The Buckeyes are about to kickoff their season against the Youngstown State Penguins.
The game will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network, which means I’ll be heading to my neighborhood watering hole to watch the game.
Sadly, my bar tab will cost much more than $1.10 charge the network was asking cable subscribers to pay.
Other Big Ten fans will be watching the Big Ten Network via satellite at home or at the bar. Appalachian State at Michigan (noon), Florida International at Penn State (noon), Northeastern at Northwestern (noon), Bowling Green at Minnesota (8 p.m.) and Indiana State at Indiana (8 p.m.) are all on the network’s Saturday schedule.
However, unlike Penn State and Michigan fans, who will be able to pay their tabs and leave at halftime, I have to stick around to see all three of my quarterbacks. Then I have to come up with a favorite.
Not to mention, there are others I’m looking forward to see play. Those players include the five true freshman that could see the field on Saturday; wide receivers Dane Sanzenbacher and Taurian Washington, defensive back Eugene Clifford, running back Brandon Saine and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
All that time sitting at the bar, could have me talking to penguins like Billy Madison. Or maybe it will make me look like Danny DeVito (right).
Big Ten Picks
Every week our fellow Big Ten Blogger Gopher Nation will track as other people in our group pick the Big Ten games.
Let’s see if I can go 11-0.
Week 1
Minn. beats BGSU
Northwestern beats Northeastern
MSU beats UAB
Michigan beats App State
OSU beats Penguins
PSU beats FL INT
WIS beats Wash St.
MIZZ beats Illinois
Iowa beats NIU
Purdue beats Toledo
IU over Ind. State
College football’s opening weekend will kickoff tomorrow night. The headlining game will be a SEC match up between the #2 LSU Tigers at the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Some quick notes, wide receiver Ray Small won’t be playing (or at least isn’t listed on the depth chart) this weekend according to Bucknuts.com. Small has battled injury problems this spring. Small is expected to one of the most exciting and possible breakout players for the Buckeyes this season.
On a national sports level, quarterback Todd Boeckman was named the starter. Buckeye fans have known this all along.
At running back, backups are listed junior Maurice Wells or freshman Brandon Saine. I would imagine that Mo Wells will get the majority of the work behind Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells, however what that really means is that Saine has looked more impressive than fellow true freshman Daniel “Boom” Herron.
Another position I thought to be interesting is wide receiver. As expected the Brians (Robiskie and Hartline) will be the starters. However, the backups will be two true freshmen Taurian Washington and Dane Sanzenbacher. Washington (right) was a bigger recruit than Sanzenbacher. OSU stole Washington from the state of Michigan, and he turned down offers from Michigan and Wisconsin. According to Lindy’s Big Ten 2007 Preview had Sanzenbacher listed as the Buckeyes’ sleeper recruit. The top three recruits the magazine listed were defensive back Eugene Clifford, running back Brandon Saine and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
On defense
As expected, senior Larry Grant will be one of the starting outside linebackers. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can finally do.
At cornerback, junior Malcolm Jenkins and sophomore Donald Washington will start. That isn’t a surprise, but what is a surprise are the backups Eugene Clifford and Chimdi Chekwa. Clifford is a true freshman and was considered by most to be the top recruit in OSU’s ‘07 class, but I thought he would get some playing time at safety, he still might, keep an eye on him. Chekwa is a redshirt freshman who has been very impressive this spring.
Fellow true freshman Cameron Heyward is listed on the depth chart, he might see playing time at defensive end and at tackle. Doug Worthington and Todd Denlinger are listed as the starters at defensive tackle.
Also, it looks like ‘06 backup kicker junior Ryan Pretorius beat out Aaron Pettrey for the starting kicking job this year.
Every week this season a fellow Big Ten blogging site will host the Big Ten Bloggers roundtable of questions.
