Ohio State Football: Ten Reasons Why OSU Survives Terrelle Pryor's Suspension
The suspension of Terrelle Pryor is quite the blemish on what otherwise has been a strong Buckeye career, despite never playing for a national title.
His absence has created a four-man QB derby headlined by senior Joe Bauserman and the people's choice, freshman Braxton Miller.
Whichever of those players or either of the other two are chosen to start, they have a difficult task ahead of them: find ways to win games.
But there are reasons for optimism that Ohio State can survive the suspensions of not only Pryor, but four other players and coach Jim Tressel and maybe even thrive possibly going 5-0.
Here are 10 reasons why Ohio State can come out of this stretch relatively unscathed.
A Mostly Weak Start to the Season
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For a new starting QB, they might be looking at the first five games at the 2011 season with a little bit of relief, at least to get things started.
To start, Ohio State faces off against in-state teams Akron and Toledo out of the MAC, who combined for just three bowl appearances since 2005.
After those two games, the Buckeyes travel to Miami to face the Hurricanes who were blown out in the Sun Bowl by Notre Dame and are under a new coach, Al Golden, formerly from Temple.
Week 4 brings Colorado to the Horseshoe, who is among the weak links in the new Pac-12, and Michigan State in Week 5 which was the breakout team in the Big Ten.
Miami and Michigan State are the only games on the schedule that don't appear to be surefire wins, but those games are still winnable.
Four of the First Five Games Are at Home
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Few stadiums are as tough to play in for any college football opponent as the Horseshoe in Columbus, and four of the Buckeyes' first five opponents in 2011 will know that or be reminded of that.
With the wounded state of the Buckeye roster and the desire of the fans to move past the scandals, expect them to bring some energy and get behind their team.
The game against Miami is the only game that will be on the road, and thus probably being the toughest of the five games in the schedule.
Michigan State will be the hardest of the four home games by far, although they need to fill quite a few holes on defense.
The Spartans offense is very formidable with Kirk Cousins, Edwin Baker and LeVeon Bell forming quite a three-headed monster, which could make the October 1 matchup quite a challenge.
But other than that, there is no reason Ohio State should have troubles starting because of their home-loaded schedule to start 2011.
Relying on the Deep Stable at Running Back
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Even with the suspension of Dan Herron who is the team's top RB, the Buckeyes should have no problem running the football with three young horses: Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry and Rod Smith.
Buckeye fans have hyped these three guys to death in the last two months, and each one shone heavily in the spring practices in different ways.
With Pryor under suspension, look for Ohio State to go more conservative, with a 70/30 percentage split in plays, with the 70 being carries.
The offensive line has a great deal of athleticism in the interior with new starters Jack Mewhort and Corey Linsley, which can only help open up holes in the running game.
If Ohio State can run the football dominantly as they are certainly capable of doing, they have a chance to keep things going in a positive direction during this tough early stretch.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The Defense Should Stay Strong Again
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Even though the Ohio State defense loses seven starters from a defense that was very strong last season, there's no reason to doubt that this unit will lose a step.
The defense does have some work to do as they have to replace stars at all three levels: DE Cameron Heyward, LB Ross Homan and DB Chimdi Chekwa.
But with what they lose, they can certainly reload with some potent stars in DL John Simon, LB Andrew Sweat and DB Travis Howard, who was a breakout player in the second half of the 2011 season.
The games against Akron and Toledo will be good chances for this young defense to get some experience and cohesiveness before the big game at Miami.
Once this incredibly athletic group starts to mesh, they can prove to be a dangerous force to be reckoned with in 2011.
Training Camp Can Provide More Chemistry
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This team has shown that they are a very close-knit unit in the past two seasons, especially in dealing with the problems that have hit the program hard in the past six months.
Tressel and this coaching staff will use the training camp in portions to figure out who works best together as essentially, he is coaching two teams: a young squad much like two years ago, and the old vets who will step back in after Week 5.
His challenge—although he is under gameday suspension—is to get his young guys ready to play while at the same time keeping his suspended veterans in the loop as well.
