Okay, we know that senior Todd Boeckman will be Ohio State’s starting quarterback as the Buckeyes attempt to make it back to another BCS title game.
But what has gotten interesting is all the movement behind Boeckman for the No. 2 spot.
Antonio Henton was Ohio State’s No. 2, but the former Georgia prep star enrolled at Georgia Southern on Monday and will be eligible to play I-AA ball immediately. Georgia Southern’s offensive coordinator, Rance Gillespie, was Henton’s coach at Peach County High School in Fort Valley, Ga.
Henton, a redshirt sophomore, had been battling redshirt freshman Joe Bauserman for the top spot behind Boeckman. Before Henton’s transfer, backup QB Robbie Schoenhoft announced in January that he was transferring to the University of Delaware. The redshirt junior was the top substitute for Boeckman all last season but was moved to tight end for the BCS title game.
That leaves a possible opening for the name everyone was talking about during recruiting season: Terrelle Pryor. Because Pryor is a similar player to Henton, it was looking more and more like Henton was going to drop all the way to fourth string, likely precipitating his transfer.
Henton arrived in Columbus in 2006 as the offensive player of the year in Georgia. He was compared to Troy Smith, then the Buckeyes starter, as a quarterback who could pass or run equally well. Smith, of course, won the Heisman Trophy in ’06. Henton played in four games in 2007, completing 3 of 6 passes for 57 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown pass, and rushing nine times for 41 yards.
But he was then suspended for being charged with solicitation of a prostitute, and he didn’t play a down in the Buckeyes’ final two games, against Michigan and LSU. Then came the spring, where he was outplayed by Bauserman and likely to be passed by Pryor.
But with Henton’s departure, that means the possible No. 1 team in the land will have no experienced backup at quarterback. Think the Buckeyes will handle Boeckman with kid gloves before that Sept. 13 mega-showdown with Southern Cal?