Football
Thursday Tressel Talk: Big Ten Season Takings its Toll
By Brandon CastelHaving won at least a share of the last four Big Ten Conference titles, Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel knows what takes to endure the rigors of a long season.
That doesn’t make it an easier, however, when the injuries start to pile up late in the season the way they have for the Buckeyes in 2009.
“That’s college football and that’s the breaks,” Tressel said Thursday at his final press conference of the week.
“Go all the way back to us losing Tyler Moeller, and we’ve lost Andrew Sweat, those are two guys that we were really counting on and we’re not going to have now for the year.”
But Moeller and Sweat, a pair of linebackers, are hardly the biggest concerns for the Buckeyes as they get set for a brutal three-game stretch in November that includes trips to Happy Valley and Ann Arbor along with a visit from No. 7 Iowa.
While they will get tailback Brandon Saine back this week, and possibly even Boom Herron in a limited role, Tressel’s biggest problem moving forward could be the revolving door he has seen on the offensive line this season. He said Thursday that the Buckeyes will be without the entire left side of their starting line this week against New Mexico State.
“Offensive line wise, the two guys that will be out – seems like we have two a week – will be Mike Adams and Justin Boren.”
Adams, who had started the previous four games at left tackle, missed last week’s game, and could be out another week or two following knee surgery. The Boren injury, while not new, was something that caught Tressel a little off-guard.
“I was surprised he was going to be out this week. I didn’t know it until after the end of yesterday’s work.”
The Buckeyes just recently got senior Jim Cordle (foot) and junior Andrew Miller back (illness), and both will be counted on this week as the Buckeyes shuffle bodies around on the left side of the line.
“Andrew Moses (will get the start at left guard),” Tressel said.
“Miller can play anywhere on that left side. Jimmy Cordle can play anywhere. Andrew Moses can play the middle three. Right tackle would be J.B. (Shugarts) and Marcus (Hall).”
Cordle originally began the year at right tackle, with Shugarts working on the left side behind Miller. Shugarts moved over to the right side when Cordle went down, which also coincided with Adams’ return from a two-game suspension.
While all that uncertainty has made it hard to get consistency on the line, Tressel said it has helped this group learn to deal with misfortunate better than some of the ones in the past.
“They’ve had the opportunity to have to play next to someone different all the time and still get the job done. And there’s some value in that, in handling the adversity.”
Tressel said he is expecting to have Boren back for the team’s trip to Penn State a week from Saturday, although nothing is certain with the way this season has gone.
Cleared for Takeoff
While the line is continuing to battle injuries, the Buckeyes got some good news on the injury front this week as tailback Brandon Saine was cleared to play this week.
“Brandon Saine will be fine and will start,” Tressel said.
Ohio State’s second-leading rusher this year, Saine was forced to leave the game in the second quarter against Minnesota with a concussion. He underwent tests early in the week but was back in practice yesterday working with the first-team offense.
“He looked good yesterday. We didn’t let him do much Tuesday except for cardio but he did everything that everyone did yesterday.”
The Buckeyes won’t have Boom Herron back in full capacity this week as he continues to get over an ankle injury suffered in week four against Illinois, but Tressel said they are hoping he can take a few snaps this week to get himself mentally back in the flow before their game against the Nittany Lions.
“We would love to have him turn the corner, even if it’s just to play a little to get over that hump that I’m back in game-form. That would be a big bonus for us, both for Saturday and beyond.”
With that being said, Herron will still be the No. 4 option at tailback Saturday against the Aggies.
“Jordan Hall will play plenty and Jermil Martin has shown he can add to the cause,” Tressel said of the team’s two freshmen backs.
Other Injury News
Along with Herron, one other major piece of the puzzle missing from the lineup the past three weeks has been nose tackle Dexter Larimore. Injured in the second half of the game against Indiana, Larimore won’t be available to play against New Mexico State but could be back as early as next week.
“Dexter’s not back, but he was back practicing. Doing some drill work, not live contact,” Tressel said.
With Larimore out, the Buckeyes have been using a steady rotation of Todd Denlinger and John Simon at the nose tackle position, but Tressel said they were also short one other defensive tackle last week against Minnesota.
“Rob Rose was a little iffy last week and we didn’t need to use him but he’s back at full strength. He dressed last week and we probably could have used him.”
One other player returning to action this week is safety Orhian Johnson. The redshirt freshman suffered concussion like symptoms from a special teams hit this past week, but he was also cleared to practice and play this week.
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