But these young players have been together for a long time, and have in some instances recruited each other to join them in Columbus at Ohio State.
Those bonds will need to rise above the fog very quickly and they certainly have a chance to do just that in 2011. Talent means little if you don't have the chemistry to go with it.
Motivation to Win for the Seniors
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I have spoken earlier about how the Buckeye team can emulate an us-against-the-world mentality this season given the fact that they have had to hear about the negativity surrounding the program throughout the offseason.
It's tough to really guess at the mental mindset of a team that has to not only deal with suspensions to five players, but their head coach.
For the moment, the team has been shaken to its core. But in the boxing metaphor, champions when knocked down get up off the mat and punch harder and fight tougher.
Chemistry won't hurt in the process as well, but these players need to stay hungry if they want to make it out of this stretch on the positive end.
If they do, the momentum generated from this stretch can be massive going into Lincoln against the Cornhuskers in Week 6.
Terrelle Pryor a Leader in Practice
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Terrelle Pryor has not put on football pads since the Sugar Bowl not because of suspensions, but because of foot surgery instead.
But what Pryor has done is taken time to mentor the guy that can be the future of Ohio State football: Braxton Miller.
Miller is one of the two post-spring favorites to earn the starting job with Pryor and company suspended to start the season.
Pryor has been like a second coach to Miller helping him to understand what it takes to play at the collegiate level, and it's helped him settle in more and more over the course of the spring.
Which brings us to a reason that is completely contingent on Miller getting the starting job...
Braxton Miller Can Show He Is the Future
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Again, this is only a relevant reason if Miller gets the job over Joe Bauserman, which seems likely because Jim Tressel will probably go with the player that gives his team the best chance to win.
For Ohio State, due to Bauserman's limited skill-set, Miller, who compares to a faster, more shifty Donovan McNabb, can be the guy.
He was ranked No. 2 among high school QBs in 2011 by numerous scouting services, and comes in with good mechanics, much better than Terrelle Pryor's at this stage of his collegiate career.
The only question about Miller that looms is durability as he has had injury problems in each year of his high school season.
But when healthy, he is a dangerous player, as he showed in the Ohio high school state playoffs as he took his team, a No. 8 seed in the Southwest Ohio region in Division I, to within three minutes of pulling off an upset in the state championship game.
Miller has a chance to be another great QB for Ohio State, and can very well get his chance to show what he can be right away.
Game Five Is the One That Matters Most
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Although most fans will be looking at the Miami game on September 17 as the toughest game of this five-game stretch, the one most people should pay attention to is October 1 against Michigan State.
The Spartans are among the favorites to win the Legends Division in the Big Ten along with Nebraska, but by the fifth game Ohio State should have a sense of who they are without Pryor and company.
This will be the last chance for the new starters to prove that they won't give up starting jobs without a fight, and they should have a more strongly-developed chemistry as well.
If the defense is able to slow down a potent Michigan State offense at home, Ohio State does have a shot to take down the Spartans.
But if they can elevate their energy for this game, they can end the five game stretch with a bang, especially if 5-0 is a possibility.
The Competitiveness of the Young Guys Fighting for Playing Time
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With the holes left by the Suspended Five and the seven defensive starters that need to be replace, there is a lot of opportunity for young players to see the field.
This is the time where those loaded recruiting classes of 2009 and 2011 can make themselves a strong part of where this team is going to be going in 2011.
The position battles in camp are going to be fierce with heavy competition almost everywhere on the depth chart, with many spots being decided between two or three players.
Competition brings out the best in everyone, and that can certainly ring true in practice which should reflect itself on the playing field.
For the guys who win starting jobs, they will do everything in their power to keep their jobs in practice. And they will be pushed much more by their backups, which can only make them better on the field.
The depth of this team can help power them through the first five games in some way, whether they get this done and go 5-0 or it's just 4-1 or 3-2 instead.
For more college football news and updates, visit The BCS Blitz and follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
