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?
In late June, I put together an ‘07 Ohio State football preview for the website SportProjections.com .
At the time, I was thinking that I would just do the preview and hope that it would link back to the ole Buckeye Lane .
However, I realized that I might as well toss it my site and not wait for SportProjections.com to launch their preview.
The blog was posted on Buckeye Lane in the first month of this site. It received more hits than any other blog in the inaugural month of Buckeye Lane .
Since it received a bunch of hits when the site was literally less than a month old, I wanted to show it again.
The idea came to me today when I saw that SportProjections.com finally had the preview along with previews from all 11 of the Big Ten football teams posted.
Contributor: Adam Kiefaber Web address:Buckeye Lane Last Year Record: 12-1 Last Year Summary: Ohio State won all 12 of their regular season games and was the favorite to win the National Championship. In the first 11 games, the Buckeyes outscored their opponents 394 to 86. Then in a classic match up, #1 Ohio State defeated #2 Michigan 42 to 39. The Florida Gators shocked the non-SEC football world and dismantled the Buckeyes by a score of 41 to 14 in the BCS National Championship. The question mark coming into the ‘06 season 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. However, MLB James Laurinaitis emerged and won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Also, CB Malcolm Jenkins and OLB Marcus Freeman were impressive. The offense was the strength of the team, led by QB Troy Smith, RB Antonio Pittman, WR Ted Ginn Jr., WR Anthony Gonzalez and true freshman Chris “Beanie” Wells. Returning Starters: 4 Offensive - 6 Defensive Players to Watch (possible awards) This Season: RB Chris “Beanie” Wels, MLB James Laurinaitis, OLB Marcus Freeman, CB Malcolm Jenkins, DE Vernon Gholston, OT Alex Boone, OT Kirk Barton Players to Watch (breakout players) This Season: A QB? (Todd Boeckman, Ron Schoenhoft or Antonio Henton), WR Raymond Small, OLB Larry Grant, DE Robert Rose, SS Jamario O’Neal, DT Doug Worthington, RB Maurice Wells Offensive Strengths: Running backs Sophomore Beanie and junior Maurice Wells will carry the load while the Buckeyes look for a consistent starting quarterback. Beanie is the power back and Maurice is the speed. Maurice Wells should have his best season yet. Also, Ohio State added two great RB recruits this year in Brandon Saine and Daniel “Boom” Herron. Offensive Weaknesses: Ohio State is losing their best quarterback of all-time in Heisman winner Troy Smith. Junior Todd Boeckman is the projected starter and knows the offense the best. Sophomore Rob Schoenhoft has the strong arm, while freshman Antonio Henton has the scrambling ability. All three should get snaps early on, but look for head coach Jim Tressel go with one by midseason. Defensive Strengths: Linebackers James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman and Larry Grant will start for a loaded line-backing core. Laurinaitis and Freeman are on the Bednarik watch list for this season. 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). Backup seniors Curtis Terry, Curt Lukens and sophomore Ross Homan are more than ready to step in. Defensive Weaknesses: The defensive line production could be down a little, but there are many highly recruited players that are ready to step up. Three starters DT Quinn Pitcock, DT David Patterson and DE Jay Richardson are now in the NFL. Little is known about sophomores Doug Worthington and Todd Denlinger, but both are expected to start at DT. The DE position is loaded with talent that includes junior Vernon Gholston, junior Lawrence Wilson, sophomore Robert Rose and junior Alex Barrow. 2007 Season Summary: The Buckeyes are blessed with a relatively easy schedule that includes Wisconsin and Michigan State at home. The challenging road games include Washington, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan. Ohio State should easily win home games against Youngstown State, Akron, Northwestern, Kent State and Illinois. If the Buckeyes get good production from their quarterback position it isn’t hard to believe that they could run the table and make a run at the National Championship. Coach Jim Tressel will try to run it down his opponents throats with the Wells duo. If I was to make an objective prediction for the Buckeyes in 2007: I predict OSU to start the season 8-0 before a loss at Penn State. Then Wisconsin will best OSU for the fourth straight time at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes will follow that up with wins at home against Illinois and on the road against Michigan. Big Games of the Year: Oct. 27 @ Penn State, Nov. 3 vs. Wisconsin, Nov. 17 @ Michigan. 2007 Projected Record: 10-2 2007 Projected Bowl (if applicable): Capital One Bowl or Orange Bowl
Projected Victories and Conference Standings:
OSU Schedule
Youngstown St. (Win)
Akron (Win)
@Washington (Win)
Northwestern (Win)
@Minnesota (Win)
@Purdue (Win)
Kent St. (Win)
Michigan St. (Win)
@Penn St. (Loss)
Wisconsin (Loss)
Illinois (Win)
@Michigan (Win)
Conference Standings (projections)
1 Ohio State
1 Wisconsin
3 Michigan
4 Penn St.
5 Iowa
6 Purdue
7 Michigan St.
8 Illinois
9 Indiana
10 Northwestern
11 Minnesota
If you didn’t already know, the countdown for the regular season has begun.
