesson picked up another yearly honor on Monday when Gatorade named him Ohio Player of the Year.

Wesson averaged 21 points per game for a South team that got bounced by Hilliard Davidson in the state playoffs.

Wesson is also the Ohio Capital Conference Player of the Year, the District 10 Player of the Year, and the Central District Player of the Year.

All that remains is the Ohio Mr. Basketball award, which is expected to be announced sometime this week.

Throughout the buildup to Ohio State’s 2016 season, Kerry Coombs was rather adamant about the situation. The Buckeyes weren’t going to have another year where both starting cornerbacks played over 1,000 snaps. There was going to be a rotation.

Nobody really believed him, though.

Ohio State then rotated Gareon Conley, Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette against Bowling Green and Tulsa, which was fine, but those were games in which the Buckeyes dominated. Would Coombs really continue this rotation the following week when Ohio State traveled to Norman for a primetime showdown against Oklahoma? And if so, would it continue beyond that?

The resounding answer to that question was yes. And it extended well beyond that win over the Sooners.

Conley, Lattimore and Ward all played equal snaps for the Buckeyes in 2016. Conley and Lattimore started each game, but it only took one or two series before Ward found himself on the field. It was an incredibly successful approach as Ohio State had one of the best secondaries in the country last season.

Conley and Lattimore each declared early for the NFL Draft and both have the potential to be first-round picks next month. Ward was just a sophomore last season so he wasn’t Draft eligible and he’ll be back as the Buckeyes’ No. 1 corner this fall. Despite those massive losses, however, Ohio State doesn’t plan to change how it uses its cornerbacks.

“I think the way we play defense we’d like to do that,” Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said recently. “We’d like to play more than three or four. We learned a lesson and [2016] was as good of production out of corner anywhere we’ve been.”

Added defensive coordinator Greg Schiano: “It’s critical to be able to do that so that when you get to the latter part of the year, your guys are still able to play at a high, high level. The goal is that you go like this and at the end of the season you’re peaking. We need to be able to do that.”

Of course, personnel will dictate whether or not Ohio State will be capable of rotating cornerbacks again next season. The Buckeyes feel confident with Ward as their No. 1 corner, but beyond that, there are question marks just one week into spring practice.

Arnette saw his snaps decrease as last season went on. He spent the majority of his time as the nickel and slot corner but struggled in that position in a couple of games. He was running with the first-team defense during the first week of spring practice and appears to have the inside track to start opposite Ward, but there are plenty of others who will push him for that position.

Namely, the new additions to Coombs’ meeting room this spring: Shaun Wade, Jeffrey Okudah, Kendall Sheffield and Marcus Williamson. Wade and Okudah were both five-star prospects and Sheffield is in his third year out of high school after enrolling at Alabama for a year and then transferring to junior college last season.

Their development this spring, and throughout the summer heading into fall camp, will determine whether or not Ohio State will be able to use its corners the way it wants.

The formula worked big time for the Buckeyes last season. They’re going to do everything they can to try and duplicate it in 2017.

“Obviously we had great players, but what we ask those guys to do, it’s a track meet for four hours,” Meyer said. “If you can get a little rotation in there, you’re going to be much better.”

“The thing as coaches you can’t do is force something to happen,” Schiano added. “But we are sure that we recruited well enough that we can do those types of rotations.”

Hayes led his teams to five national championships, 13 Big Ten titles, and over 200 victories while roaming the Scarlet and Gray sideline, building an elite program at a time when the sport started appearing on television screens across the nation for the first time. With an explosive demeanor that was both entertaining and objectionable, the Buckeyes' leader grew into a national icon himself, becoming the face of Ohio's flagship university.

While the statues, street signs, and massive practice facility on Olentangy River Road pay tribute to his many accomplishments on and off the football field, what he meant to the evolution of the game he coached is often overlooked. Over a half century after he took the job in Columbus, with another coaching icon now entrenched in the same position he once held, the parallels between Hayes and Urban Meyer cannot be ignored, as both helped advance the strategies and tactics used by coaches at every level to change the way the game is played.

Much the same way Meyer is credited with developing the 'Spread' offenses that proliferate today's game, Hayes held a similar association with the old 'T-formation' that dominated both professional and college football in the 1940s and 50s.

Though originally invented by Walter Camp in the late 19th century as one of the original formations in American football, the 'T' had fallen out of favor in the first few decades of the 20th century, as Pop Warner's Single-Wing shotgun set became the norm. But once coaches realized they didn't have a Jim Thorpe of their own to feature as both a runner and passer, the T-formation's systematic approach came back into popularity after George Halas' Chicago Bears pummeled the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL championship game as Sid Luckman took the snap from under center with three backs behind him.

Other coaches, such as Stanford's Clark Shaughnessy, Notre Dame's Frank Leahy, and Texas' Dana Bible helped resurrect Camp's system and adapt it to the rules and tactics of the time. By the time Hayes took his first head-coaching job at Denison University in 1946, he had become a believer in the philosophy that was more dependent on the efforts of all eleven players instead highlighting only one. 

As the name would suggest, the T-formation featured a quarterback taking the snap directly from the center with three backs lined up parallel to the line of scrimmage behind him. There were no wide receivers as we'd know them today, with the biggest pass receiving threats coming from the 'Ends' on either side of the formation, who today would just be called tight ends.

Although the formation didn't appear to offer much in terms of versatility, Hayes had three distinct approaches to attacking the defense, although the 'Inside Belly' series became the most prominent. Hayes looked to attack the defense between the tackles, setting them up with misdirection in the backfield and relying on his quarterback to carry out a series of fakes while handing the ball to the assigned ball-carrier in stride.

With such little space to carry out a dozen or so different concepts, Woody's linemen were drilled to recognize defensive fronts and adjust as needed. The tackles on either side were tasked with calling out these adjustments, looking to create better angles on their targets or gain an advantage by throwing a fourth blocker at three defenders, a philosophy that remains at the core of offensive football strategy today.

These real-time tweaks became the foundation of Hayes' offense, which he'd detail in his 1957 playbook:

Two years ago when coach Doyt Perry got ready to leave us to take the head coaching position at Bowling Green State University, I asked him what were the biggest weaknesses he felt we had. He diplomatically mentioned a couple of them and then hastily added, "I'll tell you what your greatest strong point is - your blocking adjustments. Don't ever give up on them."

He went on to explain that when he had come with us four years before, he felt these adjustments were too intricate to learn. But in establishing an offense in a league with the calibre of defenses we meet each Saturday, he felt it was the one thing above all others than had helped us to move the ball with consistency.

Such adjustments are common today, even at the high school level. But at the time, such modifications were rare, theoretically giving Woody's offenses the ability to run the same handful of concepts against any defense.

But although these interior plays made up the majority of Hayes' play-calls, giving credence to the 'Three yards and a cloud of dust' moniker given his style, he also included a handful of more progressive running elements with the 'Split-T' series. These concepts were the product of Hayes' time spent with legendary Oklahoma coaches Bud Wilkinson and Gomer Jones in 1952, who had made the 'T' all their own by widening the linemen's splits and running around the ends by incorporating ideas that were the pre-curser to what we now call 'option' football.

The idea had been initially brought to the forefront by Missouri coach Don Faurot, who patterned the idea after a 2-on-1 fast break in basketball. Ironically, Faurot had been the lead candidate for the Ohio State job when Hayes was selected in 1951 and turned it down, yet his signature offense still made its way to Columbus.

But Hayes' strength was incorporating these many styles into one game plan. He'd pound the ball inside with the Belly series, then send the quarterback darting around the end on an option or bootleg, and then catch the defense flat-footed by running a counter of a Wing-T alignment as one tailback lined up behind the end and took a handoff going the opposite direction.

Woody was famous for holding a conservative stance on the passing game, and the numbers back up that claim. According to John Lombardo in his 2005 book, A Fire to Win: The Life and Times of Woody Hayes, the Buckeyes' run-pass ratio skewed heavily to the ground game, as evidenced by the 1956 team that tallied 2,468 rushing yards compared to just 278 yards through the air.

