Featured News
August 14, 2007
Northwestern and Ohio State Preview
By Apparao Prattipati
Northwestern
Northwestern meowed into the 2006 season and roared to finish. That sets up this year when they should come in with a bang. They return every contributor on defense, most of the offense, and Fitzgerald brought in one of the best freshman classes in school history, not to mention some kid named Tyrell Sutton.
C.J. Bacher kinda sorta won the quarterback competition towards the end of the season. But his starter role going into the Fall isn’t set in stone. Whoever ends up winning the competition will have good experience from last year to build on. While Northwestern lost their best receiver to graduation, Shaun Herbert, they’ll still have weapons for the quarterback to throw to in the four-receiver spread offense. Sutton is there to take the pressure off the passing game. Look for this offense to put up big numbers as it has a more experienced quarterback at the helm this season.
The defense is what gets Cat fans excited. They return every single player defensively and it was a defense that was starting to play well towards the end of the year. Leading the pack will be the defensive tackles John Gill and Adam Hahn, and the corners Deante Battle and Sherrick McManis.
The excellent balance between offense, defense, passing game, and running game make Northwestern a team to keep an eye on. They should be 3-0 heading into games against Ohio State and Michigan, and the Buckeyes better not overlook these Wildcats. They miss Wisconsin and Penn State. A 10-win season is not out of the question if everything go right.
Ohio State
Right until Jan 8, it was a dream season for Ohio State and Troy Smith. A Heisman winner with three career victories against Michigan. A 12-0 regular season and an opening kickoff return for a touchdown by Teddy Ginn in the National Championship game against Florida. After that it was all down hill for the Buckeyes, but a soft schedule will allow the Buckeyes to grow up in relative comfort this year.
How did Ohio State replace Troy Smith? They opened up the quarterback competition to the three quarterbacks left in the program and awarded it to the man who sucked the least in the Spring, to put it bluntly. Tressell is probably hoping Todd Boeckman can be the re-incarnation of Craig Krenzel. What Ohio State does have is Chris “Beanie” Wells and Maurice Wells for a thunder and lightning running attack. Brian Robiskie (I’d imagine Penn State fans don’t have fond memories of him) returns to lead a young, but fast receiving corps.
Anyone sick of hearing about the animal at linebacker? No? You will be by the end of the season as Ohio State’s award winning linebacker, James Laurinitis, should continue to get plaudits for being one of the best backers in the nation. He and his partners in crime, Gholston at defensive end, and Malcolm Jenkins at corner, form an impressive trio for the Buckeyes. They might be the best defense in the conference. Ohio State will smack you in the mouth, slam you into the ground, and essentially beat the snot of out of opposing offenses. For those who love old school defenses, Ohio State is your huckleberry.
To say that their schedule breaks well for them is an understatement. In their first eight games they seem to have losable games at Washington, and at home against Purdue. That should give the offense more than enough time to find their feet and allow them to climb into the championship race. It will likely stop as they finish the year with a ridiculous stretch of games which include trips to Happy Valley and the Big House, and when they play host to Wisconsin and the dangerous Illinois. This team likely won’t win the Big Ten, but they have the potential for a BCS bid. They could also end up in the Alamo.
Next up we’ll look at Purdue and Wisconsin as the Nittanyfootball.com Big Ten preview series continues.
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