Football
Jersey Scrimmage Report
By John Porentas

The offense won the Scarlet and Gray scrimmage by a score of 55-44 and retained the right to wear the scarlet jerseys at OSU practices.

The scrimmage is considered by the OSU coaching staff to be the most important day in spring drills in determining who will have the inside track toward making the two-deep next fall.

Scoring is both conventional and unconventional. Points are awarded for touchdowns, PATs and field goals as usual. However, the offense gets a point for achieving a first down as well. The defense is awarded points for a three-and-out, tackle for loss and for forcing a turnover as well as scoring touchdowns and safeties.

The scrimmage did not involve any kickoffs or punting. The offense was started in a variety of field positions including it's own 30, midfield, the 45 of the defense, and it's own two-yard line. The offense was limited to drives of 10 plays. If it did not score in 10 plays, the drive was ended.

For the most part first team players played against first team players, second team players against second team players, and so on.

Offense

The offensive line has been beset by injuries this spring and that showed in the scrimmage. The defense was able to record nine sacks in the scrimmage that was right around 125 plays. Still, there were some shining moments for the offense.

By our (very) unofficial count quarterback Todd Boeckman completed 10 of 19 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Boeckman was not intercepted. Boeckman's two TDs went to Brian Hartline on plays of 47 and 25 yards. Hartline was the leading receiver with four catches for 94 yards.

Running room was hard to come by, but Brandon Saine made a little running room of his own on a 22 yard touchdown run around left end. Saine ran around defensive end Lawrence Wilson on the play as he cleared the line of scrimmage, raced down the west sideline to the north endzone and dragged two would-be tacklers into the endzone on the play. Unofficially Saine rushed 14 times for 54 yards. he also had one pass reception for six yards.

The offense was able to play without turning the ball over, though the ball did go on the ground on two occasions but was recovered by the offense. Penalties did hurt the offense a little with at least two delay of game flags helping to stop drives as well as one personal foul call.

The Buckeyes did show the "pony" look with two running backs in the backfield, though senior linebacker Curtis Terry also played in the offensive backfield at fullback when the offense wanted a more traditional formation.

Quick Observation:

* The OSU coaching staff has been singing the praises of redshirt freshman running back Dan "Boom" Herron. Herron did not disappoint in the scrimmage. He ran hard and seems to have very good vision. He also made the right cut whenever the opportunity presented itself. Though running room was not plentiful, Herron got the tough yards and showed good burst.

* Because of the lack of bodies at wide receiver the Buckeyes did not do much in the way of four and five receiver sets.

* Quarterbacks Joe Bauserman and Antonio Henton appear to be about even in the race for the backup quarterback spot. Both had solid moments, and both had moments that were less-than stellar. Known mostly as a thrower, Bauserman showed a surprising ability to run. Henton, who is regarded as a legitimate running threat, showed a good grasp of the passing game and threw for one touchdown.

* The offense had to perform against a defense that was bringing a variety of blitzes and was able to, for the most part, perform relatively well.

Offensive Stats (All very unofficial, leaders only)

Rushing

Dan Herron 12 for 43, long of 10
Brandon Saine 14 for 52, long of 22, one touchdown
Maurice Wells 6 for 28, long of 7
Joe Bauserman 6 for 30
Marcus Williams 4 for 14
Joe Gantz 4 for 47, long of 20

Passing

Todd Boeckman 10 of 19 for 141 yards and two touchdowns
Joe Bauserman 4 of 8 for 18 yards
Antonio Henton 7 of 11 for 35 yards, one touchdown

Receiving

Brian Harline four catches, 96 yards, two touchdown.

Defense

The defense at times played very well but did not produce any turnovers. If there is any one area of concern its that the defense gave up plays of 22, 25 and 47 yards, all of which went for touchdowns.

The pass rush seemed effective and the run defense consistent, but the three big plays remain troublesome.

Group Observations:

Linebackers: As expected, the linebackers were very strong, with several newcomers standing out. Tyler Moeller made several standout plays in both run and pass situations including at least two tackles for loss and two pass breakups. Moeller played with the first team at linebacker in the spot that Curtis Terry will probably occupy next fall. Also very active was Jermale Hines with the second group. Freshman Etienne Sabino had several good plays including a tipped ball and a pass breakup as well as solid run defense.

Defensive backs: Corners Donald Washington and Eugene Clifford were dressed but did not play in the scrimmage. The same is true of safety Jamario O'Neal. The three are rumored to have some sort of disciplinary action pending for team rules violations.

With those three on the bench Andre Amos and Chimdi Chekwa got increase action at corner. Amos seemed very active and was very visible. Chekwa teamed with Malcolm Jenkins with the first unit, and it was Jenkins who was beat deep on Hartline's long touchdown reception. Amos and Shaun Lane were the second-team tandem at corner.

Defensive Ends: Lawrence Wilson and Cameron Heyward were both impressive. Heyward seemed to live in the backfield and both were very active and very visible. Also impressive was Thaddeus Gibson who seems to have really taken to his move to the defensive end position from linebacker. Our unofficial stats showed all three with one sack.

Interior Line: This group surrendered ground very grudgingly against the run and also performed well against the pass. Nader Abdallah and Doug Worthington each got a sack. Any talk about the defensive line and, for that matter, the defensive ends, should be tempered by keeping in mind that the offensive line is somewhat patchwork at this point.

We attempted to come up with a two-deep based on what we saw, but there was a lot of situational substituting. Be that as it may, here is how we saw it for this scrimmage.

Offense:

Center: Jim Cordle Andrew Moses	Quarterback Todd Boeckman Antonio Henton and Joe Bauserman
Left Guard: Kyle Mitchum Zach Slagle	Running back Brandon Saine Boom Herron and Mo Wells
Left Tackle Alex Boone Andrew Miller	Fullback Curtis Terry Ryan Lukens
Right Guard Connor Smith Evan Blankenship	Wide Receiver: Brian Hartline Kyle Ruhl
Right Tackle Bryant Browning D. R. Ebner	Slot Receiver: Dane Sanzenbacher Ryan Schuck
Tight End: Jake Ballard Brandon Smith

Defense

Defensive End Cameron Heyward Mark Johnson	Middle Linebacker James Laurinaitis Austin Spitler
Defensive End Lawrence Wilson Thaddeus Gibson	Corner back Malcolm Jenkins Shaun Lane
Defensive Tackle Todd Denlinger Dexter Larimore	Corner Chimdi Chekwa Andre Amos
Defensive Tackle Doug Worthington Nader Abdallah	Safety Anderson Russell Nick Patterson
Outside Linebacker Marcus Freeman Ross Homan	Safety Kurt Coleman Aaron Gant
Outside Linebacker Tyler Moeller Jermale Hines

Jersey Scrimmage Note and Quotebook

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