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Pre-Season Practice - 2005

crazybuckfan40 said:
Yeah they are you can't get any closer than that. I just hopes he hits like the waterboy.

You know, there just has to be at least a couple current players that visit this site, and if there are and they see this thread, you know Pitcock's new nickname is going to be "The Waterboy". Of course, only the staff and his teammates will be able to get away with it... :biggrin:
 
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scout.com (free)

8/25/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Trapasso, Huston Shine In Kick Scrimmage



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60031_ajtrapassopractice.JPG


A.J. Trapasso


</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Steve Helwagen Managing Editor

Date: Aug 24, 2005

Redshirt freshman A.J. Trapasso put a stranglehold on the punting job with his performance in Thursday's special teams scrimmage. But it was Josh Huston's kicking and an 85-yard punt return for a score by Ashton Youboty that helped the Gray side take a 31-24 win over the Scarlet. Click this free link for all of the details.

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In 100 years, college football historians will look back and see that the special teams scrimmage was Jim Tressel’s enduring contribution to the game.

Well, that and at least five national championships.

Tressel and his staff conducted the preseason version of his own personal invention, the special teams scrimmage, Wednesday afternoon at Ohio Stadium. The Gray squad, powered by an 85-yard punt return touchdown by Ashton Youboty and the kicking of Josh Huston, prevailed 31-24.

Members of the losing Scarlet squad could be seen exiting through the north entrance of Ohio Stadium and making the three-quarters mile trek back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

The scrimmage was marked by those who made plays and some who did not play, most notably standout punt returners Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. Holmes is just recovering from an injury, while Ginn did see some action rushing field goal kickers but did not return a punt – likely as a concession to the risk of injury.

In the battle at the kicker position, Huston, a sixth-year senior, appeared to outpoint freshman walk-on Ryan Pretorius. Huston was 8 of 11 on field goals with long kicks of 42, 45 and 47 yards. Two of his three misses were blocked and he missed a 43-yarder. Pretorius was 8 of 12 with a long of 39. He had misses of 31, 32, 42 and 55 yards.

Freshman Aaron Pettrey did not compete, presumably as he recovers from a sore leg that has plagued him in camp.

The kickers performed in largely an empty stadium. But they could get a sense for the wind directions inside the Horseshoe.

“You don’t get the fans, but you get the arena,� Huston said. “You also get your teammates needing you. In practice, sometimes, they don’t even watch if they aren’t involved. Today, those guys need you. They’re patting you on the butt and saying, `Let’s get these balls through. I don’t want to walk back.’

“You get that sense of team and it feels good that guys notice you and pat you on the back and say, `Good job.’ �

Redshirt freshman A.J. Trapasso appears to be the starting punter. Unofficially, he punted 11 times for an average of 42.5 yards. Freshman walk-on John Thoma punted seven times for 38.4 yards. Walk-on Tyson Gentry punted three times for a 35.0 average.

“It was OK at best,� said Trapasso, who had a long punt of 56 yards. “I don’t feel like I hit the ball well at all today. But it’s coming along and we’ll be ready.�

It appears that Trapasso will be the starting holder on kicks with Gentry backing him up. Drew Norman is clearly the long snapper.

“Drew did a good job today getting the ball back there,� Huston said.

Trapasso’s Time

Trapasso’s tenure at OSU started rocky last year. He was not invited to fall camp after a pair of underage drinking arrests. He redshirted as Kyle Turano held the punting job all season.

“Maturity-wise, I think I’ve grown up a lot,� said Trapasso, who hails from nearby Pickerington, Ohio. “What happened last year, I’ve put it behind me. It’s a fresh start. Coach Tressel has given me my chances and I’m not going to let him down.�

Although Turano has appealed to the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility, Trapasso is approaching this season as if it is his.

“It’s my job to lose,� he said. “I have the starting job right now and I intend not to give it up. I’m preparing for the first game. That’s it. That’s all I can think about right now.

“It is a dream to come true to play in this stadium and for these fans. I can’t wait for that opener against Miami. It’s going to be a thrill.�

Trapasso discussed his goals for the upcoming year.

