Ranking Ohio State’s All-Time Best Offensive Guards

For roughly the past century or so, the Ohio State football program has built its championship-laden tradition on running the football. The names of star halfbacks, tailbacks and fullbacks roll off the tongue of Buckeye fans as easily as the words to “Carmen Ohio” or “Hang On Sloopy.”

Of course, as good as they were, guys like Hopalong Cassady and Archie Griffin couldn’t have won the Heisman Trophy all by themselves. There had to be offensive linemen in front of them to lead the way, and that led to my latest position ranking of all-time Buckeyes.

I started out trying to lump all of the linemen into one category, but there have been so many outstanding players who have excelled in the trenches at Ohio State that it was impossible to narrow them down to a list of 10. For example, how do you choose who’s better between Orlando Pace and Jim Parker? Pace is the best college lineman I have ever seen in person, but I have watched tape of Parker and he was an absolute beast – and he played both ways.

Therefore, I decided to split the categories into the way they’re split on the field. I’ve already got a working list of my top 10 tackles (guess who’s No. 1?) and centers but I’ll leave those for another day. Today, we’ll take a look at my Ohio State top 10 all-time guards. See how this list stacks up to yours.

1. Jim Parker – Ohio State has churned out a variety of outstanding linemen over the years but the prototype was Parker. Playing at a listed 6-2 and 248 pounds during an era when most linemen were in the 5-11, 185-pound range, Parker was a tremendous athlete, one of the first interior players who combined power and quickness. He excelled as an offensive lineman, especially at the guard position, and he was one of the best pulling and run blocking offensive linemen the Buckeyes have ever produced. Parker was a two-time All-American at OSU and went on to become an eight-time All-Pro with the Baltimore Colts. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football halls of fame.

2. Warren Amling – A two-time All-America lineman who finished seventh in the 1944 Heisman Trophy balloting, Amling was inducted into the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984. He also played basketball for the Buckeyes and is the only member of the College Football Hall of Fame to start in a Final Four contest.

3. Iolas Huffman – One of the program’s first players to win four varsity letters, Huffman was also versatile. He earned All-America honors as a guard in 1920 and as a tackle in 1921. Huffman was the captain of the undefeated OSU team that made the school’s first Rose Bowl appearance, and in his senior year, he won the Big Ten Medal of Honor as Ohio State’s top scholar-athlete.

4. Lindell Houston – Houston played only two years at Ohio State in a career cut short by World War II, but he packed a lot of excellence into that short time. He was an All-America guard in 1942, the same year the Buckeyes won their first-ever national championship. In Houston’s two seasons, OSU posted a record of 15-2-1. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, Houston played pro football for the Cleveland Browns from 1946-53 and won five world championships. He is the older brother of former OSU tight end Jim Houston.

5. Edwin Hess – One of the Buckeyes’ early stars, Hess earned All-Western Conference and All-America honors at guard during his junior and senior years in 1925 and ’26. A standout both offensively and defensively, he won the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy in 1925, then the nation’s top individual award. Hess was inducted into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985.

6. Jim Lachey – Most Buckeye fans believe Lachey was a dominant offensive lineman during his OSU career. The truth is that he was a starter for only one season – but that season was tremendous. He anchored the line in 1984, paving the way for Keith Byars to rush for 1,764 yards and 22 TDs. Lachey earned All-America honors that year and went on to an all-pro career in the NFL.

7. William Hackett – As a starting guard in 1943 and ’44, Hackett gained the reputation as a superior blocker and strong defender. In 1944, he earned All-America honors while helping lead the undefeated Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship. He later helped Paul Brown organize the Cincinnati Bengals and became a board member for the team. Hackett was inducted into the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

8. Aurealius Thomas – Thomas was better known as a defensive player but he was also a devastating blocker who blew open holes for such star halfbacks as Don Clark and Dick LeBeau. Thomas played an amazing 463 minutes at guard during the Buckeyes’ national championship season of 1957, averaging 52 minutes per game. He earned All-America honors that season as OSU won nine straight games to capture the title. Thomas was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

9. William Bell – Bell was the Jackie Robinson of Ohio State football. When he joined the Buckeyes in 1929, he became the first African-American to play football for the team. Bell was a three-time letterman and earned honorable mention All-America honors while playing guard and usually opening holes for Fesler. Bell went on to serve as a professor and had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

10. Gust Zarnas – A three-sport star at Ohio State, Zarnas earned All-America honors as a guard in 1937 and was voted to play in the 1938 East-West All-Star Game. He also lettered two years in baseball for the Buckeyes and one year in track. Zarnas was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

If you would to see my all-time top 10 Buckeyes at other positions, here are the links:

Top 10 OSU Quarterbacks

Top 10 OSU Running Backs

Top 10 OSU Fullbacks

Top 10 OSU Wide Receivers

Top 10 OSU Tight Ends

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Among those celebrating birthdays today include U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D, N.Y.) is 79; actor Gene Wilder is 76; Seventies TV actor Chad Everett (Dr. Joe Gannon in “Medical Center”) is 73; three-time Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart is 70; Seventies TV actress Adrienne Barbeau (Carol Trainer on “Maude”) is 64; politician and former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros is 62; King Crimson lyricist and Supertramp founding member Richard Palmer-James is 62; former MLB infielder Dave Cash is 61; ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard is 60; 38 Special lead singer Donnie Van Zant is 57; soap actor Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott on “The Young and the Restless”) is 56; Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana is 53; actor Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House on “House”) is 50; 2006 U.S. Open champion golfer Geoff Ogilvy is 32; former Connecticut and current WNBA star Diana Taurasi is 27; New York Mets shortstop José Reyes is 26; and movie heartthrob Shia LeBeouf is 23.

Several well-known people also share this date as the day they passed into history. Among those who died on the 11th of June: conqueror Alexander the Great; Boy Scouts of America founder Daniel Carter Beard; movie icon John Wayne; actor DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the original “Star Trek”); Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh; and legendary TV newsman David Brinkley.

AND FINALLY

** In case you missed it, Phil Steele released his preseason All-Big Ten team last week and named four Ohio State players to the first team – safety Kurt Coleman, cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, offensive lineman Justin Boren and return specialist Ray Small. Steele also named quarterback Terrelle Pryor, safety Anderson Russell, linebacker Ross Homan and defensive end Thaddeus Gibson to his second team while kicker Aaron Pettrey, running back Brandon Saine, center Michael Brewster and receiver DeVier Posey earned third-team selections. Kick returner Lamaar “Flash” Thomas was on the fourth team.

** Last week, the NCAA announced it would suspend membership dues for the next school year, a move the body figures will save a collective $1.3 million. Before you get too excited, however, the plan will save individual schools only between $900 and $1,800. That’s how much annual dues are depending upon which of the NCAA’s three divisions the school participates.

** If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind Father’s Day gift for that Notre Dame dad on your list, I may have something for you. The Fighting Irish are going to upgrade their stadium scoreboards this season and will be auctioning off one of their old scoreboards with Steiner Sports Memorabilia. The scoreboard is 40 feet long and 16¼ feet high, and was installed at Notre Dame Stadium in 1997. So far, the only bid of $1,988 had not met the reserve. In case you’re interested, click here.

** A couple of weeks ago, I jokingly suggested to Cleveland Indians management that it might want to inquire about the services of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. Some joke. The 90-year-old will be the starting pitcher for the Baseball Hall of Fame Classic, set for Father’s Day in Cooperstown, N.Y. Feller, who went 266-162 with a lifetime 3.25 ERA, said, “I’ll be throwing just as hard as ever, but the ball probably won’t be going quite as fast.”

** Tiger Woods seems serious about defending his U.S. Open championship this week at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. On his way home to Florida after winning the Memorial Tournament last weekend, Woods took a side trip to Long Island on Monday morning and played 18 holes on the Black Course with swing coach Hank Haney. After that round, Woods hopped into his private jet and played 18 more holes Monday afternoon on his home course.

** Congratulations to former Ohio State golfer Vaughn Snyder, who advanced to the U.S. Open championship after firing rounds of 67-69 on the South Course at NCR Country Club in Dayton in sectional qualifying Monday. The Massillon, Ohio, native is among the final field of 156 for the Open, which begins June 18.

** For those of you lamenting Nick Montana’s choice to attend Washington instead of Ohio State, remember that the chip off the old block is rarely as good as the original. There are exceptions, of course – Ken Griffey Jr. and Hank Williams Jr. readily come to mind – but there are many more who couldn’t live up to the family name. Let’s just wish Montana well in the Pacific Northwest and move on.

Counting Down OSU’s Toughest ’09 Opponents

Exactly 13 weeks from tomorrow – 91 days to be even more exact – Ohio State will kick off the 2009 football season with a couple of goals in mind.

The Buckeyes will be shooting for their fifth consecutive Big Ten championship, only one off the conference record of six in a row set by OSU between 1972 and ’77. The team will also be shooting for an unprecedented sixth straight victory over archrival Michigan while attempting to extend their string of Bowl Championship Series berths to five in a row.

Those goals are certainly within the Buckeyes’ grasp. So, too, could be other loftier goals such as Terrelle Pryor becoming the third sophomore quarterback in a row to win the Heisman Trophy. There is also the ultimate goal of every team – earning a trip to the BCS National Championship Game. If Ohio State accomplishes that one, it becomes only the second team in BCS history to play in four title games. (Oklahoma is the other one.)

Before any of the aforementioned can occur, however, the Buckeyes have to navigate their way through a 2009 season that features a handful of tough games and more than a couple of gimmes. Here is a breakdown of that schedule in reverse order of difficulty.

12. NEW MEXICO STATE – OCT. 31

The Aggies will be breaking in a new offensive system as well as a new head coach this season. Gone is pass-happy Hal Mumme (Tim Couch’s mentor in the late 1990s at Kentucky) and his successor, DeWayne Walker, has decided to install a run-oriented offense.

That’s not exactly music to the ears of fans because New Mexico State finished 10th in Division I-A last year in passing yards. Even so, the Aggies won only three games last season and were 3-9 overall because of an abysmal running attack that averaged a measly 54.2 yards per game. The defense wasn’t much better – NMSU surrendered an average of 34.1 points per game and that ranked 105th out of 119 I-A schools.

Walker, who was a two-year letterman at Minnesota in 1981-82, will likely begin to get things turned around in Las Cruces but not quickly enough to pull an upset over Ohio State. It is likely to be a scary Halloween night in the Horseshoe for the Aggies.

11. AT INDIANA – OCT. 3

Terry Hoeppner’s death two years ago derailed the Indiana program which seemed to be enjoying a renaissance. Now the Hoosiers appear ready to extend a streak that has produced losing records in 12 of the past 13 seasons.

Head coach Bill Lynch enters the 2009 season with a depleted roster after kicking quarterback Kellen Lewis off the team for multiple team infractions. Lewis was easily the Hoosiers’ best player, but even with him the team was likely to struggle. The schedule-makers didn’t do IU any favors either with road games at Virginia, Iowa and Penn State.

One of the Hoosiers’ marquee games will be a prime-time contest when the Buckeyes travel to Bloomington for the first time since 2005. However, Ohio State is working on a 15-game winning streak in the series, including 6-0 under Jim Tressel. The average score in just those six games is 37-10.

10. NAVY – SEPT. 5

There could be more here than meets the eye, especially since Navy has had the No. 1 rushing offense in the country for two years running. It’s difficult for most teams to defend the triple option since they don’t see it much anymore and certainly don’t practice against it very often.

That will be a little different for the Buckeyes, who have all summer to gear up to stop such an attack. When the Midshipmen cannot run the ball, they simply do not win. In their eight victories last season, they averaged 331.9 yards rushing. In their five defeats, that average dropped to 229.2.

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock has more than his share of critics, and many of them point to last year’s ranking of 18th in the nation against the run. That was the Buckeyes’ worst showing in run defense since ranking 35th in 2004. Still, one would think OSU will be ready to go. After all, the team hasn’t lost a season opener at home since 1978, outscoring the opposition by about three touchdowns over that 26-game span.

9. TOLEDO AT CLEVELAND – SEPT. 19

Don’t be fooled by the fact the Rockets were 3-9 last year and finished tied for last place in the MAC West. Toledo has a returning starter at nearly every position, including quarterback Aaron Opelt and exciting tailback Morgan Williams. Opelt has thrown for 4,807 yards and 30 TDs during his career while Williams burst on the scene last year to rush for 1,010 yards while averaging 6.0 yards per carry.

Former OSU cornerbacks coach Tim Beckman takes over the head coaching position in Toledo this season, his first shot at running a program after serving as an assistant since 1988. If history proves anything, he’s not going to have an easy time of it in this contest. Former Tressel assistants such as Mark Snyder and Mark Dantonio are winless against their old boss since he got to Ohio State.

In addition to Beckman, there are a couple of other intriguing storylines that go along with this game. The Rockets, of course, beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last season, leading the players to believe they can pull a similar upset this year. And the game will be played in Cleveland Browns Stadium, and Toledo needs only to look back to 2002 when Cincinnati nearly upset the Buckeyes in Paul Brown Stadium. Will all of that be enough to become the first Ohio team to beat Ohio State since 1921? Probably not.

8. AT PURDUE (OCT. 17)

Purdue could be the poster child for why it is a bad idea to name a coach-in-waiting. During Joe Tiller’s final season in West Lafayette, the Boilermakers threw up all over themselves (polite way of saying they quit on ol’ Uncle Joe) and finished 4-8 overall. That was only the second losing season for Tiller in a dozen years at Purdue.

Now that bunch of underachievers is new head coach Danny Hope’s problem and he has to find a way to jump-start an offense that tanked in 2008. The bad news is that he has to begin by finding eight new starters on offense. The good news? The guys he had to replace were seemingly going through the motions at times last year, so a fresh start may be good for everyone.

Lost amid Purdue’s season of a year ago was the fact it played Ohio State about as tough as it played anyone in a 16-3 loss in Columbus. But the Boilermakers never seem to have the same fire at home – they have lost seven of their last nine to the Buckeyes in West Lafayette.

7. WISCONSIN – OCT. 10

The Badgers have taken a mighty tumble since Bret Bielema took over as head coach. After Bielema went 12-1 in 2006 as Barry Alvarez’s hand-picked successor, the Badgers slipped to 9-4 in ’07 and just 7-6 last season. That drop-off, along with a rumored penchant for the nightlife in Madison, may make the coach’s seat extremely hot this season if he doesn’t get the ship headed back in the right direction.

Unfortunately for Bielema, the Badgers are not much more than a question mark as they embark on the 2009 season. Job one will be to figure out who the starting quarterback is going to be – fifth-year senior Dustin Scherer or redshirt freshman Curt Phillips. Next, Bielema has to find replacements for five members of the defensive front seven.

Ohio State and Wisconsin have had a spirited rivalry for past decade or so with the teams splitting eight games since 1999. During that span, the Badgers have won three of four in Ohio Stadium, including two of three against Tressel.

6. AT MICHIGAN – NOV. 21

I flip-flopped back and forth with the rankings of the Michigan and Wisconsin games. While how good the Badgers are going to be remains anyone’s guess, it doesn’t seem likely the Wolverines will be much better in Rich Rodriguez’s second year than they were in his first.

There is, however, that little thing about a rivalry that goes back to 1897 – a series during which the perceived weaker team has won more than its fair share of games. Therefore, on sheer sentimentality alone, I put this game at No. 6 although even ranking it that low is testament to how much the Wolverines are expected to struggle again.

By the time the traditional season finale rolls around, the Buckeyes could have an awful lot to play for while their rivals may face the same problems they did last year – keeping enough healthy bodies in the lineup to put up a representative fight.

No one expects Ohio State’s winning streak against Michigan to last forever. There is a reason why the Buckeyes have never before won six straight in the series. That’s because it isn’t easy. Likewise, there is a reason why the Wolverines have a 30-19-4 record in Ann Arbor against OSU. An upset isn’t out of the question, of course. It just isn’t very likely.

5. MINNESOTA – OCT. 24

Call me crazy but I think Minnesota is one of the dark horse teams in the Big Ten this season. Many believe last year’s six-game improvement from 1-11 to 7-5 in the regular season was a fluke. But head coach Tim Brewster has his team believing in his rah-rah style, and the Gophers are about as talented as they have been in quite some time.

For starters, nearly everyone is back for Brewster, including quarterback Adam Weber, wide receiver Eric Decker and eight others on offense. The Gophers are so loaded that talented youngster MarQueis Gray may steal some snaps from Weber. The only problem is finding any kind of consistent running attack, and Brewster said he addressed that with the hiring of new offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch. Not sure how Fisch helps the running game, though. He has spent most of his 11-year career as a receivers coach, including last year with the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

If Fisch can get any kind of running game started to take the heat off Weber and/or Gray, that will leave the defense as the only thing standing between the Gophers and championship contention. For all of its improvement in 2008, Minnesota still ranked only 10th in the conference in total defense. That must improve if the Gophers are to successfully navigate the two-week stretch that takes them to Happy Valley the Saturday before they come to Columbus for the Buckeyes’ homecoming.

4. ILLINOIS – SEPT. 26

The Illini are about as close to Jekyll and Hyde as you’re going to get in the Big Ten. Are they the team that shocked everyone and went to the Rose Bowl in 2007? Or are they the team that stumbled its way to a losing season last year?

Critics are going to say the latter, of course, and use as ammunition the fact that Illinois has posted losing records in six of the last seven seasons. Still, head coach Ron Zook has amassed a lot of talent in Champaign and his team has as many good players at key positions as any other in the conference. That is especially true on offense where Juice Williams returns at quarterback and receiver Rejus Benn is one of the top young playmakers in college football. Williams has to cut down on his mistakes, though. During his career, he has thrown 44 TDs but pitched 37 interceptions.

Defensively, the Illini are a bit of a mystery. With studs like Martez Wilson, who moves to middle linebacker in 2009, the team ought to be one of the Big Ten’s best. Yet last year, it ranked only in the middle of the pack.

There is no doubt Zook – an Ohio native who spent three seasons on John Cooper’s OSU staff from 1988-90 – wants this game desperately. But although his team knocked off the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes in Columbus two years ago, history is not on his side. Tressel is 4-2 against the Illini, and the Buckeyes have won nine of the last 12 in the series. This game is the Big Ten opener for both teams, and Illinois will be coming off an open week.

3. IOWA – NOV. 14

In my humble opinion, the Hawkeyes are going to have a boatload of trouble finding a suitable replacement for tailback Shonn Greene. Not only that, the offensive line that blew open so many holes for Greene last season loses both guard Seth Olsen and center Rob Bruggeman.

Secondly, when was the last time a Kirk Ferentz team threw an actual scare into the Buckeyes? Since 2003, the Hawkeyes have been ranked three times entering their game against Ohio State and lost all three times. Not only that, the games were never really close, including 2006 when No. 13 Iowa was gunning for an upset in Iowa City and took a 38-17 trip to the woodshed.

Since sharing the 2004 Big Ten championship with Michigan, the Hawkeyes have perhaps been as disappointing as any other team in the conference. The past four seasons have produced a middling 28-22 record along with a litany of off-the-field problems for Ferentz and his program.

Having noted all of that, the Hawkeyes couldn’t be in a better spot schedule-wise despite not having tasted victory at Ohio Stadium since 1991. They come to Columbus after a two-week home stand with Indiana and Northwestern while the Buckeyes will be coming off a trip to Penn State.

2. AT PENN STATE – NOV. 7

In each of the past two years, Ohio State has lost a Big Ten home game it should have won. Two years ago, Williams led Illinois to a 28-21 victory. Last year, it was Darryl Clark, who came through for Penn State while leading his team to a 13-6 win. Williams couldn’t capture lightning in a bottle two years in a row, and now Clark gets to try. It won’t be easy since the Nittany Lions lost several offensive linemen and receivers to graduation and the NFL.

