Now that I've wrung out my clothes and gotten feeling back in my fingers,
some thoughts from the "Spring" Game last Saturday:
That was the worst weather I have ever sat in at the 'Shoe. I watched the
1993 Penn State game from the cozy confines of the WMRN radio station
newsroom in Marion, Ohio. It was Halloween weekend and Ohio got hit with an
early snowstorm. That is the only game in memory that may have come close
to Saturday. I've sat in rain and some times in bitter cold to watch the
Bucks, but the combination of cold, wind and rain in late April was rough.
But our site photographer Gregg Watson and I agreed that when we're in
Pasadena in January we'll look back on Saturday and laugh.
OSU never really tips their hand offensively in these games, but with the
weather the way it was you knew it would be even more conservative. The
bright side was we got to see plenty of Erik Haw and Antonio Pittman, and
both looked good. Pittman finished with 57 yards on 14 carries while
playing mostly just the first half. Haw finished with 86 yards on 16
carries and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. He ran with both
arms around the ball on several occasions and showed a nice burst to get
around the corner on a 10-yard touchdown for the Scarlet's only points.
The big running game news, in my opinion, was the unveiling of our "secret
weapon"- a good old fashioned "Bull Elephant" backfield of Dionte Johnson at
fullback and Brandon Schnittker dotting the "I" at tailback. Brandon was
the feature back most of the second half and piled up 58 yards on 10
carries. In our forum section of Buckeye 50 last week, I asked who in the
backfield we could count on to move the sticks late in games when we're
trying to kill the clock or when we're goal-to-go. I think 500 pounds of
Johnson and Schnittker answers that question.
Quarterback-wise, despite plenty of excuse making from the TV and post-game
radio folks, I thought Justin Zwick showed no reason at all why he should
play against Texas. He hit a couple of nice balls down the seam to tight
end Rory Nicol (although I'm not gonna hold my breath that we'll see the
tight end used in the passing game this fall), but he missed Ted Ginn THREE
times on ONE possession in the second quarter drawing boos from the crowd.
And he could've had three passes picked off had Curtis Terry, Marcus Freeman
and DeAngelo Haslam held on to them. He and Todd Boeckman (who played for
both sides) combined to convert only 2 of 13 third downs for the Scarlet on
the day.
To those who want to blame the weather for Zwick's poor passing day- That is
the kind of weather we'll be playing in come October and November. I don't
want to hear excuses then and I don't want to hear them now!
Troy Smith finished 4 of 9 passing for 48 yards. No, those numbers don't
set the world on fire, and his interception early on was a poor throw. But
Troy made some nice runs when no one was open, and on the Gray's final TD
drive which he finished with a beautiful pass to Marcel Frost word is he was
calling the plays. Those two things are the difference between Troy and
Justin- running ability and leadership. And Todd Boeckman looked good, too.
His mobility appears fine and his touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez was a
beaut- rolling right and throwing back across his body to a wide-open Gonzo.
Although split up, the offensive lines protected well and provided running
room for the backs. Ted Ginn gained 13 yards on an end-around on the
Scarlet's first play of the game, but other than that he was quiet. Much to
the dismay of the crowd he was, by plan, not used much offensively and AJ
Trapasso punted away from him. Although that brought boos from the crowd,
it may be something we all better be getting used to. I also liked how the
running backs were used on dropoffs and circle routes should everything
downfield be covered.
Defensively, DL Jay Richardson forced a fumble and knocked down a pass. On
one play he whiffed on Troy Smith in the backfield, but as Troy scrambled
Jay stayed with the play and made the tackle some 10 yards down field. Some
of the players have been comparing Jay to Will Smith. DB Shaun Lane played
well for the Scarlet as did last year's special teams demon Sirjo Welch. My
main hope with the defense this year is that we'll have big enough leads
that our second-team linebackers get some experience. Chad Hoobler, Curtis
Terry and Marcus Freeman would start at any other school and the future
looks bright at that position.
Special teams was nothing to write home about. After Saturday I'm thinking
our biggest loss may not be Mike Nugent, but long snapper Kyle Andrews.
Scarlet punter Tyson Gentry was leaving his feet to field snaps and one went
clear over his head. Two extra points were botched, and although Gray
kicker Jonathan Skeete booted a couple of field goals, he clanged another
off the posts while his kickoffs consistently came down at the five yard
line. And although Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn will be returning kickoffs
this year, it wasn't good to see Erik Haw letting a kickoff hit and then
having to dive on it. Special teams coach Darrell Hazell has his work cut
out for him.
So now we begin the 132-day countdown to Miami. God willing this off-season
will be quieter than the last couple of years and we can all look forward to
what could be a special season. The talent and depth are there, the
schedule is challenging but tailor-made for a title run, and the promotion
of Jim Heacock to defensive coordinator should keep any change in coaching
chemistry to a minimum. Even with last Saturday's lousy weather, any day in
the 'Shoe is a great day and I'm sure January in Pasadena would be a lot
better!
JOE-S-U
