Cleaning out the sports desk while wondering just how underappreciated Ken-Yon Rambo was a year ago when he caught 53 balls in this offense, made me think.
I admire Jim Tressel’s loyalty. And I know Steve Bellisari is a tough competitor and a team guy, but this is getting a bit old.
At a press luncheon in April, as the Buckeyes opened spring practice, Tressel talked about how he’d love for Bellisari to have a storybook senior year and win All Big-Ten honors as he was being bombarded with questions about the quarterback position. He set forth dreams about how great it would be to see a guy who had laid it on the line for four years to finally come around. And, because Bellisari is the kind of guy you root for, maybe all of us in that room dreamed with him.
But after just two games, it has become obvious to everyone not wearing a headset that this is just not going to happen. Bellisari wasn’t bad on Saturday, he was downright awful.
He possesses an arm as strong as any Buckeye’s, yet he can’t hit open receivers, struggles to keep poise in the face of the rush and lacks the touch to strike down field.
He is one of the team’s best athletes, yet he can’t escape the pocket and break loose. How many times on Saturday did you see Bellisari, with protection breaking down around him and seams to run everywhere, just tuck the ball and bury his shoulder into a defensive lineman?
This may be simplifying things too much. Bellisari’s performance was effected by the offensive line play and the lack of a consistent running game, to be sure.
But that doesn’t take away from one obvious fact. While Bellisari possesses tools that made The Sporting News dub him a potential Steve Young two years ago, the guy is not a quarterback.
Florida State knew it four years ago when they recruited him as a safety and not a signal-caller. And now we know it, too.
Think about the receiver you see coming around on a reverse and winging the ball 50 yards downfield. That guy runs a 4.4 dash and has a strong arm. Nobody’s asking him to play quarterback.
Much more goes into the position than a strong arm and quick feet. You must have the right mindset for the position. And, at this level, your mechanics better be damn good.
What makes this situation dicey is the respect that Bellisari has from his teammates. As much-maligned as he is, the team has voted him as captain twice, which makes him the first player to accomplish that since Pepper Johnson in the mid ’80s.
It won’t be easy to bench him, but right now he is leaving the coaching staff with few options. Maybe Scott McMullen, Craig Krenzel and Rick McFadden just aren’t ready to start. Maybe Tressel is just biding his time, waiting for Massillon Washington star Justin Zwick to come to campus.
The one thing that is clear is that something has to happen at quarterback, a position at which Bellisari has proved himself to be, at the very least, awkward.
And at the end of the day, it’s a shame that Ohio State has wasted such athletic potential by playing someone out of position. But, make no mistake about it, that’s exactly what they did.
Albert Breer is a senior in journalism from Sudbury, Mass. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
