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CB Donnie Evege (official thread)

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Buckeyes' Donnie Evege bounces back from a bad break to deliver for special teams
By Doug Lesmerises
September 23, 2009


evegejkuscjpg-d03c93e7d7bbdc9f_large.jpg

John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer
Eager to get back on the field, Ohio State's Donnie Evege made an impact on this kickoff return by Southern California's Stafon Johnson on Sept. 12.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Unblocked from near the edge of the punt formation, Donnie Evege was trying to make a play, a play that would place a hip-to-ankle brace on his right leg by the end of the day and basically cost him the first two years of his Ohio State football career.

But a play nonetheless, even though almost no one was watching.

A freshman in the middle of his redshirt season in 2007, Evege, rated as Ohio's No. 10 prospect in the 2007 recruiting class, was on the scout team punt block unit in practice, readying the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes for their game at Penn State. That meant getting in the face of punter A.J. Trapasso.

On this play, Evege was unblocked.

"I'm pretty fast, not to toot my own horn," said Evege, who was timed running the 40 in the low 4.3-seconds range in high school, "and I got back there really fast. To make it worse, A.J. bobbled the ball, so I was way back there. So I was like on top of A.J. when he kicked it."

evegemug.jpgOhio State photoOSU sophomore defensive back Donnie Evege.
Evege should have been taking the ball of Trapasso's foot, his hands or body extended to smother the punt without taking out the punter. Instead, he took the full force of Trapasso's leg, a leg that famously banged a punt off the Dallas Cowboys' new scoreboard during the NFL preseason. A big leg.

That leg, or more specifically, Trapasso's shin, kicked Evege just below his right knee.

"I wouldn't label it as a freak accident," Evege said, "but it was a unique accident."

He went down, believing it was nothing more than a bruise. Then he tried to get up.

"I was like, 'This might not be a deep bruise,'" Evege said. "Hours later, I knew it was bad."

On went the brace. Away went his scout team time. Evege rehabbed his injured knee for the rest of his redshirt season, had surgery on his meniscus that off-season, sat out most of spring football, worked out over the summer, limped through most of last preseason thinking he was ready to return, then was told early in the season he needed more extensive rehab.

One kick, another season lost.

"He's one of those guys, outwardly, he's not going to let you know it's bothering him," said Jay Minton, his high school coach at Huber Heights Wayne near Dayton. "But it was just killing him."

Off the field, Evege was selected to represent all Ohio State student-athletes at the National Student-Athlete Development Conference in Orlando. When the OSU football chapter of Uplifting Athletes held its charity video game event in August, Evege assisted organizer and senior captain Kurt Coleman and may lead the way next year.
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Buckeyes' Donnie Evege bounces back from a bad break to deliver for special teams | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com
 
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Donnie has been tearing it up on ST this year. There have only been a few ST plays so far where he hasn't been the first man on the play. The guy just wants to hit somebody. Great indication of how he will play at safety next year. Every play he makes on ST gets him closer to a starting spot. I hope he gets some reps in garbage time, I want to see how he is in pass coverage. Hines and Evege at safety next year?
 
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generaladm said:
Donnie has been tearing it up on ST this year. There have only been a few ST plays so far where he hasn't been the first man on the play. The guy just wants to hit somebody. Great indication of how he will play at safety next year. Every play he makes on ST gets him closer to a starting spot. I hope he gets some reps in garbage time, I want to see how he is in pass coverage. Hines and Evege at safety next year?
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He has always been considered a CB...I highly doubt he ever sees a snap at S
 
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Thats what I thought. I figured our DBs next year would be Travis Howard Devon Torrence and Evege(hopefully) fighting for the top 2 spots, and Hines and Johnson at S. Anyhow, Evege is looking pretty good on ST, saw him on TV get down the field pretty fast!
 
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generaladm;1552890; said:
Donnie has been tearing it up on ST this year. There have only been a few ST plays so far where he hasn't been the first man on the play. The guy just wants to hit somebody. Great indication of how he will play at safety next year. Every play he makes on ST gets him closer to a starting spot. I hope he gets some reps in garbage time, I want to see how he is in pass coverage. Hines and Evege at safety next year?
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It's one thing to make plays on special teams. It's another to come down and wallop a freight train like Benn all game long.
 
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pnuts34;1552943; said:
Thats what I thought. I figured our DBs next year would be Travis Howard Devon Torrence and Evege(hopefully) fighting for the top 2 spots, and Hines and Johnson at S. Anyhow, Evege is looking pretty good on ST, saw him on TV get down the field pretty fast!
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Are you assuming Chekwa goes pro or did you forget about him?
 
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