Hayes wasn't afraid to admit his shortcomings as an aerial architect, as evidenced by an interview former star tackle Jim Parker gave to the Columbus Dispatch when asked whether his former coach would ever consider coaching at the professional level. 

“He talked to me about it,” Parker said. “He said the only way he’d go was if I’d go with him. Then he said, ‘But, hell, I don’t know enough about the passing game.’ Passing game? Hell, we were lucky to pass 40 times a season.”

When they did throw the ball, Hayes' teams did so as a constraint to the base running game, using what is now known as 'play-action' to suck in defenses before running simple pass patterns targeting the halfbacks and ends.

Though Woody was as paranoid and competitive as any coach of his era, that didn't mean he kept these secrets to himself. At the time when technology didn't allow for the sharing of information even remotely close to what we're used to today, clinics were one of the only ways a coach could learn anything new about the game.

Having been a benefactor of such knowledge sharing himself during his the first decade of his career, learning how to install the 'T-formation' before his first season at Denison, Hayes became a regular speaker on the clinic circuit himself. His consistent attendance at these clinics wasn't purely out of altruism, however. Gracing the lectern at such seminars provided Hayes a level of stardom within the profession itself that counter-balanced his rotten behavior on the sidelines, while also giving him a chance to scout up-and-coming talent within the coaching ranks.

But Woody didn't stop there. He published his own playbook not once, but twice, in 1957 and 1969, allowing anyone to learn and understand the basics of his trademark schemes. Though the books were pre-cursors to the soft-skill management tutorials that would become commonplace for his successors, Hayes' volumes were clearly meant for the men of his own profession, given the way he'd deliver an entire paragraph describing the responsibilities of the right guard on his 'Fullback Buck' play within the pages.

As we know now, the old coach was obsessive about winning, in ways that didn't always help. Despite winning three national championships in his first 11 seasons in Columbus, the game had begun to change by his third decade one the sidelines. From 1962 to 1967, the Buckeyes failed to win a Big Ten title, creating quite a few empty seats in the cavernous Ohio Stadium on many Saturday afternoons. Not only was the team itself slipping into mediocrity in the win-loss column, Woody's teams simply weren't that exciting to watch.

Before the 1967 season, though, Woody did something revolutionary (for him, at least). Not only did he begin recruiting aggressively outside of Ohio, bringing in All-American talents like Jack Tatum, John Brockington, Jan White, and Tim Anderson, Hayes brought in some new faces on the coaching staff. While Lou Holtz famously joined the program for one season in 1968 to coach the defensive backfield, the 1967 hiring of a Pennsylvania high school coach, George Chaump, to coach quarterbacks may have been the most important decision Hayes made in the back half of his career.

Hayes and Chaump would go on to win two national titles in 1968 and 1970 while missing out on a handful more during Woody's final decade in charge of the Buckeyes. But those teams featuring stars like Rex Kern and Archie Griffin looked far different than the ones for which Woody had become known. 

Next week in Part 2, we'll examine how and why Woody Hayes finally gave up on the old 'T-Formation' to produce the most famous and productive teams of his career.

Wrestling

Ohio State wrestling had another really impressive season, and it came to a close with a runner-up finish to Penn State in St. Louis. Kyle Snyder, he of many achievements, won his second consecutive national title at heavyweight.

Snyder wasn't the only Buckeye who showed up to compete at the NCAAs, though: redshirt junior Bo Jordan finished as a runner-up at 174, redshirt junior Nathan Tomasello (133) and redshirt freshman Kollin Moore (197) each took third, redshirt sophomore Micah Jordan took fourth at 149 and 2016 national champion Myles Martin took fifth at 184. Each of those five were also named All-Americans.

With an impressive finish this year, and with not a single member of their strong nucleus set to graduate this year, Ohio State is going to be right back in contention for a national title as a team in 2018 (and maybe a couple of individuals).

#DYK: @Snyder_man45 is the first Olympic gold medalist to return to college and win a NCAA title. #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/xHuvyvQyNg

— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) March 19, 2017

By the way, it might not be too apparent in those pictures, but Wisconsin's Connor Medbery — the wrestler Snyder beat to win the heavyweight title — is significantly bigger than Snyder. While most wrestlers stay near the highest weight they can be within their weight class — which is 285 pounds for heavyweights — Snyder typically stays around 225 pounds for NCAA competition.

Here's a look at the HUGE double leg takedown lift by Kyle Snyder to kick things off! #NCAAWrestlingpic.twitter.com/xy5saMsw9Y

— NCAA Wrestling (@ncaawrestling) March 19, 2017 

Lacrosse

Here is the current top five in NCAA men's lacrosse, in order: Denver, Notre Dame, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers. Three Big Ten teams, none of which are the Bucks. 

Ohio State is currently ranked 17th, but this week, that should change.

In one of the best showing we've seen from an Ohio State program this season, Ohio State creamed the top-ranked Denver Pioneers 16-7. 

Featuring a stellar five-goal two-assist performance from freshman attacker Tre Leclaire, the Buckeyes led 11-1 at one point and outperformed Denver tremendously. In addition to Leclaire, seniors Eric Fannell (attack) and Johnny Pearson (midfield) each had seven-point games.

This was the first game of a difficult stretch for the Buckeyes, but they'll look to continue their success against No. 4 Notre Dame Saturday.

No. 18 Ohio State 16, No. 1 Denver 7.

Look back at highlights from today's Buckeye win in #TheShoe.https://t.co/2QrngRZ9t9#GoBucks

— Ohio State Men's LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) March 20, 2017

 Ohio State also beat No. 10 Towson on Wednesday, 6-3, on the road.

Women's lacrosse has had a rough go of it since last week. Competing in three games beginning last Monday, the Bucks began with a 13-7 loss to Harvard.

On March 18, the Buckeyes took on the Wolverines and put forth an impressive effort but fell short, eventually dropping the tight matchup in overtime, 12-11.

On March 19, luck finally seemed to be in the team's favor, as it was able to pull out an 8-7 victory over Binghamton at home to end the week on a positive note.

Check out highlights from today's win over Binghamton! #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/1jygclBHU7

— OhioStateWomen's LAX (@OhioState_WLAX) March 19, 2017

Men's Ice Hockey

With a dramatic win in the Big Ten tournament over Michigan State that featured three goals in four minutes from the good guys, the Buckeyes advanced to the Big Ten semifinals to take on Wisconsin.

Jobst, Schlkey, Kearney, Gust (x2) and Laczynzki all scored vs the Spartans in the #B1GTourney. https://t.co/ypydKg4CMu#GoBucks

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 17, 2017

Despite being ranked lower in NCAA rankings, Wisconsin earned a higher Big Ten seeding (2) than Ohio State (3). 

However, Wisconsin dashed the Buckeyes' run at Big Ten glory, winning 2-1.

The season isn't over yet, though — the Buckeyes will participate in this year's NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009.

As a four seed (which is the lowest you can get while still getting into the tourney), Ohio State will face the tall task of taking on No. 2 seed (and No. 3 in the NCAA) Minnesota-Duluth in Fargo, North Dakota.

ICYMI: Buckeyes are heading to the NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State opens play at 6:30pm ET Friday vs Minnesota Duluth in Fargo. #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/uc6mfHTXPl

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 20, 2017

Men's Volleyball

While it may seem abnormal to have men's volleyball this low in the article, it isn't for lack of winning that they've moved down.

After their loss to UC-Irvine March 11 — their first loss in over a year — the No. 2 Buckeyes (yes, the loss to UC-Irvine moved them to second behind Long Beach State) have picked up where they left off with two wins over top-ten teams in No. 10 Loyola Chicago and No. 7 Lewis.

The win over Loyola Chicago was a three-set sweep and was also head coach Pete Hanson's 999th match as a coach.

In the coach's 1000th career match, the drama went way up as the Buckeyes came back from being behind in a decisive fifth set to win the match 3-2 over the Flyers.