“We’ve led the Big Ten in net punt every year,� he said. “It’s been right around 40 yards every year. My goal is to be over 40 in net punt with a hang time between 4.4 and 5.7 with five seconds being the average.

“The coverage guys are unbelievable. Our snipers are awesome. You couldn’t ask for a better crop of guys to punt for.�

Huston’s Time, Too

Huston arrived at OSU from Findlay, Ohio, in the fall of 2000. But he spent the last five years on the sideline, the last four working mostly behind two-time All-American Mike Nugent. The NCAA granted his request for a sixth year of eligibility due to past health problems.

“I’m real confident,� Huston said. “I think it’s just maturity. I’m ready to go and get it started on Saturday.�

But Pretorius, who hit a 55-yard field goal in Saturday’s jersey scrimmage, has kept Huston on his toes this fall.

“Ryan hits the ball real well,� Huston said. “He’s right there. He doesn’t let me slack off at all. I can’t miss four kicks in a day because he’s right there to push it back on me. He’s going to do well here if he keeps it up.�

On one of Huston’s two blocked field goals, it appeared that lineman Tim Schafer skied to bat the ball out of the air. On the other, it appeared he barely got the ball to helmet height and it was easily blocked.

“I have to look at the film,� Huston said. “I don’t want to put the blame on anyone else. I know on that second block, I didn’t get it high enough. The first one, I don’t know what happened on that. I thought it was all right, but I’ll have to go back and see what happened.�

But Huston rallied and capped the day with a 45-yard field goal to cinch the win for the Gray.

“I would have liked it to be with us down two with the last kick,� said Huston, who is champing at the bit for his chance to try and win a game for the Buckeyes – a la Nugent a year ago against Marshall.

As It Happened

The kick scrimmage rules are simple – every play is a special teams play. It begins with a kickoff. The receiving team, wherever the return ends, faces a fourth-and-10 predicament. Typically, they line up for a punt, but can also attempt fake punts. The idea is, obviously, to return a kick or blocked kick for a touchdown or put your team in field goal range with a fake or a return.

At various prescribed times in the scrimmage, Tressel orders each side to attempt five consecutive field goals. He also orders each team to try and execute punts out of its own end zone. Unlike in past scrimmages, there were no blocked punts this time around.

The team is divided down the middle and neither side has the full starting unit for any of the various special teams.

The teams traded punts four times to open the scrimmage. Included in there was a 33-yard run off a fake by Trapasso, who was a prep running back at Pickerington. He was spotted running pass patterns at this morning’s practice.

“I love that,� Trapasso said. “I love to get out there and hit with those guys and show them I can hang.�

Neither team had scored when Tressel ordered the first series of prescribed field goal attempts. Pretorius made 3 of 5 field goals for the Scarlet and Huston answered with 3 of 5 for the Gray for a 9-9 tie.

Moments later, Youboty fielded a Trapasso punt at the Gray 15-yard line. He faked a reverse to Brian Hartline, got a big block from Malcolm Jenkins and was gone down the sideline for his 85-yard touchdown return that gave the Gray a 16-9 lead.

“He’s fast,� said Trapasso, who dove in vain at the Scarlet 40 to try and stop Youboty. “He’s really fast. They had a really good fake. They had a fake reverse and then they set up a wall down the right side and that really worked well for them.�

Huston added, “He blew it wide open and we kept the lead from there.�

In the second half, Tressel again ordered the kickers to attempt five field goals. Pretorius was 4 of 5 for the Scarlet with a 42-yard attempt sailing wide left. Huston was 4 of 5 for the Gray, missing from 43 but making kicks from 42 and 47 to keep the Gray on top 28-21.

Gray’s Sirjo Welch committed a fair catch interference penalty on a punt out of the end zone, giving Scarlet possession at the Gray 22. Pretorius drilled a 39-yard field goal to cut the gap to 28-24.

Moments later, Gray upback Anthony Schlegel hit his linebacker mate, A.J. Hawk, for a miraculous 37-yard pass on a fake punt. But, alas, the play was negated by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.

