Circle The Calendars:
Ohio State and Texas, Part II

By Paul Smith
paul.smith@collegeblitz.com

It is an annual rite, the Scarlet and Gray football scrimmage that climaxes Ohio State's spring practice.

If you didn't pay attention to the calendar, you'd think it was another Buckeye Saturday. Tailgating, serious talk about whether the established starting tight end will beat out the bluechip recruit.

	Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith. (Michael R. Sisak)

This past spring, 63,649 fanatics three-fifths filled the Big Horseshoe to get an early tipoff on what to expect this fall.

"Plenty," Clem, one very happy south stands occupant said afterward. "I've been coming to these games -- even in the blizzard last spring -- for 40 years and I still can't believe the level of talent that comes here every year."

The level will be severely tested at some key positions this fall.

As is known from Conneaut to Cincinnati, coach Jim Tressel has spent the recruiting season, spring and summer rebuilding the defense with the help of longtime right hand assistant Jim Bollman, who has battled some health problems this summer, replaced by capable Jim Heacock, the defensive line coach.

But Bollman is an old-school defensive coordinator who has seen it all.

Still, one of the best linebacking corps in college football history -- Anthony Schlegel, A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter -- are gone. Three chiseled, perfect 250-pounders with exceptional lateral speed who will make the New York Jets (Schlegel), Green Bay Packers (Hawk) and Dallas Cowboys (Carpenter) very, very happy, will be the biggest challenge of the Jim Tressel era.

As Tressel begins his seventh season in Columbus, he knows his defense will be talented, but inexperienced.

The offense's ability to score repeatedly is a given, but in losing the linebackers, plus established standouts like defensive lineman Mike Kudla, and reliable defensive backs Nate Salley, Donte Whitner, Ashton Youboty and Tyler Everett are patrolling N.F.L. training camp pastures these days.

"We are going to start teaching," says Tressel on the team's media day. "We go from bowl practice (where the Buckeyes, finishing off an 11-2 season rated No. 4, with a 34-20 rout of an impressive Notre Dame team in the Fiesta Bowl)...to now teaching freshmen the terminology."

The results-now types who populate Ohio Stadium will scrutinize this process with the jeweler's-eye demands of accustomed excellence. Tressel, no rube, knows this only too well. As was the case at I-AA Youngstown State, where he won four N.C.A.A. championships, and in 2001, where he took a demoralized Buckeyes team that had gone 2-10-1 against Michigan, he vowed that change was on the way during halftime of the Ohio State-Michigan basketball game. "...A group of young men you'll be proud of both in the classroom and on the field, and especially (on Nov. 24, 2001) when we take the field in Ann Arbor!"

The same level of confidence burns brightly as Tressel tackles 2006 in a demanding Big Ten conference and against a schedule that includes a home opener against feisty Mid-American Conference power Northern Illinois, a payback trip to Austin Texas to face the Longhorns, who dashed the Buckeyes' hopes for a run at last year's national title with a 25-22 upset in Columbus.

The Texas game Sept. 9 is circled on calendars throughout the states of Ohio and Texas with good reason. The Longhorns are defending national champion, and despite the massive defensive rebuilding job, the Buckeyes are pre-season No. 1 this year with Texas right on their tailpipe.

"Our experience is unusual this year," Tressel assesses. "Our offense is more experienced than our defense and the first job as a mature offense is to make sure our defense is in good shape.

"(The No. 1 ranking) makes you appreciate your job at Ohio State. We have addressed how to handle a lot of things like the hype of preseason No. 1 and handling success."

The offense is a collection of household names -- Heisman Trophy hopeful Ted Ginn, Jr., whose slashing style created two long touchdown plays that broke the will of Notre Dame, will give another Heisman possibility, quarterback Troy Smith, one of the nation's best downfield targets.

Ginn is a game-breaker as a return specialist as well, and the Bucks are loaded everywhere on offense.

"We have a lot of playmakers. We just have to work at getting them all touches," says Smith, knowing freshman tailback Chris Wells, the Akron Garfield product who was the nation's most recruited running back, will be yet another difference-maker. Wideout Santonio Holmes is stretching defenses for the Steelers, but Anthony Gonzalez, a junior wideout with a tight end's body, and Ray Hall, a senior wide receiver who should flourish this fall, give Smith an arsenal of weapons.

Not the least of which is himself. "The anchor of this team is the offensive line as it is for any great team," says Smith. "On both sides of the ball, it starts up front.

"I feel like I have matured a lot from last season. I know now that I just have to work on getting better every day. I know that I haven't peaked yet and I have a great year ahead of me."

Even with the loss of Nick Mangold, who will give Jets rookie coach Eric Mangini some moments of joy this fall, the offensive line is one of the nation's better units.

Kirk Barton, Doug Datish and T.J. Downing were starters last year, and Alex Boone will move in at left tackle with a major league resume of power, speed and technique. Tim Schafer looks strong at left guard and Datish shifts from right guard to center to replace Mangold.

"We are ahead of the curve and have practiced a lot to get where we are," says Barton, a junior who figures to be an N.F.L. fixture. "It takes time to be a good line."

The Buckeyes run a precision offense, one that can wear down some opponents and finesse others to death.

With a set of new, tighter jerseys, the already-elusive Buckeye skill position players get yet another advantage. "They are very tight," assesses Ginn. "Wind can't get through it and people can't grab you as easily with a tight jersey. You can just get away."

Ginn, who has world-class sprinter's speed and an series of ankle-testing moves that make him almost impossible to stop one-on-one, ignores the Heisman hype and talks about "making plays."

It is a '90s cliche, but at Ohio State, it is fully applicable.

On defense, the key will be to see how quickly the Bucks recover from the major talent drain. "We lost some key starters," says senior defensive end Jay Richardson. "But we have a defensive line with more experience (with extended playing time last fall and spring). Also, we have a lot of young, focused new guys this year."

Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson bring starters' expertise and Richardson and potential megatalent Lawrence Wilson, who has linebacker type speed but a lineman's power, should jell fairly quickly.

Jim Heacock hopes. "We've been in sweats lately, doing a little bit of hitting," the D-line coach says. "I want to see (in preseason) who will go out there and get after it. I enjoy the guys who like to hit."

Mike D'Andrea, is a proven big time hitter. And Jim Laurinaitis, who replaced Carpenter in the first quarter at Michigan when Carpenter broke his ankle last fall, not losing a step, will be a major help at what the Bucks call SAM linebacker, a roving outside position.

Talented John Kerr takes Schlegel's old "Mike" spot in the middle and sophomore Marcus Freeman, bouncing back from a knee injury that cost him the 2005 season, has running-back speed and athleticism that will help ease the pain of the loss of Hawk.

"We bring a lot to the table and we're willing to learn," Freeman says. "There has been a lot of publicity so we're just supporting each other."

They're putting in some serious overtime both on the practice field and in the weight room, as is the Bucks' rebuilt secondary.

Likely starting cornerbacks Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith bring exceptional cover skills and strength and Jamario O'Neal and Nick Patterson bring some serious athleticism and speed to deal with a leagueful of talented wide receivers.

"They are a talented, championship-caliber group of guys," second-year Athletic Director Gene Smith says finally. "I told them to rejoice and embrace it. It's great (to be rated No. 1), but it's more about the kids. They deserved it and earned it."

We'll know pretty early -- say about midnight eastern time Sept. 9 -- just exactly how legit the preseason praise is.