Being out of the great state of Ohio, I deem it unnecessary to travel and attend the Spring Game and usually stick to newspaper clippings and reports from buddies who attend it.  This year I noticed my cable company finally picked up the Big Ten network, so I scoured their listings for the Spring Game.  Fortunately, i was able to catch the game (albeit 1 1/2 weeks late).  So without further adieu, let's discuss my initial reactions.

Everything this year depends upon Terelle Pryor.  We really need to see if he is as good as everyone projected him to be coming out of High School.  In particular everyone worries about his throwing ability and how far it has progressed.  I must say after his first shot put pass early in the game I was really scared.  After that, he seemed to calm down a bit and make some nice throws.  He didn't make any real running attempts which must be a result of the coaching staff telling him that he had to pass.   He showed some good decision making and some zip on the ball.   I still feel this is a work in progress and we'll all have to wait until an actual game scenario. 

Filling in all the skilled poisitions on offense remains a big challenge as well.  Granted Beanie Wells was out part of the last few seasons and we have had to rely on the backups to fill the voids, he is still a big void to fill up.  Heron played extremely well and showed some quickness and decision making which make him the hands on favorite for starting tailback.  He was playing on the scarlet team opposing Pryor, so this is good news.  He'll be even better when he and Pryor are in the backfield together.   Saine showed some excellent speed up the middle and appeared to be the same player we had during his freshman year before his string of injuries.  Thankfully there is no Mo' Wells to waste space as a backup.  In addition, we have an incoming Freshman from Florida, Berry,  who should push for some playing time.  I think we are oing to be fine at running back.

Our main problem on offense the last few years is speed at the receiver position.   We haven't had any big play receivers in a while.  While Robiskie and Hartline were great route runners, they never really burned anyone for big plays.  Ray Small is critical to our success on offense this year.  He has the great speed and great ability to make big plays.  He also has demonstrated great ability to not keep his head in the game.  He looked both brilliant and boneheaded during the game.  The starting job is his to lose this year and if he loses it early expect him to be a nonfactor.  Taurian Washington was the recipient of many passes from Pryor.  He appears to be a lock to replace Hartline in the slot position next year.  He ran the slant extremely well and even made Chekwa look like a chump on a downfield play.  Devier Posey and Lamarr Thomas also had decent games, but were also on the scarlet team and didn't get many opportunities to display their ability.  Thomas appears to be the favorite again on kickoff and punt returns.  In addition, Duron Carter will be making his debut as a buckeye in the fall.  They say he has his father's (Chris Carter) gifted hands.

The O'line was greatly depleted for the game with many players sidelined due to injuries.   While, this group is young, they are deep and talented.  There were some large holes for the running backs a few times during the game and pass protection seemed OK throughout the game.

Everyone has been saying the strength of the team this year is the defensive line.   They are experienced and deep.  I really didn't see anything impressive out of these guys, but it was a scrimmage, so we'll need to wait for the season.  The linebacking core looked pretty good.  Spitler had a great day and was making some monster hits.  We always recruit well at LB and I look for Sabino and newcomer Bell to have a large affect at this position. The secondary really has me worried.  Chekwa is our best DB and he was getting lit up.  Anderson Russell had a few good hits, but no one else really impressed me.  My impressions are this is going to be worrisome throughout the season.  Teams are going to be able to score on us this year as a result. 

Overall, I feel this is a reloading err.... rebuilding year.  The schedule is favorable for us to make a good run until the last quarter of the year.  With any luck we'll have 1 loss going into the PSU game.  I don't think we'll have enough offense to keep up with SC this year again.  That game will come down to how much pressure our D Line will be able to put on the new SC QB.  Offense will be up to the TP show.  Will he be able to carry this team when needed is the million dollar question.

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