2011 "Jesse Owens" Spring Game (Sat, April 23)

[cincibuck]

Tried to talk my wife into going up with the kids for this on Saturday and staying and watching my sister run at Jesse Owens on Sunday, but she mentioned something about it being our youngest's first Easter.

No problem. There are chocolate eggs in Columbus.

 

[Buckskin86]

April 19, 2011
Spring "game" format explained

What Jim Tressel foreshadowed on March 30 is now official: The Ohio State spring game will not be a game at all, but an offense versus defense scrimmage.

The winners will get the right to wear the scarlet jerseys until the next jersey scrimmage (probably in preseason camp in August). Right now, the offense has been wearing scarlet.

The scoring system is complex, but basically, the offense probably needs to put the ball in the end zone a few times to win. The defense gets points for stops and turnovers.

Tressel said the reasons for the altered format are twofold: One is that OSU is thin at offensive line and receiver this spring, so splitting the squads would have left little room for injuries or substitution at those spots. Also, he said his players felt that this format provides more competition, with first-teamers going against each other.

Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. The game will be preceded by an OSU men's lacrosse game against Fairfield, beginning at 11 a.m.

The Big Ten Network will televise both contests. Gates will open at 10 a.m.

Cont..

http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/

 

[MD Buckeye]

Scout $ - Big Weekend At Ohio State

4/19

By The Bank....Breakdown of the recruits visiting this weekend, the maybes and those who aren't attending.

 

[Yertle]

Granted, my opinion counts for.... well nothing in this area, but as a fan, I'd prefer to watch the standard game format. This will be my first spring game, and my three kids first spring game, and I think the event will be a bit of a let down for them as well. But, rightfully so, this doesn't come into play when JT decides the format. Just bad luck I suppose.

 

[MaxBuck]

... as a fan, I'd prefer to watch the standard game format.

1. I think everyone knows that's the fans' perspective.

2. The fans' perspective counts for very little here.

 

[jwinslow]

as a fan, I'd prefer to watch the standard game format.

As someone who has watched the jersey scrimmage many times, that format is a LOT better football and much better for checking out how players are developing.

Keith Wells looks like a monster when he is taking on an offensive line consisting of 1-2 contributing OL, 1-2 walkons & 1-2 backups who should not see the field outside of garbage time.

Doing that against a first team line is much more impressive.

 

[Yertle]

Granted, my opinion counts for.... well nothing

2. The fans' perspective counts for very little here.

Thanks for clarifying. I'll sleep better now.

 

[Buckskin86]

Change-up: Football scrimmage replaces Spring Game
By Adam Hawkins
[email protected]
Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011

On Saturday, the Ohio State football team will close out spring practice without holding its annual Scarlet and Gray game.

Instead, the team is forced to finish spring practice with a jersey scrimmage featuring the Buckeye offense facing the Buckeye defense because of injuries and a lack of depth, especially along the offensive line.

Junior defensive lineman John Simon said the change will make the players much more competitive.

"The scrimmage gives us a lot more competition and a lot more leeway on plays we can run and things of that sort," Simon said. "You'll just see a lot more guys fired up and ready to be out there. There will be some battles."

In past years, the Scarlet and Gray game was preceded by a draft to determine how the players would be split. The seniors were the team captains each year, and drafted players onto each side.

Senior center Mike Brewster said he was disappointed he could not participate in this tradition.

"It would have been fun," Brewster said. "But you gotta do what you gotta do."

OSU coach Jim Tressel hinted at the idea of a jersey scrimmage at a press conference on March 30. He said numbers were an issue, but also noted that teams were sometimes unfair.

"Sometimes when you draft up teams, there are some mismatches in situations," Tressel said.

Saturday's jersey scrimmage involves a complicated scoring system that gives the defense points for events such as turnovers, sacks and punts, and the offense gets points for touchdowns, first downs and field goals on offense.

Brewster said the new rules could make the game more exciting for the fans.

"It will be something different, and I think the fans will get to see a little more ones versus ones which will be cool," Brewster said. "They're not really used to seeing that, everyone's usually mixed together."

Cont...

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/change-up-football-scrimmage-replaces-spring-game-1.2186118

 

[MaliBuckeye]

Here's a look at the change to the "Jersey Scrimmage" format, from RB07OSU: New Scrimmage Look May Be An Improvement

The upcoming Spring Game-switcheroo has many fans grumbling and mumbling. Instead of the traditional spring game, where the players implement a draft and select two separate teams to compete, the game will feature an offense-defense scrimmage, much akin to the scrimmages held the previous two Saturday?s for the media.

Massage your temples and refocus your gaze, because that actually may not be too bad.

