'15 OH LB Justin Hilliard (Ohio State Verbal)

[Cackalacky]

Hilliard had his chance.

 

[dwshade]

Then over sign or say no thanks to a 5th year. You cant just be turning down talent like this and hope to compete with the Alabamas of the world.

In case you missed the game Saturday night against defending NC we already compete with the best.

 

[Grahambo]

Assuming we secure Coney's verbal today, it would be tough to justify using one of our very few spaces left on Hilliard when we have much more pressing needs at DB, S and RB.

But man, it would be delicious to see Kelly eat Meyer's lunch yet again. Bucknuts would asplode.

I think the staff views Hilliard as a must no matter what.

Hilliard had his chance.

And still might have a chance.

 

[GATTACA!]

In case you missed the game Saturday night against defending NC we already compete with the best.

I wouldn't put even money on either FSU or ND against Bama MSsU or Auburn.

 

[Calabrese's People]

Browsed over to Eleven Warriors, and they are convinced that it's just a ploy by Wiltfong/247 to get hits.

I would be shocked if the Hilliards are worried about Baker as competition... both can play on the field together, no?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the family wasn't 100% thrilled with his choice of OSU and are now using the opportunity to shake the tree a little bit. I think the jump in Iowa visits is the family trying to influence him away from OSU more than anything.

 

[Luckylucci]

I wouldn't put even money on either FSU or ND against Bama MSsU or Auburn.

I would love to get matched up with Auburn. I think we could do a decent job stopping the run and forcing Marshall to throw. And our Offense could shred that secondary. Not a very good secondary. Basically our strengths matchup well against there weaknesses. KSU should have won that game.

 

[ACamp1900]

MSU does not scare me all that much... Auburn doesn't scare me as much as most and Bama is clearly down imo (For Bama)... I'd say if you're gonna take on Auburn or Bama this may be the year to do it and I'm not fully sold on MSU yet.. just me.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I think the staff views Hilliard as a must no matter what.

"Hard to justify" was probably a poor choice of words. We're obviously not going to turn away a player of Hilliard's caliber if he wants in. But I'm not sure we're continuing to recruit him hard behind the scenes given our current scholarship crunch and our projected needs. Hilliard would be a luxury at this point.

 

[greyhammer90]

I'm terrified of Bama and don't mind saying it.

 

[ACamp1900]

Believe me when i say this may be the year to do it... I say that in comparison to other recent Bama squads... not that I'm overly confident.

 

[connor_in]

I think the staff views Hilliard as a must no matter what.



And still might have a chance.

Don't forget, should Hillard choose us, who is to say everyone else currently committed stays?

Not that he is going to

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Believe me when i say this may be the year to do it... I say that in comparison to other recent Bama squads... not that I'm overly confident.

People were saying the same thing in 2012-- the defense wasn't as dominant as in years prior, the OL was banged up, etc. But they got healthy before the title game, Saban had plenty of time to dissect us in the film room, and the rest is history.

Now, as long as we don't meet 'Bama in the semi-final, Saban would only have a week to prepare for us. Which would probably make things more even than they were in 2013. But count me with greyhammer as being terrified of the Tide.

 

[koonja]

Tide are loaded with talent but have constant turnover, so it takes a while for them to get going. By the end of the year, they'll be the best team IMO.

 

[dwshade]

I've seen enough of Bama and other SEC teams this year to form a reasonable opinion. This Bama team doesn't scare me at all. Huge drop off from McCarron to Sims. Arkansas is likely the worst team in SEC West (although Texas A@M) may not be far behind) and they totally outplayed Bama. Ole Miss and Auburn are the two best I've seen from the west this year. Ole Miss's defense is legit. Auburn's problem is tough road schedule. Still have to travel to Ole Miss, Georgia and Bama. Georgia is far and away the best team in the east. Not even close and wouldn't shock me to see them win SEC.

 

[Classic Irish]

I've seen enough of Bama and other SEC teams this year to form a reasonable opinion. This Bama team doesn't scare me at all. Huge drop off from McCarron to Sims. Arkansas is likely the worst team in SEC West (although Texas A@M) may not be far behind) and they totally outplayed Bama. Ole Miss and Auburn are the two best I've seen from the west this year. Ole Miss's defense is legit. Auburn's problem is tough road schedule. Still have to travel to Ole Miss, Georgia and Bama. Georgia is far and away the best team in the east. Not even close and wouldn't shock me to see them win SEC.

