Buckeye Season Preview

2008 Ohio State Football Preview:

Final preparations continue on practice fields and in film rooms across the country. Open positions are being fought for. Depth charts are taking shape. It’s a wonderful time to be a college football fan. More specifically, how cool is it to be an Ohio State fan these days? Consecutive losses in the BCS title game aside, few teams have as much to look forward to going into this year as the Buckeyes.


Here are five things that get me excited about the upcoming year.


#1 Welcome back seniors!!! - The unlikely return of several All-American caliber players is the biggest news (IMO) heading into the year. Losing the steady play of Vernon Gholston and Larry Grant on defense and leadership of Kirk Barton on offense was quickly mitigated by the unlikely return of James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, Alex Boone and Marcus Freeman. Losing all of them to the NFL would have been tough to overcome. As it is, talented sophomore Bryant Browning will replace Barton at right tackle. Lawrence Wilson will return from a broken leg to reclaim his starting position on the d-line and Ross Homan will replace Grant at weak side linebacker. Additionally, last years’ revolving door at fullback will be replaced by…. well….this years’ revolving door at fullback (let’s call that a wash and move on). In all, nine (9) starters return on offense and nine (9) on defense. Throw in the return of both kicking specialists and we have 20 returning starters and experience and depth at most every position on the field.
I feel obliged to mention that Michigan fans had every reason to be excited about this same scenario last year. The return of Hart, Henne and Long seemed to set them up for a great year. A run at a National Championship was expected. Here’s hoping our seniors can avoid the nagging injuries and early losses that took the wind out of the UM sail last year.


#2 Hello Beanie!! - The more Chris Wells played last year, the better he got. 1600+ yards and 15 touchdowns as a first year starter are pretty special. The fact that he compiled those numbers with nagging injuries to his ankle and hand is pretty scary. He enters this year injury free and at or near the top of most POY lists. I fully expect him to exceed his numbers from last year and to contend for the Heisman. He will also take some of the heat of Boekman make all the plays. I’m sure that’s been one of the key ongoing messages that Todd has been hearing from the coaches throughout camp.


#3 California Dreaming - I’m totally pumped for the USC game on September 13th. I love the fact that the Buckeyes are once again playing in the most anticipated non-conference game of the year. Going into the Coliseum, at night, against the Trojans will provide the ultimate opportunity to prove our ability to all our doubters and haters out there. In many ways, the game sets up exactly the same as the 2006 game against Texas. I expect similar results in this game.


#4 Second team and freshmen – All Buckeye fans are excited about the addition of heralded Prep QB Terrelle Pryor. I’ve read nothing but good things about his attitude and involvement with the offense since arriving in Columbus. There has been lots of speculation about his role and the amount of playing time he will see this year. Conventional wisdom suggests using him in much the same way Florida used Tim Tebow several years ago and LSU used Ryan Perrilloux last year. They were the “running” quarterbacks playing opposite more “traditional” drop-back quarterbacks in Chris Leak and Matt Flynn. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that we will see less of Terrelle this year than we are expecting. This will be a result of the conservative nature of Coach Tressel more so than Terrelle’s ability or game readiness. Another factor will be the effectiveness of Boekman. If Todd stays healthy and is making plays on a weekly basis there would be no reason to throw him in the mix too early. I think Terrelle will see time early in the season against YSU and OU but his playing time will diminish once conference play starts. Of course, I could be wrong on this and he could have a break out year. It will be fun to watch one way or the other.

In addition to Pryor I’m excited to see Rob Rose, Tyler Moeller and Thad Gibson wreak havoc on defense and DeVier Posey, Brandon Saine and Dane Sanzenbacher on offense. I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to the newest members of the offensive line as well. They call themselves the “Block O.” Michael Brewster, JB Shugarts and Mike Adams should all see playing time and give us a sneak peak at how they will play together for years to come.


#5 “First game at the “Shoe” - I have tickets to the Troy St. game in September. I’m going to take my two young sons to their first game in Columbus. Thinking about how much fun it was for me to see my first game gets me excited for them. Here’s hoping we can avoid a “down” week coming after a big win in California.


