Football
Jersey Scrimmage Impressions
By Tony Gerdeman

I always say that it’s dangerous to draw conclusions from a jersey scrimmage or Spring Game--which is why I only draw impressions. The problem, of course, is that my drawing ability peaked in the 8th grade and has grown quite stagnant in the years since. Fortunately, I am GREAT at impressions.

So what follows are my impressions of what I saw at the jersey scrimmage. Nothing more. Possibly something less.

And if you want, you can read it in Christopher Walken’s voice--which I just happen to do an awesome impression of by the way.

The Offense

Quarterbacks

Terrelle Pryor played most of the game wearing a black “Don‘t Tackle Me Bro!” jersey, so it was basically one-hand touch football for Pryor most of the morning. And it visibly frustrated him. And why wouldn’t it? Putting a black jersey on Terrelle Pryor isn’t just handcuffing him--it’s handcuffing him, putting him in a bacon suit, tying him to a post, and then unleashing a bacon-starved defense after him. The defense really didn’t have to be too concerned about the scrambling, because all they had to do to “tackle” him was touch him--which they did quite a bit of. But then towards the end of the scrimmage--like Clark Kent ducking into a phone booth to change his wardrobe--Pryor ditched the black jersey for scarlet, and it was game on from that point. The offense outscored the defense 31-16 with both Pryor and Joe Bauserman “live“, but ultimately fell one point short. Pryor didn’t have a great day throwing the ball. He left a few flare passes short and rarely looked downfield. But how far can you look downfield when you’ve got somebody flying into your face like a 270-pound pigeon into an office window? I don’t recall any read-option, or any option for that matter, from Pryor. This would concern me if it wasn‘t the spring, because I’m still firmly in the group of people that feels Terrelle Pryor needs to be a big part of Ohio State’s running game this season.

Joe Bauserman is still the same gunslinger he was last year, but the deep balls were a bit erratic today. He threw two deep post passes to Lamaar Thomas that were long and into double coverage, one of which should have been intercepted. But maybe it means that the “Throw the deep ball short and give your receiver a chance to break up an interception” philosophy is going away. Let’s all hope. Bauserman did show some very nice escapability. I was bothered, however, by the lack of receivers breaking downfield on scrambles all morning long.

Running Backs

Boom Herron got the start and ran as tough as he always does. There were no big breaks for him, but then this wasn’t Michigan’s defense he was going against. There wasn’t much room to run today, but when the offense needed yards, they were able to move the line of scrimmage forward--especially when they were backed up at their own goal line.

For me, the bright spot of the entire day--and this includes Solomon Thomas’ seven sacks--was the play of Brandon Saine. He showed a cutback ability and decisiveness that I haven’t seen from him since high school. It was truly impressive. Though I find myself trying to decide if he looked so good relative to how he looked last year, or if he actually just looked really good. And basing it off of what I saw and the production relative to Boom’s, I think Saine just looked really good. Jim Tressel says Saine is finally healthy, and if this is a healthy Saine, then he is definitely going to be a contributor this year. The staff always talks about the packages they have for him…well, we may actually get to see them this year--and with a healthy target to boot. In the postgame, Jim Tressel said that Saine was showing more “free-flowing instinct”, and he couldn’t be more spot-on. There were several runs that were cut back today that would have never been cut back in 2007 or 2008. And he’s strong like bull too. He was moving piles, breaking free, and then moving the next pile. If I remember nothing from today, then forgetting Saine’s play will be my most regrettable forget.

Receivers/Tight Ends

DeVier Posey got ejected by Jim Tressel for a penalty that Tressel neither saw, nor knew what was called. But he ejected him anyway. There are more lessons being given here than during a “Little House on the Prairie” marathon--or “Prairathon”, as we call them. Posey did have a catch or two and was un-ejected (de-jected?) for the final drive of the game, which has me wondering if maybe Bobby Bowden was a guest coach today.

