Although not a favorite to end up in Pasadena this January, with the exception of playing in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State is a consensus preseason top ten team. Should OSU be a BCS favorite? No, but they should be considered at least a dark-horse contender. Aside from Florida all of the National Title contenders have weaknesses, from Oklahoma's offensive line to USC's quarterback situation.
What Ohio State is lacking in experience, they make up for in potential. A recent Sporting News article ranked the Buckeye offensive line as the second best unit in the nation. It is encouraging, to imagine what Terrelle Pryor will do with a season of experience and a full off season of development behind a great line.
The Buckeyes also will bring an underrated running game that includes Boom Herron and Brandon Saine, who showed more then a glimpse of finally realizing his potential this spring. The Buckeyes are also quite deep at the receiver position, led by potential All Big Ten candidate DeVier Posey. This depth should allow Coach Tressel to experiment with 4 and 5 receiver sets and capitalize and Pryor's athleticism by running some spread formations.
The defensive line is one the deepest and most talented in recent Buckeye history and is certainly the strong point of the defense. OSU will not have to worry about playing tired players because the line goes 8 or 9 deep.
Obviously the biggest game of the season is week two against the Trojans of USC. Will the Buckeyes be able to capitalize on the Trojans inexperienced defense and rookie quarterback is the question. Should Ohio State pull out a win, the only major road-block to an undefeated season is the Penn State game late in the season. The chances of making a title run seem adequate to get excited over the upcoming season, and if 2009 is not the year, 2010 should see OSU as a preseason top 3 ranking and a Heisman candidate at quarterback.
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