Most impressive, tonight marked the 1,000th of head coach Pete Hanson's career. Congrats on the milestone Coach!#GoBuckspic.twitter.com/c23QMbi4bq

— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioState_MVB) March 19, 2017

Tennis

Another team with a three-game slate for the week, No. 2 Ohio State women's tennis was able to emerge 3-1 against its opposition.

On Tuesday the Bucks faced off against the top-ranked Florida Gators, who were able to hand them their just their second loss of the season by a score of 4-1.

After that, the team returned to dominance against its Big Ten opponents. 

Taking on Wisconsin Friday and Minnesota Monday, the Buckeyes took home a clean sweep, winning both matches 7-0.

Buckeyes win!

Ohio State downed Minnesota 7-0 in a B1G match today. #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/5sGIgRgqR2

— Ohio State W Tennis (@OhioState_WTEN) March 20, 2017

Men's tennis traveled to take on No. 8 Texas and No. 11 Texas A&M as the top-ranked team in the nation, but returned from its road trip with two losses on its record.

The Bucks lost both matchups by only one point, falling 4-3 to both the Longhorns and the Aggies.

With the losses, Ohio State fell to second in NCAA rankings while Wake Forest reclaimed its No. 1 spot.

Gymnastics

The No. 4 men's gymnastics team faced a tough test against No. 1 Oklahoma this week, but just couldn't pull off the upset.

Despite title-winning performances from three Buckeyes — redshirt junior Sean Melton on rings, sophomore Alec Yoder on pommel horse and redshirt senior Jake Martin in all-around — the team was outmatched by the Sooners.

At the end of the meet, the Bucks lost to Oklahoma in Norman, 434.550-417.600.

Final from Norman. @AlecYoder, @MeltonSean and @jaghyke win event titles! Full recap at https://t.co/aho7nwZlo7 soon! #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/vpNV2GcjL3

— Ohio State Men's Gym (@OhioState_MGYM) March 12, 2017

Women's gymnastics finished fifth at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, and was once again led by junior Alexis Mattern. Mattern placed second on vault – losing by only .075 points – and finished fifth in all-around en route to being named to the Big Ten All-Championship team.

9.9 for @OhioState_WGYM's Alexis Mattern on vault (camera angle apologies) #NCAAGym#B1GWGym#ohiostate#GoBuckspic.twitter.com/9y37NtXMWj

— Marni (@marnilynn22) March 18, 2017

No. 9 Michigan took home first followed by No. 20 Illinois, No. 16 Iowa, No. 13 Nebraska and No. 24 Ohio State to round out the top five.

With their performance this season, the team has qualified for NCAA Regionals.

The Buckeyes have officially qualified to NCAA Regionals! Stick around, we'll find out today which of the 6 sites we're heading to! #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/jNhEwyFUat

— Ohio State WGYM (@OhioState_WGYM) March 20, 2017

Baseball/Softball

The baseball team, traveling to take on Xavier in a Sunday doubleheader, brought its bats to life with six home runs on the day, but couldn't get a win. They lost the first game 5-4 and dropped the second 6-5.

In the second game, junior right fielder Noah McGowan tied Ohio State's school record for home runs in a single game with three. The record was set in 2012 by Josh Desze.

9 | SOLO HOME RUN BY @Noah_McGowan4!!

His third home run of the game!

5, 4#GoBuckspic.twitter.com/0tlYwNzXUB

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioState_BASE) March 19, 2017

The softball team traveled to Florida for a Spring Break road trip, and participated in  two exhibition games against Stetson and Bethune-Cookman, as well as the USF Spring Fling and took on Army West Point and Missouri Friday and No. 4 Auburn and North Dakota State Saturday.

The team beat Stetson with a shutout and allowed only one run to Bethune-Cookman.

At the Spring Fling, the Buckeyes racked up three wins with their only loss coming against Auburn, giving them a final Spring Break record of 5-1.

Other Events

Women's swimming placed fifth at Big Ten Championships which took place March 15-18.

At the Baldy Castillo Invitational, freshman Megan Hoffman set a new Ohio State record with a 3.85m vault. Senior Anthony Johnson and freshman Alex Lomong placed first and second respectively in the mid-distance run. Senior Champ Page took home first in the 400m dash.

Men's golf finished 11th out of 15 at day one of the Linger Longer Invitational March 19. The team shot 290.

Upcoming

March 20

• Men's Golf, Linger Longer Invitational (Greensboro, Ga.)
• Women's Gold, Briars Creek Invitational (John's Island, S.C.)
• Pistol, National Collegiate Pistol Championships (Fort Benning, Ga.)

March 21

• Baseball vs. Youngstown State
• Pistol, National Collegiate Pistol Championships (Fort Benning, Ga.)
• Women's Golf, Briars Creek Invitational (John's Island, S.C.)
• Men's Golf, Linger Longer Invitational (Greensboro, Ga.)

March 22

• Pistol, National Collegiate Pistol Championships (Fort Benning, Ga.)
• Men's Swimming, NCAA Championships (Indianapolis)

March 23

• Synchronized Swimming, U.S. Collegiate Nationals
• Men's Volleyball vs. Fort Wayne
• Men's Swimming, NCAA Championships (Indianapolis)
• Pistol, National Collegiate Pistol Championships (Fort Benning, Ga.)

March 24

• Synchronized Swimming, U.S. Collegiate Nationals
• Baseball vs. Minnesota
• Softball @ Maryland
• Men's Tennis vs. Michigan State
• Men's Ice Hockey vs. Minnesota-Duluth (Fargo, N.D.)
• Women's Lacrosse @ Rutgers
• Men's Gymnastics @ Illinois
• Pistol, National Collegiate Pistol Championships (Fort Benning, Ga.)
• Men's Swimming, NCAA Championships (Indianapolis)
• Track & Field, Raleigh Relays (Raleigh, N.C.)

March 25

• Synchronized Swimming, U.S. Collegiate Nationals
• Softball @ Maryland
• Men's Soccer @ Northern Kentucky
• Men's Lacrosse @ Notre Dame
• Baseball vs. Minnesota
• Men's Volleyball vs. Ball State
• Women's Rowing vs. Harvard (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
• Track & Field, Raleigh Relays (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Men's Swimming, NCAA Championships
• Women's Rowing vs. Yale (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

March 26

• Baseball vs. Minnesota
• Men's Tennis @ Michigan
• Women's Lacrosse vs. USC (Mountain Lakes, N.J.)
• Softball @ Maryland

This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of Brendon White, an athlete from nearby Powell.

Brendon White is a second-generation Buckeye. His father, William, played at Ohio State from 1984 to 1987 and spent 11 years in the NFL. The younger White, raised in Central Ohio after his father's playing career ended with the Falcons, aspired to play for Ohio State like his father did. He was presented the opportunity on September 30, 2015 and jumped on it two days later.

I retell his recruitment below, one in which White seriously evaluated offers from Michigan State and Notre Dame before Ohio State came calling. Thereafter, I provide a scouting report of a talented "athlete" prospect who will ply his craft at wide receiver first this spring and summer. I offer a projection of a redshirt in 2017 before offering some highlight film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Brendon White is a local product who committed to Ohio State early into his junior year. As a result, there was not much to say about the courtship period nor did his recruitment contain some of the drama and intrigue of his other classmates.

White camped at Ohio State after his freshman year, both to improve his craft and also to earn the coaching staff's attention. He worked to remain in Ohio State's orbit with two unofficial visits in the 2014 football season to games against Virginia Tech and Cincinnati.

Like many other Ohioans, even those that eventually land at Ohio State, the offers that first came were from smaller programs in the region. Toledo offered in January 2015. Marshall offered at the end of April. Illinois was the first Power Five offer when an assistant coach visited him an informed him of the good news.

White's first breakthrough in his recruitment came when Michigan State offered at the beginning of his junior year. It was by far his biggest offer to that point. It came just in time for White to schedule an unofficial visit to East Lansing for the Spartans' matchup against Oregon. Afterward, White called Michigan "definitely a top choice."