But the old master still has a thing or two up his sleeve. Joe Paterno would rather play defense anyway, and with a linebacking crew that features Josh Hull, Navarro Bowman and Sean Lee, the Lions should be nasty on D. Also, Clark has enough holdovers from last year – including 1,000-yard rusher Evan Royster and steady backup Stephfon Green – that Penn State should score enough.

A trip to Happy Valley is never a picnic although Tressel’s record is 2-2 there. A couple of other factors may tilt in Ohio State’s favor. First, the game will not be a nighttime affair, making the Beaver Stadium crazies just a little less so. Secondly, if Terrelle Pryor has any game circled on his calendar, it’s this one. His late fumble did the Buckeyes in last year and he knows it. I would guess the OSU quarterback has a little payback in mind.

1. USC – SEPT. 12

No surprise here. The Traveling Trojan Show starring Pistol Pete Carroll rolls into town in week two for another prime-time game that nearly no one gives Ohio State a chance to win. That stands to reason since every remaining member of the Buckeyes still has 35-3 tread marks on their backsides.

This will be a different USC team, of course. Gone are quarterback Mark Sanchez as well as linebacker Rey Maualuga and seven other defensive starters. But if the old saying “We’re don’t rebuild; we reload” is true of any college team, it is true of the Trojans. Carroll signs more five-star prospects than almost anyone and has plenty of them left over for 2009.

For the Buckeyes to entertain any thought of winning this game, they will have to figure out a way to move the ball consistently against USC. Last year, in case you have forgotten, Ohio State totaled 207 yards of offense against the Trojans – 69 of it on a 17-play drive early in the first quarter. In the second half, the Buckeyes were absolutely pathetic – 21 plays from scrimmage, 25 total yards.

Pryor could make the difference, of course. He played in last year’s game, rushing for 40 yards and throwing for 52 on 7-for-9 passing. But he can’t be the only Buckeye who’s on his game Sept. 12. It doesn’t matter who USC has on defense – if the offensive line can’t at least neutralize the line of scrimmage, Ohio State will be in for another long night.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that NCAA Bylaw 13.10.5 prevents universities from “publicizing an athlete’s visit or allowing the visitor to “participate in team activities that would make the public or media aware of the prospective student-athlete’s visit to the institution (e.g., running out of the tunnel with team, celebratory walks to or around the stadium/arena, on-field pregame celebrations).”

Did you know that Auburn had its “Big Cat Weekend” last week during which the Tigers hosted a bunch of blue-chip prospects on unofficial visits, and that the event was advertised on all three major websites that cover Auburn with push-pinned message board posts urging fans to attend? (The posts did not attribute the information to coaches or other Auburn staff members, but many fans showed up for what was clearly a planned event with Auburn police providing crowd and traffic control and school mascot Aubie helping lead cheers.

And did you know that when ESPN college football writer Bruce Feldman contacted a college administrator about the incident, he got a strange reaction?

“That is one of the biggest problems I have with the NCAA,” the administrator told Feldman. “All of the prospects enjoyed it, and they leave the campus having a great time. Auburn will report a secondary violation, which is nothing. In the end they will probably get some of those players.”

And then he added, “(The NCAA) should put in a rule that if you have multiple reported violations with a prospect you are not allowed to recruit him.”

The NCAA rule book is 412 pages thick and that’s not in there?

HAPPY! HAPPY!

On that happy note, we mark today’s Buckeye birthday which belongs to former OSU defensive end Vernon Gholston. He turns 23 today.

Gholston was born June 5, 1986, in Detroit, and was recruited as a linebacker out of Cass Technical. It didn’t take long for Ohio State to move the chiseled 6-4, 260-pounder to a defensive end spot and Gholston flourished there, setting a single-season school record with 14 sacks and earning Big Ten defensive lineman of the year honors. He opted to skip his final year of college eligibility and the New York Jets took him with the sixth overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft. Gholston experienced a tough rookie season with the Jets, playing mostly on special teams and registering only nine tackles in 15 games (eight of them assists). Gholston is expecting bigger and better things in 2009 under the schemes of new head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Also, Gholston has been working during the offseason with Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Evidently, so far so good.

Other luminaries celebrating birthdays this 5th day of June: Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Art Donovan is 84; journalist Bill Moyers is 75; Sixties television actress Connie Hines (Wilbur Post’s wife, Carol, on “Mister Ed”) is 73; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is 68; novelist Ken Follett is 60; financial advisor Suze Orman is 58; Grammy winning musician Kenneth Gorelick (better known as Kenny G) is 53; singer/songwriter Brian McKnight is 40; actor/singer Mark Wahlberg is 38; Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Torry Holt is 33; Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz is 30; Ottawa Senators center Mike Fisher is 29; Cincinnati Reds lefthander Bill Bray is 26; and New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston is 26.

Also sharing birthdays today are Olympic gold medal sprinter Tommie Smith, who is 65, and bronze medalist John Carlos, who is 64. Smith and Carlos created a stir during the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City after placing first and third in the 200-meter finals. On the medal stand, Smith and Carlos bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists during the playing of the national anthem. The “Power to the People” salute created a great deal of controversy in 1968 and led to the sprinters being suspended by the International Olympic Committee and ostracized for several years by the U.S. sports establishment.

The runners landed on their feet, however. Smith played three years in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and later became track coach at Oberlin. More recently, he has been a faculty member at Santa Monica College, a two-year community college in Santa Monica, Calif. Carlos also played pro football – one year in the NFL and two in the Canadian league – and is currently a high school track coach in Palm Springs, Calif. Ironically, Carlos worked for a time for the U.S. Olympic Committee and was a member of the organizing committee for the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

AND FINALLY

** Here’s an interesting little nugget that could conspire to keep Ohio State and any other deserving Big Ten school out of the Rose Bowl for the foreseeable future. There is reportedly a clause in the new BCS contract with ESPN – which will begin after the 2010 regular season – that says if the Rose Bowl loses one of its champions to the BCS National Championship Game that opening will be automatically filled by a “coalition” (non-BCS conference) team if one has qualified. For example, let’s say some year that an 11-1 Ohio State team ties for the Big Ten championship but doesn’t get the conference’s automatic berth in the Rose Bowl. Let’s say that same year that a team like Boise State or Hawaii goes undefeated. If that team doesn’t get into the national title game (and what are the chances of that?) it would automatically go to the Rose. The new clause is the Bowl Championship Series’ sneaky little way of increasing access of the five coalition conferences to its games. That way, should the BCS get sued and hauled back before Congress, it is another way it can counter the claim that the coalition schools don’t have enough access.

** Minnesota plans to dedicate its new TCF Stadium in style by honoring some of its greats from the past during the Sept. 12 opener against Air Force. The Gophers will honor former head coach Murray Warmath as well as former players Bobby Bell, Billy Bye, Bob McNamara, Sandy Stephens and Bud Grant (yes, that Bud Grant). Warmath, who is 96 and directed the school’s national championship team in 1960, will be the honorary coach for the game. The five ex-players have been named honorary captains.

** It seems that everyone’s favorite sideline reporter, sugary-sweet Erin Andrews, has a burning desire to compete on “Dancing With The Stars.” That revelation came during a recent Q&A with Washington Post writer Dan Steinberg.

** One of the other nuggets in the story reveals that Andrews’ stylists is Paige Geran, who has also dressed Britney Spears, Wayne Brady, the Spice Girls and American Idols on-tour among many others. Andrews said her work clothes arrive at the hotels where she’s staying and that she trusts they’ll be appropriate to the sporting event she’s covering. She’s wrong. They’re not. A short skirt during a windy Home Run Derby? Skin-tight pants and knee-high boots at the Big Ten basketball tournament? I like a pretty girl as much as the next red-blooded American guy, and there is no questioning Andrews’ attractiveness. But I’ve seen her at some venues where she looks like she’s dressed to go clubbing. That may be easy on the eyes of the spectators and players, but trust me when I tell you it is not appropriate work attire. Erin is fairly good at what she does, but she’s never going to be taken seriously if she continues to show up for work looking like she’s on her way to a night on the town.

** The Washington Nationals on Tuesday fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire. Not that St. Claire was the sole problem, but he was a convenient scapegoat. At the time of his firing, the Natties had an MLB-worst 13-36 record with a bloated 5.69 team ERA. They had also allowed the most runs (308) and recorded the fewest saves (eight) of any team in baseball. Washington’s 12 blown saves were also a league high.

** Also, Nationals outfielder Adam Dunn had 16 home runs through Wednesday while the Nationals had only 14 victories. In case you’re wondering, no player has ever finished the season with more home runs than his team had victories.

Ohio State Post-Spring Analysis: Defense

Yesterday we took a position-by-position look at the Ohio State offense after spring practice. Today, we’ll do the same to the defensive unit, which lost stars such as cornerback Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker James Laurinaitis to NFL.

We’ll also take a look at the OSU special teams in light of the graduation losses of kicker Ryan Pretorius and punter A.J. Trapasso.

Defensive End – To say the Buckeyes have an embarrassment of riches at this position would be an understatement. While most defensive line coaches would kill for one good defensive end, Jim Heacock could have as many as a half-dozen.

Start with Thaddeus Gibson, who looks to be poised for a breakout season in 2009. The 6-2, 240-pounder is a throwback to the snarling, glowering defensive end of yesterday that lived to make the opposing quarterback’s life miserable. It may have been an indictment of Ohio State’s reworked offensive line, but Gibson typically had his way most of the time this spring with a variety of bull rushes, swim moves, head slaps and inside weaves.

Behind Gibson at the rush end spot is sophomore Nathan Williams, who showed his talents this spring like he did last fall – in quick bursts. The 6-3, 245-pounder fought through a hamstring injury during the middle part of camp, but he is the type of player who has a real feel for the game and loves to explode through the ball-carrier with his tightly wound frame.

And if Gibson and Williams aren’t enough, the Buckeyes found another rush end this spring in sophomore Solomon Thomas. You know the old saying about the light coming on? The light came on for Thomas and he exploded during the April 18 jersey scrimmage with an amazing seven sacks. Then, just to prove that wasn’t a fluke, the 6-5, 240-pounder got another one in the spring game, throwing quarterback Joe Bauserman for a 17-yard loss.

On the other side, Cameron Heyward seemed a lot more comfortable this spring. After an excellent freshman campaign in 2007, Heyward leveled off a little last year. Now, he looks to be poised for a breakout season of his own. The 6-6, 287-pounder also exhibited a little bit of swagger, squaring off against sophomore offensive tackle Mike Adams during one particular spring afternoon and repeatedly getting under Adams’ skin. The constant needling resulted in a pair of dust-ups between the two, but there was no doubt Heyward was getting the better of his offensive teammate. If he can be as disruptive to the opposition this fall, the Buckeyes will be in very good shape.

Behind Heyward is a trio of players long on potential. Unfortunately, the jury is out on Rob Rose, Lawrence Wilson and Keith Wells.

Rose is a senior and was ready to contend with Heyward for the starting position before a knee injury early in camp slowed him. He returned to contact drills later in the spring but was clearly slowed by the injury. Rose is no stranger to injuries, but he has to come back in the fall ready to play for the Buckeyes to take full advantage of their depth at the defensive end position.

Likewise, Wilson remains a question mark. When he is healthy, the 6-4, 275-pounder has shown flashes of greatness. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been healthy for the past two years. Wilson broke his leg in the opening game of the 2007 season, and then blew out a knee against Purdue last year and missed the final six games. Wilson has the ability and the mentality to be one of Ohio State’s defensive leaders this season, but two major rehabs in as many seasons? It’s asking a lot for him to return and be anything near 100 percent.

Should neither Rose nor Wilson be full-go, the spotlight could fall to Wells. But the 6-5, 210-pound sophomore is no stranger to injury, either. He appeared in only three games during an injury-marred freshman season, and then missed all of spring camp with a shoulder problem.

Defensive Tackle – For the past couple of seasons, interior defensive line players seemed content to simply plug holes and let their teammates pad their tackle stats. That mentality may be over. There were few more vocal players this spring than Doug Worthington, who in his fifth year in the program may be finally assuming a leadership role.

The 6-6, 276-pounder has always been a bit of a tweener – not really athletic enough to play defensive end and not fully given to playing inside. No more. Worthington looks like he has finally embraced the fact that he is a defensive tackle and that bodes well for the Buckeyes. He has always cut an imposing figure and now seems to have the mentality for the position.

The other tackle spot will feature a battle between Dexter Larimore and Todd Denlinger. I like what each player brings to the table but I’ll admit to some disappointment that neither has reached his potential.

Larimore is a thick, 300-pound former wrestling champion, and wrestlers usually make excellent linemen because they understand how to gain advantages with leverage. Yet Larimore had only 15 tackles last season after getting 16 the year before. The good news is that he has 9.0 tackles for loss, including four sacks, among his 31 career stops. I just think he should have more than 31 tackles at this point in his career.

Denlinger has been held back because of a number of injuries. He has averaged 11 games per season during his three-year career, but the kinds of injuries he has sustained have sapped his natural ability and he has only 24 career tackles. I would have expected three times that many by now. Again some good news: Denlinger appeared 100 percent this spring, so much so that the coaching staff used him some as a blocking tight end. You wouldn’t think they would risk a fifth-year senior doing that if they weren’t convinced he was healthy.

The Buckeyes like to rotate their tackles and that means redshirt freshmen like Garrett Goebel and Willie Mobley may get the opportunity for playing time this fall. Goebel came into the spring with the promise of challenging for a starting job, but Mobley turned several heads with spirited play that included a four-tackle, one-sack performance in the spring game.

Linebacker – Losing players the caliber of Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman is a daunting task, but the Buckeyes have recruited so well the past couple of years, the transition may be more seamless than you think.

First of all, while Heacock continues to refer to the 4-3 alignment as his base defense, the argument could be made the Buckeyes feature many more looks more often than the 4-3. For that reason, it’s an exercise in futility to try and guess the linebacker rotation that will be utilized in the fall. Nevertheless, when the 4-3 is the featured package, the starters – based on what transpired during the spring – will likely be Austin Spitler in the middle flanked by Ross Homan and Brian Rolle.

Spitler has been groomed as Laurinaitis’ replacement in the middle for the past several seasons, and while he isn’t the flashiest player on the field, the 6-3, 234-pound senior has excellent instincts and a lunch-bucket mentality that serves him well. You don’t notice Spitler much when he’s on the field, but he does everything well and has full confidence of the coaching staff to make the defensive calls. Probably his only drawback is trying to be too technical rather than letting the game flow to him.

Homan is as steady as they come on the weak side although you would like to see what he could do without some sort of nagging injury. Like Spitler, Homan is not flashy. He simply gets the job done, especially against the run. If it’s flash you want, Rolle would be more to your liking. He made his first impact as a bone-jarring tackler on special teams, and if he can transfer that mentality to the defense, the Buckeyes will have themselves as excellent replacement for Freeman. What I like best about Rolle is that he is always in attack mode. If there was a knock on Freeman, he was more a read-and-react type player and sometimes had to make the tackle from behind. Rolle seems better at sticking his nose into the pile and keeping the ball-carrier in front of him.

You sometimes needed a scorecard to keep track of the linebackers this spring, and for that reason pinning down a specific rotation remains difficult. Etienne Sabino started out playing in the middle and outside, but near the end of spring camp, the coaching staff tried to simplify things for the 6-3, 232-pound sophomore and he was used exclusively in the middle. It would seem to be Spitler, Sabino and highly regarded freshman Storm Klein at the Mike position.

Homan will be on the weak side and Rolle on the strong side when OSU features a straight-up alignment, but Rolle can also play the weak side. Sophomore Andrew Sweat also got significant reps this spring. True freshman Zach Boren was injured all spring, so it’s impossible to tell where he fits into the mix.

Of course, there will be times when the Buckeyes feature alignments with only two linebackers, sets with the so-called Leo linebacker when Gibson, Williams or Thomas drop back off the line of scrimmage or a crowded look that features the so-called star position featuring either Tyler Moeller (considered a linebacker) or Jermale Hines (known primarily as a safety). All of the different looks are designed for two reasons: to keep the opposition off-balance and maximize Ohio State’s talent by getting the best players on the field at the same time.

For all of the flak Heacock gets, he must be doing something right. Since he took over as defensive coordinator before the 2005 season, OSU has finished no lower than sixth nationally in scoring defense.

Star – Plenty of players had breakout springs, but none played better and more consistently than Moeller. Ever since he was named the state’s defensive player of the year at Cincinnati Colerain in 2005, I’ve been trying to figure out how a guy who is listed (and generously so) at 6-0 and 216 pounds can be a bona fide force at Ohio State. I still haven’t figured it out. He just is.

Moeller is one of those guys who just have a knack for knowing where the football is going to be. He seems extremely instinctive for being in the right place at the right time, and that ability showed up time and time again during spring practice. A week before the spring game, Moeller had 11 tackles in the jersey scrimmage. Then he had a Scarlet team-leading eight tackles that included two for loss and one sack in the spring game.

Moeller’s excellent performances were tempered somewhat by the fact that Hines did not have the same kind of spring. In Hines’ defense, he was nicked up a little bit and the OSU coaching staff still believes the 6-2, 210-pound junior is a defensive star-in-waiting. He can no longer rest on his athletic potential, however, if he wants to continue to get reps at the star position. Moeller has seen to that.

Free Safety – Normally when you have returning starters, fans tend to look upon that as a good thing. Some in the Buckeye Nation, however, have turned ugly on Anderson Russell especially after his ill-advised try for an interception at the end of the Fiesta Bowl resulted in the winning touchdown for Texas.

Despite that fact, Russell remains the starting free safety and it appears doubtful anyone will take that position from him in the fall. Personally, I don’t think Russell is the same player he was before a major knee injury in 2006. Still, he doesn’t get the credit he is due for being a pretty decent free safety. All he did last year was register 67 tackles (tied for fourth on the team) and snag a pair of interceptions (tied for third on the team).

I still like Russell in run support but am like almost everyone else in believing he is average at best in pass coverage. Nothing I saw this spring changed my mind on those two areas. Opposing teams are going to throw at Russell – a lot – this fall and the one area where he could really help himself is catching the ball. He has dropped at least a half-dozen potential interceptions over the past couple of seasons.

As much as the coaching staff likes Russell, it was eager to see if Aaron Gant could put any heat on the incumbent starter this spring. Unfortunately, the impact Gant had hoped to make as he prepares to enter his senior season never happened. He suffered an injury and was overshadowed by redshirt freshman Orhian Johnson, who appeared to have a breakout spring. Johnson made several outstanding plays while toiling on the second-team defense, and he made them despite missing some action with a sometimes-balky hamstring.

Sharing time with Johnson at the free safety spot was sophomore Rocco Pentello, who also had a steady spring. Pentello will likely see most of his action on special teams, though, and his big moment came when he returned a botched field goal snap for a touchdown during the next-to-last week of spring ball.

True freshman Jamie Wood’s first spring as a Buckeye was interrupted by an injury sustained early in camp. Wood returned for the final week of practice, and even chipped in with a solo tackle for the victorious Gray team in the spring game. He will get more of a chance to show what he can do this fall.

Strong Safety – Kurt Coleman will continue to patrol the strong safety position, and he is one of the leading candidates for defensive captain. Perhaps the best thing about Coleman is his work ethic. Each year he has been in the program, he has gotten a little bit better. That is because he does the work he needs to do in the weight room and the film room. There is no coincidence that he has set career-best marks each season he has been a Buckeye, topped off by last year’s 78 tackles (third on the team behind Laurinaitis and Freeman) and a team-leading four interceptions.

