Ohio State Football: 10 Bold Predictions for 2011 College Football Season
With nothing but talks of scandal and corruption surrounding The Ohio State University, it's easy to forget that this team will still be a good team whether people like it or not.
Tressel successfully brought in top recruiting classes nationally year in and year out, so Ohio State still has elite talent and will be one of the favorites to win the Big Ten.
Despite missing key players to suspension for the first five games (and Terrelle Pryor for the season as he will enter the NFL supplemental draft), the Buckeyes are a deep team with players who can fill in holes when needed.
Braxton Miller, one of the top recruits in the nation, looks like the man to fill in for Pryor, and he has the skill to lead the Buckeyes this season despite being only a freshman.
It's time to talk actual when referring to Ohio State, and make some bold predictions for the 2011 College Football Season.
10. Ohio State Will Start 5-0
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The Buckeyes will open up with four of their first five at home with by far the biggest test coming September 17 when the Buckeyes travel to Miami to take on the Hurricanes.
Despite missing key position players including Starters DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Terrelle Pryor and Dan Herron, the Buckeyes will be 5-0 heading into Week 6.
Jammal Berry and Roderick Smith will fill in great for Herron possibly good enough to wear Herron won't even be the starter when he returns.
Ohio State will rely heavily on the run, and with an experienced group of offensive lineman including star center Mike Brewster, the Buckeyes should not have much problem establishing their running game early and often.
With a high dose of running the ball mixed in with some designed runs and screens for freshman Braxton Miller the Ohio State Buckeyes will be 5-0 come Week 6.
9. Jammal Berry Will Finally Make a Name for Himself
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Jaamal Berry came in a 5-star recruit out of Florida and was expected to make a splash early on in his career, but after being red shirted and dealing with injuries that has not been the case.
Berry showed us flashes of how great he can potentially be last year but was never given consistent carries. Jaamal carried the ball only 32 times but managed a hefty 266 yards on those carries, giving him an average of over eight yards per carry.
Ohio State has great depth at running back, but it's Jaamal Berry who by midseason will be taking the majority of the carries to lead the Buckeye attack.
8. Corey Brown Will Emerge as the Best Wide Receiver
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Corey Brown had some crucial drops during his freshman year, but he never had any problem getting wide open behind opposing team's secondaries.
With a bunch of young receivers and with star wide-out Devier Posey suspended for the first five games of the season, Corey Brown will emerge as the man among the receivers.
Brown reminds me of past Ohio State great and current New York Jet Santonio Holmes. Both stand 5''11' and both run a sub 4.4 40 and if you're being compared to Holmes, you have some skill.
For Corey Brown this is his year.
Although Ohio State will be a run-first team to say the least, Brown will finish the year with around 850 yards receiving.
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7. Braxton Miller Will Be Named Freshman of the Year
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Assuming he gets the nod as the starting quarterback over fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman, Braxton Miller will be named freshman of the year.
Miller has the talent to be a special player in college football. As a senior, Miller threw for over 2,000 yards rushed for over 900 yards and accounted for 34 total touchdowns.
Luke Fickell will bring Miller along slowly and put him in positions to make plays with his pure athletic ability, and by the end of the year, we will see him making more deep throws with an expanded playbook.
Miller will be the key to Ohio State's success and it's a lot to put on a freshman's shoulders, but Miller appears a humble hardworking kid who thrives with challenges.
6. Special Teams Wont Cost Ohio State Games
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Whether it be kick coverage, kick returns or punt returns the Buckeye special teams has been below average the past couple of season.
Tressel always preached special teams, but in reality, it cost Ohio State a shot at a National Championship last year.
In 2011 Ohio State will change that around.
Luke Fickell will make the coverage teams more disciplined so fans will no longer have to fear every kickoff being returned to the house.
Chris Fields and James Jackson will solidify themselves as the best kick return duo since Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes lined up together. Both are scary fast and should give the Buckeyes a big-time advantage in most games, setting the offense up with good field position.
Either of the two could return punts and most likely will split the punt return duties.
5. Ohio State Avenges Last Year's Loss to Wisconsin
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Last year's loss to Wisconsin hurt to say the least.
Wisconsin came out firing against Ohio State and the Buckeyes could not quite mount a comeback against the Badgers. This one ruined all hopes of a National Title appearance and one can bet that players have been eying this game since the schedule came out.
Ohio State will still have to deal with both of the Badgers' two-headed running back combination of John Clay and James White, so it's on Fickell to game plan better against them than Tressel did.
Buckeye Nation will be rowdy for this one and create a decisive home-field advantage for Ohio State, which will be the difference maker come October 29th.
4. Ohio State Will Continue Its Dominance Against Michigan
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The Tressel era is over with, so Michigan fans should feel like a 10,000-pound boulder has been removed from their shoulders.
Tressel absolutely dominated the maize and blue, finishing with a final record of 9-1 against Michigan, including winning the past seven. Tressel nearly won to the point where the rivalry had begun to be questioned.
This season will be a different story though.
Two new head coaches will be facing off for the first time; Michigan's Brady Hoke and Ohio State Luke Fickell adding new fuel to the rivalry.
Ohio State will still win the game but Michigan will give the Buckeyes a good fight, something they have failed to do for years.
3. The Buckeyes Will Win the Big Ten
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Ohio State will capture their seventh straight Big Ten Title despite all of the distractions.
Starting center Mike Brewster recently posted a quote on twitter that sum up the players' attitude towards all that is going on.
"A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn."
These off-field distractions are doing nothing but bringing the current players closer and closer together. They have an "Us against the World" attitude and rightfully so.
It will be much harder than it has been in the past, as the Big Ten will now have a conference championship game to declare the winner. But Ohio State will get it done by playing their usual great defense, but it will be the offense that will be the surprise of the season.
Ohio State will enter the Big Ten Championship game 11-1, and will get revenge from their Week 6 loss to Nebraska and capture the title.
It's sure to be a tough road but with a good mix of senior leadership and young talent the Buckeyes will get the job done.
2. Ohio State Will Make a BCS Bowl
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With the Buckeyes wining the Big Ten they will make it to the Rose Bowl (assuming they are not suspended from bowl play).
The Buckeyes won their last trip to the Rose Bowl win they faced the Oregon Ducks only two years ago. This would be a chance for Pryor to win his second Rose Bowl, but instead it's a chance for Braxton Miller to win his first.
I would predict Andrew Luck and his Stanford Cardinals to win the Pac-10, earning them a chance to face the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.
1. Luke Fickell Will Remain Head Coach
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I wrote an article earlier in the week explaining why Luke Fickell will be successful as the head coach and my stance hasn't changed.
Fickell was a nine-year assistant under Jim Tressel and was also named the AFCA top assistant coach in the nation last year. Fickell started off as a special teams coach with Ohio State but worked his way up to a linebackers coach before being named co-defensive coordinator.
Before Fickell was a coach at Ohio State, he played here for four years after red-shirting his freshman year. During his four years of playing, he managed to set an Ohio State record for most consecutive starts with 50.
Fickell was a workhorse on and off the field during his playing days; if he works equally as had as a head coach, which he will, he will be a great coach for years to come.
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