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2006 Spring Game info/discussion

I gather we were mostly operating from the spread in the Spring Game.
But, it just seems like there are a lot of elements for an "I" formation, power running offense in place.
So, the question is than.
Knowing JT likes power football.
Do we see a lot of the Power "I" this year?
 
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The anticipation of Henton coming to CBus and unseating these two guys strikes me as absurd, especially given that JT is our coach. Henton will redshirt and then sit a year, barring injuries, and will play well for us when his time comes.
 
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I gather we were mostly operating from the spread in the Spring Game.
But, it just seems like there are a lot of elements for an "I" formation, power running offense in place.
So, the question is than.
Knowing JT likes power football.
Do we see a lot of the Power "I" this year?

I think this was in large part due to the rules for the game...they had to be in the I on first down, and then had to go to 1- or no-back sets on 2nd/3rd/4th down. This accounted for all the spread formation looks.
 
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The anticipation of Henton coming to CBus and unseating these two guys strikes me as absurd, especially given that JT is our coach. Henton will redshirt and then sit a year, barring injuries, and will play well for us when his time comes.
I must admit, I do not know his coaching history at YSU very well, but unless Smith/Zwick get hurt and either Robbie or Todd beat Michigan, I'm not sure there is a JT precedent for the ensuing QB battle. For all of the talk of Tressel being loyal to his seniors, we sure have a ton of youngsters that start early in their career. I am not 'expecting' henton to steal the job, I just feel that he may be right in the mix with the other 2.
 
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Got to toss back a few cold ones with Hawaiianbuckeye last night, who attended the spring game. I asked him about all the positions and he gave me his no-shit thoughts. The big relief I got was from his comments on our linebackers. We are so deep in first-string quality linebackers, it's almost obscene. He seemed most impressed with Ross Homan, and said he thinks he can (not "will", but "can") be another Hawk. He also gave glowing comments about Freeman, Terry, Grant, and Laurinaitis. After listening to a former Buckeye player--and one who knows our players well--talk about the linebackers, I don't think our dropoff at those spots will be nearly as much as most think.
 
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Ozone

The-Ozone Note and Quotebook - Spring Football Wrap up Edition - Part I

By John Porentas

Defensively Speaking: Coming into spring practice the defensive side of the football was generating a lot of hand-wringing among the Buckeye faithful. Coming out of spring, there seems to be more of a sense of confidence.
While the Buckeyes will be young on defense in the fall, the people who guide that defense, Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell, have put together a defensive scheme that will take some of the sting out of the lack of experience.

"The scheme that we have in here is very player-friendly so the kids can understand what they're supposed to do, and it lets them play," said corner backs coach Tim Beckman. "That's the greatest thing that we've got going for us."
The picture that emerged in spring ball was that of a defense that might be lacking in game-day experience, but one that will be one of the fastest overall in school history. It will also feature a defensive line that is both experienced and talented. Quinn Pitcock, David Patterson, Joel Penton, Nadar Abdallah and Todd Denlinger should be extremely strong the inside, while Lawrence Wilson, Jay Richardson, Alex Barrow and Vernon Gholston will be a fast, tough, athletic group at end.
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At linebacker, where OSU must find three new starters, spring ball was just the tonic for group of seven candidates for starting positions. It is a group that can run and make plays, and after spring ball, it is a group that is beginning to grasp much more confidently the concepts of the OSU defense.

"I think all the way across the board young guys have stepped up and we've come a long way from just running around there and not knowing what we're doing to now we know what we're doing and we're running around," said James Laurinaitis, one of the candidates for one of those starting linebacker positions. "We're more dangerous that way."

In the defensive backfield, it is a similar story. The troops are young, but they are fast, fast, fast, and they want to make a name for themselves next fall.
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"Surprisingly I think we'll be faster in the secondary than we were last year. These guys fly around," said safeties coach Paul Haynes.
"I think they run extremely well," added Beckman.


"We've got a lot of guys that can run. I think with their physicalness and the stature of each one of them, we've got some big kids back there, that this could be a special group. It's up to them to take their game to the next level."

The one veteran in the group, fifth year senior safety Brandon Mitchell, likes what he sees in the defensive backfield.

"A lot of people think this might be an off-year for the DBs, but we have some really talented players and some really smart players. When you have that combination that makes for a really good defensive backfield," Mitchell said.

Fall Guy: David Patterson played a lot of defensive end for the Buckeyes over the last couple of seasons, but will move exclusive to defensive tackle next season, a position that is really much better suited to his talents.
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"He's needed inside and he's a much better player playing inside than outside," said Quinn Pitcock. "He can play end, but he's a heck of a lot better inside."

According to Pitcock, Patterson has the ability to almost "fall" into plays on the interior, and that talent has been a source of amusement for everyone concerned...except perhaps Patterson.

"I joke around with him when he makes play," said Pitcock. "He's so flexible that he just kind of squirms around people. He can squeeze into the smallest little places and makes plays," Pitcock said.

The Fall Guy says that ending up on the ground is just the way things work out for him.
"I fall a lot," Patterson said.
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"My balance is all right. My first sack ever here at Ohio State was against Washington, and if you go back and watch the tape, I got the sack but I kind of fell down.
"I got my second sack against Indiana, but I fell down again. So every time I get a tackle and I fall down they make a big deal out of it, like I always fall when I make tackles. It's just a little inside joke. I just fall down sometimes and they trip over me and I get the tackle."

