COLUMBUS -- Talking on his mobile as he pumped gas, Dick Schafrath sounded more alarmed about paying nearly $3 a gallon than seeing Ohio State take the football field this spring minus 17 fifth-year seniors from last season.

Also gone, by the way, is the team's only 50th-year senior.

Schafrath, 70, has returned to Mansfield after spending the last couple of years at OSU earning a diploma he first set out to obtain a half century earlier while playing for Woody Hayes.

He won't spend as much time sitting in on team meetings, but he knows the Buckeyes are in good hands under Jim Tressel's stewardship. That's why the former captain and Cleveland Browns All-Pro lineman isn't worried about Ohio State patching what appears to be a cavernous hole on its roster.

"It's huge," Schafrath said of the dearth of senior leadership, "but we're talking about a coaching staff that's been together for several years, and that means a lot. Coaching experience can overcome a lot of that.

"Tressel has such darn good athletes, and it also has something to do with the way he coaches kids. You've got to be positive and build on character. The kids accept the challenges and believe in the coaches. The coaches give the kids a lot of responsibility by playing a lot of them. There aren't a lot of veterans on the team, but there are a lot of guys with experience."

One player who fits that bill is junior middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. Pressed into action at the end

of his freshman season, he built on that baptism-under-fire to become a cornerstone on defense. He's coming off a stellar sophomore campaign in which he led the team with 115 tackles, was a consensus All-American and won the Bronko Nagurski Award as college football's top defensive player.

On the other side of the ball there's junior Todd Boeckman, the leading candidate to replace Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith. He's thrown only 17 passes for the Buckeyes, but has already been in the system four years, including a redshirt year and a grayshirt year, where he paid his own way because of a scholarship crunch.

Boeckman, who threw his last meaningful pass as a high school senior in 2002, turns 23 in June. He's battling sophomore Rob Schoenhoft and redshirt freshman Antonio Henton for the No. 1 job. All three threw interceptions in the first spring scrimmage, but Boeckman offset his mistakes with a pair of touchdown passes.

"Todd has the experience advantage for sure," Tressel said, "and another advantage he has is that he didn't spend the whole last year reading cards and running plays on the scout team like Antonio and Robbie did.

"Todd had the best 40-yard dash time last year among our quarterbacks and that included Troy. I have thought Todd is very mature and an even-keel guy from the get-go. He handled the gray shirt with this season in mind -- that he would sit and watch for a couple years."

Unfortunately, Ohio State doesn't have that luxury with most of its young players, some of whom will have to step up and fill spots vacated by the large senior class on the 12-1, BCS runner-up team. Among the returning starters, the only senior is offensive tackle Kirk Barton.

The most significant losses are on offense, where Troy Smith was followed out the door by All-Big Ten linemen Doug Datish and T.J. Downing, wide receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez and tailback Antonio Pittman. The latter three opted to forego their senior seasons for the NFL draft.

Ted Ginn Jr. and Gonzalez combined for 110 catches, 1,515 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. Pittman became the first tailback to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons since Heisman winner Eddie George.

The Buckeyes will plug Chris Wells into Pittman's role and should get as much if not more production from the bruising sophomore -- as long as he's not fumbling or nursing an injury. He became more sure-handed late last season, but suffered a setback in his development last week when he sprained an ankle. It's expected to sideline him for the spring game April 21 in Ohio Stadium.

"We're going back to square one," Tressel said, hoping to minimize the fallout from the 41-14 mauling by Florida in the BCS title game. "The thing you lead with is conceptually going back and teaching and learning. Our young guys need to grow and learn how we do things, why we do things and how to play with the tempo and velocity you need. Spring is a great evaluation time."

Schafrath, who helped Ohio State win a national championship in 1957, would be more worried about the departing juniors and seniors -- and their collective 336 starts -- if he hadn't watched freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. nearly lead the basketball Buckeyes to an NCAA title.

"Kids today are playing good competition earlier and they're working in the weight room, taking supplements, eating good and working with special trainers," Schafrath said. "They have so much going for them. Even the girls are bigger than me.

"We've advanced ourselves so quickly. Kids are maturing and becoming stronger so much quicker."

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