If I have one overall knock on Russell (6-0, 205) and Coleman (5-11, 188) it would be their relative lack of size. The Buckeyes need to be especially wary of teams with agile tight ends and big, fast slot receivers.

Should Ohio State want to show a bigger look, it has to look no further than Hines, who spent some time at the strong safety position when Coleman was nursing a minor injury. There had been some pre-spring talk of Coleman possibly moving to a cornerback spot, which would open the strong safety position but that never materialized.

Aaron Gant had hoped to make an impact this spring as he prepares to enter his senior season. But he suffered an injury (reportedly a knee that will have to be scoped) and was overshadowed by redshirt freshman Orhian Johnson, who appeared to have a breakout spring. Johnson made several outstanding plays while toiling on the second-team defense, and he made them despite missing some action with a sometimes-balky hamstring.

Also in the mix at strong safety is Zach Domicone, another redshirt freshman. The 6-3, 215-pound Domicone has the distinction of being the Buckeyes’ biggest defensive back, and he surprised some people this spring by getting some first-team reps. Meanwhile, sophomore Nate Oliver got shuffled back, missing most of the spring with an arm/shoulder injury.

Cornerback – Going to sleep on Taurian Washington’s long touchdown reception notwithstanding, Chimdi Chekwa has the makings of a really, really good cornerback. It’s kind of funny that we don’t think of Chekwa as a returning starter, but he started in place of Donald Washington at the beginning of last season and never relinquished the spot.

As a result, Chekwa gave Jenkins a run for the unofficial title of team’s best cover man. The coaching staff has never been reluctant to put Chekwa on an island in man coverage, and he has 15 pass deflections over the past two years while 50 of his 55 career tackles have been solos.

The staff wants Chekwa to be more aware of run support and improvement in that area was one of his spring goals. He will have to continue to work on balancing run support and pass coverage – sucked in by play action was why he was beaten so badly by Washington in the spring game. Still, Chekwa was steady all spring as well and I have no doubt he will continue to draw the opposition’s top receiver in the fall.

On the other side, with the unenviable task of trying to replace Jenkins, will be either Andre Amos or Devon Torrence. Amos may have nosed ahead by the slightest of edges after an excellent spring, and there is no doubt he has an advantage because he is a senior. But the coaching staff cannot afford the luxury of counting on Amos in the fall. The 6-1, 183-pounder has not been able to stay on the field, and brittle knees have limited him to only eight games over the past two seasons.

Make no mistake: Amos has the tools and physical gifts to play corner and play it well. But with his history of injuries, the coaching staff simply must hedge its bet and keep the position battle open with Torrence, who proved again this spring that he can cover just about any receiver step for step.

If Amos remains healthy and secures the starting nod, look for Torrence to be the No. 1 backup at both corner positions as well as play a prominent role in the Buckeyes’ nickel and dime packages.

The Amos-Torrence battle also involved redshirt freshman Travis Howard at the beginning of the spring, but Howard was shuffled back. That is no knock against his ability – simply that Amos and Torrence have seniority. Howard is expected to begin making a contribution to the Buckeyes this fall on special teams.

One of the most pleasant surprises this spring was the play of sophomore Donnie Evege, who has been plagued by injury for most of the two years he has been a Buckeye. He has a lot of catching up to do depth chart-wise, but Evege had a handful of standout moments this spring.

The Buckeyes also appear to have a good, young prospect in freshman C.J. Barnett. The 6-0, 185-pounder needs to pack a few pounds onto his frame, and there were times when he was out of position. But for the most part, Barnett held up well and made his share of plays during the spring.

One of the deficiencies at corner is the same one that plagues the safeties – relative lack of size. Of the players expected to start, Amos is the tallest at 6-1 while Russell in the only one who tips the scales at more than 200 pounds. That could mean some position jockeying to ensure the 6-2, 210-pound Hines gets into the lineup as much as possible.

Special Teams – I call it the “Nooge Factor,” but I was never quite comfortable with Pretorius as the Buckeyes’ placekicker. I had nothing whatsoever against Ryan, who was always more than accommodating to the media and generally pleasant to be around. It’s just that when you are asked to follow Mike Nugent, the most prolific kicker in program history – well, let’s just say Nooge was a tough act to follow.

Pretorius did well enough, leading OSU in scoring in both 2007 and 2008, and he converted 34 of 44 field goals and 88 of 90 PATs during his career. His lifetime field-goal percentage of 77.3 ranks second only to Nugent (72 of 88, 81.8) and his PAT percentage of 97.9 is tied with Nugent for fourth all-time. Tim Williams (1990-93) holds that record (143 of 145, 98.6).

Now, the duties fall to senior Aaron Pettrey, who has been handling kickoffs the past couple of seasons. Pettrey has a huge leg – perhaps stronger than Nugent – but he suffers fits of inconsistency. He will boot a kickoff well out of the back of the end zone, and then follow that with a knuckleball that doesn’t even get to the goal line. He had only 13 touchbacks among 74 kickoffs last season, and that just doesn’t seem nearly enough for a guy whose leg is as strong as Pettrey’s.

Field goals were another matter. Pettrey was 7 for 8 on three-pointers last fall, including a perfect 4 for 4 from 40 to 49 yards and 2 for 3 from 50 yards and out. Did you know Pettrey has four career three-pointers from 50 or more, and that is tied for second in Ohio State history? (Nugent is the all-time leader with eight.)

The only problem I see with such a strong-legged kicker is that Tressel may choose to get conservative when his team gets into scoring position. Knowing you have a kicker who is consistent from 50 yards is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is a tremendous weapon for sputtering offenses. On the other, it may sometimes prevent a coach from going for six points when he feels he already has three in the bank.

In the punting department, the Buckeyes will miss the services of Trapasso. He was never flashy but remarkably consistent, a facet that bears out in his yearly averages over the course of a four-year career – 40.4 yards per punt in 2005, 40.6 in 2006, 41.5 in ’07 and 41.2 last year.

This spring was supposed to produce a position battle between fifth-year senior Jon Thoma and redshirt freshman Ben Buchanan, but it appeared the job was Thoma’s to lose as spring ball began. The good news is that the former walk-on did everything asked of him to hold onto the job. Thoma averaged 41.7 yards on seven kicks in the April 18 jersey scrimmage and came back a week later to average 40.7 yards on three attempts in the spring game.

One other thing about Thoma: Like Nugent, he is an excellent all-around athlete. He played four years of soccer and baseball in high school, and was also a member of the swimming and track teams. One afternoon during spring practice, Thoma was fooling around with the other specialists and showcased a strong throwing arm – 40 yards on the dead run. If Tressel ever wants to gamble with a fake punt, Thoma would seem to be ready, willing and able to pull off any variety of trick plays.

In addition to his punting duties, Thoma will also serve as Pettrey’s holder on field goals and PATs. Jake McQuaide is the long snapper, giving the Buckeyes three former walk-ons as their principal specialists in the kicking game. (You may insert here whatever recruiting criticism you deem necessary for that anomaly.)

Kickoff returns will be the primary purvey of Lamaar Thomas, who quietly led the Buckeyes in that department last season. Unfortunately for Thomas, he never got to showcase the reason why teammates called him “Flash” because OSU seldom gets much out of their kickoff return game. Thomas averaged a paltry 21.6 yards on 16 returns while the Buckeyes averaged 19.2 yards as a team. That was next-to-last in the Big Ten, 108th nationally out of 119 Division I-A schools, and borderline criminal for a team that has so many speedsters like Thomas, Torrence and freshman James Jackson. I’m just not so sure it’s going to get any better in 2009. Between the Scarlet and Gray squads in the spring game, the average of 17.4 yards on five kickoff returns.

Punt returns will likely be a different story. Ray Small led the Big Ten last season in punt return average, and that included a 69-yard return for a touchdown against Ohio and an 80-yard return against Michigan. How good was Small last season returning punts? Throw out those two big returns and his average was still 9.8 yards per return, good enough to have ranked fourth in the Big Ten.

Best of all, the Buckeyes may revisit the strategy of dropping two return men on punts the way they did in 2006 when Anthony Gonzalez provided protection against kicking away from Ted Ginn Jr. Sophomore receiver DeVier Posey fielded plenty of punts during spring practice drills and could team with Small to present a formidable one-two return punch this fall.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Today’s Buckeye birthday belongs to former Ohio State receiver and track athlete Chris Sanders, who turns 36 today.

Christopher Dwayne Sanders was born May 8, 1972, in Denver, and he excelled in a number of sports at Montebello High School in his hometown. He was a two-sport star at Ohio State, excelling in football and track. Sanders, nicknamed “Tippy Toes” because of the way he ran, was a three-year starter at flanker for the football Buckeyes, and finished his career with 71 receptions for 1,120 yards. In track, he was a member of the 4×100 championship relay team and also set an indoor school record of 26-9¾ in the long jump. That mark, set in February 1992, still stands. Sanders, who was named Ohio State’s athlete of the year in 1994, was selected by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the 1995 NFL draft and played two seasons with the Oilers and five more when the team moved to Tennessee. He appeared in 97 games during his career, making 54 starts, and finished with 177 receptions for 3,285 yards (18.6 yards per catch) and 17 touchdowns. After his NFL career ended, Sanders settled in the Nashville area and became a high school coach. He is currently the receivers coach and head swimming coach at Montgomery Bell Academy, an all-male private school in Nashville.

Other luminaries observing birthdays this 8th day of May: comedian Don Rickles is 83; JFK adviser, counsel and speechwriter Ted Sorensen is 81; novelist and short story writer Thomas Pynchon is 72; former MLB pitcher Mike Cuellar is also 72; Seventies pop singer Toni Tennille (one half of Captain & Tennille) is 69; pop singer Gary Glitter (born Paul Francis Gadd and best known for the stadium anthem “Rock and Roll, Part 2”) is 65; jazz icon Keith Jarrett is 64; Earth, Wind & Fire vocalist Philip Bailey, New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni and Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz are all 58; Van Halen drummer Alex Van Halen is 56; former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher is 52; Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith is 51; NFL Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott is 50; actress Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie”) is 45; NASCAR driver Bobby Labonte is 45; pop singer Enrique Iglesias is 34; New York Mets pitcher John Maine is 28; San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is 27; and Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones is 22.

Today also would have been Ohio State offensive lineman Korey Stringer’s 35th birthday.

AND FINALLY

** California’s Memorial Stadium in Berkeley is undergoing some temporary seismic improvements to guard against potential major earthquake damage. That’s comforting news especially for Ohio State football fans. The Buckeyes are scheduled to visit Cal in 2013.

** Forgive a little Ohio State bias here, but why did it take 22 years for Chris Spielman to make it to the College Football Hall of Fame and only 17 for Gino Torretta? Doesn’t everyone know that Spielman is one of the most underrated linebackers ever to play the game while Torretta is quite possibly the weakest Heisman Trophy winner ever?

** Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio is taking a page from mentor Jim Tressel’s book by scheduling some marquee names for upcoming series. The Spartans will take on West Virginia in a home-and-home series beginning in 2014, and have penciled in Alabama for a home-and-home in 2016 and ’17.

** Our old buddy Trev Alberts has a new job. The former Nebraska All-American and ex-ESPN analyst was been named athletic director at Nebraska-Omaha.

** The University of Washington recently announced it was cutting its men’s and women’s swimming programs, a cost-cutting move that will save the school an estimated $1.2 million per year. U-Dub still has to cut $1.6 million more from its athletic budget, according to university officials. This from the same school that just ate $1 million to buy out fired head coach Tyrone Willingham’s contract before giving new coach Steve Sarkisian a five-year deal worth $10 million plus incentives.

** There is no doubting Tiger Woods as the No. 1 drawing card in professional golf. But someone at ESPN is going to have to temper the network’s constant drum-beating of Woods every time he tees it up. Yesterday during the first round of The Players Championship, a headline at ESPN.com read, “Tigers Lurks At Players.” A quick check of the leader board at that time found Woods finished with his round and in a tie for 29th place at 1-under par, five shots behind the co-leaders. He finished six shots behind first-round leader Ben Curtis. I don’t believe that qualified as “lurking.” Woods is unquestionably the best golfer in the world right now, and whenever he beats Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships, he will have earned the right to be called the greatest of all time. If Tiger is in contention, that’s great. I know that’s good for the game. But when he’s not in contention, he should be treated as such. I’m tired of watching 18-hole coverage of an also-ran at the expense of guys who actually have a chance to win the tournament.

** According to Playboy magazine, there are five schools in the Big Ten on its list of the Top Party Schools for 2009. Ohio State isn’t one of them. Wisconsin is No. 6 followed by Iowa at No. 9, Penn State at No. 13, Michigan State at No. 19 and Indiana at No. 24. Even Ohio University made the list at No. 18, most notably for its annual Halloween blowout. The top party school on the list? Miami (Fla.) because of its proximity to South Beach and “hard-bodied coeds laying out on the campus lake between classes.” Here is the entire top 25.

Ohio State Football Post-Spring Analysis: Offense

Ohio State spring football practice is less than two weeks in the rearview mirror but the analysis continues regarding the 15 days of drills through which Jim Tressel put his Buckeyes. Thanks to Tressel’s decision to open the doors to practice, it was much, much easier to formulate opinions on position battles and exactly which players were doing well and which ones weren’t.

Let’s concentrate first on the offense.

Quarterback – The obvious questions were about Terrelle Pryor and whether he had improved upon his throwing mechanics. The simple answer is yes.

Evidently true were the reports we heard about all of the time Pryor spent over the winter in the film room, studying his mechanics and then working to correct any flaws. He has developed a rapport with assistant quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano – and vice versa – and the results were all full display for most of the spring.

Pryor still needs some work keeping his weight on his back foot when he throws, but he did a much better job of that in the spring game. Additionally, he has learned to hold the ball higher, making his release that much quicker. His release point is also a little higher to take more advantage of his 6-6 frame.

Arm strength is not and never has been a problem. Anyone who says anything to the contrary simply doesn’t what he’s talking about. Still, the kid – and we sometimes forget that’s what he is – has heard the criticisms and tried his best to dispel them this spring. Pryor made every throw in the book in a variety of conditions – indoors, outdoors, with the wind, against the wind, in the pocket, on the run, moving to his left and moving to his right. He has thrown so much over the past couple of months that he experienced a brief bout of tendonitis midway through spring camp but bounced back quickly.

As far as the spring game was concerned, it’s difficult to believe how Pryor could have been much better. The timing was a hair off on his high-arcing touchdown throw to Taurian Washington, but Washington made such a good move to free himself in the end zone that all that mattered was that Pryor was on target with the football.

There is no dispute that the touchdown pass to Ray Small late in the second quarter was a thing of beauty on both ends. Pryor stepped into a frozen rope into a gusting wind that traveled 25 yards and split the receiver between the 8 and the 2 on his jersey. Small did the rest.

Pryor has dedicated himself to improvement in his throwing, and if he makes as much progress between now and fall camp as he did between the end of the Fiesta Bowl and spring ball, there should be absolutely no complaints. Couple his improved throwing with his unquestionable running skills and Pryor has the makings of a truly remarkable player.

Joe Bauserman had a productive spring as well, solidifying his status as Pryor’s backup. Bauserman has a strong, accurate arm, and thanks to all those years as a minor league pitcher, probably has the quickest release on the team.

He struggled a bit during the spring game, completing only 10 of 21 passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. That paled in comparison to last year’s spring contest when some fans got overly excited about Bauserman’s line of 7 for 14 for 125 yards and a touchdown.

Bauserman is a good, solid backup but let’s face facts: Tressel is going to build his entire offensive attack around Pryor and if something happens to him, it would be back to square one for the Buckeyes. Bauserman is capable but he’s not Pryor.

The third-team quarterback this spring was walk-on Justin Siems, who hails from Providence High School in Charlotte, N.C. He displayed a strong arm and a willingness to learn, while weaknesses appeared to be some happy feet in the pocket and a long windup before letting the ball go. Siems played in a pro-style offense in high school, and then after getting only lukewarm interest from colleges, enrolled at N.C. Tech Preparatory Christian Academy. Last season, he led Tech to a 14-2 record while completing 83 of 130 attempts (63.8 percent) for 1,604 yards and 14 TDs against only two interceptions.

Siems seems much more comfortable in the pocket than he does on the run, but he has a nice arm and seems to have a good deal of upside. This fall, he’ll be in competition with incoming freshman Kenny Guiton to run the scout team.

Running Back – I will admit that I had my doubts about Boom Herron becoming an every-down tailback in the Big Ten. He is only 5-10 and 193 pounds – almost exactly the same size as Maurice Wells, who struggled throughout his entire OSU career when asked to run between the tackles. Guys that size can have success in the Big Ten (think Mike Hart of Michigan, who played at 5-9 and 202 pounds), but they tend to wear down and become injury-prone.

But Herron proved something (at least to me) during the spring. He ran between the tackles with authority and consistently showed the ability to make reads and cuts on the fly. Herron also has breakaway speed but isn’t afraid to throttle back to allow his protection to catch up. I have seen far too many recent Ohio State backs run up into the backs of their blockers, so it was nice to see somehow exhibit a little patience. That sometimes turns a 2- or 3-yard gain into something much more.

While Herron was doing everything that was asked of him, this spring served as a resurrection of sorts for Brandon Saine. Some fans have given up on the 6-1, 217-pound junior, who was the 2006 high school player of the year in Ohio not to mention the state 100-meter champion the year before he joined the Buckeyes. Saine has enjoyed some success during his OSU career but he’s never been healthy enough long enough to sustain that success. This spring, he stayed on the field and turned in a very creditable performance, especially during the final week of spring camp.

If Herron and Saine can remain injury-free, the Buckeyes could have a formidable one-two punch at tailback already in place with hotly-anticipated freshman help on the way.

It might also be nice to see what veteran walk-on Marcus Williams could do if given a chance. I know he is a walk-on and his chances of seeing playing time ahead of the scholarship players is about as good as mine. But the 5-10, 202-pound product of Ironton, Ohio, has some skills. They were on full display during his 75-yard run to daylight in the spring game. I wonder what Williams could accomplish with a couple of meaningful carries behind the first-team line.

Fullback – I question why this position is not phased out on a team that has so much speed and so many other weapons it can use. That said, it is obvious Tressel wants the option to play smash-mouth football when the situation arises. Therefore, the fullback position remains part of the Buckeyes’ offensive attack.

It could be even more so if Tressel would allow the fullback to run the ball occasionally, giving the Buckeyes another threat in play-action. But I digress. Fullback is nothing more than a glorified blocking position, and the players who line up there know that. They do get involved in the passing game at times – fullbacks caught two passes in the spring game for a total of 6 yards – but it is only a safety valve when nothing else develops and the pocket is collapsing around the quarterback.

True freshman Adam Homan seemed to get most of the first-team reps during the bulk of spring but the team ran so many different formations at different times during drills that it was hard to tell. Walk-on James Georgiades appeared to have some good practices early before he got hurt and leveled off. Redshirt freshman Jermil Martin experiences some good days and some not-so-good days, and even senior defensive tackle Todd Denlinger got into the act at fullback – strictly as a blocker.

If I had to guess, and that’s strictly what it is, I would say Homan and Martin will share the position this fall.

Receiver – If you want to excited about what the Buckeyes can throw at the opposition this fall, look no further than the receiving corps. Lament the loss of Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline to the NFL if you want, but in their places may emerge new, hungry players eager to develop a rapport with Pryor.

Saying DeVier Posey is the next great OSU star receiver would be stating the obvious. Posey still needs some work on the technical part of playing his position, including his downfield blocking. But there is no questioning the 6-3, 205-pounder’s athletic talents. He proved throughout much of the spring that he can catch the ball pretty much wherever it’s thrown and then knows what to do with it after the catch.

