COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The TV pitch for the new fall football/crime drama "Booker & Hooker," starring junior linebacker Dante Booker, Jr. and redshirt sophomore safety Malik Hooker.
AUTHOR NAME: Urban Meyer/Luke Fickell/Greg Schiano
TITLE OF SHOW: "Booker & Hooker"
FORMAT OF SHOW: Weekly 3-hour drama airing mostly Saturday afternoons, some nights.
LOGLINE: Plunged into uncertainty, new starters Dante Booker Jr. and Malik Hooker pursue opposing offenses on the football field, then pursue justice off it. Watch out quarterbacks, watch out crime.
OVERVIEW: "Booker & Hooker" follows a linebacker and a safety as they step in as two of the eight new starters on the Ohio State defense in the fall or 2016 and as two of the 16 overall new starters for a team that is reshaping itself after going 26-2 the last two seasons.
Despite their inexperience, both Booker and Hooker will be looked at as sure things on the defense, starters the coaches believe they can rely upon after watching them in practice the last two years and in spring practice.
"It's just how you carry yourself on an everyday basis," Booker said. "Not just always on the football field, it's in weight training, with school, handling your business. And that shows guys you're serious about this program and what you have to offer."
PILOT SYNOPSIS: Ohio State opens the season against Bowling Green on Sept. 3. Booker and Hooker will take the field on Saturday, then solve crimes for the rest of the weekend after the game is over.
But the focus of the action will be in Ohio Stadium, as the two are expected to often line up on the same side of the field. A year ago, linebacker Darron Lee and safety Vonn Bell often played in tandem as a rare one-two speed punch chasing down opposing offenses.
This season, all eyes will be on Booker & Hooker, who will line up in the same area and then provide a little more thump to the defense, with Booker at 6-foot-3 and 233 pounds and Hooker at 6-2 and 205.
They won't do it alone. They'll get after offenses together.
Booker has talked about rerouting receivers before they get to Hooker. Hooker talked about how strength coach Mickey Marotti would pair the two in the weight room in the offseason.
"Book, that's my man, that's my boy," Hooker said.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS:
* Dante Booker is an Ohio Mr. Football, the son of a former NFL player and a high school star at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. Middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan has said Booker is more athletic than Joshua Perry, the three-starter at weakside linebacker that he's replacing.
He was the No. 54 recruit in the nation in the Class of 2014.
"I feel like I can be a sure thing for this defense," Booker said.
* Malik Hooker, from Western Pennsylvania, had to give up basketball, his first love, before going all in as a football player and signing with Ohio State. Hooker has locked down a starting job in a crowded safety room by impressing Urban Meyer even before spring practice started. Then he made two interceptions and recorded 10 tackles in the spring game.
He was the No. 348 recruit in the nation in the Class of 2014.
"I'm very comfortable," Hooker said. "I just do what I'm asked and come out here and play my heart out for those guys. I'll give my all and get the win for Buckeye Nation."
And for justice.