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Spring Football - 2005 (mega-merge)

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Guys,

I will be there sometime before the game to pick up my shirt. I will be with 11+ guys on a bachelor party so I doubt I will stick around for too long. Let me know if that is ok. I won't be there until APPROX 11:30. I guess 10 minutes or so is better than nothing.

G&J
 
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No suprises from what I've read. The thing that I am most anxious to see next week is the O line. To echo concerns that have been previously expressed about our d line, we are certainly not there yet from an end standpoint. Next week is the time for some young kid to step up and make a name for himself, and carry that momentum into the fall.
 
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NevadaBuck said:
only knock was that we still haven't found that DE to rush the passer--and we have to remedy that quickly...otherwise they are very satisfied.....
QUOTE]

I still think Mike D'Andrea would be a monster coming of the edge. His talent at LB is probably the biggest thing keeping him from trying it I would think

OL seems to have made HUGE strides....
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I could not have read anything better about our team!:cool:
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OZone
Jersey Scrimmage Report
By John Porentas

The annual jersey scrimmage did little to lift the cloud of mystery that hangs over Ohio State spring football this year.

The jersey scrimmage, which players and coaches alike agree is the most important event of spring drills, was conducted in Ohio Stadium with no guests from the public and media invited. Once concluded, Jim Tressel met with members of the media, as did select players, but few specific details were learned. Even the score was vague. Tressel said that that offense won 92-39, while sports information director Steve Snapp, after reviewing the tape, claimed the score was actually 95-39.

Without quibbling over the score, it's clear that the tide has turned in Ohio State football. For the last three years, Ohio State's defenses have dominated, both on game day and in intra squad competition. The thumping the offense put on the defense in the jersey scrimmage, however, signals a new day.

"I think so," said quarterback Justin Zwick, who had a hand in the offense's domination, "especially with the spanking we put on them. It's nice."

Zwick and company won fair-and-square, but Head Coach Jim Tressel acknowledged that fair-and-square also means a set of scoring rules that definitely favored the offense. The offense could score in all the usual ways, and was also awarded points for first downs and big plays. The defense, meanwhile, could score on sacks, turnovers, three-and-outs, and forcing punts, as well as touchdowns (on turnovers) and safeties.

"The only way you can win that scrimmage if you're a defense is you have to force turnovers and you've got to get some sacks and big plays, and you can't allow any big plays," said Tressel.

The defense was also limited by scheme limitations put on it by the OSU coaching staff.

"There were a lot of things that contributed to that (the score)," said Tressel.

"We held them to certain things that they were to do defensively, just to look at them. We kept some guys out of some series to play some of the other guys."

Despite all the disclaimers, the offense did dominate within the rules. They did so by doing what Jim Tressel likes best in an offense: they avoided big mistakes like turnovers and negative plays.

The fact that the Ohio State defense could not pressure the offense into mistakes is a two-edged sword. Either the OSU defense is a little weak, or the OSU offense is a lot better than it has been. Jim Tressel would like to believe it's the latter, and that the reason for the steady play is improvement at quarterback and along the offensive front.

"I'd like to think that that's the case," said Tressel.

"We'll tell as we watch the film, but there seems like there were a few less times that the quarterbacks were under duress than maybe in other jersey scrimmages," Tressel said.

The defense did come up with one fumble recovery and three interceptions. The INTs came from defensive end Jay Richardson and safety Curt Lukens picked off two passes, one of them at the expense of Zwick.

"Curt Lukens got me in the end zone, the stinker," quipped Zwick.

Tressel is never happy with turnovers, but was not overly concerned with the turnovers that the offense did give up.

"I think we went maybe 170-some plays, which in more than a normal spring," said Tressel.

"I bet we threw it close to 100 times, so you're going to have a couple (of interceptions) I imagine," said Tressel.

Despite the closed scrimmage, some details of the scrimmage did come to light. One of them was a spectacular play turned in by wide receiver Teddy Ginn for a touchdown.

"Ted had a nice little eight yard catch that turned into a 25 yard TD. I gave that one to him," said Zwick.

"He caught a short pass, and he was wrapped up," said safety Donte Whitner, who was on the field for the play.

"I guess the linebacker thought the linebacker had him and the linebacker thought the corner had him, and he ended up spinning around, putting his hand down and breaking a tackle. When he gets a step, it's over," Whitner said.

"He pretty much caught the ball and we thought he was down, we were running to the ball, and all of a sudden he just broke out and scored a touchdown," said offensive lineman Rob Sims.

"Being on the field and actually seeing it, I didn't think he got out of there. He's amazing to watch. I'm glad he's on my team."

Marcus Green, who was on the wrong end of the scoring play, couldn't help but admire the play.

"It's probably impossible to stop Teddy," said Green.

"You try and contain Teddy, try to make the other team use some of their other weapons. When he's out there, it's spectacular, it's something to watch. Sometimes you kind of catch yourself watching him instead of going and trying to make the play. I'm glad he's on my team."

Notes:

* Quarterbacks Steady: Justin Zwick and Troy Smith are the front-runners at the quarterback position, but Todd Boeckman is also in the mix this spring. Tressel said that all three quarterbacks were given the opportunity to show their stuff in the jersey scrimmage.

"All of them got the same amount of drive starts," explained Tressel.