Yeah, part of this Alabama angst seems to have been generated post-Texas A&M game. I'm not saying that Alabama isn't a good team, but I really think A&M is pretty weak. Wasn't it fairly recently (as recent as the Arkansas game) that people were talking about Alabama not being as strong as they have been in recent years?

 

[greyhammer90]

Yeah, part of this Alabama angst seems to have been generated post-Texas A&M game. I'm not saying that Alabama isn't a good team, but I really think A&M is pretty weak. Wasn't it fairly recently (as recent as the Arkansas game) that people were talking about Alabama not being as strong as they have been in recent years?

My 2 cents: Bama looked like a team that had finally succumbed to the "winners" mentality of a team that doesn't prepare properly because they're so used to winning. They look refocused now and that isn't a good thing.

 

[Cackalacky]

My 2 cents: Bama looked like a team that had finally succumbed to the "winners" mentality of a team that doesn't prepare properly because they're so used to winning. They look refocused now and that isn't a good thing.

Agree. I also think it took a bit a time for.Kiffen to get acclimated. They got back to basics against TAM and just embarrassed them. I still dont know what happened against Arky.

 

[Irish#1]

So Hilliard's flipping to Bama?

 

[dwshade]

My 2 cents: Bama looked like a team that had finally succumbed to the "winners" mentality of a team that doesn't prepare properly because they're so used to winning. They look refocused now and that isn't a good thing.

I don't know that I'd take the A@M game as a benchmark for Bama being back. Miss. St., LSU and Auburn are all capable of beating them. You don't know what you're getting week to week from Sims. I'd be very surprised if they win all three of those games.

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Justin Hilliard, 5-star OLB, tells me he is not visiting the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iowa?src=hash">#Iowa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hawkeyes?src=hash">#Hawkeyes</a> this weekend: <a href="http://t.co/ovWy7zz755">http://t.co/ovWy7zz755</a>. (FREE) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247">@SWiltfong247</a></p>— Andrew Kulha (@AKonSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/AKonSports/status/528200355759140866">October 31, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[tko]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Justin Hilliard, 5-star OLB, tells me he is not visiting the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iowa?src=hash">#Iowa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hawkeyes?src=hash">#Hawkeyes</a> this weekend: <a href="http://t.co/ovWy7zz755">http://t.co/ovWy7zz755</a>. (FREE) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247">@SWiltfong247</a></p>— Andrew Kulha (@AKonSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/AKonSports/status/528200355759140866">October 31, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Urban's threats were taken seriously i guess.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Elevenwarriors had an article with a quote from Malik Jefferson who was scheduled for a visit. Evidently they felt pretty confident that Hilliard sticks for them to turn away a talent like Jefferson
The Hurry Up: Malik Jefferson News, Where Things Stand with Burrell and Christian Kirk | Eleven Warriors

Quote from article

"Ohio State cancelled on me, last week after Jerome Baker committed," Jefferson told Eleven Warriors. "They are full at linebacker because they've got three."

 

[Irish#1]

Elevenwarriors had an article with a quote from Malik Jefferson who was scheduled for a visit. Evidently they felt pretty confident that Hilliard sticks for them to turn away a talent like Jefferson
The Hurry Up: Malik Jefferson News, Where Things Stand with Burrell and Christian Kirk | Eleven Warriors

Quote from article

Anyone know where he had OSU on his list?

 

[ab2cmiller]

Anyone know where he had OSU on his list?

Don't really know. He had tweeted this list of planned officials back at the beginning of August.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Officials so far to:

1. UCLA
2.Ohio state
3. Stanford</p>— Malik Jefferson 4⃣6⃣ (@Official_MalikJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/Official_MalikJ/status/496379664152027136">August 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Over the last month or so he's said that he will come out with a top 5 but at various points has assured Aggies and Longhorn fans that both schools will be in that list.

 

[irishff1014]

I see on 247 that apparently was told to start looking at other options.

 

[dad4aa]

I see on 247 that apparently was told to start looking at other options.

That goes totally against what I read where Urban said he is closing to getting playing time. I wonder which is more accurate.

 

[ACamp1900]

Wat?

 

[Rizzophil]

Anyone have insider info?

 

[tko]

Ant?

 

[Riddickulous]

This is too ridiculous to be true.