By: Doug Harris (MiddletownJournal.com) -- Ohio State may be a consensus top-10 team in the national polls, but don’t look for Terrelle Pryor and Co. to be there by the end of the season. I believe they’ll be held back by a problem that’s plagued the program throughout the Jim Tressel years: poor offensive line play. I’m trying to think of the last time the OSU line actually mashed an opposing defensive front — something I recall being relatively common in the 1990s. The ... Read More

From: OhioStateBuckeyes.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -Thad Matta, now in his sixth season as the head coach of the Ohio State men's basketball team, put the Buckeyes through it's final practice in Columbus before heading north to Canada for a three-game excursion. Ohio State went through 10 practice days in preparation for the summer trip that will feature two games against the University of Windsor and a single contest against Western Ontario. The games vs. the Lancers of Windsor will take place at 6 p.m. ... Read More

By: Kyle Strittholt (BleacherReport.com) -- There is nothing quite like the Ohio State/Michigan game at the end of November. You have two programs with so much history and a game where rankings don’t matter. A game where you could have a horrible season, but this one win can make the season a whole lot better. In the last decade there has been some close games between the two schools, unfortunately for Michigan fans, Ohio State has came out on top nine times out of ten ... Read More

By: Duane Long (DuaneLongReport.com) -- I think we may actually still be in the tight end business in this class. I have been looking at Ty Williams purely as a wide receiver. I did not see him growing into a tight end. On film he is such a long, lean graceful athlete. I thought he would just fill out naturally and stay at wide receiver. That changed last week. Gary Hosteau recently published some photographs of Williams. Fans started speculating in the thread ... Read More

By: Todd Porter (CantonRep.com) -- COLUMBUS — Boom and Zoom, that’s how Head Coach Jim Tressel started referring to them. Ohio State’s offense last year had more Boom and far less Zoom, but Brandon Saine is hoping to find his way in the Buckeye backfield more this season. The 6-foot-1, 217-pound junior from Piqua came to Ohio State with the same kind of hype as most incoming freshmen running backs do in Columbus. His nickname is “Zoom.” Dan Herron is called “Boom.” One runs fast; ... Read More

By: Jeff Svoboda (Scout.com) -- Nothing has come easy for Aaron Pettrey through his first three seasons at Ohio State, so why should 2009 be any different? The senior finds himself competing with two fellow placekickers for the starting job, and he's the first to say they've hit the ball well. However, the strong-legged Pettrey still seems set to be the Buckeyes' starter. Aaron Pettrey has always been modest, but a pronouncement after Ohio State’s kick scrimmage on Aug. 19 could have raised a ... Read More

By: Dick Weiss (NYDailyNews.com) -- Florida International's new coach Isiah Thomas may be in a hurry to make waves in his new job, but neither he nor athletic director Pete Garcia apparently have any interest in making their first impression in a game against defending national champion North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Florida International - an 8-20 Sun Belt team that is in the midst of a major rebuilding project - is threatening to pull out of the Coaches vs. Cancer ... Read More

By: Rusty Miller (Philly.com via AP) -- COLUMBUS, Ohio - Everywhere he goes, the eyes are on him. He would stand out anywhere because he stands 6-foot-6, a willowy athlete's body replete with tattoos. But in a city of more than 750,000 football-mad people, in a state that reveres its Buckeyes and particularly the guy who directs the Ohio State offense, no one takes their eyes off Terrelle Pryor. When he goes out, he wears dark sunglasses to avoid the swarms of Buckeyes fans. "I try ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The worst thing opposing fans can do to Navy's football players isn't to boo them. It's pity them. Respect? That's the option most of the Midshipmen prefer. Ohio State's athletic department is circulating an online video encouraging Buckeyes' fans to welcome the Midshipmen on Sept. 5 like no other OSU opponent has every been welcomed. The idea is for the 105,000 fans inside Ohio Stadium to rise and cheer Navy just like they rise and cheer ... Read More

From: BizJournals.com -- ESPN will have a limited screening of the highly anticipated matchup between the University of Southern California and The Ohio State University in 3D, the network said Monday. The game will be ESPN’s first 3D telecast after more than two years of testing and research. “The results of this research will enable ESPN to quantify what it takes to produce, transmit and enable the 3D experience for our fans," Anthony Bailey, vice president of emerging technologies for ESPN, said in ... Read More

By: Andy Katz (ESPN.com) -- The 1985 Final Four banner that Memphis earned is down for the summer. The plan, as is the case every year, is to put it back up at FedExForum in the fall. Memphis officials say the NCAA's ruling against the Tigers in 1985, in which then-Memphis State was accused of several NCAA violations, never forbade the school from hanging the Final Four banner it earned that season. But last week's ruling that required the Tigers to vacate their 2008 Final ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Columbus- Though there isn't a No. 1 left tackle yet and starting left guard Justin Boren won't be back in practice until sometime at the end of this week - at least that's what coach Jim Tressel is hoping - Ohio State offensive line coach Jim Bollman had one facet of the Buckeyes' line he wasn't worried about after Saturday's scrimmage. "He said, 'I'm not worried about running the ball. We'll be fine running the ball,' " ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Ohio State was ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press preseason college football poll released Saturday, just as they were in the initial coaches poll two weeks ago. Defending national champion Florida picked up 58 of the 60 first-place votes, receiving the highest percentage of preseason No. 1 votes in the 60-year history of the AP poll. The coaches poll is part of the BCS standings, while the Associated Press poll is not. And unlike the coaches poll, the ... Read More

By: Bill Blanton (Examiner.com) -- As we move through the second week of preseason camp, Jim Tressel continues to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes. The landscape has definitely changed with the departures of key senior leadership in several positions on the team. In fact, many analysts may debate which position areas have been most affected by the departed. But, I think they all will agree that the wide receiver position may offer the biggest potential reward this ... Read More

By: Doug Lemerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- COLUMBUS -- During his recruitment, Jake Stoneburner told everyone who would listen that he had no interest in playing tight end. He was going to college to be a receiver and catch passes. And now he's a tight end. The Ohio State redshirt freshman figures he wouldn't be there if he wasn't going to catch passes. "I didn't mind being moved because they told me they want me to be a game-changing tight end," Stoneburner said. "That's what ... Read More