Ohio State Football Suspensions: Buckeyes Won't Miss Beat vs. Akron

Ohio State is fully aware of the 3-2 halftime score against Akron from three years ago and, with that in mind, is even more wary of the impact the suspensions of Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Jordan Hall, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas will have on the team's on-field performance.

Which is precisely the reason the Buckeyes will make quick work of the Zips on Saturday.

Or at least part of it.

The program has been preparing for their day of reckoning at the Horseshoe ever since the NCAA first handed down the suspensions in December of 2010, back when Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel were still directly affiliated with the program.

Since then, the Buckeyes have added a win in the Sugar Bowl and a loss of dignity and esteem in the college football world to their record. Luckily for folks in Columbus, Ohio State has dodged bigger bullets from the NCAA by distancing itself from Tressel and Pryor while self-imposing its own sanctions and cooperating wholeheartedly with the investigation.

With the frustration and embarrassment of the last nine months still somewhat fresh in their minds, the Buckeyes will take to the field at Ohio Stadium looking to vent against a Zips team that finished the 2010 campaign with a 1-11 record, but only after beating Buffalo in the season finale.

That's not to say Ohio State won't still have plenty of problems to work through between the lines, even against a team as clearly overmatched as Akron will be. At quarterback, the Buckeyes will look to a platoon between fifth-year quarterback Joe Bauserman and true freshman Braxton Miller to get the job done, despite having only 47 career attempts between them. The situation is a bit more pressing at running back, where sophomore Carlos Hyde and redshirt freshman Rod Smith combine for only 24 carries of experience.

Leaner still (if you can believe it) is the situation at wide receiver, where Verlon Reed and Corey Brown have caught all of eight balls since arriving in Columbus.

That dearth of experience on offense will put the onus squarely on the Buckeyes' defense, which, luckily for them, should be plenty stout enough to not only stonewall Akron's inconsistent offense, but also force a few turnovers, perhaps even for instant points.

Then again, Akron is already patently awful, and would be lucky to come close enough to sniff Ohio State's jock, much less actually stay competitive in this one.

Sure, it would be nice for the Buckeyes to have their leading rusher (Herron) and second-leading receiver (Posey) back in the fold at the start of what will certainly be a trying season.

But, for now, the Buckeyes will have to be content to make a mockery of the Zips with the stores of talent they have available, which should be more than enough to get the job done.

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