Senior duo leads linebackers

This season should be no different as James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman return to anchor the team's perennially consistent unit.

"Everyone said I made the right decision," Laurinaitis said. "It's the best time of your life being with friends and the education here is great. And I can help younger players out. No regrets."

Regrets will be few and far between this season as the Buckeyes work with the deepest linebacker corps in school history.

The departure of Larry Grant left an opening at strongside linebacker. Senior Curtis Terry and sophomore Tyler Moeller are the leading candidates to replace him.

Also fighting for game-time this spring are sophomores Ross Homan, Brian Rolle and Jermale Hines, junior Austin Spitler and incoming freshmen Andrew Sweat and Etienne Sabino.

"You like to think that you have a lot of players able to get out there," co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Luke Fickell said. "Last year we had Spitler and Freeman was rolling in with Homan. There's a lot of guys but you hope you can get them all out on the field and involved."

Look for a steady rotation of linebackers throughout the season to keep Laurinaitis and Freeman healthy as things progress.

The drop-off between first and second string is small, enabling Fickell to rest his starters on closer leads thanks to the replacements' ability to hold opposing offenses.

OSU's biggest advantage is that neither Freeman nor Laurinaitis are content with their abilities. Having lost twice in the National Championship, each realizes there is still room for extensive growth.

"We have a lot to improve on," Laurinaitis said. "We have a long way to go. Coach does an unbelievable job making us compete better and compete with each other. I want to reach my full potential. We have high expectations and we want to live up to them."

Saturday will go a long way toward showing which players will see the most time, but look for quite a bit of chaos come August.

"There has definitely been a lot of physical work," Freeman said. "We have concentrated a lot on the mental aspect but we have been getting after it physically."

Zack Timmons can be reached at timmons.60@osu.edu.

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