The Buckeyes have the luxury of throwing several more receivers into the mix, each of whom brings a little something different to the table.

Perhaps the light has finally come on for Small as he begins to emerge from last year’s self-induced funk. Remember this is the guy Ted Ginn Sr. once characterized as the best receiver he has ever coached. (That, of course, includes Ginn’s son, Ted Jr.) Small has field-stretching speed, more moves than Ex-Lax and provides Ohio State with one of college football’s top punt return threats. All he needs to do is keep his head in the game.

Small isn’t the only speed-burner on the team. Lamaar Thomas isn’t called “Flash” for nothing and freshman James Jackson thrust himself into the mix with a fearless spring that included three catches for 51 yards in the spring game.

And then there is Washington, the 6-2, 179-pound junior that most people had forgotten until he hooked up with Pryor four times in the spring game for 92 yards and a touchdown. Of course, we’ve seen that before. In the 2008 spring game, T-Dub had four receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown. Then, when the season began, he was nowhere to be found. He has three career catches for 46 yards and one TD – all of which came in 2007. Washington needs to take the next step and make himself as indispensable in the fall as he has been the past two springs.

Lost in the shadows this spring was Dane Sanzenbacher, who missed a good chunk of the last part of practice with an ankle sprain. A lot of people scoff at Sanzenbacher, who isn’t the fastest or biggest receiver on the team. Those who scoff do so at their own peril, however, because Sanzenbacher finds ways to get results. He is as steady as they come, presents an excellent target and could have the softest hands on the team.

Another possibility as a possession-type receiver is junior Grant Schwartz, who caught three balls in the spring game.

Tight End – Let’s hope that Ohio State is serious about utilizing the tight end in the passing game because the Buckeyes have legitimate pass-catching weapons at the position.

You need only go back to the 2002 national championship season to witness what kind of diversity you can enjoy if you make your tight end a viable part of the passing attack. Ben Hartsock was the third-leading receiver on that team, and he caught more balls than Chris Vance, Drew Carter or Bam Childress.

In recent years, however, the Buckeyes have been reluctant to make the tight end a primary receiver. That has been due partly to a lack of confidence in the offensive line protection, of course, and a line that continues to be a work in progress could hamstring any efforts to get more throws to the tight ends.

Still, I would like to see Tressel allow Jake Ballard, Jake Stoneburner and Nic DiLillo at least a few moments of practice time with receivers coach Darrell Hazell.

Stoneburner is the wild card. He is a rare player at the position who could stretch the field if he’s allowed to do so. This is quite a burden to place on the young man, but I think Stoneburner could be every bit the pass-catching threat that John Frank was. Every time I saw him this spring, the 6-5, 230-pounder was making a reception. He caught the ball in heavy traffic, he showed leaping ability and he showed enough athleticism to spear a ball out of the air and then make a quick adjustment to get yardage after the catch.

It may be too late to think of Ballard as anything more than an occasional receiver. (After all, he has only 19 catches to show for the previous three seasons.) IMHO, if he is used correctly, Stoneburner ought to have at least that many receptions every year.

Offensive Line – The open offensive line spots were probably the most talked-about position battles of the spring, and the discussion is likely to last well into fall camp.

Michael Brewster seems to have found a home at the center position although I think he would probably rather play guard. Maybe someone will emerge this fall (Jack Mewhort, perhaps?) that will allow Brewster to move out of the center spot. Barring something unforeseen, though, he will be and should be in the middle this year.

Brewster was thrown into a tough situation last season when he was asked to be the starter in week four, but he consistently improved and wound up starting 10 games for the Buckeyes at center. After watching him this spring, there is no reason to believe Brewster won’t continue to improve and become one of the Big Ten’s best. He’s well on his way already.

Likewise, there is no reason to believe anyone other than Justin Boren will occupy the left guard position. The 6-3, 315-pound Boren was an absolute beast this spring, schooling nearly every defensive linemen that got in his way. He plays low, taking full advantage of his strength and leverage, and his footwork is excellent. Best of all, Boren has a little mean streak to him. I don’t mean he’s a dirty player because he’s not. He just brings that kind of me-against-you-and-I’m-going-to-knock-the-snot-out-of-you mentality to an offensive line that has severely lacked that attitude the last couple of years.

On the right side of the line, Bryant Browning and Jimmy Cordle will go into the fall as the starters.

Browning had an excellent spring as he moved from tackle to guard, a position much better suited to his skill set. The 6-4, 312-pounder appears to excel in engaging the opponent and neutralizing him. That is something you really can’t do as a tackle since there are more responsibilities on the edge. Also, Browning seems adept at navigating his way through traffic as a pulling guard. I would be surprised if the junior from Cleveland Glenville hasn’t found a permanent home at right guard.

Cordle remains sort of a wild card. After starting last year at center and then moving to left guard, the senior is being asked to man a third position in less than a year. I’m not totally sold on Cordle at right tackle although I think he can handle the position. I’m just not sure he’s best suited at that particular position.

I will say this: Cordle will play somewhere. He will be one of the leading candidates to be elected captain this fall and very seldom does a team captain go into his senior season without a starting position. With Boren, Brewster and Browning across the front, though, it seems right tackle is the only spot for Cordle.

That is, of course, predicated on how the left tackle position shakes itself out. Before spring drills began, it would have been ludicrous to believe Andrew Miller had a shot at much playing time let alone the starting spot. But after a superlative spring, Miller has indeed pushed his way up the depth chart and into the discussion at left tackle.

Will Miller be the starter against Navy come Sept. 5? It’s possible although I doubt it. Neither Mike Adams nor J.B. Shugarts were recruited to be a backup, and I fully expect the starting position to be decided among those two in the fall.

Adams had some well-chronicled struggles during the early portion of spring camp as the OSU coaching staff threw a little bit of everything at him. He seemed to settle down more down the stretch although he still has to guard against playing too high (a problem for any 6-8 lineman) and he still needs work on his feet.

Shugarts, meanwhile, begged the coaching staff to let him participate in heavy contact drills after rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder. And while the 6-8, 298-pounder saw some limited action, the staff erred on the side of caution and kept him out of most contact. Shugarts will get his chance to contend for the LT spot in fall camp but he has to guard against trying to make up for lost time and do too much too soon.

And what happens if both players distinguish themselves this fall? Do you shuffle things again and perhaps put one of them at right tackle? And if you do that, what happens to Cordle? And what do you do with Miller if he builds on the spring he just had with a breakout fall camp? All food for thought.

While players continue to jockey for starting positions, it helps that there are a number of viable options as the OSU offensive line builds some depth for the first time in recently memory. Evan Blankenship spent most of spring as the second-team right guard behind Browning while Connor Smith was the No. 2 left guard behind Boren. Andrew Moses was second on the depth chart at center and Josh Kerr played mostly with the second-team line at right tackle. Mewhort also got his feet wet at a couple of positions, but the best bet for the 6-7, 290-pound freshman may be a redshirt season if the Buckeyes think they can get along without him. I’d hate to see Mewhort be forced to waste an entire year of eligibility on just token playing time.

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what we saw this spring on the defensive side of the ball.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Today’s Buckeye birthday belongs to former Ohio State basketball star Tony Campbell.

Anthony Campbell was born May 7, 1962, in Teaneck, N.J., and became a high school basketball star in his hometown. He signed with Ohio State in 1980 and was a three-year starter for the Buckeyes from 1982-84. The 6-7, 212-pounder earned first-team All-Big Ten honors at forward as a junior and senior, and was a two-year co-captain. Campbell averaged 19.0 points per game in ’83 and 18.6 points in ’84 and finished his OSU career with 1,529 points, good for 14th on the school’s all-time list. He was drafted by Detroit in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft with the 20th overall pick and played 11 professional seasons. Campbell’s best season came in 1989-90 when he averaged 23.2 points and 5.5 rebounds (both career highs) for the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves. He played for the Pistons, Lakers, Timberwolves, Knicks and Mavericks before finishing his career in 1994-95 in Cleveland. Campbell played his 690 NBA games and carried lifetime averages of 11.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. After his playing career ended, Campbell went into coaching at the high school level. He currently serves as head coach and athletic director at Bay Ridge Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Other luminaries observing birthdays this 7th day of May: Fifties pop singer Jim Lowe (“The Green Door”) is 82; former NFL quarterback Babe Parilli is 80; Baseball Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams is also 80; U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is 77; Sixties pop singer Johnny Maestro (lead singer of The Brooklyn Bridge) is 70; soap actress Robin Strasser (Dr. Dorian Lord on “One Life to Live”) is 64; pop and disco singer Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”) is 66; Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann is 63; boxer-turned-actor Randall “Tex” Cobb is 59; actor Robert Hegyes (Juan Epstein in the Seventies TV show “Welcome Back, Kotter”) is 58; former Cincinnati Bengals receiver and punter Pat McInally is 56; film director Amy Heckerling (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Clueless”) is 55; soap actor Peter Reckell (Bo Brady on “Days of our Lives”) is 54; Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is 53; soap actor Michael E. Knight (Tad Martin on “All My Children”) is 50; Motörhead lead guitarist Phil Campbell is 48; actress Traci Lords is 41; rock/pop musician Eagle Eye Cherry is 38; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Loney is 25; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith is also 25; and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders is 23.

Those celebrities who have passed into history who shared May 7 birthdays: English poet Robert Browning; German composer Johannes Brahms; Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; two-time Academy Award-winning actor Gary Cooper; Argentine first lady Eva “Evita” Perón; Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter; NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas; “Meet The Press” moderator Tim Russert; and actor Darren McGavin. You may not be familiar with McGavin’s name but you certainly know his work. He had a long career in television and movies, portraying a variety of characters including shady, glass-eyed gambler Gus Sands in “The Natural”, vampire chaser/newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak in “The Night Stalker” television series; and Adam Sandler’s hotel magnate father in “Billy Madison.” But McGavin will likely be best remembered as Old Man Parker, the flustered father who gets son Ralphie a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas in the holiday classic “A Christmas Story.”

AND FINALLY

** Ohio State set a new NCAA record April 25 with a spring-game crowd of 95,722. Alabama, which held the old mark at 92,138 set in 2007, finished second this year with 84,000 in attendance at its spring game. Nebraska was third at 77,670. On the other end of the spectrum was North Carolina, which drew only 2,000 to its spring game. In the Tar Heels’ defense, the game was played March 28 – in the midst of the basketball team’s run to the NCAA Tournament championship.

** To put Ohio State’s record spring crowd into perspective, the average crowd for all of the spring football games at all of the Division I-A schools was just a little more than 13,000.

** A poll on CBSSportsline.com asked which team would win the 2009 Big Ten championship. Ohio State was the runaway winner with 46 percent of the 3,296 votes cast. Penn State was second with 28 percent. Michigan State finished a distant third with 6 percent.

** Indiana head coach Bill Lynch kicked mercurial quarterback-turned-receiver Kellen Lewis off the team for the second time April 27, and this time the move is permanent. Lewis was suspended for four months last year before being allowed to return to the Hoosiers. This time, Lynch has said there will be no reprieve for Lewis, whom many consider IU’s best player. Athletic director Fred Glass supported Lynch’s move, saying the move “underscores that no individual student-athlete, regardless of talent or popularity, is above the expectations of Indiana University.”

** If ESPN.com college basketball writer Doug Gottlieb is right, the Big Ten will be loaded next year. Gottlieb has three conference schools among his early top 10 – Purdue at No. 4, Michigan State at No. 6 and Ohio State at No. 10. About the Buckeyes, Gottlieb writes, “Don’t worry about the loss of B.J. Mullens. The Buckeyes return a great talent in Evan Turner, who returns for his junior season, joining Jon Diebler & Co. to help OSU turn the corner next season.” Gottlieb’s top three: Kansas, Texas and Villanova.

** Gottlieb’s ESPN.com colleague, senior writer Andy Katz, also has three Big Ten teams in his early top 10: Michigan State at No. 2, Purdue at No. 5 and Michigan at No. 9. Other conference teams in Katz’s top 25: Minnesota 16th, Ohio State 18th and Illinois 19th.

** The financially crippled Arena Football League is already on hiatus for a year and teams are beginning to close up shop for good. When/if the AFL returns in 2010, it will be without the L.A. Avengers, a team that has played arena league ball for nine seasons. With the Avengers going out of business, it leaves Los Angeles without a professional football team – unless, of course, you count USC.

** Which brings us to this nugget: You probably know that both former USC basketball star O.J. Mayo and former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush have gotten their school in NCAA hot water for allegedly taking improper benefits. What you may not know is that the NCAA recently decided to combine the cases to streamline the investigation process. That decision makes it much more likely that one or both of the programs could be forced to forfeit games and championships. In the case of USC football, that could include a pair of Pac-10 titles in 2004 and 2005. Don’t think it means the Trojans would have to give up their 2004 national championship, though. Because the NCAA doesn’t stage a championship in Division I-A football, leaving that to the Bowl Championship Series, forfeits would only affect NCAA record books, conference championships and Pete Carroll’s victory total. It would be up to the commissioners of the BCS to take away the national title and no one believes that will happen. Which brings up a salient point raised by Dennis Dodd of CBSSportsline.com: Because a BCS title is essentially immune from NCAA sanctions, does that ratchet up the incentive to cheat to get one?

More Springtime Observations, Opinions

My mother always told me that you can learn a lot by keeping your mouth shut and your ears open. She proved to be right yet again as I watched Thursday’s version of Ohio State spring practice.

Standing alongside former All-American Jim Lachey, I got a crash course on what the OSU offensive lineman are doing right and what they are doing wrong this spring.

“It’s all about footwork,” Lachey said. “Where my feet are dictates where I’m going to be able to move. If you keep your feet square to your opponent, you can go wherever he goes. But if you drop that back foot, he’ll abuse you. Worse yet, he’ll abuse your quarterback.”

Lachey knows what he’s talking about. After all, he was a first-team All-American for the Buckeyes in 1984, a first-round NFL draft choice and a three-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro.

So who does Lachey like this spring?

“Justin Boren,” he said. “Look at the guy. He looks like he wants to eat defensive linemen for breakfast. He’s got good technique and a mean steak. That’s a pretty good combination.”

Lachey also likes what he has seen so far from Bryant Browning and Andrew Miller.

Browning has evidently found a home at right guard after struggling last season at right tackle. “That’s not too hard to figure out,” Lachey said. “As a guard, you’ve only got about a 4-foot box to worry about. When you’re a tackle, your responsibility is all the way to the edge.”

As for Miller, Lachey said, “There’s a lot to like there. A lot of raw talent and he looks like he’s taken to heart what the coaches are trying to tell him. He’s still young and still learning but he looks like he’s making progress.”

Miller spent most of Thursday afternoon’s practice as the left tackle on the first-string offense. That meant Mike Adams – the source of much consternation after Tuesday’s practice – spent his day as the second-team left tackle and third-team right tackle. According to Lachey, the struggles Adams has had so far this spring can be traced to two main things.

“First and foremost, it’s his footwork,” Lachey said. “He’s turning his (back) foot out, and whenever you do that, it’s almost impossible to keep the other guy in front of you. I used to do a drill where I walked around my house backward, concentrating on keeping my feet parallel to one another. The good thing is that (Adams) has plenty of time to work on his feet.”

Lachey’s second criticism of Adams was that “he plays too tall and he needs to show a little more fire. He needs to bend his knees more and fire off the line and he needs to be a little meaner. I saw him play in high school, so I know he’s got the talent. His head is probably a little full of everything they’re trying to teach him and he’s a little overwhelmed. I think when the game begins to slow down for him – and it will – he’ll be fine.”

Here are some more observations and opinions from Thursday’s practice sessions:

** Brandon Saine had a much better afternoon than the mistake-filled one he spent on Tuesday. He appeared to run with much more authority, perhaps due to the fact the Buckeyes were outside rather than inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. One on particular play, Saine had an excellent run off-tackle to his left, breaking two tackles near the line of scrimmage.

** I’m getting more and more impressed with Boom Herron. I still don’t know if he can be an every-down back in the Big Ten, but there is no questioning his talent. Herron is rapidly proving that he can run between the tackles, and he also has one of the qualities that separate the great backs from the merely good ones. Herron appears to have excellent vision and reads his blocking very well. He seems patient enough to allow his blockers to run interference rather than running up their backs or outrunning his interference.

** Freshman linebacker Storm Klein continues to catch the eye of the coaching staff despite toiling (for now) with the third-team unit. He still makes rookie mistakes, but Klein always makes his share of plays. Also, no one seems more eager.

** Jake Stoneburner appears to have the ability to catch anything in his area. On Tuesday, he made a couple of nice grabs in traffic while yesterday he leapt high to snag a pass out of the air. Best of all, he wasn’t simply satisfied to make the catch. You know how some Ohio State receivers in recent years have made a reception and then fallen to the turf? Stoneburner looks like one of those guys who like to pile up the YAC – yards after catch. Hopefully, the Buckeyes will utilize his pass-catching skills and not be content to use him only as a blocking tight end.

** If you read my blog entry about Tuesday’s practice, you will remember what I said about the long, slow delivery of walk-on quarterback Justin Siems. That deliberate windup came back to bite Siems yesterday as he tried to flip a medium-range pass into the boundary. Freshman cornerback C.J. Barnett jumped the route and made an easy interception, returning the pick for what would have been a touchdown.

** That turnover was one of several created by the OSU defensive units as they turned up the heat a notch. In addition to Oliver’s pick, linebacker Brian Rolle took advantage of a botched snap between Michael Brewster and Terrelle Pryor, scooping up the loose football and heading for the opposite end zone. Saine, however, chased Rolle down from behind before the defender could cross the goal line.

** Another miscue came late in the practice session during a field goal attempt. Jake McQuaide’s high snap went through the hands of holder Jon Thoma, and backup defensive back Rocco Pentello took the fumble to the house. An additional problem with the bad snap – an exposed Thoma was absolutely blown by a hard-charging defender, and although he escaped injury, the Buckeyes can ill-afford to lose their No. 1 punter because of that kind of mistake.

** Speaking of Thoma, it seems he is ready if the Buckeyes ever want to call for a fake punt. At one juncture of the afternoon, he rolled to his right and heaved an on-target pass about 40 yards.

** The battle to replace A.J. Trapasso at punter is between Thoma and redshirt freshman Ben Buchanan, but you may want to remember this name: Derek Erwin. During Thursday’s drills when the punters were off to themselves on the auxiliary practice field, it appeared to me that Erwin, a walk-on from Buckeye Central in New Washington, Ohio, was the most consistent punter on the field.

** Cornerback Andre Amos looked like he had a fumble recovery after the defense stripped tailback Marcus Williams of the ball after Williams was stacked up at the line of scrimmage. An official – yes, they have officials working spring ball – ruled, however, that Williams’ forward progress had been stopped. That raised the ire of the entire defense, including co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, who offered to exchange whistles with the official.

** Redshirt freshman Andrew Sweat probably had the big hit of the day, shooting a gap to blow up Williams in the backfield for what would have been a big loss. Second place would go to Austin Spitler, who stopped Ray Small in his tracks after a catch over the middle.

** A gusty crosswind played havoc with some of the passes although most drills concentrated on medium-range throws. Pryor did get off one heave intended for DeVier Posey that traveled 60 yards in the air. The attempt had too much air under it, though, and Devon Torrence was able to leap with Posey and break up the pass.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Two former Buckeyes celebrate birthdays today: former OSU linebacker Eric Kumerow turns 44 while former tight end John Frank is 47.

