Buckeyes Ready to Show Their Stuff in Jersey Scrimmage
By John Porentas The annual jersey scrimmage takes place in Ohio Stadium today. It will pit the OSU offense against the OSU defense in a contest which awards points to the defense in various unorthodox ways. The winner of the scrimmage gets to practice in the home red jerseys, the loser wears the white.
"It does mean something," said OSU running back Antonio Pittman. "Who wants to wear road white jerseys on your home field when you're practicing? We have them now, and we're going to keep them," said Pittman, speaking for the offense.
Pittman will be just one of many players under scrutiny in the scrimmage. It is closed to the public, but historically, it is where post ions can be won or lost.
"It's going to be real big for both sides of the ball," said Pittman.
"It's going to be a real evaluation of who got better throughout the spring."
Quarterback Justin Zwick is anxious to get the scrimmage going.
"It's a chance to put all this stuff that we've been doing the last couple of weeks together, to go against our defense which is a great test for us," said Zwick.
"It's just a lot of fun to get out there and get in the stadium and get that feeling back."
The jersey scrimmage is for bragging rights and is a place to showcase improvement, but a lot of work has been done already this spring. Here's a brief update to date on some of the more interesting post ions that may be up for grabs in the fall.
Running back: Antonio Pittman and Eric Haw have been locked in a battle for the running back spot. Both say they have made strides this spring. At the moment, it appears that Pittman may have the upper hand, but that could change in the jersey scrimmage or spring game.
"He gets most of the reps with the ones, I get a few here and there. I get all the reps with the twos," said said on Friday.
"It's stiff competition. Me and Antonio, we battle every day," said Haw.
Though the two are competing for a position, they are both working to make each other better as well.
"I know we talk about everything," said Haw.
"We discuss coverages coverages, things like that. Basically, the competition makes us both better."
Unlike last season when both Pittman and Haw were down the depth chart behind seniors Brandon Joe, Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall, the two youngsters are now front and center and getting plenty of chances to improve.
"I think we're both getting the work that we need," said Pittman.
"It's needed reps between the two of us, unlike last year when everything was spaced out. You would only touch the ball five or six times. Now, with just two of us, we touch the ball at least 15 times a day."
Haw is competing with Pittman, but also seems to enjoy testing himself against some of the Buckeye defensive stalwarts, such as linebacker A. J. Hawk. He even issued Hawk a warning.
"You've got to keep it a secret, but yes I have. I'm hunting for him," Haw quipped.
Haw claims to have avoided being lit up by Hawk thus far this spring, and says he is confident he can continue that trend.
"No, he's going to miss me. He's got cement shoes" said Haw.
Hawk may not exactly have cement shoes, but Haw has anything but cement shoes. He hasn't run the 40 recently, but his times are impressive.
"After spring ball we'll run it. I'll try to hit that 4.2 area. My best is 4.21," Haw said.
Both Pittman and Haw will get plenty of opportunity to show their wares in the jersey scrimmage.
"It's going to be exciting," said Pittman.
"We going to get about 50 plays, each back, so it's going to be a good day of work for both of us."
Cornerback: Sirjo Welch is getting a hard look at corner this spring. According to Welch, he has some definite areas in which he needs to improve, and he is working hard on those areas.
"The thing I do best, I tackle good. I think that's the best thing I do. As far as my footwork, it needs to be better. Once I get all that down.It will help me cover better," said Welch.
"Finding the ball when it's in the air is what I'm really trying to improve on.
"I'm good at sticking receivers off the run, but once the ball is in the air I have a bad habit of looking at the ball before I get a hold of the receiver. That's the one bad habit that I have. Once I get over that, I'll be OK."
Welch has identified his weakness, but says overcoming it is easier than just saying what to do. His tendency to look for the ball is something he is working hard to overcome.
"You want to (look for it before you should), but at the same time you have to know when to look at the ball. If you look at it too early, the receiver will be somewhere else when you look back at him," said Welch
"You watch his hands and hear your teammates holler 'Ball!' Once I hear the word ball and see his hands go up, that's when my hands go up," Welch said.
