Spitler, two other defensive players are named captains
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus -- Austin Spitler won't follow James Laurinaitis as the starting middle linebacker at Ohio State, but he will follow him as a team captain.
After backing up Laurinaitis for three years, Spitler shifted to strong-side linebacker during camp, maybe another way to show his teammates that he's a leader.
Spitler -- one of the strongest players on the team, and called by middle line backer Brian Rolle the toughest guy at their position -- was selected by his teammates and announced as a captain Fri day along with safety Kurt Coleman and defensive tackle Doug Worthington.
Spitler and Worthington are fifth-year seniors, while Coleman is a fourth-year senior.
Obvious is the absence of an offensive captain, something that last happened at Ohio State in 2002 -- and that season ended with a national title.
Also missing is the traditional fourth captain. Head coach Jim Tressel will rotate an offensive player into the spot on a game-to-game basis. The Buckeyes rotated the fourth captain in 2007 -- and reached the national title game.
It is not a surprise that sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor was not elected. Tressel was cool to the idea during the preseason when asked about the possibility, saying, "I'm not sure that's something you'd want to add to a sophomore's plate."
Though there's a theory that this is "Pryor's team," because he's a dynamic playmaker and a leader among his classmates, he's not a fully mature team spokesman like the three players who were selected.
"If I was selected to do that, it'd be great," Pryor said when asked about the captain idea earlier in camp. "But the seniors, they've been here four, five years, they should be captains. I'll lead the offense. It's my offense and [backup quarterback] Joe Bauserman's offense, and we're going to make sure the offense is where we need to be."
