OSU FOOTBALL Three Stooges expect big game with Texas

The Buckeyes' linebackers are as good as there are in college football.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Off the field, they're the Three Stooges. When the game starts, they're as good a linebacking corps as there is in college football.
Ohio State's senior trio of A.J. Hawk, Anthony Schlegel and Bobby Carpenter are, to put it kindly, unique individuals who enjoy a good time. When they're not playing childish pranks on each other, they're busy terrorizing ball-carriers.
You can count on them being front and center when No. 4 Ohio State meets No. 2 Texas on Saturday night. Longhorns quarterback Vince Young will undoubtedly make their acquaintance, repeatedly.
Safety Nate Salley said the whole team enjoys watching them taking turns goofing on each other.
"One time Bobby and Schlegel, they drew something on A.J.'s jersey and he came out to practice. We asked him about it and he just shook his head. He said they were crazy," Salley said. "I had a class with Schlegel and he'd come to class and have something written on his leg with permanent marker. I said, 'What's that on your leg?' He just laughed and said, 'Oh, don't worry about it. That's from Bobby and A.J."'
Brunt of the jokes
Schlegel, who played high school football in Texas and transferred to Ohio State after two years at Air Force, gets the worst of it.
"They do stuff because I'm a nice guy and I don't like to retaliate," Schlegel said. "I could do some bad things to them but I choose to be the mature adult of the group. And that's crazy because I'm not very mature and adult-like."
The 6-foot-1, 251-pound Schlegel is 24 and married, but doesn't seem to mind the harassment from Hawk and Carpenter.
"We'll take his cleats or put Vaseline in his helmet," Hawk said. "He's kind of like our dad. We kind of look up to him. He's three or four years older than us, so he's sort of like the old guy we like to have fun with. He takes it all in stride."
Long hair trio
The three -- who have been letting their hair grow all summer-- make a formidable second line of the Ohio State defense.
Hawk stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 240 pounds. A first-team All-American and twice an All-Big Ten pick, he is the leader of the Buckeyes defense, leading the team in tackles the last two years.
Carpenter, 6-3, 255, is the enabler of the group. Bright, good-natured and more athletic than the other two, he's even seeing time at tight end for the Buckeyes because of injuries at that position. The red-headed Carpenter, like Schlegel the son of a high school football coach, plays with a lot of emotion.
"Everyone obviously knows he's a great player and a physical freak and can do everything," Hawk said. "He also likes to have a little fun and joke around with the guys. But he knows when to be serious."
Bulletin board material
It was Carpenter who fired the first volley against Texas shortly after Ohio State beat Miami (Ohio) 34-14 in last week's opener. He said, "Our goal is when Vince Young leaves here he won't be a candidate for the Heisman."
That got the attention of the Longhorns and their fans. Carpenter hasn't spoken to reporters since, but Schlegel jumped to his friend's defense.
"We're not putting bulletin board material out there but that's a true statement what he said," Schlegel said.
"You don't ever want anybody leaving as a [Heisman] frontrunner."
A Texas native
Schlegel has not hidden the fact that, even though he grew up in the land of Friday Night Lights, he was never a Longhorns fan.
"My dad coached in Dallas, so I used to go to TCU and SMU games. My wife went to A & amp;M," Schlegel said. "I've never been a big fan of Texas. It's just one of those things that happen. Texas is a big state, there's a lot of people to root for. I could care less [about the Longhorns]. Really. I could care less."