Taurian Washington was the main target during the scrimmage (along with walk-on Ricky Crawford), though I wonder how much of that had to do with the fact that Posey was serving an hour-long suspension and Dane Sanzenbacher wasn’t playing. To Washington’s credit though, he played well. I can definitely see him contributing this season--especially with this team still trying to find three reliable receivers to focus on.

The receivers didn’t really get to do much today because of all of the short passing and solid tackling. One promising note was the fact that the quarterbacks were actually using the middle of the field, and a couple of times even found the zone between the safeties and linebackers. It was encouraging, but I’ll believe it’s a part of this offense when Michigan doesn’t have to go dumpster diving for quarterbacks.

And, as a sort of “rite of spring“, the quarterbacks threw the ball downfield to the tight ends a few times. Third-string quarterback Justin Siems threw a corner route to Nic Dilillo about fifteen or twenty yards downfield and Jake Stoneburner caught a bit of a skinny post for about a 26-yard gain down the middle of the field. Interestingly, Stoneburner lined up in the old “ShotGinn” position split out in the backfield. There is a wheel route out of this that some unlucky linebacker is going to be embarrassed by.

Offensive Line

The starting lineup was Mike Adams at left tackle, Justin Boren at left guard, Mike Brewster at center, Bryant Browning at right guard and Jimmy Cordle at right tackle. Barring J.B. Shugarts making a move when he gets healthy, I tend to think that this is the lineup the staff would like to see this season.

But after the way pass rush abused the offensive lines, I’m guessing the coaches aren’t going to get too attached to any one particular lineup just yet.

Left tackles Mike Adams and Andy Miller both struggled at times. By my count, Miller gave up three sacks to Solomon Thomas alone. I don’t recall too much pass rush coming from Jim Cordle’s side, but maybe that’s because the defensive ends on his side of the field just weren’t getting to the quarterback in time to beat the defensive ends on the other side of the field.

The interiors of the offensive lines performed well enough. When the offense needed tough yards, they got a good enough push at times, but nobody is going to stand this defense up consistently.

The Defense

Defensive Line

The story of the day on defense was obviously Solomon Thomas and his seven sacks and probably three or four other pressures. Although it would be fair to say that at least half of those sacks were of the “touch” variety. Though just the fact that he was always the backfield says a lot. Per my sometimes unreadable notes, I had Thomas getting three sacks against Andy Miller, one against Mike Adams, one against freshman Jack Mewhort, one against a tight end and one against running back Marcus Williams. He was just too quick for anybody to handle. And the scary thing is that Thomas might be the Buckeyes’ sixth defensive end on the depth chart.

I think it’s safe to be concerned about the offensive line’s ability to pass block, but sometimes a pass rush against Terrelle Pryor can be a defense’s worst enemy. (How’s THAT for optimism!?)

Thaddeus Gibson was also involved, but the interesting thing to me was seeing him back away from the line and actually line up as a quasi-linebacker like Will Smith used to do. I’m guessing they will move him all over the place this year--which should be pretty fun to watch. And I think the days of Gibson being strictly a pass-rusher are fading away. There were several times when he was making a push up field and would have to switch to run-stopping mode, which he did very well. The potential is definitely there.

Per my notes (if I’m wrong, I can blame my notes), I had Doug Worthington with three sacks. The first one was against Bryant Browning. Gibson got double-teamed which allowed Worthington to scoot right by Browning for the sack. Worthington’s most impressive play of the day, however, was probably on a Terrelle Pryor scramble towards the sideline where he was quite clearly trying to turn the corner, but Worthington stayed with him step for step down the line and wouldn’t let Pryor turn it up field. It showcased Worthington’s speed down the line, though that’s probably never been an issue.

I could talk more about the defensive line, but I want to hurry up and get to the linebackers.

Linebackers

When your biggest problem involving your linebackers is trying to figure out who NOT to play, then things are pretty good. And even though the Buckeyes lost James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman, I believe this team could be loaded at linebacker. Even with Ross Homan out right now, there are still plenty of playmakers in the mix.