Scarlet could draw no closer with Pretorius missing from 55 yards before Huston’s 45-yarder on the final play gave the Gray its final seven-point margin.

Also Notable

The team practiced for about an hour at the stadium prior to the scrimmage. Brandon Smith, now wearing No. 87 as a tight end, looked pretty good in drills.

Troy Smith threw a rocket to walk-on Dan Potokar during the seven-on-seven drills. Justin Zwick also made a neat pass down the middle to Anthony Gonzalez. Freshman Rob Schoenhoft was victimized on an interception by classmate Andre Amos.


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rivals.com (free)

8/25/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Youboty's return highlights scrimmage <HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>Chris Nida
BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer </TD><TD noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
At 4 p.m. this afternoon in Ohio Stadium, Josh Huston boomed a kickoff through the end zone.

<!--Start Huston Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/917/258813.jpg', '258813.jpg', 0, 247, 351, 1, 'Josh Huston had more company than this at Ohio State\'s kick scrimmage.', 'BSB/Terry Gilliam', 1124923677000, 'Huston', 917, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=359 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=353>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>BSB/Terry Gilliam</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Josh Huston had more company than this at Ohio State's kick scrimmage.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Huston Image-->The kick scrimmage was on.

One hour later, it was over, with the Gray team taking a 31-24 victory and a ride back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. By virtue of their loss, the Scarlet hoofed it.

The big play in the game was a punt return, but it didn't come from the usual culprit -- Ted Ginn Jr. Instead it was Ashton Youboty doing the honors, faking a reverse to true freshman Brian Hartline and then taking a punt 87 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown. Scarlet punter A.J. Trapasso dove at Youboty's feet but couldn't take him down.

"They had a fake reverse and then they set up a wall to the right side, and that worked out real well for them," Trapasso said.

Ginn tried to disguise himself, wearing the No. 95 for the Scarlet team, but he still had few chances to touch the ball. He returned a kickoff and a punt but gained only modest yardage.

Trapasso was the most impressive punter on the field, getting the most opportunities as the sole punter on the Scarlet team. The redshirt freshman projected starter got off two 50-plus yard punts, one out of the back of the end zone, and also rumbled for 30-plus yards on a fake punt.

But he also had several punts right around 40 yards, one below, and overall he didn't seem entirely thrilled with his day.

"I didn't feel like I made solid contact," Trapasso said. "I got one good punt out of the end zone here. They were all hanging up in the air and getting pretty decent hang time, but other than that it just didn't look like the punt I'd like it to look like."

Huston looked good for the Gray team, hitting 8 of his 11 field goals, including a 50-yarder. One of the misses was blocked, but the other two were simply bad strikes of the ball by Huston, though one of them also did end up getting blocked.

"I think it was an OK day," Huston said. "I've certainly had better kick scrimmages, but there's been worse ones. I remember my first one in here wasn't too pretty. Overall, I think I'd take two hits back that I had."

More importantly, the kick scrimmage -- in which all plays are either punts, field goals or kickoffs, though fakes are allowed -- forced the specialists' teammates to take notice of them.

"You don't get the fans but you get the arena, and you also get your teammates needing you," Huston said. "In practice, they don't even watch sometimes. Some of the guys are getting ready -- they have a busy day. Today, those guys need you. They're patting you on the back, patting you on the butt, saying, `Let's get these balls through. I don't want to walk back.' You get that sense of team."

With Aaron Pettrey sidelined with a nagging groin injury, Ryan Pretorious served as the Scarlet's kicker. The 25-year-old walk-on looked good, hitting 8 of his 12 attempts. And one of the misses was a 57-yarder that was on line and came up just short.

"Ryan's hitting the ball real well," Huston said. "He's right there, and he doesn't let me slack at all. I can't miss four kicks in a day or whatever or he's right there to push back on me."