There are only 20 days until the season kicks off.
On August 30th, teams like Rutgers, Louisville and LSU will take the field.
Big Ten teams will have to wait till that Saturday on September 1st.
Here is a quick breakdown of the Big Ten games.
Northeastern at Northwestern @ noon- on the Big Ten Network
Northwestern is predicted to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten Standings. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Northwestern finishing eighth, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing tied for eighth and the Sporting News has the Wildcats in last. They do open their season against a D1AA team in Northeastern, so that should be an easy win, right? Last year, Northwestern lost to the New Hampshire Wildcats (34-17), who happen to be in the same conference as Northeastern. In 06, New Hampshire lost a heartbreaker to Northeastern, 36-35 in overtime. Northwestern should be improved this year with 16 returning starters and will roll over Northeastern. Final Score: Northwestern 28-10
UAB at Michigan State @ noon- on ESPN2
Michigan State is not expected to do great things in 2007. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has MSU finishing ninth in the Big Ten Standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing tied for eighth and the Sporting News has the Spartans in ninth. This is a good year to play UAB, the Blazers are coming off a disappointing 3-9 season where he return only eight starters. UAB is 1-15 in their first road game since ’91, while MSU has won eight straight home openers. Expect Michigan State to not have any trouble against UAB. Final Score: Michigan State 27-9
Appalachian State at Michigan @ noon- on the Big Ten Network
Michigan is the popular pick to win the Big Ten in 2007. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has the Michigan winning the Big Ten as does the Sporting News. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has the Wolverines finishing in a first-place tie with Penn State. Appalachian State has won back-to-back D1AA National Championships. Last year, the Mountaineers finished with a 14-1 record, with their only loss coming in the opener at N.C. State. If there was ever a college football game that reminds me of #1 seed vs. #16 seed in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, this is it. The #1 seed, Michigan in this case, always wins. Final Score: Michigan 35-10
Youngstown State at Ohio State @ noon- on the Big Ten Network
Ohio State is predicted to finish near the top of the Big Ten standings. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Ohio State finishing third, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing third and the Sporting News has the Buckeyes in fourth. 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. Final Score: Ohio State 28-7
Florida International at Penn State @ noon- on the Big Ten Network
Penn State is another team that is expected to compete for the Big Ten title. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Penn State finishing fifth in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them tied for first and the Sporting News has the Nittany Lions in third. Fortunately for Penn State, the Golden Panthers finished the ’06 season with a 0-12 record. Penn State will easily take care of Florida International. Final Score: Penn State 45-3
Missouri vs. Illinois (in St. Louis) @ 3:30- on ESPN2
Illinois is a popular pick to be one of the surprise teams in all college football and not just in the Big Ten. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Illinois finishing sixth in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing seventh and the Sporting News has the Fighting Illini in eighth. Illinois has 17 returning starters and another great recruiting class coming in. Missouri, on the other hand, is expected to compete for a BIG 12 Championship. The Tigers seem to be the pick to win the BIG 12 North division. The Tigers QB Chase Daniel is among the best in the country. Final Score: Missouri 28-17
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (in Chicago) @ 3:30- on ESPNU
Iowa was disappointing last year and finished with a 6-7 record, after starting the year 4-0 until a 38-17 loss to Ohio State. However, Iowa did beat Northern Illinois last season 24-14, and the Huskies are losing a lot of talent this season. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Iowa finishing fifth in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing tied for fourth and the Sporting News has the Hawkeyes in fourth. I expect Iowa to improve its record to 7-0 against NIU. Final Score: Iowa 35-21
Washington State at Wisconsin @ 3:30- on ABC
Wisconsin had a great season last season finishing 12-1, now they return 16 starters and should compete for the Big Ten title. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Wisconsin finishing second in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing tied for fourth and the Sporting News has the Badgers in second. I expect Wisconsin to win their 10th straight season opener, but they can’t look past the Cougars who had impressive road wins against Oregon State and UCLA last year. They also beat Oregon and played powerhouse USC close, losing 28-22. Final Score: Wisconsin 21-10
Purdue at Toledo @ 7:00- on ESPNU
Purdue quietly finished with a 8-6 record in ’06, however they didn’t have play to Michigan or Ohio State. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Purdue finishing seventh in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing tied for fourth and the Sporting News has the Boilermakers in sixth. Toledo finished a disappointing 5-7 last year. This season, you have to expect an improvement, but the team has a question mark at quarterback. I expect the Rockets to be a good team, however Purdue is lucky that they play them in week one. Final Score: Purdue 42-35
Indiana State at Indiana @ 8:00- on Big Ten Network
Indiana will have a lot of emotions when they open the season without coach Terry Hoeppner. I remember I interviewed Hoeppner before his Miami (Oh.) Redhawks took on this same Indiana State football team. You could tell Hoeppner was pumped up and eager to prove that his team belonged in the Top 25. The previous year, Miami finished #10 in the Top 25, when they had that magical season with Ben Roethlisberger. Indiana has consistently improved since Hoeppner came on as head coach. The 16 returning starters will have a lot to play for and will beat up on the Sycamores. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Indiana finishing last in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing 10th and the Sporting News has the Hoosiers in 10th. Final Score: Indiana 35-7
Bowling Green at Minnesota @ 8:00- on Big Ten Network
Minnesota new coach Tim Brewster will have his team ready to go in their opener against Bowling Green. Lindy’s Big Ten Preview has Minnesota finishing 10th in the Big Ten standings, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview has them finishing last and the Sporting News has the Golden Gophers in seventh. Bowling Green won’t be a pushover, I think QB Anthony Turner will finally breakout and have a big season. However, Minnesota is my surprise pick in the Big Ten, so I can’t pick against them already. Final Score: Minnesota 28-21
Most of opening weekend Big Ten games will be extremely boring. I would imagine that only the true fans will watch their favorite team’s game and that will be it.
