Dan Herron

Here is video of OSU coach Jim Tressel's Thursday press conference.

It is not very often that Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel begins his Thursday press conference fielding questions his kickers. But that was certainly the case this week due to the news that fifth-year senior Aaron Pettrey’s college career is over due to knee surgery.

The Buckeyes had a competition in practice this week between junior Devin Barclay and redshirt freshman Ben Buchanan, and it was the 26-year-old Barclay – a former professional soccer player – that got the nod.

And nothing like throwing him right in the fire. Fifteenth-ranked Ohio State (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) will face off against No. 11 Penn State (8-1, 4-1) at Beaver Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m.; ABC/ESPN2) in a rivalry game that is usually low-scoring. In other words, it could come down to a field goal.

“Well, if we were kicking the derby today, Devin Barclay would be handling the field goals and kickoffs,” Tressel said. “Although, I think both of them have done well this week. Devin likes kicking on grass – he did it for all those years as a soccer player. And Ben, just recently out of high school, has spent most of his life on grass. So, they’re not all the way spoiled. Sometimes you get spoiled on the turf.

“Both of them have had good weeks. And as we go into the game – unless something happens that I’m not aware of or whatever – Devin will handle those two chores.”

One might think that a coach that predicates so much of his success on the kicking game would be troubled by entering such a big game with an unproven kicker. But despite his animosity, Barclay has performed well in practice.

“You know, I really don’t (feel uneasy),” Tressel said. “Maybe I should, I don’t know. But it is what it is and that’s the cards we have right now. Everybody in America can show you somebody that’s not with them right now and they have to adjust and that’s why you have a team. We’re fortunate that a guy like Devin Barclay wandered onto our campus and Ben Buchanan chose our campus. So, we think we’re as well-prepared as we can be.”

Barclay winning the job boils down to two things: He has kicked well in practice (even going back to the spring kick scrimmage he was impressive) and Buchanan has spent most of his time in practice this year working on punting. Buchanan has been the backup punter all year – and filled in for Jon Thoma against Toledo when Thoma was sick – and will undoubtedly be the Buckeyes’ No. 1 punter next year.

“Well, Ben works on both things (kicking and punting),” Tressel said. “Ben has missed some time, which is a little bit of an issue right now. He wasn’t even dressed for last week and missed a good bit of last week’s practice. He has doubled as a punter. And he also had a little bit of an injury at the end of preseason and missed some time.

“And Devin has taken advantage of the opportunities. But I can foresee good competition and beyond for those two kids.”

As for Barclay’s range, Tressel mentioned on Tuesday that he’s probably not going to be kicking any 57-yarders anytime soon. But Barclay does have a relatively strong leg.

“Oh yeah, Devin can kick a 50-yard field goal,” Tressel said. “I think his range will be determined by the situation in the game. But yeah, he can kick 50-yard field goals.”

Injury report

It sounds like Ohio State will have the services of junior defensive tackle Dexter Larimore who has missed the last four games with a sprained knee. However, exactly how effective Larimore will be – and how much he’ll be able to play – are the issues.

“I asked him that question after practice (Wednesday),” Tressel said. “I said, ‘How you feeling, Dex?’ He said, ‘I’m feeling great; I’m not playing very well.’ But that’s just Dex. So, I asked (defensive coordinator Jim) Heacock (Thursday) morning in our meeting, I said, ‘Jim, how should I react to what Dex said?’ He said, ‘He’s playing fine.’ So, I would expect him to help us.”

On the offensive line, junior left guard Justin Boren missed the New Mexico State game with an injury, but he will start against the Nittany Lions as expected.

“Yeah, he went every drill we had,” Tressel said. “Yeah, he’s fine.”

Pryor-Young comparisons continue

Ohio State sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor is often compared to former Texas (and current Tennessee Titan) QB Vince Young. It might sound ridiculous now considering Young was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 2005 and Pryor is nowhere near that good right now.

However, as was pointed out to Tressel on Thursday – and as the coach has mentioned himself in the past – Young didn’t really break out until the end of his sophomore year in 2004 (Michigan fans can tell you all about the Rose Bowl that season). And he was a third-year sophomore at the time because he redshirted in 2002.

One thing Tressel has in common with every Ohio State fan is that he hopes everything clicks for Pryor the way it did for Young at a similar stage.

“Yeah, I mentioned to the whole staff (Thursday) morning when the quarterbacks left for their quarterback meeting that I hoped that all of us are as prepared as Terrelle was (Thursday) morning and as prepared as Joe (Bauserman) was (Thursday) morning,” Tressel said. “I thought that was probably the best understanding of what we’re trying to do and what the defense is trying to do, as far as what they might do against us and all those things. So, I was impressed.

“And so, I think it’s been an evolution (for Pryor). I don’t know if it’s been a click. And I don’t know that it’s just cleared up. I’m sure it was very fuzzy. And then it got a little less fuzzy and a little less fuzzy. And I’m sure it’s not HD right now, but it gets clearer by the moment and I was impressed with both Terrelle’s understanding of what we’re trying to do and why we’re trying to do it, what they’re trying to do and why they’re trying to do it, and how we should decide on things accordingly.”

Tressel and Texas head coach Mack Brown are friends and they went on a trip together overseas to visit United States military personnel a few months ago. Tressel was asked if he ever talked to Brown about the Pryor-Young comparison.

“Oh yeah, I talked to him a lot about it; you always try and pick brains,” he said. “He talked through a little bit of the growing process and said to look for certain signs like they start understanding this and they start comprehending that. When they start to focus on the little things, rather than simply the result of the play, (that’s when you know they are starting to get it).

“I think one of the big things that Vince grew to understand – and I think Terrelle has done the same – is that every play is independent of one and other. Just because we ran that play last week, or even in practice this week, it might not look exactly the same. The same guy might not be open as was in practice and you have to read it out and so forth. We talked a lot about just that growth and handling expectations. You know, Vince was state champ from Houston and 15-0 in high school and all those things. So, it’s been very helpful. All the way from the time we were on the trip since. Mack has been very helpful because Mack likes Terrelle. He got to know him through the recruiting process and is rooting for him. Which I’m sure he would do until we play ‘em.”

Tressel on tailback-by-committee

Pryor is the team’s leading rusher with 554 yards (five yards per carry, six touchdowns) and since Ohio State is planning on using three tailbacks against Penn State – and maybe for the rest of the season – Pryor is likely to become the first OSU QB to lead the team in rushing since Les Horvath in 1944 (who just so happened to win the Heisman that year).

“Well, we had that same discussion (Thursday) morning – so it’s a good question – but we didn’t have much of an answer for it,” Tressel said of how the carries will be split up against PSU. “I think Boom is back to very-nearly 100 percent. Brandon is solid. And Jordan we have the utmost confidence in. So, I would just expect that all three of them are going to play significantly.

“Now, if someone gets hot, you might not pull them and that type of thing because they might be getting a feel for what’s going on. And it might depend on what situations arise. But none of those three are in a situation where, ‘Well, if it’s this play, we’ve got to have this guy. And if we’re throwing this, this guy doesn’t understand the protection.’ We’re now to the point where I think all three of them can do the whole package and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.”