Beach Buckeyes

The Ohio State side of the blog is hanging in the Outer Banks this week, so you'll have to do without my witty ramblings leading up to the season opener against I-AA Youngstown State. A few quick thoughts:

*This should be a blow out, but remember that Coach Tressel (a) will want to play a lot of kids; and (b) he doesn't like to run it up. Though I've learned to bet against the Buckeyes, will Tressel really want to embarass his old school? A large margin of victory will have to come from defensive td's, big plays, etc.

*Boeckman is the starter as I've said all along, but all three should see action. I'm really looking forward to seeing Boeckman's accuracy on the intermediate and timing routes, which will be key down the road.

*Devon Lyons, Ray Small and Albert Dukes are all banged up. That leaves true freshmen Dane Sanzenbacher and Taurian Washington as the #3 and #4 receivers for this game. Sanzenbacher sounds like he's been anightmare to cover in camp.

*A thin offensive line is on life support with Kyle Mitchum and Jon Skinner still out. Two of the most impressive campers have been Conner Smith and Bryant Browning, who will most certainly see substantial playing time this season. But they are the only recognizable scholarship players in the second line rotation. Any injuries would be tragic at this point.

*Jake Ballard is the backup to Rory Nicol right now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him outperform Nicol this season.

*On the defensive line, redhsirt freshman Dexter Larimore and sophmore Robert Rose may be listed as the #3 guys at DT and DE, but they'll in the rotation more often than not. I keep saying it, but Gholston, Wilson and Rose are simply going to terrorize quaterbacks this season.

*No real surprises at linebacker, though with Curtis Terry hurt, Tyler Moeller and Thaddeus Gibson are backing up Larry Grant. Grant could be the brakout player of the year on the defensive side of the ball.

*At cornerback, All-American candidate Malcolm Jenkins and Donald Washington are back as starters. Redshirt freshman Chimdi Chekwa and true freshman Gene Clifford are battling for the nickel spot. Expect Chekwa to win out early, but Clifford to be there by the end of the season. Against spread offenses, it won't matter because they'll both be in.

*Anderson Russell made it all the way back from his ACL injury and is starting at free safety. As expected, Kurt Coleman has lept Jamario O'Neal to start at strong safety.

*Kicker could be a position to watch, and not in a good way. Sophomore Aaron Pettrey has lost the job to redshirt sophomore Ryan Pretorious, though neither was very impressive in the kick scrimmage.