COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s Jim Cordle can play any role he’s asked to perform.

On the football field. And in the classroom.

Cordle, a fifth-year offensive lineman, has played four positions over the last two seasons for the Buckeyes.

He’s listed as the starting left tackle for OSU’s game at Michigan on Saturday. He began the year at right tackle before surgery to repair a foot injury took him out of the lineup for five games.

He was the starting center in 2007 and early last year before he was moved to guard.

And when the marketing major took a theater class as an elective, he discovered he enjoyed taking on new roles there, too.

“I took it just for an easy ‘A,’ basically. I was expecting it not to be interesting at all but we had a really good teacher,” Cordle said about his foray into the world of drama.

“It was fun to read plays and I never thought it would be. Then we had to go watch performances. I went to see ‘Tecumseh’ down in Chillicothe. But probably the most fun was we had to do a play at the end and my group was (fellow football players) Keith Wells, Travis Howard and Ohrian Johnson. We did a parody on reality TV.”

Cordle wore a fairy costume in the parody. Unfortunately — or maybe fortunately — no video exists of the performance.

As a three-year starter, Cordle has plenty of video evidence of his play on the field. His opinion is that he does his best work at center, but he made the moves to other spots in the lineup when asked.

“I probably wouldn’t have imagined going into the year that I would be a left tackle. But that’s what we needed and that’s where I fit in when I came back. Left tackle is definitely not the best spot I can play at,” he said.

“After a couple weeks there, I’ve come a long way. I feel comfortable now. When I moved to guard last year I didn’t know how that would go, but it went well. When I moved to right tackle, I didn’t know how that would go, but it went well. When I went to left tackle, I didn’t know how that would go, but it’s going well so far.”

As a redshirt senior, Cordle has been part of four of the five straight wins Ohio State has over Michigan.

His biggest goal is to stretch that streak to six games. But he also wants to leave this year’s game feeling better about his exit than he did last year when OSU beat the Wolverines 42-7. Cordle suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee when he took a big hit from Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton.

“He came up and whacked me and my body crumbled. That’s how I tore my MCL. My body crumbled and my knee just buckled,” Cordle said.

But in the end, the legacy of his senior class trumps his leg in motivation for Saturday’s game.

“Legacy is a big thing for us as we wind our careers down. It’s gone well with five BCS bowl games, five Big Ten championships, four wins against Michigan. Now we get to finish the deal and close it out. Maybe that’s how we’ll be judged,” he said.

“If we can get these last two wins, get to five wins against Michigan, get the bowl game victory that has been so elusive, that will really solidify our legacy.”

At least that’s the script he’d like to follow on the biggest stage in Ohio State’s season.