Quarterbacks, quarterbacks, quarterbacks.
Every football coach always is interested in quarterbacks, and Ohio State is no exception.
Even with Terrelle Pryor now at the controls of the Buckeye offense for the next two years at least, that hasn't stopped coach Jim Tressel from looking at some other notable QBs as possible Buckeye recruits.
In the last week, OSU apparently has gone 1-1 in landing potential Class of 2010 quarterbacks. First, Joe Montana's son Nick spurned the Buckeyes among several other elite college-program pursuers, giving a verbal commitment to new Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Montana, seen as one of the top QBs available next spring, said he wasn't deterred by the Huskies' 0-12 record last season.
But Tressel did get a verbal from hotshot Illinois signal-caller Tyler Graham, son of former Buckeye QB Kent Graham, to bolster Ohio State's 2010 recruiting class.
Klein, a three-time All-Ohio selection from Licking Valley High School in Newark, is one of 33 incoming college freshmen this fall, including another early-entry Buckeye teammate in offensive lineman Jack Mewhort, who will represent the United States in football's first junior world championship (players age 19 and under). The week-long tournament field also includes Canada, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand and France, whom Team USA will play first at 8 p.m. today.
Also, I like Phil Steele's annual College Football Preview because it extends its predictions out into the bowl games, and has Ohio State meeting Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. However, Steele seems to think if the Buckeyes get past USC in Game 2 on Sept. 12 under the lights at home, their only loss will come at Penn State Nov. 7, putting the Nittany Lions in the Rose Bowl for the second straight season.
Contact Steve Hemmelgarn at shemmelgarn@newsandsentinel.com
