Saturday, August 04, 2001
Ohio State QB on the spot
Despite experience, Bellisari needs refining
By Jon Spencer
Mansfield News Journal
CHICAGO — He is Ohio State's cover boy on various preseason football magazines, and there are two images of him on the front of the school's media guide. But senior quarterback and co-captain Steve Bellisari must have been undercover during the Big Ten convention that concluded Thursday, because he was nowhere to be found.
Indiana's Antwaan Randle El, the league's total offense leader among returnees, was there. So were the other quarterbacks who were full-time starters last year — Wisconsin's Brooks Bollinger, Northwestern's Zak Kustok and Illinois' Kurt Kittner.
All except Bellisari.
While the third-year starter was conspicuous by his absence, coach Jim Tressel said bringing fullback and co-captain Jamar Martin to Chicago as OSU's offensive representative should not be interpreted as a no-vote of confidence for the erratic Bellisari, an indication he is losing approval from the new man in charge.
“Steve was here last year, so, no, you can't read anything into that,” Tressel said. “Steve's future as a quarterback is going to be (decided by) all that Steve does. I have a lot of confidence in what Steve is going to do.”
Does that mean there won't be a heated quarterback battle between Bellisari and third-year sophomores Scott McMullen and Craig Krenzel? Not at all.
“There's a battle going on everywhere,” Tressel said. “I don't think the media is blowing anything about a quarterback battle out of proportion because the quarterback issue is real on every team.”
Tressel, who won four Division I-AA national championships at Youngstown State with four different quarterbacks and played quarterback for his father, Lee, at Baldwin-Wallace, is trying to break Bellisari of treating every play like it's his last.
“We're trying to get him to know what the situation is,” Tressel said. “He has tremendous big-play potential. Now he has to refine it.”
Yes, Bellisari brings invaluable experience to his position. Yes, he gives the Buckeyes an extra dimension with his running ability. Yes, he averaged 208 yards of total offense last season, only the fourth Buckeye in history to do so.
But those plusses can't mask his 13-9 record as a starter. Or that he has completed only 49 percent of his passes in that span. Or that last season, he threw three touchdown passes and 10 interceptions over the final five games.
“Decision-making is the key to playing quarterback,” said Tressel, referring to what appears to be Bellisari's Achilles heel. “Sometimes the best throw might be the play where the quarterback throws the ball into the stands.
“We will work on a lot of things that impact the quarterback's effectiveness and we're going to make sure our quarterbacks work hard to get better.
“I'm rooting for Steve Bellisari to have a storybook season.”
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