January 7, 2015

SPORTS

THE SUMTER ITEM

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

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Buckeyes appear loose ACC schedule before national title game doesn’t get any easier for Tigers

BY RUSTY MILLER The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When it was pointed out to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer that a small town in the state was changing its name to honor him, he thought it was a joke.

Told that the village of Urbana, in western Ohio, was dropping its last letter in his honor — becoming Urban on Monday, when the Buckeyes play Oregon in the national championship game — Meyer was temporarily taken back.

“You’re kidding,” he said with a grin. “They’re dropping the ‘a’?”

Assured that was the case, he smiled and added, “Wow. That’s very nice.”

That was just one of many amusing vignettes on Tuesday when Meyer and the Buckeyes faced questions on Ohio State’s media day.

At one point, quarterback Cardale Jones did cartwheels, laughing loudly. (It should be noted, he did them with no coaches in sight.)

It’s clear the Buckeyes are a loose bunch heading into the biggest game of their lives.

During 30 minutes of a light practice open to reporters, the Buckeyes stretched and went through their paces — just like a typical workout inside the Woody Hayes facility. A four-inch snowfall overnight forced everyone indoors.

H-back and kick returner Dontre Wilson, out the final six games with a broken foot, sat on the sidelines in a compression boot. Still, he’s listed as probable, along with tight end Jeff Heuerman (leg).

Despite the grind of a long,

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones will lead the Buckeyes against Oregon in the national championship game on Monday in Arlington, Texas.

14-game season and playing in a winner-take-all national championship game just 11 days after playing another game that was win-or-gohome, the Buckeyes were in good spirits.

Meyer won Bowl Championship Series titles after the 2006 and 2008 seasons at Florida, so he is a grizzled veteran when it comes to huge postseason games. But none of his players have ever participated in anything even remotely like this.

Meyer was asked about his two previous titles (the first coming in a 41-14 rout of then-No. 1 Ohio State in Glendale, Arizona).

“I just went back — practices were a little different,” Meyer said. “Those days, we had 37 days to prepare. I remember in ‘06 it was 37 or 47,

some ridiculous number. So that’s much different.

“This is a one-game shot.

You have four practices in shoulder pads. And tomorrow we’re going to give our guys a day off of practice. You just can’t go the tempo we went the last three days. You just can’t. You’re going to break them down.”

The Buckeyes fly out on Friday. They’ll be taking a jumbo, double-decker jet that will accommodate all the players, support personnel and everybody in the travel party, instead of taking two planes.

Jones threw with receivers during practice on Tuesday.

Later, after the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder had shown off his acrobatic skills, he laughed while playing catch with an Ohio State employee.

The Buckeyes’ third-string quarterback — he took over after first Braxton Miller (shoulder) and then J.T. Barrett (broken ankle) went down — said he never feels terribly nervous before or during a game.

“There are little jitters before the game,” he said.

“When you’re out there, it’s just you and your guys.

You’re doing something you’ve done basically all your life, and something you’ve prepared with your guys.

That eliminates all the nervousness.”

Offensive tackle Taylor Decker spoke for most of his teammates about the Buckeyes’ work leading up to the big game.

“Right now my focus is really on my preparation,” he said. “Because it is nice to be in this game, but it won’t matter at all unless we win.”

Grasu guides Oregon’s O-line after season of personal adversity

BY ANNE M. PETERSON The Associated Press EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon center Hroniss Grasu jokes about how he should have planned ahead: His apartment lease ran out, so he’s staying in a hotel while the Ducks prepare for the national championship.

Kidding aside, living out of a suitcase is just fine with Grasu because it means he gets to play in one more game with the Ducks.

While quarterback Marcus Mariota is the unquestioned leader of the team, Grasu is its anchor. Both players decided last year at about this time that they would return for another season at Oregon.

Asked this week about what it would feel like to win next Monday night when the Ducks face Ohio State for the title, Grasu GRASU said that he honestly hadn’t considered it yet.

“I’m not thinking about what it would feel like if we win a national championship, I’m just thinking about what I’ve got to do to get this team in the best position to win,” he said.

“We’ll just do whatever it takes.”

The 6-foot-3 senior, who is just shy of 300 pounds, is considered one of the best players at his position in the nation and a top prospect at center for the NFL draft this spring.

He’s always been a perfect fit in Oregon’s hyper-drive offense because he’s quick and agile despite his size.

Going into the season, it looked like Oregon’s offensive line — which helped Oregon lead the Pac-12 in rushing, scoring and total offense last season — would be a force with

five returning starters.

But then left tackle Tyler Johnstone injured his right knee during fall camp and was declared done for the season. Jake Fisher moved over from right tackle to take Johnstone’s spot and junior Andre Yruretagoyena took over at right tackle. That is until Yruretagoyena injured his foot against Michigan State in Week 2.

Then Fisher hurt his knee against Wyoming the next week, leaving the Ducks with inexperienced options at tackle for games against Washington State and Arizona. Mariota was sacked 12 times over the course of those two games.

Then tackle Matt Pierson went down with a left knee injury late in a victory over Stanford on Nov. 1. Grasu himself missed the final two regular-season games, against Colorado and Oregon State, after hurting his lower left leg on Nov. 8 against Utah.

