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 In his first year here, Brandon Saine impressed Buckeye fans still watching the last few seconds of the Washington game by taking a hand-off outside and sprinting up the sidelines 37 yards for the final touchdown of the game. Ohio State had 27-14 lead at that point, and was firmly in Tresselball mode. Tressel did not want to score again, for fear of hurting the other team's feelings or something like that. Nonetheless, Saine displayed incredible speed and vision in that one play that got me - and everyone else who had followed his recruitment like the creeps we are - very excited about his time at Ohio State. The rest of the year he had 267 yards on the ground to go with  160 yards receiving. A good start, considering how durable Beanie Wells was for the 2007 season. Then, 2008 happened. This article says he "[got] hurt". While I struggle to recall a specific injury to Saine, his stats weren't pretty: 65 yards on the year. Didn't even play in the bowl game.

Now, he enters 2009, his junior year with renewed purpose. Early prognostications, even my own, barely mention him as a possible member of the rotation at running back, much less assuming the starter position over the (admittedly proven) Boom Herron. But the changes in the offense that the braintrust is supposedly cooking up may benefit Saine more than any of the other running backs. Herron, while good, is not a burner. He is more a typical Ohio State back, strong, good enough to beat linebackers in a foot race, but not a "threat to score every time he touches the ball" Harvin/Bush/Ginn type player. Saine may not be that guy either, but he does have phenomenal speed and agility for his 220-pound frame. If the offense really is "opening up" and "spreading it out", this may be a boon not for Boom, but for Brandon. The fact is, he's the quickest running back on the team who actually has experience; I understand Jaamal Berry has a (faaaake) 40 time of 4.31, but he is a freshman, and thus I still expect his role in Jim Tressel's offense to be limited this year, barring injury or more early season brainfartery.

The problem with Saine is that in the action he has seen since the Washington game, he hasn't had any vision at all. He does the Lydell Ross Two-Step and drops like a rock when he sees someone who might fancy the notion of tackling him. This is disconcerting for a back of his size, and does nothing to disspell the "Track guy in football pads" label. If Saine can overcome this nagging issue in his game, he could be a real threat, and he may start delivering on the expectations created by the high school hype (which is usually unfair and ridiculous to begin with, anyway).

As the situation stands, I'm starting to think Saine will see some significant time early in the year, should he do reasonable well in practice. If he hasn't really developed any new aspects to his game, I think Jaamal Berry and Carlos Hyde's roles in the offense will grow.

Good Luck, Brandon. I'll be rooting for you.