By the end of the year, we should be functioning at an elite level. What worries me is the Notre Dame game which occurs at a time when we are moving toward elite status with inexperienced o-lineman and a brand new qb.  Yikes.  Hope the running game can excel to help with this transition.  Henderson and Williams should be terrific this year and help set up the passing game.  I have high hopes for our eventual prowess but am scared as to the rate at which this will take place.

Damn, I thought i was a pessimist at times.  This board is ridiculous.  Let's let the season play out before proclaiming their demise.  Admittedly, there are some weak areas and of course lack of size is one,which accentuates the loss of Key. But when Key comes back and we win a few of these close games, we should be a team capable of winning a few in the big dance.

What's not to like?  A few other posters said they had a good feeling about his prospects. i do, too. Can't wait to see how his future unfolds.  I think both he and Riaola will do very well. We would appear to have three very viable qbs in the room at the moment. That's a good start, but could we please land another O-lineman from the portal so we can take better advantage of a talented running back room and protect our new qb (whoever that turns out to be). Also, Styles will help on the back end but our cbs are cause for concern. As for next year, Notre Dame and Michigan are large roadblocks.

There may be a couple teams in the field that we can get past but not without Sueing, Key and Sensabaugh solidifying themselves as the cornerstones of the team. it's time to start coming together.  There undoubtedly is going to be a fair amount of losing in this tournament, but we need to see some maturity and fight with both wins and losses.  It starts now.

To say there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season is an understatement.  We really need Sueing and Key to average at least 12 per game. From there it's hard to predict where the offense is going to come from. Losing Branham, Liddel, Young and Russel all at once is a punch in the stomach. The portal newcomers look promising, but we will need to see development and production from the freshman by December or this team won't make the NCAA tournament.
 

Just making the NCAA field next season will be a real challenge.  Damn, we lost a lot of offense.  Our underclassmen will have to grow up in a hurry.  me sees an early struggle.  Me hopes for smoother sailing by season's end.

Lots to be excited about in the upcoming season. Top of the list for me:  A great returning qb, depth at RB, a new defense that is sure to show vast improvement and a receiving corp that is the envy of college football. Let's start already.

i don"t see this as a negative at all. This is best for him and best for OSU. Good luck to him.

I don't like losing to NE, MI and MD any better than anyone else, but some people on here are perhaps overlooking the fact that margins between winning and losing are very small. Results do show that this team had a great chance of having a wonderful season. Give me Sueing and a healthy Young and this season turns out quite differently. If you want to fault Holtman for some recruiting misses leading to a lack of depth, that's fair.

If we play NC or VT in the first round I would be less than optimistic. If we had both Sueing and Young, we would be playing somebody like Princeton and win with a great chance for another win in round two. Everybody would then be praising the great chemistry and coaching of this team. The margin between good and not good is less than most imagine.

Truthfully, it's all about the defense and the health of Stroud. If the former is greatly improved and the latter stays on the field, we win it all. Have a nice day.

Truthfully, it's all about the defense and the health of Stroud. If the former is greatly improved and the latter stays on the field, we win it all. Have a nice day.

Having a hard time naming the starting linebackers, but from what I saw in the last quarter of the year, I'm predicting Chambers and Eichenberg. Imagine there will be plenty of rotation but I'd have to say the aforementioned get the lion's share when the games are on the line.

If I were the Illinois AD, i would have a serious talk with my coach. The image he too often portrays is that of an unhinged, violent adult ready to unleash hell on whoever has offended him. Getting pissed about an incident and even showing temporary, overt frustration is understandable but Underwood is way out of bounds.  I would at last threaten to suspend him for another such display of uncontrolled rage or move forward with another coach whenever his contract allows you to do so. He was a definite factor in Illinois' loss last night. I'm so sick of these players and coaches acting like idiots and then apologizing with charm and calmness later as if it erases what they did or who they really are. Half the time, someone writes their apology for them anyway. Again, if I were the AD in Champaign, I'd be thinking of a replacement who could represent what the school wants in it's employees.

I also hear a lot of people on this board saying what a "great" crowd was there at that game. That was a big crowd. That was a loud crowd. It would have been a great crowd had not scores of student and adults not screamed cuss words and insults at one of our players. And remember. If you are an insecure, unhappy asshat, try not to shout such stuff and let everyone know it.

I like the balance when and if we can stay healthy. There are of course several players that have to contribute at their normal levels, but that can and should happen. We should have Key, Liddell and Branham in double figures in every game unless we run up against inordinate foul trouble or a team with a huge front line.

Young, Wheeler and Ahrens MUST put up a combined total of around 20 pts. Limit the turnovers, win the offensive rebound battle and we are a decent bet to not only make the sweet sixteen but the elite eight as well. I see Liddell and Branham drawing a lot of coverage down the stretch and freeing up Wheeler, Arens and Young to do damage. They just have to stay confident and take advantage of this.

