By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Columbus -- When 13 years later you remember and regret the shutouts that should have been as much as the ones that happened, you were part of a great defense. Though Ohio State's 1996 defense did shut out three opponents in 12 games, former linebacker Greg Bellisari recalls the one that got away, a 38-7 win over Penn State when the Nittany Lions were dominated before scoring on Ohio State's second team in the fourth quarter. "A ... Read More

By: Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) -- Ohio State junior linebacker Tyler Moeller will miss the 2009 season because of a head injury sustained on a family vacation, Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday. Tressel told reporters in Columbus that he originally feared Moeller would not play football again but now expects the junior to rejoin the team sometime in the future. A source close to the Ohio State program told ESPN.com that Moeller was in Florida with family members when he was punched at ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Breaking down the best 20 Ohio State players on the roster right now as the Buckeyes open practice today. No. 5: Junior linebacker Ross Homan I don't know which Ohio State linebackers are going to start where, and how the rest of them might rotate in, but I'm confident in the idea that Homan is the best linebacker on the roster. Even before Tyler Moeller's status for the season was called into question by his hospitalization for a ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Who are the best 20 players on Ohio State's roster right now? This is a venture with no right answers, but I think it's an interesting way to evaluate just how the 2009 Buckeyes are going to come together. A year ago, this was a much easier list to make. Starting with Beanie Wells, Malcolm Jenkins and James Laurinaitis and running through veterans like Marcus Freeman, Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline, Donald Washington, Alex Boone, etc., you had a ... Read More

By: MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- COLUMBUS - After humbling losses in high-profile bowl games the past three years, it seemed like the only consensus reached about Ohio State was that its national reputation had been sullied, its armor chinked and its complexion pock-marked and blemished. Buckeye football had been deflated, the media saturation bombing contended, over and over, ad nauseam. But as the 2009 preseason predictions, rankings and polls continue to be rolled out, it looks like not everyone guzzled that Kool-Aid. Ohio State ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Walking through the local mall here in the Columbus suburbs today and I saw the new Ohio State jerseys for the first time. Each year, there are five or six numbers put out before the season, representing the best guess at the Buckeyes the fans are most interested in. Last year, it was Beanie Wells (28), James Laurinaitis (33), Malcolm Jenkins (2), Brian Robiskie (80), Todd Boeckman (17) and Marcus Freeman (1). As the year went ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Safety Kurt Coleman, defensive tackle Doug Worthington and tight end Jake Ballard, all seniors, were announced today as the representatives for the Buckeyes at the Big Ten media days on July 27 and 28 in Chicago. And I'm guessing those will be three of your four captains for Ohio State in the fall. The guys who are trusted by Jim Tressel to sit in suits at round tables and field several hours of questions from reporters typically fare ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Brian Rolle was a star of the spring. For two years, the linebacker from Immokalee, Fla., stayed in the background at Ohio State, popping up with some big plays on special teams, but otherwise biding his time with veterans like James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman in front of him. A little undersized at 5-11, but with big-hit ability, it was hard to get a read on him as a person and a player. Here's a read. This ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Brian Rolle was a star of the spring for the Buckeyes. For two years, the linebacker from Immokalee, Fla., stayed in the background at Ohio State, popping up with some big plays on special teams, but otherwise biding his time with veterans like James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman in front of him. A little undersized at 5-foot-11, but with big-hit ability, it was hard to get a read on him as a person ... Read More

By: Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) -- If dues-paying was an official NCAA statistic, Austin Spitler would be among the national leaders. Few players have remained on the runway as long as Spitler, waiting for their careers to truly take flight. He redshirted at Ohio State in 2005 and watched as James Laurinaitis stepped into a featured role following two key injuries at linebacker. For the next three years, Spitler backed up Laurinaitis, who became arguably the most decorated linebacker in Ohio State history. Laurinaitis ... Read More

By: Tim Bielik (BleacherReport.com) -- With the great senior class departing to the NFL, one might be quick to say that the Buckeyes don't have enough to replace their holes. Another look plus considering past history shows that they will be just fine in 2009. Gone are the Brians: Robiskie and Hartline, along with James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman among other talented players. Conventional wisdom tells us that Ohio State will reload as they always have in the Tressel era. Buckeye fans might not also be used ... Read More

By: Matt Hinton (Yahoo.com) -- One of the themes of the last couple weeks is contenders, and what makes (or breaks) a team's shot at No. 1, and as I indicated in premature assessment of Ohio State, OSU -- a ubiquitous contender the last four years -- looks like a definite "break." This has much less to do with the Buckeyes' recent failures in their biggest games (though they've become too obvious for even an OSU defender to overlook) than with the much ... Read More

By: Jeremy Jeffries (BleacherReport.com) -- When I think about Ohio State Football I think of tradition, winning, discipline, and linebackers. The Ohio State Buckeyes have had some of the best linebackers in the history of college football, names like: Spielman, Hawk, Gradishar, Cousineau, Tovar, Katzenmoyer and Pepper Johnson. These Linebackers set the bar very high at their position and Jim Tressel, Jim Heacock, and Luke Fickell expect nothing less at linebacker again in 2009. When talented players like James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman move on, it is very hard to replace them, ... Read More

By: MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- COLUMBUS - If you play tight end or safety at Ohio State there are certain performance expectations, but not everyone always remembers your name. Play linebacker for the Buckeyes and the expectations increase tenfold, and there's no anonymity to be found. Chris Spielman, A.J. Hawk, Randy Gradishar, Tom Cousineau, Steve Tovar, Pepper Johnson and Andy Katzenmoyer have all worn the armor and patrolled the heart of the field for Ohio State. Those legendary Buckeyes still cast long shadows around ... Read More