Scout.com: BlockONation's Buckeye Blog - The Ohio State QB Situation

What's the Ohio State quarterback situation for the first half of the year without Terrelle Pryor?

From the moment he committed to Ohio State, freshman phenom QB Braxton Miller knew what his undeniable destiny would be—to succeed Terrelle Pryor as the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes beginning in 2012 after taking a redshirt season his first year....

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Ohio State "Car-gate" Situation Real News or Overblown Sensationalism, Plus, and More Importantly, The 2011 QB Situation

Is there really a story here and real reason for concern, or is the media just overplaying every little blip and milking Ohio State for all they can get, plus are we really going to have to watch Joe "the career backup" Bauserman lead our Buckeyes this fall?

These are the articles that are coming very soon from BlockONation over on CollegeFootballNews.com.

Links will be forthcoming -- Just wanted to give a heads-up to BlockONation readers and all Buckeye fans.

HD


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Video Highlights From Ohio State's 2011 Spring Game / Scrimmage

These Hi-Def highlights were produced by lednerk exclusively for BlockONation.com.




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Ohio State's Quarterback Enigma: Lack of Depth Behind Terrelle Pryor a Big Concern?

By Doug Tarnovich - BlockONation.com Contribtor


In the first game of the 2009 season, the Oklahoma Sooners lost Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford to what would end up becoming a season ending shoulder injury. That left things up to his backup Landry Jones, and though an 8-5 record isn't what folks hope for in Norman, they should be pleased with a second stringer who threw for more than 3,100 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Texas lost Colt McCoy in the national championship game against Alabama. The Crimson Tide was already favored, but without the Longhorns' best player, Texas should have been blown out of the water.

Not so.

Garrett Gilbert, a freshman, managed to bring Texas within a field goal half way through the fourth quarter before Alabama pulled away for good. Typically, two touchdowns to four interceptions is pretty bad. But considering the circumstances, Gilbert did all his coach, teammates, and fans could've asked for.

Both quarterbacks were highly recruited to be the heir apparent. Both led their high school teams to state titles. Both are highly decorated. They each boast crazy statistics.

Here's a couple of questions for you, Buckeye fans:

Who is Ohio State's Landry Jones?

Who is the Buckeye version of Garrett Gilbert?

Could Kenny Guiton or Taylor Graham keep the Buckeye offense competitiveve if Terrelle Pryor were to go down? Maybe. Nobody thought much of Troy Smith when he came to Columbus. But the facts are the facts.

Guiton was a three-star recruit who the Buckeyes snagged only after they whiffed at elite prospect Tajh Boyd who opted for Clemson. In other words, Guiton was an afterthought.

Graham hasn't played a full season since he was a sophomore at Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, IL. He broke his ankle during the fifth game of his junior year then tore his PCL the following year, missing the strong majority of the schedule. Maybe that's why he was only given a two-star rating.

Neither prospect was highly sought after. Neither got offers from other perennial powerhouse college programs. Neither led their respective teams to state championships. Neither received any prestigious awards. On paper, the prospects aren't too encouraging.

What about Joe Bauserman? Any analysis there?

Yeah. Bad. That's all you need to know. And by the way, "Bad" was all the Buckeyes had last year for a backup.

Why does the Ohio State University—highly ranked every year with multiple BCS bowl appearances, great recruiting, and a gateway to the NFL—have such a dilemma when it comes to football's most important position? Quarterbacks should be breaking down the door, but havn't been the last couple of years.

Perhaps the explanation can be found in the fact that Terrelle Pryor, as a sophomore, was the unquestioned starter for the 2009 season. Certainly, a more immediate chance to start made a convincing argument too tempting for Boyd to turn down. Perhaps Pryor was just a year too young to make room for a future star at the position unless, of course, Pryor laid an egg against an inferior opponent.

Oh, wait. That actually happened.

Some called for Pryor to move to wide receiver. Maybe he would have succeeded as such had he a competent No. 2 throwing the ball. Head coach Jim Tressel apparently didn't think he did. As bad as Terrelle played against Purdue, the other options were far less appealing.

But this offseason has yielded some good news. Guiton had a solid performance in the spring game, leading the Gray team to a 17-14 victory. He completed 11 out of 21 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. There are also reports that Graham had a good showing at Ohio State's jersey scrimmage.

Whoever it is, one of these guys needs to step it up. It'll be another year before star recruit Braxton Miller puts on the scarlet and gray. In the meantime, there needs to be at least one valid option in case something happens with Pryor, be it injury or meltdown.