His good fortunes continued the next week when Notre Dame came calling. He took an unofficial visit for the weekend of Notre Dame's home tilt against Georgia Tech and left with an offer and a review of a great experience.

His recruitment thereafter lasted all of two weeks and focused squarely on Ohio State, even if Kentucky also offered at this time. He visited Ohio State for its game against Western Michigan. The experience was good, though Ohio Stadium on a gameday was a familiar sight for the Ohio State legacy. Four days later, Ohio State decided to extend a scholarship offer to White, giving him the option of becoming a second-generation Buckeye and to play for his "dream school."

Blessed to receive my 8th offer from The Ohio State University pic.twitter.com/9oiFN9KtWv

— Brendon White (@therealestbw0) September 30, 2015

White needed just 48 hours to think it over before making his decision.

HIS COMMITMENT

Brendon White committed to Ohio State on October 2, 2015 as the seventh member of what would become Ohio State's full 2017 recruiting class. He had just eight offers total to that point, but largely chose the Buckeyes over competing options from Michigan State and Notre Dame.

The rationale for the commitment follows his public statements about Ohio State as a "dream school" and how he would love to play his where his father played. Consider that he even said this to Eleven Warriors just three months before the opportunity came to make it happen.

"I'm hearing from Ohio State and I've been there for a visit... I'm also hearing from Michigan State and Indiana. If I get the offer from Ohio State, I will commit there. It's my dream school, and I want to follow in my dad's footsteps."

WHERE HE EXCELS

There's still some lingering intrigue to where White eventually lands at Ohio State. Recruiting services listed him as an "athlete" though implicitly thought he was a safety. Ohio State recruited him as a potential linebacker. White compounded the confusion by enrolling in January, helping the linebackers in its bowl prep for Clemson, shortly before announcing a move to wide receiver on Twitter. The updated roster for 2017 lists him at wide receiver with No. 80 on the jersey. The evaluation that follows will think of him as potential wide receiver.

Welcome to practice young Buck @therealestbw0! pic.twitter.com/6zRCa4Thph

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 17, 2016

It would be okay to be suspicious at first glance of White as a wide receiver if you saw the measurables or read some initial reports about him as "the next Darron Lee." You wouldn't expect to see film that suggests White knew how to be a polished wide receiver at the high school level or had the kind of athleticism that could carry well to the collegiate level. You would be pleasantly surprised.

White is a big-bodied wide receiver prospect who imposes a physical presence and, importantly, has creative ways of using it. There is some footage you'll see of White barreling through defensive backs or over tacklers. More often, you'll see a wide receiver with a high school linebacker's body getting skinny through tunnel screens or running routes while avoiding first contact from a defensive back.

One of my favorite plays in one of his highlight films comes around the 20-second mark in the video at the end of the feature. White gets a clean release and sits the top of his route. The quarterback, not seeing the play develop to his liking, scrambles and commits a cardinal sin of quarterbacking: throwing late across the field. White works to hard to beat the defensive back to the spot, is a bit late, but yanks a sure interception away from the defensive back and gets 35 yards on the play.

Further, for a one-time linebacker prospect, White can "out-athlete" arguably anyone in the class. He made it to The Opening finals in Oregon and ran a 4.54 40-yard dash and a 4.09 20-yard shuttle. The latter is the same time as J.K. Dobbins in the same class. No one would confuse White as a home-run threat at wide receiver but he could credibly take on defensive backs at the line of scrimmage, create separation, and plays with the ball.

MUST WORK ON

My hope is White finds his calling at wide receiver initially, or finds his calling wherever else as soon as possible. Few things are more worrying for the career of a college football prospect than an "athlete" still looking for a position. Time spent looking for a position is ultimately development time lost.

Further, prominent cases of Adoree Jackson and Jabrill Peppers obscure the fact college football is more about specialization than finding players who can do a little bit of everything. To take the Peppers case further, you'll find no shortage of analysts complaining that Michigan's proclivity to have Peppers do all sorts of jobs meant Peppers was unable to become pro-ready at any one of them.

Bringing this back to White, his through-the-roof athletic potential will ultimately want to focus on one thing in which he can specialize. It's inconceivable that he thrives as part-time wide-receiver who could also play a little bit of linebacker. My suspicion is Ohio State's coaching staff wants him as a linebacker but has a short-term need at wide receiver. That's ultimately development time lost for White if a move to linebacker is in his intermediate future.

More specifically for his position, White shows more nuance running routes than I had anticipated but his Olentangy Liberty program was not running college-level concepts. That critique is common to almost all wide receiver prospects except for those coming from prep factories like IMG or St. Thomas Aquinas.

REDSHIRT?

White enrolled early and Ohio State made it a point to transition him from linebacker to wide receiver with a clear signal that he should do something immediately at a position of need on the roster. Notwithstanding that signal and the opportunity White has, I think he redshirts in 2017.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are junior-year highlights for White.

Texas Longhorns coach (and former Ohio State offensive coordinator) Tom Herman reminded recruits last week about March 2014, in which he endured two inches of snow in Columbus.

Monday, two of Texas' highest ranked prospects—Ohio State linebacker Baron Browning and running back J.K. Dobbins—starred in a video remix of Houston rapper Lil Troy's classic, "Wanna Be a Baller," in which Browning and Dobbins instruct recruits to come to Ohio State and "live all [their] dreams out."

Dobbins and Browning aren't the only Buckeyes in the video, either. Jordan Fuller, Mike Weber, Keandre Jones, Antonio Williams, Shaun Wade, and Buck-I-Guy's whip can all be seen.

This video is perfect in so many ways, I won't waste your time by listing them all. Just hit play and enjoy.

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Spring break was short-lived for players, as Ohio State returned to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Tuesday afternoon. It marked the third of 14 practices this spring for the Buckeyes, who will play the annual Spring Game on April 15 at 12:30 p.m.

Practice, the first in full pads, was open to the media for roughly 15 minutes, with quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends closest to area designated for photography.

Check out photos from the session above.

“Get your depth, Johnnie. Make sure you get your depth!”

Urban Meyer shouted that at redshirt junior wide receiver Johnnie Dixon on Tuesday morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Dixon beat Shaun Wade on a comeback route and reeled in a pass from J.T. Barrett, but would not have gotten many yards if it were live tackle.

That play came from the "mini-field" portion of practice, the most interesting part of the roughly one hour the program allowed the media to watch.

Below are more observations from the Ohio State offense from the team's third practice — and first back from spring break — this spring.

NOTES:

