Football
Thursday Tressel Talk: Man Down
By Brandon CastelFor the second straight year, the Ohio State offensive line suffered a casualty against USC.
After losing guard Steve Rehring to a foot injury in the second half of last year’s 35-3 loss to the Trojans, the Buckeyes will now be without Jim Cordle for at least a month after the senior right tackle had an MRI on his foot Wednesday.
Jim Cordle
Photo by Jim Davidson“The most significant one is that Jimmy Cordle won’t be able to play,” OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel said Thursday during his final meeting with the media before the Toledo game.
According to Tressel, the foot had been bothering Cordle before the USC game, but he continued to play through the pain. Both he and the coaching staff were hoping it would feel better over time, but instead the pain only got worse.
“His ankle was bothering him a little bit Monday and he didn’t think it would be a problem. Thought it would get better Tuesday and it progressively got worse, so they did an MRI and it looks like he might be out 3-4 weeks,” Tressel said.
Tressel did not give the exact nature of the injury, but did say that it was not a broken bone.
Although Cordle was in his first stint at right tackle, the senior, who served as the offensive captain in the season-opener against Navy, had started 28 straight games for the Buckeyes on the offensive line. After starting every game of the 2007 season at center, Cordle moved to left guard following Rehring’s injury last season before moving out to the right tackle spot this season after Bryant Browning slid inside to replace Ben Person at right guard.
“I think it’s a big deal any time you lose someone who has played so much,” Tressel said.
With Cordle out of the lineup this week, sophomore J.B. Shugarts has been getting the majority of the reps at right tackle. He would appear to be the probable starter for this weekend’s game against Toledo at Cleveland Browns Stadium, although classmate Mike Adams has also seen reps on the right side after missing the first two games of the season due to suspension.
“The guy who’s been playing most of the right tackle this week is J.B. Shugarts. Michael Adams has played a little bit of right tackle, you could always move Bryant Browning out there if you had to, according to how guys are doing,” Tressel said.
After playing limited reps as a freshman last season, Shugarts missed all of spring practice following off-season shoulder surgery. He returned in the fall and quickly secured a spot in the two-deep behind Cordle at right tackle. He would later move over to the left side to battle with Andrew Miller following news of Adams’ suspension, and even saw two series at left tackle in the opener against Navy.
“He hasn’t played much, (but) he’s very talented,” Tressel said of the 6-foot-8, 290-pound tackle out of Klein, Tex.
“The (offensive coaches) mentioned today, the two quickest guys off the ball are Justin (Boren) and J.B. Sometimes it appears the center doesn’t get it snapped sometimes – especially out of the gun – because those guys are already moving.”
Meanwhile, Adams has also been getting reps as the backup to Miller at left tackle since his return to the two-deep this week, and Tressel said the Buckeyes could use as many as eight offensive linemen in the game as they try to decide what lineup works best with Cordle being out for a duration of time.
One such look could include Browning at right tackle, where he started 13 games a year ago, and either Miller or Andrew Moses at right guard – although it seems unlikely the Buckeyes would want to do so much shuffling on the line – but Tressel said not to expect any of the three freshmen in the two-deep to burn their redshirts just yet.
“Never say never, but if the game were this moment, probably not,” Tressel said of playing freshmen Corey Linsley, Jack Mewhort or Marcus Hall.
Other Personnel Updates
While the Buckeyes have used only two tailbacks to date this season, the game against Toledo figures to be an opportunity for coach Tressel and the offensive staff to get a look at some of the younger backs on the roster some live action.
Veterans Boom Herron and Brandon Saine will still see the bulk of the work against the Rockets Saturday, but coach Tressel said he has no predetermined plans to redshirt freshmen Jordan Hall and Jaamal Berry, although one appears to be more likely to play than the other.
“Right now it would be Jordan Hall from the young guys standpoint. Jaamal Berry’s been nursing a little bit of a hammy, or I don’t know what exactly, so Jordan has gotten more reps lately,” Tressel said.
Speaking of reps, Tressel revealed an updated pecking order at the receiver position Thursday. To no surprise, freshman Duron Carter has officially moved into the top three with starters DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher, but the big surprise was junior Taurian Washington dropping all the way to the bottom of the back after spending most of fall camp working at that No. 3 receiver spot.
“Out wide, the three guys that would begin the game are Dane and DeVier and Duron. Ray (Small) would probably be your next guy in the game, Lamaar (Thomas) would be the next guy and probably Taurian next.”
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