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Spring Practice Tidbits

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Scrimmage fallout?
The jersey scrimmage Saturday appears to have solidified the pecking order at a couple of spots, at least with the lineups that were on the field yesterday. For example:

? Andy Miller took most of the snaps with the first team offensive line at left tackle, ahead of Mike Adams. From left to right the first unit was Miller, guard Justin Boren, center Mike Brewster, guard Bryant Browning (last year's right tackle) and tackle Jim Cordle (last year's left guard).

? Devon Torrence and Andre Amos -- each had an interception Saturday -- have been rotating at the cornerback spot left open by All-American Malcolm Jenkins. But Torrence was with the first team yesterday, across from returning starter Chimdi Chekwa. Amos worked with the second team across from Travis Howard.

Firing away
Whatever ailment quarterback Terrelle Pryor had in his upper right arm 10 days ago appears to be history. On the indoor field he looked sharp passing, the highlight being a near-effortless toss to DeVier Posey that traveled 55 yards in the air.
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : OSU notebook: Homan eager to begin role as a leader

Practice Notes:

* The Buckeyes practiced in shorts yesterday and also practiced inside due to rainy weather in Columbus.

* It was weird seeing the teams in reverse colors. We're just not used to seeing the offense in gray and the defense in scarlet.

* Several football alumni were there working out including Donald Washington and Malcolm Jenkins.

* The more I see of the young talent in the defensive backfield, the more I like them. C. J. Barnett, Travis Howard and Zach Domicone are all looking more and more like players and playmakers. I chatted with a former OSU assistant coach who was there watching who compared Barnett to William White. He is very fluid and athletic with very good speed.

* One of the better defensive plays of the day was made by Andre Amos on a pass breakup of a ball thrown by Pryor to DeVier Posey. Amos was with him step for step then outfought Posey for the ball and the incompletion.

* Terrelle's passing seems to me to be somewhat better but still inconsistent. A good number of his passes are nose-down and low, something that usually occurs when the thrower shortarms the ball.

* It's pretty clear that the left tackle spot is not going to get settled this spring. Andrew Miller had the spot with the ones today. I think he and Adams alternate every day. There's not much telling who is ahead.

* It's a similar situation at corner. Amos and Torrence seem to be alternating, though I still think that Amos has an edge. Today Torrence was with the ones.

* Terrelle threw some very nice deep balls today that went for completions. There was a couple of particularly good looking plays on deep balls to Ray Small. He seems to have more trouble with the short stuff than the deep stuff, though I think what we are seeing is an evolvement of him as a passer. He has not yet arrived, but appears to be on the right path. We'll see.
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http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2009/SpringBall/linebackers.htm
 
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Last look at practice
Today was the last true practice of spring drills.

OSU will hit the field tomorrow, but the annual coaches? clinic will be going on ? where high school and small-college staffs from all over are watching.

The Buckeyes will go through individual drills and maybe a few 11-on-11 plays, but it?s not really a full day of real work.

So today, even though the players were only in shells, they did a lot of 11-on-11, with some good action.

On to impressions:

-- First, who played on what team. Mike Adams was first team left tackle today, Andrew Miller second. Defensively, it was Andre Amos? day with the ones at cornerback, and Devon Torrence was second. I found it more interesting that cornerback Travis Howard was third team, bumped down from his usual second spot, and Donnie Evege moved up to take his place.


-- The most interesting twist of the day was the scout-team offense running a good 10 or 12 plays of option against the first-team defense. Rocco Pentello, a safety who played quarterback in high school, was the quarterback.

It certainly looked like preparation for Navy, the first team on OSU?s schedule this fall.


-- The coaches seemed to be a little more vocal today. It appeared at some points that the tempo wasn?t to their liking. Jim Tressel and Jim Bollman were heard from the most.


-- Add Tyler Moeller to my short list of lesser-known players who really looked good to me this spring. The linebacker just makes plays. He?s always around the ball, more often than not behind the line of scrimmage.

I think he?s a guy you have to get on the field as often as possible, somehow.


-- Faithful readers of this blog (and your check is in the mail) will recall that I?ve mentioned being impressed with tight end Jake Stoneburner before. But he looked particularly good today. He caught a low ball between two defenders in zone coverage ? went down, all 6-5 of him, and showed nice sticky hands to pluck it before it touched the ground.
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Last look at practice (Blogging the Buckeyes)
 
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Ohio State football: Thoughts on Pryor, Navy, Rolle and Orakpo
by Doug Lesmerises
Friday April 24, 2009

* Terrelle Pryor has thrown the ball very well the last two practices we saw him. Tuesday he hit some nice deep throws. Thursday, he was zipping passes to the sideline and over the middle. Call it progress.