This week Around the Oval, which is a fellow Buckeye site and founder of the Big Ten Bloggers, is hosting the first regular season roundtable of the season. Around the Oval will play host again, but it won’t be until Ohio State/Michigan week (Nov. 12 through the 17th). Buckeye Lane will play host the week of the Wisconsin at Ohio State game (September 29th through the November 3rd).
Normally during the regular season there will be a set of three or four questions a fellow Big Ten Blogger will make up. Usually the questions will have a little to do with the key stories of the week, that depends on who is asking the questions. Overall, this will be the Big Ten Bloggers second roundtable, the first was conducted by Badger Tracker. Here are my answers to his questions, Buckeye Lane’s Preseason Roundtable. Part of the duty of hosting the roundtable is to wrap-up the questions, so here is Badger Tracker’s Wrap Up.
Feel free to comment on my answers, tell me if you agree or disagree. Also, you can go to Around the Oval Original Post, many of the fellow Big Ten Bloggers will comment on this post and the links on those comments will direct you to their answers. Also, feel free to click on one of the Big Ten Bloggers, (links on the right side of this page).
1. Which player from your own team are you most looking forward to watching? Buckeye Lane: I could sit there and give an easy answer like I’m looking forward to watching Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells run over defenses, or Brain Robiskie development into the #1 receiver, or offensive tackles Alex Boone and Kirk Barton dominating opposing defensive linemen, or Vernon Gholston leading this team in sacks, or watching linebackers James Laurinaitis (below) and Marcus Freeman make plays all over the field, and lastly I could say that I want to see cornerback Malcolm Jenkins shut down the Big Ten’s best wide receivers.
That would be too easy. So, I really want to see the players that have a lot to prove and could either breakout or bust. Again easily, I could say the quarterbacks Todd Boeckman, Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton, but I think watching the QBs might be aggravating to watch and not fun.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing linebacker Larry Grant and wide receiver Ray Small. Small has had injury problems this spring, while Grant will take over one of the starting linebacking spots for the departing John Kerr.
As a true freshman, Small caught eight balls for 68 yards and had only one touchdown. However, he could become the Buckeyes’ best player in this year or the next. Ted Ginn Sr., coach of Glenville, has been quoted as saying that Small is the most talented receiver he has coached. Also, former OSU defensive tackle David Patterson has said that Small would be the next great wide receiver at Ohio State. I expect big things from Small in 2007. In the spring game he returned kickoffs and took one 40 yards.
Grant, who was a big-time junior college recruit last year, is expected to have a breakout season. In the spring game, Grant had two sacks and forced two fumbles (One of those fumbles he recovered and returned 80 yards for a touchdown). Last year, Grant had only 18 tackles.
2. Which player from another Big Ten team are you most looking forward to watching? Buckeye Lane: As of right now, I have to say that I’m looking forward to seeing Illinois true freshman wide receiver Arrelious Benn. There is always something interesting about a starting true freshman. Many sources consider Benn to be the best WR in the entire nation’s ‘07 recruiting class. Every source has Benn is their top ten WRs in the country, he could be special.
Also, would like to see Penn State running back Austin Scott (led the team in rushing as a true frosh in ‘03, but has been backing up Tony Hunt since. Now it is Scott’s job), Wisconsin QB situation (Tyler Donovan and Allan Evridge better play well if this team expects to win the Big Ten or the BCS National Championship), Illinois QB Juice Williams (his name is Juice and played well at times as a freshman last year), MSU RB Javon Ringer (if he stays healthy, Ringer will have a huge year), Indiana’s QB Kellen Lewis and WR James Hardy (Lewis played well at times as a freshman last year, and Hardy is 6-foot-7), Minnesota’s QB Tony Mortensen (he might not play, but his dad- ESPN’s NFL Analyst Chris- will be watching).
3. If your team was an action movie star, who would it be? Buckeye Lane: This was a tough one for me. Arnold Schwarzenegger is all-time favorite movie star. He isn’t just my favorite action movie star, but my favorite movie star. If he wasn’t around when I was growing up, who knows how I would have turned out. Trust me, he is great, go to the video store and rent Commando and if you aren’t on the floor laughing, then you don’t have a heartbeat.
