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It happens every August. I walked outside the other day at about 7:00 a.m. and noticed a nip in the air. My yard had turned to crab grass and the trees were full of bag worms and those black and yellow spiders were weaving webs on the ripening goldenrod. A mist was rising from the pool and frost was on the dogwoods. I could feel football in the air. There was the smell of leather and dust from the practice fields. The sky was gray and the clouds were swirling from the winds that were out of the North. I took in a huge gulp if that air and I could actually taste the seasons changing. I raised my arms and clenched my fists and yelled, "I hate Michigan to the very core of my soul." Let the games begin.

BEND OVER AND ASSUME THE POSITION.

  I was looking at a two-deep chart the other day and there were several positions where we look very good going into the 2009 season and there were several that were, well, Indiana-ish. So, here's my opinion of each position from strongest to weakest:

  Defensive line. Between defensive ends and defensive tackles there are four players listed as the starters but the defensive coaches rotate those positions more than any others on the team. There are eight guys in the rotation and they all get a LOT of playing time. Seven of the eight return this year to what should be the best defensive line in the Big 10 and one of the best in the country. Worthington, Denlinger and Larimore have all been in the rotation at tackle for three or four years. A five star recruit last year, Garrett Goebel, red-shirted due to an early injury and will be added to the rotation this year. At defensive end, Gibson, Heyward, Williams and Rose all return. Plus Lawrence Wilson, who started two years in a row and was lost to injuries during those years returns. And, a sixth guy, Solomon Thomas, a freshman, will be added after getting seven sacks in the spring game. We are loaded on the defensive line. They are big, they are ugly and they ooze alpha-male traits; this line is the Rosey O'Donnell of college football.

  Defensive Safety. Kurt Coleman will probably be an All American this year as a three year starter at strong safety and Anderson Russell will be returning as the starter at free safety. The nickel back, Jermale Hinds, also returns as does primary backup, Aaron Gant. Safety is in numbers and we have the numbers.

  Place Kicker. Aaron Pettrey gray-shirted, red-shirted, backed up Nugent a year, started a year, got injured and backed up Pretorius a year and will now start again this year. As a backup last year he just kicked field goals of 40 yards or more and was 7of 8. The boy has a leg and will win us a game or two this year.

  Quarterback. I was a little concerned about putting Terrelle Pryor this high on the list but when Tressel said Pryor was a little bigger and a little faster but was ten times the quarterback that he was last year, then I figured it was time to jump on the band wagon. He came in last August as a true freshman and started in September and went 7-2 losing only to Penn State and Texas. He has the potential to be one of the all time greats at Ohio State and we'll see on September 12, when USC comes to town.

  The Interior Offensive Line. Michael Brewster was good enough to start at center in the fourth game of his freshman year. Bryant Browning played as a freshman at tackle and then started there as a sophomore. He was moved inside this year where the coaches wanted him all along. Last week Tressel said Browning and Brewster were the two most improved players on the offensive line. At the other guard spot is Justin Boren. He was second team All Big 10 at meeeshitagin as a sophomore before transferring to God's country. He sat out a transfer year last year and the day he was eligible to play he was the best offensive lineman on our team. A two pronged stake in the heart of the wolverettes.

  Running Back. Daniel "Boom" Herron and Brandon "Zoom" Saine will be the one-two punch this year. As Beanie's backup last year Herron stepped up and played very well. Saine was injured most of the year with a hamstring pull but is 100% healthy this year. Backing them up are

 sophomore Jermil Martin and freshmen Jamaal Berry and Jason Hall. Berry was rated as the fifth best running back in the country in high school last year and has impressed the coaches in fall camp. Of course, his career almost went up in smoke last spring.

  Linebacker. This position would have been a little higher had Tyler Moeller not gotten sucker punched in Florida and knocked out for the season. But we'll be okay. Spitler has been playing behind James Laurinaitis for three years and is as hungry as Charlie Weis at the drive through window of a Taco Bell. Ross Homan returns at his outside linebacker spot and Brian Rolle starts in the middle. The depth here is embarrassing. Behind these guys are Sabino and Sweat who ESPN rated as the #1 and #2 linebackers in America in high school two years ago as well as Dorian Bell, Storm Klein and Jason Whiting, three freshmen that were the best linebackers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. Bell and Whiting were Parade All Americans.

  Receivers. We lost Robiskie and Hartline but return Small, Sanzenbacher and Posey with a lot of experience. Posey was a five star guy that the coaches expect to have a breakout season. Also, Duron Carter has wowed the coaches as a true freshman. Of course, being coached by Cris Carter all of your life should make you good enough to get noticed. It may take a few games but we will be okay at the receiver spots.

  Tight End. Who cares, we never use them anyway. However, Jake Ballard could be a good one if he played somewhere else. And he may actually catch a ball or two this year if it bounces off of the intended receiver's hands and he happens to be in the right place.

  Offensive Tackle. Jim Cordle started as a sophomore at center and as a junior at guard and now it is time for him to start at right tackle. The coaches feel good about him at right tackle and the best part of that is if the center or one of the guards gets hurt he can just move over. Left tackle? Who knows. Andy Miller, BJ Shugarts and Mike Adams are fighting it out. I guess we'll wait for USC to tell us which one should be in there.