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As the 2009 Season Nears, 2010 Recruiting Class Filling Up Fast

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com

As of today, the Buckeyes now have 11 recruits who have given OSU their verbal commitments to play football in Columbus. That means that only seven or eight more recruits will be allowed to join the Buckeyes 2010 class.

While this class may lack in quantity, it will make up for it in quality.

Some of the big names OSU has offered that are still undecided include No. 1 overall recruit Seantrel Henderson (OL), No. 14 overall, Lamarcus Joyner (DB), and No. 18 overall, Jordan Hicks (LB).

Several of these top recruits will most likely wait until after the Ohio State/USC game on September 12th before verbally committing to a program, as OSU and USC are both teams that some of them are interested in.

That means, there won't likely be any additions to the current OSU commited list until then.

Here is the current list of players who are committed to the OSU 2010 class:

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5-Star OT Andrew Norwell (6-6, 255)
Anderson HS (Cincinnati, OH)


5-Star OLB Jamel Turner (6-2, 205)
Ursuline HS (Youngstown, OH)


4-Star RB Roderick Smith (6-2, 215)
Harding HS (Fort Wayne, IN)


4-Star MLB Scott McVey (6-1, 215)
St. Ignatius HS (Cleveland, OH)


4-Star WR James Louis (5-11, 180)
Atlantic HS (Delray Beach, FL)


4-Star DE J.T. Moore (6-2, 215)
Boardman HS (Youngstown, OH)


4-Star QB Taylor Graham (6-4, 210)
Wheaton North HS (Wheaton, IL)


3-Star DE/LB David Durham (6-3, 225)
Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, NC)


3-Star DE Darryl Baldwin (6-6, 250)
Solon HS (Solon, OH)


3-Star K Drew Basil (6-0, 180)
Chillicothe HS (Chillicothe, OH)


(NR) S Chad Hagan (6-2, 230)
McMillan HS (Canonsburg, PA)

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Hagan, the most recent commit, mainly plays running back for his HS but the Buckeyes have recruited him as a safety.

Because of this, he currently has no rating at that position. He is however ranked as the 31st overall prospect in the state of Pennsylvania by Rivals.

We'll keep our ears to the ground, so check back with BlockONation in the future for any Ohio State recruiting updates.


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Buckeye Banter: Tressel Quietly Assembles Yet Another Monster Recruiting Class

by Kristofer Green
BlockONation Columnist



The recruiting talk in the Big Ten has centered primarily around Joe Paterno and the impressive group of 13 verbal commitments he and his staff have assembled.

The talk then usually turns to Rich Rodriguez who also has one of the top recruiting classes in the Big Ten.

But don't forget about Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The past two seasons Tressel has signed the top recruiting class in the Big Ten and those classes have ranked in the top five nationally.

This season the man with the sweater vest is quietly on his way toward signing another very talented class.

First came commitments from ESPNU 150 Watch List offensive tackle Andrew Norwell (Cincinnati) and ESPNU 150 Watch List linebacker Jamel Turner (Youngstown, Ohio).

Then in recent weeks, Tressel and Ohio State have landed oral commitments from one of the Midwest's top running backs—Roderick Smith (Ft. Wayne, Ind.), the top kicker in the state of Ohio—Drew Basil (Chillicothe), and a talented quarterback in Taylor Graham (Wheaton, Ill.).

Last week, Tressel added a commitment from ESPNU 150 Watch List defensive end Darryl Baldwin (Solon, Ohio). Penn State, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Michigan, and many others were also in the mix for Baldwin.

Tressel now has nine verbal commitments, including five ESPNU 150 Watch List prospects and four of the top six prospects in the state of Ohio.

The Buckeyes are still in the mix and could still land several outstanding uncommitted prospects from the state of Ohio, including Under Armour All-American linebacker Jordan Hicks (West Chester) and ESPNU 150 Watch List offensive lineman Matt James (Cincinnati).

The Buckeyes are also locked in on the nation's top prospect—offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, Minn.) as well as a number of other top uncommitted prospects from outside the state of Ohio.

Tressel is assembling another outstanding class for Ohio State—one that could potentially be another top 10 class nationally.

7/29/09 UPDATE:

Florida WR James Louis has decommited from the University of Florida and has made a verbal commitment to play for Ohio State.

Louis (5-11, 178) is the No. 31-ranked receiver in the country according to Rivals.com and is the 12th-ranked player in the Orlando Sentinel's Florida Top 100.

This brings Ohio State's 2010 commit list to ten players thus far.

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