<!--Start Schlegel Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/917/249468.jpg', '249468.jpg', 0, 267, 200, 1, 'Anthony Schlegel\'s pass completion was called back due to penalty.', 'BuckeyeSports.com/Terry Gilliam', 1124923640000, 'Schlegel', 917, 'Align=Right'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=6 rowSpan=4>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>BuckeyeSports.com/Terry Gilliam</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Anthony Schlegel's pass completion was called back due to penalty.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Schlegel Image-->In addition to Trapasso's rush, the Buckeyes also tried some other trickery. On one punt the ball was snapped directly to linebacker Anthony Schlegel, who completed a pass downfield to A.J. Hawk for about 30 yards.

Much to Schlegel's chagrin, the play was called back due to penalty.

Freshman walk-on Jonathan Thoma and sophomore Tyson Gentry punted for the Gray team. Thoma got off a 50-yard punt at one point, and while Gentry's first punt went only 22 yards, he later got off perhaps the punt of the day, booting one out of his own end zone that veered toward the sideline and was fielded by Ginn at the 50-yard line.

Gentry also did a solid job holding for Huston, duties the starting punter usually holds but that Gentry took care of since Trapasso was on the Scarlet team. Drew Norman did not have any noticeably bad snaps and looks to have secured the spot most recently held by Kyle Andrews, who helped groom Norman for the role.

"The biggest thing Kyle did was, in high school, I never blocked," Norman said. "I snapped and covered. Of course here, we have to block. He worked with me my true freshman year every day on how to snap and get back. Just showing me how it's done, telling me, `Hey, you have to drop step, you have to get back.' Little things like that are big, and just little hints on how to stay loose, because when you don't play every play, it's tough to stay loose on that sideline and come out and be perfect for one play at a time."

Other players who worked as returners in the kick scrimmage were running backs Erik Haw and Maurice Wells and true freshman cornerback Malcolm Jenkins for the Gray team and Shaun Lane, recently converted from cornerback to tailback, for the Scarlet team.

Jim Tressel was originally scheduled to meet with the media following the scrimmage but did not do so.
 
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8/25/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Buckeyes open the gates for fall camp <HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>Mike Wachsman

BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer
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This was no ordinary Wednesday in Columbus. Oh, no. This was a special day.

For once, the wraps came off of the top-secret goings-on and the eyes of the Fourth Estate were allowed to watch Ohio State football practice. We're not sure why Jim Tressel decided to open things up on this particular day, but we're guessing that the presence of ABC's Gary Danielson and ESPN's Chris Spielman had something to do with it.

<!--Start Inside: OLinemen, Mangold Image--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=308 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=302>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>Terry Gilliam/BuckeyeSports.com</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>We saw a little bit of Nick Mangold and company, and even more, during Wednesday's morning edition of Ohio State football practice</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Inside: OLinemen, Mangold Image-->A film crew in tow, the pair traversed the entire field, training their cameras on both the mundane and exciting.

• They saw offensive linemen doing battle in one-on-one drills, including a big-time matchup between sophomore Steve Rehring and freshman Alex Boone. Despite standing nearly 6-8, both young men got their pad levels low and were able to use leverage to their advantage. They matched up three times, and no one had a distinct advantage. Both are very good, however, and made the earth's Tectonic plates shift just a tad.

• They no doubt saw Troy Smith working a bit with the first unit, which probably sent shock waves through their world. Of course, Justin Zwick and Todd Boeckman spent the majority of time with the first group, but you can bet the ESPN boys were making a big deal of Smith getting in a few reps.

Zwick was showing no ill effects from his ankle injury, and he even stepped up in the pocket to evade the rush, firing a nice seven-yard out pass to Anthony Gonzalez.

Boeckman also had some moments, including a downfield throw to Santonio Holmes where the receiver got by cornerback Tyler Everett and nestled the ball into his arms. Holmes has a gear when the ball is in the air that you don't see very often. He picks up the flight of the football very well, and that helps him in one-on-one matchups with cornerbacks.

• During early special teams work, a Tyson Gentry punt bounced well in front of Ted Ginn Jr., who picked it up on two hops and simply blew straight up the middle past the defense. It looked impossible because the coverage team had their lanes, but Ginn undoubtedly has the best first two steps of anyone in college football.

• Another highlight of the special teams was the running of punter A.J. Trapasso. A gifted running back in high school, Trapasso took advantage of an aggressive up the middle rush and broke a couple of first down runs to the outside. He could be a weapon in fourth-and-short, so don't be surprised if you see Tressel gambling a little more with Trapasso on the field.

