NEW ORLEANS — It’s been a trying season for sophomore quarterback Antonio Henton, but there might be a positive ending to it after all.
Henton, who was suspended for Ohio State’s final eight games, is back on the team and might even be part of OSU’s offensive game plan in the BCS title game Monday at the Superdome.
The Buckeyes have moved second-string quarterback Rob Schoenhoft to tight end, which makes Henton the backup, and an option, should coach Jim Tressel decide to throw an extra wrinkle at the vaunted LSU defense.
“Coach hasn’t said anything, but it could be in the game plan,” said Henton, a redshirt freshman from Georgia, who is a speedy multifaceted quarterback. “It will keep the LSU defense guessing.”
Playing in the national championship game wasn’t even a passing thought back in October when Henton was arrested in Columbus and charged with a minor misdemeanor for solicitation of a prostitute. He was suspended from the team after the Northwestern game and reinstated for the BCS championship.
Though he wound up pleading guilty, Henton said Saturday that he was wrongly accused and that it was a case of miscommunication.
It is Henton’s contention that he was in what police called a bad area to buy shoes when he was approached while in his car by a female undercover officer.
The exchange, in which Henton said he never solicited or negotiated sex, ended with him leaving and being pulled over by police shortly after. He said he was neither told what he was being arrested for nor read his rights, but just handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.
Henton said he met with Tressel to tell his side of the story and that the coach believed his account.
“He went through a legal process,” Tressel said. “I always believe my guys, but I also tell them there’s a process, there’s a system. And you have to live by what the system is. I think maybe there was just a misunderstanding.”
Guilty or not, Henton, who thought he was making progress in his first year on the Buckeyes active roster, still wound up on the sidelines for two months.
“I’d see guys going out to practice,” lamented Henton. “Not being out there just tore me up. You mess up one time, and it can cost you for years and years.”
Though the move to tight end is not a permanent one, according to Schoenhoft and Tressel, it does free up an immediate opportunity for Henton.
Tressel said Saturday that there was a 50-percent chance Henton would play against LSU, but sounded like the odds were better when asked if the quarterback could handle Ohio State’s entire game plan.
“Probably not,” Tressel said, “because he hasn’t had those practice reps to do that. But he has a portion down, conceptually, that when we call on him, he’ll execute.”
“Nothing would surprise me,” said sophomore offensive tackle Alex Boone of the prospect of Henton playing. “I like Antonio. He moves his feet and he can run and throw.
“I don’t really care. If I turn around and it’s (starting quarterback) Todd Boeckman or if it’s Antonio, it’s still, ‘Let’s play.’”
With Henton back in the fold, Ohio State’s quarterback situation appears to be on solid ground. Boeckman has performed better than expected as the replacement for Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and is back for his senior season next year. The Buckeyes are also hot after Pennsylvania high school quarterback Terrelle Pryor, considered the top recruit in the nation. Pryor was the MVP of the Army All-American High School All-Star Game on Saturday, wearing a Buckeye logo on his helmet during the game, but has yet to commit to the school.
The final chapter in Henton’s personal horror story played out during his court appearance, when he accepted his penalty but not his criminal charge.
“I just wanted to get it over with,” he said. “I feel like this is a bad thing, but I’m just trying to get on with my life.”
The first big step could come Monday night in the Big Easy.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

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