Chucky's Challenges: Nicknames are common on athletic teams, and are usually signs of respect and endearment among team mates. What is not common is the head coach of a football team hanging a nickname on a player, but that's exactly what happened to OSU long snapper Drew Norman, who has been known throughout his Buckeye career as "Chucky".
"Coach Tressel gave me that nickname after the basketball tournament after my true freshman year," said Norman.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=100 align=right><CAPTION align=bottom>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Drew "Chucky" Norman [/FONT]</CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD>
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Norman has no idea what prompted Tressel to give him that nickname, but figures that the one thing you never do is question the head man.

"I've never asked him about it," said Norman.

"I suppose whenever I graduate I might ask him, but I figure if he's got a nickname for me, at least he knows who I am.

"I really have no idea.
"The first time he said it I said 'Who?', and he said 'You.' I'm never called Drew over here (at the football facility). Everybody calls me Chucky. I go home to my house and people call me Drew and I wonder who they're talking to."​

Call him Drew, or call him Chucky, it doesn't matter, Norman has been an exceptionally reliable performer as a long snapper, an accomplishment that involves more than just snapping the ball. Chucky also has to put up with a considerable amount of intimidation and physical abuse to get his job done. The opposition often goes to great lengths to try and disrupt field goal and punt attempts by intimidating the long snapper.​

"Guys talk every now and then, but nothing that doesn't go on on every play," Chucky said.
"I've never had anyone try to swipe it or anything. The most common thing is for a guy to get as close to you as he can get and make you feel his presence.​

"For punts we have a zone protection scheme, so I go right or left, and anything that threatens my gap I'm responsible for. It's more of a thing of getting back because they put a lot of fast guys on the rush team.​

"Field goal, it's just a war down there. There's some times where I'm on my back and I have no idea, and other times where no one comes over me," he said.​

"A lot of it depends on the defense. If they're coming hard, I'm on the ground."
Uh....ground Chucky?​

Postgraduate Pigskin: A number of Buckeyes on the 2006 team will compete on the field after completing their degrees. Among those are Brandon Mitchell, Doug Datish, Troy Smith and others. All of the graduate football players we spoke to said they would not slack off academically while playing out their eligibility.​
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"I'm in graduate school and I'm trying to get my masters in military history," said Datish who will be a starter along the offensive line next fall.
"Grad school is a whole different ball game. Everybody is little smarter than me. I've already read two books this week and I'll read a third one. I'm taking a counter-history class where you talk about the opposite view and I'm taking a business history class," said Datish of his course load during spring practice.​

Datish finds a certain irony in the study of history.​

"People make the same mistakes in all times throughout history," he said.

Smith is also continuing to pursue his academic goals, though he is not pursuing a post-graduate degree.

"I think I'm going to work toward another bachelor's degree," he said.​
<TABLE height=5 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=100 align=right><CAPTION align=bottom>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Troy Smith [/FONT]</CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD>
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Smith said that he will begin study in mass communications to continue his learning at Ohio State. He also added that not all the learning he has done while in Columbus has been in the classroom setting. Some of the tenets of wisdom he has embraced while at Ohio State have come from the football program as well.​

"One of the largest ones is that night life is not in any of my equations right now, and for the rest of the season won't be," he said​

"There's a time and a place for everything.​

"Call me old fashioned and it seemed like a cliche a couple of years ago but I'm really starting to buy into what Coach Tressel says, nothing good happens past 10:00. It's pretty much the truth.​

"I feel like I've grown from a knucklehead young guy to hopefully an up-and-coming, wise senior who can lead this group of guys."​

Smith will continue to work on his academics, but says he also plans to continue his postgraduate study of the game of football.​

"One of the things that I'm going to be doing as of Monday (after the spring game) is have different days where I'm with different offensive coaches, a couple of days with defensive coaches, and learn everything from the X and O standpoint, do the chalkboard.​

"Then when we get out there on the field hopefully I should be able to transform that into play.​

"During this off period of time, this discretionary period from and X and O standpoint I'm going to try and be sharp as knife."​

A Step Up: Several young Buckeyes enrolled early at Ohio State, graduating early from high school and to enroll in college and get a leg up on their college careers. Still others young players have been in school but have just embarked on their football careers this spring due to injury. All of the Buckeyes getting their first taste of college football this spring said it was an eye-opening experience.​
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=100 align=left><CAPTION align=bottom>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Brian Hartline[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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"A college practice is almost like a high school game," said wide receiver Brian Hartline.
Defensive back Kurt Coleman had a similar reaction, and found that there were good days and days that were not do good this spring.
"Honestly, this is a ride. It's a roller coaster, because you go through a lot of highs and lows going through practice," Coleman said.​

While the experience was rough, Coleman said that looking back, he is far better off.
"It's a lot more gratifying when you go through the whole experience," he said.​
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"At first you get really
discouraged because it's really hard on your body and mentally, but when you go through the whole thing and look back on it it's a really fun experience."​

Running back Chris Wells was also happy he came in early.​

"I think I might have had to redshirt if I hadn't come in early," said Wells. "There's so much to learn."​

Wells said that his experience this spring has left him confident that he can play a role on next season's squad.​

"Without a doubt I feel like I can help. That's what I came here for, to help the team any way possible," he said.​
 
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Ohio State Football Spring Game Leads Nation in Attendance

Annual event draws 63,649 fans

May 5, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State University football team played its spring game in front of 63,649 ticketed fans April 22. That total ranked No. 1 nationally for spring game attendance.

The annual Scarlet and Gray game, which concluded the spring practice season for the Buckeyes, had in excess of 6,000 more fans than the second-place program.

Buckeye fans of all ages flocked to Ohio Stadium to cheer on the Buckeyes. The attendance figure also does not include an estimated 2,000 children 6 and under that were admitted free.

The Top 3 schools in the country for spring game attendance were Ohio State, Nebraska (57,415) and Florida (45,200).
LINK
 
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