Sly Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme aren’t smart enough to work in the ‘Tressel-Ball System.’ I know the play-calling is simple, but we are talking about possibly two of the dumbest actors of all time. Also, those training montages that both actors use, especially Van Damme’s where he seems to always thinking about his past girlfriend on a roof top somewhere are terrible.
Steven Seagal was ok for a brief time and now sucks. He would be a good fit for other schools in the Big Ten.
I was thinking Bruce Willis, who is a solid actor that continues his work as a badass on the silver screen, but there is somebody better.
Everyday he sports the scarlet (on his kilt) and the grey (which is all over his face). Connery is such a devoted supporter of Ohio State that he has literally made himself look a mascot of The Ohio State University.
Connery’s career has been lengthy and dominating. He won an Oscar for his work on the movie The Untouchables. Also, he is cool enough to win an MTV Movie Award for his role in the The Rock at the age of 67.
Connery turned 77-years-old on Saturday.
The two are very similar, Connery and the Buckeyes have kicked some serious arrsshhhh (like Connery would say) for a long time.
I could go over the whole roster of Youngstown State. I might be able to find some player like quarterback Tom Zetts and throw some stats at you, but I won’t. It doesn’t matter. Ohio State should have no problem with these Penguins because they stink.
Ok, they might have won 11 games last year and lost in semifinals of the playoffs. However, let me remind you that this team plays in the Gateway Conference and not the Big Ten. Also the BCS doesn’t have a playoff system yet, so I’ll let you figure that one out.
What you should be concern with is the play of the quarterbacks. Todd Boeckman (left), Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton will all play. Personally, I have a favorite at the moment and it is Schoenhoft. However, that could change on Saturday. If Boeckman can’t make any big plays against Youngstown State, then you would have to pull him in favor of Schoenhoft and Henton in the game against Akron, right? Wait, Boeckman has to make some plays, everyone should make plays, they are called players not penguins.
The only reason that Ohio State is playing the Penguins is because Jim Tressel used to be YSU’s head coach from ’86 through ’00. There he had a record of 137-57-2 and won four D1AA National Championships. Last year, YSU finished 11-3 and lost to Penn State 37-3. OSU should have no trouble with the Penguins. On August 10th, I predicted Final Score: Ohio State 28-7
Now I say Final Score: 42-3
The previous prediction was based on the thought that Jim Tressel wouldn’t dare run up the score against the school where he and his wife donate all their money to, but now I think it may just happen no matter how hard the Buckeyes try.
Oh, also the game is going to be televised on the Big Ten Network. Call your local bars and make sure they have a dish
The Ohio State Buckeyes will kick off their season against a team that finished the year 11-3 and was eliminated in the semifinal of the playoffs.
This is no regular penguin the Buckeyes will facing. These penguins are dangerous.
These dirty penguins have fooled us for too long.
The good news is that I found a way to stop them. I’m directing to a top secret operation, it is called Attack Of The Killer Penguins 2.
Please click on that and kill these friendly looking penguins.
Eventually they will look like this:
(sorry I can’t upload images at the moment- I had a great picture of Penguin killing a guy with a sword, but had to use the Jim Tressel pic- then below would have had a picture of Danny DeVito in the Batman movie)
There is only a week until the Buckeyes kickoff the 2007 season against Youngstown State.
The key offensive core of the 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes is gone in 2007. Troy Smith (Baltimore Ravens), Antonio Pittman (New Orleans Saints), Ted Ginn Jr. (Miami Dolphins) and Anthony Gonzalez (Indianapolis Colts) all leave.
Offensive lineman Doug Datish (Atlanta Falcons) and T.J. Downing (Arizona Cardinals) leave the Buckeyes depleted in the interior. Throw in wide receiver Roy Hall (Indianapolis Colts) and that leaves the whole offense is in question.
