Spring rumblings

OSU’s offensive line has been hit with injuries… veterans Steve Rehring and Ben Person have been assigned no-contact status and will not be seen in the spring game. Superstar frosh Mike Adams has been sidelined with an injury as well.

Just as we were sharpening our pencils to tease Wolverine fans about Manningham’s problems with the devil weed, three members of OSU’s starting defensive secondary are being disciplined for the same thing. It is possible that Donald Washington, Jamario O’Neal and Eugene Clifford could be kicked off the team. As terrible as the news is, the 2008 Buckeye defense is still deeper than Friedrich Nietzsche reading the Mahabharata inside a bathysphere lying at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, so the loss of these three should only move OSU’s defense from zOMG hide teh children to maybe we’ll let you score once per game status.

Quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels has been battling cancer, and recently had surgery to remove a kidney. He’s not expected to return full-time until the autumn. His replacement, backup QB coach Nick Siciliano, is stepping in to juggle the QBs – but has some juggling of his own to do as the proud father of newborn quadruplets. Still, with all of that on his plate, reports are positive that things are humming along efficiently.

The same is apparently not the case with the fullback position. With Dionte Johnson and The Tank gone, competition is fierce. Linebacker Ryan Lukens is moving from LB to FB. The same experiment is being tried with Austin Spitler.

The importance of getting the FB situation resolved soon cannot be understated. Beanie Wells, the nation’s best back, is set to begin a much-hyped Heisman campaign. His Stiff Arm of Tackling FailTM cannot do it alone; he needs a stud FB in front of him exploding defenders into tiny bits.


A good OSU fullback can actually help save B10 defenders from this humiliation.

Tressel has hinted that the 2008 offense may feature less pounding I-formation and more two-back sets, with Saine and Wells in the backfield.

Where Tressel’s idea gets exciting is when one considers where Pryor may fit into this mix. As the spring progresses, the talk of Pryor redshirting is becoming less frequent, and is being replaced with a desire to see him in niche situations, not unlike what Urban Meyer did with Tim Tebow in 2006 (and Tebow wasn’t surrounded with the talent that Pryor might be).

Consider this for a moment: OSU has first and goal on the three yard line, and Pryor trots out as goal-line QB, with Wells and Saine in a two-back set behind him and three receivers at the line. It’s enough to make most defensive coordinators lose their water. It’s easy to see why Tressel doesn’t view the FB weakness as urgent as the rest of us. Still, the spring scrimmages should tell the tale. There’s not a lot of time left before USC, so experimentation will have to give way to in-stone game plans soon.

Comments

  1. “Friedrich Nietzsche reading the Mahābhārata inside a bathysphere lying at the bottom of the Marianas Trench”

    Line of the year. Game over

  2. I heard the Stiff Arm of Tackling Fail was leading the pack for the FB position.

    Even though I liked Stiff Arm of Justice better.

  3. mr green says

    I’m so glad I’m not a buckaroo fan after viewing/reading this website.

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