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College Football Playoff preview: Ohio State-Tennessee meet in first round

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2024

College Football Playoff preview: Ohio State-Tennessee meet in first round

It’s hard to believe, but Ohio State and Tennessee have only met once on the gridiron, a Volunteers victory in the 1996 Florida Citrus Bowl. The stakes are much higher this time around as the two teams meet in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Much attention will be paid to the offenses, but both have top-five defenses, with Ohio State leading the nation in scoring defense and total defense. Something else to watch out for is Tennessee’s sometimes-undisciplined play, as untimely penalties (the Vols average more than eight penalties a game) have cost them this season.

When Tennessee has the ball

Tennessee must rely on the SEC’s top running attack and star back Dylan Sampson (one of only two SEC backs to go over 1,000 yards) and use it to set up the pass, which is precisely the opposite of what Ohio State needs to do. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava needs to stay upright, and making a few plays with his legs will keep the Buckeyes defense honest.

UP AND DOWNS: Winners and losers from the playoff reveal

POSTSEASON LINEUP: Complete college football bowl schedule

When Ohio State has the ball

The Buckeyes have no business even considering punting with all their talent on offense. Job one is for quarterback Will Howard to get the ball to their dangerous receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, and not turn the ball over. Once Ohio State has the lead, it pounds teams into submission with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. The game plan they had against Michigan won’t work here and will lead to an early playoff exit

The coaches: Ryan Day and Josh Heupel

If this was any other year, chances are that Ohio State coach Ryan Day would be out of a job. But even without a Big Ten title or beating Michigan, Day has a chance to prove he is amongst the nation’s elite coaches, right the ship and lead the talented – but flawed – Buckeyes to a national championship.

As a quarterback, Josh Heupel led the underdog Oklahoma Sooners to a national title nearly a quarter of a century ago. The Volunteers must be aggressive, early and often, to penetrate the stingy Ohio State defense. Look for Tennessee to take more chances than usual, especially if it gets behind.

Ohio State-Tennessee prediction

The Buckeyes have too much firepower to be denied, at least in this game. This is not the time to tinker with the offense, and if Ohio State sticks to what works, it should have no problem advancing to the next round.

Ohio State 27, Tennessee 17

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Urban Meyer recalls Pete Rose’s texts about Ohio State football

Published

4 hours ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Urban Meyer recalls Pete Rose’s texts about Ohio State football

Cincinnati Reds legend and well-known gambler Pete Rose was possibly more than just curious about Ohio State football’s 2012 season when he texted Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.

Appearing on “The Triple Option” show with Alabama running back Mark Ingram May 6, Meyer told a story about his relationship with Rose.

After OSU hired Meyer, the Reds asked him to throw out the first pitch at a game. Meyer threw to his son, Nathan, and walked into the dugout, where Rose, MLB’s all-time hit leader, was waiting to greet him.

“I couldn’t get enough talking about ‘Big Red Machine,’ and he wanted to talk college football,” Meyer said on the podcast, explaining how the two spoke for hours and exchanged numbers.

Meyer said that during his first season, Rose texted him early on. He wanted information about the team, like news on Braxton Miller’s shoulder injury.

“I told that to someone, and they said, ‘You’re an idiot. Do you know he’s trying to get information from you for gambling, and you could get in trouble?’ ” Meyer said.

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Though Meyer asserted that he never disclosed much, he started to steer the conversations clear of college football after he realized Rose potentially wanted information for gambling.

The two had another conversation in Las Vegas, where Rose told Meyer he gambled daily after retiring.

Rose was banned from baseball for betting on the sport, something he admitted to in his 2004 autobiography. Rose was reinstated in 2025 and so is considered eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Still baseball’s most prolific hitter (4,256 hits), Rose died in 2024.

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8th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational held in Girard

Published

16 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

8th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational held in Girard

GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.

These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.

The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.

“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”

Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven

“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.

O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.

Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.

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Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?

In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.

At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.

There were warnings in 1977

But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.

Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.

But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.

So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?

The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.

There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.

In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.

Here’s where to check

Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.

Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish

The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.

Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.