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Oller: Ohio State quarterbacks must work to remain buoyant through the bruises and boos

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Oller: Ohio State quarterbacks must work to remain buoyant through the bruises and boos


The face of Ohio State football is its quarterback. He runs the offense, serves as unofficial spokesman for the team and is the most scrutinized athlete, pro or college, in Ohio.  

In 1970, Ron Maciejowski saw something wrong with that face when Ohio State teammate Rex Kern showed up at practice with a chalky residue on his lips.

“I was used to getting my ass handed to me every practice, so it didn’t bother me. But Rex? He had Maalox around his lips,” said Maciejowski, who backed up Kern at quarterback from 1968-70.

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Kern arrived at Ohio State as a heralded recruit out of Lancaster and rocketed to stardom as a leader of the Super Sophs who helped OSU win the 1968 national championship. Yet by the time Kern left the Buckeyes after the 1970 season, he had developed an ulcer that antacid could only soothe. The only cure was to graduate from the pressure of being an Ohio State quarterback, especially one playing for Woody Hayes.

“Ohio State quarterbacks get pressure not just from fans but from coaches,” Maciejowski said. “And Woody couldn’t control himself. Rex had a severe ulcer by the time he left. As a sophomore you win all your games, then your junior year you win all but the last one (Michigan) and there was no bowl game. It was like Woody had all this pent up emotion, so when Rex would have a problem (his senior year) Woody was all over his ass.”

Enter Kyle McCord into the discussion. It would seem impossible for Ryan Day to get as angry as Hayes did, but the Ohio State coach has chewed out his starting quarterback during both games and practices. Fans have targeted McCord for acclaim (remember Notre Dame?) and abuse all season, but the criticism was especially intense after the 30-24 loss at Michigan.  

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Nothing new there. When right, an OSU QB becomes mythical. When wrong, he gets unmercifully maligned. Either way, he carries the weight of the world on his shoulder pads. What’s different now, even from 10 years ago, is McCord must answer not only to his coaches but be subjected to rampant ridicule on social media.

“We didn’t have ESPN, didn’t have social media,” Maciejowski said. “I wonder what would have happened to us if we did? But we had Woody Hayes. He was our social media, I guess.”

Cornelius Green followed Kern at quarterback, and while he shared top billing with Archie Griffin, he knew he would receive more criticism than the two-time Heisman winner if things went poorly. For one thing, Green touched the ball on every snap. And the more you touch it, the more that can go wrong. Especially through the air.

“You better have some alligator skin to play quarterback. It has to be thicker than thick,” Green said, recalling how fans and media scrutinized him more than players at other positions.  

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“I got clobbered after two Rose Bowl losses,” he said. “I don’t care what the defense does, after you lose a game for some reason they go over what the quarterback did every quarter.

“I know what Kyle McCord is feeling now. It’s 11 consecutive weeks of craze … but at Ohio State when you lose a game it’s like the whole world is against you for some reason. I can feel what that kid is going through.”

So can Craig Krenzel, who rose to stardom while leading Ohio State to the 2002 BCS national championship, only to struggle in 2003, at one point sharing duties with Scott McMullen.

“First off, the No. 1 fact you have to know coming in at that level is that’s just the way it goes,” Krenzel said of the pressure facing OSU quarterbacks. “You’re going to catch all the flack when all the things are not going well, and get all the reward and praise when they are.

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“My junior year we went 14-0 and won a national title and I was a leader. My senior year we had a more lively passing game, and I sucked and needed to be benched. It’s just the nature of the position. When you play quarterback at any major university, the most popular guy in the city is the backup quarterback.”

Krenzel does not necessarily feel sorry for McCord as much as he thinks the junior got caught in a tough situation not of his own making.

“He’s got some tough shoes to fill,” he said. “We’ve been extremely spoiled by our quarterback play for how many years now? When you get that kind of productivity, and there are big expectations to begin with, then you have the situation Kyle is in. We had C.J. (Stroud) and Justin (Fields), and those are just the last two guys. It’s a tough situation to be in, but you come to a place like this and if you don’t have thick skin it’s going to be a long, long road.”

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Right about now, McCord has to be thinking the road runs forever. If it is any solace, he can check history to see that even the best Ohio State quarterbacks took hits … and not just from defensive ends. Kern threw four interceptions in the 1969 Michigan game. Art Schlichter threw five against Penn State in his first start. Even Stroud got criticized for not running enough. 

But with the gory comes some glory. Quarterback Bill Long fell into Woody’s doghouse, benched when Kern became a sophomore. But when Kern got hurt against Purdue, Hayes called for Long. 

“Bill goes in for one play and runs 14 yards for a touchdown, so now Bill’s the hero,” Maciejowski said. “That’s exactly what we’re talking about. Whatever the moment is, that’s it.”

 roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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Where 8 Ohio universities rank among best engineering schools in America, per US News

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Where 8 Ohio universities rank among best engineering schools in America, per US News


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U.S. News & World Report recently released a ranking of America’s best engineering schools, and a handful of Ohio universities received some love.