Obviously, fans are worried about the ‘07 offense.
Last year, the question mark was the defense, which returned only two starters and lost stars OLB A.J. Hawk, SS Donte Whitner, OLB Bobby Carpenter, CB Aston Youboty, ILB Anthony Schlegel and FS Nate Salley to the NFL draft.
The Buckeyes still opened the season #1 in rankings. This year they are ranked more in the middle of the Top 25.
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has the Buckeyes ranked #15 in top 25.
The Buckeyes are not topping the list in the Big Ten either. My two favorite sources (Phil Steele and Sporting News) have the Buckeyes ranked third and fourth in the preseason Big Ten standings. Phil Steele has the Buckeyes behind Michigan and Penn State. Sporting News has OSU behind Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. During Big Ten Media Day someone asked Jim Tressel what he thought about being ranked third in the Big Ten.
“I think it shows great respected for our program, Tressel said. “We lost a bunch of guys and we still get picked at that level.”
Tressel also expressed that he thought that Big Ten would be much tougher this year.
Also, another topic was brought up on media day. It is a fan favorite in Buckeye country. This past January, every fan had to come up with a reason for losing the National Championship. The best one we could come up with, was that we had too long of a break in between our last game and the BCS title game.
“We had 44 days for a bowl game one year and 43 days to prepare for a championship game a couple years ago. Nothing was said about that being a disadvantage,” Tressel said. “And then, this one being 50 or so, it really isn’t a reason why we lost.”
The other popular excuse was that the Buckeyes were slower than the Gators. Actually the story was, that the whole Big Ten was slower than the SEC. Players from the SEC are much faster- blah, blah, blah. At the time, I was working in Atlanta, Ga., home of the SEC Championship Game, and I heard that reasoning all day every day.
“I think they were both pretty fast,” Tressel told ESPN.com. . “There’s no question Florida was a fast team, and Ohio State was a fast team. The first play of the game [Ginn’s 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown], it looked like we had the fastest guy in the world.”
Much of the Florida roster was made up of Ron Zook’s (Illinois current head coach) recruits.
“In my mind, there isn’t any difference,” Zook told ESPN.com. “We have every bit the speed that they do. In my mind, there is no question that this league can compete against anyone in the country.”
Sure the Big Ten wasn’t that good in ‘06 and the SEC usually fields better teams. However, here is a basic example of how the SEC isn’t that much different than the Big Ten.
Take the 10 commitments (not counting the kicker) in the 2008 recruiting class for Ohio State: According to Scout.com seven of the 10 OSU commits turned down an offer from at least one SEC school. Also, Scout.com doesn’t have the information of all the offers made to players. For example, Cameron Heyward, of the 2007 OSU recruiting class, had offers from over 40 programs. Scout.com had Heyward receiving only four (from Ohio State, Florida, Georgia and LSU).
-I reached deep in the archives and picked out the fifth-ever blog that I wrote for this site. Many of you didn’t follow Buckeye Lane back then, so I figured it was time to run the story again. Pretty sad on how little things have changed-
By Adam Kiefaber
The biggest question heading into the 2007 football season has to be, who is going to be the signal caller for this team?
2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, although disappointing in the National Championship game, could have been Ohio State’s best quarterback of all time. In 2006, Smith completed 65.3% of his passes, tossed for 2,542 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 30-to-6. More importantly for Ohio State fans, Smith led the Buckeyes to three straight victories over rival Michigan. In those three games, Smith completed 68.3% of his passes, tossed for 857 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 7-to-1. Also, in those games Smith rushed for 194 yards on 33 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.
