Laurinaitis proved up to the challenge of being a Buckeye

COLUMBUS, OHIO

James Laurinaitis could have taken the easy way out. He could have stuck with a verbal commitment to Minnesota and earned starting status in a program where playing at home against Florida Atlantic can be considered a revenge game.

Laurinaitis chose a greater challenge. He took a recruiting visit to Ohio State, and saw what Buckeyes football meant to the masses here, and decided that he could earn playing time when many people in his home state were skeptical.

"I had more than a few coaches and other football people tell me they thought James was making a huge mistake -- that he would get lost among the four- and five-star recruits at Ohio State," Wayzata coach Brad Anderson said.

"I also was pretty sure he could play because he was such a well-prepared athlete. There are a lot of people with the skills who don't have what it takes mentally. We saw the way James prepared -- better than any athlete we had before or since -- and that's what put him over the top.

"I didn't know how long it would take, but I did think that James would be in the mix somewhere for the Buckeyes."

The Buckeyes' top linebackers when Laurinaitis was a freshman in 2005 were A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter, both NFL first-rounders. The Minnesota kid played with zeal on special teams and moved up during the fall to second team on the depth chart.

The Buckeyes were playing Michigan in the traditional finale on Nov. 19. Laurinaitis covered a kick and went to the bench.

"I head a coach scream, 'Laurinaitis,'" he said. "I jumped up and they said, 'You're in for Carpenter.' I played the rest of the game, not trying to mess up anything."

Carpenter had broken an ankle. Ohio State beat Michigan 25-21 to earn a conference tie and the Big Ten's automatic berth in the BCS bowl series. The Rose Bowl had the national championship game, so Ohio State went to the Fiesta Bowl and defeated Notre Dame 34-20.

Laurinaitis played that game for Carpenter and has been a leader of the Buckeyes defense in the three seasons that followed. He was the winner of the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player in 2006. He was the winner of the Dick Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker in 2007.

"When James was in his senior season, the Buckeyes were in town, trying to recruit Walker Ashley, the lineman at Eden Prairie," Anderson said. "They also had heard about this linebacker from Wayzata, so they came over and watched some tape.

"And the more they watched James, the more interested they became."

Laurinaitis and Wayzata went to the Class 5A title game in the Prep Bowl, losing 23-14 to backyard rival Minnetonka.

"He was the only senior on that defense, surrounded by 10 juniors," Anderson said. "And he rallied that group around him week after week, until we were playing for a state championship."

Laurinatis' leadership also has made him only the seventh two-year captain in Ohio State's football history.

There have been disappointments. The Buckeyes were blowout losers to Florida and to LSU in the past two National Championship games. The Buckeyes also were crushed this month at Southern Cal.

Yet, what feeds a competitor such as Laurinaitis is the opportunity to play in enormous games, and consider his first three seasons:

A tremendous home-and-home series with Texas. Three Big Ten championships accompanied by three victories over Michigan. Three berths in BCS bowls.

Laurinaitis and several other seniors came back this season in hope of getting another shot at the national title. Southern Cal took care of that, but there's a goal for those last-year Buckeyes as they open the Big Ten season today against the Gophers:

Ohio State has had other assignments and has not played in the Rose Bowl in Laurinaitis' time there. Surely, a great Buckeye shouldn't leave Columbus without ever running onto that sacred grass in Pasadena on New Year's Day.

"I don't think Ohio State is quite as good as it has been," Anderson said. "I would think the Rose Bowl is a realistic goal for James in his last college season."

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com