Cleared
— Jordan Fuller (@j_fuller4) July 2, 2019
It looks like the Ohio State Buckeyes defense will get one of their leaders back, as safety Jordan Fuller put out a good omen on Twitter Tuesday afternoon—tweeting that he’s “cleared.”
Last season, Fuller was one of the most important pieces on defense. Playing in 13 games, he picked up a team-leading 61 unassisted tackles, and had a team-tying 81 total tackles. In one of his best games, Fuller had 12 total tackles (nine of them being unassisted) against Minnesota. And against the likes of Northwestern and Washington, his tackling preserved OSU victories. The Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl wins featured Fuller making nine total tackles in each contest.
A leader on the field and in the classroom, expect Fuller to be one of the guys Ryan Day leans on in his first season in charge of the program. So far, the safety has played three seasons in Columbus, and was named a team captain last season. And along the way, he was an academic All-American and All-Big Ten selection.
If Fuller can be 100 percent by the time Week 1 rolls around, the combination of him, Brendon White and Shaun Wade will make a scary secondary.
“Two years later, after Kelly parted ways with San Francisco, Meyer reached out to Day to offer him a job as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Two years after that, we sit on the edge of the official start to the post-Meyer era at Ohio State with Day being the one tasked with carrying on a seemingly unsustainable level of success set by his predecessor.”
Success is a big thing within the Buckeye football program. Whether on the field or in the classroom, Ohio State has brought home trophies and 3.0 GPAs. In an article by Chip Patterson of CBS Sports, he breaks down how success will be defined in the Day era, and how the criteria can be achieved.
On the field, the obvious: beat Michigan. Urban Meyer never lost to Michigan as head coach at OSU, and there’s an expectation that Day keeps up the streak. Personally, I think that’s the biggest key to success as the head coach of the Buckeyes. As long as you can beat the archrival, you can stay afloat. It’s when you start stringing together losses against UM that you end up on the hot seat. Just look at John Cooper. He’s a Hall of Fame coach, but a 2-10-1 record against the team up north is a very big blemish on a great résumé. On the flipside, look at Lloyd Carr when he was at the helm of the Wolverines. The 1990s were great to him and his squad, but when Jim Tressel rolled into town, everything flipped.
Patterson breaks down the relationships for success. Including Meyer-Day, Meyer-Gene Smith, Meyer-2019 roster and Day-2019 roster.
Each of the those relationships will play a role in how successful the program will be this season. Of those, I think the roster relationships will be huge. Players who’ve been in the program for a couple seasons are used to Meyer being coach, and with the change in coaches comes a change in how they respond. Things they’re used to may change. There may also be some relearning, too. That’s a necessary step in coaching transitions, but it takes time to adjust.
Definitely keep an eye out for these relationships as the season progresses. I think Patterson is spot on.
Updated Odds to win the 2019-20 National Championship (via SuperBookUSA):
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) July 1, 2019
Alabama - 9/4
Clemson - 9/4
Georgia - 6/1
Michigan - 12/1
Ohio State - 14/1
Oklahoma - 16/1
LSU - 20/1
Texas - 25/1
Auburn - 30/1
Nebraska - 30/1
On Monday, SuperBookUSA released their odds for the national championship. The Buckeyes had the fifth best odds, sitting behind Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and...Michigan. Granted, questions still remain on how well Day and Justin Fields will perform in Columbus, but the Buckeye defense brings back experience.
That got me thinking: How confident are the other sportsbooks when it comes to OSU? (Note: these odds reflect the postings as of 6:15 p.m. ET, July 2, 2019)
At BetOnline, they have Ohio State as the fourth best team to win the championship, coming in at +1000 (10/1). In their eyes, Alabama, Clemson and Georgia are the only teams ahead of the Buckeyes. However, only Alabama and Clemson are their picks as favorites to make the College Football Playoff. Meaning, everyone else has an odds listing that favors toward the ‘No’ side rather than the ‘Yes’ side.
At Bovada, Ohio State has a 9/1 chance of being crowned national champion—once again behind Alabama, Clemson and Georgia.
Remember: odds are fluid and can change in an instant. With that being said, Ohio State is a very real contender when it comes to the title race, even with questions around a new head coach and quarterback.
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