 

[Buckskin86]

Ohio State's spring football game might look strange because of the score, but the contest should be informative
Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011
By Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer

Columbus -- Ignore the score, but pay attention.

Though Ohio State's spring game Saturday won't be the game that fans are accustomed to, it should be the most competitive, most enlightening, most meaningful public spring peek at the Buckeyes in years.

"It gives us a lot more competition and a lot more leeway on plays we can run," junior defensive lineman John Simon said. "You'll see a lot more guys fired up and ready to be out there."

The change from a game to a scrimmage is in large part because the Buckeyes have only 11 offensive linemen in camp, which makes it difficult to divide into two teams, with the seniors drafting two complete squads as they normally do. That's not a pleasant situation to be in, but the result isn't a bad thing.

Usually, the spring game is a showcase, but also an afterthought. Now it will be a real scrimmage for a team replacing seven defensive starters and, at least for the five games of the 2011 season, seven offensive starters as well.

Instead of a situation where a player such as Simon -- an explosive, experienced starter on the defensive line -- might face off against a walk-on on the offensive line because of the way the teams were drafted, this will be first-team defense vs. first-team offense. Then second-team defense vs. second-team offense. Then third-team offense vs. third-team defense.

You'll see No. 1 cornerback Travis Howard defending top receiver DeVier Posey. You'll see first-team linebackers Andrew Sweat and Etienne Sabino tracking top running backs such as Dan Herron, Jaamal Berry and Jordan Hall. You'll see Simon and Nathan Williams trying to fight their way past senior offensive linemen Mike Brewster, J.B. Shugarts and Mike Adams.

Cont...

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/04/ohio_states_spring_football_ga.html

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

The change from a game to a scrimmage is in large part because the Buckeyes have only 11 offensive linemen in camp

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/04/ohio_states_spring_football_ga.html

Precisely why I said we need around 18 OL on scholarship in this thread. Several folks in that thread said 18 OL is "way too many"...wonder if they think that now.

 

[TwinsBuck]

1. I think everyone knows that's the fans' perspective.

2. The fans' perspective counts for very little here.

As a fan, I much prefer the scrimmage format over the game format. I wouldn't go to watch an OSU vs. OSU game. If I go to an OSU game, I want to see it vs. anybody else. But I'd go to watch how the potential starters and backups work together as a unit. That's what I'm really looking at.

 

[jwinslow]

Precisely why I said we need around 18 OL on scholarship in this thread. Several folks in that thread said 18 OL is "way too many"...wonder if they think that now.

Yes, it is. You don't need four full lines of OL (you would be two short, but surely a few walk-ons would be third or fourth team caliber)

When you have third team OL, they burn a hole in your bench and rarely transfer when they don't pan out.

When you have third team DBs, they can man seven different units, and many of them do so despite the fact that they will never sniff the field as defensive starters.


More always sounds nice, until you realize it comes at the expense of Troy Smith, Brian Robiskie, Orhian Johnson, Jermale Hines.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Yes, it is. You don't need four full lines of OL (you would be two short, but surely a few walk-ons would be third or fourth team caliber)

No. It's not. We have two long snappers on scholarship, which leaves 16 "regular" OL. You need at least two full lines to rotate during gametime and for injury replacement, which leaves no more than six OL for development. The OL gets banged up more than any other unit, and since the OL accounts for 5 of 22 (23%) of players in the game it makes perfect sense to have 18 total OL (in fact, 23% of the 85 scholarships comes out to 19 schollies, so there's the 19th schollie freed up for your Troy Smiths, etc.).

As we've all-too-painfully seen, a mediocre OL can negate a world-class backfield. You need to get as many quality OL as possible, and since OL are the hardest to project, you need to get as many as your scholarship needs at other positions allow.

 

[jwinslow]

so you jack up the ol numbers by a significant margin and still magically get to keep the extra guys (the last additions to those classes) that should no longer have a spot. That is some nifty math there.

And no, linemen do not account for anywhere close to 1/4 of the football players on the field.

11 defenders in 4-3
1 star replacing lb
11 punt coverage
11 kick coverage
11 punt return
11 kick return
11 kick attempt

11 offensive starters
1+ backup rbs excluding injuries
1 slot WR, basically a starter at OSU
1 extra blocking TE/FB, depending on what the base offense is. Recently it is fragel, a few years ago it was a fb coming off the bench

Not to mention:
4+ backup DL rotating regularly without injury
1-2+ WRs rotating in

About 8-10 scholarship OL contribute each game before garbage time and barring injury.

OL represents about 10% of the contributing positions, and when they don't pan out, they are a much more costly mistake than defensive backs. Shaun Lane can still be a huge asset on special teams. Connor Smith is not.

This is not the thread for this discussion.