Tressel has Buckeyes ready to go

The former YSU head coach begins his first season at Ohio State on Sept. 8.
By GARY HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
A new coach and an almost new stadium; it seems like the perfect marriage.
The completely refurbished Ohio Stadium was on display for the first time during Ohio State's football media day, but the coach has been the main focus of Buckeye fans across the state since he was named as the school's 22nd head football coach on Jan. 18.
To many of those same voracious fans, Jim Tressel already has made them feel as if their beloved Buckeyes have not only been to a Rose Bowl, but won it in convincing fashion.
But that's what coaching honeymoons are all about. Avid fans will find no fault or displeasure with the new man in charge as long as the program is going in the right direction.
Measuring stick: For some fans, however, especially the rabid ones at OSU, the right direction is measured not only by the number of victories in a season, but by the number of victories over Michigan, in particular.
All 15 years of Tressel's tenure at Youngstown State were like a honeymoon and fairy tale combined for most YSU fans.
So much of the current fan base at Youngstown State didn't really jump on the bandwagon until the 1989 or '90 playoff seasons, when the hard-core Penguin fans were already satiated with their new coach despite enduring a few losing seasons in the first three years of the Tressel regime.
Make no mistake about it, Tressel, in his current job, will not have that same three-year cushion he had at Youngstown State. In the first place, he would never survive a 2-9 rookie season.
But by playing in front of a couple of wild and record-setting crowds of 100,000-plus in Ohio Stadium, he should have those two wins already secured before the Buckeyes head to Pasadena to play UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
Quarterback key: There's really only one thing looming large that could turn things sour for Tressel in his first year -- a lack of production from Steve Bellisari at quarterback.
However, if results are any indication, YSU's last six regular quarterbacks have played in the postseason and five of them have played in a national championship game. Tressel just may have the requisite skill as a quarterback coach/guru to help the physically-talented Bellisari become a championship signal caller.
During Bellisari's two-year stint as the OSU quarterback, the versatile southpaw has tried some option, drop-back, quick-drop, roll-out, and other various offensive maneuvers designed to make him a more effective quarterback. Yet, as camp got underway this year, he had no real inclination of what Tressel planned for the offense.
"It's hard to say, we really haven't started practice so we don't know what our system is going to be yet," Bellisari said. "I think with the amount of receivers we have, I think we want to utilize them and I think we're going to spread the field. We've also got a lot of good running backs coming in and we're going to want to use them.
"So I think we're going to do a lot of different things, probably have a lot of multiple sets, maybe run a little option."
At Ohio State's Spring Game, footballs were flying everywhere. It was hardly the offensive system the national championship teams adopted at YSU. However the shot gun worked well with Jeff Ryan at quarterback for YSU, and Bellisari could be envisioned as a bigger and faster version of Ryan by Tressel, with a stronger arm.
"One thing I noticed in the spring is that we did a lot more shot gun," Bellisari said. "I think some of the things out of that set were nice, and it made it easier timing things up for the receivers, especially some of the younger guys that aren't used to drops and have to be at certain points.
"If you're in the shot gun, you get a little more time to adjust to them and things like that," he said. "So I think we'll probably be doing some of that. We have to find out what fits our athletes best."
Bellisari said he spent time chatting with Ryan this past spring about his new, and Ryan's former, coach.
"I've talked with him a couple of different times about the little things to expect from Tressel and how he is in certain situations," Bellisari said. "Other than that, it's more of a learning process every day, trying to get comfortable with what he does and how he is."
McFadden ready: Redshirt freshman Rick McFadden is one Buckeye quarterback already a bit familiar with his new coach. A native of Struthers, who has undoubtedly seen Tressel in action over the years, McFadden vaulted himself in the quarterback derby with Scott McMullen and Craig Krenzel, after a strong performance in the spring.
"It was great just to get back in a real game," said McFadden, when asked about his stellar play in the Spring Game. "It was a year or so since I had actually played in a real game with a drive, so that gave me a lot of confidence. It definitely prepared me for coming into this year."
Going into camp, McFadden, a lefty like Bellisari, might be at the bottom of the pecking order, but he's not conceding anything at this point.
However, Bellisari's biggest challenge for the starting nod is likely to come from McMullen.
"We're all just playing for one spot and we'll see how it goes during the fall," McFadden said. "We don't know who's where yet. The best player is going to play, that's the way it goes. I stayed down here and worked out hard all summer. I threw a lot just trying to get prepared."
Honeymoon or not, it won't take long for the boo-birds to come out if Bellisari sputters coming out of the gate. But as any longtime YSU fan can tell you, don't expect Tressel to abandon his senior captain under any circumstances.