When former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel resigned his position last Memorial Day, the fan base itself felt a loss that many thought would linger for years. While Ohio State bounced right back with the hire of Urban Meyer as the new leader of the football program, the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State hasn't been, and won't be, soon forgotten.

The news of his resignation marked one of the last events, and easily the largest, of the controversy that surrounded the program throughout the end of 2010 and into 2011. Those who follow and support the Buckeyes were quick to come to TRessel's defense in the wake of the turmoil, but fan bases of the opposition, as well as the national media, were quick to pile on. It was quickly an 'us against them' scenario with those in Scarlet and Grey being far outnumbered. Very few thruths were spoken during the months of conversation, but rumors, innuendo and personal attacks on our beloved coach dominated the headlines and water cooler talks. Ohio State fans stood strong in their beliefs about coach Tressel - honest, caring and overall a great human being.

Confirmation of what we believed eventually came from the voice of Jon Thoma, a former Ohio State punter who spent five years of his young life under the direction of the coach himself. He put pen to paper and scripted a well thought out article, "In Defense of My Coach," and set the record straight on the man we simply knew as The Vest. That voice meant a lot to the Buckeye faithful who were fortunate enough to read it when it came out, and gave us a validation to everything we already thought about coach Tress and had now hoped to remain true.

One thing is very clear about the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State: his players loved him. We caught up with former Buckeye punter Jon Thoma to talk tradition, memories, coaching philosophies and the man we spent a decade cheering for - Jim Tressel.  

Sunday afternoon quarterback Mitch Trubisky verbally committed to the University of North Carolina, leaving behind an Ohio State offer as well as seven others. The Mentor, Ohio product was in attendance at the Buckeyes' spring game back in April but may have moved away from his OSU offer after Ohio State got a verbal commitment from 4-Star duel-threat quarterback J.T. Barrett (Wichita Falls, TX) back on April 18th, who landed as the Buckeyes' tenth commitment for the same 2013 class Trubisky would fall into.

Trubisky was rated a 3-Star by Rivals but 247Sports and Scout each have him rated as a 4-Star, with Scout placing him as the 19th-ranked quarterback in the country for the class of 2013. He currently hold offers from Alabama and Tennessee from the SEC as well as B1G schools Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and the Buckeyes. He also held offers from Cincinnati and Toledo but neither have been considered serious contenders for Trubisky's services.

He's the ninth commit, and first quarterback, of UNC's 2013 class.

We're bored, so why not browse around the Internet and see exactly who's supporting the other teams within the Big Ten. It's amazing what you can find online - or at a tailgate - or a dorm - or - at volleyball practice (video). Today we look at those who support the black and gold of the University of Iowa. It's not always pretty, but it can be. As is the case with any fan base, you'll find your share of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Truer words have never been spoken in and around Kinnick Stadium. Apparently.

First and foremost, the fans of eastern Iowa love their Hawkeyes. They'll pack 70,000 plus into Kinnick Stadium every single time the Hawks play at home no matter if they're 8-0 or 0-8. But it's what they do before and after the game that we're interested in seeing.....

Happy Sunday morning, Buckeye Nation. First and foremost, if you haven't checked out the 2012 Ohio State Football Schedule Poster we released yesterday, we're quite proud of it - perhaps because we love all things Scarlet, Gray, Urban, John Simon and Buckeye Badassery in general.

Now on to the week that was. Memorial Day is right around the corner and while it's certainly a day to honor those who have served our wonderful country, it also reminds us that we lost a wonderful head coach last May when Jim Tressel resigned his post at The Ohio State University. We've jumped at the opportunity to begin honoring Tress the best way we know how - as have a few former players of his - and we kicked off our Q&A series this week. Stay tuned next week as we have five more Q&A's lined up with two national champion Silver Bullets, one young man who found himself square in the middle of the 'Tat-5' controversy, and a couple other Buckeyes who have a serious love of the S&G of their own. We'll be rolling those out throughout next week, so stay tuned.

Today we smear more Scarlet font all over the B1G news of the week including plenty of Ohio State content from the Buckeye Bloggers Network, a potential new B1G v Notre Dame series in the making, one moxie-less QB in Happy Valley on his way out and further confirmation that B1G commissioner Jim Delany is indeed out of his gourd.

Enjoy the B1G links from the week that was - 36 of them to be exact...

Click on photo for full size version.

 T.J. Downing lettered three years for The Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 2004 through the 2006 season that ended with a loss to Florida in the National Championship Game. The 6'5", 305-pound OL from GlenOak HS (Canton) shared the Jim Parker Offensive Lineman Award at Ohio State with running-mate Doug Datish in 2006 while being named a first-team All Big-10 and second team All-America by the Associated press. He also spent 2006 protecting Troy Smith, later to be named the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, as well as opening holes for 1,200-yard rusher Antonio Pittman. Downing helped to anchor one of the better offensive lines in recent Ohio State memory alongside names like Kirk Barton, Alex Boone and Steve Rehring. 

Oh, and he beat Michigan three years in a row.

In late 2008 Downing ran into some issues off the gridiron and, just as he did in dealing with the ups and downs of college football, he leaned on the words of one man in particular to fight his way through it and come out a better person on the other end. As was with many Buckeyes over the last decade, that voice was the one of former head coach Jim Tressel.

We talk haircuts, memories, Michigan and Tress with former Ohio State offensive lineman T.J. Downing... 

Can you spot the secondary NCAA violation within the-Ozone.com photo pictured to the right? No?

I couldn't either.

According to Doug Lesmerises of the Plain Dealer, The Ohio State University has self-reported forty-six secondary violations that have occurred since May 30th, 2011 - which includes an infraction on assistant coach Mike Vrabel for using a tobacco product while coaching. Yep, you heard right. According to the NCAA that's a no-no whether it during a game or a practice.

Gene Smith and Urban Meyer were also flagged for violations, Smith for filming a video communication to a football recruit (Ezekiel Elliott) and Meyer for telling Noah Spence "Good luck" before one of his games in 2011. By rule, coaches aren't allowed to speak with high school recruits on the day of a game. Meyer, who was at Spence's state championship game with other assistants back in mid-December, approached both coaches before the game. At one point before leaving the field, Spence apparently walked by - saw Urban - and said hello as he walked by. Meyer's two-word response wasn't allowed by NCAA rule. He passed it on to Ohio State two days later, reporting himself for the violation.