No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes

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At least the Buckeyes didn’t blow it in the BCS title game again, as some had feared they might. Instead, OSU shared another Big Ten title and separated itself further from hated rival Michigan. That’s enough for the Rust Belt, but OSU still has to prove it’s capable of competing on the national scene.

It gets a shot Sept. 12 against USC, this time in Columbus, and it will be interesting to see if sophomore Terrelle Pryor is more equipped to operate the Buckeye attack than he was last year. That means he has to be able to complete an occasional pass downfield and handle pressure better. He clearly has the physical tools to do so, but if he can’t make the right decisions, coach Jim Tressel may revert to his more conservative ways.

Of course, without a featured running back and with a line that was soft last year, that might be a little hard to do. They aren’t quite using the word “rebuilding” in Columbus this season, but the Buckeyes have some work to do, replacing seven offensive starters and finding playmakers on defense to make up for the departures of linebackers James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman and corner Malcolm Jenkins. Ends Thaddeus Gibson and Cameron Heyward should be lethal, and strong safety Kurt Coleman has star potential.

The Buckeyes will be good, but they won’t be good enough not to worry about getting clobbered by an SEC bully in early January. They’ll have to settle for smacking around everybody in their backyard, especially the Wolverines.

This and That

It's Who You Beat Jim Tressel has a stellar 7–1 record in the rivalry with The School Up North, which has earned him lots of rope from Buckeye fans even though pundits still seem to focus on the shortcomings.

Hit And Miss The offense sputtered at times as Terrelle Pryor struggled to sustain drives. Last season the Buckeyes actually had fewer first downs than their opponents (230 to 232) and converted only 43 percent of their third down conversions. If Pryor really wants to reach Troy Smith-like heights, he must come through more regularly on money downs.

Elite Company Before leaving campus and landing in the NFL, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis became the eighth player in program history to be named a consensus All-American for the third time and just the fourth since 1936. That very short list includes the great Archie Griffin. Laurinaitis also won honors as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight time and was a finalist for the Bednarik, Lombardi and Lott awards, winning the latter.

Ohio State Superlatives

S Kurt Coleman (pictured) and PR Ray Small are named First-Team All-Big Ten.

OL Justin Boren, DL Thaddeus Gibson and S Anderson Russell are named Second-Team All-Big Ten.

QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Daniel Herron, C Mike Brewster, DL Doug Worthington and LB Ross Homan join the All-Big Ten Third Team.

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