Sophomore tailback Brandon Saine has been on the field in a
full-back role for the Ohio State Buckeyes this year although he was brought in
as a featured tailback to follow Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells. Head Coach Jim Tressel
said at his weekly press conference that Saine not only is playing on special
teams and in the slot as a receiver, but also at fullback quite often.
By Steve Patterson
Slot Success
Saine is in his second year with
the Buckeyes and has battled some injuries this year but has been able to get
open in space from the slot position a number of times for first downs. Having
the versatile athlete in the fullback position provides Ohio State
with a talented one-two punch when combined with Chris Wells or Daniel Herron Coach
Tressel feels. “Brandon's
been evolving more into playing the fullback positions and slot positions and
some slot things. We think that he can do some of the things that a fullback
needs to do.” He said this week at his Tuesday press conference.
Fullback In the I-Formation
You might
think the needed blocking of a fullback would be lacking in Saine, but
according to Coach Tressel that is not the case. “And so his evolution really
is finding ways to get on the field. He's on some special teams and so what you
hope is that he's the kind of guy that can be on the field 25 plus plays a game
because he can do a lot of different things and he is a threat as a pass
receiver but yet I also think it's not like you can say, well he's in at
fullback and they can't run their "I" formation stuff, because I
think we can.”
Mr. Football
Saine was
Mr. Football in Ohio his senior year at Piqua when he ran for
1,895 yards and 27 touchdowns. Leading his team to a Division II state
championship in 2006, he was the 2nd best overall player in Ohio coming out of high
school. With great speed (4.35) and strength, he is able to play a number of
different positions and create match-up problems for both linebackers and
safties.