Football
Luncheon Day Notebook: Focusing on the Task at Hand
By Brandon CastelLike most years under current Head Coach Jim Tressel, Ohio State began the 2009 season with aspirations of winning a National Championship.
Despite their 18-15 home loss to USC, the Buckeyes are not completely eliminated from the title race, but they have shifted their focus to a much more common goal as they strive for a fifth straight Big Ten Conference title.
“So we get a chance to fast forward and get into the Big Ten. We've been saying all along that this is going to be a tremendously challenging September and it certainly has been at that and it begins with the Big Ten and I felt going into the Big Ten year that Illinois probably had as good a personnel as anyone in the league,” Tressel said Tuesday at his weekly luncheon press conference.
While the Buckeyes are coming off an impressive 38-0 win over Toledo at Cleveland Browns Stadium this past Saturday, the team has not forgotten the sting of defeat now two weeks old, as they focus on Illinois and “the task at hand.”
“I've shared with you before, the C.S. Lewis, ‘The greatest danger is the illusion that all is well,’ when indeed all is not well, and that's the truth,” Tressel said
“Whether you want to believe it or not, we did some good things Saturday against Toledo, but Toledo, everyone knows, is not in Big Ten so it has nothing to do with the Big Ten championship and yeah, the disappointment was two weeks away, the people that fought like crazy in that football game, I'm not sure that that is a distant memory for any one of us, but the task at hand is Illinois and task at hand is the Big Ten.”
Hall of Fame
One of the biggest things Ohio State can take away from the victory over Toledo was the play of some of the younger players, as a number of freshmen and sophomores go into the game against the Rockets. No one seemed to make more of a splash on Buckeye fans than freshman tailback Jordan Hall, who picked up 44 yards on just seven carries in his first career action at Ohio State.
Considered a likely redshirt candidate before his arrival in the summer, Hall has done nothing but impress since joining his former high school quarterback Terrelle Pryor in Columbus. He looked good in practice this fall, but seeing him perform in a live game Saturday has give the coaching staff the confidence to consider him a viable option in the backfield as they move into Big Ten play.
“Jordan's been impressive since he's been here,” Tressel said of the Pennsylvania native.
“He's a hard-nosed kid, studies the game, has done well running the football every chance he's gotten, so now that we've seen him in a game, obviously it makes it easier to put him into a game.”
Although he should see his role in the offense increase over the course of the season, Tressel cautions that it is not likely to happen over night as the Buckeyes will continue to rely on their duo of Boom Herron and Brandon Saine to carry the majority of the load.
“Well, there's only one tailback and Boom's going to play and B. Saine is going to play, so he's going to get his opportunities but to say all of a sudden you get 30 carries or whatever, I don't know that he's warranted that at this point,” Tressel said.
“He's done well. And the beautiful thing about football is every opportunity you get, if you can take advantage of it, who knows where that ends, but right now, he's doing as well as you could ask him.”
For many freshmen backs, the opportunity to play early is often thwarted by their lack of understanding and their inability to pick up blitzes in pass protection. According to Tressel, neither of those things will keep Hall off the field this season, and he is even striving to make an impact for the Buckeyes in other ways.
“He has no learning issues as far as pass protection or how we're blocking things or, shoot, he's anxious to get on special teams. He's out there working on trying to break into the lineup on the kickoff cover team. So, no, he's a football player,” Tressel said.
With Hall quickly cementing his place as the No. 3 tailback behind Herron and Saine, the chances for fellow freshman Jaamal Berry to play this season are looking slimmer and slimmer by the day. After undergoing surgery in the spring, Berry has been hampered by a hamstring injury for much this season and Tressel said Tuesday that he is still a week away from even being healthy enough to play.
“I'm not sure he'll be ready to go full speed this week,” Tressel said of Berry.
Assuming Berry is healthy enough to return for the team’s trip to Indiana, the season will already be a third of the way into the books and it sounds like Tressel would be likely to redshirt the Florida native unless there are injuries among the other backs.
“I guess you cross that bridge when he's healthy, according to how your health is, if you've got three or four guys that you think – you've got obviously Boom and Brandon Saine and Marcus Williams and Jordan Hall – so if you feel like you're solid with that and you can redshirt him, or if all of a sudden we need a little help there, but Jamaal is going to be a good player too.”
Concern over Boom?
With Hall looking so good late in the game, the fact starter Boom Herron is averaging just over 3.1 yards per carry this season became was put under the microscope Tuesday.
