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	Sunday, September 3 Bouncing back may be tough on Buckeyes
	By Jeff Potrykus Special to ESPN.com Ohio State Buckeyes 1999 record: 6-6 (3-5 Big Ten) Coach: John Cooper. Returning starters: 13 (6 offense, 7 defense) Outlook Losing six games and sitting home during bowl season for the first time since 1988 didn't sit well with Cooper, who fired two assistants and reshuffled the remainder of the staff. But can such in-house moves dramatically improve the play of both lines, which last season slumped far below Ohio State standards? Not necessarily. Poor line play was partly responsible for the fact that the Buckeyes were ninth in the conference in scoring offense (23.8 points) and ninth in scoring defense (23.9 points). The special teams were also poor. In addition, there was understandably some finger-pointing going on by the end of the season. Cooper and his assistants are determined to prove the '99 season was a fluke but they'll have their hands full this fall. "Those six teams that beat us all went to bowl games and won," Cooper said. "But that's not any excuse. We need to coach better. We need to play better." Keep an eye on ... Junior quarterback Steve Bellisari. If Ohio State's offense is to be more effective than last season, Bellisari must be more efficient and dynamic. He completed just 45.1% of his passes last season and threw nearly as many interceptions (9) as touchdown passes (12). Bellisari is more comfortable on the move and new offensive coordinator Chuck Stobart plans to utilize more rollouts and bootlegs to keep Bellisari in his comfort zone. "We don't have any reservations about Steve Bellisari," Cooper said. It's a good season if ... The schedule is split -- home games against Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan are offset by road games against Wisconsin, Purdue and Illinois. OSU fans want a dramatic turnaround but this team appears capable of no better than 7-4. Jeff Potrykus covers the Big Ten for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel		AROUND THE BIG TEN Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Michigan St. Minnesota Northwestern Ohio St. Penn St. Purdue Wisconsin ALSO SEE Big 10 preview: A toss-up for title