Buckeyes begin again with some veterans missing

COLUMBUS — If you want a prediction of who will win the Big Ten football title this season, don’t ask Jim Tressel.

Like any coach, that’s not something he’s going to do.

But with Ohio State opening practice today, the Buckeyes’ football coach does have some advice for anyone interested in thinking like a coach while assessing the Buckeyes and the rest of the league.

“If you can tell me who is going to get hurt on all these teams (in the Big Ten), I’ll tell you a little about what might happen,” Tressel said.

Ohio State, 10-3 last season, has five returning starters on offense and seven on defense. The team opens Sept. 5 against Navy at Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes have to replace 10 starters from last season.

All-Americans Malcolm Jenkins and James Laurinaitis, NFL first-round draft choice running back Chris Wells, and last year’s top receivers, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline, are the biggest names in those 10.

Three returning veterans also were missing when OSU’s players reported on Sunday.  Linebacker Tyler Moeller was out with an undisclosed injury and receiver Ray Small and defensive lineman Robert Rose were absent, reportedly because of academic deficiencies.

“I think there’s a lot of evaluation and uncertainty about who is going to emerge doing what. But I’m comfortable with the fact I think we’re deep,” Tressel said.

“You don’t know the speed at which they’re going to evolve into their role, who is going to step up. With us not knowing that much about them, it’s a little harder to feature the things they do best. We really need to come together quickly in August,” he said.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor (1,311 yards passing, 631 yards rushing) leads the offense.

The 6-foot, 6-inch, 235-pound Pryor was timed in 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash this spring, but he might be putting the ball into the air more in his second season as a starter.

At least that’s what was happening in offseason workouts, safety Kurt Coleman said.

“Last year we were basically asking him not to turn the ball over and be conservative. He’s distributing the ball a lot more,” Coleman said. “From what I’ve seen — and I don’t know if it’s going to be that way in the fall — he’s taking some shots deep.”

Defensively, Ohio State’s strengths appear to be on the line and at safety.

There are three starters back on the line — Thaddeus Gibson, Cameron Heyward and Doug Worthington. Gibson had a team-high five sacks last season. Veterans Doug Denlinger and Dexter Larimore also are back.  Both safeties, Anderson Russell and Coleman, are returning.

Coldwater’s Ross Homan is the only returning starter at linebacker.

“We’ve changed a lot of things. It’s a revamped team,” Coleman said. “We have so many people who have been in the shadows, waiting for their chance to step up. It’s a good thing. I like it. It’s a fresh, new perspective.”