By: Mark Tupper (Pantagraph.com) —
CHAMPAIGN — Hardcore college football fans pay close attention to spring battles at positions like backup defensive end and nickel back in the secondary.

But whenever Ohio State Buckeyes fans gather, it doesn’t take long for the conversation to zero in on what will happen on Sept. 12.

That’s when Southern Cal comes to Ohio Stadium for a much-anticipated rematch of a game Southern Cal dominated last year, 35-3 on the Trojans’ home turf.

Ohio State hasn’t had the best of luck playing on national television lately, and the Buckeyes are going through spring practice looking to find key replacements for departing stars such as running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, wide receivers Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline, linebacker James Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.

But the Buckeyes do return dynamic quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who showed star power as a freshman, and seven defensive starters. Plus Southern Cal loses a bundle of talent, including a powerhouse group of linebackers as well as quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Ohio State fans got a scare this week when Pryor had to leave practice early with a sore arm. On Tuesday, speaking on a teleconference call organized by the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Pryor’s arm pain was nothing to worry about.

“It was just a little overuse,” Tressel said. “I saw the medical report this morning, and it should be OK. You talk to your guys about taking care of their body, and with a quarterback they have to learn to take care of their arm and make sure you ice it. And sometimes guys have to learn on their own to pace themselves.”

Tressel said Pryor developed a sore arm from simply throwing too many passes.

“I’d rather have guys overzealous than having to push them,” he said.

Gophers dig new home: The University of Minnesota football team has said goodbye to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and, says Golden Gophers coach Tim Brewster, “we’re not going back.”

That includes a possible visit for the spring game on April 25, even though Minnesota temporarily does not have a football home.

The university is eagerly awaiting the opening of the new TCF Bank Stadium, an open-air facility built on campus. The first game is scheduled for Sept. 12 against Air Force, and Illinois will be playing there on Nov. 7.

In the meantime, Brewster said the Gophers will hold their spring game at St. Thomas University, a Division III school located in St. Paul.

The new facility, located across the street from the Williams Arena basketball facility, will seat 50,300.

Hoosiers to wield ‘pistol’ offense: Indiana is turning to a new offensive scheme as its hopes to crank up the excitement, scoring and victory level.

Coach Bill Lynch and some of his staff went to the University of Nevada to study how the “pistol” offense was fine-tuned by innovative Nevada coach Chris Ault.

“The biggest thing is it gives you the shotgun snap and the back is lined up directly behind the quarterback, much like the old I-formation,” Lynch said. “It gives us flexibility. We can run left or right, depending on the blocking scheme. We also think it gives us better opportunities for play-action.”

The goal, Lynch said, is to make Indiana a more diverse offense.

Running backs wanted: Iowa and Michigan State had two of the most productive running backs in America last season. Replacing them will be more complicated than simply plucking someone from spring drills.

The Hawkeyes must deal with the loss of Shonn Greene, who rushed for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns. The Spartans must replace Javon Ringer, who ran for 1,637 yards and 22 touchdowns.

The top returning ground gainer is Andre Anderson, who carried 26 times for 116 yards.

At Iowa, coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t even pretend there’s another Greene waiting in the wings.

“The way we finished the season Jewel Hampton was the second-team guy and he moves up a line,” Ferentz said. “Paki O’Meara is second-team and Jeff Brinson, a young guy, is No. 3. Those three have gotten the most extensive work this spring.

New wrinkles at Purdue: Gone is head coach Joe Tiller, who introduced the spread offense to the Big Ten Conference when he arrived at Purdue from Wyoming in 1997.

When Tiller decided last season would be his last, he hand picked his successor, Danny Hope, with whom he had worked at both Wyoming and Purdue.

This is Hope’s first year running the Purdue program, and he said he’ll retain much of Tiller’s offense, but plans to add a few twists of his own.

“I came to Purdue with coach Tiller in 1997 and felt like we were on the cutting edge of the spread offense,” he said. “Then I took it with me to Eastern Kentucky, which had been a running team for four decades. We set records and won championships.

“It’s what I know and what I believe in. But there are a few wrinkles I have picked up, and as I worked with Gary Nord (who has joined Hope as Purdue’s new offensive coordinator).”

Changes in store: After slipping to 7-6 last season, including 3-5 in the Big Ten, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said he surveyed people throughout the program and asked them to point out what went wrong.

The result of that exchange of information has resulted in a number of changes.

“We asked for input from staff, from assistant coaches and 16 self-evaluations from people in the equipment room and the weight room. I interviewed 98 players who will return. We made changes in every area including how we go about business in the offseason to special teams, order pills online without prescription which I oversee.”

Bielema said players repeatedly mentioned the need for a heightened sense of accountability, pointing to Wisconsin’s high number of pre-snap penalties for things like procedure violations and lining up offsides.

“Another big point from our players was the camaraderie among themselves,” Bielema said. “So this year when it came time for winter workouts, we grouped players by positions trying to build chemistry within those groups.

“It’s important for every program, every individual and coach, if you want to get better, you need to look at what you personally did, and when last season ended that’s one of the first things we did.”

Safeguarding QBs: Every team shares one goal in the spring: safeguard the proven quarterback.

That’s why quarterbacks all wear red or bright-colored shirts that notify defenses they’re off limits when it comes to contact.

At Penn State, the protection is being given to Darryl Clark, who threw for 19 touchdowns and ran for 10 more last season.

“Darryl Clark is a very, very fine quarterback,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “He is doing everything you want in a quarterback. He’s doing everything you want in the huddle and he’s great in meetings. He’s a real big-league quarterback right now.”

At Northwestern, they hope quarterback Mike Kafka — replacing C.J. Bacher — makes it through spring drills without some freak injury.

“Mike Kafka is a true dual-threat quarterback,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “He showed last year he can run the ball, but he completed 32 of 46 passes, almost 70 percent. So he can throw it as well as he can run it.”

Quest for knowledge: When he was head coach at West Virginia, Rich Rodriquez had a reputation for inviting other coaching staffs into their spring sessions to observe, learn and exchange ideas.

Rodriguez said he’s still willing to do some of that now that he’s at Michigan, but clearly he’s more careful about sharing information that could eventually be used by an opponent.

“We had college staffs and high school staffs who would come in, and it made our fans nervous,” Rodriguez said. “They were like, ‘Why are you always telling them what you’re doing?’

“But we found it invaluable to develop relationships, and also to get some new ideas. It helped us expand our package over the last four or five years.

“I’ll do it here a little bit, but you have to be limited. In our profession, coaches move around and you don’t want to share too much with people you play. You always hold some things back.”

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