From: TheLantern.com -- For a 12th consecutive year, the Ohio State football team is heading to a bowl game. In Luke Fickell's final game as head coach, OSU will take on the University of Florida in the Gator Bowl Jan. 2. Here's a look at what the Buckeyes can expect in Jacksonville, Fla. What will new OSU head coach Urban Meyer's role be in helping prepare OSU for the Gator Bowl? Meyer said Dec. 11 that he would not travel with ... Read More

From: OhioStateBuckeyes.com -- PONTE VEDRO, FLA. - Ohio State held its third TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl practice in the state of Florida Wednesday. The team went through 18 five-minute periods plus a five-minute stretch session under slightly overcast skies but still with plenty of sunshine and blue visible. "It was a good practice today," coach Luke Fickell said. "I felt like the guys got after it and really gave a good effort out there today." Practice started about 9:45 a.m. and the ... Read More

By Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) —  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- At the start of the season, it looked as if Ohio State may have almost too many tailbacks, with five legitimate candidates fighting for carries. Now it looks as if none of those running backs will wind up playing in every game this season, with a missed flight just one more way not to be on the field. Redshirt freshman running back Rod Smith missed the Buckeyes' team ... Read More

From: AlligatorArmy.com - - The Ohio State rushing attack is far more dangerous than the passing attack we discussed yesterday. Ohio State's running game is ranked a decent 27th nationally, and gains 195.42 yards per game. Most of their yardage is gained from a spread option offense. Quarterback Braxton Miller leads the Buckeyes with just under 700 rushing yards, but the Buckeyes have a very balanced running game. Three players have rushed for more than 500 yards on more than ... Read More

From: AP via FoxNews.com --  For players breaking rules and having its coach conceal those infractions, Ohio State ended up with a one-year bowl ban, the loss of nine scholarships over three years and a new coach with two national championship rings. "I feel closure, yes," Ohio State President Gordon Gee said Tuesday night, hours after the NCAA announced it sanctions against Ohio State. "I feel very much closure. I'm disappointed on the one hand but on the other ... Read More

By: Pat McManamon (FOXSportsOhio.com) --  A wise man once explained that while poverty is an injustice, the NCAA is simply inexplicable. It wasn’t Confucius who said it, but it was Confucian in its simple logic. Because the NCAA makes a habit of baffling, incoherent, near-absurd rulings, and it makes them with all the pomposity of a British know-it-all traipsing through Australia in the penal colony days. It’s even easy to imagine NCAA suits making the decisions with the same Derby ... Read More

From: Vindy.com -- COLUMBUS - Despite playing in just six of Ohio State’s 12 games this season, Warren Harding High graduate Daniel “Boom” Herron was named the Buckeyes’ most valuable player at Sunday’s annual team banquet. Herron, a senior RB who was suspended for the first five weeks for OSU’s tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal and suspeneded another for overpayment from a booster, rushed for 596 yards and three TDs over the final six weeks. Herron was also named one of ... Read More

By John Kampf (News-Herald.com) --  "I will never lose to those scrubs again." OSU defensive back Bradley Roby via Twitter, @BradRoby25 "It was a big, nutty game. We were trying to make sure we'd bring back the pants." OSU linebacker Ryan Shazier "I thought he had it. Maybe the wind took it." OSU QB Braxton Miller, on his late pass to DeVier Posey "Right now, Coach Fick is in charge." OSU defensive end John Simon, when asked of the coaching situation at Ohio ... Read More

By: Zac Jackson (Yardbarker.com) -- There's a big game in Ann Arbor on Saturday, and for the first time since 2004, Ohio State is the underdog. Below are three reasons the Buckeyes can beat Michigan -- and three reasons they can't. 1. All that's swirling around the program should galvanize and energize the Buckeyes Luke Fickell knows these could be his last days on the job at Ohio State, but he had all the right answers this week when talking about this game. ... Read More

From: AlongTheOlentangy.com -- It's been a year of opposites for Michigan and Ohio State. In Brady Hoke's first season as the Wolverines head coach, he's flipped their fortunes around from the Rich Rodriguez-era. Michigan stands at 9-3, already guaranteed their best record since 2007. Jim Tressel, the bane of Michigan's existence,  was forcibly retired following a messy NCAA scandal. Luke Fickell, his earnest replacement, struggled to maintain the past decade's success and has endured heated criticism ... Read More