Remember the name: Todd Boeckman.
He’s the new quarterback at Ohio State. He’s nothing like the old quarterback, Troy Smith. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the Buckeyes.
Boeckman might one day develop into a better quarterback. He’s already on his way. And he has an 8-0 record as starter to prove it.
Now look across the line of scrimmage. Remember the name: Maurice Evans.
He’s young and jaw-dropping good. A recruit from Brooklyn, he attended a basketball school (Christ the King), but has turned heads in Happy Valley.
The Penn State defensive end ranks second in the nation in sacks (10.5) and third in tackles for loss (19.5).
He could make life difficult for Mr. Boeckman Saturday night.
But Boeckman has some stats of his own. The first-year starter ranks seventh in the nation in pass efficiency. And he appears to have benefited from a three-year apprenticeship.
The son of a high school football coach, Boeckman waited until the spring semester of ’04 to enroll at OSU full time -- taking a grayshirt. He redshirted in the fall of ’04. And he served as backup in ’05.
“When Todd went (to OSU), I told a lot of people that Ohio State will recruit a quarterback better than Todd every year, and if they don’t, they're not doing their job,” father Tim Boeckman told the Columbus Dispatch in March. “But playing quarterback is more than just raw talent. He’s not afraid of the competition. He knows nothing is a given.”
Analysts will hype the linebackers in this weekend’s showdown at Happy Valley. And for good reason. Dan Connor, Sean Lee and James Laurinaitis all rank in the Big Ten’s top 10 for tackles.
“This Saturday, you will probably see four or five of the best linebackers in the country on the field,” Joe Paterno said.
But there’s also a young defensive end who could turn the game with one big play.
Asked about Laurinaitis, Paterno had plenty to say. He didn’t have much of anything to say about one of his own players.
“Evans is a good football player,” Paterno said. “He will get better.”
There’s a reason for the smokescreen. Evans is young, 19, and Paterno protects young players.
But if Penn State hopes to win the game, it needs Evans. It needs a game-changing play against the No. 1 team in the nation. And it needs Evans to do what he has done all year.
He needs to rattle a good starting quarterback who just happens to be starting the biggest game of his career.
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