7/22/11

Buckeyes get ready for the upcoming season

The Buckeyes were predicted to be a Top 5 team come August till the bottom fell out from under the program. Their starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor left the school, Jim Tressel resigned under loads and loads of scrutiny and they will also play the first five games without key players due to suspensions. Can this team fight through their off season troubles to continue their dominance in the Big 10?

Tressel resigned on Memorial Day
The Big Ten will be completely reformed in 2011. The addition of Nebraska to the conference, two divisions, a conference championship game, and the possibility of no team from Ohio being a Big 10 champ. The Buckeyes have been in a BCS Bowl the last 6 years and 8 out of the last 9 years. They also have won or held a share of the Big 10 title for the last six seasons and a total of 35. I'll explain why this year will be a different story in Columbus.

Co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell will take over in place of Jim Tressell for the upcoming season. Fickell was the right man for the job after the bottom fell out on the program and Tressel resigned. Ohio St didn't have enough time before the season began to look for a new high brow coach so picking Tressell's assistant should limit the damages but it still wont be Tressel at the reigns. Fickell has only spent 9 years in the coaching industry, all at OSU, and has never held a head coaching position. Not only is Fickell not the mastermind of a coach like Tressel was but he will also have significantly less to work with this upcoming season, especially in the first five games.

Terrelle Pryor was getting the same amount of pressure as Tressel during this whole process so just days after Tressel resigned from the program Pryor decided to leave as well. Pryor was already going to have to sit out the first five games of the 2011 season but other leaks came out about new cars and extra money so Pryor left. The 2011 offense was to be formed around the senior quarterback and his ability to create something out of nothing by scrambling and using his much improved throwing mechanics to lead a deadly two dimensional team. The Buckeyes will probably now look towards freshman dual threat quarterback Braxton Miller to lead the troops on the offensive side of the ball. Miller will step into his first season and play in Miami  for the third game of the season and will also play in the Big House with over 1110,000 people watching when they face rival Michigan on the road. The lack of experience under center will definitely keep the the Buckeyes from reaching as high as they want to this season.
True Freshamn QB Braxton Miller

Running Back Dan "Boom" Herron, Offensive Tackle Mike Adams, Wide Receiver DeVier Posey and Defensive End Solomon Thomas will all be on the bench for the first five games of the season due to suspensions. The group was said to have sold their Ohio St memorabilia to pay for tattoos. Herron was the leading rusher on a rush heavy team last season, Mike Adams was a first team all Big 10 selection at Tackle, DeVier Posey was the 2nd leading receiver and Solomon Thomas had the game clinching interception in the Sugar Bowl. The loss of these players for the first fives games will hurt, not only in those first five games but several ones after that because it may take them a couple games to adjust. The Buckeyes will face the likes of Akron, Toledo, Miami, Colorado, and Michigan St in those first five games and it will be very hard with a freshman quarterback, especially one that is missing his best blocker, rusher, and receiver, to win all five games.

The Big Ten hasn't been the normal Big Ten over the last few seasons but with the introduction of Nebraska and the hopeful return of Michigan to its elite status should help this conference thrive once again. Michigan returns most of their roster, including Heisman candidate Denard Robinson. Nebraska will return QB Taylor Martinez and their always strong defense, Former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson heads to Wisconsin, Michigan St looks to repeat their Top 10 season, Joe Pa looks to keep Penn St rolling and other Big Ten programs will also look to thrive. All of them are looking to take down the struggling Big Ten powerhouse.


The Buckeyes have a very tough road ahead of them if they want to continue their win streak vs Michigan, get back to another BCS bowl game and win their 7th consecutive Big Ten title. It is do able with the talent that they have on the roster but I do not believe that it will happen with all these problems inside the program.

18 comments:

  1. I don't think that its just a one year deal for the Buckeyes. They have already lost several elite recruits due to the sanctions and now with Nebraska in the conference a Big Ten Title will not be given to the Buckeyes anymore.

    PS.. Good article but I thought that Joe Bauserman was gonna be the starting QB, not Braxton Miller.

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  2. They lost one recruit...

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  3. True but going into the season OSU got basically every top recruit in Ohio and this year they don't have one in the top 10. Four players in that top ten have committed to Michigan, one to Michigan St and one to Wisconsin. That's how it hurts. Plus the one they lost is a Top 25 recruit.

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  4. Bauserman will probably get to start first, and the QB job will be his to lose.

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  5. Miller is like Pryor except for the better arm.

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  6. They haven't lost ANY recruits until signing day in February 2012. That is a lot of time for 17 year old boys to change their mind. OSU will still contend for the B1G 10 Championship in 2011 and beat the state up north for the umpteenth time in a row.

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  7. TOSU's "significantly less talent , especially the first five games" are still more talented than most if not all B1G's teams starting talent collectively. Maybe you can find a better O-linemen at another team, or a better D-Back at another team or a better running back or QB on another team, but collectively the Buckeyes are has more talent. For that reason, i say TOSU wins 10 games and no less...

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  8. Also - TOSU team is unified, they have a "us against the world" mantra right now. You never quite know what your going to get with a new coach and a new QB. However I know one thing, OSU will beat Michigan this year. And they more than likely will beat Michigan next year (in CBUS) and oh by the way, Braxton Miller and Rod Smith will be in thier third full season in 2013 so I suspect OSU will beat Michigan then too... So the future is very bright for TOSU!

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  9. You don't need to type TOSU every sentence. Ohio St fans are so arrogant, they cant deal with having a bad team for one season.

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  10. Had to stop reading after the mention of Nebraska's 100,000 seat stadium. Check your facts, bud.

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  11. ...and people like you are incapable of distinguishing between arrogance and confidence. Besides, OSU fans have a lot to be confident about. It's a pity the rest of you don't.

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  12. "The lack of experience under center will DEFIANTLY keep the the Buckeyes from reaching as high as they want to." ???

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  13. "The lack of experience under center will DEFIANTLY keep the the Buckeyes from reaching as high as they want to." ??? He's not TP

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  14. Who wrote this article? Maybe next time you can hire a copy editor. Yir spellen stinx. Were you in a hurry to meet a publication deadline? Did you forget to submit your work to a final edit? Just wondering.

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  15. you said the michigan state looks to repeat their top 10 season. state was not a top 10 team it finsihed 14th in both polls and the beating it took from the 5th best team in the sec shows that state is probablynot even a top 25 school

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  16. "7th consecutive Big Ten title" ?

    Didn't Wisconsin win the Big10 last year?

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  17. MSU, OSU and Wisconsin split the title. Wisconsin had the higher BCS ranking so they went to the Rose Bowl.

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  18. my guess is the guy that wrote this is a geek and never played football ever. just a bunch of rehashed garbage that so called pundits have been saying all year.....yawn ...on a scale of 1 to 10 i give it a 0

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