* Teams get 15 practices in the spring and Ohio State is using its 14th today to host a clinic for about 900 high school coaches. The offense and defense will each be on the field for about an hours, mostly to show the coaches what the Buckeyes run on each side of the ball.
But every time you hit the field, that counts against the limit. The 15th practice will be Saturday's spring game.

* Ohio State used the spring to simulate situations for opponents in the fall. One day this spring featured a generator-powered horn that was used to pierce the concentration of the offense in the huddle or just before the snap, getting the Buckeyes ready for their trip to Purdue.

Thursday was Navy day, and the OSU defense spent a period working against a scout team featuring the Navy triple option. Defensive back and former high school quarterback Rocco Pentello was the quarterback for the scout team.

I still wonder if the OSU defense has the chance to look confused for a while against that offense.

* After talking with linebackers coach Luke Fickell on Tuesday, my guess for the linebacker lineup in the fall features Etienne Sabino in the middle, with Ross Homan on the weakside and Austin Spitler on the strongside, with Spitler moving to the middle in OSU's nickel defense. Homan would be the other linebacker to stay on the field.

After watching one more practice, I'm not sure. Brian Rolle, one of the standouts of the spring, was working the middle with the first team in the base defense, with Spitler on the strong side. Maybe my idea is right, but plug Rolle into the Sabino role.

* Brandon Saine still runs strong, but don't take that to mean Dan Herron doesn't. He put a stiffarm on Anderson Russell on Thursday that started a little scuffle, with Russell asking aloud if Herron thought he was Beanie Wells, who was a master with the stiffarm. If he does, that's not a bad thing.
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Ohio State football: Thoughts on Pryor, Navy, Rolle and Orakpo - Ohio State Buckeyes Football & Basketball Blog (OSU) - cleveland.com
 
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Buckeye Warrior;1454742; said:
As long as the offensive line plays with a attitude this year we will be in the National Title game. Everything hinges on the offensive line play.
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In honor of Jim Otis, the key to the games is scoring more points than the other teams.

As for the Title game expectations, I'll disagree at this point in time and hope for the best.
 
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View from on High
Sunday, April 26, 2009
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Perched in the press box atop Ohio Stadium, Dispatch beat reporter Ken Gordon offers up some quick thoughts on the spring game:

What we learned
That Terrelle Pryor might not run at the first sign of trouble. His mechanics have improved and his passes were impressive. Equally important were the several times when he had open lanes but chose to throw it downfield -- mostly successfully. Now that's a complete quarterback.

What we still don't know
Who will play left tackle. Andy Miller, a converted tight end, played there for Scarlet, while his chief competition, Mike Adams, played right tackle. Neither could grab a decisive edge during spring practice, so the competition will resume in August.

Stock up
Brian Rolle. Short for a linebacker -- 5 feet 11? Yeah, right -- he arrived at the ball quickly and quite often all spring. It was no different yesterday, when he made 11 tackles, including one sack. This is looking like the season a special-teams standout becomes an every-down player.

Stock down
Lamaar Thomas. Much has been expected of the receiver. He showed some potential on kick returns last season and has a chance to work his way into the regular receiver rotation. He bobbled two kickoffs and made one catch. In practice lately, he has been no better than the No. 5 receiver.

Surprise
Brandon Saine was not kidnapped by aliens last season. He's back and looking like a complete running back. Yesterday, he showed both swerve and nerve -- cutting and bursting around the edges but also lowering a shoulder into a defender along the sideline. That physicality will be key to making a legitimate bid to split carries with Dan Herron in the fall.

Just wondering
Why is everyone so focused on Pryor's throwing motion, when backup Joe Bauserman has so many funky release points? He looks as if he might have had a submarine delivery when he pitched in the Pittsburgh Pirates' system. Sometimes, he appears downright cavalier, and the results (10-of-21 passing, 119 yards, one interception) might reflect it.

Suggestion box
Get Tyler Moeller on the field -- somehow, some way. The junior has been a classic 'tweener for years, floating between safety and linebacker. He's listed as a starter at strong-side linebacker, as well he should be. He's one of those players who just makes plays and seems to show up in the backfield a lot. And he's the team's best blitzer.
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : View from on High
 
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Inside the Beat: Wrapping up OSU's spring season
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
By Ken Gordon and Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Spring -- at least the Ohio State football portion of it -- has come and gone. So what did we learn about the potential of the 2009 Buckeyes? Yes, we've analyzed things often and in depth the past four weeks in the newspaper and on this site, but now let's take a composite look at developments, now that the final act, the Gray's dominant 23-3 win over Scarlet in the spring game, is done.