• The team practiced in full pads for the first time this spring on Tuesday.
• Tight end Marcus Baugh returned to the field and ran laps around it during practice. He was not seen on March 7 and a team spokesman said it was due to an offseason shoulder procedure. Baugh had a brace on his shoulder while he ran.
• At the beginning of practice, a video streamed across the board during stretches that highlighted the top speed, strength and effort numbers from players. Denzel Ward led the speed category, clocked at 21.1 miles per hour. Behind him was Elijah Goins, Kendall Sheffield, Marcus Williamson, Jeffrey Okudah, K.J. Hill, Joshua Norwood, Binjimen Victor, Rodjay Burns and Malik Harrison. Their speeds were not specified on that graphic.
• Next came Explosives, where Jahsen Wint led the way with a score of 74. Following him were Goins, Sheffield, Johnnie Dixon, Justin Hilliard, Erick Smith, Wayne Davis, Dante Booker, Shaun Wade and Keandre Jones to round out the top 10.
• On the linebacker and tight ends graphic for effort, Luke Farrell was listed first. Hilliard, Jake Hausmann, Harrison and Jones were the rest in the top 5.
• Defensive linemen effort in order: Rashod Berry, Davon Hamilton, Sam Hubbard, Nick Bosa and Jalyn Holmes.
• Offensive linemen effort in order: Billy Price, Malcolm Pridgeon, Brady Taylor, Demetrius Knox and Branden Bowen.
• Malik Harrison led the linebacker and tight ends in speed, clocking at 18.8 miles per hour. Hilliard went 17.3, Booker 16.5, Jones 16.4 and Farrell 16.2.
• Offensive linemen explosives in order: Jack Wohlabaugh, Kevin Feder, Gavin Cupp and Bowen.
• Defensive linemen explosives in order: Dre'Mont Jones, Berry, Hamilton, Bosa, Hubbard.
• Linebacker/tight end explosives in order: Hilliard, Booker, Jones, Harrison, Farrell
• Berry led the team in the effort category, tallying 899 yards. A team spokesman did not know what the 899 yards meant in regards to that grading scale. Behind him: Wint, Goins, Mike Weber, J.K. Dobbins, Farrell, Demario McCall, Dixon and Antonio Williams.
• Speed and tempo continued to be a theme at practice. The coaches stressed the players to move quickly in and out of drills in an effort to get as many reps as possible.
• The players taking punt returner reps, in order: Hill, McCall, Kendall Sheffield, Wade and Eric Glover-Williams.
• Unlike the last time reporters viewed practice, McCall worked exclusively at running back on Tuesday. He did both running back and wide receiver drills on March 7.
• Weber, Williams, Dobbins and McCall were the order of running backs going through drills.
• Williams had another rough morning at the discretion of running backs coach Tony Alford. After going through a drill and dodging Alford — who was swinging a padded bat at the backs as they ran by — Williams said something about how he should be able to choose the direction he went over the bags. Alford's response: “You bitch more than my son, you need to shut your ass up.”
• Dobbins tripped over a bag during the backfield action portion of practice. He smashed his fist into the turf in frustration. Dobbins also put the ball on the ground a few times.

  And here are some backfield action drills with QBs and RBs, which includes freshman J.K. Robbins tripping over a bag in the open field pic.twitter.com/GDZl8DsCrb

  — Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) March 21, 2017

• On the offensive line, Malcolm Pridgeon worked with the interior group led by Greg Studrawa while Kevin Wilson drilled the tackles and tight ends.
• First team offensive line from left to right: Jamarco Jones, Michael Jordan, Billy Price, Demetrius Knox and Isaiah Prince.
• Second team offensive line from left to right: Josh Alabi, Matt Burrell, Brady Taylor, Malcolm Pridgeon, Branden Bowen
• A.J. Alexander led the tight ends through drills, followed closely by Luke Farrell, Kierre Hawkins and then Jake Hausmann.
• That group spent an entire 5-minute period of practice with the quarterbacks, Wilson and Ryan Day. They worked on corner patterns, with Day demanding the quarterbacks get the ball down the field and into the corner of the end zone quickly. Thus, emphasizing not underthrowing it.
• As mentioned above, Dixon was full-go once again and looked crisp. He ran deep patterns in drills as well as backfield action, not showing any signs of restrictions from his knees.
• The quarterbacks and receivers did various deep passing drills more than once during the first hour of practice on Tuesday. First they did it against no defense, then the wide receivers faced off against a cornerback.
• In mini-field, Weber let a pass from Joe Burrow go right through his face and hit him in the facemask. On that play, Zach Smith wanted Burrow to throw it deep to Binjimen Victor, who had beaten Shaun Wade.
• Victor continued to look the part at receiver, a fluid athlete with soft hands and solid route-running techniques.
• Parris Campbell worked almost exclusively at H-back as the first group's slot receiver. McCall did not take any reps from the slot in mini-field portion of practice.
• Eric Glover-Williams made a few nice catches in 1-on-1 drills and during mini-field. He also worked in the slot.
• 2016 Rimington Trophy winner Pat Elflein, Marshon Lattimore and Raekwon McMillan attended practice. Ohio State's Pro Day is scheduled for Thursday.

After a week off for spring break, Ohio State was back on the field Tuesday morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for its third practice of spring ball. The Buckeyes will practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from now until the annual spring game on April 15.

Tuesday was the first practice of the spring in full pads and the first hour of the practice was open for media to watch. Some of our observations from the offensive side of the ball can be seen here. Below, we've got a few notes from the defensive side of the ball.

Notes:

• Defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle was running and warming up with the team, but did not participate in any contact as he continues to recover from his season-ending injury. Sprinkle was off to the side on the far end of the practice field working out with fellow defensive lineman Darius Slade and tight end Marcus Baugh, who both are also rehabbing injuries. 
• There didn't appear to be any changes to the two-deep after the first week of spring practice. The first-team defensive line was Sam Hubbard, Michael Hill, Dre'Mont Jones and Tyquan Lewis, though it appeared Lewis and Hill were limited during contact drills. That's likely because both are fifth-year seniors and part of Urban Meyer's 2,000-rep club which limits players in spring ball. Nick Bosa, Jalyn Holmes, Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton appeared to be the ones who rotated running with the first team in place of Lewis and Hill.
• The first-team linebackers remained Dante Booker, Chris Worley and Jerome Baker. It was pretty difficult to get a read on who was running with the second team, but Justin Hilliard stood out as someone who was getting a ton of reps. 
• In the defensive backfield, Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette were running with the first team at corner while Damon Webb and Erick Smith continued to be the first-team safeties. Kendall Sheffield, Rodjay Burns, Shaun Wade and Jeffrey Okudah also saw plenty of reps and corner while Jordan Fuller, Wayne Davis and Jahsen Wint all rotated with the second team at safety.
• Speaking of Arnette, he appeared to have a really strong day in coverage in the open viewing portion. The last part we got to see was the "mini field" period where it was a corner, safety and linebacker against a pair of receivers and a tight end and I don't think I saw Arnette allow a completion. He won reps against Binjimen Victor, Brendon White and more.
• Kendall Sheffield also stood out as a guy who figures to play a lot. You can tell he's ready to play right away as this is his third year out of high school.
• I saw former linebacker Raekwon McMillan and cornerback Marshon Lattimore in attendance at practice this morning. Ohio State's Pro Day is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
• Lattimore spent some time talking to Arnette during practice.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, quarterbacks coach Ryan Day and linebackers coach Bill Davis won't be the only new Ohio State coaching faces around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this fall.

The football team returned to practice on Tuesday, and with it came an announcement of additions to Urban Meyer's auxiliary staff. 

Eleven Warriors previously reported the hirings of Baldwin Wallace assistant Ryan Crow, Lou Holtz's grandson, Trey, and former Wake Forest special teams coordinator Adam Scheier.

Other names include former Buckeye wide receiver Brian Hartline and Boston College coach (and former Urban Meyer offensive coordinator) Steve Addazio's son, Louie.

The full list:

They join quality control coaches Matt Thurin and Sean Buckley, as well as graduate assistants Corey Dennis and Randall Joyner. 

Top-seeded Notre Dame will be without its top player when it takes on Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 as Brianna Turner will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, the school announced Tuesday.

The All-American leads the team in scoring as well as rebounding, averaging 15.3 points and 7.1 boards a game. She injured her ACL in the second quarter of Notre Dame's 88-82 overtime win over No. 9 seed Purdue.

Meanwhile, the Buckeye roster will likely get a boost as forward Stephanie Mavunga is practicing with the team and will hopefully be ready to play this weekend, Ohio State coach Kevin MvGuff said.

"She's doing well," McGuff said of her progress. "She's doing really well. Although there's nothing definite yet, I'm cautiously optimistic we'll have her in some capacity this weekend."

The Sweet 16 matchup between No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 5 seed Ohio State will tip off Friday night at 7 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky and will be televised on ESPN2.

Ohio State was back at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Tuesday morning for the the third practice of the spring.

Head coach Urban Meyer was unavailable afterward, so linebackers Chris Worley and Jerome Baker, linebackers coach Bill Davis and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day briefly met with the media instead.

Eleven Warriors filmed the highlights from practice and caught up with all four in the videos posted above.

The first round of the Eleven Warriors' Ohio State Alternate Uniform Bracket went off without a hitch, but — just like this year's NCAA Tournament— saw a major upset in the second round. 

