AJHawkfan
Wanna make $14 the hard way?
From today's DDN:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/osu/daily/0829osufb.html
Defense preps Boeckman for Saturday role
Injury to Zwick could put St. Henry graduate on field
By Doug Harris
Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS | Ohio State back-up quarterback Todd Boeckman feels he's gotten all the preparation he needs if he's thrust into the lineup during Saturday's opener against Miami.
The red-shirt freshman from St. Henry has spent much of fall camp practicing against the first-team defense, and the Buckeyes' offense probably won't have a challenge all season any more imposing than parrying with that piranha-like unit.
"It's unbelievably different going against them," Boeckman said. "They're quick, they're strong, they're fast and they disguise their coverages so well. It's tough going against them, but it makes everybody better."
Junior Justin Zwick, who led the Buckeyes to an Alamo Bowl victory last year, is expected to be the starter. But he suffered a sprained ankle Aug. 16 and was still limping slightly during practice last Wednesday.
The media have been restricted from watching workouts since then, and they haven't had access to coach Jim Tressel or Zwick since Aug. 20.
Boeckman, who turned 21 in June, has spent so much time with the first string, though, that he's beginning to feel like a legitimate starter.
"Confidence is the big thing with me," he said. "When I go in there and work with these guys, I want to relax and stay focused and do what I have to do."
If Boeckman is thrown into the fray, he knows his marching orders will be to treat the ball as if it's an urn containing grandma's ashes.
"In coach Tressel's offense, you can't turn it over," he said.
Ginn wants more work
Ted Ginn Jr. wants to become a 60-minute man, playing cornerback as well as lining up as a receiver and returning kicks.
But he won't throw a fit if it never happens.
"DB was my favorite position in high school," said Ginn, who was the 2003 national defensive player of the year at Cleveland Glenville. "But now it's receiver — because I've worked hard at it and I know the ins and outs of it.
"Anything I need to do for the team, I'll do it."
Although he hasn't been practicing at corner, safety Donte Whitner believes Ginn could contribute on instincts alone.
"I know he can do it," said Whitner, another Glenville product. "Chris Gamble didn't have the best technique (in 2002 and '03), but he had the athletic ability to do it. Ted is that kind of player."
Challenge accepted
Kicker Josh Huston, the heir apparent to All-American Mike Nugent, made 8-of-11 field goals in a scrimmage last week (two were blocked).
The sixth-year senior also produced deep kickoffs in his two attempts, one of them bounding through the end zone.
But while a kicker of Nugent's caliber comes around about as often as a comet — he was a captain and the first specialist to win MVP honors at OSU — Huston is growing tired of hearing he has massive shoes to fill.
"That's what everyone says, whether it's the media or friends or anyone I meet," Huston groused. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: It was going to be big shoes no matter what because we're at Ohio State. Coach Tressel is always going to recruit the best."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/osu/daily/0829osufb.html
Defense preps Boeckman for Saturday role
Injury to Zwick could put St. Henry graduate on field
By Doug Harris
Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS | Ohio State back-up quarterback Todd Boeckman feels he's gotten all the preparation he needs if he's thrust into the lineup during Saturday's opener against Miami.
The red-shirt freshman from St. Henry has spent much of fall camp practicing against the first-team defense, and the Buckeyes' offense probably won't have a challenge all season any more imposing than parrying with that piranha-like unit.
"It's unbelievably different going against them," Boeckman said. "They're quick, they're strong, they're fast and they disguise their coverages so well. It's tough going against them, but it makes everybody better."
Junior Justin Zwick, who led the Buckeyes to an Alamo Bowl victory last year, is expected to be the starter. But he suffered a sprained ankle Aug. 16 and was still limping slightly during practice last Wednesday.
The media have been restricted from watching workouts since then, and they haven't had access to coach Jim Tressel or Zwick since Aug. 20.
Boeckman, who turned 21 in June, has spent so much time with the first string, though, that he's beginning to feel like a legitimate starter.
"Confidence is the big thing with me," he said. "When I go in there and work with these guys, I want to relax and stay focused and do what I have to do."
If Boeckman is thrown into the fray, he knows his marching orders will be to treat the ball as if it's an urn containing grandma's ashes.
"In coach Tressel's offense, you can't turn it over," he said.
Ginn wants more work
Ted Ginn Jr. wants to become a 60-minute man, playing cornerback as well as lining up as a receiver and returning kicks.
But he won't throw a fit if it never happens.
"DB was my favorite position in high school," said Ginn, who was the 2003 national defensive player of the year at Cleveland Glenville. "But now it's receiver — because I've worked hard at it and I know the ins and outs of it.
"Anything I need to do for the team, I'll do it."
Although he hasn't been practicing at corner, safety Donte Whitner believes Ginn could contribute on instincts alone.
"I know he can do it," said Whitner, another Glenville product. "Chris Gamble didn't have the best technique (in 2002 and '03), but he had the athletic ability to do it. Ted is that kind of player."
Challenge accepted
Kicker Josh Huston, the heir apparent to All-American Mike Nugent, made 8-of-11 field goals in a scrimmage last week (two were blocked).
The sixth-year senior also produced deep kickoffs in his two attempts, one of them bounding through the end zone.
But while a kicker of Nugent's caliber comes around about as often as a comet — he was a captain and the first specialist to win MVP honors at OSU — Huston is growing tired of hearing he has massive shoes to fill.
"That's what everyone says, whether it's the media or friends or anyone I meet," Huston groused. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: It was going to be big shoes no matter what because we're at Ohio State. Coach Tressel is always going to recruit the best."
