The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary » Todd Boeckman

5 reasons Ohio State will beat USC

Jim — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:05:22 +0000

#5 USC’s new defense.

I don’t know if anyone has noticed this amidst the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair in the aftermath of the Navy game, but USC only has three returning starters on defense this year.

This isn’t the same defense that throttled the Buckeyes last year.

I am not saying that USC can’t be good, or even great, on defense this year, but there will be a lot of new faces, and they will be playing in a high pressure environment on the road (some for the first time) in the second game of the year, and they will be trying to tackle Terrelle Pryor.

USC recruits better than anyone in the country, so you know that all of the new faces are going to be good, and they do have quite a few players who have started some games, but you can’t teach athletes to … [Read More]

Class Act

MaliBuckeye — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:39:30 +0000

As we continue our countdown until gameday, Jeff was kind enough to let me highlight someone other than a kicker. The training wheels are off, I guess.

Day seventeen brings us a recent grad- quarterback Todd Boeckman. Todd’s two years personify the expression “grace under pressure”.

As a gray shirted junior, he was asked to fill the shoes of Heisman Trophy winner, Wolverine killer, “should have his jersey retired soon” QB Troy Smith.

He responded by leading his team through a one loss Big Ten season, conference championship, and berth in the MNCG. I was lucky enough to see him play against Washington; my wife’s first Buckeye football game.

As a senior, he lost his Heisman Trophy candidate running back during the first game of the season. Playing behind a line that never seemed to live up to expectations, he eventually lost his job to the young gun freshman … [Read More]

Offensive Tackle: Key to the Season

Jim — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:00:36 +0000

In my last post, I looked at the linebacker situation at Ohio State. Talking LB’s is one of my favorite topics and I think Ohio State’s linebacker tradition stacks up against any team in the country (I’m looking at you Penn State).

While it is fun to envision our LBs running around laying the smack down on some hapless Big Ten offenses, the position that will have the largest impact on the outcome of the upcoming season is offensive tackle.

Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, play along the offensive line has been lackluster for several years now, and in particular the play at the tackle positions has been a huge liability. Whenever the Buckeyes played against a top defense with highly regarded ends (Florida, LSU) chaos in the OSU backfield was sure to ensue.

I would even go so far as to say that less than stellar play at tackle has been the #1 cause of Ohio State’s … [Read More]