More than 4,000 votes were cast in the Final Four, setting up a matchup between the Buckeyes' most traditional alternate and the biggest deviation thus far. 

FINAL FOUR RESULTS

There was a bit of early hope for Ohio State's first Pro Combat look — the socks push it over the top, in my opinion— but it seems impossible for the voters to disassociate the uniforms from the game in which they were worn. That thought process is what ultimately gave the national championship uniform the 70 percent to 30 percent edge.

The "Cocaine Whites" entered the tournament as an overwhelming favorite, but — just like top-seeded Villanova — came up a bit short when it matter most. Much like the previous matchup, voters couldn't seem to separate the atmosphere of a blacked-out Ohio Stadium from the uniforms themselves, giving the Dark Night set the 58 to 42 edge.

ONE SHINING MOMENT

So it's all come down to this. Dark Night in the Shoe versus the 2015 national championship uniform. Which Ohio State alternate is the best?

Ryan Day didn't need to time on the practice field with J.T. Barrett to figure out what kind of individual Ohio State's quarterbacks coach would be working with in the fifth-year senior and three-time captain.

“Since I've been here, I've been really impressed with the way he's gone about his business. It's like dealing with a pro,” Day said on Tuesday in his first meeting with reporters since the program announced his hire on Jan. 3. “So when you show up to work every day, you better be prepared and you better give him a good plan. He's out here working to get better every day just like everybody else.”

Sound familiar? Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, the man Urban Meyer brought in alongside Day to enhance Ohio State's passing attack, said essentially the same thing two weeks ago. Barrett will start at quarterback for the Buckeyes this fall but Day is the man responsible for getting the most out of the Texan to help the Buckeyes re-balance their offense.

“Obviously the best that they've been here, they've been balanced, 250 and 250. That's the goal,” Day said. “We have to make sure that that's a big part of what we do moving forward.”

That echoes what Meyer says whenever given the opportunity, an example of how the head coach's desires trickle down through staff. The first step to creating that starts on Aug. 31 at Indiana in the season opener — and Day is right in the middle of it.

Here are other highlights from his interview session on Tuesday.

• Day said he has studied every snap of football both Barrett and Joe Burrow has played in college. There isn't just one thing Barrett must do to improve, however: “I know that he's working hard with his footwork and working on throwing the ball in the pocket. He's excellent in play-action pass. It's really just building on what he's done so far in his career here.” Day added later that he "constantly" works with Barrett on his footwork and getting the ball out on time.
• So, what exactly was wrong with Ohio State's downfield passing game the last two seasons? “It's easy to just point the finger at J.T. but I think it was a lot of things. When you go back through, you have to improve the protection, you have to improve the route running, you have to improve the throwing the ball, the timing, the spacing, all those things that we're going to work on this spring. It wasn't just one thing.” Day also said he did not feel that Barrett was hesitant or lacked confidence in the pocket when he watched his tape from 2016.
• The deep passing attack is an emphasis already in spring practice because "every year it is." Day: “Obviously when you complete the deep ball, it changes everything. It's not just the quarterback, it's not just the receivers, it's everybody involved in it. But when you can be explosive in the passing game it makes a huge difference.”
• Day's impressions on each quarterback not named J.T. Barrett:

1.  Joe Burrow: “Very, very impressed. Coach's son, really talented, really smart in the classroom. Can run and can pass. Been really impressed.”
2.  Dwayne Haskins: “Dwayne, talented. You watch him stand in the pocket and deliver the football, you can see the ball spin off his hands when you watch it. Just really jumps out at you how talented he is.”
3. Tate Martell: “Tate's just kind of getting his feet in the ground. Really talented in a different way. The funny thing about those guys, they're all a little bit different. Dwayne is a bit taller guy, can really deliver the ball from the pocket where Tate is more of a run-around guy, make things happen. Joe is kind of a little bit of everything and then J.T., obviously you guys know what he is. All kind of different but all are really hungry to get there.”

• Day said he reached out to Sam Bradford to ask about Wilson once he took the Ohio State job. Both Day and Bradford worked together with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the latter played at Oklahoma when Wilson was offensive coordinator there.
• Day also broke down how Chip Kelly influenced his football coaching career, especially when it pertains to how Meyer wants him to operate at Ohio State: “He wanted me to obviously develop the quarterbacks at a high, high level and coach them just like they're in the NFL. Help continually develop the pass game at a high, high level. Then obviously something that Chip has done in the past that we've done in the past in terms of the tempo and playing really fast, how we call things. That was a big part of the conversation.”
• Day and his wife have three children, ages 8, 6 and 3. Asked if he has a timeframe for his tenure at Ohio State, Day said they bought a house and added, “I would love to be here for a while.”
• Day's ties with Meyer and current Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen since the three worked at Florida in the mid-2000s helped him decide to come to Ohio State: “In 2005 I was at Florida. The connection was Dan Mullen, who grew up in the same hometown that I did. We always stayed friendly and stayed in communication. Coach called me and I would have walked here. It's a great place to be and I'm really lucky to be here ... My wife, we wanted to go to a place that was stable and we couldn't have picked a better place than right here. That's the biggest thing.”
• Just how talented are the four scholarship members of Ohio State's quarterbacks room? “They're talented. Now, it's a matter of when they go to play the game how does that translate. That's what you try to develop as the spring goes along.”

Fickell had been with the Buckeyes as an assistant coach for over a decade — with a one-year stint as interim head coach mixed in — and it wasn't going to be easy for anybody to just step right in and replace him as Ohio State's linebackers coach.

Urban Meyer knew he had the guy he wanted, however.

Bill Davis, a longtime friend of Meyer's, spent all of the 2016 season as a volunteer in Columbus and when Fickell departed, Meyer opted to bring Davis on full-time. He had 20-plus years of coaching experience in the NFL and had been a friend of Meyer's since college, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

“We started out playing college ball together at Cincinnati. He had just finished with the Braves and was walking on because he was a professional athlete," Davis said Tuesday after Ohio State's third spring practice. It was his first meeting with reporters since being hired officially as a full-time assistant Dec. 21.

"We had a lot in common and we both knew we’d get into coaching eventually so that was a bond right from the get-go for us. We just became good friends and as we went on he was ahead of me a little bit. He went out and started coaching and I was still playing. Eventually, I caught up and went the coaching route.”

Davis was the best man in Meyer's wedding so their friendship goes well beyond the game of football. But Meyer clearly trusts Davis, and that's precisely why he handpicked him to replace Fickell on the Ohio State coaching staff.

Below are a few other interesting tidbits from Davis' first public comments since he was hired by Meyer.

• This is Davis' first-ever college coaching job. He coached in the NFL for over 20 years, but has never coached full-time in college before. "The age group is different and that’s probably the biggest thing: the age difference. The schoolwork they have to do, too, where the NFL they don’t have that," Davis said of the transition. "But what a great group of young men we have here. They’re fun to work with and it’s been exciting to see the big bright eyes and wide open guys that are more of an open book that you find in the NFL.”
• As a guy with tons of NFL experience, Davis was asked if the way Meyer runs the Ohio State program is similar to that of an NFL franchise. “As much as it can be," he said. "The difference is the classes the young men have to go to we don’t have in the NFL. The structure of the work is a little bit different, but what separates the Ohio State guys is the total growing of the man. I’m really in awe of how Coach Meyer, the staff and system grows a human being and not just a football player.
• Davis said Ohio State players are NFL-ready when they leave college. "What we’ve found in the NFL is when Ohio State guys come, their mental toughness — because they go through this system of the grind of hard — they come in so mentally tough that it’s tough to trip up Ohio State guys," he said. That’s why you see the young guys succeeding in the NFL."
• Davis said he did have "other opportunities" to return to the NFL but declined because he wanted to try out coaching in college football. "I had a year where I was under contract with the Eagles and didn’t find a spot so the volunteer position was one where I could learn about college football with no intentions and just seeing what was going to present itself," he said. "Had it not presented itself I’d probably be in the NFL with one of the linebacker jobs that I had an opportunity.”
• Davis has never recruited before. This is the first time he's ever had to do it, which is obviously a big portion of college football. "I’m attacking the recruiting trail like the rest of the staff is,” he said.
• A big transition for Davis, schematically, is how to stop the quarterback run game in college. "That conversation about the quarterback running doesn’t exist in the NFL," he said.