TIM MAY: Any critique of this team should start with the play of quarterback Terrelle Pryor, because he will set the tone in the fall. With that in mind, what a spectacular finish to a growing spring for the sophomore. The two touchdowns he threw into the wind in the last 31 seconds of the first half Saturday were examples of how far he has come. The lob down the left sideline to Taurian Washington for the first was right on the money, and a result of Pyror standing in the pocket and launching. The second, a bullet to the right sideline to Ray Small who had found a seam in the Scarlet defense, was the result of Pryor stepping up in the pocket to buy time, then quickly reading the situation and delivering a fastball for a strike. It was a big-time throw, and nothing like some of the tentative things we'd seen late last season and even at times in previous spring practices.

KEN GORDON: Agreed. Earlier in spring, I felt like we were watching a work in progress, almost like Tiger Woods rebuilding his swing. The process isn't always pretty every day. But no doubt, if this is the end result, OSU fans will be happy this fall, because Pryor looks as if he's putting it all together. The sky is the limit for him. Let's put it this way -- Troy Smith wishes he had Pryor's athleticism and potential (and height!) Now let's see if it carries over. Unlike Troy, though, or even Todd Boeckman in 2007 or himself last year, Pryor is not surrounded by proven dynamic game-changers such as Ted Ginn Jr. or Beanie Wells. The skill players around him could be good, certainly, but they haven't done it on the field yet. In this offense, Pryor could end up being the sun, moon and stars.
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Inside the Beat: Wrapping up OSU's spring season

Ohio State football: How the spring changed my outlook on the Buckeyes
by Doug Lesmerises
Monday April 27, 2009

For the last several months, I've been pondering a story, trying to figure out the best way to go about it while bouncing the premise off other people who follow Ohio State. And it went something like this:

Why I think Ohio State might lose four games next season.

This was my thinking.

There are eight starters back on defense, but the three guys who led the way there are gone. The offensive line was a giant question mark. There's not another Beanie Wells on this team. The receivers might be more difficult to replace than you think. And if the rest of the Big Ten was going to get a chance to knock Ohio State out of the title race, this was the year, before Terrelle Pryor really found his groove.

I just wasn't sure which Big Ten teams, other than Penn State, were ready to make Ohio State pay for losing Wells and Malcolm Jenkins and James Laurinaitis and Brian Robiskie and that entire group of 31 departures Jim Tressel keeps talking about.

My belief was that Pryor had a chance to be great, but even when Tim Tebow won the Heisman as a sophomore, Florida went 9-4 that season. I thought a similar year was in store for the Buckeyes.

And then I watched spring practice. And while the offensive line still has a pretty long way to go, and I'm not fully sold on the receivers yet, that didn't look to me like a group of players headed for a four-loss season.
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http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2009/04/ohio_state_football_how_the_sp.html
 
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BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Inside the Beat: Wrapping up OSU's spring season

The Buckeyes will catch Southern California re-tooling with an inexperienced quarterback and most of its stars gone from the defense. Win that, and momentum could carry them quite a way. As we all know by now, one loss certainly doesn't preclude making the national-title game, and even two losses won't keep OSU out of a BCS bowl game. With Pryor looking like he's looked lately, I put the over-under on losses at one.
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It's great to be optimistic. I personally will hold out on any thoughts besides a 10-2 season with a bowl loss, until I see some real speed, prime-time, live game action. I think the 2009 team is talented and has tons and tons of potential, but I haven't seen much different in the past few seasons, so I want to see what this team does under pressure. This team has the ability to go 11-1, or 9-3. It's just a young team, and I feel that next year will be a more promising year for being a serious national title contender. If they win the Big Ten, it's always possible to make the BCSNCG, but I tend to think that one more year for TP in the system with the O, and we can see something ala 2006 O. Could see it this year too, you never know. The D will be be solid again, hope to see improvement in the trenchs on both sides, and it seems that is happening, lots of programs look great in spring too though. I'll just stay reserved until this team wins some big games, and stay hopeful that it happens.

Go Bucks.
 
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I mostly agree (and agree completely about the possible record), though I'm less concerned about Pryor than I am about the OL. I don't think they're going to be horrible, but the impression I've gotten is that they're not living up to their billing. I actually think that the defense could but as good as last year's defense; I think the improved DL could make that much of a difference. The corners will have some drop off and may not be 100% by the USC game, but I think they'll play well for the majority of the season.
 
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