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2004 Pre-Season Practice (official thread)

Offensive Line Play

If anyone has any information on how the offensive line performed, especially the right tackle position and any true freshman looking for playing time, I'd love to hear it. That is my single most concern of this team. Also, did Haw and Pittman run against the second string defense? That would explain why Hall and Ross had a combined 40 or so yards while Pittman and Haw had a combined 100+. Any information is certainly appreciated.
 
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Crayfish said:
If anyone has any information on how the offensive line performed, especially the right tackle position and any true freshman looking for playing time, I'd love to hear it.

The only piece of info on the RT spot that I have read from today is that it looks like Schafer's job to lose. Apparently he played pretty well but Barton didn't look 100%. Apparently he is still nursing an ankle injury.
 
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From Rivals:


But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle of all was the 3-4 defensive alignment the Buckeyes used near the end of the scrimmage. It utilized a three-man line of Simon Fraser and Jay Richardson on the ends with Quinn Pitcock in the middle in front of a four-man linebacker crew of Bobby Carpenter and A.J. Hawk flanked D’Andrea and Schlegel in the middle.

http://www.ohiostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=322818
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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the 3-4 could really wreak havoc on opposing offenses with the LBs we have this year. i don't think it should be used full time, but every once in a while it'll be nice to get all these guys on the field at the same time.
 
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yes.

Yes I was wondering the same thing. We tend to think our run defense is very good? then what happened with us giving up all these yards to freshmans? Is it because it was our 2nd team? because I read earlier that our 2nd team would play our 2nd team and our 3rd against our 3rd and ect. So it actually looks like if thats the case we shut down the run with only giving up 21 yards to both hall and Ross. I'm VERY excited about Haw's performance, and I think he'll prolly be a third down back for his hands outta the back field.. what you guys think?
 
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Maybe JT is taking a page out of the Patriots defensive playbook with his 3-4 defense.
I think it's a great idea and I hope it's used a lot.
I've heard the coach say that he doesn't believe in trying to mold a team into any certain philosophy. Instead, mold your team around the talent you have.
This team is loaded with experienced Linebackers while also having a lot of inexperienced D linemen.
The 3-4 makes perfect sense with this team.
 
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http://ohiostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=322902

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2">Rea Chat Transcript: Aug. 20 <hr noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%"> </td></tr><tr><td>BuckeyeSports.com Staff Reports
</td> <td align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> </td> </tr></tbody> </table>
BuckeyeSports.com managing editor Mark Rea got together with premium Internet members for a chat session Saturday following the Buckeyes' jersey scrimmage. Here is a transcript of that chat:

<!---------------Start Everett Image--><script language="Javascript">document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/917/174235.jpg', '174235.jpg', 0, 357, 269, 1, 'Tyler Everett appears to have pulled ahead of Donte Whitner for the No. 1 strong safety spot.', 'BuckeyeSports.com/Susan Zeier', 1093144690000, 'Everett', 917, 'Align=Left'));</script><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="277"><tbody><tr><td width="271">
174235.jpg
</td><td rowspan="4" width="6">
spacer1.gif
</td></tr><tr><td align="right">BuckeyeSports.com/Susan Zeier</td></tr><tr><td height="3">
spacer1.gif
</td></tr><tr><td align="center">Tyler Everett appears to have pulled ahead of Donte Whitner for the No. 1 strong safety spot.</td></tr></tbody></table><!-- End Everett Image------------------>Buckeye Beay got things started with a series of questions:

1. Who earned extra playing time on offense and defense?

Rea: Hard to say, really, since the teams were divided first team offense vs. first team defense, etc. However, I would believe that freshmen like Devon Lyons and Nader Abdallah did enough good things to get them noticed. Marcus Freeman had a pretty good game. Tony Gonzalez made a nice catch. Bam Childress made some nice catches. I think JT is going to play a lot of people this year on both sides of the ball.

2. Which freshman were the most impressive?

Rea: See above and add Ginn to the list. Also Pittman, who ran well in limited carries, and Haw, who broke off a big one.

3. Who will win Will Allen's safety position?

Rea: Right now, it's Everett out front a little bit of Whitner. I don't think either did anything today that would change that.

4. Who looked better punting?

Rea: Only two kicks apiece at the start of the scrimmage. Both Turano and Huston looked OK ... but just OK.

5. Who looked better at QB?

Rea: I hate to go into Tresselspeak, but they all did some nice things and they all made mistakes. To be honest, none of them overly excited me today.

6. Who looked better at RT?

Rea: That looks like Tim Schafer's position to lose. I was kind of disappointed the few times I saw Barton today. He looked a little slow, but he's still coming back from that ankle problem in the spring.