A lot was made of Ohio State's youth throughout the 2016 season. The Buckeyes had the youngest team in college football a year after a historic exodus of talent to the NFL. Not many expected that team to bombard Oklahoma in Norman and nearly run the table through a loaded Big Ten conference all the way to the college football playoff, but that's exactly what happened.

The team's success despite its youth would understandably have many Buckeye fans excited for the future. After all, the youngest team in college football crashed the college football playoff, imagine what it could do next season returning nearly its entire roster.

True, Ohio State does return the bulk of its lineup, including the entire defensive line, its star quarterback, a thousand-yard rusher and a group of veteran fifth-year seniors. However, the few players the Buckeyes did lose to graduation and the NFL Draft accounted for a huge percentage of last season's production.

We take a look at just how much production Ohio State lost following the 2016 season, not including the obvious punting numbers, and provide our best guess at who will lead in each category in 2017.

Points

• Key Departures: Tyler Durbin (114), Curtis Samuel (90), Noah Brown (42), Dontre Wilson (36)
• 2016 Team Total: 512 points
• From Departed Players: 306 points
• Percent of Scoring Lost: 59.8 percent

Ohio State lost its top-two point scorers as well as five of its top eight following the 2016 season. Of course, a large percentage of Tyler Durbin's scoring was due to extra points, but it's still production that will need to be replaced and even if you exclude his numbers from the calculation, the Buckeyes still have to replace 48 percent of their scoring.

The biggest story here is Curtis Samuel. Sure, Ohio State returns J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber, who ranked No. 3 and 4 in scoring last season, but their numbers combined account for only three more touchdowns than Samuel had on his own.

It's not likely the Buckeyes will get that kind of scoring out of any one player in 2017. Instead, it will be a by committee approach. I'd expect the total points tally to remain around the same with touchdowns distributed among more players.

Projected Touchdowns Leader in 2017: J.T. Barrett 

In red zone situations, Barrett has a knack for finding the end zone. There's a reason he was named the designated red zone quarterback in 2015 before taking sole control of the offense over Cardale Jones by season's end.

Mike Weber will be near the top as well, but I think Barrett will find the end zone just a few more times.

Rushing Yards

• Key Departures: Curtis Samuel (771), Dontre Wilson (78), Cameron Johnston (3)
• 2016 Team Total: 3,188 rushing yards
• From Departed Players: 852 rushing yards
• Percent Lost: 26.8 percent

26.8 percent is not a lot of production to lose, in the grand scheme of things, but it is when you realize nearly that entire number comes from one player. Curtis Samuel rushed for 771 yards last season, accounting for 24.2 percent of the team's total rushing yards.

Ohio State does return its two leading rushers in J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber, but Samuel was the team's top home run hitter, averaging more yards per carry than either of the other two.

Projected Rushing Leader in 2017: Mike Weber

Weber is a pretty safe pick considering he was a thousand-yard rusher as a freshman and is the team's top running back even with Samuel on the team. He'll almost surely lead the team in rushing in 2017. Meanwhile, Demario McCall and Parris Campbell will likely get some of Samuel's carries.

Receiving Yards

• Key Departures: Curtis Samuel (865), Noah Brown (402), Dontre Wilson (352)
• 2016 Team Total: 2,781 receiving yards
• From Departed Players: 1,708 receiving yards
• Percentage Lost: 61.4 percent

Not to beat a dead horse here, but Curtis Samuel...

This has been one of the major storylines of the offseason: production, or lack thereof, from zone-6. With the departures of Samuel, Noah Brown and Dontre Wilson, Ohio State lost its top three receivers, and fourth on that list is Marcus Baugh, a tight end.

Only three returning receivers even have over 100-yards receiving in their career and only three returning members of zone-6 actually found zone-6 last season. Quite simply, after a few departures, Ohio State has some work to do on the receiving end.

Projected Receiving Leader in 2017: K.J. Hill

Hill is the most accomplished returning receiver of the bunch. He caught 18 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown in 2016. While those numbers are modest for a top receiver, Hill will likely have a much-expanded roll in 2017 with the departures of Samuel, Brown and Wilson.

Another name to watch is Binjimen Victor. The true freshman caught just four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown last season, but with a year in the weight room and some experience under his belt, it's likely he'll be one of the top receivers in 2017.

Tackles

• Key Departures: Raekwon McMillan (49), Malik Hooker (43), Marshon Lattimore (30), Gareon Conley (21)
• 2016 Team Total: 484 solo tackles
• From Departed Players: 153 solo tackles
• Percentage Lost: 31.6 percent

For the purposes of this discussion, we only included solo tackles. The numbers may look slightly different if assisted tackles were also included, but in this case the numbers are comparable and it's easier to find a true percentage of tackles lost.

With the departures of Raekwon McMillan and Malik Hooker, Ohio State will need to replace two of their top-three leading tacklers in 2017. McMillan, the team's tackling leader, was the only Buckeye to have over 100 total tackles on the season.

Projected Tackles Leader in 2017: Chris Worley

Worley was fourth on the team in tackles in 2016 from his outside linebacker spot. If he does make the move to the middle linebacker position in 2017, those numbers will likely go up.

Interceptions

• Key Departures: Malik Hooker (7), Marshon Lattimore (4), Gareon Conley (4)
• 2016 Team Total: 21 interceptions
• From Departed Players: 15 interceptions
• Percentage Lost: 71.4 percent

When you lose 75 percent of your starting secondary, only losing 71.4 percent of your interceptions is pretty good!

It's going to be difficult to replicate the turnovers created by the Buckeye secondary in 2016, particularly with the loss of ball-hawking Malik Hooker. Still, Ohio State's defensive scheme isn't going to change much (or at all), so interceptions will come. They're just going to have to come from other players.

The returning player with the most interceptions last season is Jerome Baker, but I have a sneaky suspicion he will not lead the team in picks in 2017. It will likely be on of the three new members of the secondary.

Projected Interceptions Leader in 2017: Erick Smith/Jordan Fuller

I believe whoever wins the safety job — Jordan Fuller or Erick Smith — will lead the team in interceptions simply because of the nature of the position. Smith is getting most of the starting reps currently, but Fuller will make a push.

CALIFORNIA LOVE

Once five-star safety commit Jaiden Woodbey set his sights on San Diego, California, St. Augustine four-star cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart, it was only a matter of time before Ohio State offered him a scholarship. Late Monday night, the Buckeyes delivered.

Great talk with @OSUCoachMeyer and @OSUCoachSchiano and thankful to receive a scholarship offer to The Ohio State University #Buckeyes#OSUpic.twitter.com/PztknVxYG6

— Isaac Taylor-Stuart (@Kingathlete5) March 21, 2017

"He put in a couple words," Taylor-Stuart told Eleven Warriors. "It means a lot. I've been wanting this offer for such a long time, since going into my freshman year. It's crazy great to have this."

The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Taylor-Stuart is considered the fourth-best cornerback and No, 28 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He holds 30 offers from programs such as Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC and Washington.

Taylor-Stuart starred on both sides of the ball for the Saints last season, as he racked up 754 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns and recorded 41 tackles, two tackles and one interception.

OFFER AROUND THE CORNER?

Frisco, Texas, Wakeland three-star offensive tackle Rafiti Ghirmai included Ohio State in his Top 10 on Monday evening alongside Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, TCU and UCLA. It marks the second time this week a prospect without an offer included the Buckeyes among his top schools.

TOP 10 pic.twitter.com/gvei4kysBP

— Rafiti Ghirmai (@RafitiGhirmai) March 20, 2017

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Ghirmai is considered the 26th-best offensive tackle and No. 356 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He's recently been in contact with Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, which is where the interest in the Buckeyes comes from.

