Football
Jersey Scrimmage Report
By John Porentas
It was nearly as much a marathon as it was a scrimmage.
The Buckeyes ran over 175 plays in just over three hours in the jersey scrimmage as the offense retained the scarlet (home) jerseys by defeating the defense by a score of 81-69.
"We were out there for a good little while," said junior quarterback Justin Zwick.
The offense scored in the usual ways in the scrimmage, but was also awarded points for first downs as well as for touchdowns, field goals and PATs. The defense was awarded points for turnovers, holding on downs or forcing a punt, three-and-out, safeties, and could score on returns.
The offense took charge early as the first team O took it 80 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown against the first team D with Justin Zwick at quarterback. The drive put the offense up 11-0 with the bonus points for first downs. On the next series, the second team offense went three-and-out against the second team defense to make the score 11-2. (See what we mean. The scoring was pretty tough to follow.)
In all, the scrimmage was deemed a success by OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"A lot of young guys got reps," said Tressel. "We've got a long ways to go."
The Big Questions; the QB:
The departure of Craig Krenzel for the NFL after his senior season has left a void at quarterback. This scrimmage was touted last week as one that would go a long way toward determining who would be on the field this season, including at quarterback, but after the scrimmage, Tressel remained noncommittal on the quarterback question.
"I was a pleased with a lot of things that all three of the guys did," said Tressel, but we'll have to do a little grading. I don't have an opinion yet. As a coach, you try not to have big opinions until you watch film. There are some things we need to get better at that position, and some things we did good at that position."
Justin Zwick started the game and was 14 for 21 for 120 yards, one interception and one touchdown. Troy Smith went 12 for 18 for 106 yards, one interception and rushed nine yards for a touchdown. The coaches also got a good look at Todd Boekman, who put it up 34 times for 21 completions, 195 yards, one interception and no touchdowns.
Zwick was happy with his overall play, but lamented his one big mistake on the day.
"You can't have turnovers," said Zwick.
"I got a little greedy on that one and tried to put it over Tyler's head, but I didn't have enough air under it," he said.
Beside the INT, Zwick is happy with his progress.
"I've been here a couple of years and I'm pretty comfortable with it," he said.
Impressions on Offense:
In the passing game, the Buckeyes tended to throw the short to intermediate routes with very few balls being thrown down field. That meant the tight ends were busy. Ryan Hamby and Rory Nicol each had four catches, Hamby for 26 yards and Nicol for 43. Stan White Jr. added two catches for 10 yards.
The Buckeyes showed flashes of being able to get the ball outside a little this year. The offensive line did look more mobile, and runners like Erik Haw were able to get wide. Haw rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries, including a 36 yard carry around right end, the longest gain of the day. Haw did have a fumble that went for a turnover. Antonio Pittman added 33 yards on 7 carries, Lydell Ross 23 yards on 10 carries and Maurice Hall seven yards on two carries.
The wide receivers were relatively quiet, but Roy Hall showed that he can be a power receiver, rolling over defensive backs for extra yards after making the catch. Tight ends and H-Backs accounted for 10 catches in the game. Freshman tight end Rory Nicol had four receptions for 43 yards, both team-highs. Tressel confirmed that Nicol has played his way into the two-deep.
"Without question," Tressel said.
"Rory Nicol is going to be a good player. We knew that. We were excited when he signed," Tressel said.
Tressel was happy with all of his tight ends.
"Ryan Hamby knows the game. You saw maybe three or four of the tight end catches were hot routes, where the kid saw hot and flipped it out there. If the tight end would have just caught it and been tackles it would have been a three yard gain, but they did a pretty good job and wiggled out extra yards. They know what they're doing, they're well schooled. I think we have to be able to attack against all fronts."
The offensive line did seem more active and agile. There were plays in which Nick Mangold seemed to be rocket propelled as he got out in front of outside plays from his center position. The offensive line held up reasonably well against a talented and deep defensive front.
What seemed to be missing from this scrimmage, however, was the lack of a player that left you saying "Wow!" after the scrimmage the way that Santonio Holmes did last year or other players did in previous years. Plenty of players had solid performances, but nobody jumped out as spectacular.
Impressions on Defense:
Defensively, the linebackers lived up to every expectation, and then some. On the outside, both Bobby Carpenter and A. J. Hawk were extremely effective. In the middle, Mike D'Andrea showed great improvement and came up with several big plays, including an interception. Anthony Schlegel was also very strong on the inside as well.
"It's not a surprise. Mike D'Andrea is a good player," said Tressel of D'Andrea's play in the scrimmage. "Mike D'Andrea makes plays. He's going to be an outstanding player.
D'Andrea said he is ready to be a factor for the Buckeyes.
