Ohio State Football's Expectations for 2009

Being a Buckeye fan, I've had my fair share of disappointment over the last few years. In 2006, when they were ranked No. 1 from the first snap of the season, they went undefeated in the regular season only to be embarrassed in the National Championship game by the Florida Gators.

And then they lost the National Championship a second straight year, this time to LSU. But the most heartbreaking year in the Tressel era was last year.

When your National Championship runner-up team keeps 22 starters the following season the expectations are extremely high—just as they were in 2006. And look what happened. With high expectations come high disappointments sometimes. What are Buckeye fans expecting this year?

Despite losing several seniors and seven players to the NFL Draft, the Bucks bring back 12 starters, including Big 10 freshman of the year Terrelle Pryor. While most are thinking of a possible 9-3, or 10-2 season, I see better things for the Scarlet and Gray in 2009

12-0 during the regular season! Jot it down...let me break down each game.

Game One: Navy

With 13 returning starters, the Navy Midshipmen come into Ohio Stadium after leading the nation in rushing '08. No surprise here as they rushed the ball 715 times, running a total of 808 plays. They’ll have their hands full with an Ohio State defensive line who returns all of its '08 starters, with the addition of stud recruits in Fellows and Simon.                 

On the flip-side, Terrelle Pryor will feast off of a defense who only forced only 12 punts during the entire '08 season. The Midshipmen went 8-5 in the regular season against a weaker schedule than Ohio State who went 10-2.

The Buckeyes return 12 starters from that 08 squad, and Navy returns 13. This home game should be an extreme blowout for the Buckeyes.                                                  

Game Two: USC

35-3 was the final score ringing in the ears and hearts of Buckeye country in '08. USC’s defense was intense, allowing the offense to pour it on! Their defense only returns two starters from that great squad this coming season, as they regroup and shoot for another Rose Bowl.

In the past, however, Pete Carroll and the Trojans have struggled against big dual-threat quarterbacks. Terrelle Pryor fits this category well, with a year of experience under his belt.

With the loss of Chris “Beanie” Wells, Ohio State is still looking forward to great ground success, having four four-star tailbacks to choose from in Herron, Saine, Berry (who may not ever play after his arrest) and Hyde. Look to see an explosive offensive performance by the Buckeyes.                         

Yes, USC has picked up some good recruits, but Ohio State has had the upper hand in the 08 and 09 classes according to both Scout and Rivals.com.

USC will start a quarterback—Aaron Corp—who has only thrown the ball four times in college career, completing two (50 percent) for a mere 14 yds. Matt Barkley may come in (similar to Pryor) and win the starting QB position somewhere during the '09 season.                                                                                                                     

While USC will have pretty much all of their backfield returning, Ohio State will have all of their defensive line from '08.

This is predicted by many to be a close game, but it’s in “The Shoe” this time around. The Bucks are 45-1 verses non-conference opponents at home, only losing to Texas in '05 (the same Texas team that beat USC in the National Championship).

Vince Young said that Ohio Stadium was the loudest place he ever played at. I’m predicting a Buckeye win by more than 14 points because of the experience of Terrelle Pryor (who completed 7/9 passes on the '08 Trojans), the experience on the Ohio State defensive line, and the inexperienced Aaron Corp and Trojan defense. Welcome to Columbus!

Game Three: Toledo

Let’s face the truth here. Ohio State will be a lot better than the 2008 Michigan squad who lost to Toledo last year. Last year’s starting QB for the Rockets (Aaron Opelt) comes into his senior season having thrown for over 2,000 yards last year, completing 59 percent of his passes.

This is around the average percentage of the QB’s in the Big Ten. Opelt will continually be pressured by that veteran D-Line and highly touted linebackers, as Terrelle Pryor commands the offense. The Buckeyes win big in this one.  

Game Four: Illinois 

We all remember the heartbreaking game back in 07 when unranked Illinois came into “The Shoe” and knocked off the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes, the upset being one of the many in that '07-'08 season.

Juice Williams—after having a disappointing season last year—is determined to do the same next year against a rather (other than Chekwa and Hines) young secondary. But as mentioned before, the D-line of Ohio State is solid.

In 2007, The Fighting Illini had possession of the ball with a little over eight minutes on the game clock, holding on to a 28-21 lead. Due to the gaps on the line of scrimmage, Juice Williams was able to scramble for huge first downs, running the entire game clock down. I don’t see that happening this time.

His offensive line is going to collapse on him, forcing him to throw the ball into coverage early and often. He is the only Illinois answer on offense. If the Bucks can shut him down, this game has all the makings of a blowout. 

