By: MIKE PERRY (MorningJournal.com) —
COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s annual spring practice season, 15 practice sessions that lead up to the Scarlet-Gray Game, probably will not answer Buckeyes’ head coach Jim Tressel’s personnel questions with any degree of finality.

But the three weeks will have a purpose.

Tressel faces perhaps the toughest test of his nine years at the helm of the Ohio State program as heavy graduation losses, coupled with a few key early departures, put him is position to replace 28 seniors and three juniors who gave up their final year of eligibility.

Tressel’s recruiting class was headlined by a pair of Florida running backs, Jaamal Berry (Miami Palmetto) and Carlos Hyde (Naples). National consensus put the Buckeyes’ 2009 incoming freshman class fat or near the top of the national rankings.

However, as legendary college basketball coach Al McGuire once said, “The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.”

McGuire was talking about a different sport, but depending heavily on freshmen, Buy Cipro Online without prescription especially at the Big Ten level, rarely pays off in any sport. Of the 25 incoming freshmen, only a few will make any kind of impact this season.

Tressel has firm goals in mind and knows what he wants to accomplish during spring practice. He wants the team to come together as a unit, something he said can “only be done when we’re all together.” He also wants to see who has improved over the winter, when the coaching staff does not play a primary role in the players’ workout regimen.

Tressel also has to identify the actual candidates to fill the holes left due to graduation and players leaving early to declare for the NFL Draft. Though it isn’t likely a starting position will be won or lost in the spring, that’s what summer camp in August is for, the spring sessions will sort out who worked hard during the winter and who has more work to do.

Tressel will not have all his freshmen in camp for spring practice. Most of them have not graduated high school, although seven are already on campus after graduating early. But he will get a good bearing on what he has to work with between now and the Scarlet-Gray game on April 25.

This series will look at the different units and what Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel will be looking at.

Quarterback

With as many questions Tressel must answer before the season opener on Sept. 5 against Navy, the Buckeyes’ quarterback situation is as clear as a bell.

2009 will be Terrelle Pryor’s time to shine.

After being thrust into the starting role four games into his freshman season, Pryor proved all the hype and anticipation surrounding his recruitment was well-deserved.

All he did was step in and lead the Big Ten in passer rating. He immediately became a weapon in an already-loaded offense, and though he had a freshman mistake or two along the way, specifically the fumble against Penn State, Tressel has to feel like his offense is in good hands.

His quarterback rating was a stout 146.5 and he completed 100 of 165 passes for 1,311 yards with 12 touchdowns against just four interceptions.

He also used his legs as a weapon, rushing for 631 yards and six touchdowns, good for second on the team.

“I was really impressed with the way Terrelle picked up things, he’s one of those guys who spends an inordinate amount of time on things,” Tressel said. “The beauty of it was he latched right on to Todd (Boeckman) and just picked Todd’s brain.”

Now Pryor ( 6-foot-6, 235 pounds) has a full off-season under his belt and knows he will be taking the snaps from day one. Tressel thinks Pryor has the potential to show vast improvement because the learning curve is still significant for his young quarterback.

“You would like to think there will be as much improvement between this coming year and last year as in any year you could have,” he said. “I hope by this time next year the amount of improvement is not as much. It’s like a bench press guy; the guys who bench 400, to get to 405 takes a lot of work. Guys who bench 220 to get up to 275 doesn’t take as much work because you have so much room for growth.”

Sophomore Joe Bauserman (6-2, 220) is the likely candidate to be the No. 2 guy behind Pryor. Bauserman saw limited action last season, but saw enough playing time to earn a varsity letter.

Running back

When Chris “Beanie” Wells declared himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft he left perhaps the biggest shoes to fill of all departing players. Tressel is not going to try to fill them.

“You don’t replace Beanie Wells,” he said. “There aren’t any guys in the country like him. So you don’t replace him, you have other guys play that position.”

Wells, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate that saw his season shortened due to a foot injury suffered in an early-season non-conference game against Youngstown State, anchored the Buckeye backfield when healthy.

He rushed for 1,197 yards last season and found the end zone eight times. What was most impressive was his 5.8 yards per carry average, third in the conference behind Penn State’s Evan Royster (6.5) and Iowa’s Shonn Greene (6.0).

Sophomore Dan “Boom” Herron and junior Brandon Saine will battle it out for the starting job, while incoming freshman Jaamal Berry could find himself in the mix as well. Carlos Hyde, another freshman that was recruited as a fullback, could also see time at tailback.

Herron is the most experienced returning running back. The 5-10, 193 pounder saw extended action last season when Wells was out, rushing 89 times for 439 yards and six touchdowns. Saine has worlds of speed, but has a history of injury, missing time in both of his first two seasons in Columbus. He carried the ball 26 times for 65 yards and one touchdown last season.

Regardless of who wins the starting job, Tressel knows a lot of different Buckeyes will get carries this season.

“When you lose a Beanie Wells you have to get a little bit more creative in some other areas,” he said.

Berry is an intriguing prospect. Wrist surgery limited him during his senior season at Miami Palmetto, but as a junior the 5-11, 193 pound tailback rushed for 1,033 yards on just 140 carries. He scored 14 touchdowns that season and impressed recruiters with his quickness.

Hyde, at 6-0, 225 pounds, is a power back that runs downhill. He was the No. 1 fullback in the nation last season, according to scout.com, after rushing for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns his senior season.

Jordan Hall is a top 50 recruit from Pryor’s alma mater, Jeanette High School in western Pennsylvania.

Tressel expects a wide-open competition.

“I’m real high on Boom Herron, have been for a long time, and I’m real excited about having a healthy Brandon Saine,” he said. “We have some good, hard, tough guys like Marcus Williams and Joe Gantz, older guys that know the system and can do some of the things.”

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