Columnist Bill Livingston names his top Ohio State players in the Jim Tressel Era.
Troy Smith's consistent brilliance once given the reins of the OSU offense makes him the single greatest player in the Jim Tressel Era, says Bill Livingston.STAFF PREDICTIONS
DOUG LESMERISES
Heisman Trophy: Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh RB: In a completely wide-open race, quarterbacks such as Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, Stanford’s Andrew Luck, Washington’s Jake Locker, Houston’s Case Keenum and Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor cancel each other out, without a clear standout, clearing the way for the running back with the best numbers — and it’s not last year’s winner, Alabama’s Mark Ingram.
ACC title game: Virginia Tech over Florida State
Big East: West Virginia
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12 title game: Oklahoma over Nebraska
Pac-10: Stanford
SEC title game: Alabama over Florida
BCS National Championship: Ohio State over TCU. The only two teams to make it through the regular season undefeated squeeze into the top two BCS spots ahead of one-loss champions from the SEC and Big 12.
BILL LIVINGSTON
Heisman Trophy: Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor doesn’t play like he did against Oregon every week, but highlight plays against Miami, old Pryor foil Wisconsin, and failure to implode afterward gives him the nod in a close race with a cluster of contenders.
ACC title game: Virginia Tech over Florida State
Big East: Pitt wins the dribble-glass BCS conference
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12 title game: Nebraska over Oklahoma
Pac-10: Does Oregon have any unsuspended stars left? If not, Washington
SEC title game: Alabama over Florida
BCS National Championship: Ohio State over Alabama. Two tough, power teams with the past two Heisman winners slug it out.
ELTON ALEXANDER
Heisman Trophy: Washington’s Jake Locker sweeps the votes from the West Coast, Southwest and Plains to win the Heisman easily. Up-and-down Terrelle Pryor from Ohio State and Alabama’s Heisman incumbent Mark Ingram split the votes from the Midwest, East Coast and South.
Atlantic Coast title game: Florida State over Miami.
Big East: Rutgers
Big Ten: Ohio State
Big 12 title game: Oklahoma over Nebraska
Pacific-10: Washington
SEC title game: Florida over Alabama.
BCS National Championship: Boise State over Rutgers. Other than these two, every other league champion in the country has two or more losses. The fallout: A national playoff is mandated by coaches, fans and every politician up for re-election in 2012.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The list of the 10 best players of the Jim Tressel Era at Ohio State begins with a Heisman Trophy winner and ends with a Dick Butkus and Bronko Nagurski award winner.
How hard is it to make this team?
Harder than it has proven for Michigan, in a complete reversal of the trend of The Game before Tressel, to beat the Buckeyes. And that's proven to be a stumper eight times in nine years, including the last six in a row.
The Near-Misses
15. LeCharles Bentley, center (1998-2001)
14. Craig Krenzel, quarterback (2000-03)
13. Santonio Holmes, wide receiver (2003-05)
12. Beanie Wells, running back (2006-08)
11. Malcolm Jenkins, safety (2005-07)
The Top 10
10. James Laurinaitis, linebacker (2005-08) -- Three time All-American, Butkus Award winner as the top college linebacker, Nagurski Award winner as the top college defender, Laurinaitis was a very, very good college player. But he just didn't make that many game-changing plays and "hit the rewind button" collisions.
9. Mike Doss, safety (1999-2002) -- Fierce hitter and three-time All-American, Doss was a champion at every level of the game. His ramble with an intercepted pass got Ohio State started in the upset of Miami in the national championship game.
8. Will Allen, defensive back (2000-03) -- Doss' caddy for three years intercepted Michigan's John Navarre at the sill of the Buckeyes' goal on the last play in 2002; caught a pass Matt Wilhelm tipped in the end zone to hold off Cincinnati; knocked Willis McGahee out of the Fiesta Bowl on a clean hit, and recovered the fumble of the Hurricanes' Roscoe Parrish in the same game; and stopped an N.C. State running back inches short of the goal on fourth down in the third overtime. In his senior year, Allen was an All-American.
7. Ted Ginn Jr., wide receiver (2004-06) -- Scoring on kickoff and punt returns, swerving on end arounds, flying into the clear on deep balls, even passing for a score, the Glenville flash was an all-purpose threat. Opponents had to find him in a hurry, because he was the fastest man in college football.
6. A.J. Hawk, linebacker (2002-05) -- The best of a terrific trio that included Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel, Hawk won the Vince Lombardi Award as the best lineman or linebacker in the college game. No less than legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal left the Horseshoe in 2005 raving about Hawk and his fellow linebackers.
5. Chris Gamble, cornerback (2001-03) -- Yes, he was roughed up in the end zone on fourth down in the first OT by Miami, on the penalty that prolonged the tying drive. He also played 106 other snaps in that game and caught OSU's longest pass of the night. A throwback as a two-way player, Gamble made an interception to save the day against Purdue in 2002 was strictly Willie Mays/Vic Wertz stuff in terms of ground covered.
4. Michael Jenkins, wide receiver (2000-03) -- Facing fourth-and-14 in the first OT against Miami, or facing fourth-and-2 at the Boilermakers' 37 in the final minute and change at Purdue, who ya gonna call? Jenkins always answered with huge catches.
3. Will Smith, defensive end (2000-03) -- The leader of the ferocious front four of the 2002 national championship team, he recorded 10.5 sacks and set the tone for the upset of Miami with a bear-paw swat and sack of Dorsey for a loss on the very first play.
2. Maurice Clarett, running back (2002) -- The most polarizing figure in Ohio State football history, Clarett was the freshman on whose shoulders the national championship hopes rested. No one ever made more amazing runs for no gain or little gain, as time and again the one-year wonder avoided drive-killing losses. Clarett scored the winning touchdown after breaking a backfield tackle in the championship game, but the Buckeyes would never have gotten that far without the ball he stole from Miami safety Sean Taylor after Taylor's end zone interception. With no OSU field goal on that drive, there would have been no overtime.
1. Troy Smith, quarterback (2003-06) -- Video game numbers: 46 TD passes, 10 interceptions in his final two seasons, including a 30/6 ratio in his Heisman year of 2006. He was the leader of three wins over Michigan, all with "SportsCenter Play of the Day" efforts. The Glenville product was the dominant force in college football in his electric senior season. Had it not been for the resounding thud of his BCS Championship Game performance against Florida, he would rival two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin as Ohio State's greatest player ever.