Game Five: Indiana 

Indiana will come into the shoe without their three year starting quarterback Kellen Lewis, who lead Indiana to its first bowl in years. The last matchup between the two teams was in 2006 where Ohio State punished the Hoosiers 44-3. IU will be outmatched at every position and the same will happen this year.

Game Six: Wisconsin 

The game between Ohio State and Wisconsin always seems to be close. With his team down 17-14 in the fourth quarter with time winding down, Terrelle Pryor put together a marvelous game-wing drive under the lights at the very raging Badger stadium.

This coming year, the game will take place in Columbus, OH in one of the largest stadiums in the nation.

Like the Buckeyes, the Badgers lose a load of talent this year. The difference is how Ohio State reloads so quickly. Terrelle Pryor had his best game of the year against these guys last year and I only expect him to have a better game this coming season in front of a sellout crowd in Columbus. No close game this time around...Bucks all the way!

Game Seven: Purdue

Curtis Painter, and Kory Sheets: gone. That’s like 90 percent of their offense! What weapon will they go to against Ohio State? Or any team? They will lose this game tremendously and will have a worse season than last year’s 4-8 squad.

Game Eight: Minnesota

Adam Weber returns for the Golden Gophers, leading the Big Ten in passing efficiency (62 percent) after passing for well over 2,000 yards. The Golden Gophers only lost 12 seniors last year, and will most likely battle for third in the Big Ten.

But Ohio State has too much talent for them to contain. Their poor defense and at times inconsistent offense won’t be enough to knock off the Scarlet and Gray.

Game 9: New Mexico St.

Why are teams like this on the schedule? Unless New Mexico St. pulls a huge miracle upset, this game will really get ugly with Pryor or not!

Game 10: Penn St.

Oh the good rivalry continues between the two as Ohio State heads in to the noisiest stadium in the Big Ten, hoping to duplicate the '07-'08 success the Buckeyes had in Penn St.’s backyard. Quarterback Daryl Clark returns after leading his team to the Rose Bowl last year, emerging as the leader of the PSU offense.

PSU also returns a good back in Evan Royster, as their offense looks to be more explosive this coming year. However, replacements are needed at the WR position as their main receivers leave to the NFL (same as Ohio State who lost Robiskie and Hartline).

But Ohio State seems to always have stellar WR’s, sending many to the NFL. So this isn’t as much of an issue for the Bucks.

The PSU defense is young and so is OSU’s (excluding the D-line.) The quarterback who steps up in this game will determine the winner. I expect Terrelle Pryor to have a great game away from Ohio Stadium just as he did in Wisconsin last year. This will be the toughest competition for the Buckeyes this coming season.

Conclusion: OSU 27 PSU 24

Game 11: Iowa

This game was highly regarded just a few years ago as Iowa was one of the five teams ESPN expected to make a National Title run in 2005. This wasn’t the case, however, as Ohio State and Penn State shared the Big Ten title that year.

The Hawkeyes kind of sunk under the radar from that point on. With no good team the past couple of years, they head into Columbus hoping to make a game out of the matchup.

They have three good linebackers returning for them (A.J. Edds, Tyler Nielson, and Pat Angerer), as well as QB Ricky Stanzi. However, they did lose Shonn Greene (a Heisman contender who led the Big Ten in rushing yards).

He was a major component in the '08 offense! They will need a replacement for him as well as Mitch King and Matt Kroul on the D-Line. They will fall short in Columbus as the Buckeyes take advantage of these flaws.

Game 12: Michigan

This is the biggest game of the year for the Buckeyes, for the simple fact that it’s “That team up north” (as Woody would say) that they’re playing. Forget about the 3-9 record...this game is huge. Ohio State fans figure that it doesn’t matter how good of a season we have as long as we beat Michigan.

Ohio State will enter “The Big House” having won four straight games against the Wolverines, hoping to continue with their success. Pryor will come into this game after completing only 5 of 13 passes for a whopping 38 percent against Michigan last year.

But Pryor also comes in with a year of experience under his belt. As the Buckeyes had a better '08 and a better '09 recruiting class than Michigan, they add loads of talent and potential, building on to a team that went 10-3 last season.

With recruiting classes that weren't quite as good as OSU’s over the last few years, Michigan will try to rebuild on a team that had a 3-9 last season.

Do the math. With the addition of guys like Tate Forcier, Fitzgerald Toussaint and William Campbell, Michigan will have a winning record and will be a bowl-bound season, but not a winning game against Ohio State. Not yet...not yet.

CONCLUSION

Whether the Buckeyes go 12-0 or not, expectancies can alter how the season will play out. The preseason No. 1 ranked teams over the last few years either failed to win the National Championship, or failed to make it there.

Did expectations have anything to do with that? What are the expectations of the Ohio State football team in 2009?

God bless and GO BUCKS!!!