The Ohio State Buckeyes are coming off back-to-back-to-back-to-back Big Ten Championship (co-champs in 2005 and 2008). In 2008 the Buckeyes finished 10-3, sharing the Big Ten Championship with Penn State. Ohio State will be looking to repeat the success of 2008 and hopes to do better with National Title hopes. However, this year the schedule may be slightly more difficult than 2008 with Penn State and Michigan on the road and wedge between those two Iowa on November 14th. However, USC will be at home this year of the Buckeyes and they miss Michigan State.
Offense: Key Returning Players
Ohio State only returns 5 starters on offense. We all know about Terrelle Pryor. As a true freshman has passed for over 1300 yards and ran for 631 more which culminated in 18 total touchdowns (12 passing, 6 rushing). He will be the key to the Buckeye offensive success this year. Also returning is TE Jake Ballard, a 2 year starter, and the offensive line has 3 starters returning with Jim Cordle, Bryant Browning, and Mike Brewster.
Offense: Key Losses
The Buckeyes lose their top rusher and top 2 receivers from 2008. Chris “Beenie” Wells (another who we all know) left for the NFL after rushing for nearly 1200 yards. Wide receivers Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline are both gone after leading the team in receiving for 2 seasons. Both were drafted and leave Pryor with younger targets this fall.
Defense: Key Returning Players
Most of Ohio State's defense is coming back in 2009 with 7 starters returning. Safety Kurt Coleman is the leading returning tackler with 78. He also led the team interceptions last year. Join him as the other safety is Anderson Russell who happens to be the 2nd leading returning tackler. There is also good experience coming back on the defensive line. DE Thaddeus Gibson led the Buckeye with 5 sacks last year is back along side DT Doug Worthington and DE Cameron Heyward.
Defense: Key Losses
The main losses on Ohio State's defense come at the linebacker position. The top two tacklers on the two last year, James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman are both gone. The 2 of them combined for 214 tackles last year. James Laurinaitis is not a player you can replace. He won award after award and was a 3-time All American.
Spring Media Guide: http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87743&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1435686
ESPN Spring Wrap: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-3-359/Ohio-State-spring-wrap.html
Archive page 137
Catching Up - Kinnick news, recruiting, and more
It's been a few days since I've posted, so I thought I'd catch up on some of the recent events. In case you don't check out the official Iowa Football site at hawkeyesports.com you should check out the photos added on Monday. The photo gallery has some great shots of the new field in Kinnick Stadium. It looks like it is basically done. They've cut in all the hashes and the yard line numbers and its looks like sand has gone down. I'm not sure about those little rubbery bits though. Anyway, it looks great and I'll admit, much better than I was expecting. I was a proponent of natural grass, but it's hard to argue when the field looks so good.
I don't follow recruiting too closely, and until this year I've never really followed it at all. But with the newest addition to the 2010 class, DE Louis Trinca-Pasat, I'm getting pretty excited about how it is shaping up. Already 5 players have verbally committed, all on defense, all in the front 7. There have been 3 linebackers: Jim Poggi, James Morris (an Iowa boy), and Austin Gray. The final player rounding out the group is Poggi's teammate DT Anthony Ferguson. These are definitely positions we needed to recruit as this year's team is full of seniors and juniors on defense. Anyway, for more information check out Scout or Rivals...whichever you like better.
I said "and more" in the title, but I don't really have anything else. I'm just getting really excited for football. The NBA and NHL finals just don't do it for me. Anyway, only 88 more days for those of you counting!
I don't follow recruiting too closely, and until this year I've never really followed it at all. But with the newest addition to the 2010 class, DE Louis Trinca-Pasat, I'm getting pretty excited about how it is shaping up. Already 5 players have verbally committed, all on defense, all in the front 7. There have been 3 linebackers: Jim Poggi, James Morris (an Iowa boy), and Austin Gray. The final player rounding out the group is Poggi's teammate DT Anthony Ferguson. These are definitely positions we needed to recruit as this year's team is full of seniors and juniors on defense. Anyway, for more information check out Scout or Rivals...whichever you like better.
I said "and more" in the title, but I don't really have anything else. I'm just getting really excited for football. The NBA and NHL finals just don't do it for me. Anyway, only 88 more days for those of you counting!
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A case for Adrian Clayborn
Adam Rittenberg on ESPN.com finished off his rankings of the top 30 players in the Big Ten today. Arrelious Benn topped the list. I thought it was a pretty good list and pretty fair to the Hawkeyes. Four Hawkeyes made the list: #23 Ricky Stanzi, #20 Pat Angerer, #15 Amari Spievey, and #5 Bryan Bulaga. I was a little surprised the Stanzi made the list, though I do believe he will have a very good year. A bigger surprise to me is the omission of Adrian Clayborn, especially since 6 other defensive ends made the list. So there are at least 6 other DEs in the Big Ten better than Clayborn...I don't think so.
Sure Clayborn will not have the stats as some of the others. He's not going to have double digit sacks or anything. He only had 2 sacks last year, but was second on the team in tackles for loss with 8. He is however very versatile and will be able to shift inside and play tackle when needed as Iowa lost 2 four-year starters in King and Kroul at tackle. He will also be very good in run support, Iowa's defense number 1 priority. And perhaps most importantly, he will cause the opposing offense to double team him almost every down. I love the idea of having Clayborn shift inside and draw a double team on third down freeing Binns to go one-on-one on the outside. By the end of the year, I think you'll see Clayborn getting a lot more respect.
Sure Clayborn will not have the stats as some of the others. He's not going to have double digit sacks or anything. He only had 2 sacks last year, but was second on the team in tackles for loss with 8. He is however very versatile and will be able to shift inside and play tackle when needed as Iowa lost 2 four-year starters in King and Kroul at tackle. He will also be very good in run support, Iowa's defense number 1 priority. And perhaps most importantly, he will cause the opposing offense to double team him almost every down. I love the idea of having Clayborn shift inside and draw a double team on third down freeing Binns to go one-on-one on the outside. By the end of the year, I think you'll see Clayborn getting a lot more respect.
Iowa - Wisconsin game time announced
The Big Ten announced today the game time for the Iowa - Wisconsin game. The game is Wisconsin's homecoming and will be played at 11:00 AM on October 17th. The TV information has not been released for this game yet, but like any other game will likely be on the Big Ten Network, ESPN, or ABC. This is the second announced game time this week, the Iowa - Iowa State game will also have an 11 o'clock start. In addition to these 2 early starts, the start time for the games @Penn State, vs. Michigan, and @Michigan State have already been announced and will be played at night. Here is Iowa's 2009 schedule with all the announced game times.