Although his 50 carries this season are second-most in the Big Ten behind Purdue’s Ralph Bolden (62), Herron is averaging only 52.7 yards per game on the ground in 2009, but coach Tressel said Tuesday that he is not concern with Herron’s lack of production as the starting back thus far.
“I think Boom had a couple chances last week where he just got shoe-stringed and you could see where he might pop it and all you need is to pop it and all your yards per carry is totally skewed,” Tressel said.
“I haven't seen his grade and so forth as being anything less than excellent. He's where he's supposed to be. He has been called upon at times when it was loaded up in there, but he's not unlike someone asked, well, was that good for Terrelle to pop that long one to start the game Saturday, that's what a running back needs is, go hit one for about 27 and all of a sudden, you get a little bit of that momentum going. No, Boom will be fine.”
Other Freshmen Making Noise
While Hall has certainly been the talk of the town this week, he is not the only freshman making noise for the Buckeyes. In fact, it’s a youngster on the defensive side of the football that has caused the most stir with his strong play as he has quietly worked his way into the rotation on the defensive line.
“John Simon is a great player, active guy, first guy into the meeting room, first guy into the weight room, he's going to be a good football player,” Tressel said.
“He really enjoys it. You can tell the guys, you see the Homan brothers in the weight room and you see Simon in the weight room and you've got to throw them out – (Austin) Spitler, you've got to throw those guys out. John Simon loves it.”
In fact, Simon is so zealous about getting stronger that even his workout partners had to tell him to pump the brakes the night before a game.
“John is a huge meatball. John will live and die in the weightroom,” linebacker Ross Homan said.
“Friday night, at the hotel up in Cleveland, (we) were walking back to the hotel room and John asked me and Spit where the fitness room was at. Me and Spit looked at him like, ‘You gotta be crazy, the night before a game, you can’t be working out.’ Spit’s like, ‘Just go in your room, chill out and relax.’ And he did.”
One freshman who likely won’t see the field this season is Chris Fields. The wideout from Painesville was named the scout team offensive player of the week and he drew some serious praise from his head coach Tuesday with a lofty comparison.
“I think Chris is going to be a good player. I told (receivers coach) Darrell Hazell and those guys more than once that Chris reminds me of the way that Santonio (Holmes) looked as a freshman,” Tressel said.
“Over there on the scout team, making plays, just has that certain something about him and I tell Chris that too. I mean, that's who he reminds me of. I think Chris Fields is going to be a good football player and we'll see if he gets to the Santonio Holmes level. Santonio obviously climbed, but at this moment, I've got a lot of good feel about what he's going to become.”
Interesting Stats Heading into Big Ten Play
-After three games, Terrelle Pryor leads the Big Ten it total offense at 263 yards per game. He is currently seventh in the conference in rushing with 176 yards, while averaging 6.29 yards per carry, but only ninth in passing at 204 yards per game. His four touchdown passes are tied for fifth most in the conference, but his four interceptions are second most and as many as he had all of last season.
-Following his 5-catch, 126-yard performance Saturday against Toledo, Dane Sanzenbacher is now the fourth-leading receiving in the Big Ten with 241 yards, an average of more than 80 per game. His three receiving touchdowns are second most in the conference behind only Michigan State’s Blair White (4) and his average of 26.8 yards per catch is not only tops in the Big Ten, but also fourth best in the entire country.
-Sophomore Lamaar Thomas ranks third in the Big Ten in kick return average (23.7 yards per return), but senior Ray Small ranks last in punt return average (2.7 yards) after leading the conference in that stat a year ago. Kicker Aaron Pettrey leads the Big Ten in points (26) and field goal percentage (85.7).
-Ohio State currently ranks seventh in the Big Ten in scoring offense and fifth in rushing offense. Illinois is eighth in scoring offense and second in rushing offense. On the defensive side of the football, OSU is ranked third in scoring defense and second in total defense while the Illini are near the bottom in both categories at No. 10 in the conference.
-The Buckeyes are the fourth-least penalized team in the Big Ten at just over 40 yards per game, but Illinois ranks dead-last in the conference and 106 th in the country, at 77.5 penalty yards per game. On the flip side, Ohio State’s opponents are the least penalized in the Big Ten at 30 yards per game, while the Illini’s opponents are averaging 55 penalty yards per game, fourth fewest in the conference.
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