"My shoulder is all healed up, it feels great," said D'Andrea.
"Physically, I feel pretty good. I feel real good out there.
"I'm not having any problem with knowing the defense.
"I'm just feeling much more confident out there.
"When I first got here and even a little bit last year I had some problems, but I know the system now and I feel real good."
Of the newcomers at linebacker, Marcus Freeman stood out when he was in there, as did incoming freshman Curtis Terry who also looked like a play maker when he was on the field, though Terry made most of his plays against the third team offense.
The secondary looked solid as expected. The offense had difficulty going deep, though Roy Hall was able to latch onto some intermediate passes then turn them into nice gains with a tough running style after the catch.
Dustin Fox and E. J. Underwood were the corners with the first unit, and Ashton Youboty and Harlan Jacobs were on the field with the twos. At safety, Nate Salley and Tyler Everett played with the ones, and Brandon Mitchell and Donte Whitner played with the second group.
The defensive front was as advertised, deep and talented. Quinn Pitcock was like a rock, and both Jay Richardson and Jason Caldwell showed they can be solid pass rushers.
"I love playing defensive end a whole lot more than I liked playing tight end," said Caldwell, who played tight end up to this season.
"I didn't realize how much fun it could be. I like that I can use all the athleticism that I have. I like being able to come off the ball and just make a play instead of coming off the ball and doing an assignment. I like coming off and making a play."
According to Caldwell, Richardson and Fraser are the starters, and he is the next in at defensive end.
"Hopefully it stays that way. I wish I had moved to defensive end three years ago," Caldwell said. "It's a lot more fun."
Marcus Green, David Patterson and Joel Penton all showed that they can play inside.
The defense managed to force five turnovers in the game, three on interceptions and two on fumbles. Safety Tyler Everett, linebacker Mike D'Andrea and safety Antonio Smith all recorded aerial thefts.
Ginn Watch:
Celebrated freshman Ted Ginn played on both sides of the ball. Ginn played with the third team defense and saw some action on offense as well with one catch.
Overview: Jim Tressel said the coaches got what they wanted out of the scrimmage.
"We got a lot of plays, and I don't think we got major injuries," said Tressel.
Tressel explained the reason for the length of the scrimmage.
"With the lack of heat that we've had I wanted to make sure we got a lot of work today," he said. "My initial thought is I feel good about this group.
Results: Tressel said that the coaching staff will spend a lot of time looking at film of this scrimmage and decisions will be made that will have season-long impact on the Buckeyes.
"You'll start making two-deep decisions and you'll start making decisions as to what type of team you are, the types of things you're going to feature. We tried to spread around opportunities today and make sure that a lot of receivers got chances and a lot of defenders got tested and all the quarterbacks and running backs got opportunities. You're trying to get a handle on what you're going to be able to do, and now we'll start building it," said Tressel.
Numbers...Sort of:
No official stats were kept at the game. There were just a bunch of reporters trying to keep track of what was going on with notepads. Below is somewhat of a consensus on the stats that we found among the media. The stats are far from complete, and may vary from other stats you may see.
Passing
<table border="0" width="90%"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> <td>
Att
</td> <td>
Comp
</td> <td>
Yds.
</td> <td>
TD
</td> <td>
Int
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Troy Smith</td> <td>
18
</td> <td>
12
</td> <td>
106
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
1
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Justin Zwick</td> <td>
21
</td> <td>
14
</td> <td>
120
</td> <td>
1
</td> <td>
1
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Todd Boeckman</td> <td>
34
</td> <td>
21
</td> <td>
195
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
1
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Rushing
<table border="0" width="90%"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> <td>
Carries
</td> <td>
Yards
</td> <td>
Touchdowns
</td> <td>Fumbles
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Eric Haw</td> <td>
14
</td> <td>
83
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
1
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Antonio Pittman</td> <td>
7
</td> <td>
33
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Lydell Ross</td> <td>
10
</td> <td>
23
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Maurice Hall</td> <td>
2
</td> <td>
7
</td> <td>
0
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Receiving
<table border="0" width="90%"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> <td> Catches</td> <td>Yards</td> <td>TDs</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Rory Nicol</td> <td>
4
</td> <td>
43
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ryan Hamby</td> <td>
4
</td> <td>
26
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Devin Jordan</td> <td>
3
</td> <td>
40
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Santonio Holmes</td> <td>
3
</td> <td>
28
</td> <td>
1
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Stan White Jr.</td> <td>
2
</td> <td>
10
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Tony Gonzalez</td> <td>
3
</td> <td>
18
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Devon Lyons</td> <td>
1
</td> <td>
18
</td> <td>
0
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Albert Dukes</td> <td>
1
</td> <td>
4
</td> <td>
0
</td></tr></tbody> </table>
