By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) -- COLUMBUS -- Bowl season is always the start of next season as much as the end of this one. That means the Fiesta Bowl is both a farewell to the 28 Ohio State seniors and the start of Terrelle Pryor's team. Three years ago, a dominant group that included future first-round NFL picks A.J. Hawk, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold, Bobby Carpenter and Donte Whitner said goodbye in Arizona and passed the torch to freshmen James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, ... Read More

By: JON SPENCER (Gannett News Service) -- COLUMBUS - No. 1 Ohio State will play No. 2 Texas in the Jan. 5 Fiesta Bowl. No, that's not a misprint. It's the way the schools are positioned in the current 2009 recruiting rankings on Scout.com, with LSU, Oklahoma and Alabama rounding out the Top 5. Ohio State's 24-man class includes four five-star recruits: running back Jaamal Berry from Miami, Fla.; defensive end Melvin Fellows from Garfield Heights; linebacker Dorian Bell of Monroeville, Pa.; and defensive tackle ... Read More

BY: TODD PORTER (CantonRep.com) -- PLAYER OF THE GAME Chris "Beanie" Wells Before "Beanie" Wells ever took a handoff Saturday, he wasn't 100 percent. Wells has battled a foot injury all season. Earlier this week, he tweaked a tender hamstring, and then he pulled it again Saturday in the bitter cold. That didn't stop him from beating up Michigan's defense ... again. Wells ran the ball 15 times for 134 yards, including a TD run of 59 yards for Ohio State's first score and ... Read More

By: Zack Meisel (TheLantern.com) -- Dreams of a BCS Championship have vanished. Hopes for an undefeated season are long over. Goals of a Big Ten title will likely not be achieved. To many, this illustrates the current status of Ohio State's football season. But while we expected a veteran squad to erase memories of two title game failures, the '08 campaign has developed into a productive transition year. Coach Jim Tressel pulled the trigger early on senior quarterback Todd Boeckman in favor of untested ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) -- Columbus- Beanie Wells was stunned. You could have walked into postgame interviews after Ohio State' 13-6 loss to Penn State on Saturday, taken one look at the star Buckeyes running back and known everything you needed to know about the outcome and the run game. And Ohio State's offensive line. In seven previous starts against ranked teams, Wells had bro ken the 130-yard mark six times and never averaged less than 4.5 yards per carry. Whatever else had gone ... Read More

BY: RUSTY MILLER (AP via Freep.com) -- Classes have been under way for a little over three weeks at Ohio State. One freshman student has already learned far more than all the others. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor is way ahead of the learning curve for a rookie playing the most demanding position in football. He has already shown evidence of being a fast learner. How else to explain his rapid rise from third-stringer to starter in less than a month? Or his leadership ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) -- Columbus- Moriah Williams made her contribution to Ohio State's season, as the Buckeye sister morphed into something of a personal trainer this summer for her older brother, Nathan. "It was kind of hard for me because I couldn't do all that stuff, and he'd get real frustrated with me," said Moriah, a 17-year-old senior at Miami Trace High School in Washington Court House, Ohio. "But he was OK with it. And I helped him a lot. ... Read More

By: Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) -- The calls for change started around 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 13, as Ohio State fans watched the same group of players step onto a national stage at the L.A. Coliseum and have the same type of disheartening result. Buckeye Nation wanted to see the kids play, and they're starting to get their wish. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor will make his fourth career start Saturday against Purdue (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET), and he won't be the only freshman playing a ... Read More

By: AP via SportingNews.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In marked contrast to his head coach, Ohio State offensive tackle Alex Boone isn't afraid to let it all hang out. Ask him a question -- any question -- and he'll offer an honest, usually funny, answer. He vows that coach Jim Tressel has never told him what to say and not to say. "Me? No. No, they know I'm pretty respectful about people and things," he said this week during preparations for Saturday's ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) -- Columbus- In 2006, Beanie Wells was ready to start for Ohio State as a freshman. He had the legs, the shoulders and the stiffarm, but the Buckeyes didn't have the need. Junior Antonio Pittman started and Wells averaged eight carries and 44 yards per game behind him. "Physically I was ready," Wells, who was the No. 3 recruit in the nation that year, said Tuesday. "And with playing behind him a few games, my mental aspect ... Read More