TONY ALFORD'S PADDED BAT SERVES AS PLENTY OF MOTIVATION FOR OHIO STATE RUNNING BACKS NOT TO FUMBLE THE FOOTBALL
His players hate it. Frankly, it looks a little out of place on a football field. But the padded bat that never leaves Tony Alford's hand during an Ohio State practice is all the motivation Mike Weber, Demario McCall and Co. need to be sure the ball never hits the turf after it touches their hands.
“When we get the ball, he wants us to squeeze it, tuck it, chin-chin,” McCall said on Thursday. “So as they're swinging the bat, I mean, they're swinging at the ball. That's what the defense is doing, swipe at the ball.”
Good defenses capitalize on mistakes made by opposing offenses to create turnovers. Great defenses create opportunities for themselves by punching out of a ball carrier's mitts, like McCall said.
Like any high-profile football program, putting the ball on the ground it not is allowed at Ohio State. Which is why Alford carries his bat around. What varies from playful to serious swipes at the football and the arms and hands that carry it are meant to force the act of protecting the most prized possession on the field into becoming second nature.
“If I take that bat and hit that ball and you're not carrying that ball properly, the ball comes out. It's better than me just tapping my hand on it,” Alford said. “It's an emphasis point where we're swinging that bat at them. It's just an emphasis and always having that ball secured.”
McCall said the bat was first brought to practice by Urban Meyer, who yielded to Alford and the rest of his assistants. Alford claims it is used during drills by all the skill positions to ensure the necessary steps are taken for ball security. Yet Alford and a graduate assistant or two are the only men to carry it around practice in the three brief sessions Ohio State has allowed reporters to watch so far this spring.
“I get to swing at them,” Alford grinned. “I like it.”
“I'm going to start hiding it, man,” said McCall. “That thing hurts.”
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