Seven Buckeyes Who Will Make a Difference in 2008

The 2007 season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Ohio State Buckeyes, but a weak Big Ten conference as well as upsets elsewhere in the world of college football catapulted Ohio State back into the #1 ranking by week eight, helped also by a group of breakout players despite a loss to Illinois.  Thanks to losses by Missouri and West Virginia, the Buckeyes unexpectedly went to play LSU in the BCS Championship in New Orleans.

           Despite their second BCS Title loss in a row, many of the star players from 2007 are returning for the 2008 season, and will be monumental in proving that last season wasn’t a fluke.  The biggest roadblocks to a perfect season for the 2008 Buckeyes will be against USC at the L.A. Coliseum, at Camp Randall Stadium against Wisconsin, and against Illinoisin Champaigne-Urbana.  Listed below are the projected leaders for the 2008 team:

1.  James Laurinaitis, senior linebacker

            The 6’3” 240lb Laurinaitis could’ve been a first-round draft pick had he decided to leave Ohio State for the NFL Draft a year early, but decided to finish his college career with the Buckeyes after winning the Nagursky Trophy in 2006 and the Butkus Award last year.  Laurinaitis is currently a First Team All-American, and led the Buckeyes defense with 121 total tackles in 2007, having 51 solo and 70 assisted in 13 games.

            After what should be two easy wins against Youngstown State and Ohio University in the Horseshoe, Laurinaitis’ first real test will be in hostile territory against USC on September 13.  From there, Laurinaitis should continue to be one of the best linebackers ever to don the scarlet and gray with games at Wisconsin, at Illinois and home against Michigan.

2.  Chris “Beanie” Wells, junior running back

            Arguably the biggest star of the 2007 team, Wells plowed through just about every team the Buckeyes faced, even the LSU Tigers.  Beanie rushed for 1609 total yards in 2007 with 15 touchdowns scored, averaging 121.33 yards a game and was by far the Buckeyes’ leading rusher (Maurice Wells was second with a mere 367 total rushing yards in 2007).

            Beanie’s abilities will be put to the test against USC’s monster defense, Wisconsin, and Zook’s deceptively-powerful Illinois defense, but if the Buckeyes manage to run the table, it will be thanks to Beanie’s rushing ability, and should land him the 2008 Heisman Trophy when all is said and done.

3.  Todd Boeckman, senior quarterback

            Boeckman had the thankless job of taking over for Heisman winner Troy Smith after the 2006 season, but managed to impress everyone, showing signs of greatness against Penn State during an infamous Happy Valleywhiteout in which the Buckeyes clobbered the Nittany Lions 37-17.  Unfortunately, Boeckman was inconsistent in both passing and running against Illinois, and the only play he used against Michigan was to give the ball to Beanie and have him run up the middle.  Inconsistencies continued in the BCS Championship where Boeckman was intercepted twice, but still managed to throw two touchdown passes.  Despite his inconsistencies, Boeckman was 190 for 298 in passing with a total of 2372 yards.  His passing accuracy was 63.8 and he averaged 182.5 passing yards per game.

According to Ken Gordon of the Columbus Dispatch, Tressel is formulating a plan to combine elements of the spread offense seen in the 2005 Buckeyes with the power-oriented run attack of the 2007 team, meaning that Boeckman has to step up both his passing and running games, and hope that Beanie, Robiskie and Hartline all manage to stay open as much as possible when the Buckeyes have the ball. 

Much to their credit, Buckeyes coaches have diminished any talk of replacing Boeckman with freshman Terrell Pryor, giving Pryor time to get himself familiar with Ohio State’s offense.  If Boeckman can get past his mental demons from the Illinois and LSU games last season, he should have no problem going into hostile territory at USC, Wisconsin and Illinois.

4.  Brian Robiskie, senior wide receiver

            Robiskie averaged 71.9 yards a game and led the 2007 Buckeyes in receptions with 55 for a total of 935 yards and 11 touchdowns.  Robiskie should continue his success in 2008 assuming the lineman manage to keep him open for quarterback Todd Boeckman.

5.  Malcolm Jenkins, senior cornerback

            Jenkins led the 2007 Buckeyes in interceptions with four, and was First-team All-Big Ten in 2006 and 2007 and Second-team All American in 2007.  Jenkins was a Thorpe Award finalist in 2007 and should be in the running again in 2008.  Jenkins was also sixth in tackles with 47 total, 27 solo and 20 assisted.

6.  Brian Hartline, junior wide receiver

            Hartline was second to Robiskie in receptions with 52 and averaged 53.4 yards a game for a season total of 694, and scored six touchdowns for the 2007 Buckeyes.  Given his size and agility, he makes an excellent secondary option for Boeckman when Robiskie isn’t available, and should post better numbers in 2008.

7.  Marcus Freeman, senior linebacker

            The 6’2” 236lb Freeman should have see as much success on the field as he did in 2007, if not more in 2008.  Freeman was second to Laurinaitis in tackles with 109.  Of those, 66 were solo and 43 were assisted tackles, averaging out to 8.38 a game.