The outlet individually ranked the top 90% of schools. The remaining 10% only received a ranking range, rather than a specific number. Ohio has eight schools in the top 90%.

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Factors that include research expenditures, faculty resources and ratings from other engineering schools and employers were taken into account for the ranking, which was curated from fall 2023 to early 2024.

Overall, the ranking carries an emphasis on research rather than reputation or selectivity, as it’s meant to encompass both undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programs.

Here’s which Ohio schools received top honors, along with where they fell in the national ranking.

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Best engineering schools in Ohio

Here are the top engineering schools in Ohio, according to U.S. News & World Report, along with where they rank nationally.

  • No. 27: Ohio State University.
  • No. 51: Case Western Reserve University.
  • No. 55: University of Dayton.
  • No. 102: University of Cincinnati.
  • No. 153: University of Akron.
  • No. 158: Ohio University.
  • No. 164: University of Toledo.
  • No. 167: Wright State University.



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He’s an Anomaly: How does Ohio State Commit Tavien St. Clair Compare to Dylan Raiola?

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He’s an Anomaly: How does Ohio State Commit Tavien St. Clair Compare to Dylan Raiola?


The Ohio State Buckeyes landed arguably their biggest commitment of the 2025 class almost a year ago last summer, when five-star QB Tavien St. Clair committed in June of 2023.

However, at the time, it was unclear exactly what they Buckeyes had just landed.

Upon his commitment, St. Clair ranked as the No. 25 quarterback and the No. 10 player in the state of Ohio in the class of 2025 per 247Sports. Since then, he has shot up the charts, to the point where he now ranks as the No. 2 overall player in the country, the No. 2 QB, and the No. 1 player in the state.

And after an extremely impressive outing against the best of the best at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles, it is clear that he deserves that rankings.

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But what caused such a rise in St. Clair’s stock? According to various Elite 11 coaches in a recent interview with The Athletic, he seems to be unlike anything they have ever seen before at the position.

Tavien St. Clair

Tavien St. Clair / Photo Credit: Brooks Austin

“He is an anomaly,” Elite 11 coach Yogi Roth said to the Athletic “He’s from an hour away from Ohio State, one of the greatest schools in the history of the game, and he’s never had a personal QB coach. He’s done it in a way I haven’t heard about in, like, 20 years.”

However, the Elite 11 coaches didn’t stop there.

They also gave The Athletic a comparison between St. Clair and former Ohio State commit (and now Nebraska QB) Dylan Raiola.

Raiola, of course, was arguably the biggest piece of the Buckeyes 2024 class before his sudden and surprising de-commitment in favor of the Georgia Bulldogs. He then de-committed from Georgia just before the early signing period in favor of the Cornhuskers.

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“I think he’s a more gifted passer than Raiola by a little bit,” another coach said about St. Clair. “Dylan was more casual and cool. He looked like a grown man who you could tell had watched hours and hours of (Patrick) Mahomes and was like this big middle infielder slinging it around. Tavien looked more intentional.”

Another coach agreed with that sentiment, going as far to say that not only is St. Clair’s arm more talented than that of Raiola, but he is also coming to Columbus in a much better situation in terms of pressure and expectations than that of Raiola.

In other words, St. Clair is going to have more time to develop himself. Meanwhile, Raiola is about to be thrown straight into the deep end in Lincoln, where he is being counted on as the savior of the Cornhuskers program.

“I think Tavien had the best arm here,” another coach told the Athletic. “I think (his arm’s) a little better than Raiola’s, and he’ll be under less of a microscope in his situation. He can make some mistakes without everyone looking for him to be the savior of the program without a lot of good players around him.”

At the end of the day, only time will tell if St. Clair will be able to live up to the lofty expectations that come with being the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

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In fact, the same holds true for Raiola in Lincoln.

Based on the current talent situation in Columbus, and the fact that he has thrown for over 8,000 yards and has 83 total touchdowns in three seasons at Bellefontaine, however, St. Clair will have as good a chance as any QB in the past to succeed at Ohio State.



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Patricia A. Walker, Cortland, Ohio

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Patricia A. Walker, Cortland, Ohio


CORTLAND, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Patricia A. Walker, 78, of Cortland, Ohio passed away Friday, June 21, 2024, at Warren Health and Rehab.  

She was born March 17, 1946, in Ravenna, Ohio, a daughter of the late Leland R. Walker and the late Gertrude Newcomb Walker.

Patricia graduated from Garfield High School in Garresttsville and was employed as a sales clerk with Giant Eagle Grocery for over 20 years.

Surviving are her son, Glen (Rachel) Walker of Cortland, Ohio; eight grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Kay Synder of Lordstown, Ohio.

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In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Keoni L. Walker; a sister, Virginia Fackler; and a brother, Robert Mason.

Per her wishes, there will be no calling hours or service.  

The arrangements have been entrusted to the Carl W. Hall Funeral Home.

A television tribute will air Wednesday, June 26 at the following approximate times: 7:10 a.m. on FOX, 12:22 p.m. on WKBN, 5:08 p.m. on MyYTV and 7:27 p.m. on WYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing.

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