Our Honor Defend

An important weekend of football-related activities for Buckeye fans was highlighted by the annual spring game.  The event drew 30,000 less observers than the last one did given the anxieties about what Mother Nature had in store for the 43210, but those who braved the halftime shower and punt-fest in the 2nd and 3rd quarters were treated to an exciting beginning and end.  Backups Kenny Guiton and Taurian Washington were the stars of the day, leading Gray to a 4th quarter comeback victory over Scarlet.

Elfie was absolutely correct when, in my Block O Table on the matter, he selected Taurian Washington to again have a banner day in the spring game.  “Mr. April” had three catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, winning the Bam Childress Spring Game Lifetime Achievement Award in the process.  The language of that is probably not fair to Washington, but a fairly impressive performance by him again has fans wondering if this, his senior campaign, is finally the year where he breaks out.  It was an odd juxtaposition to be having the spring game concurrent with the 2010 NFL Draft.  A receiver capable of plays like Washington made (fingertip catches, in traffic, et cetera) is an early round draft pick, but Buckeye fans know all too well what happens to Washington in the fall.  If we choose to be optimistic, a receiver corp with Posey, Sanzy and April-caliber Taurian Washington is going to be hell on earth for secondaries across the Midwest.

On that note, it was actually DeVier Posey, not Washington, who had the game to forget.  He tallied one catch for 14 yards, but drops plagued him through the day.  We are obviously expecting a lot from our junior #1 wide receiver, who reeled in the game clinching touchdown in the Rose Bowl.  This was probably just a rough day at the office.

Other receivers are worth noting.  The Buckeyes incorporated Jake Stoneburner into the offense.  Stoneburner finished with three receptions for 43 yards from his tight end position.  Yes, tight end.  Still, it is not Stoneburner that has me giddy, but rather Zach Boren.  We obviously know that tight ends stretch defenses, but creatively incorporating the fullback into the offense can cause even the clever defensive coordinators to go bald from stress.  Considering some stretches against Indiana and, especially, the road tilt against Penn State last year, Boren showed in this game that the Buckeyes may have woken up the echoes of Matt Keller.  Boren finished with four receptions, 41 yards, and some trucked defensive backs along the way.

The other important story from this game was the quarterback battle between backups Kenny Guiton and Joe Bauserman.  Terrelle Pryor played well, rebounding from a 3 and out series to begin the game to finish 8/12 and with 108 yards and TD to Dane Sanzenbacher.  However, Pryor was done for the day after the first quarter.  Therein, the battle was between Guiton and Bauserman, the former turning some heads in analysis for being selected over Bauserman in the spring game draft.  This may have foreshadowed the direction both are going on the depth chart.  While Guiton shined in the fourth quarter and with the game on the line, Bauserman faltered.  Guiton led a game-winning touchdown drive after Scarlet’s Bo DeLande put the Gray down three, culminating in a 45 yard strike to Washington with a minute remaining.  Meanwhile, Bauserman followed that up by being picked by Gray’s Taylor Rice on the first pass of the ensuing drive.

The aggregate numbers?  Guiton finished 11/21, 167 yards and 2 TDs.  Bauserman finished 6/15, 75 yards, 0 TDs and a pair of picks.  It is inviting to read a lot into the spring game, though this is never a good idea.  Still, this is worth noting.

A good friend of mine called me on Sunday to chat with me about what he saw at the spring game, ultimately praising the outing that Mike Adams had at tackle.  He was on the same team with Cam Heyward, something I was hoping to not see.  Nevertheless, he was on the opposing side of Nathan Williams for this exhibition and played well.  As The O-Zone notes:

3. Mike Adams is the best option at left tackle. At least at the moment anyways. He wasn’t dominant by any means in the spring game and I personally saw him get beat on several occasions by Nathan Williams, but Adams has gotten a lot better in the last year. He held his own for most of the afternoon, having one of his better performances when it mattered most. On the other hand, I thought Andrew Miller struggled mightily for the Gray team at left tackle. He got beat a number of times by Keith Wells and even on Gray’s game-winning drive he seemed to be holding on just about every play. The battle will likely continue well into the fall, but it appears Adams has the momentum after the spring game.

The defensive backs had a rough going in this exhibition, particularly Devon Torrence.  However, it was the punting game that left us wanting the most.  It was a weakness in the 2009 team and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.  The second and third quarters were basically nothing but punting, so there were many trials to observe.  The highly touted Brew Crew punter-kicker hybrid, Ben Buchanan, had a long of  51 yards, but was wildly erratic.  Taking that one punt out, he averaged 33 yards a punt.  Several were ducks.  Derek Erwin, the walk-on for Gray from a one-stoplight (literally?) town I’ve never heard of, was more consistent, averaging about 42 yards a punt.  Punting is basically failure, and it would be nice if we had a BJ Sander-type again to help the defense by flipping field position.  We definitely need more from this position going forward.

At this point, I thought I’d yield the floor to anyone who was there or watched the game that had their thoughts on what transpired, what was good and bad and what inference we should make from the spring game to the forthcoming 2010 season.  Big Ten Network highlights are below.