Eric Palmer Kumerow was born April 17, 1965, in Chicago, and was a prep All-American quarterback at River Forest (Ill.) High School. A short time after arriving at Ohio State, the Buckeyes moved the 6-6, 250-pounder to defense and a star was born. He began a regular at outside linebacker midway through his freshman season in 1984 and earned All-Big Ten honors in 1986 and ’87. During his senior year in ’87, Kumerow led the Buckeyes with 15 tackles for loss, and he finished his career as the team’s all-time lead in sacks with 23. He still ranks fourth in that category behind Mike Vrabel (36, 1993-96), Jason Simmons (27½, 1990-93) and Matt Finkes (25, 1993-96). Miami made Kumerow the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft, and he played three seasons for the Dolphins mostly as a backup. He played in 42 games from 1988-90, registering five sacks and one interception. The Dolphins traded him to Chicago after the 1990 season but the Bears later released him. After his NFL career ended, Kumerow settled in his hometown and routinely refuses interview requests to reminisce about his playing days.

John E. Frank was born April 17, 1962, in Pittsburgh and became the finest pass-catching tight end in Ohio State history. Frank was a high school star at Mount Lebanon (Pa.) High School and flourished with the Buckeyes, catching 121 passes for 1,418 yards during his career from 1980 to ’83. Both totals are the highest in OSU history for a tight end, and the 121 career receptions still ranks ninth all-time while the yardage is 15th. Frank became the second-round selection of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1984 NFL draft, and played five seasons with the Niners, winning a Super Bowl ring in 1988. For his career, Frank played in 65 games and had 66 receptions for 662 yards and 10 TDs. He retired following the ’88 season and enrolled in medical school. Frank had a successful plastic surgery practice in California for several years and more recently has relocated the practice to New York. He is also a member of the Israeli national bobsled team.

Among the worldwide celebrities observing birthdays this 17th day of April: music impresario Don Kirshner is 75; Grammy winning composer Jan Hammer (“Theme from Miami Vice”) is 61; semi-retired pro wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs) is 55; former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback-turned-announcer Norman “Boomer” Esiason is 48; former MLB outfielder Marquis Grissom is 42; singer/songwriter Liz Phair is 42; former NFL offensive lineman-turned-announced Tony Boseli is 37; actress Jennifer Garner is 37; and singer/model/actress/serial pouter Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham is 35.

Also on this day in history: American icon Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia in 1790 at the age of 84; financier J.P. Morgan was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1837; Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and the Louis B. Mayer Co. merged in 1924 to become MGM Studios; Ford introduced the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair in 1964; and the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft returned safely to Earth in 1970.

AND FINALLY

** It’s less than five months until Ohio State kicks off its 2009 schedule against the U.S. Naval Academy. Everyone believes the Buckeyes will roll over the Midshipmen, but it’s worth noting that Navy did have the nation’s No. 1 running offense a year ago. (In fact, they’ve had the top running team in the nation four years in a row.) The Middies will be led by quarterback Ricky Dobbs, who ran for 224 yards and four TDs last season in a spot start against SMU.

** The simple fact that Rich Rodriguez would have serious discussions with a kid who hasn’t played quarterback since high school tells me that a Michigan resurrection is still a long way off.

** Which happens first: Charlie Weis leaves (or is asked to leave) Notre Dame or Rodriguez leaves (or is asked to leave) Michigan?

** Longtime NBC and ABC broadcaster Merle Harmon died Wednesday at the age of 82. During a career that began in the 1950s, Harmon called games for a number of NFL and Major League Baseball teams including the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.

** Isiah Thomas won an NCAA championship at Indiana, an NBA championship in Detroit and had one of the most newsworthy stints (mostly for the wrong reason) of any head coach in New York Knicks history. Still, Thomas got something of a strange welcome Wednesday when he was named new head coach at Florida International. FIU athletic director Pete Garcia introduced him as Isiah “Thompson.”

** Disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick is reportedly shopping the idea of his own reality TV series. The show would begin July 20 – the day Vick is scheduled to be released from prison.

** When 46-year-old Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Jamie Moyer made his first start of the 2009 season April 7, he became the oldest lefty ever to start a game in major league history. Tommy John is the only other 46-year-old lefthander to start an MLB game, and he did that in May 1989. By the way, Moyer has no intention of retiring anytime soon. He signed a two-year contract extension in the offseason.

**Once again, thanks to all of you for your kindness during the recent passing of my mother. Your cards, letters, thoughts and prayers mean more to me than I can ever express.

Springtime Observations, Opinions

Wanting to take full advantage of Jim Tressel’s new open-door policy toward spring practice, I attended Tuesday’s drills ostensibly to concentrate on watching Terrelle Pryor. Instead, I found myself unable to take my eyes off offensive lineman Mike Adams.

I’m sure that you are aware by now there are two separate schools of thought regarding Adams’ performance so far this spring. Some believe he has been oftentimes overmatched by members of the Ohio State defensive line and that he is rapidly losing his grip on the starting left tackle position that is his to lose. I must admit that was my initial reaction after watching Adams repeatedly get schooled Tuesday by Cameron Heyward and Thad Gibson.

Then this thought occurred to me. I remembered one of Tressel’s favorite mantras – “To whom much is given, much is expected” – and immediately thought of Adams. I wonder if the coaching staff is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the 6-8, 322-pound sophomore this spring because they think he can handle it.

Heyward got the best of Adams on several occasions Tuesday, including a pair of plays that resulted in brief fracases between the two. The second was particularly heated as Heyward ripped Adams’ helmet off before Adams threw a couple of swings at his defensive teammate and peppered them with F-bombs. Players on both sides of the ball separated Adams and Heyward each time but the coaching staff didn’t seem too concerned about the show of emotion. In fact, I may have detected a small grin on Jim Bollman’s face.

Later during the practice session, Adams continued work at left tackle with the first-team line and at right tackle with the third string. While he was on the left side, Tressel and Bollman tested him repeatedly by lining up Heyward and Gibson on Adams’ side and providing him with no tight end help. The drill was designed to make Adams make split-second decisions on which rusher to block. Sometimes he made the right choice, other times the decision didn’t work so well.

But he was learning as he went. On one play, Heyward had Adams beat on a swim move and the offensive tackle had no choice but to grab the defender as Pryor motored past on the inside. That would have been holding in any league. On the next play, Adams tried to go low on Heyward, who simply leaped over the offensive tackle. However, a couple of plays later, when Gibson tried to make a move to Adams’ outside shoulder, the sophomore tackle resisted the urge to hold and instead got just enough of the defender to push him away to the outside as Pryor slid by on the inside.

The point is that if Adams is going to be the Buckeyes’ left tackle moving forward, he will be forced to make those kinds of decisions in every game. Might as well get him used to recognizing now which is the correct one.

Here are some other observations and opinions gleaned from Tuesday’s practice:

** If the regular season began tomorrow, the starting offensive line would apparently be Adams at left tackle, Justin Boren at left guard, Michael Brewster at center, Bryant Browning at right guard and Jim Cordle at right tackle. Second on the depth chart at those positions, moving left to right, would be Andrew Miller, Connor Smith, Andrew Moses, Evan Blankenship and Josh Kerr.

** Miller appears to have made tremendous improvement, and during one particular drill more than held his own as Gibson tried (and failed) to get past him. The effort earned Miller a helmet slap of appreciation from Gibson.

** Meanwhile, Browning appears much more comfortable at guard. For a guy who is 6-4 and 312 pounds, he seems very mobile and pulls to his left with ease. Browning needs to work on making those pulls too quickly, though. On at least two occasions, he was too far out in front of his running backs, allowing backside pursuit to move in behind him and stuff the play.

** While contact drills were going on, J.B. Shugarts was doing shoulder strengthening exercises under the watchful eye of weight and conditioning coach Eric Lichter. Although the coaching staff is taking things slow with him, Shugarts appears to ready for contact. If he is truly 298 pounds, it’s the leanest 298 pounds I’ve ever seen.

** Speaking of lean, one of the interesting spectators Tuesday was former OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis. He was in street clothes, but several other ex-Buckeyes were in workout gear and disappeared into the weight room at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. They included Donald Washington, Nick Patterson, Ben Person and Beanie Wells.

** On the other side of the lean scale was former Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer, who was in attendance at Tuesday’s practice as spent some time chatting with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith. Before anyone gets any ideas, however, Fulmer isn’t in the market for a job. He barely watched practice before disappearing into the locker room at the WHAC. Most of the men in the coaching fraternity are friendly adversaries, more than willing to share ideas. That is especially so for guys like Fulmer, who are now on the outside of the profession looking in. During his 17 seasons as head coach of the Volunteers, he guided some fairly effective offensive attacks and tutored some pretty good quarterbacks including Peyton Manning. It seems to me any free piece of advice Fulmer could give to Pryor would be a good thing.

** With Wells headed to the NFL, Ohio State may want to make the passing game more of an emphasis this season. As a result, receivers coach Darrell Hazell has his players practicing making one-handed catches. The point of the drill is concentration – the player has to look the ball into his hand and then focus on making the catch. Hazell did the throwing himself, dropping spirals in anywhere from 15 to 30 yards. Sixteen receivers in all performed the drill and each of the 16 – including tight ends Nic DiLillo, Jake Stoneburner, Jake Ballard – made the one-handed stab.

** Speaking of the running game, there is no doubt that Boom Herron is the No. 1 tailback. The backup role is a little more murky, however, as veteran walk-on Marcus Williams would appear to be mounting a serious challenge to Brandon Saine. Williams proved to be a hard-nosed participant as the Buckeyes ran their familiar off-tackle plays. He also earned audible kudos for a pad-popping blitz pickup of cornerback Devon Torrence.

** Herron appeared to run effortlessly throughout the drills, and also proved resilient as he seeks to silence critics who believe his 5-10, 193-pound frame may not be able to withstand the constant pounding of a Big Ten season. Herron ran consistently between the tackles and seems to absorb hits rather than being stung by them. He also did his best Beanie impression, squirting to the outside on one play and keeping defensive back Nate Oliver at bay with a nifty stiffarm.

** Running backs were also showcased in a short-yardage passing drill. Pitted against a linebacker, each running back would sprint out to the boundary and receive a swing pass as a safety valve receiver. It was then up to the running back to elude the pursuing linebacker, and the results were about even between offensive and defensive players. Herron managed to beat Austin Spitler to the corner on one play and Etienne Sabino on another. Spitler, however, made a nice comeback and stopped Saine after what would have been no gain. It was not the best of drills for Saine, who mishandled one of the passes and was also stopped by Tyler Moeller on another. Meanwhile, Williams got the better of Brian Rolle, but freshman Storm Klein wrapped up Williams later to stop the running back on a short gain.

** Perhaps the biggest hit of the day came late in the practice sessions when linebacker Brian Rolle stood up Saine after a short gain and cornerback Chimdi Chekwa swooped in to clean things up. The pop earned the requisite “Ooh!” from players and spectators alike. It was even more impressive when you remember Saine is 6-1 and 217 pounds while Rolle and Chekwa are generously listed at 6-0, 188 and 5-11, 221, respectively.

** I did have some time to watch the quarterbacks in action. Walk-on Justin Siems has a good, live arm but he is going to need some work on his throwing motion. Way too much of a windup. Meanwhile, Joe Bauserman probably has the strongest arm in the group and definitely has the quickest release. Unfortunately, Bauserman’s throw come more from his shoulder than over the top.

** Pryor has the easiest motion of the trio and I saw no ill effects of tendonitis or whatever other affliction was bothering him during early spring drills. (He did have the third and fourth fingers on his left hand taped together, but that is not unusual for quarterbacks who want to avoid stoving those fingers during repeated snap drills.) He threw effortless swing passes to his right to Saine and Williams, then switched to his left and seemed equally at ease with receptions to fullback James Georgiades, Saine and Herron. Pryor later stretched things out to about 15-20 yards, throwing most balls with zip. If there was any criticism, it could be that the nose of the football is moving on a slightly downward path on some of his shorter passes. Other that that, he made every medium-range throw, including one he threw back across his body as he was rolling right. That threaded the needle between two defenders and found Stoneburner, who made a nice catch in traffic.

** On that same play, safety Kurt Coleman put a big hit on the 6-5, 230-pound Stoneburner. It was one of several pops during the 7-on-7 drills that featured no tackling but plenty of contact.

** While the offense and defense tried to one-up one another, the specialists in the kicking game were off to themselves in their own world. Jake McQuaide has returned for another year as the long snapper and he was working exclusively with Jon Thoma, who appears to be the holder for both Aaron Pettrey and Ben Buchanan. Thoma worked on his own version of the one-handed drill, practicing taking snaps from McQuaide and setting the ball down with only his left hand. However, most of the drills were simple timing drills as McQuaide tried to center the ball to Thoma in the exact same place every time. In that vein, they will need some more work on consistency. On 10 snaps, only eight were true. One was high – which Thoma managed to snag and get down – while another went through the holder’s hands.

**You could have found some of these same observations Tuesday night on my Twitter page. I invite you to follow my Tweets on spring football and a myriad of other subjects.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Two former Buckeyes celebrate birthdays today: former OSU fullback Nicky Sualua turns 34 and ex-men’s basketball coach Randy Ayers turns 53.

Nicky Sualua was born April 16, 1975, in Santa Ana, Calif., and became a star running back at powerful Mater Dei High School. The 5-11, 240-pound bruiser, who once scored six touchdowns in a single game, rushed for 563 yards and six TDs as a senior despite missing parts of six games with an ankle injury. Sualua signed with Ohio State in 1993 and became a two-year starting fullback for the Buckeyes in 1994 and ’95. Unfortunately, academic problems dogged him throughout his college career – he sat out the 1993 season after failing to meet minimum freshman eligibility requirements and was ruled academically ineligible for his senior season in 1996. He played two seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, and signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1999 but a litany of injuries ended his football career.

Randall Duane Ayers was born April 16, 1956 in Springfield, Ohio, and later became a basketball star at South High School and Miami University. After his college career, Ayers was a third-round selection by the Chicago Bulls in the 1978 NBA draft. Released on the final cut before the 1978-79 season, he played semipro ball for a year before returning to Miami to work on his master’s degree and begin a coaching career. He served as an assistant for the Redskins (they weren’t the RedHawks yet) as well as Army before joining Eldon Miller’s staff at Ohio State in 1983. Ayers remained on staff when Gary Williams replaced Miller, and he took over the program as head coach beginning with the 1989-90 season. In eight seasons with the Buckeyes, Ayers compiled a record of 124-108 that included back-to-back Big Ten championships in 1991 and ’92. He was dismissed following a 9-18 season in 1997, but later emerged as an NBA assistant and even served as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of the 2003-04 season. Since 2007, Ayers has been an assistant with the Washington Wizards.

Among the worldwide celebrities observing birthdays this 16th day of April: actress Joan Alexander is 91 (she played Lois Lane on the original “Adventures of Superman” radio broadcasts in the 1940s); Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger) is 82; pop singer Bobby Vinton is 74; former MLB pitcher Jim Lonborg is 67; Basketball Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 62; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is 57; Midnight Oil lead singer and Australian politician Peter Garrett is 56; actress Ellen Barkin (cougar Abigail Sponder is “Ocean’s Thirteen”) is 55; San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy is 54; actor Jon Cryer (Alan Harper on “Two and a Half Men”) is 44; actor and comedian Martin Lawrence is 44; actor Peter Billingsley (blond-haired, BB gun-obsessed Ralphie in “A Christmas Story”) is 38; singer/songwriter Akon (born Aliaune Thiam) is 32; New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma is 27; and Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng is 24.

ONE OTHER BUCKEYE BIRTHDAY

Today also marks the 112th anniversary of the birth of former Ohio State football star Cyril “Truck” Myers.

Born April 16, 1897, in Bucyrus, Ohio, Cyril Edward Myers was a high school star in football and basketball before deciding to attend Ohio State.

Myers was a three-year letterman for the Buckeyes from 1919-21 and was a teammate of some of the program’s legendary players including Chic Harley and Gaylord “Pete” Stinchcomb. Myers helped OSU to the Western Conference championship as a junior 1920 and played a major role in a decisive win over defending champion Illinois. While most teams like the Illini concentrated on a triple option attack, the Buckeyes employed the forward pass and Myers was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass on the final play of the game, giving Ohio State a 7-0 win.

Myers earned All-Big Ten and All-America honors as a senior in 1921, the Buckeyes’ final season at Ohio Field. They posted a 5-2 record that year despite giving up only 14 points all season – their only two blemishes were a 7-6 defeat against Oberlin and a 7-0 loss to Illinois in the season finale.

After leaving Ohio State, Myers dabbled in professional football, playing for three different Ohio teams in the fledgling NFL. He played nine games for the Toledo Maroons in 1922, five contests for the Cleveland Indians in 1923 and two games for the Cleveland Bulldogs in 1925.

AND FINALLY

** After playing for many years during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the Alamo Bowl recently announced that it was moving its 2010 kickoff to Jan. 2. This will likely create but a ripple in the ocean of college bowl games, but I’m here to tell you that something a little more sinister is afoot. One of these days – not too long from now – the BCS National Championship Game is going to be moved back to late January and be played on the weekend before the Super Bowl. I know most fans will probably like it, but for a college football season that already begins in late August, extending the postseason is not a good thing. And it’s certainly no way to go about getting a Division I-A playoff.

** The Big Ten will extend its football schedule past Thanksgiving beginning in 2010 but Ron Zook can’t wait. Illinois has pushed this year’s home game against Fresno State back two weeks – from Nov. 21 to Dec. 5. The rationale for the schedule stretching is to prevent Big Ten teams from going stale between the end of their regular seasons and bowl games. Of course, the Illini would probably be better served simply concentrating on qualifying for the postseason, something they have done only once over the past seven seasons.

** Just so you know, the Big Ten hasn’t posted a winning record in the postseason since going 5-2 after the 2002 season. Since then, the conference has a 15-28 bowl record, including last year’s dismal 1-6 showing.

** There is good news and bad news for the Big Ten if it wants to improve upon that postseason record (not to mention the national perception of being old-fashioned, slow and boring). The good news? The six top-rated quarterbacks from 2008 return this coming fall. The bad news? Four of those six ranked 31st or lower nationally in quarterback efficiency. Contrast that to the Big 12, which landed five QBs in the nation’s top 10 last season. Maybe that’s why the Big 12 has posted a winning bowl record in four of the past five seasons, going 21-17 during that stretch including 4-3 last year.

** Mike Belotti evidently doesn’t like to stand idle. The former Oregon head coach is also the athletic director-in-waiting in Eugene, but he’s not content to take it easy even for a little while. Belotti has been named the Ducks’ interim quarterbacks coach until a replacement can be found for old offensive coordinator and QBs coach Chip Kelly … who was elevated to head coach when Belotti resigned in March.

** The measuring stick for success has obviously changed at Nebraska. After his first season netted a 9-4 record, Bo Pelini received a $715,000 raise from the Cornhuskers. Remember when Frank Solich’s 9-3 record in 2003 got him a one-way ticket out of the Lincoln?

** Cleveland Indians fans were no doubt thrilled to hear that Manny Ramirez wants to finish his career with the Tribe, the team for which he hit 231 homers from 1993-2000 before leaving for the free-agent riches of Boston and Los Angeles. Manny supposed has talked with fellow ex-Tribesman Jim Thome, who also has expressed a desire to finish his career in Cleveland. While we’re on the subject, I wonder if anyone has contacted Bob Feller about making a comeback? After all, he’s only 90.

Celebrating The Architect Of Ohio State Football

Today marks the 121st anniversary of the birth of the man who was the driving force behind Ohio State as it became a college football power.

