Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John PorentasThe Longest Hour: You've been waiting since January, and it's almost here. The Buckeyes will kick off this Saturday, and you can hardly wait. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel says he and his team are anxious to get going too.
"They're just anxious to play. They've been banging into each other a long time, since April. I know for sure they're anxious. I don't know for sure if they're ready, but I know they're anxious," said Tressel.
Tressel and company have been pretty busy getting ready for the big day, but according to Tressel, once the day arrives there is one part of it that is nearly excruciating for him.
"The last hour before you play is the hardest of them all because there's nothing you can do, and we're so caught up in doing, and there's really nothing you can do in that last hour," said Tressel.
Todd Boeckman Tressel dreads that last hour, but knows that some of his first-time starters will have a long night on Friday night, including first-time starter at quarterback Todd Boeckman.
"I'm sure he'll fall asleep, then wake up, fall asleep, them wake up, that's just part of the fun and excitement and reality of great opportunity," said Tressel.
"He probably slept pretty good when he knew his hardest thing was going to be slipping on the baseball cap and signaling, but it's a little different now and he's excited about it. He'll handle it well.
What will Tressel and his staff do to try to help Boeckman's nerves?
"Nothing you can do for them. All you can do is have them grow old like us and have no problem sleeping. I don't know what you can do for him," Tressel said.
Possible Redshirts: OSU's freshman class will make it's debut in Ohio Stadium on Saturday, and many of them are expected to see the field. Another rather large group are still "on the bubble" as to whether they will play or redshirt this season.
"There's five or six of those guys that we don't know for sure if we're going to put them in the game," said Tressel.
"Nate Oliver, Rocco Pentello, Donnie Evenge.
"Evan Blankenship won't play because he came in with a little bit of an injury and now he's just starting to get back in it, so he won't.
"Solomon (Thomas) probably wouldn't get in the game. Eugene Clifford will, Brandon Saine will, Dane Sanzenbacher will, Taurian Washington will, Devon Torrence will.
"Danny Herron is probably a bubble.
"Cameron Hayward will.
"James Scott is a little bit on the bubble but it wouldn't shock me if the coaches thought he might go in."
Hope you got all that.
Injury updates: Wide receiver Albert Dukes has not practiced the last three days due to a finger injury he sustained this week in practice. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel is not sure of his status for the game on Saturday.
Albert Dukes "Albert is a little bit banged up and he didn't work today," said Tressel.
"I don't know for sure if he's a go for the game or not. He's missed maybe three days of work now. It was just in a drill, he whacked a finger or something like that, so I don't know if he'll have that opportunity."
On the brighter side, wide receiver Devon Lyons may be available after missing some practice time late in fall camp.
"Devon actually had a real good day today, so it was good to see it looks like he's healthy. He's very aware of what we do, so he knows the system and he's now healthy," said Tressel.
Wide receiver Ray Small, who has an ankle injury, also seems to be on the mend, but probably won't see action on Saturday.
Ray Small "He could be back as early as next week. It's possible. You never know on those," said Tressel.
The one player whose injury seems a bit more serious is linebacker Curtis Terry who has an injured foot. Terry's prognosis is not great and Tressel said that the OSU coaching staff may consider a redshirt for Terry if his foot does not heal quickly.
"With a guy like Curtis, who has a redshirt available, I'm not saying we're going to redshirt him, but I think you have to make good decisions if an injury goes too far into the year. That's what the medical redshirt is for, for a person not to spend a year with a fraction of a year. We'll have that discussion as time goes," Tressel said.
Andre Amos Cornerback Andre Amos is trying to come back from knee surgery. His status is cloudy.
"I'm not sure of his status," said Cornerback Coach Taver Johnson.
"I know he's been doing very, very good with his rehab. I know he's been ahead of schedule, but I don't know the timetable. He was getting better as the spring was going on. That was tough for us. He went up for a ball, one of safeties went up, the receiver went up and I think he came down on somebody's foot and his knee twisted."
Scarlet and Gracie: OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel got everyone's attention on Thursday when he announced that his family had grown.
"I've got new twin daughters," said Tressel.
Tressel than added that the twins have a total of eight legs, not four.
"We have two new dogs, Scarlet and Gracie," Tressel said.
In case you're interested, the dogs are Maltese.
Rooting Interest: The number of sidebar stories surrounding the home opener may be a record. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel will be coaching against his former employer, Youngstown State, a school at which he was both the Head Football Coach and Director of Athletics. Tressel also led that school to four Division I-AA national championships and is still beloved at YSU, but according to Tressel, his former players have let him know that there will be no question as to where their loyalties will lie on Saturday.
"I've heard from a lot of those guys, and every one of them, whether it's an email or a phone message, they're saying 'Coach this will be the first time I'll be rooting against you.' That's been the universal theme in all their emails and notes and calls," said Tressel.
Jim Heacock The other big sidebar story is the matchup of OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock against his brother Jon who is the head coach of the Penguins. According to Jim, just about the entire Heacock clan will be in the stands on Saturday to see the game, including his younger brother Jeff and sister Penny. So who will they be rooting for? Jim Heacock says he expects the answer to that question is "nobody."
"My sister will be here, my younger brother will be here," said Heacock.
"I would imagine he'll be fairly relaxed because I would imagine he doesn't really care about the outcome, just hopes that everybody stays healthy and plays respectable."
This is not the first time the Heacock brothers have been on opposite sidelines.
"I was at Illinois State and he was at Youngstown about three times, so we've been across from each other. We've battled each other before. It's not new," said Heacock.
Heacock insists the matchup is no big deal for the parties involved.
"I think it's a bigger deal for you guys, but for us it's just like any other game," said Heacock.
"I'm sure he will do anything he can to win, and I'm going to do the same, but as soon as the game is over, things will be just like they were. We're very close and talk all the time," Heacock said.
Heacock says it will probably be a tougher day for the family in the stands than for the family on the sidelines.
"My sister will be nervous because she always is, she's the oldest and kind of followed us all through athletics and was kind of always there if we were down.
"For Jeff, I think this will be the first Saturday he hasn't coached a game. He's been coaching all his life and this is the first Saturday he's been out of coaching. I would imagine he would be fairly relaxed but probably mixed emotions that he's not coaching," Heacock said.
Change for a Nickel: OSU's nickel defense could be very interesting this fall. The Buckeyes have toyed with the idea of starting corner Malcolm Jenkins as the deep safety in the nickel. In that alignment, Anderson Russell would be the "nickel back" and Chimdi Chekwa would enter the game as a corner. The other possibility is that Jamario O"Neal would enter the game. In that alignment, Jenkins would stay at corner and O'Neal or Kurt Coleman would be the deep safety. The player coming off the field would be linebacker Larry Grant.
Big Hitter: One of the highlights of the open night practice this fall was a hit freshman cornerback Eugene Clifford hit on OSU returner Anderson Russell. It was easily the best hit of the practice, and according to OSU cornerback coach Taver Johnson, Clifford actually could have done a lot better.
"He pulled off. That's the thing that people don't know," said Johnson.
"He just kind of hit him but he was standing straight up and down. If he had bent his knees and ran through him he probably would have fumbled."
Johnson is impressed with every aspect of Clifford's game.
"He's coming along very well. He's got good ball skills. He's rangy, being a free safety in high school, he's a big corner. He's big, but he can run," said Johnson.
Johnson says that Clifford's hitting ability is impressive, but that Clifford needs to learn to be consistent with it.
"That's the part we're trying to get him to understand," said Johnson.
"When he hit them like that (without bending his knees) in high school they did fumble. These guys are a little bigger and faster in college. You may knock them down, but you have to finish it."
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