7. Who looked like they will take over at WR opposite of Holmes?

Rea: Might be a bunch of people. Roy Hall made some nice catches and ran with authority after the catch. As I mentioned before, Lyons and Childress also did some nice things.

BUCKEYE_Bomber also had several questions to ask:

1. Who played the most surprisingly good/bad?

Rea: I kind of answered this in my story on the scrimmage. If I had to pick one player of the game, it would be Mike D'Andrea. I thought he played very well ... what we have expected of him since he got here. As for the bad part, I hate to say it but Mike Nugent missed 3 of 4 field goals. Of course, all three were from 50 yards or farther, but we've just gotten so used to him making everything, it was kind of a shock.

2. Rank the freshman in order of who will see most playing time to least. (a top 5 or 10 would be nice here and yes I guess I know its not a real question).

Rea: I think these guys have a real shot at PT: Ginn, Lyons, Abdallah, Pittman, Nicol (he's second string already), Freeman and maybe Haw.

3. Is the QB situation clearer or murkier?

Rea: I think it's pretty clear Zwick is the starter. IMHO, he'll play until it is clear he can't move the team.

4. Is the offense going to be better this year or worse? What about the defense?

Rea: Better or worse than what? Last year? Well, obviously with the graduation losses, I can't imagine either unit will be better. But the Buckeyes have a chance to be really good. I think they will take it slow out of the gate, though, and try to keep games as close as possible. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

5. What are the biggest things Ohio State fans should be excited about heading into this season based on the scrimmage and fall practices?

Rea: Talent, talent and more talent. This team has a deep pool of young talent. If the coaches can harness it all, this team will really be something.

6. Alternatively, what should worry Ohio State fans most right now?

Rea: Inexperience. Let's see how they break from the gate and what happens the first time adversity hits. That separates the good teams from the average ones.

TURFBUCK: Does it appear that the offense will really utilize a pass to the RB or even the FB out of the H-Back position or is this just another dream to have the offense more versatile?

Rea: I think there may be more of that just because this offense is so young in spots. What I mean by that is that the coaches have to devise some quick plays that get the heat off the QB. Quick tosses to running backs and tight ends are one way to do that. They did some today ... not much, but some.

Doctor Buckeye asked a series of questions:

1. How did the RBs (particularly Lydell Ross) look today?

Rea: They looked OK. Nothing spectacular. Haw got off a long run, but remember it was against the No. 3 defense. Ross and Pittman had some decent runs. And Mo Hall stuck his nose in there for a couple of carries. All in all, fairly efficient but certainly nothing spectacular.

2. Along those lines, did the O-line react well to the defense? Was the offense able to establish any type of running game?

Rea: The defense played pretty well and were ahead for most of the game before the heat got to them at the end. There really wasn't much of a running game established either way. After all, they threw the ball almost 50 percent of the time today.

3. How did the cornerbacks play in man coverage?

Rea: I thought they did fine. There really wasn't that much man coverage because I'd venture to say 80 percent of the throws by all three QBs were short passes.

4. In the past, it appeared that Ohio State successfully utilized the fullback as a receiver on simple drag routes across the middle. Was anything of that nature shown and/or do you anticipate that they will be used like that?

Rea: They did not feature the fullback much today, although Stan White had a couple of balls go his way when he was played the H-back. Looks to me like they're going to keep the fullback in as much as possible for max pro until the OL proves it can do it on its own.

BOBORONY: During the last recruiting season, there was speculation that Nader Abdallah would be in the two deep. Since practice has begun we have not heard about him at all. What is his status? How did he do in the scrimmage?

Rea: I thought he did some good things today, but he was playing with the threes today. The Buckeyes are fairly loaded in front of him at defensive tackle with Pitcock, Green, Penton, Cotton, Maupin and Patterson. But Patterson and Abdallah are athletic enough to slip out to end, too, so however long Kudla is out could allow Nader to get into the mix.

B22: How does these freshmen look: Gholston, Nader, Lyons in particular? Despite what people think, Boeckman is a longshot. I think Tress really likes his poise and demeanor. I'd like to know how he performs today. Don't count this kid out. I love Pittman -- what is his real size? He plays bigger than he is. Very physical. I’d like to see him at 210 if that possible. What seniors will be left out in the cold due to the youngsters development – to name a few Childress, Hollins, Kne, Caldwell?