John Woodworth Wilce was born March 12, 1888, in Rochester, N.Y., and got his first taste of the Western Conference (later the Big Ten) when he became a three-sport letterman at the University of Wisconsin. Wilce earned all-conference honors as a fullback with the Badgers in 1909, and then went into coaching.

Following his graduation from Wisconsin, he took over the program at La Crosse High School before returning to his alma mater as an assistant professor of physical education and an assistant football coach. The Badgers were one of the country’s top programs at the time and had won the 1912 Western Conference title with an undefeated record.

Meanwhile, Ohio State was struggling to get traction with its program. The Buckeyes had been playing football since 1890, and had enjoyed some success playing mostly instate rivals. But that was about to change when the school was invited to join the Western Conference beginning with the 1913 football season.

Not only was OSU taking a step up in competition, the university also needed some stability at the head coaching position. Eleven men had served as head of the program in just 23 years and none had stayed longer than four seasons. In fact, in 1913, the Buckeyes were in search of a fourth new head coach in as many years.

Enter Wilce, who at the young age of 25 was given the task of building Ohio State football from what was largely a club sport into an intercollegiate program capable of competing with stronger, more established teams.

During that initial season in 1913, the Buckeyes turned in a 4-2-1 overall record including a 58-0 win over Northwestern in the season finale. That represented the team’s first conference victory, and it wound up with a 1-2 league record and sixth-place finish.

Wilce saw incremental improvement the next two years as Ohio State finished in a fourth-place tie in 1914 and a third-place tie in 1915 before the program’s breakout season came in 1916. Wilce had recruited one of the country’s top prospects from East High School in Columbus, and Chic Harley led the Buckeyes to their first-ever Western Conference championship as a sophomore. OSU set a host of school records that season, including a 128-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan – the most points ever scored by the Buckeyes in a single game.

The Wilce-Harley combination also produced Ohio State’s first-ever win over archrival Michigan. The 13-3 victory in Ann Arbor in 1919 ended a previous 0-13-2 drought against the Wolverines.

Wilce would guide Ohio State to two more conference titles in 1917 and 1920 and three runner-up finishes in 1919, 1921 and 1926. He also coached 10 All-Americans, a pretty fair accomplishment in an age when former coach and famed sportswriter Walter Camp annually chose the only acknowledged All-America team.

During Wilce’s tenure, the Buckeyes were transformed from a team with only a regional following into a national force that played its home games in cavernous Ohio Stadium. And while coaches such as Knute Rockne, Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg are more renowned today for the impact they had on football’s early days, Wilce doesn’t receiver nearly enough credit for being one of the game’s top tacticians of his time.

His teams played tenacious defense, and Wilce was one of the first coaches ever to adopt the strategy of rushing the passer. He is also believed to be the first ever to utilize the five-man defensive line, unveiling it during a game at Princeton in 1927.

In addition to his innovative pass defense, Wilce also specializing in a wide-open passing attack. While most teams played ball-control with their triple option formations, Wilce allowed his players to throw extensively throughout the game. During the 1920 season, the Buckeyes defeated Illinois and won the conference title by throwing the football. In that game, quarterback Harry “Hoge” Workman passed to Cyril “Truck” Myers for the winning touchdown on the final play of the game, giving the Buckeyes a 7-0 win.

Earlier that season, Ohio State had come from behind to beat Wisconsin when Workman threw two late touchdown passes to All-American Gaylord “Pete” Stinchcomb. Camp was in attendance and later wrote that the game was the “most thrilling I have ever seen.”

Wilce also tried to marry the physical and mental aspects of the sport. He was constantly trying to reform the speech of the way his players talked on and off the field, and he is credited with coining the phrase “intestinal fortitude.” He first used the term in 1916 while lecturing to his team on anatomy and physiology.

Wilce coached at Ohio State for 16 seasons, a record that wouldn’t be surpassed until Woody Hayes spent 28 seasons in Columbus from 1951-78. After the 1928 season, Wilce resigned, citing a personal struggle of trying to balance the ideals of athletics with the increasing financial requirements needed to field a team that could compete annually for national honors.

“I figured football was becoming more and more of a business proposition than I wanted to go into,” Wilce said years later. “I saw the game being taken away from the boys. I was a faculty-type coach. I had always stressed educational aspects of the sport. This, to me, was far more important than winning the game.

“I don’t want to give the impression that I’m critical of football the way it is played today. It came about through no one’s fault in particular. It followed the normal trend of things and was brought about by the public’s demand. I just didn’t want to become an active part of that type of football, so I quit.”

Wilce could have ridden off into the sunset with his legacy intact. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 and wrote several books on football, many of which became primers for coaches who followed him into the profession. He was an honorary life member of the American Football Coaches Association, served as the group’s first secretary, and received the Stagg Award in 1959, the association’s highest honor for “perpetuating the example and influence of the great coach in football.”

But Wilce went on to another career and had as much success – if not more – than he enjoyed on the gridiron.

He had continued his studies of medicine at Ohio State while serving as head coach and received his medical degree in 1919. After his resignation, Wilce took postgraduate classes at Columbia and Harvard as well as the National Hospital for Diseases of the Heart in London, and then returned to Ohio State in the 1930s to become a professor of preventive medicine at the university’s College of Medicine. Wilce later became one of the country’s leading heart specialists, and he also served as director of Student Health Services at OSU from 1934 to 1958. The John W. Wilce Student Health Center, built in 1969, is named for him.

Wilce retired to his Westerville home in 1958 and continued to remain active in numerous Columbus charitable organizations until he suffered a stroke in 1962. He was hospitalized twice over the next several months, and then died at home on May 17, 1963, just five days after his 75th birthday.

Wilce’s legacy lived on through his grandchildren. Anne Krause was one of Colorado’s best-loved sports and outdoor photographers until her death of pancreatic cancer in 2006. And Dr. James M. Wilce Jr. is one of the world’s top linguistic anthropologists and is currently a professor at Northern Arizona University.

STATUE GETS A RETRO-FIT

One day after John Wilce died in 1963 at the age of 75, 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis lost his battle with leukemia. He was only 23.

Davis led Syracuse to the national championship as a sophomore in 1959, and in his junior season averaged a hefty 7.8 yards per carry. As a senior, the 6-2, 212-pounder led the Orangemen in rushing, receiving and scoring, and won the Heisman by a scant 53 votes over Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson. He was the first African-American to win college football’s most prestigious individual award.

When Davis finished his career, he held all of Syracuse’s records in rushing, all-purpose yardage, touchdowns and overall scoring.

The Washington Redskins drafted Davis in the first round of the 1962 NFL draft, but traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for receiver Bobby Mitchell. Cleveland head coach Paul Brown envisioned a backfield of Davis and Jim Brown punishing NFL defenses for many years to come, and the Browns signed Davis to a then astronomical salary of $80,000 per year.

Unfortunately, things did not work out how Brown had planned. Mitchell went on to an All-Pro career with the Redskins and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Brown was fired by Cleveland owner Art Modell following the 1962 season. And a few days after a College All-Star Game in the spring of 1962, Davis was diagnosed with leukemia. He never played in a professional game and he died May 18, 1963.

The Browns honored his memory by retiring his jersey No. 45 (even though he had worn it only in practice), and in 1979, Davis was inducted into the College Football of Fame. In 2005, Syracuse retired jersey No. 44, which was worn by Jim Brown, Davis and Floyd Little.

Late last year, Syracuse unveiled a life-sized statue of Davis on campus. Unfortunately, sculptor Bruno Luchessi got some things wrong from an historical standpoint. Davis was depicted holding a modern football in his right hand and a modern-style helmet tucked under his left arm. He was also wearing shoes with the Nike swoosh logo even though that company was formed nearly a decade after Davis died.

On Tuesday, the university unveiled a revamped statue of Davis. Luchessi spent five months correcting the inaccuracies and painstakingly removed the football, helmet and cleats, replacing them with equipment circa 1961.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Today’s other Buckeye birthday belongs to former quarterback Bret Powers.

Bret Christopher Powers was born March 12, 1971, in Glendale, Ariz., and earned recognition as an all-state performer in both football and basketball at Cactus High School. Football was his first love, however, and Powers signed with hometown Arizona State after throwing for 1,629 yards and 12 TDs as a senior. After redshirting for the Sun Devils in 1989, he played in 13 games, including nine starts, over the next two seasons and completed passes worth 1,777 yards and eight scores. A shoulder problem sidelined him for several games during the 1991 season, and when it appeared he would lose the starting job the following spring, Powers transferred to Ohio State. He was forced to sit out the ’92 season before backing up sophomore Bobby Hoying in 1993 for the Buckeyes. Powers played in 10 games that year, and completed 45 of 77 attempts for 721 yards and seven TDs. He earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1993, his only season in the Big Ten. Powers is currently living in the Los Angeles, Calif., area and is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine.

Among the worldwide luminaries celebrating birthdays this 12th day of March: legendary female pro wrestler Mae Young is 86; three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee is 81; former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Vern Law is 79; Southwest Airlines co-founder and former CEO Herb Kelleher is 78; Sixties TV actress Barbara Feldon (Agent 99 on the original “Get Smart”) is 77; former civil rights activist and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young is 77; three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford is 71; Grammy winning singer Al Jarreau is 69; former MLB slugger Jimmy Wynn is 67; gangster-turned-FBI-informant Sammy “The Bull” Gravano is 64; Tony, Grammy, Emmy and Oscar winning entertainer Liza Minnelli is 63; former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is 62; Grammy winning singer/songwriter James Taylor is 61; U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is 61; action film director Rob Cohen (“XXX” and “The Fast and the Furious”) is 60; actor Jon Provost (he played Timmy in the original “Lassie”) is 59; journalist/novelist Carl Hiaasen is 56; Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris is 53; two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy is 53; Jackson 5 member Marlon Jackson is 52; former NFL linebacker and Detroit Lions president Matt Millen is 51; actor Courtney B. Vance (he’s played everything from sonar technician Ronald Jones in “The Hunt for Red October” to ADA Ron Carver on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” not to mention being married to Angela Bassett) is 49; former MLB outfielder Darryl Strawberry is 47; ESPN sportscaster Steve Levy is 44; Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson III is 43; actor Aaron Eckhart (DA Harvey Dent is “The Dark Knight”) is 41; and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Casey Mears is 31.

Today is also the 22nd anniversary of the death of the man who some would argue is the “real” architect of Ohio State football. Woody Hayes died March 12, 1987, at the age of 74.

BUBBLEHEAD BOBBLEHEAD PLANNING

It’s likely a sign of the times, but attendance figures are down throughout Grapefruit and Cactus league games this spring. Last Sunday, for example, Cincinnati hosted Toronto and the teams hooked up for a titanic struggle that was played before a crowd of 3,915 in Sarasota where Ed Smith Stadium holds 7,500.

Some of the attention dip in Sarasota could be due to the strained relations between the city and the Reds since the team is pulling up stakes after this season and moving its spring training facilities to Arizona. But the tough economic climate is affecting other teams as well. Last weekend, the Pirates and Astros played to a crowd of 3,959 in Bradenton, well below the McKechnie Field capacity of 6,562. Even in Arizona, where Glendale built the White Sox and Dodgers a new facility this year, crowds aren’t exactly what they were expected to be. A crowd of only 3,963 watched Chicago beat the Indians on Monday at the spacious new Camelback Ranch where capacity is 13,000.

Those sobering numbers will likely linger on into the 2009 regular season. Obviously teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Cubs and Dodgers are practically bulletproof economically, but what about mid-market teams that may struggle in the standings? What can they do to keep the turnstiles moving?

Usually teams fall back on tried and true marketing ploys such as dime-a-dog nights or bobblehead giveaways. Traditionally, those promotions are held through the week and against weaker opponents, giving fans an excuse to go to the ballpark.

The Reds, however, have inexplicably scheduled each of their bobblehead games in 2009 for Saturday night. Even more of a head-scratcher: The first two, which feature popular young stars Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, will be when Cincinnati hosts NL Central rival St. Louis.

Last season when the Cardinals played their only weekend series at Great American Ball Park, the three games were witnessed by an average of 31,472 fans. The Reds only averaged 25,415 for the entire home schedule, and that ranked 23rd among the 30 major league teams.

I don’t have a degree in marketing, but I don’t need one to realize the folly of scheduling your most popular promotions on nights when the ballpark was going to be full anyway.

AND FINALLY

** Congratulations to our old friend Larry Coker. The former Miami (Fla.) head coach and Ohio State assistant was hired last week by Texas-San Antonio as its first-ever football coach. The Roadrunners, who will play their home games in the Alamodome, are scheduled to begin competition at the Division I-AA level in 2011. It is Coker’s first job in coaching since the Hurricanes fired him after the 2006 season. He has a 60-15 career record as a head coach, which includes the 2001 national championship. San Antonio is the largest city in the nation without an NFL or Division I-A football team.

** Some athletes just don’t get it. Last week, pitcher Pedro Martinez said that while he is still hoping to pitch in the majors this season, he is not interested in any incentive-laden contracts. “I don’t think I’m in that stage,” Martinez told the Star-Ledger in New Jersey. “I believe I’m very comfortable. I’m not going to let anybody disrespect my abilities the way I am. … I wouldn’t say I want to pitch that bad.” You want to talk about disrespect, Pedro? How about disrespecting the fans of any team that would sign your tired 37-year-old arm after posting a 17-15 record and 4.74 ERA over the past three seasons? You’re history, pal. You’re lucky the Dominican Republic needed warm bodies to fill its World Baseball Classic roster.

** Since we’re on the subject, do you think Martinez is a future Hall of Famer? I’m not so sure. Pedro has a pretty gaudy .684 winning percentage (seventh best of all time), more than 3,000 strikeouts and he won three Cy Young Awards. But he won 20 games only twice, his 214 career victories rank below the lifetime totals of Curt Schilling, Dennis Martinez, Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat and Tommy John, and he doesn’t rank in the top 150 in career innings pitched. His Cooperstown bona fides seem a little iffy to me.

** And then there’s this: Boris Isayev, a 48-year-old Russian man, took first prize in the pancake eating contest to mark the end of Maslenitsa, or “pancake week,” in the western Russian region of Kaliningrad. Isayev downed 43 banana-and-cream-stuffed pancakes at the competition, and then collapsed while he was receiving his trophy. A few minutes later, Isayev was pronounced dead. Probable cause: axphyxiation due to a piece of pancake lodged in his throat. I would write more but I’m too choked up.

Hits, Misses In OSU Recruiting Class Of ’82

Where were you 27 years ago? If you were an Ohio State football fan, you might have been poring over a list of head coach Earle Bruce’s newest recruits. It was a 23-member class that was top-heavy on in-state talent and split almost evenly between offensive and defensive prospects.

Just a week before signing day in 1982, Bruce was beginning to wonder about his recruiting numbers. The class number was stalled at 17, making the final weekend of official visits crucial for the Buckeyes. Unlike in recent years, though, OSU closed with a big finish, getting six verbal commitments just hours before National Signing Day dawned.

Among that half-dozen were two of the best players in Ohio – offensive lineman Bob Maggs of Youngstown Cardinal Mooney and running back Keith Byars of Dayton Roth. Both players were somewhat of a pleasant surprise for Bruce. Maggs was thought to be leaning toward a commitment to either Notre Dame or Penn State before signing with the Buckeyes. Meanwhile, Byars was thought to be headed for UCLA before deciding to play his college ball a little closer to home.

The other late-deciding members of the class of ’82 were defensive back Scott Leach of Bridgeport, Conn.; linebacker Tom Bose of Stow, Ohio; offensive lineman Tim Odom of Cincinnati Moeller; and defensive lineman Gene Hulshult of Hamilton (Ohio) Badin. Of those four, the Buckeyes seemed to be most impressed with Leach and Hulshult.

Leach picked Ohio State over offers from USC, Tennessee and Syracuse, and was described as a Jack Tatum clone, capable of delivering punishing tackles. Hulshult, meanwhile, was projected as a player ready to make an early impact on the depth chart.

“I think I have a good shot at playing,” Hulshult told Buckeye Sports Bulletin at the time. “I think I can go in and play. Maybe not as a freshman but as a sophomore or junior.”

Despite the fact Bruce often did much of his recruiting in his home state, he uncharacteristically went outside Ohio to sign the two quarterbacks in the 1982 class. Jim Karsatos of Fullerton, Calif., joined Walter Norley of Warrington, Pa., as new Buckeyes. At the same time, Bruce allowed one homegrown signal caller to escape his grasp.

That was Parade All-American QB Bernie Kosar of Youngstown (Ohio) Boardman, who signed with Miami (Fla.). After redshirting with the Hurricanes in 1982 behind starter Jim Kelly, Kosar broke into the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman in ’83 and led Miami to its first national championship.

Here is a complete list of Ohio State’s recruiting class of 1982. See how many of them you can remember.

Dan Bachorski, OT, Bridgeville (Pa.) Chartiers Valley – Bachorski played both offensive and defense in high school and earned all-state honors as an offensive tackle in 1981 as a senior. Unfortunately, he reported for his first Ohio State about 35 pounds overweight and spent most of his first few years as a Buckeye trying to keep his weight under control. Bachorski finally looked like he had turned the corner during spring practice in 1985 but he left the team shortly thereafter and won no letters during his OSU career.

Roman Bates, RB, Memphis (Tenn.) Hamilton – The 6-0, 207-pound Bates had lots of speed and plenty of power. He could bench press 365 pounds and squat lift 665. As a high school senior, he rushed for 1,616 yards and 19 TDs, and then lettered for the Buckeyes in 1983 and ’84 as both a tailback and fullback. In those two seasons, he totaled 447 yards and averaged a nifty 5.0 yards per carry. But Bates was plagued by injuries and run-ins with the law during his OSU career. He was limited to only a handful of games during his junior season in 1985, and then shortly before the 1986 season opener, Bruce announced he had dismissed Bates from the team for “violating team regulations.”

Tom Bose, LB, Stow, Ohio – Bose was a two-sport from Stow and served as captain of his high school’s football and basketball teams as a senior. He won third-team All-Ohio honors in 1981 as a linebacker but was versatile enough to have also played offensive tackle and tight end for the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, he could not duplicate that success at Ohio State. Bose never lettered for the Buckeyes.

Keith Byars, FB, Dayton (Ohio) Roth – Over the last three decades, Byars is one of the most gifted all-around athletes to play football at Ohio State. He was a four-sport star at Roth and excelled at everything he tries. Byars rushed for 1,701 yards and 14 TDs as a senior; started at forward on two state basketball championship teams; played center field on the baseball team and hit .520 as a junior and .480 as a senior; and ran on the state track championship 440-yard relay team. After spending his freshman season as a backup fullback, Byars broke out as a sophomore with 1,199 yards and 20 TDs in 1983, and then had a junior season of epic proportions. In addition to rushing for 22 touchdowns, he broke the OSU single-season record with 1,764 yards. He also added 42 receptions for 479 yards and two more scores. That year, Byars finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting to Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie. Unfortunately, Byars broke a bone in his foot prior to his senior season in 1985 and was limited to only a handful of games. Nevertheless, he went on to become a first-round draft pick of Philadelphia in the 1986 NFL draft, and Byars enjoyed a 14-year pro career with the Eagles, Dolphins, Patriots and Jets.

Jeff Cargile, RB, Cincinnati (Ohio) Roger Bacon – The 6-1, 203-pounder did a little bit of everything in high school, earning a total of nine letters combined in football, basketball and track. He had 2,715 yards and 25 career TDs for the Spartans, and earned all-city honors as a senior. Because of a glut of talented running backs ahead of him, Cargile switched to defense and earned letters in 1983 and ’84 as backup to starting roverback Sonny Gordon. He left the program before the 1985 season.

