Friday September 27, 2013 year: 133 No. 76
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shelby lum / Photo editor
Junior wide receiver Devin Smith (9) attempts to catch the ball during a game against San Diego State Sept. 7 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 42-7.
Shelby lum / Photo editor
Senior wide receiver Corey ‘Philly’ Brown (10) avoids the defender during a game against San Diego State Sept. 7 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 42-7.
shelby lum / Photo editor
Redshirt-senior wide receiver Chris Fields (80) scores a touchdown during a game against Florida A&M Sept. 21 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 76-0.
Kaily cunningham / Multimedia editor
Junior wide receiver Evan Spencer (6) scores a touchdown during a game against Florida A&M Sept. 21 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 76-0.
The sky’s the limit for Buckeye wide receivers Daniel rogers Asst. sports editor rogers.746@osu.edu Redshirt-senior quarterback Kenny Guiton broke the Ohio State record for most touchdown passes in a game against Florida A&M, but he didn’t do it alone. He had to have someone to throw to. Through four games, four Buckeye wide receivers have at least two touchdowns and 75 yards receiving. At this point in 2012, only two players on the team had reached these numbers. Junior Devin Smith (281 yards and four touchdowns), senior Corey “Philly” Brown (169 yards and three touchdowns), senior Chris Fields (82 yards and four touchdowns) and junior Evan Spencer (78 yards and two touchdowns) have helped the Buckeyes passing
attack average 36.5 yards more through the air than it did all of last season. Guiton, who filled in for injured junior quarterback Braxton Miller for the last two games, has had the help of a more mature receiving corps than No. 4 OSU (4-0) had last year, wide receivers coach Zach Smith said. “It’s probably the biggest thing we needed to do coming into this year, is not just have Philly Brown and Devin Smith running vertical. We needed to establish a wider arsenal of skill players to use,” Zach Smith said. “So that was critical for us, because defenses can take away one guy, one position. But if they have to worry about across the board five skill players at every snap, everything opens up. That was something we really needed to do this year and fortunately, it’s happening so far.” Another option for the Buckeye quarterbacks this season has been junior
tight end Jeff Heuerman, who is third on the team with 88 yards receiving and a touchdown this year. Heuerman said it will be hard to stop OSU with the amount of depth they have on offense. “We got so much depth on our team. We have so much depth from the receivers, running backs, to our tight ends, everybody,” Heuerman said. “We’re so skilled all around that we can make plays. We’re an up-tempo offense and that combined with all the talent we have on offense really does well for us.” Zach Smith said Devin Smith in particular has developed particularly well from 2012, becoming more of an all-around player this season. “He’s improved, but he’s been a dynamic vertical threat since I got here,” Zach Smith said. “He can run, he can run (a) straight line, and the steps he’s made have been more at becoming a receiver as opposed to just a deep threat guy.”
Campus bank robbed, 2nd time in 2 weeks Liz Young Campus editor young.1693@osu.edu An armed bank robbery on West 11th Avenue Thursday morning was the second in less than two weeks, eliciting mixed reactions from some Ohio State students. Huntington Bank, located at 235 W. 11th Ave., was robbed by a man with a gun Thursday morning, according to a university Buckeye Alert. The suspect was described as a black man in his mid-30s, standing at about 6 feet tall and wearing a black Adidas jacket, khaki pants and a hat. The alert for the robbery, which happened at 9:35 a.m., said the man fled toward High Street. A University Police dispatcher was unable to say Thursday evening how much money was taken, but said the bank does not generally release that information. The incident happened less than two weeks after the same Huntington Bank branch, located on OSU’s campus across from Canfield Hall and next to University Flower Shop and Adriatico’s Pizza, was robbed by a suspect with a knife at about 9:25 a.m. Sept. 14. A public safety notice was issued Thursday afternoon “to heighten awareness that the suspect information is similar, suggesting a pattern,” the notice said. The suspect in the first robbery was described as a man of similar physical description, reportedly wearing a black-and-white plaid buttondown, sunglasses and a black baseball hat with a white logo, according to a University Police release. There were no injuries reported in that incident and an unknown amount of cash was taken, a University Police dispatcher said Sept. 15. Some OSU students said the robberies have affected them. “It’s kind of scary considering I live pretty close to (the bank), because if they can rob a bank, they can easily get into a house. So it’s a little troubling, but it seems like the campus police and everything were on it so I have faith in them,”
Devin Smith’s main improvement has come in widening his knowledge of the defense and working on his ability to catch shorter passes, Zach Smith said. “Where his development has really came has been in the throws that are more intermediate throws; the routes that are more intermediate routes. He’s really taken steps in doing that,” Zach Smith said. “As far as the deep routes, he has a better understanding of how to lock a corner’s hips or turn a guy opposite of where he’s trying to go.” But still, Devin Smith’s deep play ability is appreciated by the offense because it helps the other players, Zach Smith said. “A guy like that with vertical threat, where corners really have to honor him vertically, like you said, 41 yards a touchdown catch is kind of astounding,” Zach Smith said. “They see that on film, so once he has that threat, there is that
