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Buckeyes' Beanie no longer a baby
By
D.Laurant on October 6, 2006 12:54 AM
http://ohiostate.realfootball365.com/ Three years from now, when Ohio State tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells is the odds-on favorite for the Heisman Trophy, Buckeye fans may well look back on last Saturday's 38-17 victory over Iowa as his formal unwrapping.
While Wells didn't score against the Hawkeyes, he not only played his first meaningful minutes, but led OSU's rushers with 78 yards on 14 carries, including a 19-yarder. For the first (but maybe not the last) time, he upstaged starter Antonio Pittman.
Both Wells and Pittman, a couple of guys from Akron, are blue-collar style backs who fit their Northeast Ohio roots as well as the Buckeye prototype. The standard-issue scarlet-and-gray feature back is not a pretty boy with dancing feet but a rolling rock who loves operating between the tackles.
Think Bob White, Bob Ferguson, Archie Griffin, Keith Byars, Eddie George and Maurice Clarett. And now, Pittman and Wells.
When asked last spring which of these Buckeye legends Wells reminded him of, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said: "He kind of reminds me of Jim Brown."
As a senior at Garfield High School in Akron, Wells rushed for 2,134 yards and 27 touchdowns, averaging 9.7 yards per carry against the toughest competition in the football-crazed state of Ohio. He was named Player of the Year nationally and scored three touchdowns in the All-America Bowl; and if he hadn't gone to Ohio State, someone probably would have set his parents' house on fire.
In fact, Wells could hardly wait to become a Buckeye. He committed early, and even graduated early from high school so he could participate in spring practice in Columbus. He culminated that adventure by rushing for 48 yards in the annual spring game.
"He is powerful, comfortable with contact and is ready to take the opponent on," said Buckeye running backs coach Dick Tressel, of Wells. "He is able to fall forward and run behind his pads. He wanted to grab on as a Buckeye running back and once he got his opportunity, he saw that other chances can arise."
Because of his team's early success, Jim Tressel has been able to work Wells into the lineup gradually. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder scored his first college touchdown against Northern Illinois, then saw some playing time against defending national champion Texas. This Saturday, the Buckeyes host Bowling Green, and that may mean even more of Wells -- as well as the "other" Wells, third-string tailback Maurice (no relation to Chris).
Should OSU jump out to an early lead, it will also give Tressel the chance to not only rest all of his starters, but provide more playing time to wideouts Roy Hall and Brian Hartline, fullback Dionte Johnson and fifth-year QB Justin Zwick, the former starter unseated by Troy Smith. And others.
"We like to play as many guys as we can," Tressel said at his weekly press conference. "Last week, we didn't get our second (offensive) line in."
NOTES: The Buckeyes haven't always had an easy time with Bowling Green, topping the Falcons 17-6 in 1992 and 24-17 in 2003. This year's BGU team is 3-2, but ranked 12th nationally in rushing offense.