Elsewhere there will be some pretty good games during the opening weekend: Below is my Top Ten:
Week One
September 1st
1) Tennessee at California (ABC- 8:00 p.m.)
2) Wake Forest at Boston College (ABC- 3:30 p.m.)
3) East Carolina at Virginia Tech (ESPN- noon)
4) Georgia Tech at Notre Dame (NBC- 3:30 p.m.)
5) Oklahoma State at Georgia (ESPN2- 6:45 p.m.)
6) Kansas State at Auburn (ESPN- 7:45 p.m.)
7) Florida State at Clemson (ESPN- 8 p.m. Sept. 3rd)
8) Western Michigan at West Virginia (3:30 p.m.) 9) Washington State at Wisconsin (ABC- 3:30 p.m.)
10) LSU at Mississippi State (ESPN- 8:00 p.m. Aug. 30th)
The 2007 Ohio State football team is only returning 10 starters. That means there will be 12 new starters, which include seven on offense.
Somebody has to break out?
The 2006 team had 17 seniors and NFL-ready juniors Antonio Pittman (fourth-round pick by New Orleans), Ted Ginn Jr. (first-round pick by Miami) and Anthony Gonzalez (first-round pick by Indianapolis).
New Faces on Offense: QB – see Blog: Quarterback Question? RB- Sophomore Chris Wells has the best chance of any Buckeye to win the Heisman Trophy. Now that Pittman is gone, junior Maurice Wells should get more touches. The Wells duo should be one of the best in the Big Ten. Also, OSU loses fullback Stan White (signed by Cincinnati). However, seniors Dionte Johnson and Trever Robinson should fill in fine. Filling out the roster at running back are two big-time recruits in Brandon Saine and Daniel “Boom” Herron. WR- OSU loses two key wide receivers from the ’06 squad in Ginn Jr. and Gonzalez. Junior Brian Robiskie looks to be the team’s first option and finished last season with 29 catches for 383 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore WR Brian Hartline and junior TE Rory Nicol should get more looks. Junior WRs Albert Dukes and Devon Lyons (three catches for 72 yards in spring game) could become solid players. However, sophomore Raymond Small has been considered by his teammates ‘as the next great wide receiver at Ohio State.’ The receivers could put on big numbers, but the big question is at quarterback. OL- Ohio State already has two great tackles in senior Kirk Barton and junior Alex Boone. Ohio State loses two of last year’s starters in center Doug Datish (sixth-round pick by Atlanta) and guard T.J. Downing (signed by Arizona). Currently, sophomore center Jim Cordle and junior guard Ben Person lead the depth chart as the replacements. Also, look for freshmen Connor Smith and Bryant Browning to compete for the open spots. I expect the offensive line to continue to be solid.
