Tressel Doing The Right Thing With Chris Wells For USC

As much as I would like Chris Wells to play tonight against USC, Coach Tressel's decision to hold Chris Wells out of this game is in Chris Wells' best long-term interests. Considering that Chris Wells was not ruled out by the team's medical staff for the game, Tressel had to weigh Chris Wells' possible NFL career versus tonight's long-awaited showdown with USC. What if Tressel played Chris Wells and Chris Wells further injured his foot to the point where long-term damage had been sustained?

From a psychological/motivational standpoint, I look at this scenario in the following fashion - at the very least, Ohio State players have known for the last few days there was a real possibility that Chris Wells would not be playing in this game. By that mindset, the team has been practicing without Chris Wells and should be prepared for this situation.

If Chris Wells had first sustained this injury against USC in the manner that he did against Youngstown State, the psychological effects, I believe, would be far worse than they are presently. At least Ohio State coaches, players, and fans have had some time to prepare for the possibility (now reality) that Chris Wells would not be available for this game.

Is it possible Coach Tressel is sandbagging on this topic? Could Chris Wells suddenly come off the bench, due to some miraculous medical treatment? Anything is possible, but highly doubtful. Ohio State will now turn to redshirt freshman Daniel "Boom" Herron to assume the bulk of the running load, and I look for QB Terrelle Pryor to be a greater part of the Ohio State game plan for USC.