OSU Notebook

Cardale Jones takes seat after scrutinized tweet

10/7/2012

COLUMBUS — Mark it down as DNP (Tweet).

Third-string Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones did not dress Saturday against Nebraska after asking on Twitter a day earlier why football players should be required to attend class.

The post did not sit well with coach Urban Meyer, with a school spokesman confirming Jones’ absence was not injury-related.

On Friday, Jones wrote, “Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.”

Jones, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound freshman from Cleveland’s Glenville High, quickly deleted his Twitter account but the post was captured and made the rounds on several national sports blogs.

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES: Perhaps it was fitting Ohio State chose Saturday night to honor its 1972 football team. As members of that team convened in Columbus for a weekend reunion, they agreed this year’s Buckeyes look a lot like theirs did.

Both teams were coming off a rare down year — OSU went 6-4 in 1971 — with young groups pegged for big things … the next season. The 1972 Buckeyes (9-2) gained traction and climbed as high as third nationally after beating Michigan before falling to Southern California in the Rose Bowl.

Of this team, Perrysburg’s Dan Cutillo said former OSU teammate John Hicks told him, “They just don’t seem to be clicking all the way. It’s just like the ’72 team.”

“Right away, I understood because we kept getting better and better through the season,” said Cutillo, an OSU defensive tackle from 1970 to 1973 who now owns nine Marco's Pizza stores. The Buckeyes that year also included Woodward alum Jim Kregel, who started on the offensive line.

A RETURN HOME: The homecoming game also marked a welcome back of sorts for Nebraska’s three northwest Ohio natives.

The Huskers’ nine Ohioans include freshman defensive back LeRoy Alexander (Whitmer), redshirt freshman defensive tackle Kevin Williams (Springfield), and junior fullback Mike Marrow (Central Catholic).

Another local tie: Nebraska defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski played for Toledo’s franchise in the Regional Football League — the self-described “major league of spring football.” Kaczenski, a Notre Dame graduate, was a member of Ohio Cannon before the six-team league folded after one shortened season in 1999.

EXTRA POINTS: Junior safety C.J. Barnett dressed but did not start after missing the past two games with a high ankle sprain. … Freshman receiver Ricquan Southward has left the team for “personal reasons,” the school announced. His departure leaves the Buckeyes with 75 scholarship players. … The Buckeyes held a ring ceremony to recognize members of last year’s Final Four basketball team. … Speaking of which, Whitmer basketball star Nigel Hayes took in the game as part of his official visit to OSU.