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Heyward says he's staying ... as of now
AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — What's brewing today with the 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes ...
BUCKEYES BUZZ: Almost 100 percent of all juniors who jump to the NFL early say during the season that they'll be back in college the following year.
DE Cameron Heyward said this week that he intended to return to Ohio State for his senior season.
"I've already thought that I'm coming back for next year," Heyward said. "I want to help this team as much as I can because they've given so much to me."
None of the early mock drafts have an Ohio State player listed in the first round although in the murky world where everyone with a PC is an expert, that can change in an instant.
Three Buckeyes gave up their senior season to turn pro a year ago. RB Chris "Beanie" Wells went late in the first round to Arizona, CB Donald Washington was taken in the fourth round by Kansas City and WR Brian Hartline was six picks behind Washington in the fourth round, taken by Miami.
The NCAA permits juniors to file paperwork to the NFL to request a draft evaluation of how high in the draft the player might be taken. This is a way for a college kid to gauge what the pros think of him, helping him to decide whether he should remain in school or make the jump.
Ohio State juniors who may request an NFL draft status report include OG Bryant Browning, WR Dane Sanzenbacher, DE Thaddeus Gibson, S Jermale Hines and CBs Devon Torrence and Chimdi Chekwa. Gibson might be deemed a good enough prospect that he could go in the first two or three rounds. Same goes for Heyward. The rest are likely to stay with the Buckeyes next season.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz when told his team is a 16½-point underdog at Ohio State on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC): "I don't know that we've been underdogs by this much, but that seems to be our lot in life at least when we go on the road. So we're on the road. We're underdogs. We've got them right where we want them, that's the way I'm looking at it. So it's perfect."
SCARLET, GRAY, GREEN: With totals in from the past two home football games vs. Minnesota and New Mexico State, Ohio State's sustainability program has now topped 200 total tons of recyclable materials on football home dates in and around Ohio Stadium.
The program has gathered nearly 60 tons through six home games this year.
The university collects around 3 tons inside the stadium and another 3 tons outside per game.
At each home game, tailgaters receive white plastic recycling bags to encourage collection of bottles, cans, paper and cardboard. Fans then can deposit the bags into scarlet recycling trash bins located in tailgate lots on campus.
Another initiative is the "Pedal Instead" program, which provides bicycle valet service during home football games.
To start the season, the corral took in more than 450 bikes vs. Navy Sept. 5, fully utilizing a new overflow area reserved on the basketball courts just south of Drake Union.
The main bike corral is located on the south side of Woody Hayes Drive on the east side of the bike path. Bicyclists are provided with a "claim check" and can retrieve their bicycles after the game. Donations for the service are accepted.
SMELLING ROSES: The 20-somethings and teenagers who'll take the field Saturday when No. 15 Iowa plays at 10th-ranked Ohio State don't remember when the Rose Bowl was every Big Ten player's fantasy.
From the first conditioning session on a bleak winter morning until the big rivalry games of November, the one and only dream of the sons of farmers and factory workers from Minnesota and Wisconsin and Ohio and Michigan was the palm trees, pretty girls and the spotlight in Pasadena, Calif.
Once upon a time, the Rose Bowl wasn't just the greatest bowl game for a Big Ten team to go to — it was the only one.
Now that computers help decide who'll play in the ultimate game — the Bowl Championship Series national title game, that is — the Granddaddy of all Bowls has dropped a notch on the radar of the kids who play the college game. If they can't get to the BCS championship game, they have to "settle" for a whiff of the roses.
But some still remember what it was like when the Big Ten champ went to Pasadena, and everyone else in the Midwest permafrost stayed home and watched.
"Oh, gosh, yeah," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said when asked if the Rose Bowl was special at his house. "January 1st in our house, two black-and-white TVs set up side by side, and that old 30-pot coffee maker, that little silver thing."
Tressel's dad, Lee, was a Hall of Fame coach at Baldwin-Wallace College. New Year's Day was one of the few times when the Tressel kids could spend the day with their old man.
"My dad never got off the couch, man," Tressel said. "We were taking him coffee and switching stations. I mean, that was — shoot, you were living on January 1st."
For the winner on Saturday, either Iowa or Ohio State, it'll sort of be like that again.
POTOKAR NOMINATED: Former walk-on WR Dan Potokar has been nominated for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award.
The native of Grove City, Ohio, is currently a student assistant with the football team.
Potokar had been impressive as a wide receiver during spring practice in 2007 and was part of the Ohio State track team's 400-meter relay team. But in the fall of 2007, he became ill and was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and abdomen.
Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the lesions remained on his lungs. Potokar underwent several weeks of intensive treatments in Indianapolis, including two stem-cell transplants. Several months later, five tumors were discovered in Potokar's brain, requiring full-brain radiation and something similar to laser surgery.
