Back in 2001, not too many Buckeye fans loved having Steve Bellisari as our quarterback. He was unpredictable and prone to turnovers. But his backups were not likely to make it big either, so we just had to gut it out until new coach Jim Tressel could get his own recruit in the system in the next couple of years.
9 days before the Michigan game of ’01, Bellisari screwed up big time with a DUI. He was replaced as the starter (by Scott McMullen) for the Illinois game, but most people expected to see him start the always-important TTUN game.
However badly Tressel wanted to win the Michigan game, he did not want to do it by starting Bellisari, so fresh from his arrest. he gave the reins of the team to a very green QB named Craig Krenzel.
Krenzel didn’t throw the ball much against UM (Jonathan Wells single-handedly crushed the Wolverines that day), but the experience he gained in beating Michigan 26-20 was enormous. It led to a much more confident signal-called behind center as we started 2002, and….well, you know the rest.
Craig Krenzel will never be known as a world-beating QB. But for fourteen glorious games, nobody in the world was able to beat him.
Here’s to you, #16. Enjoy your day!
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