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Ohio State football: Nickel back Tyvis Powell learned as redshirt
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Friday September 6, 2013
Kyle Robertson | Dispatch
Nickel back Tyvis Powell lines up against a Buffalo receiver. The redshirt freshman played a lot of snaps in his debut last week.
Tyvis Powell has risen from a redshirt season to become the starting nickel back for Ohio State, and it is largely because older teammates did not treat him like a forgotten soul last year.
“When you find out you’re redshirting, most people take it like, ‘Oh, man,’ ” Powell said. “I didn’t really get down about.”
One reason was because Bradley Roby, who was matched with Powell as a mentor by coach Urban Meyer, counseled the newcomer from Bedford, Ohio, on how to deal with what some players see as a slight. Roby, who is a junior and a preseason All-American, had a redshirt season himself before blossoming into an elite cornerback.
“He came to me one day and said, ‘Tyvis, you’ve only got one chance to do this in a lifetime. You should just take every day, work on it, and get better,’ ” Powell said.
Powell, then a cornerback on the scout-team defense, said that sparked more thoughts.
“ ‘I’m going against the (first-team offense) every day, so I might as well use this time to make myself better,’ so that’s what I did,” Powell said. “I had to go against Devin Smith and (Corey Brown) in practice, and they were teaching me things, like, ‘pay attention to my waist on this play,’ and stuff like that. So basically the team supported me and helped me get better.”
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Q&A: Ohio State's Tyvis Powell
September, 6, 2013
By Austin Ward | ESPN.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tyvis Powell doesn't have to look hard for an example of a guy who has thrived under similar circumstances.
Last season, in fact, his big brother on the team had already walked the path of redshirting as a freshman defensive back and then made his way into the starting lineup in his first game on the active Ohio State roster.
Jason Mowry/Icon SMI
Tyvis Powell made his starting debut against Buffalo and admits he still has ways he can improve.
Certainly there are some differences in the skill sets of Powell, a tall nickelback, and Bradley Roby, a physical freak who ranks among the best cornerbacks in the nation. But the last player to sit out a year and then become an instant starter like Powell on Saturday against Buffalo was Roby in 2011. That kind of company can bode well for a player who debuted with five tackles and has room to grow.
There were a few people surprised to see you out there starting on the first day of spring practice. Were you expecting to be thrown into the lineup coming off a redshirt year?
Tyvis Powell: Honestly I wasn’t, I’m not going to lie to you. But in January, coach [Urban] Meyer handed out self-evaluation forms to everybody, and after reading some of the questions that were on it, basically what are you doing to help the team and rating yourself, when I rated myself honestly, I felt like I wasn’t really doing anything to help the team. I felt like I was just here, and I didn’t want to be like that. When I recap my life later on, I don’t want to say I was just here. I want to do something to basically make a statement, make a name for myself. What I did was take the winter offseason and just basically work hard, get extra reps, make sure I constantly drilled and got with the older people who were still here, asked them questions about the game. They all helped me out, and then when it came to spring, the strength coaches were telling them, ‘Yeah, Tyvis is coming along.’ I went to meet with [defensive coordinator Luke] Fickell, and he said they wanted to see me at the Star position [in nickel]. So I just went out there Day 1 and tried it, and I’m still here.
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Ohio State redshirt freshman Tyvis Powell: 'I needed to take last year and learn some things'
[URL='http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2013/09/ohio_state_nickel_back_tyvis_p_1.html']Ohio State nickel back Tyvis Powell
[/URL]Ohio State nickel back Tyvis Powell, a native of Bedford, talks to reporters after practice on Sept. 4. By Ari Wasserman, Northeast Ohio Media Group
September 06, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tyvis Powell knows how much he plays, at least on a week like this, will be largely determined by Ohio State’s opponent.
Or his teammates.
Because Powell, the Buckeyes’ starting nickel back, is only on the field in passing situations. And when [URL='http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/09/doug_lesmerises_previews_ohio_2.html']No. 3-ranked Ohio State invites San Diego State into Ohio Stadium on Saturday, the Aztecs are expected to stay true to their rushing attack.
Plans can change, though, and that’s where his teammates come in. If the Buckeyes build an early – and sizeable – lead, San Diego State could be forced to abandon its run-first mentality. Last week was the perfect example.
“I think they stepped out of their comfort zone a little bit,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of San Diego State, who lost 40-19 to FCS opponent Eastern Illinois last Saturday. “They threw 63 times.”
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Meet a Buckeye: Tyvis Powell
Powell studies football, options for future
Enlarge Image
Kyle Robertson | Dispatch
Redshirt freshman Tyvis Powell has taken ownership of the nickel back spot on defense.
Tyvus Powell
DEFENSIVE BACK
Age: 19
Year: Redshirt freshman
Vitals: 6 feet 3, 207 pounds
Hometown (high school): Bedford, Ohio
Major: Sports industry
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Friday October 4, 2013
Tyvis Powell is just as serious about academics as he is football. He competed in football, basketball, baseball and track in high school - and never missed a day of school. Rated the the 33rd best cornerback prospect nationally by Rivals.com two years ago, Powell took a redshirt season last year after enrolling early at Ohio State. He stayed busy off the field, however, and was honored as a 2012 OSU scholar-athlete. Coaches moved him to safety this past spring, then to nickel back, and he has since taken control of the spot.
Question: What is your favorite activity past football and taking care of academic requirements?
Answer: I play video games with my roommates, and we just sit back and talk about life. I also talk a lot with my high-school head coach (Sean Williams) about things I might be dealing with at the time.
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