Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas
Burying the Hatchet: The Wisconsin series has had a few
less-than impressive moments over the last few years. Dancing on
the W and dancing on the O are not exactly fond memories if good
sportsmanship is what you are talking about. According to senior
Buckeye offensive tackle Adrien Clarke, those days are over.
"I
think its the class of people we are now," said Clarke explaining
why that sort of behavior does not occur anymore in the rivalry.
"It's not so much revenge or to be in the spotlight now. It's
to go out and get the job done. I wouldn't say there's bad blood
(anymore), but it's a heck of a competition though."
Darrion Still Uncertain: Senior defensive lineman Darrion
Scott was listed as "questionable" by OSU Head Coach Jim
Tressel on Tuesday. Scott has not really participated in drills
this week, but has been jogging at practice. Fellow defensive lineman
Will Smith thinks Scott will play against the Badgers.
"I think Darrion's a tough kid. I know he wants to play just
as bad as all of us," said Smith.
"He's been out for a couple of weeks. I know if he's 80% he's
going to be out on the field playing his best. I know Darrion. He's
going to be out there."
Looking Forward to Smashmouth Football: The Buckeyes have
faced a succession of spread offenses that have not really tried
to establish the run against them. They fully expect that trend
to stop on Saturday, and are looking forward to the challenge.
"This is going to be a typical Big Ten game and we're going
to have to play it on the road in a hostile environment. It's going
to be a slugfest," said OSU linebackers coach Mark Snyder.
Wisconsin will try to run the ball against the Buckeye defense.
That means the Buckeyes will have three linebackers on the field
a lot more than they have in the first five games this season when
they played a lot of nickel defense in response to the passing offenses
they faced.
The renewed emphasis on the running game means that linebackers
Fred Pagac and Mike D'Andrea will see more playing time this week.
Snyder said that with that in mind, the duo had more bounce in their
step in practice this week.
"Yes they have," said Snyder.
"They have a heightened awareness and have done more film
watching. I think they're ready to go. We had a nickel day two days
ago where they didn't get a whole lot of reps, and I could see it
just drained them because they've been getting so many reps, been
in the flow and all those kind of things. I think they're excited.
I'd be disappointed if they weren't."
"It's going to be a street fight on the field because you
know those guys play tough and you know they're going to try to
dominate us up front," added defensive end Will Smith.
"We're looking forward to that. It's my kind of game. I like
it when teams run smash mouth football. We see a lot of stuff they
do because our offense runs it," Smith said.
Running Back Still by Committee: The Buckeyes will enter
the Wisconsin game with both Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall figuring
to see plenty of action at running back against the Badgers.
"Neither one of those guys have clearly separated themselves
to say he is the starter, so it could be one guy this week and the
other guy next week, but they'll probably end up with the same amount
of carries," said OSU running backs coach Tim Spencer.
Spencer is also excited about the third candidate for time at running
back, freshman Ira Guilford. Spencer is hoping things work out for
Guilford to get onto he field this weekend.
"I hope so. He's getting better," said Spencer.
"He's running hard, he's learning what he's supposed to do.
He's got a good feel, he's starting to get a good feel for what
he wants to do. Before he'd run every play and it would be the same
step. But now you can see him, 'This play I do this,' and you can
see him going through his checks which is really good. I hope that
he can get in the game. He's certainly deserving of some time, so
hopefully we can get him in the game."
On his weekly call in show Jim Tressel hinted that in the event
of a rash of injuries at running back quarterback Troy Smith could
be a candidate to fill in as a running back. Spencer, however, didn't
want to comment on that possibility.
"I can't tell you those things," said Spencer with a
laugh when asked if Smith was getting a look at running back.
"He played some quarterback this week, yes he has," Spencer
added coyly not commenting on whether Smith had practiced at running
back.
Circling the Wagons: Much has been made of the hostile crowd
at Camp Randall stadium. That crowd can be a problem, but in an
odd sort of way, a hostile crowd can also serve to bring a team
together.
"It's
us against the fans, because you know they're going to be trying
to take us out of our game," said defensive end Will Smith.
"They outnumber us, so everybody is going to stick together.
We don't talk trash back, but we're just going to play tough and
fight through it and hopefully we're going to come out with a victory,"
Smith said.
Robert
Reynolds said much the same.
"I would definitely feel that it helps us come a little closer,"
said Reynolds.
"It can either help us come closer or break us apart. It seems
like in the past when we've gone places it seems like we really
came together as a team."
The Hat: Linebacker coach Mark Snyder came to interviews
wearing a faded, worn out red Block O Buckeye hat. According to
Snyder, the hat has been a part of the current OSU winning streak.
"Since the beginning of last year," answered Snyder when
asked how long he has been wearing the hat.
Snyder said that the hat is not a fashion statement.
"Yup, superstitious," he said for his reasons for wearing
the hat.
It seems the other Buckeyes have noticed the effects of "The
Hat" as well.
"I took it home a couple of Wednesdays ago and didn't have
it for practice and they guys wouldn't let me put on a hat at practice,"
said Snyder.
Snyder couldn't remember how the Buckeyes practiced that day, but
did remember that nobody was happy about him not having his headgear.
"I don't remember (how they practiced). I just know they were
on me about my hat," Snyder said.
The Run Stops Here: If you aren't sick of hearing it, "stop
the run" is the theme again this week for the defense. Just
what does that mean? If a ball carrier gets 40 carries and gains
80 yards, have you stopped the run?
"I
don't think you can count just one think like yardage," said
linebacker A. J. Hawk.
"Basically I think if we stop the run overall, if we don't
give up an big runs over 20 yards and we didn't miss many tackles.
We're a team that likes to tackle in space. We know that's how football
is these days. We don't like to miss tackles," said Hawk explaining
what it means to stop the run.
