Buckeyes Look to Buck the Trend

With just weeks until the official start of summer football workouts the pressure is on at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex in Columbus, Ohio. 

The Buckeyes have started each of the last two seasons ranked in the top five, only to face the chants of “overrated!” as they left the field after each year’s bowl games. 

This is not consistent with the legacy of a very proud and storied Ohio State football program. The expectations have been lowered a notch with most pre-season polls ranking then between eight and tenth this year.

These lower expectations could bode well for the Bucks if they can manage to have a strong showing against Navy and win against a University of Southern California team that will be favored coming into the horseshoe in September.

While there is not a great degree of pressure on head coach, Jim Tressel, as long as he continues to beat down arch-rival Michigan and remain in the BCS title picture every year—there are a few members of his coaching staff with whom fans are not entirely happy.

The alumni in Columbus don’t very much care for having their faces rubbed in the embarrassment of its clubs' last few defeats at the hands of SEC opponents and have been known to have subtle effects in the personnel that occupy the offices at 2491 Olentangy River Road.

Although the defensive scheme that Co-Defensive Coordinator Jim Heacock employs is called a “Zone-Blitz,” it is a well known fact that coach Heacock is not a big fan of the blitz.

This is very understandable given his “old-school” roots, however the game is changing rapidly.

He has always been a good coach in terms of developing talent over the course of a player’s career. But he has been reluctant to throw young athletes into the fray and live with the sometimes undisciplined mistakes that young players can make at times. T

his does not affect the Buckeyes much during the Big Ten season, but it has exposed the team in many of the bowl match-ups over the past decade.

Three-hundred pound men exert a lot of energy playing football in general. But, in the Big Ten, the typical team runs between 60 and 65 offensive plays per game. The typical South Eastern Conference team, however, runs between 73 and 78 plays.

Add these two facts together and you can see why needing to have the ability to lean on more than just your top five or six guys is vital. 

The latter half of the 2008 season did however see the Buckeyes play the game much more aggressively from the defensive side of the ball. Much of the credit is given to Co-Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell. 

Fickell—a younger, much more aggressive minded coach—could be in line to assume the title of Defensive Co-Coordinator all by himself if for some reason the Buckeye defense looks lackluster during the 2009 season.  

Longtime Tressel companion and Director of Football Operations Bob Tucker and Assistant Head Coach Darrell Hazell would appear to be the most likely candidates to be replaced if the natives got restless in Columbus.

This is not a knock on either coach, but given the title on the office door, they are easy targets for a fan base that is used to competing—if not winning—all the time to target, barring an utter collapse by any specific position during the 2009 season.

Coaches will not be the only ones on the hot-seat for the 2009 season.

With the bitter taste of two plasterings in National title games and the fresh taste of embarrassment in their mouths from the match-up with Southern California, the youth movement began at OSU after the third game of the 2008 season.

Although the official depth chart listed numerous fourth-year juniors and seniors, it was the classes of 2011 and 2012 that gave Buckeye fans something to cheer for.

To change the negative perception that is has quickly spread about OSU not being able to win the "big game," this crop of sophomores and juniors is going to have to prove that the opportunities to learn on the job last year were not wasted and win this year.

With 13 upperclassmen stalwarts no longer there to take the criticism of the fans and media, the spotlight will clearly beam on players like Chimdi Chekwa, Aaron Gant and Cameron Heyward.

There are rumors that Ohio State could be switching from its traditional ‘base 4-3’ defense to the increasingly popular ‘3-4’.

So, look for undersized defensive ends like Keith Wells and Thaddeus Gibson to get chances to prove themselves, both in the traditional role of an end in a three point stance and to blitz off the corner while standing up close to the line more like a linebacker.

The offensive Line features true sophomore center Mike Brewster and Michigan transfer Justin Boren. It should be a more athletic bunch than the Buckeye lines of the past.

Coach Tressel realizes that the new wave in college football employs more of what football traditionalist would label gimmicky, in variations like the “wildcat formation” and running quarterbacks.

It is a good thing that he has a mobile quarterback like Terrell Pryor. Pryor was the second-leading rusher on the 2008 installment of the Buckeyes and ,with no experienced back returning this year, his legs may be more valuable than his arm even as he aspires to be a more complete passer this season.

While highly touted freshman Jamaal Berry did enroll in school last week as planned, his arrest on drug charges could not only become a distraction to the team, but also derail his football career before it even gets started good.

Dan Herron slotted to be the feature back this year has to prove that, at a slight 5'10" (in lift shoes) and only 185 pounds, he is durable enough for the Big Ten schedule.

In contrast to Dane Sanzenbacher, a young man who emerged as a gritty competitor and play-maker last season, is Ray Small.

The speedy receiver from Cleveland has been nothing more than a lightning rod for controversy during the course of his career. In this his final year he has to prove that he can deliver on the field and in the classroom on a consistent basis.

Another interesting receiver prospect is Devier Posey. Posey has all of the physical tools at 6'3" to be a dominant red-zone receiver.

At the end of the day, while most schools could chalk this year up as simply a “rebuilding year,” Ohio State has to reload and come out firing on all cylinders quickly this year.

Anything less than a fifth consecutive Big Ten title and birth in a BCS bowl would have folks down in Columbus labeling the 2009 season a failure.