There were 28 seniors recognized during Saturday’s pregame ceremonies, but only one of them had his name chanted by the students in the South stands of Ohio Stadium – Todd Boeckman.
In a two-year flurry, Boeckman earned the starting position at quarterback and led the 2007 Buckeyes to an 11-2 record, a Big Ten title and a trip to the national championship. ESPN college football analyst Mel Kiper Jr. listed Boeckman among the top junior quarterbacks in college football.
Then Boeckman started this season with five-star recruit Terrelle Pryor waiting in the wings. After a blowout loss to USC, Boeckman lost his job and was booed in his home stadium the following week. When Pryor failed to get the offense going, there were calls for Boeckman to take over the reins again, though this was never fulfilled.
“When anybody loses their job it’s going to be tough,” Boeckman said. “This is one of the worst things in my life to happen to me.”
As the other three captains and numerous other seniors took part in last Monday’s media day for “The Game,” Boeckman was absent. When asked if they thought Todd should start or at least play Saturday, not a single player would take a hard stance and say, “You know what, yeah that should probably happen.” They instead reverted to the company line that the coaches will make the decision.
When asked if Boeckman would start, Tressel said, “Well, we haven’t talked about that, although we’re not very deep into that this week.
“One time I remember I had so many seniors on offense that I started 11 seniors on the first play, and then play two it was back to the rest of the group. I’m not sure that’s in the cards here.”
Then reports came from The Dayton Daily News last week that Boeckman and Tressel barely speak anymore, that Pryor has “rebuffed Boeckman’s efforts to mentor him on the sidelines” and that players were voicing their concerns.
Pryor has spoken all year about his love for the senior class and his desire to do everything for the seniors, in between telling everyone how the college game is easy and just like high school.
When the Buckeye offense was inept and out of sync against Purdue, more calls came to give Boeckman another shot. Pryor walked into Tressel’s office the day before the Michigan State game and told Tressel to put Boeckman in if he couldn’t get the offense moving.
With at least two more chances to play Michigan, he should have done the same thing this week; it was Boeckman’s last shot to start at home.
At least if Boeckman started Saturday’s game he wouldn’t have gone one-for-five for 14 yards and an interception in the first quarter.
James Crepea can be reached at [email protected]