• Tailback Antonio Pittman showed some nice burst on running plays, both from the spread and in the traditional I-formation. With Stan White Jr. leading the way, Pittman made a couple of great decisions and picked the right hole for a long run.

Brandon Schnittker looked surprisingly good in the single-back, making a couple of nifty juke moves, and freshman Maurice Wells got through the line untouched on an inside handoff. Wells has speed to burn, and if he's the back of choice in OSU's spread look he's going to do some major damage. Remember folks, you don't always have to pass out of the spread to be effective.

Erik Haw had a nice run to the outside, eluding Mike Kudla around the corner, and Shaun Lane showed some nifty open field jukes in avoiding tackles.

<!--Start Inside: QBs Zwick Boeck Smith Image--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=308 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=6 rowSpan=4>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>Terry Gilliam/BuckeyeSports.com</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Quarterbacks Justin Zwick (12), Todd Boeckman (17) and Troy Smith all had their moments during Wednesday's practice</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Inside: QBs Zwick Boeck Smith Image-->• Over on the other end of the field, Holmes leaps high to snare a square out, and shows no ill effects of his recent foot/ankle injury. He also makes a stellar over the shoulder grab on a ball Boeckman threw a little bit too far outside. I sense a big year coming for Holmes.

• OSU did throw a bit out of the spread, including Smith doing a nice job of rolling away from pressure and hitting Dionte Johnson on the numbers underneath the linebackers.

• Roy Hall got into the action, making a couple of nice catches and picking up yardage after the grab.

• Freshman quarterback Rob Schoenhoft threw a pretty deep ball to Brian Hartline, who had come free on a double move against Sirjo Welch .

• Hartline snagged another one a few moments later on a slant route, using great concentration to field the ball off a tip by a lineman.

• Alex Barrow is making a name for himself up front, blowing by Steve Winner and disrupting a pass play.

• Zwick threw a nice deep out to Gonzalez, who tiptoed the sideline to make the catch legit.

• Best as we could figure out, the second team line looks like, from left to right, Boone, Kyle Mitchum, Datish, John Conroy and Winner, though the coaches did mix and match a bit. But that was the most prevalent look when the second offense took the field.

• Freshman Lawrence Wilson was working at second-team end, while rookie Malcolm Jenkins was in at corner with the twos.

• Marcus Freeman made a couple of nice reads on the ball with the second unit, getting in the way of a slant pass and a curl.

<!--Start Amos supersummary Image--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=158 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=152>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Freshman Andre Amos turned a few heads with his play on defense during Ohio State's early morning practice session</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Amos supersummary Image-->• Freshman Andre Amos showed great instincts and timing in knocking a ball away from Devon Lyons. Just think -- earlier this summer we were talking to Amos, and he was gushing over the chance to work with Schoenhoft for the next four years. They thought they'd be some dynamic pitch and catch duo. And now Amos looks ready to make a name for himself on defense.

• Before we knew it, it was time to leave. But we were secure with the knowledge that we had been in the No Eye Zone, where few before us had managed to be.

The morning practice over, Tressel slowly strolled by and said, "They're getting soft with you guys. You have too much access."

Then he went back into his climate-controlled surroundings, knowing that he would have another day.

We don't, but the day we had was definitely out of the ordinary. Let's leave it at that.



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scout.com (free)

8/25/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>ESPN Puts You In OSU's Huddle

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Troy Smith

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Steve Helwagen Managing Editor
Date: Aug 24, 2005

ESPN continued its tour of preseason practice sessions for college football with today's stop at Ohio State. Local media members were also granted a rare glimpse at what was happening at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. We share some news and notes from the morning practice and take a stab at an unofficial depth chart with 10 days to go before the season opener with Miami (Ohio).
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ESPN continued its tour of college football preseason practice settings today at Ohio State. The so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports was on hand for the morning workout at OSU’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

The Buckeyes practiced in shells (helmets and shoulder pads) for two hours under the watchful eyes of about a half-dozen ESPN cameras as well as ABC’s Gary Danielson and ESPN’s Chris Spielman. ESPN is scheduled to show highlights at 1 p.m. The entire practice session was also open to local media members as well.

