OZone
Football
Night Practice a Night Out for Buckeye Fans
By John Porentas
It was a beautiful night, the lights were on, and 28,000 people showed up for the
OSU night practice and autograph session at Ohio Stadium on Monday, and there was no doubt that they were thirsting to see some Buckeye football.The practice itself was rather basic and with very limited hitting, but that did not stop the fans from getting into the spirit of being in Ohio Stadium. That was evident before the team took the field to begin practice when an O-H-I-O cheer made its way around the stadium, followed by "Lets go Bucks". It was very much like a game-day atmosphere that got even more game-day like when the
OSU marching band made an unscheduled appearance about half way through the practice, much to the delight of the crowd which stood and cheered as the band entered the South end of the stadium.
"I think it's a great reminder of the responsibility that we have. There's a lot of people who care deeply about Ohio State football," said
OSU football Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"It was really unbelievable to see how many people came and got the kids autographs and just enjoyed the evening."
The crowd, the band, and the game-like environment was to the liking of Tressel.
"It was a great experience for our guys. They were talking on the line of scrimmage that they couldn't hear and had to communicate in a more game-like way, had to look into the lights and catch punts and passes," Tressel said.
When the practice concluded, the football team made its way to the South stands where the
OSU marching band was seated. The band played Carmen Ohio, and the team sang with them just as they do after every home game.
It appeared that most the fans had good time, though the stadium began to empty about two thirds of the way through the practice. With the clock registering between 9:30 and 10:00 pm, many with small children or with early-morning responsibilities began to file out.
While the practice itself was pretty vanilla, there were a few standout plays, like the interception and return for touchdown by freshman defensive back Kurt Coleman. Coleman had an impressive interception in the spring game and also played well in the jersey scrimmage.
"Kurt has got a lot of work fundamentally to do, but I think he can make plays, and when you can make plays, now you just need to get some experience. I think Kurt Coleman is going to help us," said Tressel when asked about Coleman's prospects for playing this season.
Notes:
* Backup quarterback Justin Zwick took his share of reps during the practice despite being slightly injured during the jersey scrimmage. Fellow quarterback Todd Boeckman, however, saw very limited action in the practice.
"Justin missed one practice after Saturday and really hasn't missed any since," said Tressel.
"He hasn't gone live as far as people banging, but Todd Boeckman got banged up a little bit in the scrimmage. He didn't even know it until the day after. It was just one of those things where he got nicked a little bit and our people are being conservative, but he'll be fine."
In Boeckman's absence, Robby Schoenhoft got extra reps. According to Tressel, the battle for the number two quarterback spot is still open.
"There's a pretty good battle," Tressel said.
"I think Justin has had two real good practices (since the jersey scrimmage) and has good game experience and so forth, but I like a lot of things I see in both Todd and Robbie. It's a good little battle," he said.
* While its clear that Troy Smith will be the starting quarterback at Ohio State, there were some reporters who wondered if Chris Wells has a chance to see time as
OSU's starting tailback early in the season. Tressel put that speculation to rest quickly.
"Antonio Pittman will start at tailback. That's probably as solid as anything, but Mo Wells, Chris Wells and Antonio Pittman will all carry the ball," said Tressel.
"I would think that in the first third of the season anyway we're going to play a lot of guys on the defensive front, offensive front, in the secondary, at linebacker, at running back, at receiver, we're going to play a lot of guys.
"We'll do that for a couple of reasons. One, we want to see who really emerges on game day and two we know its going to be warm at 3:30 on September 2 and we know its going to warm at 7:00 pm central time on September 9, and we're going to need to play a lot of guys. I think a lot of guys deserve to play just to see how they'll do when the lights come on for real."
*
OSU linebacker Mike D'Andrea was on the sideline for the practice but was not in pads and did not participate. Linebacker Chad Hoobler was not on the sidelines.
"Chad has left the team for personal reasons," Tressel said.
Sweeeeeeeeet
but I believe that there are things 'worth it' and others not, and it didn't hurt for my son to take the opportunity to practice patience.