Tom Glancy, OL, West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman – Glancy was an accomplished high school athlete who won letters in football, wrestling and track, and he also dabbled in racquetball and swimming. The 6-4, 264-pound was recruited to play offensive guard for the Buckeyes and appeared ready to contend for the starting spot in 1985. But he couldn’t break into the two-deep and eventually left the program with no letters.

Steve Hill, DB, Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) Choctawhatchee – Hill was an Air Force brat who grew up all over the world. He was an excellent two-sport star in high school, and lettered in baseball as well as football for the Buckeyes. Hill hit .310 and played outfield for the baseball Buckeyes to win his only letter in 1985, and he earned three football letters from 1983-85 as a backup cornerback. His athletic career ended in the spring of 1986 when he suffered a freak kneecap injury while playing baseball, but he served the final year of his scholarship as a student-coach for the football team.

Dennis Hueston, LB, Toledo (Ohio) Macomber – At 6-1 and 204 pounds, Hueston was a bit undersized to play linebacker but that didn’t stop the Buckeyes from recruiting him. He was good enough to earn all-city honors on both offense and defense, and he earned third-team All-Ohio mention as an outside linebacker. Hueston lettered for the Buckeyes in 1983, and registered 35 tackles, including a pair of sacks, the following season. He left the team prior to the 1985 season.

John Hutchison, LB, Atwater (Ohio) Waterloo – The 6-3, 236-pound Hutchison was versatile enough to play quarterback and linebacker for his high school team. He began his OSU career as an outside linebacker, but switched to tight end in the spring of 1983. Hutchison spent the remainder of his career backing up starter Ed Taggart, but he was valuable enough to earn three letters from 1984 to ’86.

Gene Hulshult, DL, Hamilton (Ohio) Badin – An all-state defensive tackle for the Rams, the 6-4, 246-pound Hulshult was envisioned as a potential hole-plugger for the Buckeyes. OSU coaches described him as a “fundamentally sound” defensive lineman, and he came from a winning program that posted a record of 33-5 during his three years as a starter. Unfortunately, his college career never got started and he never lettered as a Buckeye.

Thomas “Pepper” Johnson, LB, Detroit (Mich.) MacKenzie – The 6-3, 216-pound all-state terror earned his unusual nickname from an aunt who observed him regularly sprinkling pepper on his breakfast cereal. Johnson teamed with Chris Spielman in 1984 and ’85 to give the Buckeyes one of the most awesome one-two linebacker punches in college football history. Johnson topped 140 tackles in each of his last two seasons and was voted the team’s defensive most valuable player both years. Earning All-America honors as a senior, he was also voted as one of the team captains in both his junior and senior seasons. Johnson was a second-round selection in the 1986 NFL draft by the New York Giants and he anchored a defense that won Super Bowl championships in 1986 and 1990. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and spent 13 seasons in the NFL with the Giants, Browns, Lions and Jets. Since 2000, he has been an assistant coach for the New England Patriots, first with linebackers and now with the defensive line, and has won three more Super Bowl rings with that team. Johnson’s son, Dionte, played four seasons at fullback for Ohio State from 2004-07, and when the younger Johnson was voted team co-captain for the ’07 season, it made the Johnsons only the third father-son combination in school history to serve as captains. The others are Jim and Kirk Herbstreit (1960 and 1992) and James and Jeff Davidson (1964 and 1989).

Jim Karsatos, QB, Fullerton (Calif.) Sunny Hills – After an excellent high school career that included throwing for 4,426 yards and 40 touchdowns, Karsatos took a while to get his Ohio State career going. He was actually part of the team’s 1981 recruiting class, but he underwent knee surgery and delayed his enrollment. He redshirted in ’82, and then suffered a stress fracture in his back the following summer. By the team he had regained his health, Karsatos was locked in behind starter Mike Tomczak. Once Tomczak graduated, though, Karsatos took over and was the Buckeyes’ QB in 1985 and ’86. He became the first Ohio State quarterback ever to enjoy back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons and finished his career with 5,089 yards and 36 TDs. The yardage figure is eighth all-time in school history and the touchdown total ranks sixth.

Mike Kee, LB, Columbus (Ohio) Eastmoor – Kee earned all-state honors as a senior for the Warriors and was named to play in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game. Unfortunately, he blew out a knee in a summer league basketball game and missed the entire 1982 season. Kee returned to letter as a backup linebacker and special teams player in 1983, but injuries limited him to only two games in ’84. Again, he rehabbed and eventually became at starter at linebacker in 1986. Kee totaled 93 tackles, including seven for loss, and also caused three fumbles for the Buckeyes during his senior season in ’86.

Mike Lanese, RB, Mayfield, Ohio – Lanese was recruited as a tailback after rushing for 1,417 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior. After displaying his quick moves and penchant for catching the football, it didn’t take the Buckeyes long to move him to a receiver position, however. Lanese was the starting flanker in 1984 and ’85, and finished his career with 73 receptions for 1,175 yards, an average of 16.1 yards per catch. In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Lanese was also an honor student in the classroom. He was a two-time Academic All-American, a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarship winner and a Rhodes Scholar.

Scott Leach, DB, Bridgeport (Conn.) Bassick – With a 6-3, 214-pound frame and good speed, Leach was a terror in the defensive backfield and earned co-player of the year honors in Connecticut as a high school senior. He blew out his knee as a freshman at Ohio State in 1982 but rehabbed and became a valuable backup and special teams player for the Buckeyes. Leach was a three-year letterwinner from 1984 to ’86.

Byron Lee, LB, Columbus (Ohio) Eastmoor – Lee was overshadowed on a team that also featured All-Americans such as Johnson and Spielman, but he had a workmanlike attitude and was a member of one of college football’s best linebacking corps during the era. Lee was a three-sport star at Eastmoor, and made an almost immediate impact when he joined the Buckeyes. He was a three-year starter on the outside and was consistently the team’s best player at getting after the quarterback. Lee established a new school record in 1984 by sacking Indiana quarterbacks for 32 yards in losses. That mark was equaled by Vernon Gholston in 2007 against Wisconsin, but it has never been bettered. Lee completed his career with 10 sacks for 111 yards in losses.

Darryl Lee, DL, Columbus (Ohio) Marion Franklin – The 6-3, 258-pounder had a perpetual motor and once registered 30 tackles in a high school game. Lee also seemed to be in the right place at the right time, including his freshman year when he blocked a punt in the end zone against Minnesota that gave the Buckeyes a touchdown. The four-year letterman started at defensive tackle in 1985 and ’86, and totaled 69 tackles, including 9.0 for loss and 3.0 sacks, during those two seasons.

Bob Maggs, OL, Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney – The 6-5, 274-pounder earned prep All-America honors at Mooney, and the Cardinals posted a 22-1 record during the two seasons he was a starter. Maggs started his career as a tackle, but switched to center when starter Kirk Lowdermilk broke his leg eight games into the 1984 season. Maggs continued his stranglehold on the position for the remainder of his career and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in both 1985 and ’86.

Tom McCormick, OL, Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward – Long before nearly every offensive tackle prospect stood 6-5 or taller, the 6-7 McCormick was one of the tallest OSU prospects at the time. He earned first-team All-Ohio honors and had exceptionally quick feet for a big man. McCormick couldn’t crack the lineup with the Buckeyes, however, and never lettered.

Walter Norley, QB, Warrington (Pa.) Germantown Academy – No one really knows just how good Norley could have become at Ohio State. After throwing for more than 2,100 yards and 25 TDs in 2½ high school seasons, the 6-3, 196-pounder broke his collarbone in the fifth game of his senior season and missed the rest of the year. Then, before he got to OSU, Norley injured his back in a summer all-star game and decided to delay his enrollment for a year. Norley never became a Buckeye and eventually enrolled at Georgia, where he was a backup quarterback and won his only letter in 1983.

Tim Odom, OL, Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller – Odom had a superlative high school career, earning All-Ohio and All-America honors as a guard and helping the Crusaders to back-to-back state championships in 1980 and ’81. When he got to OSU, the Buckeyes moved him to center where he was a backup to Lowdermilk and Maggs in 1984. Odom won his only letter than season as a chronic knee injury forced him to miss the entire ’85 season and eventually give up football.

Mark Pfister, LB, Upper Arlington, Ohio – Pfister was a talented 6-2, 232-pound bruiser who starred at linebacker in high school, helping the Golden Bears to a three-year record of 28-4-1. Power was one of his attributes with a bench press in excess of 400 pounds and a squat lift of 625. Unfortunately, a litany of injuries followed Pfister throughout his OSU career. He suffered an ulcer, a severely sprained knee, a separation shoulder, a hand injury and a second shoulder separation before finally giving up the game after lettering in 1983 and ’84.

Rich Spangler, K, Geneva, Ohio – Spangler was a gangly 6-2, 180-pound kicking specialist that more than one teammate initially mistook for a team manager. By the time he had graduated four years later, he was one of Ohio State’s all-time leading scorers. Spangler kicked 39 field goals during his career, which still ranks fifth on the school’s all-time list, and booted a 52-yarder in the 1985 Rose Bowl against USC, the longest field goal in Ohio State bowl history. Spangler also benefited from a potent OSU offense during his career to convert 177 of 184 PAT attempts. Both numbers remain school records nearly a quarter-century after Spangler last kicked for the Buckeyes. His 294 career points still ranks sixth all-time behind Mike Nugent (356), Pete Johnson (348), Dan Stultz (342), Keith Byars (300) and Vlade Janakievski (295).

Barry Walker, FB, Lancaster, Ohio – Walker maximized his talents despite suffering several injuries and struggling with asthma throughout his playing career. He rushed for 1,129 yards as a high school senior and also set an Ohio prep shot put record at 69 feet, 10¾ inches. When he got to the Buckeyes, he flip-flopped between fullback and tailback and suffered shoulder injuries as well as a couple of concussions. Nevertheless, he shouldered on and won four letters between 1983 and ’86. He also started at the fullback position in 1984, rushing for 154 yards on just 30 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per carry.

John Wooldridge, RB, Akron (Ohio) Central-Hower – Wooldridge was an All-Ohio running back in high school and totaled more than 1,500 yards and 22 TDs as a senior. A blend of speed (4.42 in the 40) and power (squat lift of 600 pounds), he became the perfect backfield complement to Byars. Wooldridge was a four-year letterman and took over the starting tailback spot when Byars was sidelined for most of the 1985 season, leading the Buckeyes with 820 yards that year. The 5-11, 190-pounder returned to a backup position during his senior year as sophomore Vince Workman took over the starting tailback spot. Wooldridge finished his OSU career with 1,483 yards and four TDs.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Among the worldwide luminaries celebrating birthdays this 5th day of March: Hockey Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt is 91; former MLB catcher and manager Del Crandall is 79; Eighties TV actor James B. Sikking (Lt. Howard Hunter in “Hill Street Blues”) is 75; actor and former NFL player Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is 71; former MLB reliever Kent Tekulve is 62; reggae musician Eddy Grant (“Electric Avenue”) is 61; Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark is 57; comedian/magician Penn Jillette is 54; The Proclaimers frontmen Charlie and Craig Reid (“I’m Gonna Be 500 Miles”) are 47; Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin is 43; Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is 39; former MLB outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds is 38; St. Louis Cardinals reliever Ryan Franklin is 36; actor Kevin Connolly (Eric Murphy on “Entourage”) is 35; actress Eva Mendes is 35; actress Jolene Blalock (Commander T’Pol in “Star Trek: Enterprise”) is 34; model Niki Taylor is 34; Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko is 33; and Cleveland Cavaliers guard/forward Wally Szczerbiak is 32.

Today also marks the 46th anniversary of the country version of “When The Music Died.” On March 5, 1963, county legend Patsy Cline was killed when her small airplane crashed in a forest just outside of Camden, Tenn., about 90 miles from Nashville. Cline, who recorded such standards as “Walking After Midnight,” “I Fall To Pieces,” “She’s Got You” and “Crazy,” was only 30.

Others who have passed into history on March 5 over the years include: Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev; Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Pepper Martin; actor Jay Silverheels (he portrayed Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s faithful companion); actor William Powell; and comic actor John Belushi.

I WISH THEY WERE JOKING … BUT THEY’RE NOT

Did you know there are currently three bills in committee in the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the Bowl Championship Series? Unbelievable given the economic circumstances we find ourselves in, but true nonetheless.

One bill, sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.), would withhold federal funds from any Division I-A school that doesn’t participate in a playoff. Another, whose main sponsor is Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), would prohibit a national championship game on the grounds that it was unfair and deceptive. The third would reject the BCS as an illegal restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and it is sponsored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii).

Honestly, is this the kind of thing we sent you people to Washington to do? I humbly suggest you write to these three nimrods and tell them to get their eyes back on the ball – and I don’t mean football.

AND FINALLY

** That poor 40 time in the NFL Combine seems to have sent Malcolm Jenkins’ stock plummeting like that of AIG. Before the draft, Jenkins was projected by most analysts as a top-10 pick. On Monday, Jamie Dukes of the NFL Network released his latest mock draft and Jenkins is nowhere to be found in the first round. Dukes projects Beanie Wells and James Laurinaitis as the lone Ohio State players to be taken in the opening round – Wells to Philadelphia at No. 21 and Laurinaitis to Baltimore at No. 26.

** NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. evidently agrees with Dukes. Kiper had Jenkins at No. 12 on his “Big Board” before the combine. After the workouts in Indianapolis, Jenkins dropped off that board which features Kiper’s top 26 draft prospects. Still, Kiper rates Jenkins as the No. 1 cornerback available this year. “Jenkins has all the qualities you look for except topflight catch-up speed, which is an obvious concern,” Kiper wrote last week after the combine. “Even so, he’s too good an overall performer to pass up in the middle portion of Round 1. Hopefully, he’ll run a little better than the 4.55-second 40 time he posted at the combine workout.”

** For anyone who still thinks Joe Paterno entertains any notion of retirement, look at what former Penn State receiver Derrick Williams told reporters at the NFL combine: “Joe Paterno’s one of those coaches that he eats, sleeps, dreams everything about football. That’s what’s keeping him going. He’s very young at heart. We know that if he was going to retire, something would have really, really had to been wrong, like he died on the field or something like that. I never even thought about it. I thought this year might have been the year and the next thing I hear is, ‘I can’t wait to run out on the field next year.’”

** Some major college programs are interested in playing marquee series while others are not. Every Ohio State fan knows the Buckeyes will play Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech and Oklahoma in the coming years, while LSU and West Virginia recently announced their home-and-home series will begin in 2010. Then there are schools such as Missouri and Wisconsin. The Tigers have announced they will fill out their 2009 schedule with Furman while the Badgers completed their 2011 slate with South Dakota. I understand the reasoning behind scheduling I-AA opposition, but schools should at least put representative teams from the so-called Football Championship Subdivision. Furman went 7-5 last year and South Dakota was 6-5.

** One of the most talked-about college quarterback prospects of the future is David Sills of Bear, Del. He is currently working with QB tutor Steve Clarkson, who has also mentored the sons of Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana, who share quarterbacking duties at Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, Calif. The most unusual thing about Sills? The thing that currently sets him apart from Clarkson’s other pupils? He’s 12.

** When it’s time for me to go, I think I’d like Liev Schreiber to give the eulogy. In case you didn’t know, Schreiber is the narrator of all those great HBO sports documentaries.

The Best OSU Football Player Ever?

Whenever Ohio State fans gather to debate the best player ever to wear the Scarlet and Gray, several names will enter the conversation.

When the time comes to discuss the greatest individual performance in the long and storied history of the Buckeyes, however, no one can match the performance of Vic Janowicz on a late October afternoon in 1950.

Janowicz, who would have celebrated his 79th birthday today, was one of those rare individuals who excelled at everything he ever tried to do. But even his great talent reached new levels when the Buckeyes hosted Iowa on Oct. 28, 1950.

In just one afternoon, the junior speedster scored two touchdowns, threw for four scores, recovered two fumbles each of which led to OSU touchdowns, was responsible for kicking 10 extra points, kicked off eight times, carried the ball six times for a 5.1-yard average and completed 5 of 6 pass attempts for 128 yards.

Once the dust had cleared, Ohio State owned an 83-21 victory over the Hawkeyes – a point total that still stands as the most ever scored by the Buckeyes against a Big Ten opponent – and Janowicz was on his way to becoming only the third underclassman to win the Heisman Trophy.

By the time he arrived in Columbus to play for head coach Wes Fesler, Janowicz was already well-known throughout Ohio.

Born Victor Felix Janowicz on Feb. 26, 1930, he was a triple-threat player at Elyria High School, starring on offense, defense and special teams. There was nothing Janowicz couldn’t do on a football field. His speed made him a threat to score a touchdown every time he touched the ball as a halfback or kick returner, and he played safety on defense with reckless abandon. His athletic talents were so great that he was also his team’s punter and placekicker.

Although recruiting was not followed at the frenzied pace that it is today, Janowicz’s exploits in high school made him one of the most highly sought-after prospects in the nation. More than 60 colleges and universities offered full scholarships, many of them promising to build their entire teams around Janowicz.

However, the Buckeyes had a little something extra going for them as they pursued the services of “Vic the Quick.” The previous year, an organization known as the Frontliners was formed to help recruit top talent for the Ohio State football program. Alumni Association field secretary J. Edward Weaver – who would later serve as the school’s athletic director from 1970-77 – joined with longtime assistant coach Ernie Godfrey to form the group comprised of prominent alumni, top businessmen and well-heeled program supporters. The group’s main purpose was to help direct top high school talent to Columbus.

One of the group’s members was property developer, thoroughbred breeder and Pittsburgh Pirates owner John W. Galbreath, who took an immediate liking to Janowicz. The feeling was evidently mutual and the Buckeyes were able to land one of the most prized high school recruits in many years.

Janowicz first arrived at Ohio State in the fall of 1948 and immediately made a name for himself on the Buckeyes’ freshman squad. The following season, he was one of several talented sophomores who worked their way into playing time with other talented players such as Pandel Savic, Fred “Curly” Morrison, Ray Hamilton and Jimmy Clark. Janowicz saw playing time on offense and defense as OSU had one of its best seasons in many years. He scored his first collegiate touchdown during a 46-7 win over Indiana, and later scored again during a 30-17 homecoming victory against Illinois.

The Buckeyes finished the 1949 season tied for the Western Conference championship and earned their first Rose Bowl bid in 29 years. Best of all, they got to avenge their 28-0 loss to California in the 1921 game by getting a fourth-quarter field goal from Jimmy Hauge for a 17-14 victory over the Bears. Janowicz didn’t see much action on offense in the contest, carrying the ball only once for a gain of just 1 yard. But he managed to play well on defense, picking off an interception early in the game and returning it 44 yards.

Years later, Savic would remember that “Vic’s interception and return turned things around for us, and it really took the spirit out of California’s attack.”

That kind of game-changing play would be in full display the following season as Janowicz took center stage for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State had lost its 1950 season opener, a 32-27 decision to Southern Methodist. The team regrouped, however, and rattled off three straight victories, outscoring Pittsburgh, Indiana and Minnesota by a combined 115-21 score. But the Buckeyes were just getting started when Iowa invaded Ohio Stadium on an unseasonably warm late October afternoon.

The annual Dad’s Day crowd of 82,174 was the third-largest ever in the Horseshoe at the time, and they had barely had a chance to settle into their seats before Janowicz lit the fuse on the offensive fireworks display.

The drama of the game was packed into the early minutes. Iowa won the toss and elected to receive but that allowed Ohio State to choose defense of the south goal, giving them the advantage of a gusting wind. That decision paid off quickly when Janowicz’s opening kickoff sailed far over the Iowa kick returners’ heads, hitting 10 yards behind the end zone and rolling to the cinder track that encircled the playing field.

