Five Questions for Ohio State's Football Spring Practice: Offensive Revolution?

Spring practice begins today in Columbus for the Ohio State Buckeyes. With the seniors that left the program, Ohio State has many holes to fill.

However, these holes have candidates bursting with much potential and talent.

The sophomore year of quarterback Terrelle Pryor is enough to get any OSU fan excited for the potential of another BCS run in 2009.

Still, there are many questions about the team heading into spring practice. Here are five of the most burning questions:


1. Will the offensive coaching improve?

Of all the Buckeye bashing in recent years, most of the criticism has been directed at the offensive coaching staff.

The offense a year ago was extremely conservative, more likely due to Pryor and a terrible offensive line.

But still the offense appeared very predictable and stagnant in most games, including against Penn State and Ohio University.

The offense did improve over the last three games, albeit considering they played against Northwestern, Illinois, and Michigan.

With some more diverse weapons, failure to produce points will fall directly on head coach Jim Tressel and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman.

However, the “Vest” has been known to alter his offense towards his personnel, something that has become a lost art in a spread era of football.

Rather than recruit specific players, Tressel has recruited high-caliber offensive players such as Pryor and will alter the offense to support their strengths.

The best example was the Troy Smith era, where Ohio State enjoyed rare offensive dominance with an imposing defense.


2. How can the defense replace the loss of James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins?

Losing your two top defensive stars who have been playmakers for three years will set back any defense.

Talent helps to cover up some of these weaknesses, but a good front line does the same.

Ohio State returns Lawrence Wilson, Thaddeus Gibson, and Nathan Williams on the defensive line, which could be a strong point for the Buckeyes.

A strong line can only help the back seven grow comfortable in playing without Laurinaitis and Jenkins.

Safeties Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell may have to play a more expanded role in protecting younger corners in the secondary.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of young talented players such as Etienne Sabino and Andrew Sweat fighting for two starting linebacker jobs alongside Ross Homan.

Chimdi Chekwa has emerged as one starting corner with the loss of Jenkins and fellow 2008 starter Donald Washington. The other spot is up for grabs with a lot of competition.

The defense may have an adjustment period, but if the young players live up to their potential, they may put together one of the better defenses in OSU history.


3. Can the new "WR U" produce the next Santonio Holmes or Joey Galloway?

It seems ironic that a run-based school can be thought of as "Wide Receiver U." But after grooming such NFL superstars as Cris Carter, Joey Galloway, and Santonio Holmes, who will be next in this line?

The first name that might come up is future sophomore DeVier Posey.

In limited playing time, Posey showed some flashes of brilliance and has speed to go with a solid 6'3'' frame.

Other candidates include Lamaar Thomas and incoming freshman Duron Carter.

With the departures of Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline, the opportunity for stardom is wide open. It's up to one of these guys to fill that void.

However, a running quarterback in Pryor could limit the amount of catches these receivers get. Or it could not. This is one of the more unknown things about this team.

4. Will the offensive line improve?

I think the answer to this question is that there is no possible way it could get any worse.

Buckeye fans are excited about the long-awaited departure of offensive tackle Alex Boone, who has been repeatedly beaten in pass-protection in recent years, forcing OSU quarterbacks to run for their lives many times.

The arrival of Justin Boren at guard already helps to improve the interior of the line anchored by center Mike Brewster, who performed very well his freshman season.

Tackles Mike Adams and J.B. Shugarts look to take the starting jobs, and appear to be the more nasty, athletic tackles it takes to have a good offensive line in this era of college football.

These talented, though young, players look hungry to improve an offensive line that had been embarrassed repeatedly in big games.

Ironically, Ohio State has produced many great offensive linemen in the past 15-20 years.


5. Is there a chance OSU can beat USC?

Ohio State got embarrassed in Los Angeles last season against USC, that much we know.

What we don't know is how the rematch will go down when the scene shifts to the Horseshoe.

USC has similar issues on the defensive side of the ball, except they have an anchor in safety Taylor Mays to help make some of these weaknesses look small.

The Trojans in recent years have played some road games outside of Pac-10 country, but they probably have never played in a building with fans as ravenous as Ohio State.

The Shoe is among the most intimidating college stadiums in the country, and they have talented teams year in and year out.

Combine the two and it makes beating OSU in the Horseshoe a very tough task, especially in recent years.

Aaron Corp or Mitch Mustain, the frontrunners for USC's starting QB job, will have to deal with barking out signals amidst the noise of what may potentially be the largest crowd in Ohio State history at well over 105,000.

And based on ticket sales, who would doubt that?

The humiliating loss will have the Buckeyes hungry and motivated.

However, USC has such amazing talent, and they reload as well as any program in recent history, or even all-time history.

And Ohio State does not have a Joe McKnight or Stafon Johnson or Damian Williams on offense.

This game may be a lot closer than the first matchup in the Coliseum last year. USC will be in unfamiliar territory playing a Big Ten team outside of the Rose Bowl.

But their talent may be the difference in a hard-fought game.

April prediction: USC 35 - Ohio State 20


The annual spring game kicks off on April 25, and hopefully the next superstars will have a great exhibition in front of a hungry OSU fanbase.

2009 may not be a championship season, but it may be great enough to have Buckeye fans talking about a title shot in 2010.