I predicted during the summer of last year before a snap was ever taken that the Buckeyes would play for the National Championship. I was right (amidst much scoffing from Michigan fans who should have known better).

Now I am predicting it again.

The OSU Offensive Line, the most important component of any football team, lost only Kirk Barton to graduation this year. He will be easily replaced with the talent coming up, like Sophomore Bryant Browning (who was getting a lot of reps last year) and incoming freshmen Mike Adams, Mike Brewster, and J.B. Shugarts, all over 300 pounds, and all of whom are highly mobile.

At RB, we have Chris Wells coming back for his junior season. He ran for over 1500 yards last year, and it looks like there are even more in store for this year as he will be one year bigger and one year more experienced at finding the holes. He will be backed up by senior Mo Wells, a change of pace type runner with a knack for throwing key blocks during blitzes, and Brandon Saine, a sophomore RB who did great things until he suffered a knee injury in the third game v. Washington and then made some big plays in the Nat’l Championship Game v. LSU, albeit in the passing game.

Fullback is a question mark with Dionte Johnson, Trevor Robinson, and Tyler Whaley all graduating (as opposed to getting certificates of attendance like one gets for going to Michigan for four years). But Aram Olsen is going to get a lot of playing time this year, and he was highly recruited out of South Carolina two years ago.

At WR, Robiskie and Hartline are back, along with Ray Small for their junior seasons. Dane Sanzebacher will be a sophomore and is very talented at possession receiving. Devier Posey is a highly rated freshman out of Florida to keep an eye upon.

At TE, Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard are each one year bigger and one year more experienced. Both have continued to improve in blocking along the edge, a skill sorely missed during the Florida Game two years ago. Mike Stoneburner from Dublin will present size match ups as he has tight end size with WR speed (with a 4.6 in the 40 and at 225 pounds and 6’6, he is a Kellen Winslow type). OSU sees him as a WR though, not a TE.

The only question on offense, and it’s a big one, is at QB. Todd Boeckman has the experience after one full season at the helm with only two losses, but his last four games saw him take four big steps backwards, wherein the team one in spite of his performance, rather than because of it. Those who know Jim Tressel know that he places great emphasis on experience as a starter. Thus at this point, much as I dislike to write it, the job is Boeckman’s to lose.

But lose it he might. Waiting in the wings is QB Antonio Henton, who played well in third string duty until his mid season trouble with the law (now ironed out) and who displaced the second string QB, Robbie Schoenhoft (who has transferred). The book on Henton is that he is athletic, but uses his footspeed to gain time to throw, rather than to take off running and gain yards rushing. He completed a very nice TD pass over the middle on a crossing pattern to Taurian Washington last year before his off the field troubles put him in Tressel’s dog house. He will give Boeckman a run for his money this Spring and Fall.

On the defensive side of the ball, everyone on the second most important component of the team, the Defensive Line, is back except Vernon Gholston, a junior who left early to go pro. While losing Gholston sucks, it is the one position where OSU could afford to lose a star player. He will be replaced by Lawrence Wilson, a better player than Gholston who could not prove it last year since he broke his leg in the season opener (ah but how nice it would have been to have both of those guys coming in off the DE position on each play).

Filling in for Wilson all last year were Cameron Heyward (who unforgiveably lost his temper during the LSU game and got the Tigers a 15 yarder) and Robert Rose. These will share time at one DE position while Wilson covers the other. A freshman to watch out for will be Keith Wells out of Florida, a speed rusher at DE who is presently a little undersized, but with the type of body that will put on the necessary weight.

Up the middle at DT will be Doug Worthington and Todd Denliner, back for their junior seasons. Worthington at 6-7 will be putting on size in the weight room and both will have the enhanced technique experience gives. They will be backed up by Senior Nader Abdallah (a great run stopper) and Sophomore Dexter Larrimore.

The only loss at LB will be Larry Grant to graduation. But he will be replaced by Curtis Terry, who is just as good but out most of last season with an injury. Also returning from injury will be Ross Homan to join up with seniors James Laurinatis and Marcus Freeman. Look for Sophomore Brian Rolle to have put on some weight and to make an impact as well. He did some really nice things last year in kickoff and punt coverage, and that is where Jim Tressel expects his future linebackers to make an impact.

A curiosity at LB will be true freshman Etienne Sabino. Reports are that Sabino can throw a football 80 yards in the air. Not much use for a linebacker, but it is indicative of overall athleticism, even for those Michigan fans who were wowed by Tom Brady firing a similar pass in the waining moments of this year’s Superbowl.

At CB, Junior Donald Washington and Senior Malcolm Jenkins will both be back as starters. These two were arguably the best CBs in the Big 10 last year, and are definitely the best now. In the nickel they will be joined by Chimdi Chekwa and in the dime package I think you will see a lot of Eugene Clifford or Donny Evenge.

At the Safety position, you will see more of Juniors Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell, backed up by Senior Jamario O’Neal.

At Punter, which Jim Tressel considers the most important position on any team, we will have senior A.J. Trapasso back. Not only a consistent 45 yards per punt man with good hang time, Trapasso is always a threat to fake it as he rushed for 1100 yards in his senior year as the starting RB at Pickerington HS.

At Kicker, both Junior Aaron Pettrey and Senior Ryan Pretorious will be duking it out for the starting job. Both have legs good from 50 yards out.

One area the Buckeyes need improvement on is special teams. Coverage on punts and kickoffs was good last year, but too many field goals were blocked by people going right up the middle. We had no runbacks for touchdowns on either punts or kickoffs last year, despite having very talented KRs like Brandon Saine and Mo Wells.

If OSU can beat USC in its third game of the season, I don’t see anyone beating OSU from then on. Michigan is always a threat, but they play us in Columbus this year, and without Chad Henne or Mike Hart or Jake Long or Mario Manningham or Lavar Arrington. They will have some pretty ugly girls on the team as a result of open tryouts announced by new coach Rich Rodriguez who may need the scholarship money for those slots to pay West Virginia the $4 million for leaving early.

Even if OSU loses to USC (at USC), a close loss may be one of those early losses that gets overlooked, especially if USC has a good season (unless their football team gets the death penalty for all the money that Reggie Bush and his family allegedly took from his agent while he played there).

So look out again, world of college football. You may not like it, but the Buckeyes are going to be the team to beat next year, and few, if any, will. Don’t let your hatred of the Buckeyes get in the way of proper analysis. You did it last year. I predict you’ll do it again.

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