Last winter, tests indicated the cancer was gone.
BUCKEYES BUZZ: Almost 100 percent of all juniors who jump to the NFL early say during the season that they'll be back in college the following year.
DE Cameron Heyward said this week that he intended to return to Ohio State for his senior season.
"I've already thought that I'm coming back for next year," Heyward said. "I want to help this team as much as I can because they've given so much to me."
None of the early mock drafts have an Ohio State player listed in the first round although in the murky world where everyone with a PC is an expert, that can change in an instant.
Three Buckeyes gave up their senior season to turn pro a year ago. RB Chris "Beanie" Wells went late in the first round to Arizona, CB Donald Washington was taken in the fourth round by Kansas City and WR Brian Hartline was six picks behind Washington in the fourth round, taken by Miami.
The NCAA permits juniors to file paperwork to the NFL to request a draft evaluation of how high in the draft the player might be taken. This is a way for a college kid to gauge what the pros think of him, helping him to decide whether he should remain in school or make the jump.
Ohio State juniors who may request an NFL draft status report include OG Bryant Browning, WR Dane Sanzenbacher, DE Thaddeus Gibson, S Jermale Hines and CBs Devon Torrence and Chimdi Chekwa. Gibson might be deemed a good enough prospect that he could go in the first two or three rounds. Same goes for Heyward. The rest are likely to stay with the Buckeyes next season.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz when told his team is a 16½-point underdog at Ohio State on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC): "I don't know that we've been underdogs by this much, but that seems to be our lot in life at least when we go on the road. So we're on the road. We're underdogs. We've got them right where we want them, that's the way I'm looking at it. So it's perfect."
SCARLET, GRAY, GREEN: With totals in from the past two home football games vs. Minnesota and New Mexico State, Ohio State's sustainability program has now topped 200 total tons of recyclable materials on football home dates in and around Ohio Stadium.
The program has gathered nearly 60 tons through six home games this year.
The university collects around 3 tons inside the stadium and another 3 tons outside per game.
At each home game, tailgaters receive white plastic recycling bags to encourage collection of bottles, cans, paper and cardboard. Fans then can deposit the bags into scarlet recycling trash bins located in tailgate lots on campus.
Another initiative is the "Pedal Instead" program, which provides bicycle valet service during home football games.
To start the season, the corral took in more than 450 bikes vs. Navy Sept. 5, fully utilizing a new overflow area reserved on the basketball courts just south of Drake Union.
The main bike corral is located on the south side of Woody Hayes Drive on the east side of the bike path. Bicyclists are provided with a "claim check" and can retrieve their bicycles after the game. Donations for the service are accepted.
SMELLING ROSES: The 20-somethings and teenagers who'll take the field Saturday when No. 15 Iowa plays at 10th-ranked Ohio State don't remember when the Rose Bowl was every Big Ten player's fantasy.
From the first conditioning session on a bleak winter morning until the big rivalry games of November, the one and only dream of the sons of farmers and factory workers from Minnesota and Wisconsin and Ohio and Michigan was the palm trees, pretty girls and the spotlight in Pasadena, Calif.
Once upon a time, the Rose Bowl wasn't just the greatest bowl game for a Big Ten team to go to — it was the only one.
Now that computers help decide who'll play in the ultimate game — the Bowl Championship Series national title game, that is — the Granddaddy of all Bowls has dropped a notch on the radar of the kids who play the college game. If they can't get to the BCS championship game, they have to "settle" for a whiff of the roses.
But some still remember what it was like when the Big Ten champ went to Pasadena, and everyone else in the Midwest permafrost stayed home and watched.
"Oh, gosh, yeah," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said when asked if the Rose Bowl was special at his house. "January 1st in our house, two black-and-white TVs set up side by side, and that old 30-pot coffee maker, that little silver thing."
Tressel's dad, Lee, was a Hall of Fame coach at Baldwin-Wallace College. New Year's Day was one of the few times when the Tressel kids could spend the day with their old man.
"My dad never got off the couch, man," Tressel said. "We were taking him coffee and switching stations. I mean, that was — shoot, you were living on January 1st."
For the winner on Saturday, either Iowa or Ohio State, it'll sort of be like that again.
POTOKAR NOMINATED: Former walk-on WR Dan Potokar has been nominated for the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award.
The native of Grove City, Ohio, is currently a student assistant with the football team.
Potokar had been impressive as a wide receiver during spring practice in 2007 and was part of the Ohio State track team's 400-meter relay team. But in the fall of 2007, he became ill and was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and abdomen.
Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the lesions remained on his lungs. Potokar underwent several weeks of intensive treatments in Indianapolis, including two stem-cell transplants. Several months later, five tumors were discovered in Potokar's brain, requiring full-brain radiation and something similar to laser surgery.
Last winter, tests indicated the cancer was gone.
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