The Buckeye quarterback history isn’t pretty. Art Schlicter came up one-point shy of giving Ohio State a National Championship and was the fourth overall pick in the 1982 NFL draft. However, Schlicter, a confessed compulsive gambler, best statistics include being in more than 30 prisons and committing over 20 felonies. Rex Kern led Ohio State to a National Championship in 1968, but played a short career in the NFL as a defensive back. 1987 starting quarterback Tom Tupa had a solid 17-year-old career in the NFL, but it was as a punter and not as a quarterback. However, please remember this for the next Trivia Night at your local pub, Tupa scored the first two-point conversion in NFL history.
When he scored as a Cleveland Brown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the season’s opening weekend in 1994, he earned the nickname ‘Two-Point Tupa’.
Mike Tomczak, Joe Germaine, Bob Hoying and Kent Graham never started with regularity in the NFL. Craig Krenzel, although he is already out of the NFL, deserves credit for leading the Buckeyes to a National Championship.
Compared to every other position, a Buckeye quarterback doesn’t do well in the NFL and he usually doesn’t do that great at Ohio State.
Ohio State fans know that they don’t need another Smith, but a Krenzel will do.
So who will start in 2007 and how will they perform?
The Leader: Todd Boeckman didn’t blow anyone away in the spring game, but is expected to be the starter heading into the home opener against Youngstown State on September 1st. However, all three quarterbacks are expected to see the field in that possible blowout against Jim Tressel’s old team.
In the spring game, Boeckman completed 6 of 14 passes for 103 yards; he didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception and was sacked twice. However, he did fumble the football, which was forced and returned 80 yards for a touchdown by senior linebacker Larry Grant.
Boeckman competed in very limited action during the 2005 and the 2006 seasons. He might best be known for having the camera all over him at the 2004 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State. Justin Zwick got the start while Troy Smith served a suspension for taking money. Zwick missed five games due to a shoulder injury that season and when he needed to be spelled during the Alamo Bowl, Ohio State decided to line-up true freshman Ted Ginn Jr. at quarterback rather than waste a year of eligibility during Boeckman’s redshirt season.
Boeckman was ranked as the 19th best pro-style quarterback in the nation and was the 13th best Ohio prospect in the 2003 recruiting class by Rivals.com. According to Scout.com, Boeckman had offers from Iowa, Maryland and Pittsburgh. Both sites labeled Boeckman as a three-star recruit.
The Best? : Rob Schoenhoft showed off a strong arm while quarterbacking for the Scarlet and Grey teams during the spring game. In the game, he completed 7 of 15 passes for 83 yards; he threw for one touchdown and no interceptions and was sacked once. He did fumble, but made up for it on a touchdown drive where he scrambled for a first down on 3rd and 9 and then competed a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brandon Smith.
In 2005, Schoenhoft was a bigger recruit than Boeckman was in 2003. Which if you think about makes Boeckman a fifth-year junior. Anyways, Schoenhoft was ranked as the sixth best pro-style quarterback in the nation and was the eighth best prospect from Ohio by Rivals.com. Schoenhoft picked Ohio State over big-time programs that included Florida, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. He thought that he would be given a great opportunity to play and now he just has to get by Boeckman. Websites Rivals and Scout had Schoenhoft labeled as a four-star recruit.
The next Troy Smith? : Antonio Henton excited fans and coaches alike in spring practice with his athleticism. However, he showed in the spring game that he is not ready to start at the quarterback position. Overall, Henton threw three interceptions, fumbled once and completed 8 of 16 passes for only 45 yards. Henton did rush for 36 yards on 9 carries while quarterbacking for both the Scarlet and the Grey.
Henton could be the quarterback of the future, but I don’t expect him to be a serious contender to start until Boeckman leaves after the 2008 season. He might be able to rotate in with Schoenhoft in the 2009 season and could possibly start in 2010.
Henton turned down offers from Illinois and Maryland. Scout.com had Henton labeled as four-star recruit while Rivals.com had him ranked at three-star status.
What to Expect:
• Once the season begins with home games against Youngstown State and Akron everybody will have their own favorite.
• Some will like Boeckman, claiming that is solid and won’t make many mistakes, a la Craig Krenzel.