fear of getting beat deep; everything else opens up.” Another receiver who has stepped up this season is Spencer, who already has surpassed his career high in touchdowns in the first four games of the season and is on pace for a career high in receiving yards. The recipient of two of Guiton’s touchdown passes against Florida A&M, including the record-breaker, Spencer said with the number of skilled receivers OSU has, it will be difficult for opposing defenses to stop them all. “The sky’s (the) limit for our offense,” Spencer said. “We have so many weapons and we can do so many different things, I mean, like I said, I can’t even imagine all the things we can do.” Zach Smith said he was excited for Spencer, who before Saturday only had
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Alutto recognizes OSU community’s ‘passion’ Liz Young and Eric Seger Campus editor and Sports editor young.1693@osu.edu and seger.25@osu.edu
Courtesy of University Police
A screenshot from security footage at Huntington National bank located at 235 W. 11th Ave. at about 9:35 a.m. Sept. 26. said Justin Dehan, a second-year in financial mathematics. Others think there should be more police presence in the area. “We should enforce more security around the highly-populated walk areas, such as the banks,” said Tranetta Gullatt, a first-year in psychology. Some, though, aren’t worried about the incidents. “It happens, you’re in a big city. I’m not going to think of the campus any differently,” said Lindsay Hostetler, a first-year in atmospheric sciences. Hostetler also said she thought it was better the crimes occurred during daytime. “I feel safer if it happens during the day, because a least people can see it, whereas at night it’s a little harder to see things. So I guess if it were to happen, I’d rather it happen during the day,” she said. First-year in political science William Sams said he, too, is unfazed. “Honestly, I think the guy’s pretty stupid for robbing this bank. It’s pretty small, I’m not too worried,” Sams said. “I don’t carry a lot of money on me so I’m good.” Gullatt said, though, she’s going to change her routine because of the incidents.
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Ohio State Interim President Joseph Alutto isn’t a football guy, but he can appreciate what the game represents, as well as coach Urban Meyer’s disciplinary efforts. Alutto, though, does somewhat think the sport has too much emphasis placed upon it, despite its global reach. In 1991, Alutto, then the dean of the Fisher College of Business, was in Seoul, South Korea, when he was asked by a group of OSU alumni about then-football coach John Cooper’s standing with the university. At the time, it was in question of whether or not Cooper would be given a contract extension. “We arrive at the banquet, they do a first round of toasts and (the former minister of finance) says, ‘Dean Alutto, we have the first question for you. Would you tell us what (then) President (E. Gordon) Gee is going to do about Mr. Cooper’s contract?’” Alutto said in an interview with The Lantern Monday. “I mumbled an answer because I didn’t know anything. Fortunately I had read The Lantern and I knew that Cooper was the coach. Another round of toasts went on as the evening went on and I said ‘Now, I have a question. Why in the world are you asking me about the football coach?’” The answer to the inquiry gave Alutto an idea of the community that comes along with being a member of the Buckeye devout. “They said, ‘None of us had been back to campus in 20 years. What we remember and know about Ohio State is the friends we made when we were there, the fellow students who we met with. A community who accepted us when our language and our culture was so different but who nevertheless supported us. The faculty who had taught us and who we had tried to keep in contact with over the years. But the way we keep in touch with the Ohio State University is through the sports section of The International Herald Tribune,” Alutto said. “It gave you a sense of the connection between athletics that we almost all take for granted and the way people just keep a connection with Ohio State because of the passion that they have about Ohio State.” That kind of connection with the university is one
Ritika Shah / Asst. photo editor
OSU Interim President Joseph Alutto during an interview with The Lantern Sept. 23. Alutto thinks is imperative for the next OSU president to have. “What we look for as a president, we look for somebody who appreciates that, who embraces that, who understands that that’s one of the big advantages of being at Ohio State,” he said. “It’s not just that we’re big, but that there is this passion for us among our alums, with almost anyone who connects with us that recognizes that this a very special university.” Alutto assumed the role of interim president July 1, the same day of Gee’s retirement. The announcement of Gee’s retirement June 4 came days after controversial remarks Gee made at a Dec. 5 OSU Athletic Conference became public. Comments about Notre Dame and the SEC in particular, among other remarks, brought national attention. Alutto, of course, thinks a strong commitment to OSU is also important for the coach of the football team to possess. Urban Meyer is someone Alutto said he respects, especially in the wake of a tumultuous offseason.
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