As with most teams, health is critical to success at the end of the year. Wheeler is the guy I'm concerned about. He needs to be in there and he needs to be able to drive. Otherwise, we are limited and putting too much pressure on Liddel and Branham to score. I don't expect anything much from Sueing even if he does come back. Key and Young have their moments but Wheeler is the guy that can make sure this is a memorable season.  In a way, I hope we don't go deep into the Big 10 tournament as that always has a way of wearing us down right before the NCAA tournament.

Agree with the sentiment that any Big 10 road win is significant.

Love to see Branham exert himself from mid-range when Key and Young are getting it done inside and Liddell is getting it done from everywhere. Jeez, i'd leave Wheeler out as long as it takes to get him right because with him healthy, this is a more balanced and formidable team. We miss his defense and the potential for drives and another reliable outside shooter. Meechie and Sotos are OK but Wheeler is more battle tested.  We will see what the big picture looks like after we play Purdue, MSU and a few others, but this team could make the final eight with a favorable draw and some good health.

There's some ambiguity in the word "deep".  It's not wrong to say the Big 10 is deep or that it has a degree of parity that some conferences don't . In the case of the Big 10, it's just that the league is often deep with B and B+ teams whereas some conferences might not be deep and have one or two teams that are elite. I honestly don't see teams like Wisconsin, Ohio State or Indiana as teams that could win the National championship but that's not to say they are very good.  Time will prove me right or wrong, but Purdue is the only team that i see with the elements to win the title.

*  When the MD quarterback drops back to pass and decides to run, please don't let him get first down after first down as if we never considered this possibility. (I'm talking to you, linebackers)

*  And could we please see something from the DE's in the way of a pass rush?

*  If MD thinks they have a great run defense, I suggest we show them that actually they don't. 

*  They shouldn't be good enough to make us unbalanced, but if Stroud is going to play like he did against Rutgers, we might want to lean toward the pass if any leaning is advised.

*  I look for a strong defensive game from Harrison (finally) and Hickman (obviously).

*  A TD each from Henderson, Olave, Wilson and Ruckert along with one defensive touch should and will do it.

*  That is all. Go Bucks.

STOP scheduling sure wins or stop belittling Alabama for playing Citadel or Eastern Arkansas and Georgia for playing Troy or Western NoWayinHell. The middle of the season is important. The end of the season is important and when you only play a dozen or so games per year, the beginning of the season can be and should be important. Stop with the warmup games while charging full price.  Afraid an early loss will set us back? Get better prepared.  This is nonsense.

Meechie gets time, but I don't see him starting. We aren't big along the front line, but by Jan., I think we should show some potent depth and I'm hoping enough outside shooting to balance Key and Liddell down low.  Branham has to be a contributor during the conference season. Young has to stay healthy and Sueing has to average 8 and 5.  I like what I think could be a top three team in the Big 10, but much work to be done. Could be a final eight team.

I've been watching Buckeye football religiously since the days of Bob Ferguson and even Bob White in the late 50's. There's productive, there's efficient, there's talented and there's the category electrifying. Ginn tops the later. Nobody in Ohio State history (at least starting in 1960) has been as electrifying as Ginn. 

There may have been others that had his speed or close to his speed (Willis, Warfield, Glenn, Galloway) but Ginn had that amazing pull-away acceleration. A few others mentioned this, but when he dropped his head and started with a couple of those loping long strides, he was moving away from whoever was in pursuit. Thanks for the great memories Ted.

Kind of sucks that we essentially "cultivated the crops" for two years but somebody else will get the harvest, .......if there's anything to harvest. Assuming Washington and Liddell return, we should be looking at a great upcoming season. I'll define that as a top three in the conference record and a great 8 in the NCAA tourny.

Wheeler and Washington will start at guard. Nothing against the kid, but I'm not seeing Meechie as a future star. What am I missing?  Brunk will be helpful because A) Young will probably be in and out of the lineup due to future injuries and B) Diallo is totally unproven in any capacity.  We really need the off season to bring personal development for Key, Diallo and Meechie. I like our chances this upcoming season of being very successful and I'll define success as a top four finish in the Big 10 and a top eight run in the NCAA.(Damn, I wish we could get another draw like the one we had this year).

Yes, it would have been nice to get a big man like Holmgren, but there are too many pessimists on this thread. If Young was OK in the tournament, it would have been enough to get us past Oral Roberts AND Florida. With that eventuality, we would all be spouting a different tune and looking forward to a longer run next year. Chin up BB fans. Good things ahead.

Puddy;  Wondering why you think Meechie can be special?  I'm not trying to be adversarial, I just saw nothing that would lead me to that conclusion. Next year will be OK-to-good if we just run with what we have and could be excellent if A) Young comes back B) We get starting help with size in the portal  C)  Branham can give us 10 per game.  C) We get improvement from Brown, or Seuing and D)  Key finds a jump shot.