1. The Buckeyes play Youngstown State University on Saturday. YSU is Tressel's old team and he put the series together to get over $600K back into his old school's pocket to help with the funding of their sports programs. OSU should dismantle them by halftime and the backups are expected to play half the game.

2. The surprise on the depth chart was OSU Freshman Taurian Washington and Dane Sanzenbacher listed as the #3 and #4 WR's. Usual #3 receiver, Ray Small, is nursing an injury and will likely not play. But Washington and Sanzenbacher has simply outperformed upper classman Devon Lyons and Albert Dukes and earned their spots in the lineup.

3. Other Freshman to impress that have cracked the two deep and will play on Saturday are DT Cameron Heyward, son of "Ironhead", who has proven to be an incredibly athletic DT for his size (6'6", 280 lbs.). Also, the highest rated recruit in last year's class, Eugene Clifford, a 6'2", 210 lb. WR/CB/S has also exploded on the scene. Clifford has shown such tremendous athleticism for his size that he is listed as the backup CB to All-American candidate Malcolm Jenkins.

4. The Big Ten Network is turning into a real mess in Columbus. As of today, nobody in Columbus will be able to watch the first game of the season unless they have DirectTV. The BTN is close to striking a deal with Time Warner that their website says will be imminent within the next day or so. But Comcast is not even on the same page as the BTN and a deal with them is unlikely to be struck. It appears anyone who has Comcast will be frozen out from seeing the game unless they go to a local bar or BW3.

5. OSU has announced that some of the biggest recruits in the nation will be attending the OSU vs. Wisconsin matchup in Columbus, including All-World prospect Terrelle Pryor, the Vince Young type QB from Pennsylvania.

6. OSU's O-line is likely to see as many as 10 different players get time in this game against Youngstown State. QB Todd Boeckman will get his first start, but is likely to be out by halftime.

7. The offensive playcalling is likely to shift gears from the wide open spread attack of years past. OSU will still spread them out, but only so they can create running lanes for Super Sophomore Chris Wells, the OSU RB who was last year's #1 High School Player in the Nation. Wells is projected by many for 1500+ yards if he's healthy. Look for him to run over the YSU undersized front, as Wells is a battering ram at 230 lbs. with 4.5 speed. He has been compared to the Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson.

8. On Defense, OSU's D-line dwarfs the O-line of YSU, who averages under 300 lbs. across the board. The Buckeyes are bigger, stronger, and quicker up front and should dismantle this unit all game.

9. In the secondary, keep an eye on Redshirt Freshman Donald Washington, who will start opposite Malcolm Jenkins at CB. Washington is considered the best overall athlete on OSU's team and at 6'3", has blazing speed and a huge vertical leap. Washington was set to challenge for the starting CB job last year and was supposed to be the Nickel back before getting hurt. Another new face back there is Kurt Coleman. Coleman simply beat out two returning vets for a starting safety position and has been the most devastating DB in the offseason. He is a ferocious hitter with FS range, and led OSU in interceptions (a stat actually kept track of) throughout the preseason scrimmages and camps, displaying great ball skills. The coaches feel that Coleman is the next great OSU safety in a long line.

National News...

1. In the 10th year of the BCS system, no team has won the National Title twice. Shocking when you think about it. This year, that is expected to change, as USC, Texas, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma, and OSU are all ranked in the USA Today top 10 to start the season.

2. Some of the big matchups this weekend are the following: The #7 Wisconsin team invites Washington State to town. Jim Harbaugh makes his coaching debut for Stanford against #14 UCLA. ACC Champ Wake Forest takes on Boston College, while Bobby Bowden hosts one of the headliner games of the weekend on Monday night against Clemson in the Bowden Bowl. Charlie Weis takes his fat leperchauns into battle against Georgia Tech and Illinois gets Missouri in its opener. Ron Zook has landed some pretty impressive recruiting classes in Illinois, including landing the #1 receiver in the nation last year who will be an opening day starter. Oklahoma State takes on Georgia and then of course, there is the game of the week (unless you're a diehard OSU fan like me, in which case YSU coming to town is #1) which pits #12 Cal against #15 Tennessee. Erik Ainge will be playing with a broken pinky on his throwing hand and Cal has the best WR in the nation, a solid running game, and a great Head Coach.

Have fun...

BD... you a Buckeye?