Repeating as the champs will be no small feat.
Being the 2002 National Champions places a bulls-eye on Ohio State’s back for every team it will face this year. A repeat champion has not been seen in college football since the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1994-1995.
The No. 2 ranked Buckeye’s will face five preseason Associated Press top 25 college football poll ranked teams, along with several other squads that are capable of reaching the top 25 before the Buckeye’s get to them.
The Buckeye’s first five games will be at home this year. Add in 105,000 fans filling Ohio Stadium each Saturday and things appear to be in their favor at first glance; however, none of their opponents can be considered pushovers. No. 17 Washington will give the Buckeyes a test in their season opener. Washington boasts the combo of Cody Pickett and Reggie Williams, possibly one of the best quarterback-receiver combinations in the country.
Sandwiched between San Diego and Bowling Green may be the toughest opponent the Buckeyes will face all year. North Carolina State has become a football powerhouse in the past couple of years, ending last season with a respectable 11-3 mark. Returning is star quarterback Philip Rivers, go-to wide receiver Jerricho Crotchery and solid running back T.A. McLendon. McLendon was voted Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year, rushing for over 1,000 yards in 2002, he was also the only freshman to score more than Maurice Clarett.
With that many weapons and a defense that is able to keep opponents well within the grasp of River’s arm, N.C. State may be too much too soon if the Buckeyes do not prove that they can produce on offense and fill the voids that have been left with the defense’s back seven.
After N.C. State the Buckeyes will move into their Big Ten Conference schedule. Northwestern will be at home the week before traveling to AP ranked No. 21 Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Badgers return depth and experience, having 18 returning starters from a year ago. Quarterback Jim Sorgi has shown signs of greatness and running back Anthony Davis has rushed for more than 3,000 yards in the past two years combined. Add that Wisconsin will return the heart of its defense and you have the makings for an interesting Big Ten match up.
Iowa will come to Ohio Stadium. Iowa lost quarterback Brad Banks, runner up in the 2002 Heisman Trophy Award voting, and only returns 12 starters. They may be young, but Iowa has been a challenge, and in conference play nothing is ever taken for granted.
Continuing with their season OSU will travel to Indiana and then to Happy Valley to face Penn State. It has not been so happy for the Buckeyes, who lost the last two times they played there. Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno always gets the most out of his players. They return Zack Mills at quarterback and the heart of their defense in linebackers Derek Wake and Gino Capone. The key factor in this game will be the strength of the Penn State offensive line; they lost four seniors after last season.
Coming home for two weeks before the Michigan game will be a true test as to whether the Buckeyes still have some of the magic of last season. Michigan State returns 16 starters and adds former quarterback Jeff Smoker back to the roster, Smoker left the team last year and opted for rehab due to substance abuse problems. With Smoker clean and new coach John Smith, who comes to MSU with a 110-60 overall record for his career and five straight bowl appearances, the Spartans may prove to be a worthy top 25 adversary by week 10 if they properly grasp Smith’s new system.
AP ranked No. 19 Purdue will come to ‘the Shoe’ for the final home game of the 2003 season on Nov. 15. Purdue returns 19 starters from the 2002 season.
OSU will need to stay focused throughout the year if they are to make it to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the final game of the season with an untarnished mark. OSU quarterback Craig Krenzel has led the scarlet and gray to wins against the Wolverines in the past two seasons, a feat never accomplished in the John Cooper era. Facing the Buckeyes will be four-year starting quarterback John Navarre, running back Chris Perry, a 6’1″, 225-pound powerhouse who ended 2002 with 1,110 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns to his credit, and a healthy stable of 11 other returning starters.
Michigan’s weakness may lie within its defense, which only returns five veterans to the squad. The void left in their defensive secondary may worsen if Marlin Jackson, a preseason all Big Ten selection at cornerback, gets convicted of assault charges that he now faces.
The Nokia Sugar Bowl will host the Bowl Championship Series National Championship this year. Although the Buckeyes return 18 starters from a year ago, they will need to prove that they are a different team in order to make it back to the promise land. With coach Jim Tressel’s record as a repeat champion with Youngstown State University, it would appear that the Buckeyes are in great hands.
After being challenged by issues concerning returning star running back and Heisman hopeful Clarett, OSU has already faced adversity coming into the 2003 season. If they draw on the changes that have taken place in the off-season and stick to Tressel’s plan of attack, there may be a Mardi Gras celebration by Buckeye fans in New Orleans come the first week of January.