The one guy whose play consistently stands out is Tyler Moeller. For a player who has always been questioned about his size, and by proxy his ability to play the run, rarely is there a running play when he is in the game where he is not on the bottom of the pile. I think his specialty will always be chaos, but there’s much more to his game than just chaos. (There’s also havoc!)

Austin Spitler started in the middle and I expect him to be there in September as well. Brian Rolle was the third starter in the scrimmage and is similar to Moeller in that he’s usually involved in whatever’s going on. Kind of like a nosy neighbor, I guess. An ill-intentioned nosy neighbor, of course.

Etienne Sabino was the second-team middle linebacker and he stopped piles from moving forward seemingly all by himself a couple of times. He’s another guy that you know needs to be on the field, but who do you replace to get him there--and for how long?

One of the more exciting aspects of the game for me was the play of freshman Storm Klein. He was playing as the third-team middle linebacker and it was clear that the third-string offense couldn’t handle him. He was constantly making tackles at the line of scrimmage and wouldn’t stay blocked. His level of play so early in his Buckeye career reminded me of seeing Ross Homan as a freshman a few years back and how impressed I was at that time. I don’t know if there is an opportunity for Klein to see the field this season, but when he finally gets his chance, get ready.

Secondary

With Chimdi Chekwa having the boundary corner spot wrapped up, it was fun to watch Devon Torrence and Andre Amos battle for the field corner spot. Both players had interceptions, though Amos should have had at least one more. Nobody was really beaten deep, though they didn’t really test them deep too often. Anderson Russell said that receivers were being sent downfield, but everybody was playing their assignments.

Torrence’s interception came in the endzone on a come back route. It was impressive in that he jumped the route, but showed patience in doing it. Terrelle Pryor was rolling out towards the sideline and Torrence stayed with his man the entire way. We‘ve seen lesser defensive backs lose their man when Pryor is rolling out in the redzone, so it was nice to see that Torrence can be that disciplined. He seems much more comfortable this year and if he sticks around this summer and lets baseball go, he’s only going to get better.

I don’t really have much in my notes about the safeties, which is probably a very good thing. (Just think about how much one could write about Michigan’s safeties.)

Special Teams

Yes, Aaron Pettrey missed the game-tying extra point from 35-yards out, but he did make a 56-yard field goal earlier in the scrimmage, so that has to count for something. (Actually, it counts for three points.)

There was no punting, so I will give no impressions there. Overall, however, I am pretty concerned about the kicking game. I have complete confidence in the strength of Pettrey’s leg, but I sometimes wonder about its straightness (not that there‘s anything wrong with that).

And any time a new punter is broken in, you worry. You can’t just put a newbie in the position of handling the most important play in football and not be a tad nervous about it.

Conclusion

That’s about the extent of my legible notes--and legible memory. All in all, it was a good day. The weather was perfect. Nobody was hurt. I got a free lunch. And I don’t have to feel guilty about taking a nap today.

But for me, the lasting impression will be seeing Brandon Saine make cuts and reads that he hasn’t been capable of making as a Buckeye up to this point. It’s as if the Buckeyes brought in a stud JUCO running back to battle for playing time. He is not the same player we have seen the last two years. Believe it. (Or don’t forget to remind me if I’m wrong.)

And I guess for you, your lasting impression would be the terrible Christopher Walken that you tried while you read this. It was truly a sad display on your part. And I don’t want to hear anymore about your cowbell, and I certainly don’t want to hear about the watch that you had to hide from Charlie.

Now let me go take my nap.

Some Jersey Scrimmage Unofficial Stats

Rushing by Running Backs:

Brandon Saine 18 carries 69 yards

Boom Herron 12 carries 50 yards 1 TD

Marcus Williams 12 carries 48 yards

Bo DeLande 8 carries 18 yards

Grant Swartz 1 carry 2 yards

Joe Gantz 8 carries 19 yards

Passing

Terrelle Pryor - 9 of 15 for 87 yard, 1 INT, 0 TDs, long of 22

Bauserman 9 of 20, 120 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD, long of 26

Justin Siems 11 of 18, 89 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, long of 28.

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