Defense Retains Scarlet Jerseys in Jersey Scrimmage
Details are starting to emerge regarding the semi-annual jersey scrimmage between the Buckeye offense and Buckeye defense held today. Herein, the defense retained the scarlet jerseys by a score of 52-44. No cameras or electronics of any type were allowed by media during the scrimmage, but, with festivities concluded, reporters are posting their observations of what they saw.
First, Cam Heyward got injured during the scrimmage and was apparently the only injury of the day. It seemed a little serious when it happened, because he had to be helped off the field and could not put any weight on one of his feet. Tressel apparently said that he didn’t think the injury was serious (Heyward wasn’t helped to the locker room), so it seems Heyward rolled his ankle.
On that note, the players not dressed for the scrimmage were: Justin Boren (obviously), Zach Domicone, Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet, Travis Howard, Austin Spitler, Jake Stoneburner, Lamaar Thomas, Lawrence Wilson.
The reviews about the offensive line seem to be mixed. They gave up 6 sacks today, which, as grim as that sounds, is actually an improvement from the 13 sack effort from the jersey scrimmage in the Spring. The worst of it appears to be a 3 sack stretch in 5 plays. However, with a black jersey, Terrelle Pryor is greatly limited in his ability to avoid a pass rush. Justin Boren’s absence and Mike Adams’ apparent inability to step things up has led to what looks to be basic chaos on the left side of the line. Andy Miller started, as did Andrew Moses. They were subbed regularly with JB Shugarts and Corey Linsley respectively. As for Mike Adams, he ran with the third team for most of the day. I don’t know what to make about it. Is the confusion at left tackle thing merely a means to motivate Mike Adams to earn and cherish every femtosecond of starting time he may get in 2009 (trying to unleash the animal in him, as some fans are thinking)? Or is he still not ready? I don’t know. With two weeks left before the start of the season, I’d certainly like to know.
Elsewhere, the quarterbacks apparently struggled. Pryor was unspectacular, Bauserman had a poor outing and Kenny Guiton likely took a big step back today. Bauserman was on the QB end of a botched QB-center exchange (with Jack Mewhort, 2nd team center), which was scooped up by second team middle linebacker Storm Klein for 5 points for the defense. Guiton was 5/11 for 8 yards. As for Pryor? Nothing bad, but nothing spectacular. His lone touchdown came on a 4yd pass to Jake Ballard.
Staying positive, here’s the nice things to be said about the offense:
- The offensive line is clearly struggling in pass blocking, but doing a better job at run blocking. This is good, but not totally settling.
- The tight ends (basically: Fragel and Ballard) were utilized more than previously seen, suggesting, at long last for Buckeye fans, an increased role for the position during the season.
- The running backs are more than capable with Beanie now in the NFL. Apparently Jordan Hall continues to make a name for himself. He had the longest run of the day with a 27 yarder.
- Posey has been limited this fall with what I think is a tweaked hammy, but he had good showing today. Gordon suggests that he’s becoming Pryor’s favorite target. Gooood. Goooood. Pryor still needs more time from his offensive line to scan the field.
Other things:
- Rocco Pentello played the part of Ricky Dobbs for a few series. Emulating Navy’s triple-option attack, Pentello actually scored a touchdown on a 33 yard run.
- Defensive line is fantastic. Nathan Williams didn’t get a sack on the day, but he puts up a quality pass rush each time. Heyward had two before he left the game after rolling his ankle.
- Starting first team linebackers: Homan, Rolle, Sabino (going weak to strong). Sabino’s presence in there is an artifact of Spitler’s injury, but I still think this Ohio State’s best linebacker corp for 2009. Apparently Spitler will return as a starter by time Navy comes into town, but Sabino will play frequently in 2009.
- Dorian Bell is also creeping into the picture, as is Andrew Sweat.
- Papa Boren was on hand and assured Buckeye fans that Justin Boren is fine. He even said that if Navy was in town today, Justin would be ready to play.
- Amos looks to have secured his spot as the other cornerback in 2009. If so, Chekwa will be the boundary corner and Amos will be the field corner.
Well, the defense is normally ahead of the offense as far as their work goes, so shuffling the O-line doesn’t worry me too much at this point.
We’ll know on August 12th.
I’m nervous about Pryor and the deep ball. Also don’t like rotations on the O-line…possibility of too many drive killing penalties. But it can’t be any worse than last year.
September 12th, sorry.
Hate to see a 5 star lineman not live up to expectations. One does wonder how he can be 3rd team? He seems to have all of the athletic ability and size, based on his recruiting credentials. Of course, recruiting rankings are not perfect indicators of success, but still…. Perhaps he does not understand the offense yet? It’s puzzling to me.
Adam’s career does not look promising at OSU right now.
I am going to temper my expectations for Pryor. He will be a good player, but I don’t expect to see significant improving in his passing. My guess is that he will be somewhat inconsistent this season.
I do expect that he will know defenses a bit better, which should help with play selection
Let’s be perfectly clear here, guys. This was NOT a true game setup. Boren didn’t play…that’s a deal-breaker right there. They were shuffling o-linemen in and out, switching their positions, just so they can get a mountain of tape that hopefully shows what works best. Pryor was not allowed to run the football. Stoneburner and Thomas didn’t dress (anyone know if they’re injured?). Stoneburner is supposed to be a secret weapon this year at TE, and Flash…well, let’s just say he needs to be accounted for when Posey, Small, and Dane are out there as well.
Finding a TE (Ballard) in the redzone for a 4-yard TD is LIGHTYEARS ahead of where they were last year. To me, it is crucial that this team score when they get close. They have to find ways of getting into the endzone, and that means finding an open receiver on occasion. We had 2 extremely long drives against USC that combined for 3 points…offensive line penalties and stalling when you’re close is what kills us! As long as they improve in that area, this team will make waves. Unfortunately, practices don’t tell the whole story.