The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - With All-American Matt Wilhelm and Cie Grant gone, many say defending national champion Ohio State has a mammoth hole in the middle of its defense.

Even the guys who are left to fill their cleats are saying the same thing.

"You can't replace them," said linebacker A.J. Hawk, listed as the No. 1 player at Grant's spot.

What the Buckeyes have is still formidable. Heading into Saturday's spring game at Ohio Stadium, Hawk and fellow sophomore Mike D'Andrea, transfer Anthony Schlegel and senior holdovers Fred Pagac Jr. and Jason Bond have been solid in workouts.

Robert Reynolds is a lock to start at the third linebacker slot. The other two positions are up for grabs.

Hawk and D'Andrea were acclaimed recruiting successes out of Centerville and Avon Lake, respectively. Schlegel, who won letters the last two years at Air Force, must sit out this fall. Pagac signed on board when his father was the defensive coordinator and stuck around after coach Jim Tressel's regime came to town three years ago. Bond has been used sparingly each of the last three seasons.

"Right now we're a little young, so a lot of people are going to go in there during the spring game telling themselves they have to prove themselves, that they have to make a big play or something," D'Andrea said.

That's particularly true for D'Andrea, one of the jewels of last year's recruiting class. It took him a long time to grasp the nuances of Ohio State's defensive set. As a result, he played only 31 minutes.

Despite the national championship rings, Hawk said there is little chance for overconfidence.

"Maybe something that this spring has done is humbled us a little bit," he said. "We lost a lot of great players on our defense. We're trying to replace them. This spring really helped us out in letting us know what we have to learn on coming into the fall camp."

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