Article published August 23, 2009
Herron, Saine looking to be next great Buckeye back
Brandon Saine's career at Ohio State has been slowed by injuries after being Ohio's Mr. Football in 2006 at Piqua.
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By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS - Dan Herron and Brandon Saine are on the run. They are hot-footing it, trying to move beyond one significant Ohio State legacy, while in fast pursuit of their own.
That's life when you play tailback for the Buckeyes.
The list of great players who have stood upright with hands on hips at the back end of the Ohio State offense is a long and heavily gilded one, and before Herron and Saine can make a play for a place on that storied roll call, they first have to make a lot of folks just move on.
Chris "Beanie" Wells has dominated the landscape here for the last two seasons, and even at 6-2 and 245 pounds, Beanie was larger than life as a personality and a punishing presence carrying the football.
Herron and Saine won't make people forget Wells, but as they compete for the starting job Wells vacated, they just seem anxious to end all of the talk about the Akron native who left the Buckeyes a year early for the NFL.
"We were both here and we got to see what kind of impact Beanie had and how important he was to the offense," Herron said as the Buckeyes continue their preseason camp in preparation for their opener against Navy Sept. 5 in Ohio Stadium."Beanie - he was a great player at Ohio State, but I think Brandon and I both are working to show people that we can do it without Beanie. The coaches - they wouldn't have brought us here if they didn't think we could get the job done."
Sophomore Dan 'Boom' Herron rushed for 439 yards and six touchdowns last season for the Buckeyes.
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Wells, who got drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and is now in training camp, was hampered with injuries and started just 21 games at Ohio State, but his 17 games with 100 or more yards rushing rank third-best at Ohio State, trailing only Archie Griffin and Eddie George. Wells' 222 yards on 39 carries in a win at Michigan in 2007 were probably enough on their own to get Wells canonized in the Buckeye State.
"I guess there's a little bit of pressure, coming after a guy like Beanie, but we've both been playing here a while, so we know the expectations that go with the position," Saine said. "This is Ohio State. Everyone's on a pretty big stage."
Herron has had the most exposure to date, last year rushing for 439 yards and six touchdowns. He started in the high-profile game at Southern California when Wells was sidelined due to a toe injury. Herron had 94 yards on 20 carries against Troy and rushed for 80 yards against Michigan, with touchdown runs of 49 and two yards.
Herron, nicknamed "Boom" for his running style, sat out the 2007 season at Ohio State as a redshirt. He was a prep star at Warren Harding, where he had 1,434 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior. He is a sophomore in eligibility and, at 5-10 and 195 pounds, is more compact than Wells.
"He gives you different options and presents other threats than Beanie did," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Boom is smaller, but that means he's probably a little tougher to track down in there amongst all those offensive linemen."
Saine (6-1, 217) came here in 2007 already being a little bit of a legend after winning Ohio's Mr. Football award as a senior, when he led Piqua to a state championship in 2006 with 1,895 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. He also won two sprints in the state track meet.
Injuries of the persistent and nagging kind have been his near constant companion at Ohio State and have limited Saine's playing time and effectiveness. He had just 65 rushing yards last season after gaining 267 as a freshman.
"It's been kind of difficult, considering the injuries I've had to deal with since I got here, but I am healthy now and really focusing on going forward and getting ready for the season," said Saine, a junior.
"When you're healthy and you feel good and you don't have to worry about being nicked up or making an injury worse, the game is a lot more fun."
The Ohio State running back picture in 2009 was expected to include two freshmen from Florida, but recruit Carlos Hyde from Naples could not make the grade on his testing and will spend at least the first quarter at a prep school in Virginia. At 6-1 and 230 pounds, Hyde, who is the most Beanie-like, physically, of the group, had 1,653 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns last season.
Miami product Jaamal Berry has been on the OSU campus and enrolled in school this summer after weathering a marijuana possession charge back in Florida. Berry (5-11, 195) was first charged with a felony, had it reduced to a misdemeanor, and then the charges were dropped altogether with the stipulation that he complete an online drug program.
At Ohio State's recent media day, Berry expressed remorse over the incident.
"It just showed me that I need to be more careful about choosing my friends and who I hang out with," Berry said. "It was a bad choice on my part, and I'm sorry about that. I can definitely promise everyone it won't happen again. I am here to get an education and help my team out on the football field. I don't want any trouble or problems."
Tressel has not yet indicated whether he expects to choose one of the trio as his regular tailback or implement some kind of platoon system. He said he prefers to let the competition for the position play out during camp and leave his options open.
"There's a great challenge for these guys," Tressel said. "They are competing in everything they do, and that competition will continue. We always want to have at least three or four guys ready to go, so there's no urgency to approach it any other way. We need for every one of our backs to be ready to play."
Based on experience, Herron has the clear inside track to the starting role, but he refuses to assume he holds any such advantage.
"I just love the competition," Herron said. "I think we have a very talented group of backs, and if we continue to make plays, it will all work out. The coaches will put the best man on the field. We can't worry about that."
Contact Matt Markey at
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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