As with any list of “pros” there must also be a list of “cons”. Here are five (5) things I am worried about this year.


#1 “Bombs away Boekman” – I said it several times last year and am prepared to say it every week this year. “Todd Boekman needs to make better decisions.” He’ll have the luxury of being able to call Beanie’s number every other play but he cannot throw the ball downfield like he did last year. His poor decision making was pivotal in both losses last year and it will be more of the same this year if he doesn’t show improved decision making


#2 “Coaches on the hot seat” – I heard whispers about the coaching staff after the Florida debacle. How they made bad decisions, changed the game plan on the fly and were generally out coached. Given the final score, it was easy to forget all aspects of the game including those issues. However, going through a similar nightmare against LSU last year resurfaced much of the same debate. This year I’ll be curious to see if there are any new approaches or techniques in use (especially to combat the vaunted SEC type speed).


#3 Suspensions on defense – Losing Donald Washington and Jamario O’Neal for the first few games (to suspension) will probably not be that big of an issue. In fact, their absence will give Chimdi Chekwa and others much needed game experience. However, there will be lingering doubt as these experienced players return for the trip to LA. I’m also looking for the other members (Kurt Coleman, Jenkins, Anderson Russell and Aaron Grant) to be more physical against the opposition.


#4 Consistent play by the defensive line – One of the few areas of concern heading into the season will be the play of the defensive line. We return a lot of experience but this unit appeared vulnerable at the end of the season. I’m hoping of year or experience and time in the weight room and at the dinner table will be enough to make this unit better than last year. Cameron Heyword was a huge surprise as a freshman and will be better this year. As mentioned earlier, the return of Lawrence Wilson will help to offset the loss of Gholston. He may be more of a natural defensive end but he won’t have the pure strength and power that Vernon brought to the game. The mix of Nader Abdullah, Doug Worthington, Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger will compete for playing time on the interior of the line. Each of them should be better with a year of experience behind them. I’ve also read a great deal about Thad Gibson playing really well in camp. He came to Ohio State as a linebacker but has bulked up and will now provide a much needed presence as a speed rusher coming off the edge.


#5 BCS title game hangover(s) – Everyone has stayed pretty poised in light of the outcomes of the last two BCS title games. I’m hoping there isn’t any lingering doubt floating around in the minds of the players and coaches. I’m looking for the team to come out swinging in the first half of the season. If they seem to be playing flat or fail to overcome any early adversities it could make for a disappointing year.


So, how is the year going to unfold?


On Offense: With so much depth on this side of the ball it will be tough to get everyone multiple touches each game. You know Beanie is going to get the ball 20-25 times per game. The Buckeyes will use more formations and than at any other time during the Tressel era. 5-wide, Pony, Pistol, Pryor running the option, etc. You name it…..you’ll see it this year. I think the offense has enough playmakers to force opposing defenses play them straight up. That is to say that other teams will not be able to concentrate on stopping the running game at the expense of defending the pass. I don’t think the offense will put up huge numbers (especially early in the year against in-state opponents….Tressel doesn’t like to run up the score in those games) but I’m not worried about an inability to puts points on the board.


On Defense: Last year the defense ended the regular season as the number one scoring unit, third in rushing defense (83 yards per game) and the number one overall (233 yards per game) unit in the nation. That didn’t stop LSU from hanging 38 points of them but it’s nice to be associated with those types of rankings. With virtually everyone returning, bigger and with more experience, I expect another dominant year. We need to create more turnovers if we expect to content for the national title. If we can develop consistency on the defensive line and get physical play from the defensive backfield this unit could be one of the best ever.


Overall: I have us going 11-1 during the year. I believe we will return from LA with a huge win under our belts and primed to enter the conference schedule on a roll. I’m not prepared to say who we will lose to but things happen and the road games to Madison and Champaign scare me. I believe we will win the “outright” conference championship and if we get lucky, play for the BCS title again.


I’ll be writing Buckeye game previews and reviews each week for this blog. In the mean time, I look forward to another year of exciting Buckeye Football!!!!

-Buckeye John