Take a look at the stats from the Scarlet and Grey Game- Spring Game Stats
Contributor: Adam Kiefaber Web address:Buckeye Lane Last Year Record: 12-1 Last Year Summary: Ohio State won all 12 of their regular season games and was the favorite to win the National Championship. In the first 11 games, the Buckeyes out scored their opponents 394 to 86. Then in a classic match up, #1 Ohio State defeated #2 Michigan 42 to 39. The Florida Gators shocked the non-SEC football world and dismantled the Buckeyes by a score of 41 to 14 in the BCS National Championship. The question mark coming into the ‘06 season 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. However, MLB James Laurinaitis emerged and won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Also, CB Malcolm Jenkins and OLB Marcus Freeman were impressive. The offense was the strength of the team, led by QB Troy Smith, RB Antonio Pittman, WR Ted Ginn Jr., WR Anthony Gonzalez and true freshman Chris “Beanie” Wells. Returning Starters: 4 Offensive - 6 Defensive Players to Watch (possible awards) This Season: RB Chris “Beanie” Wels, MLB James Laurinaitis, OLB Marcus Freeman, CB Malcolm Jenkins, DE Vernon Gholston, OT Alex Boone, OT Kirk Barton Players to Watch (breakout players) This Season: A QB? (Todd Boeckman, Ron Schoenhoft or Antonio Henton), WR Raymond Small, OLB Larry Grant, DE Robert Rose, SS Jamario O’Neal, DT Doug Worthington, RB Maurice Wells Offensive Strengths: Running backs Sophomore Beanie and junior Maurice Wells will carry the load while the Buckeyes look for a consistent starting quarterback. Beanie is the power back and Maurice is the speed. Maurice Wells should have his best season yet. Also, Ohio State added two great RB recruits this year in Brandon Saine and Daniel “Boom” Herron. Offensive Weaknesses: Ohio State is losing their best quarterback of all-time in Heisman winner Troy Smith. Junior Todd Boeckman is the projected starter and knows the offense the best. Sophomore Rob Schoenhoft has the strong arm, while freshman Antonio Henton has the scrambling ability. All three should get snaps early on, but look for head coach Jim Tressel go with one by midseason. Defensive Strengths: Linebackers James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman and Larry Grant will start for a loaded line-backing core. Laurinaitis and Freeman are on Bednarik watch list for this season. 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). Backup seniors Curtis Terry, Curt Lukens and sophomore Ross Homan are more than ready to step in. Defensive Weaknesses: The defensive line production could be down a little, but there are many highly recruited players that are ready to step up. Three starters DT Quinn Pitcock, DT David Patterson and DE Jay Richardson are now in the NFL. Little is known about sophomores Doug Worthington and Todd Denlinger, but both are expected to start at DT. The DE position is loaded with talent that includes junior Vernon Gholston, junior Lawrence Wilson, sophomore Robert Rose and junior Alex Barrow. 2007 Season Summary: The Buckeyes are blessed with a relatively easy schedule that includes Wisconsin and Michigan State at home. The challenging road games include Washington, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan. Ohio State should easily win home games against Youngstown State, Akron, Northwestern, Kent State and Illinois. If the Buckeyes get good production from their quarterback position it isn’t hard to believe that they could run the table and make a run at the National Championship. Coach Jim Tressel will try to run it down his opponents throats with the Wells duo. If I was to make an objective prediction for the Buckeyes in 2007: I predict OSU to start the season 8-0 before a loss at Penn State. Then Wisconsin will best OSU for the fourth straight time at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes will follow that up with wins at home against Illinois and on the road against Michigan. Big Games of the Year: Oct. 27 @ Penn State, Nov. 3 vs. Wisconsin, Nov. 17 @ Michigan. 2007 Projected Record: 10-2 2007 Projected Bowl (if applicable): Capital One Bowl or Orange Bowl
Projected Victories and Conference Standings:
OSU Schedule
Youngstown St. (Win)
Akron (Win)
@Washington (Win)
Northwestern (Win)
@Minnesota (Win)
@Purdue (Win)
Kent St. (Win)
Michigan St. (Win)
@Penn St. (Loss)
Wisconsin (Loss)
Illinois (Win)
@Michigan (Win)
Conference Standings (projections)
1 Ohio State
1 Wisconsin
3 Michigan
4 Penn St.
5 Iowa
6 Purdue
7 Michigan St.
8 Illinois
9 Indiana
10 Northwestern
11 Minnesota
(I’m going to email my fellow OSU bloggers and have them post a preview, which will be seen on both sites)
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.
“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.”
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. 
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.
Offensive Strengths: Running backs Sophomore Beanie and junior Maurice Wells will carry the load while the Buckeyes look for a consistent starting quarterback. Beanie is the power back and Maurice is the speed. Maurice Wells should have his best season yet. Also, Ohio State added two great RB recruits this year in Brandon Saine and Daniel “Boom” Herron.
Youngstown State at Ohio State @ noon- on the Big Ten Network
Indiana State at Indiana @ 8:00- on Big Ten Network
The 2007 Ohio State football team is only returning 10 starters. That means there will be 12 new starters, which include seven on offense.
looks to be the team’s first option and finished last season with 29 catches for 383 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore WR Brian Hartline and junior TE Rory Nicol should get more looks. Junior WRs Albert Dukes and Devon Lyons (three catches for 72 yards in spring game) could become solid players. However, sophomore Raymond Small has been considered by his teammates ‘as the next great wide receiver at Ohio State.’ The receivers could put on big numbers, but the big question is at quarterback.