• Others will favor Schoenhoft because he has the strongest arm.
• And the rest will like Henton because he won’t get the playing time that his fans think he deserves. Similar to how Troy Smith’s career started sitting behind Justin Zwick.
• No doubt in my mind, the media and the fans will begin to panic the week Ohio State travels to Washington on September 15th. However, I believe Boeckman and Schoenhoft can battle for the job until the October 6th date at Purdue.
Who do you think should start?
Who is the best for 2007?
How about 2008?
Would anyone of these quarterbacks have a chance to play if Ohio State lands top 2008 recruit Terrelle Pryor?
Sorry, I know that there are only 12 days until the football season kicks off. I swear that this will be the last time I mention the word ‘basketball’ until then.
However, last week the Big Ten Network released their schedule for basketball.
Unlike football, there are many big games that will be televised on the network.
Buckeye fans complained when they found out that they might have to go to a bar to watch the first two football games.
However, now you can say that about half of OSU men’s basketball games won’t be shown on cable.
Up until now, cable companies were just trying to figure out how to locally televise those early football games.
Now, they could have a bigger problem come this winter.
BIG TEN NETWORK CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Wednesday January 2 Wisconsin @ Michigan 7 EST
Wednesday January 2 Indiana @ Iowa 9 EST
Saturday January 5 Iowa @ Wisconsin 12 EST
Saturday January 5 Minnesota @ Michigan State 8 EST
Sunday January 6 Northwestern @ Ohio State 12 EST
Sunday January 6 Penn State @ Illinois 2 EST
Tuesday January 8 Purdue @ Michigan State 9 EST
Wednesday January 9 Iowa @ Ohio State 7 EST
Wednesday January 9 Northwestern @ Minnesota 9 EST
Saturday January 12 Minnesota @ Penn State 2 EST
Saturday January 12 Ohio State @ Purdue 4 EST
Saturday January 12 Michigan @ Northwestern 6:30 EST
Saturday January 12 Michigan State @ Iowa 8:30 EST
Tuesday January 15 Wisconsin @ Penn State 9 EST
Wednesday January 16 Purdue @ Iowa 7 EST
Wednesday January 16 Michigan @ Illinois 9 EST
Saturday January 19 Iowa @ Michigan 7 EST
Saturday January 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin 9 EST
Sunday January 20 Penn State @ Indiana 2 EST
Sunday January 20 Michigan State @ Minnesota 4 EST
Tuesday January 22 Illinois @ Ohio State 9 EST
Wednesday January 23 Purdue @ Penn State 7 EST
Wednesday January 23 Iowa @ Indiana 9 EST
Saturday January 26 Penn State @ Iowa 6 EST
Saturday January 26 Minnesota @ Ohio State 8 EST
Sunday January 27 Northwestern @ Illinois 8 EST
Wednesday January 30 Iowa @ Purdue 7 EST
Wednesday January 30 Illinois @ Michigan State 9 EST
Thursday January 31 Minnesota @ Michigan 7 EST
Saturday February 2 Purdue @ Illinois 3:30 EST
Saturday February 2 Ohio State @ Iowa 6 EST
Saturday February 2 Michigan State @ Penn State 8 EST
Sunday February 3 Northwestern @ Indiana 12 EST
Sunday February 3 Wisconsin @ Minnesota 2 EST
Tuesday February 5 Penn State @ Purdue 9 EST
Wednesday February 6 Minnesota @ Northwestern 7 EST
Wednesday February 6 Wisconsin @ Iowa 9 EST
Saturday February 9 Penn State @ Michigan 4 EST
Saturday February 9 Northwestern @ Michigan State 7 EST
Saturday February 9 Purdue @ Wisconsin 9 EST
Tuesday February 12 Illinois @ Minnesota 9 EST
Wednesday February 13 Wisconsin @ Indiana 7 EST
Wednesday February 13 Ohio State @ Northwestern 9 EST
Saturday February 16 Minnesota @ Wisconsin 2 EST
Saturday February 16 Purdue @ Northwestern 4 EST
Saturday February 16 Illinois @ Penn State 7 EST
Tuesday February 19 Northwestern @ Iowa 9 EST
Wednesday February 20 Penn State @ Michigan State 7 EST
Wednesday February 20 Wisconsin @ Illinois 9 EST