  Cornerback. Chekwa returns but Malcolm Jenkins' spot is open. Andre Amos appears to have worked his way into that spot but Devon Torrence is right in the hunt and will be the first guy off of the bench. An injury here could be devastating. We have three very good freshmen but they are without a lick of experience.

  Fullback. This position is kind of like tight end. If the fullback gets the ball it is a bad play because it will be on a fumble recovery. We've got two true freshmen and a walk-on sophomore fighting for the starting role. He who has the hardest head wins.

  Punter. Jon Thoma came to Ohio State as a walk-on and worked his way into a scholarship last year backing up AJ Trapasso. He has only punted a few times in actual games and has a few serious shanks notched on his belt so I have no idea how good this guy is. Anyway, he must be the best we have so we'll see if he can step up in his senior year and become the star of the most important play in football.

GAMES TO WATCH:

  It's really hard to find good games to watch on the opening week of football because the teams that are good want to play the teams that are bad to get that first win under their belt and the teams that are bad play the teams that are good to get enough money to support the program. Ergo, you get match ups like Arizona St. VS Idaho St., Auburn VS La. Tech., Clemson VS Middle Tennessee St., Florida VS Charleston Southern, North Carolina VS The Citadel, USC VS San Jose St., and West Virginia VS Liberty. And the list goes on and on. However, a few teams out there decided to be a little more competitive and may be worth a watch:

  Alabama @ Virginia Tech. Nick The Snake Saban slithers into Blacksburg to test one of the better teams in the ACC. Of course, we are talking football and not basketball so the Tide should ripple in a close one.

  BYU @ Oklahoma. I don't know how good BYU will be this year but I know opening at Oklahoma against a Heisman Trophy quarterback will be like Gomer Pyle at a Chinese American spelling bee.

  Maryland @ Cal. The Terps beat Cal at home last year 35-27 but will face some serious jet lag issues this year.

  Cincinnati @ Rutgers (Aug 7th). Two of the top teams in the Big Least square off in the first game. Wow, I'm impressed. The winner of this game will have a heck of a jump start on the league championship.

  Appalachian State @ E. Carolina. This should be a really good game but App State will never, I repeat never, sneak up on another team after giving meeeshitagin the most embarrassing loss in the history of the school. Tee hee hee.

  Miami @ Florida State. This game is also on the 7th. Watch two has-beens slug it out in the heat to see who is going to emerge in next year's recruiting wars. Bobby Bowden just wants to win one he doesn't have to forfeit.

  Georgia @ Oklahoma State. Are my eyes deceiving me? Is an SEC team actually traveling outside of the southeast to play a Division I team? And a team that ended last year at 9-4? That's two SEC teams on the road to open the season against pretty good opponents. Is climate change causing hell to freeze over?

  Missouri @ Illinois. Last year at Missouri the home team jumped all over the Illini but then the Zookster got his team fired up and the game ended 52-42 for the best game of the week. Should be another good one.

  Washington, of 0-12 fame last year travels to the bayou to take on LSU. Just kidding about this being a good game, LSU will pour it on like maple syrup on a triple stack.

  Western Michigan @ meeeshitagin. This shouldn't be a good game but it will be.

  Nevada @ $Notre Dame. Nevada was 7-6 last year which makes them one of the better teams The Weis Guy will be facing in 2009. There's so many cup cakes on their schedule this year I gained five pounds just reading it.

  Navy @ Ohio State. We're not playing Oklahoma but we're not playing Youngstown State either. Navy was 8-5 last year and once again led the nation in rushing. Ohio State hasn't played a triple option team since they lost to Air Force in the Liberty Bowl in 1990, the day I decided that John Cooper should be fired. I thought opening against a wishbone team would not help us a bit in preparing for USC but now that we know Petey is going to start a freshman at quarterback I think it might help us because USC has a stable of great running backs and they are probably going to try to jamb the ball down out throats rather than have a freshman throw the ball all over the place.

  On Sunday I read that we received a verbal commitment from a 6-6 215 wide receiver, that USC lost one of their starting wide receivers to a broken collar bone and that meeeshitagin is being investigated for violating NCAA rules concerning the length of practices, team workouts and meetings. How much good news can one Buckeye take?

HOW IT WILL PROBABLY GO;

This is when reality sets in. After spending all winter reading about how good this year's team is going to be we will actually step on the field this week and find out that Navy is better than we thought they would be and we are not as good as we thought we would be. During the first quarter Navy will get the ball and run all over the field and probably go right down and score. Then the offense will take the field and all of our hopes and dreams will be crushed. It will be just another year of Tresselball where you find a way to get a touchdown or two ahead and then sit on the ball and force the defense to win the game. Navy will come back in the third quarter while we make no adjustments what-so-ever and hope we get the on-side kick at the end of the game to save the victory. Its been that way for eight years and I see no reason to believe it will change in 2009. Our best hope is for a lot of broken plays that force Pryor to scramble. And with our offensive line that shouldn't be any problem at all.

Go Bucks

The Coach

Tags: ohio state football, terrelle pryor