With offers out to a dozen other players at his position, it's hard to see how Ghirmai fits into Ohio State's plans at this time. But, much like three-star wide receiver signee Elijah Gardiner in 2017, he could become a realistic option late in the process.

UP-AND-COMER

Staying in Texas, Ohio State director of player personnel Mark Pantoni and wide receivers coach Zach Smith recently reached out to Schertz Samuel Clemens four-star wide receiver Tommy Bush. And though the conversations are on a get-to-know-you level, the Buckeyes already stand out.

“Ohio State stays at the top by developing players and graduates a high percentage of their football players,” Bush told Eleven Warriors. “[I] just love the history of the university and the big-time value of an Ohio State degree.”

The 6-foot-5, 187-pound Bush is considered the 48th-best wideout and No. 309 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He holds nearly 40 offers from programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA and Virginia Tech, but an offer from Ohio State would be huge.

“[The Buckeyes] would jump right up there. I would absolutely love one,” Bush said. “I have never been to Ohio State, but if offered, I would no doubt hit the campus this summer.”

Bush, a soon-to-be Under Armour All-American, had 25 catches for 395 yards and five touchdowns for the Buffaloes last season. He also recently posted the fourth-best score at Nike's The Opening Regional event in Houston, which included a 4.47 40-yard dash and 4.14 shuttle.

MALIK HOOKER 2.0

When it comes to handing out offers to in-state prospects, Ohio State is a little more cautious since — of course — a kid who grew up watching the Buckeyes every Saturday is more likely to commit earlier in the process than one from out of state. But that doesn't mean the staff ignores them altogether, either.

One in-state name to keep in mind down the road is Akron Archbishop Hoban three-star wide receiver/safety Nate Bauer, who will visit Ohio State this Saturday.

“Coach [Ryan] Day has been recruiting me and he asked me to come to one of the spring practices,” Bauer told Eleven Warriors. “This seemed like a good day to come.”

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Bauer is considered the 168th-best wideout and No. 1,107 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, though the Buckeyes are recruiting him as a safety. He currently holds offers from Akron, Boston College, Buffalo, Miami (OH), Minnesota, Syracuse and Toledo, but said an Ohio State offer would be a game-changer.

“It's always been a dream school to me, and I love the way they compete,” Bauer said.

The local team put on the pads for the first time since January yesterday. Offensive lineman Branden Bowen reflected afterward:

My body hasn't felt like this in a long time

— Branden Bowen (@BrandenBowen) March 21, 2017

Just wait until they get older and can injure their necks for a week by sleeping on it wrong for 20 minutes. Then they'll know real pain. 

ICYMI:

• Offensive practice observations.
• Defensive practice observations.
• OSU announced auxiliary hiring of Lou Holtz's grandson, Steve Addazio's son, Brian Hartline, and others.
• Jim Harbaugh: "I try to emulate [Woody Hayes]."
• Linebackers coach Bill Davis and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day meet with the media for the first time.
• The alternate jersey championship.
• A to-do list for every Ohio State men's basketballer.

Word of the Day: Insouciance.

 PARRIS AT H? Demario McCall seemed like a shoe-in to replace Curtis Samuel at H-Back. It turns out dipshit bloggers don't pick the depth chart.

Ohio State has deployed Parris Campbell in the slot during the spring's opening practice. It seems like preparation for filling Samuel's shoes this fall.

From cleveland.com:

Campbell looked like a natural at kick returner toward the end of last season, but he's never quite looked comfortable as a pass-catching threat. The former high school running back has had problems with drops and route running, and it's fair to wonder if he might get passed over by some of the young talent.

But there was an interesting revelation on the first day of spring practice: Campbell was working with a group of slot receivers. That could be a good move for him, especially if that means he could get some H-back time too. With his speed, there's no question that Campbell is dangerous with the ball in his hands, it's just been a struggle to get it to him. A slot/H-back role could get him the ball quicker and easier.

Campbell's production has never matched Urban Meyer's effusive praise. There are times he looks capable of being the best player on the field and others he disappears for long stretches. Such is how it goes for receivers in Meyer's distributive offense.

It's a new year, though. If guys like Ben Victor and KJ. Hill take a leap like Campbell apparently has, it's all bad news for opposing defenses.

 A CRITICAL REVIEW OF BUCKEYE BATTLE CRY. The school fight song is one of the strongest weapons available for university propagandists. It can be used celebrating a local touchdown or as background music while a gaggle of 400-pound mammoths in bootleg jerseys shotgun tallboys of Miller Lite in the Shoe parking lot seven hours before kickoff. 

Don't take my homer-ass opinion for it, though.

From Spencer Hall of everydayshouldbesaturday.com:

First of all, it’s got a good name: THE BUCKEYE BATTLE CRY. It’s illogical, because nuts cannot cry or even sing, much less engage in battle or warfare of any sort. All fight songs should start at illogical nonsense, and then move forward towards incoherence from there. The title is good, Ohio State. This is a very good title indeed.

Second, it’s authentic vaudeville-style bom-bompery, another plus when you’re talking about fight songs. Most fight songs for major universities were written out of (or just plain stolen) from military marches or ragtime jazz. We prefer ragtime jazz, since it shares so much of what we consider to be essential college football identity: Near-chaos, rampant fraud, black market economics, and a generally festive atmosphere bordering on something that should be broken up by the authorities. 

[...]

Third: it was actually written by a vaudeville guy, Frank Crumit, who actually went to Ohio State, and looks appropriately miserable for someone writing a seminal piece of America’s Most Vocally Miserable State’s culture.

That settles it; Buckeye Battle Cry is objectively good. 

It's also weird to think that, should the fabric of the republic ever decay to the point of another Civil War, this song would absolutely be used as marching music for Ohioan infantry.

 J.T. BARRETT: TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL. Most college students don't earn degrees before taking a "victory lap" semester in college. J.T. Barrett is too smart for such shenanigans.

Barrett graduated last fall and will only take online classes now.

From Jacob Myers of The Lantern:

Since Barrett graduated in the fall, his entire life has been dedicated to the program.

“I have my degree, so with that, school is taken care of. And now it’s really ball,” Barrett said. “That’s what I have left here at Ohio State. I’m taking a couple classes. They’re online. So right now, my life is football, literally. Now it’s literally just ball.”

Barrett had been framed as one of the maladies that plagued OSU’s passing offense that ranked 81st in the country in 2016. He certainly had his struggles throwing the ball last season, but that was one of the least of the offense’s problems.

People can go down on a ship grumbling about Barrett if they want. I'm all-in on a comeback season. If that lands me at the bottom of the ocean, so be it.

 THE EDUCATION OF NICK BOSA. Fast casual diners are a gambit in that you never know how workers are feeling about doling out the protein. Did their wife leave them? Are they a Michigan fan? The questions never cease.

Nick Bosa went to Chipotle and Fortuna, that capricious sprite, did not side with him.

Chipotle servers act like extra chicken is coming out of their pay check...

— Nick Bosa (@nbsmallerbear) March 21, 2017

But lo! Allow a Twitter user to showcase the "work smart, not hard" mantra:

@nbsmallerbear just pretend like you don't want extra and then once they put a whole scoop on, hit em with the extra

— alli (@YoderAlli) March 21, 2017

Sure, the hustle guarantees an "extra meat" surcharge, but it also guarantees you'll have satisfactory meat. Seems like an easy decision.

 WOAH, NELLY! Somewhere on another timeline, O.J. Simpson played for Woody Hayes at Ohio State:

That's quite an endorsement. pic.twitter.com/pvdd2saYDu

— Ramzy Nasrallah (@ramzy) March 21, 2017

Thanks to Ramzy for showing me that. Hopefully, he won't mind that I spend the rest of the day pondering "What if?" scenarios rather than work.

 THOSE WMDs. The NBA's secret PB&J addiction... American farmers hack their tractors with Ukrainian hardware... The Rough N Rowdy, where a forgotten town dukes it out every year... Word up! The story behind The New York Times' most famous tweet.