The early portion was devoted to special teams. The team will reconvene this afternoon for the preseason edition of the special teams scrimmage at Ohio Stadium. Presumably, the losing team will walk the three-quarters of a mile back to the WHAC from the Horseshoe. (Check the site after 6 p.m. for coverage of the kick scrimmage.)

As far as injuries, most of the team’s injured players seemed to be back in action. Quarterback Justin Zwick was back doing most drills after recovering from his ankle sprain. Todd Boeckman was still taking a number of reps with the first team, though, as Zwick eased back into action.

Split end Santonio Holmes and offensive tackle Alex Boone were also back in the mix after missing the jersey scrimmage on Saturday.

It appeared that flanker Albert Dukes (shoulder) and linebacker Mike D’Andrea (knee) were working out individually on the side with designs on getting into the action sometime soon.

Safety Jamario O’Neal and defensive end Doug Worthington each missed a portion of the practice, but appeared to return and were fine at the end.

Tight end Rory Nicol and center Jimmy Cordle remained sidelined with one foot in a protective boot. As coach Jim Tressel said on Saturday, it may be several weeks before either of them return to full-go.

The sides went 11 on 11 for only about 15 minutes and, with only shells on, there was no tackling. Most of the practice was spent in position drills and breakdown sets -- inside (where they work on the run game) and perimeter (working on the pass).

The offense also worked briefly on an option game, something that was used as well in last Saturday’s scrimmage.

As for some practice notables:

* Freshman DL Ryan Williams got his hand on a pair of passes from Troy Smith during one 11-on-11 session.

* Holmes appeared to be full-go, catching a deep pass during a receiver-on-DB drill.

* TE Marcel Frost made a great leaping grab of a pass from Smith. With Nicol out, Frost could get quite a look at tight end.

* Smith connected with Roy Hall on a deep pass play during another 11-on-11 drill.

* Rob Schoenhoft connected with walk-on Derek Harden on a picture perfect deep pass as well.

* Freshman DE Lawrence Wilson was drawing kudos from his teammates on his play during pass rushing drills.

* OL Doug Datish seems to be the utility man. He was seen taking reps at tackle, guard and even at center, backing up Nick Mangold with Cordle on the shelf. The impression I got was that Datish and senior walk-on John Conroy were with the starters and most everybody else spent the day with the scout team.

* Things move fairly quickly at practice, but we can take a stab at a possible depth chart based on what we saw today. OSU will release the official depth chart for the opener on Monday.

Offense

SE --
Santonio Holmes, Roy Hall or Devon Lyons

LT -- Steve Rehring, Alex Boone

LG -- Rob Sims, Kyle Mitchum

C -- Nick Mangold, Doug Datish (also backs up at tackle and guard, as needed)

RG -- T.J. Downing, John Conroy (plays either RG or LG), Ben Person

RT -- Kirk Barton, Steve Winner, Jon Skinner

TE -- Ryan Hamby, Marcel Frost

FL -- Ted Ginn Jr., Anthony Gonzalez

QB -- Justin Zwick, Todd Boeckman (Troy Smith will obviously factor after the first game)

TB -- Antonio Pittman, Erik Haw or Brandon Schnittker

FB -- Stan White Jr., Dionte Johnson

Defense

DE --
Jay Richardson, Lawrence Wilson, Ryan Williams (Doug Worthington factors in here somewhere as well, but he missed time today)

DT -- Marcus Green, David Patterson (may also still rep some at end as needed), Sian Cotton

DT -- Quinn Pitcock, Joel Penton, Nader Abdallah

DE -- Mike Kudla, Alex Barrow, Tim Schafer (Vernon Gholston remains out with an injured wrist, it appears)

WLB -- A.J. Hawk, Curtis Terry

MLB -- Anthony Schlegel, Chad Hoobler, Ryan Lukens (Mike D’Andrea would be in here, too)

