COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -In the midst of summer, a popular sports blog ran its predictions for the upcoming college football season.
One reader’s post spoke volumes about the feeling many fans have for Ohio State.
“National championship game prediction: (insert random SEC team here) 49, Ohio State 10.”
After consecutive lopsided losses in the Bowl Championship Series title game – 41-14 to Florida two seasons ago, 38-24 to LSU last season – it’s clear that much of the college football world is tired of Ohio State.
Well, here’s some particularly bad news for the haters: Don’t be surprised if the second-ranked Buckeyes make it to their third straight national title game and fourth in seven years.
“It’s always fun to be hated, especially by everybody,” offensive tackle Alex Boone said. “We kind of take that with a little bit of pride.”
Ohio State is loaded, with almost everybody back from last year’s first units except its best defensive lineman (Vernon Gholston), a solid linebacker (Larry Grant), a good offensive tackle (Kirk Barton) and a largely anonymous fullback (Dionte Johnson).
The long list of returning stars includes tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells, who broke Archie Griffin’s sophomore school rushing record with 1,609 yards, along with quarterback Todd Boeckman, linebackers James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins and wide receivers Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline. Another half-a-dozen players are candidates for various national and conference awards.
Oh, and coach Jim Tressel also added the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit, Terrelle Pryor, who is often compared to former Texas star Vince Young.
So, college football fans, be prepared for a lot more Buckeyes.
Linebacker Ross Homan said he knows many are rooting against him and his teammates.
“We went to the national championship twice now, and lost. So they probably don’t give us a lot of respect,” he said. “Then again, the people in the (locker) room, if we believe in ourselves, that’s all that matters to us.”
As evidence of how good and how experienced the Buckeyes are, consider that one of Tressel’s biggest concerns in preseason camp was keeping his veteran players interested.
“We have I think 40 guys on our rosters right now that are entering years four or five and there’s a little challenge there in our eyes to make sure that those guys come back into training camp (and) they don’t think it’s same-old-same-old,” he said.
So while other schools are trying to find a starting quarterback or plug holes in the starting lineup, Ohio State’s staff is working hard to not have a bunch of bored Buckeyes.
In due time, there’ll be plenty to get their attention. The third game of the year makes for one of the red-letter days in college football this fall: Ohio State at USC on Sept. 13.
Should the Buckeyes win that game, there are still plenty of possible pitfalls down the the road. They play at Wisconsin, at Michigan State and at Illinois – which upended them a year ago at Ohio Stadium.
Time will tell how good the Buckeyes really are, their coach said.
“I don’t think you know the answer to that until you face some adversity: getting behind, losing a game, whatever it happens to be,” he said.
Still, Ohio State received a clear mandate as the team to beat in the Big Ten in the preseason. The Buckeyes have won back-to-back outright conference titles for the first time since 1954-55 and have enough talent to win a third in a row by themselves – something that’s never happened in the Big Ten.
Pull that off and a third straight trip to the BCS title game is a possibility. Like it or not.
“The only thing that will change any of that is just to win,” Laurinaitis said. “That’s all you can do to change anyone’s mind.”
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