Spring Practice Begins As Buckeyes Look to 2009 During His Career Including the Fiesta Bowl by MARK REA Against Texas
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Originally Published: April 4, 2009 $2.00 PERIODICAL NEWSPAPER CLASSIFICATION C DATED MATERIAL PLEASE RUSH!! M Vol. 28, No. 23 “For The Buckeye Fan Who Needs To Know More” April 4, 2009 Y Looking For K Answers Spring Practice Begins As Buckeyes Look To 2009 during his career including the Fiesta Bowl By MARK REA against Texas. That number does, however, Buckeye Sports Bulletin Managing Editor include the team’s leading rusher, the lead- ing scorer, a four-year punter, the top two Personnel changes and roster turnover are receivers, a trio of veteran offensive linemen ways of life for college football coaches, yet and three of the top eight tacklers from a year Jim Tressel has seemingly found a way to ago. Among that group were a trio of first- mitigate those annual problems. team All-Big Ten performers as well as the The Ohio State head coach begins his Thorpe Award and Lott Trophy winners. ninth spring with the Buckeyes and already In their stead is a nucleus of young talent has won five Big Ten championships includ- culled from highly rated recruiting efforts ing the last four in succession. That rep- over the past couple of seasons. According resents the conference’s longest streak of to Scout.com, the Buckeyes landed atop the JOSH WINSLOW titles since Michigan won five in row from national recruiting rankings this year and THE NEXT STEP – Ohio State will address a number of issues when spring practice 1988-92. finished fourth last year. Those efforts have begins April 2, including the development of Terrelle Pryor (2) at the quarterback But if Tressel and his program have helped produce such high school standouts position. Pryor, who burst onto the scene last season as a freshman, will lead a team designs on their fifth straight crown, they as Pryor, who burst onto the scene last year in search of replacements for a number of 2008 regulars. will need to find answers to a plethora of to start the final nine games of the regular question marks hovering over the Woody season and produce an 8-1 record. Hayes Athletic Center when spring drills The 6-6, 235-pounder proved to be a In This Issue Of BSB kick off April 2. lethal dual threat, throwing for 1,311 yards • A report on freshman B.J. Mullens Can Terrelle Pryor take the and 12 touchdowns while add- ing another 631 yards and six leaving the Ohio State men’s basketball next step in his development at scores on the ground. His 1,942 program while sophomore Evan Turner quarterback? Who takes over at tailback? What will be the 2009 yards of total offense was the has decided to stay (Pages 8-9) offensive line rotation? Who 22nd-highest single-season fig- • A recap of OSU’s one-and-done trip fills the holes at linebacker, SPRING ure in school history and the to the NCAA Tournament (Page 10) cornerback and punter? best ever by an OSU freshman. • Updates on Ohio State basketball “I don’t think we’ll be too FOOTBALL For all of Pryor’s lofty recruiting, including Jared Sullinger top- much different from any other achievements, however, there ping off his junior year with a state title program,” Tressel said in January PREVIEW were some gaffes. Most notable and Ohio’s Mr. Basketball award (Pages during Fiesta Bowl preparations. were the late fumble that led to 12-13) B.J. Mullens “With the exception of last year a 13-6 defeat against Penn State • A report on the Ohio State women’s when we had so many experienced players and a particularly dismal 5-for-13, 66-yard basketball team’s NCAA tournament journey (Pages 14-18) returning, you always go into spring with a lot passing line in the 24-21 loss to Texas in the • Football recruiting news including the latest on Indiana of questions about your team. Fiesta Bowl. Some of his stumbles can be running back prospect Roderick Smith (Pages 20-22) “But that is also one of the reasons we attributed to inexperience while others can • A feature on Georgia four-star defensive line prospect always look forward to spring so much. It’s be traced directly to the bumps and bruises of Garrison Smith (Page 23) when we get to work on fundamentals, take his first season as a college player. • A roundup of NCAA tournament action for the OSU ice a more individual approach with the players “Terrelle had a bad toe for most of the hockey team (Pages 24-25) and do a lot of teaching. Spring is also when season, which was an annoyance for him,” Call (614) 486-2202 some of those young guys begin to come OSU quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels said. Today To Subscribe To Today • Results from the