We head into the homestretch of the alligatorSports’ preseason college football poll with the No. 3 team in our countdown: the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Last season, the Buckeyes finished 11-2 after winning their fifth consecutive Big 10 title and beating Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The 11 wins marked the fifth time in as many years that Ohio State finished the season with at least 10 wins.
Part of what made last year’s Buckeyes squad so successful was the team’s vaunted defense, which finished as the fifth-best scoring defense in the nation, giving up just 12.5 points per contest and allowing opponents to accumulate just 262.3 total yards per game.
At the heart of Ohio State’s stifling defense are two senior linebackers, Ross Homan and Brian Rolle. In 2009, Homan led the team with 108 total tackles (57 solo) while Rolle was second with 95 (37 solo).
The Buckeyes also return senior defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who led the team with 6.5 sacks last season and was second on the squad with 10 tackles for a loss.
In the defensive backfield it also returns cornerbacks Devon Torrence and Chimdi Chekwa (seven passes broken up), so the team should be in good shape there.
The defense should have no problem replicating the 2009 version, which will make the offense’s job much easier.
Ohio State isn’t known for having a flashy offense, but the school does have a flashy quarterback in Terrelle Pryor. At 6 feet 6 inches tall and 233 pounds, Pryor certainly has the build and the physical tools to excel at quarterback, but will need to limit the mistakes, as he tossed 11 interceptions last season and was sacked 22 times while passing for 2,094 yards and 18 touchdowns.
As a dual-threat quarterback, Pryor also led the team in rushing, with 779 yards and seven scores.
Surrounding Pryor, the offense returns plenty of weapons for Pryor to use at his disposal, including its two leading receivers from last year in DeVier Posey (828 yards, eight touchdowns) and Dane Sanzenbacher (570 yards and six touchdowns), as well running back Brandon Saine, who was second to Pryor in rushing (739 yards, four touchdowns).
Combine the talent Ohio State returns on the field with Jim Tressel in charge of things on the sideline, and the Buckeyes should be in great shape to win their sixth consecutive Big 10 championship and possibly book a trip to Glendale, Ariz., the site of the team’s last BCS title.
