Buckeye Season

Pryor is the Heisman favorite, can he lead his team the championship?

With the college football season kicking off last night and with a plethora of games this Saturday, everybody has their predictions to who will win it all. I think this year it’s a pretty easy call—The Ohio State University. All the pieces are in place for a national title run with 14 returning starters including the Heisman favorite Terrelle Pryor steering the ship. The Buckeyes have high expectation as they do every year, but after many disappointments in the last few seasons, I think the stars will align for them this year. Jim Tressel’s squad is ready to bring the national championship back to Columbus.

Terrelle Pryor is not only the quarterback, but also the most dangerous rushing threat as well. At times the passing game and protection was spotty last year, but Pryor became a legitimate threat to tuck in the ball and run with it. Pryor needs to grow in the passing game as he finished last season with 2,094 yards, 18 TDs, and 11 INTs. The INTs will have to go down, but if he runs for another 779 yards with 7 TDs on the ground; opponents will find themselves in a big rut. Junior Dan Heron has been in the shadow of Pryor, but picked up 600 yards last year even with his injury. Also look for DeVier Posey to be Pryor’s main threat down the field. He is an athletic 6-2, 213 lb receiver that can out-muscle a lot of defenders for the ball. Ohio State will stick to its methodical offense on the ground and continue to move the chains all the way to the National Championship game.

Ohio State is also equipped with one of the strongest defenses in the nation. The only thing they have to improve is the pass rush. DE Cameron Heyward has shown improvement in the last two seasons and I look for him to continue that. Linebackers Ross Homan and Brian Rolle are beasts who combined for 203 tackles last year. The defense has some young prospects and they will determine if Ohio State can make the push from a great defensive team to a National Championship defensive team.

The schedule has some tests but the Buckeyes have the ability to run the table and go undefeated. Their first test will come when the Miami Hurricanes come into town for an early non-conference battle. The others (Ohio and Eastern Michigan) will be a stroll in the park. The team will have some time to build some chemistry till they get to November when they start playing the big boys. They play Penn State at home Nov. 13^th, and travel to Iowa the following week Nov. 20^th and finish with their rival Michigan on the 27^th. If the Buckeyes can get through that, they will definitely stamp themselves a ticket to the National Championship.

Currently, Ohio State is ranked 2^nd in the preseason polls behind Alabama, but this poll came out before Alabama’s Heisman RB Mark Ingram suffered a knee injury. I believe this will hurt Alabama and bump Ohio State up. Other teams that will contend are Boise State (who I think the Buckeyes will play for the National Championship), Florida, and Texas. Unfortunately USC can’t play in bowl game, or else they would be up there too. This is the year for Ohio State, so slap on your buckeye stickers because there is going to be a lot of scarlet and gray coming your way.

This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias.