Ohio State Online

Found at ESPN:

The Big Ten on Monday completed its prime-time football schedule for 2013, a slate that includes a record 18 games, three more than the league’s previous high of 15 in 2011. But the hope of many Big Ten fans to have night football in November will have to wait at least another year. Although commissioner Jim Delany and several athletic directors said in February that the Big Ten is open to November night games – the league previously has operated under an agreement with its television partners not to schedule prime-time games after Nov. 1 — there are none on this year’s schedule. 

It just wasn’t aligned this year,” said Big Ten senior associate commissioner for television administration Mark Rudner, who crafts the football schedule every year. “But moving forward, we’ll have ‘em. Whether it’s in 2014 0r 2015, we’ll see some.” 

The first thing to remember when it comes to prime-time games is that TV makes the selections and the participating schools also have to be on board. ESPN/ABC has six prime-time picks per season, and this year, it filled all of its slots with games before Nov. 1. That two Big Ten teams — Michigan and Purdue — host Notre Dame this season factored into the decisions, as did Michigan’s recent willingness to play home games at night. The number of attractive Big Ten games scheduled for September or October — like Wisconsin at Ohio State and Michigan at Penn State — also shaped the selection process. 

A 14-week season with two open dates per team might have been the biggest reason why the Big Ten has no November games in prime time. There will be only four Big Ten games in Weeks 7 and 9 this season. 

“Instead of putting 48 [conference] games into nine weeks, you’re putting them into 10 weeks,” Rudner said. “It just thins out the inventory. ABC and ESPN have got to make sure that they have the games they need to have in the afternoon. … [BTN] wanted their [November] games in the afternoon.” 

The 2014 season also lasts 14 weeks rather than 13, but Rudner didn’t rule out November night games taking place next fall. Again, it depends on how many appealing games take place before the calendar flips, and whether TV can put good games into the other windows. 

The Big Ten’s November slate features some great matchups, but few that looked like realistic possibilities for prime time. For example, Ohio State and Michigan don’t want The Game to be played at night (Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told the Columbus Dispatch he would be open to a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, rather than the traditional noon kickoff). Michigan and Michigan State meet Nov. 2 in East Lansing, but I’ve been told that neither team wants the rivalry game to take place at night. Nebraska-Michigan is another appealing November game this year, but Michigan has no interest in a second home night game. If the game were in Lincoln on the same date (Nov. 9), you might see it in prime time. 

The Big Ten seems to be seeing the light about prime-time games, which drive today’s college football. But night football isn’t part of the Big Ten’s culture as much as it is the SEC’s or the Big 12′s. The Big Ten continues to place a premium on the first two Saturday TV windows (noon ET and 3:30 p.m. ET), and so do its TV partners. 

“Saturday afternoon is still the gold standard in college football,” Rudner said. “Whether it’s the noon window or the 3:30 window, that’s pretty good real estate to be in.” Some still would argue the 8 p.m. window is Park Avenue. And despite this year’s slate, the Big Ten hopes to sign a November lease in the near future. ”We’re not going to shy away from it,” Rudner said. “It just didn’t happen this year.”

Found at ESPN:

The process of self-evaluation started with his physical skills.

Those checked out just fine, certainly good enough to play on Sundays next fall.

Hardly anybody works harder on the mental side of the game, either, so Bradley Robyticked off another box on his NFL-ready checklist.

 Bradley Roby already has the physical tools to play in the NFL, but coaches are pushing him to raise the play of the entire secondary.

Had he stopped there, the decision seemed pretty easy for an ESPN.com first-team All-America cornerback who was eligible to put his name in for the draft thanks to a redshirt season when he first arrived on campus at Ohio State. But the more Roby thought about it, the longer he waited to make his plans official, there were two things nagging at him as he debated leaving the Buckeyes.

 And he could conceivably take care of both of them simultaneously by returning for one more run as a junior.

“The NFL isn’t going anywhere,” Roby said. “It did take me awhile. I wasn’t really sure; I had to think about it a lot and go over it. Time to time I talked to 10,000 people about it, and I prayed about it. One day I had that feeling, I just had a feeling that I’m not ready yet.

“I’m physically ready on the field and mentally, but it’s just not my time yet.”

That message is reinforced in an Ohio State meeting room for the cornerbacks, where position coach Kerry Coombs has posted a goal that both reinforces Roby’s pro-level talent and validates his call to stick around for another year.

Like every other defensive back Coombs works with, Roby’s name and picture are posted with a goal specific to him at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. But the target for Roby has nothing to do with improving his coverage skills, developing on-field awareness or devoting more time to studying the game.

For a player who has made it well known he wants to win a championship before leaving the program, Coombs zeroed in on an area in which Roby did have ample room to grow in the offseason — and challenged him for everybody to see.

“The No. 1 goal for him is to be a verbal force in the team,” Coombs said. “That is what he’s doing. In the meeting room. He’s teaching those young guys. What does that do? It helps him develop as a player.

“He’s got to have something to say, first of all. It helps him develop as a leader, which is important to us and important to him. And it makes those kids much better, because the guy who is in the fire is different than the old guy standing behind them. I think he’s doing a great service to the team that way.”

At times during spring camp, finding and developing his voice was about the only work Roby could do. That was partly due to a nagging shoulder injury that kept him out of some full-contact situations such as the spring game, but it also was by design of the coaching staff since the Buckeyes didn’t need Roby to prove anything physically a year after breaking up 17 passes, intercepting two more and finishing third on the team in tackles.

