Kickoff Has Arrived
The time has arrived for Ohio State
to kickoff the 2008 football season against the Youngstown State Penguins. The
team is focused on this one game with the goal to win the Big Ten outright and
claim the National Championship thereafter.
By Steve Patterson
Youngstown State
Youngstown State is a major underdog (51 ½
according to1800-sports.com) and was beaten handily last season, 38-6. But the
Buckeyes know that anything can happen in a game and are not looking past the
Division 1A (FCS) team. “There are a lot of playmakers on this team. It is
going to be a tough task.” Senior linebacker Marcus Freeman told reports after
practice on Tuesday.
Ohio State
starting tailback Chris Wells did not have the best game last season only
rushing for 46 yards on 16 carries. This year he looks to be more patient and
put up better numbers on his way to a Heisman season. “It was not one of my
best games. I learned a lot from the first time we played Youngstown State.
Last year, I felt like I rushed everything. I was anxious with it being the
first game. I’m anxious this year, but I know not to rush everything.” He said.
Ryan Pretorius just wants to get
his first kick of the year over with. “I can’t wait for Saturday to get the
first kick out of the way. I’m looking for straight, hard balls down the
middle. It doesn’t matter if they’re 20-yards or 60-yards, one point or three
points.”
Terrelle Pryor
Speculation
has been that Terrelle Pryor will get a number of plays on Saturday and Head
Coach Jim Tressel has labeled his position as a #2 quarterback along with Joe
Bauserman recently. Also mentioned as one freshman that will play and not be
red-shirted, Pryor received praise from junior wide-out Brian Hartline. “I
think we’re all anxious to see him on the field. There is no question the guy
can run. He’s definitely a football player.”
Dominate all Season
Slightly
shocking from starting tailback Chris Wells was his opinion that the team
slacked off from one quarter to the next. “We know that it’s important to play dominant
football from start to finish. Last season, we had a good quarter here and
there, but we never played that well from start to finish and that’s something
that we’re hoping to accomplish this year.”
If the team
can dominate every quarter this coming season Ohio State
fans everywhere will be thrilled with a team that went 11-2 and finished 4th
in the country in the US Today Coaches Poll to came back and go undefeated,
dominate, and win the biggest awards available.