SLB -- Bobby Carpenter, Marcus Freeman (things moved awfully quickly, but Austin Spitler, James Laurinaitis and John Kerr would be somewhere in the LB group as well)

CB -- Ashton Youboty, Malcolm Jenkins, Donald Washington

CB -- Tyler Everett, Michael Roberts or Brandon Underwood or Sirjo Welch (those three seemed to be rotating with different groups)

FS -- Nate Salley, Brandon Mitchell, Nick Patterson (Mitchell returns to the nickel back slot)

SS -- Donte Whitner, Curt Lukens or Jamario O’Neal (hard to gauge with O’Neal some of the time)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
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tedginn05 said:
yea ok but why put him on field goals? its not like he's ever going to do that in a game

but what time was the scrimmage anyway

I could see Ginn on the FG kick team. He could sprint to the outside of the field faster than any defender lined up across from him. Probably a great opportunity should a need for a fake FG come up. Snap it to the holder, Teddy sprints toward the sideline, could take it all the way.
 
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lvbuckeye said:
i find your rant to be amusing... i guess maybe you missed the part where Speilman and whoever it was were talking about how the coaches put the team in certain situations in practice, so that they can recognize it in games, and make the correct adjustments... there are a couple points that you need to remember: 1) the coaches PUT the O and the D where it was, and overloaded that side on purpose -- it's not like Heacock was out there calling plays against Bollman... and 2) the O was not allowed to call audibles... at all... the O only ran the plays that the coaches called... so the coaches knew beforehand that the O-line couldn't block that overload, so there was obviously a lesson involved...

i hope that calms you down a little...
Maybe I'm just looking back on my college expereince, but we would audible and run the play the other way. They only had 7 in the box so they should be able to block it.

Yeah also when Carp knocked Boone over it didnt look like Boone was trying real hard considering it was a defensive drill and Boone lost his balance.
1 on 1 pass blocking isn't a defensive drill. I've been through that drill hundreds of times and it makes the OL focus on technique better than any other drill. My point is that Bollman needs to teach Boone how to set properly so that he doesn't get off balance. Boone's first step was only about six inchs to the side with his left foot. If he's setting on a wide rusher like he was, he needs to step about 2 feet back and a foot to the left. Carp was by him before he took his second step, which is why he lost his balance. With a speed rusher like Carp (even though Carp is so big, fast, and strong most people are screwed) you have to stay in front of him and react to any moves that he gives you. The goal is to take away everything but his bull rush and make him try to run you over. Someone like Boone should be able to latch on and tie him up for a while. God I miss football

ExHawg says he recorded it on his DVD Player...
I do have it on my dvd player, but the freaking disks recorded on GoVideo dvd burners won't play on any other players. I have yet to find a good way to rip disks into video files.
 
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i could see TG2 taking some snaps off the edge in FG block situations... or on punt blocks, too, for that matter... shoot, he's probably got enough speed that he'd get to the kicker at the same time as the ball... it's hard to kick the ball when the defender just tackled the holder...
 
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CleveBucks said:
I could see Ginn on the FG kick team. He could sprint to the outside of the field faster than any defender lined up across from him. Probably a great opportunity should a need for a fake FG come up. Snap it to the holder, Teddy sprints toward the sideline, could take it all the way.
Think of the versatility we have with him at CB in redzone situations. He can cover anyone man to man and no one is going to get to the QB off a corner blitz faster than TG. With the athleticisim our Safties and LB's have, a coach could have a field day with all the different packages we could show.
 
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MililaniBuckeye said:
You know, there just has to be at least a couple current players that visit this site, and if there are and they see this thread, you know Pitcock's new nickname is going to be "The Waterboy". Of course, only the staff and his teammates will be able to get away with it... :biggrin:
Just in case you're right... Mili started it!
 
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jwinslow said:
I hadn't seen the last 10 min until today... Zwick looked much better during that time.
I think Zwick's problem is when he doesnt follow through and leaves the ball high. I also think that he checks down to much to the underneath stuff. Hopefully this has changed b/c he looked to be throwing the post corner really well to Hamby and Gonzo(I believe it was.)
 
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