That gave Iowa the ball at its own 20-yard line, and when Jerry Faske fumbled on the first play, Janowicz pounced and recovered the loose football at the 23.

The Buckeyes quickly moved to the 11-yard line and then Janowicz took over. He tried to break through a hole in the line on a trap play, but was hemmed in about the 7 by four Iowa defenders. But after making two of them miss and getting a block from Julius Whitman, Janowicz steamed over the last Iowa defender and into the end zone for the touchdown. He added the extra point and the Buckeyes were off and running with a 7-0 lead.

When the Hawkeyes got the ball back, they didn’t do much with it. They had a motion penalty on first down, a short run on second down and an incomplete pass on third down to force a punt. Iowa punter Glenn Drahn lofted a beautiful spiral into the crystal blue sky, sending Janowicz back in full gallop to field the kick. But Drahn’s effort was too good. His 70-yard boot had not only sailed farther than Janowicz had anticipated, it also outkicked the Hawkeye punt coverage.

Janowicz circled back to field the punt at his own 39-yard line, turned upfield, got a couple of key blocks and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone with a 61-yard touchdown return. He added the PAT again, and the Buckeyes enjoyed a 14-0 advantage only three minutes and 29 seconds into the contest.

And they were just getting warmed up.

On Iowa’s next play from scrimmage, the Hawkeyes fumbled again and Janowicz recovered at the 26-yard line. Three plays later, he ran wide to the right on what appeared to be a sweep but quickly stopped, jumped and threw a pass to Tony Curcillo, who was waiting in the end zone and made a leaping catch for the touchdown.

That made it Ohio State 21, Iowa 0, with 9:50 still remaining in the first quarter.

“It was like a dream,” Janowicz would say years later. “Everything we tried just seemed to work. It seemed like every time we got the ball, we scored.”

The advantage swelled by two more scores after a 43-yard run by Walt Klevay and a fumble recovery in the end zone by OSU lineman Jerry Manz. Janowicz added the PAT after both scores to give the Buckeyes a 35-0 cushion – and more than three minutes still remained in the first quarter.

The Hawkeyes counted seven possessions in the first quarter alone, and had the ball for more than 11 minutes to less than four for the Buckeyes. But Iowa fumbled away four of their possessions, and the three others resulted in punts, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Janowicz.

A holding penalty early in the second quarter momentarily stalled the Buckeyes, but on the next play, Janowicz flipped a short pass into the flat to Bob Grimes. The Buckeye receiver gathered in the ball, stopped for a moment to let an Iowa defender fly by, and then finished off a 40-yard touchdown play by outrunning a pair of Hawkeyes to the end zone. Janowicz added the extra point for a 42-0 lead.

As if the score wasn’t already out of hand, touchdown No. 7 for the Buckeyes featured some trickery. After a three-and-out on their next possession, Iowa punted to Fred Bruney, who fielded the ball on his own 13-yard line. As he scampered to his left, teammate Bob Demmel came from the other side of the field to offer some interference. However, when the two crossed paths, Bruney shuffled the ball to Demmel, who never broke stride.

Most of the Hawkeyes continued to track Bruney, and by the time they discovered what had happened, Demmel was well on his way to an 87-yard touchdown romp. Janowicz added another PAT, pushing the Buckeyes’ advantage to 49-0.

Ohio State tacked on one more touchdown in the second quarter. This time, faced with third-and-15 at the Iowa 25, Janowicz threw a strike to Richard Anderson in the end zone, who pivoted at the exact time the ball arrived.

The touchdown pass made it 55-0 in favor of the Buckeyes before Janowicz pushed his point-after kick attempt wide. An account the next day in The Columbus Dispatch characterized the missed kick was “just to show the guy is human – perhaps.”

The Hawkeyes finally got on the scoreboard at the 9:43 mark of the second period, tallying a short touchdown pass, and then they got another score on the final play of the second quarter to make it 55-14 at the break and close what was probably the most frenzied first half in Ohio Stadium history. The teams had combined for 10 touchdowns, including two on punt returns and one defensive score. The first half also featured 69 points, 476 total offensive yards, eight turnovers and 12 penalties.

Janowicz had already accounted for five TDs in the first 30 minutes. He had rushed twice for 19 yards, including his 11-yard score; passed four times, completing three (all for TDs) for 77 yards; and returned a punt 61 yards for another score. He also punted for a 33-yard average, kicked off nine times and converted seven PAT kicks.

The second half was simply a cherry on top of the sundae. The Buckeyes scored four more touchdowns that afternoon, including a third-quarter pass from Janowicz to Fred Bruney that covered 43 yards.

For the game, Iowa committed 12 turnovers, losing seven fumbles and five interceptions. Meanwhile, Ohio State could easily have cracked the century mark on the scoreboard because the Buckeyes turned the ball over three times on three interceptions, and also had a punt blocked.

Nevertheless, it was one of the most high-scoring afternoons in stadium history. The Buckeyes wouldn’t crack the 60-point barrier again until the 1969 season opener against Texas Christian, a 62-0 blowout. And they wouldn’t break 70 again until a 70-6 win over Northwestern in October 1981.

But an Ohio State team has not topped the 80-point mark since that late October day in 1950. Likewise, the program has never again witnessed a single player account for points by running, throwing, returning a punt and kicking an extra point since Janowicz achieved the feat against the Hawkeyes.

Janowicz went on to earn the 1950 Silver Football Trophy, symbolic of the Big Ten’s most valuable player, and then became the school’s second Heisman Trophy winner. He won the award in a landslide, more than doubling the vote total of his nearest competitor, SMU senior halfback Kyle Rote.

After leaving Ohio State following the 1951 season, Janowicz spurned offers to play in the NFL and instead played two seasons of major league baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Following the 1954 season, however, Janowicz decided to return to football and signed a contract with the Washington Redskins.

After easing his way back into the game in ’54 primarily as the Redskins’ kicker, Janowicz appeared to be back to form the following year. He rushed for 397 yards and four touchdowns, caught 11 receptions for 149 yards and two more TDs and booted six field goals and 28 PATs as Washington finished 8-4, just a game and a half behind Cleveland for the NFL East Division championship.

The following summer, Janowicz was primed for a breakout season but it was not meant to be. During training camp in 1956, he was nearly killed in an automobile accident. He suffered serious head injuries that left him partially paralyzed, ending his athletic career.

But Janowicz did not give up. After years of rehabilitation, he overcame the paralysis and spent many years as administrative assistant to the state auditor.

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976, and one year later was in the inaugural class of inductees into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1992, he received perhaps his highest honor when the Columbus Downtown Quarterback Club named him Ohio State’s greatest athlete of the previous 50 years.

Janowicz continued to be much in demand as a public speaker, especially at schools where he would cheerfully display his Heisman Trophy. He took great delight in telling children to rub the back leg of the player on the trophy for good luck.

He continued to tour the state as a goodwill ambassador for the university until his death from cancer on Feb. 27, 1996 – just one day after his 66th birthday.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Today’s other Buckeye birthday belongs to former Ohio State basketball player Treg Lee.

Treg Lee was born Feb. 26, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio, and named for his father’s four best friends – Tony, Ronnie, Eddie and Greg. Lee became an all-state performer and Class AAA player of the year at St. Joseph’s High School, leading the Vikings to the state semifinals as a senior while averaging 18.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists. He also earned consensus prep All-America honors in 1987 and was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game. Lee signed with Ohio State but missed his freshman season as a Prop 48 academic casualty. He eased into the lineup as a sophomore and became a valuable backup as junior before starting at power forward for the Big Ten champion Buckeyes in 1991. Lee is probably best remembered for his game-winning shot that capped a terrific 97-95 overtime victory over Indiana, a game that is replayed often on ESPN Classic and the Big Ten Network’s “Greatest Games” series. Lee finished his OSU career with 643 points and 347 rebounds. After college, Lee played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association and also in Europe. Recently, he has been running General Lee Sports, his own basketball skills and fundamental business in the Cleveland area, and also officiating high school games.

Other luminaries sharing birthdays this 26th day of February: former game show host Tom Kennedy is 82; R&B legend Antoine Dominique “Fats” Domino is 81; Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is 81; political columnist Robert Novak is 75; Sixties TV actress Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson in the original “Lost in Space”) is 64; Detroit Wheels frontman Mitch Ryder (born William S. Levise Jr.) is 64; contemporary crooner Michael Bolton is 56; Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is 51; Grammy winning singer Erykah Badu (born Erica Abi Wright) is 38; former NFL running back Marshall Faulk is 36; and eight-time Olympic gold medal swimming Jenny Thompson is 36.

A distinguished group of late celebrities also shared Feb. 26 as their birthday. They include English dramatist Christopher Marlowe; French author Victor Hugo; eponymous jeans maker Levi Strauss; American frontiersman William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody; Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander; comedic entertainer Jackie Gleason; actor Tony Randall; music legend Johnny Cash; and actor William Frawley, who has been on television almost nonstop since the early 1950s. Frawley, who died in 1966 at the age of 79, played Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.”

AND FINALLY

** NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. says that the four top quarterbacks taken this year will be underclassmen because this year’s crop of senior QBs is “the worst senior quarterback group” he has ever seen. Even so, Kiper doesn’t have much good to say about the guys who will follow Matthew Stafford of Georgia, projected to be the overall No. 1 pick to Detroit. Kiper said that both USC’s Mark Sanchez and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman should have stayed in school – “Freeman is a roll of the dice. Same with Sanchez.” – and Nate Davis of Ball State had a poor finish to his college career and measured small at the combine. Kiper’s idea of a quarterback steal in this draft? Curtis Painter of Purdue, who is expected to be taken in the late rounds.

** Bracketology warning! Beware about picking some Cinderella team like Arkansas-Little Rock to go far in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans are currently 20-7 and leading the Sun Belt West. But you should also be aware that leading scorer Steven Moore, who had 10 performances of 16 points or more this season, was recently dismissed from the team.

** Like father like son – in some things. Texas Tech basketball coach Pat Knight was suspended for one game following his complaints about the officiating after his team lost a 79-73 decision Feb. 21 to Texas A&M. That loss sent the Red Raiders’ record to 12-15 in their first full season under Knight. Know how many losing seasons his old man had during his 42-year Hall of Fame career? Two. His 1971 Army team was 11-13 and his 2006 Texas Tech team went 15-17.

** Speaking of coaching as a family business, new Illinois State head coach Brock Spack has hired Dan Shula as an offensive assistant. Shula is the son of former Cincinnati Bengals coach Dave Shula, nephew of former Alabama head coach Mike Shula, and grandson of former Miami Dolphins head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula.

** Sign of the economic times? Northern Iowa has announced it will drop its baseball program after this season, saving the university approximately $400,000. As a point of reference, new NIU athletic director Troy Dannen was hired with a four-year contract that pays him $155,000 annually. Also, football coach Mark Farley, who has been in Cedar Falls for seven seasons, recently was given a five-year extension on a deal that is worth $220,000 with additional incentives based on team athletic and academic performance.

** Some top-rated high school football players have yet to sign national letters of intent and already the 2010 recruiting season is well under way. Texas head coach Mack Brown just received a verbal from cornerback Carrington Byndum of Lufkin, Texas. That gives Brown a even dozen commitments for next year already.

The ‘Other’ Bill Hosket

Most Ohio State basketball fans know Bill Hosket from his all-conference playing days in the late 1960s to a broadcast career that has spanned four decades and continues to this day.

But did you know that Hosket’s father, known as Bill Sr., was also an All-Big Ten performer at Ohio State and that today would have been his 98th birthday?

Wilmer Clemons Hosket was born Feb. 19, 1911, in Dayton, Ohio, and became a championship basketball player at almost every level. Hosket, who eventually grew to stand just shy of 6-5, starred at Stivers High School in Dayton for head coach Floyd Stahl. Stahl would later serve eight seasons from 1951-58 as head coach at Ohio State.

With Hosket at the pivot, the Tigers won three consecutive state championships from 1928 to 1930, posting an 80-7 record during that span. Six of those losses occurred during Hosket’s sophomore season. At the time he was a high school player, Hosket was considered the finest basketball prospect ever produced by the state of Ohio.

After his graduation from Stivers, Hosket joined Ohio State head coach Harold “Tubby” Olsen’s program. Olsen, who at 24 seasons coached longer than any other basketball coach in school history, was looking to snap a string of second-division finishes in the Western Conference after leading the Buckeyes to their first league championship in 1925.

Hosket played mostly in a reserve role during his first couple of seasons at Ohio State. Those years featured lineups that included such standouts as Wes Fesler and Lew Hinchman – both of which were three-time football All-Americans – as well as Richard Larkins, captain of the 1931 team who went to become director of athletics at Ohio State from 1947-70.

Unfortunately, the OSU basketball teams during that time were not very competitive. The Buckeyes finished no higher than a tie for fifth place in the conference between 1926 and 1932, and had back-to-back ninth-place finishes in ’30 and ’31.

Hosket finally cracked the starting lineup at the beginning of the 1932-33 season and immediately paid dividends for Olsen. With a supporting cast that included captain Howard Mattison, former Stivers teammate Bob Colburn and Hinchman, Hosket became a dominating inside force. He was an excellent passer, could shoot the ball with either hand and became one of the premier post players in college basketball. As a result, Ohio State won 15 of their first 16 games during that season and went on to capture the school’s first Western Conference title in eight years.

The Buckeyes finished with a 17-3 record that season with Mattison earning first-team all-conference merit at guard and Hosket receiving first-time honors at center.

After the 1932-33 season, Hosket left Ohio State and played in the Midwest League and upstart National Basketball League as a member of the Dayton Metropolitans. After two seasons with the Metros, he played semipro ball before joining the famed Waterloo Wonders in 1940. The Wonders went from a high school team that won back-to-back Ohio state championships in the mid-1930s to a professional barnstorming squad that toured the country. Hosket played for the Wonders in 1940, a team that defeated both the original Boston Celtics as well as the Harlem Globetrotters.

Hosket returned to his hometown in 1941 and played for the Dayton Suchers, named for the Sucher Meat Packing Co. in the Gem City.

When his playing days were over, Hosket became a basketball official and refereed on both the high school and college levels.

Unfortunately, Hosket did not live to see his son become a basketball star. After a battle against leukemia, he died Dec. 29, 1956, at the age of 45. It was just nine days after Bill Jr. had celebrated his 10th birthday.

The younger Hosket – who technically is not Bill Jr. because his middle name is Frederick – went on to win a high school state championship at Dayton Belmont, a Big Ten championship with Ohio State in 1968, an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. basketball team at the ’68 Summer Games in Mexico City and an NBA title as member of the New York Knicks in 1970.

He led the Buckeyes in scoring and rebounding during each of his three varsity seasons and became the first OSU Academic All-American in basketball, an honor Hosket went on to win three times.

Perhaps his proudest achievement, however, came when he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1968. That made the Hoskets the first father-son combination ever named first-team All-Big Ten in the history of the conference, and they remain the only ones to hold that distinction.

In 2006, the Hoskets received another joint honor when they were included in the inaugural class of inductees to the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. Also in that inaugural class was the Dayton Stivers teams on which the elder Hosket played.

Bill Sr. received one more posthumous award in 2006 when he was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Stivers High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

HAPPY! HAPPY!

Today’s other Buckeye birthday belongs to former Ohio State cornerback William White. William Eugene White was born Feb. 19, 1966, in Lima, Ohio, and was a star tailback and punt returner for Lima Senior High School before concentrating on defense when he signed with the Buckeyes in 1984. White became a four-year starter at cornerback at OSU and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 1987. He finished his career tied for third on the career interceptions list with 16 and is one of only nine Buckeyes ever to record three interceptions in a single game. White was a fourth-round selection by Detroit in the 1988 NFL draft, and he played 11 pro seasons with the Lions, Chiefs and Falcons. When he retired after the 1998 season, White had 20 career interceptions, averaging 15.5 yards per return, and recovered three fumbles, returning two of those for touchdowns.

Other luminaries sharing birthdays this 19th day of February: Motown legend William “Smokey” Robinson is 69; Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Paul Krause is 67; Sixties pop singer Lou Christie (“Lightnin’ Strikes”) is 66; Loverboy lead guitarist Paul Dean is 63; Black Sabbath guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi is 61; novelist Amy Tan (“The Joy Luck Club”) is 57; Argentina president Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner is 56; actor Jeff Daniels is 54; English author Helen Fielding (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”) is 51; Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is 49; retired four-time Grand Slam champion tennis player Hana Mandlíková is 47; Grammy winning singer Seal (born Seal Henry Olusegun Kwassi Olumide Adelo Samuel) is 46; Eighties television actress Justine Bateman is 43; Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”) is 42; Memphis Grizzlies forward Mike Miller is 29; and singer/actress Haylie Duff is 24.

An eclectic group of celebrities also died on this day in history. They include military aviation pioneer Billy Mitchell, actress Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet on the “Batman” television series); original AC/DC frontman Bon Scott; Italian actor Adolfo Celi (Bond villain Emilio Largo in “You Only Live Twice”); Oakland A’s owner Charles O. Finley; Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping; county music legend Grandpa Jones; and prolific film director Stanley Kramer, who directed such dramatic classics as “The Defiant Ones,” “Inherit The Wind,” “Judgment at Nuremberg” and “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” as well as broad comedies like “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” Many of Kramer’s films won technical and acting Academy Awards, but he never took home an Oscar for direction.

AND FINALLY

** NFL draft expert Mel Kiper has some words of wisdom for former Ohio State players prepping for this weekend’s NFL Combine: Do well or don’t bother to stay by the phone on the first day of the draft. “Malcolm Jenkins, if he’s runs a great 40 time, could be a top 10 pick,” Kiper said recently. “If not, he could be viewed as a safety (and his draft status will drop). I think this combine is as important for him as anybody in this draft.” Meanwhile, Kiper was a even more blunt regarding a pair of ex-OSU linebackers when he said, “James Laurinaitis’ stock has dropped from the beginning of the year, and Marcus Freeman’s stock has dropped. They need to have good workouts.”

** With starting quarterback Steven Threet deciding to leave the team and seek a transfer, does this mean Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez has to go back to square one again with his offense? That is a scary thought for U-M fans hopeful that last year’s 3-9 record was a one-year aberration. The Wolverines ranked dead last in the Big Ten last season in pass offense, total offense and turnover margin. Tough to see how Rodriguez’s team can improve those stats while breaking in another new starting quarterback.

** From the recruiting leftover file: Wide receiver DeAngelo Benton of Bastrop, La., committed to LSU two seasons ago but was unable to satisfy academic requirements for freshman eligibility. No problem. LSU head coach Les Miles tucked the 6-2, 190-pound Benton securely away at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., and then got reassurance from the receiver on the weekend before signing day that Benton would sign with the Tigers this year. Less than 24 hours before signing day, Benton was still telling everyone he would sign with LSU. The following day, Benton did indeed sign – with Auburn. Is there any wonder why so much animosity exists between SEC football coaches?

** Here’s a little quiz for you. What do guys named Jim Schwartz, Jim Caldwell, Rex Ryan and Raheem Morris have in common? Would you believe they are all head coaches in the National Football League? The NFL boasts 10 new head coaches, including seven who have never led teams before. Schwartz takes over in Detroit, Caldwell succeeds Tony Dungy in Indianapolis, Ryan will lead the New York Jets and Morris will be in charge in Tampa Bay. The other three newbies: Josh McDaniels in Denver, Todd Haley in Kansas City and Steve Spagnuolo in St. Louis.

** Not sure what this means but IRL driver Danica Patrick’s tattoo of an American flag that adorns her lower back was airbrushed out of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Last year, Patrick’s flag tattoo was visible in her swimsuit issue photos. Discuss.