The career of offensive lineman Mike Adams has come down to this --- play to his expectations or his career at Ohio State will be listed as a bust. It was Adams who was highly recruited out of Dublin Coffman High School. It was Adams who suffered several injuries to set him back. It was also Adams, writes reporter Ken Gordon of The Columbus...
Mike Adams, left, and J.B. Shugarts, right.The career of offensive lineman Mike Adams has come down to this --- play to his expectations or his career at Ohio State will be listed as a bust.
It was Adams who was highly recruited out of Dublin Coffman High School. It was Adams who suffered several injuries to set him back. It was also Adams, writes reporter Ken Gordon of The Columbus Dispatch, who battled with Andrew Miller heading into last season but Adams was suspended for the first two games for unspecified disciplinary reasons.
He eventually started four games, then suffered a knee injury in October that required arthroscopic surgery and once again ended his season.
"He had some rough spots; he'll say that, too," center Michael Brewster said. "But he's bounced back. He had a real good summer, got himself in real good shape, matured and he's been working real hard."
Adams proclaimed himself "100 percent healthy" and said he has felt fine since 10 days after the knee scope. And as Brewster said, it appears that Adams stepped up his workouts this past summer.
Miller and Adams began preseason camp as co-starters. The race is still close.
If Adams wins the job and has a productive two years as the starting left tackle, his struggles likely will be forgotten.
Ohio State is No. 1
Reporter Tim Gardner of USA Today picks up a story in the "College Football Pigskin Preview" edition of Playboy magazine. The magazine predicts Ohio State will defeat Texas in the BCS national championship.
Playboy's Top 10 teams:
1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Iowa
6. TCU
7. Florida
8. Wisconsin
9. Oklahoma
10. LSU
Top QB
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN ranks the quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Rittenberg writes that his criteria is based on past performance and 2010 potential.
Rittenberg ranks Terrelle Pryor No. 1.
1. Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State: How can I rank Pryor at No. 1 based on one great performance? For starters, it took place in a huge game, the Rose Bowl, against a top 10 opponent in Oregon. Plus, I think Pryor will go forward rather than backward and become a more complete quarterback this fall. He has more natural ability than anyone else on this list, and while he'll never be a model passer, he only needs to improve a little to become a lot more dangerous.
Tailgate
Here's some good news for OSU fans. Columbus Dispatch reporter Bill Bush writes how the tailgate is back on for longtime holders of Ohio State University parking passes who had been told by the university that they needed to contribute $5,000 to the athletic program to keep their spots next to Ohio Stadium.
About 80 percent of those affected have not made the donation, Chun said. They were told to pay up or risk being moved farther from the stadium. Some complained that the university was breaking deals made decades ago.
For at least the past decade, a $5,000 donation to the Buckeye Club, which raises money for student athletics, has been required to obtain the parking.