wrestling team’s surprising No. 2 finish in the NCAA meet (Page 26) into their own and that’s exciting. You know “Then he had a hand problem and then his • A story about the latest Buckeye Cruise for Cancer (Page your team has some questions and you look wrist bothered him. It was a lot of little things 27) forward to seeing how they are addressed.” that young players have to learn to work • Plus reports on other sports as well as all of BSB’s regu- Fifteen regulars have departed the pro- through. And he did.” Your Mailing Label Goes Here Your lar columns and features gram, and that doesn’t include quarterback Todd Boeckman, who started 17 games Continued On Page 6 Originally Published: April 4, 2009 OPINION Ohio State Continues To Fall Short Nationally Maybe I’ve just been kidding myself. Of course, the company flagships remain Vol. 28, No. 23 Whenever someone asks about the national BSB print and BuckeyeSports.com. Since April 4, 2009 perception of Ohio State athletics, I imme- EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK you’re reading this, you already know about www.BuckeyeSports.com diately go on the offensive. “There isn’t any the in-depth coverage BSB print provides of talent gap between Ohio State and other Ohio State athletics. It is our weekly pub- Buckeye Sports Bulletin (USPS 705-690, schools,” I say with confidence. “There is just with lication throughout football, basketball and ISSN 0883-6833.) is published 28 times a year as much speed and just as many elite athletes recruiting seasons. (weekly September through November and Mark Rea Meanwhile, we consider BuckeyeSports. January through early March, biweekly mid- at Ohio State as anywhere else.” March through May and monthly June through In my heart of hearts, I’m beginning to com our daily newspaper with different con- August and December) by: come to the realization that the aforemen- tent from BSB print. It also features our “Ask tioned statements simply aren’t true. And it Before that game, Ohio State was reassert- the Insiders” message board for premium Columbus Sports Publications ing itself as one of the pre-eminent forces in subscribers, an ever-growing neighborhood 1350 W. Fifth Ave., Suite 30 took a late-night loss in the NCAA tourna- P.O. Box 12453 ment by the women’s basketball team to bring college athletics. Jim Tressel, Thad Matta and where Buckeye fans meet to discuss – and Columbus, Ohio 43212 me to my senses. Foster were each hired to resurrect once-proud sometimes argue about – their favorite teams. (614) 486-2202 In a game that stretched way past mid- programs and each had accomplished that With BSB print now on its biweekly task. Tressel already had a national champi- Periodical class postage paid at Columbus, night in the Eastern time zone, the Ohio State schedule and spring football practice kicking Ohio, and additional mailing offices. women gave a valiant effort March 28 before onship, Matta’s team was on its way to the off April 2, this is as good a time as there POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Buck- losing an 84-66 decision to Stanford. The loss NCAA title game and Foster’s program was has ever been to log onto our website. You eye Sports Bulletin, P.O. Box 12453, Columbus, ended a 29-6 season for the Buckeyes during working on a three-year record of 87-12. can even check it out for free on a 7-day trial Ohio 43212. Subscription rates: $69.95/year. which they achieved a fifth consecutive Big As history has taught us, however, bring- basis. PUBLISHER Ten championship and advancement to the ing those programs back to the brink of Frank Moskowitz NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the first time in four national prominence proved to be easier than And Finally earning victories on the biggest of stages. I don’t think there is much question that ASSISTANT PUBLISHER EMERITUS years. • Karen Wachsman 1944-1999 Unfortunately, the bar for success remains You can certainly make an argument for B.J. Mullens is not yet ready for the NBA. higher than that. In college basketball, the each coach and each program that sustain- Nevertheless, that league loves its 7-footers MANAGING EDITOR measuring stick is not conference titles. It is able success throughout the years outweighs and Mullens will likely go down in Ohio State Mark Rea trips to the Final Four, and despite fielding the the fleeting gratification of a winner-take-all lore as another first-round selection. Unless ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Big Ten player of the year, defensive player format that is the BCS and NCAA basketball he elevates his game in the professional ranks, Becky Roberts of the year and freshman of the year – not tournaments.