EDITOR’S NOTE -- In the latest edition of a series looking at Ohio State in 2010, we have an interview with wide receiver DeVier Posey. This series features comments from OSU players made before and after the Rose Bowl win over Oregon.

In some ways, Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey was overlooked and probably underrated in 2009.

But after his big game in the Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes, it is likely that will not happen again in 2010. In fact, Posey is counting on his junior year being a breakout season – for himself and the Buckeyes.

“This was the perfect starting point,” Posey said of OSU’s 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl. “I don’t think you could have it any better. The expectations are really high. They’re probably even higher than what you guys have for us.

“At a place like Ohio State, a national championship is a reality. That’s what we’re going to work for in the off-season. That’s why we want to get better and what we want to try and do.”

Posey, listed at 6-3 and 205 pounds, quietly put together a pretty good sophomore year. He was a first-year starter, but he ended up as the team’s leading receiver. In fact, he ended the year with 60 catches for 828 yards and eight touchdowns. (He also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Dane Sanzenbacher on a flanker option against New Mexico State.)

His 60 catches are the most in a single season for an OSU receiver in seven years, dating to 2002 when Michael Jenkins caught 61 passes in 14 games. To find a player who averaged more than Posey’s mark of 4.62 catches per game, you have to go back 11 years to David Boston. (In 1998, Boston had 81 catches in 12 games – and average of 6.75 catches per game.)

Posey ended the year sixth in the Big Ten in catches per game and seventh in the conference in receiving yards per game. But, despite being the top receiver on the Big Ten’s outright champions, you won’t find Posey’s name anywhere on the All-Big Ten teams. He didn’t even merit an Honorable Mention selection.

“We don’t listen to what people say about us because some people will have good opinions and some people will have negative opinions,” Posey said. “They’re still going to say it. We just have to continue doing what we do every day and keep grinding.

“We know we can throw the ball. We play against a great defense every day in practice and we move the ball down against them. It’s just a matter of not making mental mistakes in the game.”

Posey paid his dues as a freshman in 2008, playing behind the likes of Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline and Ray Small. But Robiskie graduated and Hartline left early for the NFL.

“This past year, I was thrown into the fire,” Posey said. “(Wide receivers coach Darrell) Hazell named me the number one receiver in the spring. I wasn’t sure I was ready for it, but he had the confidence in me. I knew if I buckled down and matured it would be a possibility to be the number one guy here. I want to make those big plays and I had that opportunity.

“My confidence is a lot higher and my level of comfortability is a lot higher. When I’m out there, it’s just like football. I don’t see the crowd, I don’t see the other jerseys.”

Posey credited Hazell – whose track record for developing receivers is nonpareil – for demanding effort from his receivers in all phases of the offense.

“His level of standards are probably a lot different than others,” Posey said. “Being consistent is doing all those things and being an all-around receiver. It’s about blocking and route running and everything. It’s not just catching and running.”

Posey and the Buckeyes rallied after losses to USC and Purdue knocked them out of the national title picture. OSU won its last five regular season games to win the Big Ten and clinch the Rose Bowl. Posey had one of the season’s biggest plays when he caught a 62-yard bomb from quarterback Terrelle Pryor to give OSU a 10-point lead in the third quarter at Penn State. The Buckeyes went on to win that game 24-7 as they gained momentum in their stretch run.

“That’s what you call getting better every week,” Posey said. “We had a couple of slip-ups at the beginning of the year. We didn’t have an identity. Everybody was asking who was going to step up and be the leaders. There were a lot of question marks at the beginning of the year.

“With USC and Purdue, we were just trying to find ourselves. That Minnesota game got us back on track. Penn State was a big win on the road. As a team, just finding ourselves this year was the key. I felt like in November that momentum we had from Penn State to Iowa and Michigan and the the Rose Bowl was big. We didn’t have a turnover since October until (the Rose Bowl).”

OSU coach Jim Tressel saw a chance to exploit the Oregon defense by throwing the ball. Pryor, Posey and fellow receiver Sanzenbacher were a big part of the plan. Sanzenbacher had nine catches and Posey had eight for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Just like the Penn State game, Posey’s touchdown against Oregon was a dagger to the heart. OSU was nursing a 19-17 fourth-quarter lead when Pryor threw an out pass that only Posey could get. He made the diving grab in the left corner of the end zone for the 17-yard touchdown that put the Buckeyes up nine with just over seven minutes left.

“We ran that play on the first drive and I actually dropped it,” Posey said. “I didn’t open my hips enough and I just didn’t concentrate. I dropped the pass. Coach Hazell came up to me at halftime and said, ‘We’re going to come back to you.’

“I was scared as hell. I was like, ‘OK, Coach.’ I was really confident. Just making that catch, it means a lot to me and a lot for this team. Terrelle made a great pass.”

Posey put a lot of the praise on his friend, Pryor, who established new career highs in pass attempts (37), completions (23) and yardage (266) against Oregon.

“When I was out there, I felt I was watching shades of Vince Young playing here,” Posey said. “He was pulling the ball down and going and getting those first downs. His ball placement was great. I ran a corner going toward the north end zone. It was a deep pass and I barely got my feet in. Where he put the ball was amazing. It was away from the defender and it was up the field. All I had to do was get my feet in and catch the ball.

“I sit in the quarterback meetings and it is amazing everything they have to know going into a game. He made it look easy.”

When Pryor struggled after his four-turnover game in the loss at Purdue, it was Posey – among others -- who was there to pick him up. He predicted his highly touted classmate would bounce back by the end of the season, and he was right.

“I believe in the kid,” said Posey, who was a prep standout at Cincinnati LaSalle High School. “I believe in him. When we were being recruited, I was one of the first ones who called him and said, ‘I want to play with you. I want to be your receiver.’ I love him. I told him, ‘Me and you need to go play college football together.’

“It’s definitely a good (partnership). He’s one of my great friends. We’re really close. We live right next door to each other, we were roommates in the dorms and he’s just one of my guys. He’s just one of the boys. And it also helps that he’s the quarterback and I’m the receiver.”

Posey believes he and Pryor are ready to take the next step in their combined development in 2010.

“It's a new year, and expectations for (Pryor) get even higher," Posey said. “It's not going to get any easier for the kid. It's never been easy since day one, and he understands that and we understand that, and my expectations for him are even higher now that you can see what he can do on a big stage."

Previous Installments

Click here for our interview with tight end Jake Stoneburner. Click here for an overall look at Ohio State in 2010. Click here for Thursday’s Daily Battle Cry column where we examined possible national championship contenders for 2010.

Stay tuned for more player interviews and a look at OSU’s opponents and a possible early top 25 for 2010.