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Saine shows potential in Buckeyes opener

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By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer Updated 11:40 AM Sunday, September 6, 2009

COLUMBUS — After the game, Brandon Saine looked better individually than his team did as a whole.

Although Ohio State’s No. 6 national ranking doesn’t look quite so shiny after its dodge-the-bullet 31-27 victory over Navy — a three-touchdown underdog coming into Saturday’s Sept. 5 game — the only chink in Saine’s armor was actually a small slip-of-the-razor gash near the back of his head.

Two days before the game, the junior tailback from Piqua High School said he and fellow backfield mate Dan “Boom” Herron decided to get a tonsorial makeover. They ended up looking like Amish Indians.

“We decided to go with beards and mohawks,” Saine said with a grin. “I cut my own hair, except my girlfriend helped on the back. I can’t see that part, but I hope it’s OK. The main thing is we wanted a new look.”

He had one Saturday and you saw it most if you looked at his stat sheet, not his head.

Saine led the Buckeyes with 139 all-purpose yards, including 65 on two kickoff returns, 53 rushing yards on nine carries and 21 receiving yards on two catches.

Last season — hobbled by injury, waylaid, at times by self doubt and sometimes over-looked by the Buckeye coaches — he ran for 65 yards on 26 carries ... all year.

Former astronaut John Glenn and his wife, Annie, may have dotted the “i” during Script Ohio, but Saine wrote a whole new story line for himself right from the opening kickoff.

Teaming up with Herron, he ran a reverse return 47 yards and had many in the record crowd of 105,082 — the most ever to see an OSU opener — on their feet and cheering.

Saine — who holds the Ohio Division I record in the 100-meter dash (10.38 seconds) — seemed headed for the end zone until he was pushed out of bounds by the kicker, who had an angle on him.

“I didn’t see him coming,” Saine shrugged. “Right then, I was thinking end zone.”

Saine said the play had been planned “since the beginning of camp: On their kickoff team, we saw we only had to block one guy and the field would be wide open for me.

“Boom and I were both a little nervous beforehand and we didn’t talk about (the reverse). We didn’t want to jinx it. My heart was pounding before I got the ball, but as soon as I made that run all the jitters went away. I felt I could do anything then.”

Saturday could be the sign of a big season ahead for him, something coach Jim Tressel touched on afterward when he said “Brandon Saine is just going to get better and better and better.”

Three other Miami Valley players made an impact Saturday. Senior safety Kurt Coleman (Northmont) had an interception and forced a fumble, linebacker Ross Homan (Coldwater) recovered that fumble and tight end Jake Ballard (Springboro) finished with 51 receiving yards.

But there also were some noticeable glitches — the defense gave up 342 yards to Navy’s triple-option offense — that need to be addressed before No. 4 Southern Cal comes to town next Saturday.

“We’ve got to get a lot better by next week,” Coleman said. “We can’t look like we did today.”

But for that to happen, the Bucks are going to need more than a razor.

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