Showing up: The annual spring jersey scrimmage is the first glimpse at the following season's football team, and always brings with it questions about who showed up as standouts in the scrimmage, particularly at positions where the Buckeyes are replacing players. There is never a lack of opinions on those players from those who observe the scrimmage, but nobody is better qualified to make those judgments than the coaches and players who participate in the scrimmage.
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> Vernon Gholstin <tbody><tr> <td>
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"I thought some guys like Vernon Gholstin showed up, Alex Barrow was a guy who looked like he did some things, Ross Holman came up with a pick and that's huge in a football game," said OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"Over on the offensive side a couple of guys made some plays. Those receivers did some good things, I thought the running backs ran hard and I think we're going to have more depth at running back than we've had for a while which is good."
OSU quarterback Troy Smith had his own list of players whose games he liked in the scrimmage.
"One guy was Mike Roberts at cornerback. He did an excellent job today," said Smith.
"He was aggressive. He asserted himself within the defense.
"Another guy was linebacker Ross Holman. He was pretty productive today, and the junior college linebacker Larry Grant. Man, he's going to be a good one. He brings a presence to the field. He has an attitude about himself, a linebackers attitude that I think that we're going to need.
"To me, Ross shows glimpses of A. J. (Hawk), because there's a quiet presence about him and he's always around the ball and he makes things happen. I don't think those guys can get enough praise right now. It's early, but I think those are going to be the guys that step up," Smith said.
Linebacker Marcus Freeman agreed with Smith's assessment of the incoming linebackers.
"Larry is an amazing athlete," said Freeman.
"Once he learns the concepts of the defense he's going to be a great player. Ross has great instincts. He's studying a lot of film and will be a great player too. Curtis Terry too has been showing a lot of talent. I think the future is bright for Curtis."
Jerseygate: For some reason there is a group of Buckeye fans who are up in arms about the newly redesigned football jersey. One wag at the jersey scrimmage hinted that the teams on field might actually be trying to lose so they won't have to wear the new jersey at practice. The jersey design doesn't seem to be quite as big a deal for at least some of the people who will actually wear it.
"A jersey is a jersey," said OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman.
" I like it. It looks good"
Dumbing it Down: The desire to know how next year's football team will be always elicits reams of analysis following the scrimmage. According to most of the players in the game, those conclusions are usually a bit premature, if for no other reason than the Buckeyes did not run very much of the offensive and defensive packages in the jersey scrimmage.
<table align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> Brian Hartline <tbody><tr> <td>
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"No, you can't," said freshman wide receiver Brian Harline when asked if the jersey scrimmage offered an opportunity to assess the Buckeyes for the next season.
"It was dumbed down a little bit, yes. We have a lot of guys who just came in so it can't be too complex. It was pretty basic," said Hartline of the jersey scrimmage last saturday.
"Spring really is the start of the next season. This is the first thing we've done for next season so you really can't jump to conclusions.
"There's a lot more to our offense and our team. It's a glimpse, but I think it's very promising for our defense. There's a lot of doubt about our defense and it just shows you that our defense is just as good as our offense. and we're all willing to compete," said Hartline.
Fellow freshman wide receive Brian Robiske agreed that the jersey scrimmage didn't really reflect what the Buckeyes can do, particularly on offense.
"It was dumbed-down a little bit," said Robiske.
"There were a couple times there where we just ran the same play over and over. I think that might have been a factor," Robiske said.
Running Back Bonanza: The Buckeyes have not enjoyed great depth at running back over the last couple of seasons, but that trend has now reversed itself. Antonio Pittman is a proven runner who will return next season, backups Maurice Wells and Eric Haw are both improved, and big things are expected of incoming freshman Chris Wells who is already enrolled in school and is participating in spring drills. Pittman did not participate in the jersey scrimmage as he nurses a hamstring back to health, but OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel liked what he saw of the other three who did, though he didn't like the fact that Chris Wells dropped the ball a few times, once that resulted in a turnover.
"The only thing we didn't do is we didn't have a flawless day in the fumble department, so we have to make sure we square that away, but I thought they ran patient, did a nice job with some cutback things, did a good job with their blitz pickups and their routes. I think we have a chance to have good running backs," said Tressel.
Troy Smith also liked what he saw.
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> Erik Haw <tbody><tr> <td>
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"From top to bottom, starting with Mo Wells, he had a pretty productive day. Then going to Eric Haw, he had a great day. Chris Wells stepped up and did some positive things," said Smith.
Chris Wells ran with power and showed enough speed to get to the hole when it was there. Maurice Wells looked like an improved runner as well and showed he can run between the tackles. The run of the day, however, belonged to Haw who took a handoff and found a gaping hole. Haw raced 71 yards to paydirt for the biggest play of the scrimmage.
"The O-line did a tremendous job," said Haw of the play.
"It was like we saw that run coming. I told them that the defense was stretching so watch for the cutback. I was saying it the whole time. They knew what they had to do and stuck with it," Haw said.
Haw said the competition at tailback will be fierce, but there is definitely a front-runner.
"Pitt did a tremendous job last year. Basically he's the guy coming back," said Haw.
"I'm just going to try to get to stick in the mix and hopefully the coaches will notice my hard work and dedication to getting better.
"We've got a good running back corps. We'll see what happens. With the depth that we have at running back there's no telling what can happen. With four good running backs, All-Americans in high school, doing well in college ball, that's a good corps, definitely a good corps."
Young Receivers Impressive: OSU has a number of new faces in camp, including two at wide receiver who have drawn raves. Both Brian Robiske and Brian Hartline have brought praise, and each had their moments in the jersey scrimmage.
<table align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> Brian Robiske <tbody><tr> <td>
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"Robiske is the kind of guy who will sit and do hours and hours of film study, and it pays off when he's out there on the field because of the decisions that he makes," said OSU quarterback Troy Smith.
"He also has some of the best hands on the field. He can shift his body into different positions and reach out with his long arms and make those catches.
"Hartline is tough. I don't think he gets enough credit sometimes for the things that he does because he'll dip his shoulder and do some things that a receiver is not supposed to do, split defenders and make a guy miss and he has deceptive speed," Smith said.
Big Play - At a Price: The best play of the day in the passing game in the jersey scrimmage was 14 yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez.
"One of the things that I saw was that Jamario came down a little too far in the box and that gave Tony a little bit of separation in the endzone. The line gave me a good amount of time," said Smith of the play.
"The route was actually designed to go underneath the safety but Gonzo made an adjustment when he came down in the box and we were pretty much on the same page. He made a great catch," Smith said.
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> Anthony Gonzalez <tbody><tr> <td>
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Gonzalez came down with the ball for the score. He also took a hit that resulted in a concussion that took him out of the scrimmage the rest of the day. Following the scrimmage, Gonzalez met with reporters, but was still suffering from the effects of the play.
"It's definitely my short-term memory," said Gonzalez.
"My long-term memory is fine. I don't remember the touchdown. I remember a few of the plays I played in on the first series, but after the first series I don't remember anything. I don't remember the play at all," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is expected to make a full recovery, but was concerned some after the scrimmage.
"Honestly the thing I'm most worried about is this affecting school," he said.
"Other people I've talked to that have had this happen say they had their worst quarters right after it, so it's the only thing I'm really worried about."