Coombs made a point midway through spring of holding Roby out of scrimmage and forcing him into an unofficial coaching role on the sideline, expecting his top cornerback to engage the rest of the guys in the secondary with tips and observations whenever they came off the field. And considering that at one point heading into last season, coach Urban Meyer was publicly calling out Roby for complacency during workouts in which he was an active participant, the transformation into a veteran with a vocal presence in the locker room and on the field might just about complete the total package. 

“If I’m a better leader, the younger guys are going to be better. If the young guys are better, we’re going to be better [as a team]. As we’re better, we’re going to be on TV more. We’re on TV more, I’m going to make more plays. See what I’m saying? Everything is going to fall into place once I’m a better leader.”

The first domino tipped over when Roby eventually settled on coming back to Ohio State for one last season, which kept Meyer from needing to replace both of his starting cornerbacks from last season.

That should allow the Buckeyes to keep one of the most heralded signing classes of defensive backs on the sideline for a year, giving them valuable time to develop. It also figures to provide some security for the defense overall, which must find six new starters in the front seven but has no shortage of experience in the back end with Roby and senior safeties C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant in the fold.

And if Roby actually does take another step forward in terms of on-field production, perhaps while helping his team chase down that title he so desperately wants, he might find the NFL even more ready for him than vice versa.

“It was 50-50 [to stay or go], but at the same time, I’m not even thinking about that anymore,” Roby said. “It was a tough decision, but at the end of the day, I feel like I made the right one.

“I put that behind me, and most likely it’s going to be better things to come in the future.”

There’s not much doubt where he will be headed at this time a year from now. But Roby has a couple of important matters to attend to before then.

Found at ESPN:

Braxton Miller showed up at the Ohio State football complex on Wednesday with a surprise under his Toronto Raptors cap. 

Miller dyed the middle strip of his hair bright blonde while shaving down the sides, creating a “fro hawk” that was reminiscent of former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu’s ‘do. The Buckeyes quarterback unveiled the look during a spring kickoff luncheon, drawing gasps from the fans in attendance. 

The highlighter-yellow color wasn’t the only reason for shock. Miller normally isn’t one to draw attention to himself, outside of his jaw-dropping moves on the football field. Despite finishing fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and leading a 12-0 team last season as a sophomore, he still manages to maintain a relatively low profile. 

“If you didn’t know him and you saw him walking down the street, you would never know that was Braxton Miller,” Ohio State offensive tackle Jack Mewhort said. “He doesn’t talk about all that stuff. It’s like he doesn’t want the spotlight.” 

Miller had some posters made up of his recent Sports Illustrated cover, but he hasn’t hung them up. He hasa Twitter account but uses it mostly to talk to friends. A normal night, he said, involves going home after practice or film work, studying some more football on his iPad and “chilling with the homies at the house.” He laughed when I asked him if he’d ever be spotted courtside at an NBA game or posing with celebrities likeTexas A&M’s Heisman winner, Johnny Manziel. 

“I don’t go out much,” he said. “I’m not out there to get seen or to get talked about. That’s not in my blood.” 

It’s hard to hide when you’re the reigning Big Ten offensive player of the year and a leading 2013 Heisman candidate for a team that should be ranked in the preseason Top 5. But it’s unlikely you’ll hear Miller stumping for his Heisman chances like South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney has done. 

“He’s one of the greatest kids I’ve ever been around,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “He’s so humble. That’s unique for a starting quarterback who has that kind of exposure.” 

Miller’s actions have always spoken louder, anyway. He’s already created volumes of highlights in less than two full years as a starter, leaving defenders grasping for air with his open-field — and sometimes open-air – moves. But Meyer said Miller — who ran for 1,271 yards and 13 touchdowns last season — has thus far gotten by mostly on pure athleticism. The next step is for him to master the fundamentals and become a precise passer. 

He completed just 58.3 percent of his passes last season, placing him in the lower half of Big Ten starting quarterbacks in that regard. Meyer said Miller’s mechanics often broke down whenever there was pressure or he was scrambling to make a play. 

“He’s probably the best athlete I’ve ever coached at that position, which is a great thing but also a hindrance,” Meyer said. “He gets away with things lesser athletes don’t, and it’s gotten him out of so much trouble. That’s great, and I don’t want to lose that. We just have to coach him through it.” 

Miller worked with private quarterback coach George Whitfield Jr. this offseason to hone his footwork and throwing motion, a process that has continued under offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Tom Herman. Reviews of his progress this spring have been positive so far. 

“He’s been working on his mechanics, and his arm looks way better,” cornerback Bradley Robysaid. “I already see him getting better, and we still have a whole summer. It’s going to be scary once he gets it all down.” 

Miller admits he has more work to do on his fundamentals, and that he has to concentrate on maintaining them when he’s on the move, where he’s made some of his biggest plays as a Buckeye. His goal is to complete 70 percent of his passes this season, which he thinks is realistic because of the improvement of his receiving corps and a better knowledge of the offensive system. 

“The sky’s the limit, really,” he said. “Last year, the concepts of the plays were so different, but now it’s like the back of my hand. I know where everybody is going to be and I know how to get them open. It’s going to be fun.” 

Like it or not, Miller will be one of the most scrutinized players in college football next season. And if he can make great strides as a passer — to go along with his running ability and knack for clutch plays — more than just his hair will be shining brightly in Columbus this season.