Saturday February 23 TBD @ TBD 2 or 4 EST
Saturday February 23 Indiana @ Northwestern 8 EST
Sunday February 24 Penn State @ Minnesota 2 EST
Tuesday February 26 Northwestern @ Michigan 9 EST
Wednesday February 27 Iowa @ Penn State 7 EST
Wednesday February 27 Minnesota @ Purdue 9 EST
Saturday March 1 Northwestern @ Purdue 2 EST
Saturday March 1 TBD @ TBD 4 or 6 EST
Saturday March 1 Michigan @ Penn State 8 EST
Tues. / Thurs. March 4 or 6 TBD @ TBD 9 EST
Wednesday March 5 TBD @ TBD 7 EST
Wednesday March 5 TBD @ TBD 9 EST
Saturday March 8 Minnesota @ Illinois 1 EST
Saturday March 8 Purdue @ Michigan, or 3 EST
Saturday March 8 Indiana @ Penn State 3 EST
Saturday March 8 Wisconsin @ Northwestern 5 EST
Sunday March 9 Wisconsin @ Northwestern 12 EST
BIG TEN NETWORK CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday March 13 #9-seed vs. #8-seed 12 EST
Friday March 14 #7-seed or #10-seed vs. #2-seed 6:40 EST
Friday March 14 #6-seed or #11-seed vs. #3-seed 9:10 EST
The game will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network, which means I’ll be heading to my neighborhood watering hole to watch the game.
lineman Cameron Heyward.
The Buckeyes kick things off at noon on Saturday against Youngstown State (game will televised on the Big Ten Network). Earlier this week 
Taurian Washington and Dane Sanzenbacher. Washington (right) was a bigger recruit than Sanzenbacher. OSU stole Washington from the state of Michigan, and he turned down offers from Michigan and Wisconsin. According to Lindy’s Big Ten 2007 Preview had Sanzenbacher listed as the Buckeyes’ sleeper recruit. The top three recruits the magazine listed were defensive back Eugene Clifford, running back Brandon Saine and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
This week 
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing linebacker Larry Grant and wide receiver Ray Small. Small has had injury problems this spring, while Grant will take over one of the starting linebacking spots for the departing John Kerr.
I could go over the whole roster of Youngstown State. I might be able to find some player like quarterback Tom Zetts and throw some stats at you, but I won’t. It doesn’t matter. Ohio State should have no problem with these Penguins because they stink.
Todd Boeckman (left), Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton will all play. Personally, I have a favorite at the moment and it is Schoenhoft. However, that could change on Saturday. If Boeckman can’t make any big plays against Youngstown State, then you would have to pull him in favor of Schoenhoft and Henton in the game against Akron, right? Wait, Boeckman has to make some plays, everyone should make plays, they are called players not penguins.
This is no regular penguin the Buckeyes will facing. These penguins are dangerous.
“I think they were both pretty fast,” Tressel told 
2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, although disappointing in the National Championship game, could have been Ohio State’s best quarterback of all time. In 2006, Smith completed 65.3% of his passes, tossed for 2,542 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 30-to-6. More importantly for Ohio State fans, Smith led the Buckeyes to three straight victories over rival Michigan. In those three games, Smith completed 68.3% of his passes, tossed for 857 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 7-to-1. Also, in those games Smith rushed for 194 yards on 33 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.
1987 starting quarterback Tom Tupa had a solid 17-year-old career in the NFL, but it was as a punter and not as a quarterback. However, please remember this for the next Trivia Night at your local pub, Tupa scored the first two-point conversion in NFL history.