Youngstown State at No. 11 Ohio State Week 1 2007

Saturday will be the first football game between No. 11 Ohio State and Youngstown State. The Buckeyes have only lost one opening season game in the last twenty years (’99 Miami).

The Players
One of the biggest questions going into this season is who will replace the 5,290 yards of offense that Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Anthony Gonzalez and Antonio Pittman provided last season? Todd Boeckman is going to get the first chance to step into the large shoes vacated by Heisman winner Troy Smith at quarterback. Chris “Beanie” Wells and Maurice Wells are going to try and duplicate the one-two punch that the New Orleans Saints have in Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister. Brian Robiskie will be this season’s go-to receiver as Brian Hartline, Ray Small, Devon Lyons and a slew of other receivers try to become household names.

Ohio State’s defense should be the backbone of this year’s team. Youngstown State will provide an opportunity for linebacker James Laurinaitis, left end Vernon Gholston and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins to lead the Buckeyes to their first 46th opening game shutout.

Louis Irizarry returns to Ohio Stadium after being dismissed from the Buckeyes. In 2006 he caught at least one pass in all 14 games. Senior quarterback Tom Zetts’ main targets will be Irizarry and senior wide receiver Rory Berry. The Penguins lost three running backs to graduation and are hoping that Jabari Scott and Brandon Nicholson can fill the void.

The View
Since 1890 Ohio State is 101-12-4 in opening games. The Buckeyes have not had a shutout in an opening game since defeating the Hurricanes 10-0 in 1977. Former Ohio State president Karen Holbrook has a better chance at being invited to a tailgate party than Youngstown State has at winning this game. If this game were a movie, it would be titled Death March of the Penguins.

Ohio State- 45, Youngstown State- 3


The Stats
Youngstown State
Rushing offense: 223.7 (N/A)
Passing offense: 157.9 (N/A)
Total offense: 381.6 (N/A )
Scoring offense: 31.4 (N/A)
Rushing defense: 169.9 (N/A)
Passing defense: 190.6 (N/A)
Total defense: 360.4 (N/A)
Scoring defense: 23.1 (N/A)

Ohio State
Rushing offense: 169.8 (26th)
Passing offense: 214.7 (45th)
Total offense: 384.5 (26th)
Scoring offense: 34.6 (8th)
Rushing defense: 98.3 (15th)
Passing defense: 182.1 (30th)
Total defense: 280.5 (12th)
Scoring defense: 12.8 (5th)