“There wasn’t one injury that I didn’t have faith in the coaching staff and the players that they weren’t going to step up. It was just, ‘Who’s the next guy? They’re going to step up.’ There was never any doubt in my mind that our team, our players weren’t ready or our coaching staff wasn’t ready,” he said.

Grasu returned to play in the Rose Bowl playoff victory over Florida State, although he said he didn’t do as well as he would have liked. He’s like that, always trying to figure out how to get better.

“I could have been a little more physical but we got the W and that’s all that matters to me,” he said. “But I felt good, I could move, I could run. Right now I’ve got to get healthy again and get ready to go.”

FLORIDA FROM PAGE B1 far? I don’t know. I don’t know. Now, we’re going to keep cranking and working at it to get that mindset and try to change it and get them in a better place.

“But I think you’d all agree right now that what we’ve done up to this point has not warranted getting in the NCAA tournament. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with that.”

Florida played a challenging, non-conference schedule that also included games against North Carolina and Georgetown.

But the Gators lost every meaningful matchup, leaving them ranked No. 144 in RPI heading into league play.

That’s ahead of only Missouri (177) and Mississippi State (219) among the SEC’s 14 teams.

“It’s disappointing, but you know we are what we are right now,” said shooting guard Michael Frazier II, the team’s lone returning starter.

“So the only thing we can do is move forward from where we are. We’re at this point and the only thing we can do is fix it.”

It might not be that easy for this group.

“We have some challenges,” Donovan said. “We don’t have a low-post presence as far as throwing the ball down near the basket to get fouled. We don’t get to the free-throw line a lot. ... Our defense has actually been pretty good. I think it can still get better. We’ve been inconsistent on offense.

“I think all those things are going to need to get better before I can say, ‘Yeah, we’re definitely moving in the right direction.’ I haven’t lost hope in that, but to say, ‘All is well,’ no, I’m not going to say that.”

BY MANDRALLIUS ROBINSON Greenville News This appeared to be an arduous opening stretch in August when the Clemson University men’s basketball schedule was revealed. The stretch appears even more daunting now that Clemson has opened it.

The Tigers commenced their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule at home Saturday with a 24-point loss to North Carolina. They follow that with three consecutive BROWNELL road trips to Louisville, Pittsburgh and Virginia.

Louisville, which Clemson will visit tonight, is ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. Virginia is ranked No. 3.

Wedged between those national powers is unranked Pitt, which still enjoys one of the most smothering and raucous home crowds in the ACC. The treacherous trip is reminiscent of the stretch Clemson endured last season. The Tigers played five of six games on the road, including consecutive trips to Pitt, North Carolina and Florida State. The second road leg included trips to Syracuse and Notre Dame.

Clemson’s only wins during that six-game stretch were at Florida State and at home against Georgia Tech. To avoid a similar skid this month, Clemson must make some rapid improvements — or take some drastic measures.

“I’d like to tell you that No. 32 needs to come back,” coach Brad Brownell said, referring to former Clemson wing K.J. McDaniels.

McDaniels earned firstteam All-ACC honors last season and was named the league’s defensive player of the year. However, he entered the NBA draft as a junior.

McDaniels recently climbed into the starting lineup with the Philadelphia 76ers. Unfortunately for Brownell, McDaniels will not be able to step back down into Clemson’s starting five.

Consequently, Brownell is still attempting to compensate for the 17.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks

McDaniels averaged last season. Freshman Donte Grantham has filled McDaniels’ spot in the starting lineup, but he is not yet ready to fill that responsibility in the box score.

Clemson closed last season ranked second in the ACC in scoring defense. It allowed merely 58.4 points per game. That average has increased to 62.9 per game this season.

The defensive drop has neutralized Clemson’s modest improvement in scoring offense. The Tigers have averaged 65.2 points per game, which surprisingly is nearly two points more than what they averaged last season. Clemson also has increased its field goal shooting, albeit by one thousandth of a percentage point.

Those figures may suggest an increase in productivity, but they do not reveal Clemson’s lack of efficiency.

They do not reveal the turnovers Clemson has committed in the backcourt. They do not reveal the easy baskets those turnovers facilitated for opponents. They do not reveal the long scoreless stretches through which the Tigers have suffered.

They do not reveal how decent starts are unwound, leads are erased and games are lost during those lulls.

“Some of our scoring droughts have put pressure on us,” Brownell said.

“We weren’t a great offensive team last year, but we did manage the game well and kept the game played in a lot of situations the way we needed to play.

Some of our inefficiency on offense has made it more problematic for us to be better defensively.”

The solution does not require drastic measures. Instead of attempting to coax the league into altering the schedule, perhaps with a signed petition or even an early Valentine’s Day gift, Brownell plans to utilize a more conventional approach.

He will attempt to coax his veteran leaders to shoot, pass, screen, cut and defend more efficiently.

Junior center Landry Nnoko has averaged 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 fouls per game. He and senior guard Rod Hall each have attempted merely 86 field goals, the fourth-highest total among Clemson players.

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