"How long you stayed in was according to how long you kept the ball. All of them got to start the same number of drives with various units. They all worked with the ones, they all worked with the twos and they all worked with the threes."

Zwick ended his day with two touchdown passes, one to Ginn and one to Devon Lyons, and one interception. Smith had no TDs and no interceptions, but did rush for one touchdown. Boeckman threw for no touchdowns and had two passes picked off. Zwick also engineered a 98 yard, 17-play touchdown drive on the offense's last possession.

"I was pleased with all the quarterbacks," said Tressel. "I thought they did some good things, especially in some areas we're focusing on."

"All three quarterbacks made some good things happen."

Center Nick Mangold also liked what he saw in the quarterbacks.

"Justin had a couple of scrambles that you could say were Troy-esque, then Troy had some beautiful balls that he threw, and Todd kind of had a nice mixture of the two as he stepped up his game," said Mangold.

* Running Back Competition Still Hot: Antonio Pittman and Eric Haw both got plenty of carries. The consensus of those we talked to after the scrimmage was that both played well, but that Pittman probably had a little better scrimmage.

"A guy like Pittman I thought showed that he keeps progressing," said Tressel.

"Pittman because he had the ball in his hands did some good things," Tressel said.

"Tony runs hard," said linebacker A. J. Hawk.

"He might not be a big guy, but he runs hard, he's hard to take down."

Meanwhile, Eric Haw also made plays at key moments in the scrimmage.

"Early on his unit didn't happen to run it as much when he was in the game, the flow didn't go there," said Tressel.

"About the last two series he was in, I bet he had about 15 carries and really looked good I thought."

That included key runs in the scrimmage ending 17-play by the offense drive that ended the scrimmage.

Kicking Game Solid: There was no punting in the scrimmage, nor were there kickoffs, but Josh Huston was called upon to kick field goals when the need arose. Tressel said that Huston did a solid job.

"He hit a long one," said Tressel.

"I think he missed one from 50 that hit an upright and came down and hit the crossbar. He hit a good long 45 yard one. I'd bet he was two-for-three if I remember. He hit the ball well."

Big Hit: The scrimmage was conducted at full go with no one protected from contact, including the quarterbacks. According to Tressel, the hitting was crisp.

"I know guys were hitting each other," said Tressel.

One of the biggest hits of the day was delivered by safety Donte Whitner on wide receiver Devon Lyons. With both Santonio Holmes and Roy Hall sitting out, Lyons. got a lot of reps and catches, but had one that he would like to forget.

"The biggest thing for me today was recovering from Donte Whitner's hit. I'm not used to getting really hit like that," said Lyons. with a laugh.

"I went out for a little series. It's going to be tough watching a hit like that of film tomorrow," he said.

Whitner said that he was a bit worried about Lyons. when he first hit him, but got over it when he saw Lyons. get back on his feet after the hit.

"Yeah, you do (worry about a teammate you have just hit hard), especially when they stay down, you feel bad," said Whitner.

"But after they get up, and you see that he's all right, then it's all fun and games. It's really bragging rights in the locker room and things like that. It's fun, but when you see a guy down, it's not fun. He stayed down for about a minute, maybe 45 seconds," Whitner said.

Young Pups Stepping Up: The jersey scrimmage is often a place where new stars are born. A couple of young players impressed those who were on the field with them. With both Mike D'Andrea and Anthony Schlegel sitting out with injuries, freshman linebacker Chad Hoobler got a chance to show his stuff and made the most of the opportunity.

"I thought a guy who played really good today was Chad Hoobler," said A. J. Hawk.

"If you ask a lot of guys they'll probably tell you that, he made a lot of great plays and had some bit hits.

"I was impressed by him. I was impressed by all three quarterbacks. They completed some nice passes and executed really well, found the open man. That's part of what beat us today," Hawk said.

Also earning comments were wide receivers Devon Lyons. and Albert Dukes, as well as tight end Marcell Frost.
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2005 Spring Football

ESPN was boosting about how well attended the UF (reported 58k) and South Carolina (reported 38k) spring gmaes were. I'd love to see us crush those figures...

expectations for this team are super hig + interesting battles at QB & RB + another chance to see some TGII magic - $5 admission =

about 60k-70k...
 
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Yertle said:
I'm not necessarily arguing with you Sandgk, but I'm not convinced 40 times equates into RB ability. I know that's not exactly what you're saying, but I'm not jumping on the Haw-wagon just yet. Pittman looked good last year, he had the longest broad jump on the team this winter (so much for the out-of-shape crap), and he was equal to or better than Haw in the jersey scrimmage. I'm still betting the Pittman will be the starter.

I'd take 4.6 with excellent vision over 4.2 with average vision any day.



I also didn't hear anything about Roy Hall. Is he at WR, TE, or FB? Did he do anything?
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Yertle -- Actually, you and I can be -- and for the record are -- in complete agreement about 40 times versus real rushing performance. Its about so much more than raw speed.
So, like you said, no argument at all.
My point was about having a Head Coach who has backbone, compared to one who will sacrifice a youngster's potential for short term gain. Likely we are also in agreement that JT comes from the former mold.
And, yes I too think Pittman will be the starter -- though signals indicate that Haw will clearly get his reps this year. (Either way, this is good for Pittman is no slouch).
 
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