<!---------------Start Boeckman Image--><script language="Javascript">document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/917/174236.jpg', '174236.jpg', 0, 407, 319, 1, 'Todd Boeckman got more reps and made more throws than any of the quarterbacks during the jersey scrimmage.', 'BuckeyeSports.com/Susan Zeier', 1093144746000, 'Boeckman', 917, 'Align=Left'));</script><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="327"><tbody><tr><td width="321">
174236.jpg
</td><td rowspan="4" width="6">
spacer1.gif
</td></tr><tr><td align="right">BuckeyeSports.com/Susan Zeier</td></tr><tr><td height="3">
spacer1.gif
</td></tr><tr><td align="center">Todd Boeckman got more reps and made more throws than any of the quarterbacks during the jersey scrimmage.</td></tr></tbody></table><!-- End Boeckman Image------------------>Rea: Again, I think I've answered this question. Boeckman performed fairly well today, but he spent most of his time with the threes. He went 9 for his first 11 with them, then kind of struggled a little when he moved up to be with the twos. But he still had a pretty good day.

Pittman is listed at 5-11 and 190. That’s probably about right.

As far as seniors are concerned, I think OSU is counting on big contributions from Childress and Kne and maybe Jacobs. Hollins, I'm not so sure about and I don't know what is going on with Caldwell. He was switched back to defense and has fallen off the depth chart.

BUCKEYE_Bomber: 1. Were plays called to utilize our "more athletic" OL?
2. Who will start Everett or Whitner? D'Andrea or Schlegel?

Rea: The offensive play-calling sure looked awfully familiar today. I couldn't discern much that was different from previous years. And if the game was tomorrow, Everett would start at strong safety and MDA would start at MLB.

losu1: How did Dukes look today? I haven't seen any mention of his play.

Rea: I'll be quite honest with you. I don't remember him from a single play.

skeelo: Did the linemen block well in the running game also were the plays slow developing or quick hitting?

Rea: Again, I think the running game was OK, but just OK. It appeared to me that there were some quick hitters, but some slow-developers as well. One of Ross' first runs on the day was one of the slow sweeps, but he cut up nicely and turned nothing into about a 6-yard run.

o-h-i-o: This might be tough to answer but comparing this years team to the previous 2 years at this point in the practice season:

Offense

1. Does the Offense look better at this point than the offense from last two years?

Rea: In a word, no. How could it? Three new linemen, a new tight end, a new split end, a flanker who has played a half-season, a new quarterback and a starting fullback that is hurt. This is going to be a work in progress for awhile.

Defense

1. Does the defense look on par with the 2 previous years' squads?

Rea: Again, how could it. In the last two years, the entire starting defensive line and linebacking crew has completely turned over. Fox is the only full-time starter back from '02. Once again, give it some time. This is a talented bunch, though, and I think the team will go as far -- at least early -- as the defense takes it.

2. I hear they experimented with a 3-4 today. Do you think they will make a switch to keep the strong Linebacking crew on the field.

Rea: They'll use the 34 on occasion, but that won't be their base defense. Snyder will stick with the 43, but, yeah, they'll go with MDA and Schlegel on the field at the same time if the situation dictates it

Buckeyes: The Whitner situation seems very odd. He ended last year as the nickel, went through Spring ball as the starter at SS while Everett didn't participate at all. They start fall camp and now Everett is the starter? I'm for the best player playing, but it seems strange.

Well, Everett was coming on in the spring and got hurt. If you'll remember, I was touting Everett as far back as winter conditioning. I like the kid. He's tough, he plays smart and he hits like a freight train. Not to mention he's cut like a cemetery marker. But I think Whitner will see his share of PT, too. He's got a lot of athletic ability and he has to see the field.

http://www.go-bucks.com/football/2004/fallcamp/jersyscrimmage.htm

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>
 
Upvote 0
I don't get the impression that the coaches were really trying to put their gameplan in right now and see how it works as much as just seeing different guys run similar plays and how each one looked doing it. I really think jt has a handfull of plays he will run every game and expects to be successful, but adds different wrinkles depending on who the opposing team is that particular week. I know that can be said of many teams and coaches, but I think jt subscribes to it a little more. I think he's looking at who can take a simple play and make something special out of it; rather than taking a special play and hoping someone can make it work.
 
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DL report from the scrimmage..any observations?

For any of you with the media who were at the scrimmage, other than Pitcock, which DT's made an impact? I was very impressed with Sian Cotton's performance at the Spring Game, but haven't heard his name mentioned in scrimmage reports. Did Patterson look healthy? Was he at DT or DE? As for DE's, with Kudla out, who looked ready to play beyond Fraser and Richardson? Any info is appreciated. Go Bucks!
 
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Have I been readding the stats right? Only 1 TD allowed by the defense on 175 plays? Also it was the first drive?

If so that is amazing, and I know the offense won the scrimage, but you have to be extremely happy with that.
 
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