Why is this news?: Ohio State's recruiting class by the numbers, a look at Tim Beck

"No doubt. I mean Harbaugh's presence was felt up north, no doubt about it. He went in there guns a-blazing trying to get the best player in his state, which he should."

- Stan Drayton, Ohio State running backs coach

Ohio State might have won the first installment of the recruiting war with Jim Harbaugh up at Michigan, but that doesn't mean they can expect that to happen every year. In just over a month Harbaugh was able to salvage some of Michigan's 2015 recruiting class, and going forward with even more time to develop relationships with recruits to try and lure them to Ann Arbor, things might not be so easy going forward for Urban Meyer and company.

The biggest battle between Meyer and Harbaugh came for Cass Tech running back Mike Weber. After originally committing to Michigan, Weber flipped to Ohio State during the fall following the issues the Michigan football program was going through under Brady Hoke. Harbaugh made a push to regain the commitment of Weber once he took the job at his alma mater, but fell just short of gaining Weber's LOI. Still the push made Meyer and his staff devote resources to keeping the commitment of Weber. Apparently Michigan also made a push to gain Weber's teammate Joshua Alabi, as well as quarterback Joe Burrow. If the competition on the field between the schools is as fierce as what was seen early in battling for recruits, fans of the rivalry will be in for quite a treat when "The Game" is played the next few years.

"4: Number of top-ten classes Urban Meyer has signed since taking the Ohio State coaching job in 2011."

- Miles Joseph, BuckeyeGrove.com

Was the Land-Grant Holy Land Ohio State 2015 recruiting class feature not enough to wet your whistle? Miles Joseph from BuckeyeGrove.com takes a look at Ohio State's 2015 recruiting class by the numbers. With only two recruits commitment before May 27th, 2014, the Buckeye class finished strong. June saw Ohio State gain the commitments from six recruits, which was the most productive of any month for the Buckeyes on the recruiting trail. With Ohio State earning the commitments of 27 total recruits in the class, June was responsible for over 20% of 2015 class for the Buckeyes.

Urban Meyer has become known as a master of flipping recruits and this year was no different, with the head coach being able to flip 12 recruits in the class. Flipping wide receiver K.J. Hill and adding offensive lineman Isaiah Prince late in the recruiting process only added shine to a impressive 2015 Ohio State class. While Ohio State wasn't immune to having their recruits flipped, they only had three commits suffer a change of heart during their recruiting process. Meyer and his staff have also branched out to other states to try and find top talent, with 11 states being represented in the recruiting class. All these numbers and more resulted in the Buckeyes having the ninth best recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com.

"We like the concept that we've developed for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Going forward we think that's the right model for college football."

- Larry Scott, Pac-12 commissioner

Despite a request from ESPN, the College Football Playoff is sticking with the New Year's Eve dates for the semifinals to be played in the coming year. While the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl are hosting the semifinals this year on a Thursday, ESPN was requesting the move to January 2nd, which falls on a Saturday, since it is more of a fan-friendly date, and would counteract any possible drop in ratings with the semifinals happening during the week on New Year's Eve.

The 12-year contract ESPN and the College Football Playoff entered into stipulates that the semifinals, as well as the other four bowl games that are included in the College Football Playoff rotation, be played on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. The reasoning for this is to put some importance back into the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day bowl games, which had become less and less important over the years. The reasoning for the College Football Playoff rejecting ESPN's request is with this only being the second year of the 12-year contract, they weren't looking to make changes to go against the original agreement so soon into the contract.

"I think when Tom had his opportunities to go they were looking for a guy that coaches quarterbacks, and maybe had the Ohio roots, recruiting Texas, possibly, knowing the Big Ten conference. So I think it was a pretty good marriage."

- Tim Beck, Ohio State co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Once Tom Herman agreed to be the Houston head coach before the College Football Playoff semifinals, Urban Meyer knew he had to be on the lookout for an quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator to fill Herman's shoes. With the staff changes at Nebraska after Bo Pelini's firing, offensive coordinator Tim Beck hit the market and was a candidate Meyer couldn't pass up. Just a couple days after beating Oregon to win the College Football Playoff, Meyer made official the news that Beck had been chosen to take Herman's role as one of Meyer's assistants.

Along with Beck's past experience as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, he was brought in because of the experience he already has in recruiting the talent-rich state of Texas. Herman had already made some in-roads in the state, which was shown by earning the commitments of players like Dontre' Wilson and Demetrius Knox over the past couple years. It doesn't hurt either that Beck was the passing-game coordinator at Kansas in 2007 while current Ohio State co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ed Warinner was serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for a Jayhawk team that went 12-1. Meyer is hoping Beck and Warinner can find similar success for the Buckeyes in the future, and it shouldn't be hard this coming year for Ohio State with the tremendous talent they have not only on offense, but especially at the quarterback position.

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