Special teams have work to do. There are only two times a year where special teams are on full display at Ohio State: the spring and fall kick scrimmages. The specialists spend all off-season gearing up for these days, and if Saturday?s performance was an indication of what the Buckeyes are going to be like on special teams in 2010, Jim Tressel won?t be sleeping well tonight. The three kickers were a combined 17-of-33 (52 percent) on their field goal tries, including 4-of-16 (25 percent) from 40 yards or more. The punting was shaky, the fakes were bland, they had a punt blocked in the end zone, the opening kickoff was fumbled and Dane Sanzenbacher put two punt returns on the ground. On a day that was supposed to highlight the special teams, there were some serious issues brought to light.
2. Ben Buchanan is the punter. They were still calling it a competition for the punter job Saturday between Buchanan and walk-on Derek Erwin, but let?s be real about this; Buchanan is the guy. Let?s forget the fact Erwin did nothing to impress me, and I really do mean nothing, but they?ve been grooming Buchanan for this exact situation since he got to Ohio State. He still isn?t as consistent as Tressel would like, but who are we kidding, neither was Jon Thoma. Buchanan has a better leg than Thoma and he?s only a redshirt sophomore.
3. Devin Barclay should be the field goal kicker inside 40. After Aaron Pettrey went down with a knee injury last season, Barclay came on and went 7-of-10 kicking field goals. He was 7-of-8 from inside of 40 and 0-of-2 from outside. During Saturday?s kick scrimmage, Barclay was deadly accurate from 39 and in, hitting 7-of-8 from inside the 40. As soon as he stepped outside that range, however, things fell apart. He connected on a 45-yard attempt, but missed?usually short?on his other six attempts from outside the 40.
