hoat
I lick windows. What's your point?
COLUMBUS -- If every team had a kicker like Josh Huston, Ted Ginn's value to Ohio State would be minimal.
If every team had return men like Ginn and Santonio Holmes, kickers like Huston would become mandatory.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ohio State has always prided itself on strong special teams under Jim Tressel, but this season could be its finest yet -- and that includes last year, when Mike Nugent was kicking 50-yard field goals like they were extra points.
Ginn has returned a punt and a kick for touchdowns this year and had two more called back on penalties. Holmes is averaging 15 yards on punt returns and 22 yards on kick returns, which forced teams to start kicking shorter and making the blockers start fielding the kicks. After one of those blockers, Mike D'Andrea, muffed a kickoff at Indiana, special teams coach Darrell Hazell moved Anthony Gonzalez into that spot for Saturday's game at Minnesota.
Ohio State's new formation on kickoff returns is leaving Ginn as the only return man on the goal line, then making the two blockers closest to him Holmes and Gonzalez, meaning the top three receivers form a deadly triangle that leaves opponents with few options. Kick it deep, Ginn could bring it all the way back. Kick it short, Holmes and Gonzalez ensure the Buckeyes starting a drive at least around the 30. And given Holmes' reputation as the best blocking receiver on the team, little is lost by making the switch from a stronger wedge man like D'Andrea to the smaller guys like Holmes and Gonzalez.
On the six Ohio State possessions that began with kickoffs Saturday, the starting field position was the 46-yard line.
''When we get hot with our returns, we can be even more explosive,'' Tressel said. ''And the field position situations and the scores, those are great emotional lifts for us when we hit home runs or get the ball out to the 50. We like getting those kickoff returns -- we've got a chance to either score or start on the 40, but that's huge. We spend a lot of time on it, we take a lot of pride in it.''
The biggest difference over the last two weeks has been the emergence of Ginn, who is finally taking the form of last year. He really wasn't touched on his punt return for a touchdown against Indiana and he wasn't touched Saturday on his kick return against the Gophers.
''With all due respect to Ted Ginn, we got out of our lanes down there,'' Gophers coach Glen Mason said. ''Nobody touched him, he didn't break a tackle.''
All of that leads to wondering if Ohio State's return team is suddenly doing more things right or if the opponents are simply doing things wrong. Tressel said it's probably a combination of both, although the Buckeyes' return units have done a better job of giving Ginn and Holmes more time.
''I think our guys are doing a good job of blocking,'' Tressel said. ''Antonio Smith did an extraordinary job on (Minnesota's Jakari Wallace). He makes almost all of their tackles on punt returns and Antonio Smith did a wonderful job of making sure we had some space when we caught the ball.''
The flip side of that is what makes Ohio State's special teams so complete. All eight of Josh Huston's kickoffs resulted in touchbacks Saturday, and most sailed out of the back of the end zone, even more important since Minnesota is tops in the Big Ten and 17th in the country by averaging nearly 25 yards a kick return.
''It took Mike Nugent until his fourth year to pound the ball through the end zone,'' Tressel said. ''His third year, our kickoff coverage was a nightmare. We just were only kicking the ball to the 5 and the 6 and here he was one of the great kickers in the country. Like anything else, I think you can develop (strong kickoffs).''
Holmes said if he had to go against Huston or another kicker who boomed kickoffs out of the end zone, he would lose interest in returning kicks.
''That's eight times those guys had the chance to touch the ball and eight times they didn't,'' Holmes said. ''If that were me, I don't think I'd even want to be back there.''
I guess I better not say anything negative since I'm already labeled as scUM. :( Of course there's not much of anything negative to say about the special teams.
Couldn't remove the stupid ad.
If every team had return men like Ginn and Santonio Holmes, kickers like Huston would become mandatory.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ohio State has always prided itself on strong special teams under Jim Tressel, but this season could be its finest yet -- and that includes last year, when Mike Nugent was kicking 50-yard field goals like they were extra points.
Ginn has returned a punt and a kick for touchdowns this year and had two more called back on penalties. Holmes is averaging 15 yards on punt returns and 22 yards on kick returns, which forced teams to start kicking shorter and making the blockers start fielding the kicks. After one of those blockers, Mike D'Andrea, muffed a kickoff at Indiana, special teams coach Darrell Hazell moved Anthony Gonzalez into that spot for Saturday's game at Minnesota.
Ohio State's new formation on kickoff returns is leaving Ginn as the only return man on the goal line, then making the two blockers closest to him Holmes and Gonzalez, meaning the top three receivers form a deadly triangle that leaves opponents with few options. Kick it deep, Ginn could bring it all the way back. Kick it short, Holmes and Gonzalez ensure the Buckeyes starting a drive at least around the 30. And given Holmes' reputation as the best blocking receiver on the team, little is lost by making the switch from a stronger wedge man like D'Andrea to the smaller guys like Holmes and Gonzalez.
On the six Ohio State possessions that began with kickoffs Saturday, the starting field position was the 46-yard line.
''When we get hot with our returns, we can be even more explosive,'' Tressel said. ''And the field position situations and the scores, those are great emotional lifts for us when we hit home runs or get the ball out to the 50. We like getting those kickoff returns -- we've got a chance to either score or start on the 40, but that's huge. We spend a lot of time on it, we take a lot of pride in it.''
The biggest difference over the last two weeks has been the emergence of Ginn, who is finally taking the form of last year. He really wasn't touched on his punt return for a touchdown against Indiana and he wasn't touched Saturday on his kick return against the Gophers.
''With all due respect to Ted Ginn, we got out of our lanes down there,'' Gophers coach Glen Mason said. ''Nobody touched him, he didn't break a tackle.''
All of that leads to wondering if Ohio State's return team is suddenly doing more things right or if the opponents are simply doing things wrong. Tressel said it's probably a combination of both, although the Buckeyes' return units have done a better job of giving Ginn and Holmes more time.
''I think our guys are doing a good job of blocking,'' Tressel said. ''Antonio Smith did an extraordinary job on (Minnesota's Jakari Wallace). He makes almost all of their tackles on punt returns and Antonio Smith did a wonderful job of making sure we had some space when we caught the ball.''
The flip side of that is what makes Ohio State's special teams so complete. All eight of Josh Huston's kickoffs resulted in touchbacks Saturday, and most sailed out of the back of the end zone, even more important since Minnesota is tops in the Big Ten and 17th in the country by averaging nearly 25 yards a kick return.
''It took Mike Nugent until his fourth year to pound the ball through the end zone,'' Tressel said. ''His third year, our kickoff coverage was a nightmare. We just were only kicking the ball to the 5 and the 6 and here he was one of the great kickers in the country. Like anything else, I think you can develop (strong kickoffs).''
Holmes said if he had to go against Huston or another kicker who boomed kickoffs out of the end zone, he would lose interest in returning kicks.
''That's eight times those guys had the chance to touch the ball and eight times they didn't,'' Holmes said. ''If that were me, I don't think I'd even want to be back there.''
I guess I better not say anything negative since I'm already labeled as scUM. :( Of course there's not much of anything negative to say about the special teams.
Couldn't remove the stupid ad.
