Ohio State Football: Why Injuries Are Quickly Becoming a Major Concern

The one thing that can derail a team that is a favorite to play for a national championship is if they have a case of the injury bug.

In the case of the Ohio State Buckeyes, it seems as if the injury bug just won't leave Columbus under any circumstances this season.

The left quad strain suffered by QB Terrelle Pryor is just the latest in a long series of injuries that has put a severe amount of pressure on the depth of the Buckeyes.

To start the season, DE Nathan Williams suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss the final few weeks of practice and the opening game against Marshall.

Adding to the list have been injuries to S C.J. Barnett, which cost him the season, and DB Chimdi Chekwa who has been battling back spasms for the past two weeks.

And now, TE Jake Stoneburner has missed two straight weeks of football, and S Tyler Moeller might be out for the season with a torn pectoral, according to sources from Bucknuts.com.

Looking at this long list, it's impossible not to have a giant alarm going off in the minds of Buckeye fans and analysts alike.

Championship contenders can't just be good, but they have to be lucky as well...lucky enough to make enough plays to win big games, and lucky enough to avoid as many big injuries as possible.

For the Buckeyes, the latter is becoming less and less achievable, and it's a major concern, especially since the health of Pryor is still uncertain.

And if Joe Bauserman is the starting QB for OSU for any significant amount of time, Buckeye Nation has a lot to be worried about, especially if the running game continues to struggle.

Pryor told reporters that after he came back into the game Saturday at Illinois, he could not run at all and could barely pass, thus forcing Jim Tressel to go into a very conservative mode to end the game.

They say that your depth really only comes into play when you are missing a lot of key contributors, as the Buckeyes have been for the last couple of weeks.

But the relatively good news for the Buckeyes is that they did have two spectacular recruiting classes in 2008 and 2009, both in the top five.

Most of the strength of both units comes on the defensive side of the ball, where the Buckeyes have suffered the majority of their injuries so far this season.

What makes this more of a concern right away is that Ohio State has to go to Camp Randall to face Wisconsin in two weeks, which historically has not been good news for the Buckeyes.

And the Big Ten is not forgiving, with so many teams delivering physical, punishing doses of defense week after week at an unrelenting rate.

Injuries do happen, but the frequency of injuries the Buckeyes have suffered and where they have suffered them on the depth chart is a major problem for Tressel's club.

Considering how talented this team is and where they started the season, it would be a shocking storyline if Ohio State does not play for a national championship because of who they've lost over the course of the season.

And depending on the status of Pryor, the season could turn south very quickly with even one more guy going down with a season-ending injury.

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