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Football
10 Things We Learned from the Jersey Scrimmage
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS — With so many starters missing (Sanzenbacher, Chekwa, Torrence, Williams and Johnson) all missing, Saturday’s jersey scrimmage lacked the intensity it has carried in years past. There was still plenty of hitting (and even a little scoring) as the offense bested a depleted defense 53-48 to capture the coveted Scarlet jerseys.

It was the last scrimmage of the fall, but not the last practice. The Buckeyes will have their last two-a-day Monday  followed by three more one-a-days during the week before Head Coach Jim Tressel gives them a long weekend leading up to Marshall prep.

We took a look at the 10 things we learned from the 2010 fall jersey scrimmage.

1. Heyward is OSU’s most dominant player. Sorry to interrupt the Heisman hype surrounding quarterback Terrelle Pryor, but the Buckeyes’ most dominant player in 2010 will be Cameron Heyward. He was one of their best players a year ago, but the senior defensive end has taken his game to another level this fall. He was mercilessly bull-rushing the OSU offensive line Saturday and they had no answer for him. He only recorded one sack, but said he was frustrated by how many times Pryor threw the ball away when he was in hot pursuit. He only played on about 60 percent of the defensive snaps last season because of the depth, and if that becomes 80 or 90 percent in 2010 then there might not be a more productive defensive lineman in the country.

2. Andrew Sweat is not going to redshirt. Not only is Sweat not going to redshirt this season, but he just might be a starting linebacker for the Buckeyes this fall.

“He’s too good to redshirt,” Tressel said. “The 2010 Buckeyes need him.” 

After missing most of last season with a knee injury, Sweat has been battling Etienne Sabino for the starting Sam linebacker spot this fall. Sabino had been running with the ones all spring and throughout most of the fall, but Saturday it was Sweat lining up beside Ross Homan and Brian Rolle. Sabino eventually got a chance to play with the ones when Sweat slid over to replace Homan, but there’s no question it was Sweat who stood out during the jersey scrimmage. If he doesn’t start, Sweat will be the primary backup at both Sam and Will, and could even play some Mike in the middle if they need him.

3. The Buckeyes have depth at corner. Not only did the Buckeyes surrender only one touchdown during the jersey scrimmage Saturday, but they did it without both of their starting cornerbacks. Seniors Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence were sidelined by minor hamstring injuries, which means Travis Howard and Corey Brown would have to replace them in the starting lineup. Not only did they hold their own, but the guys who replaced them on the second and third units also had great days. Brown made a number of plays defensively as did Donnie Evege and Dominic Clarke playing with the twos. Clarke had a critical breakup in the end zone on a Pryor pass intended for DeVier Posey. Most importantly, we didn’t see OSU’s wideouts running around unchecked with Chekwa and Torrence on the sideline.

4. Philly Brown is going to get touches. He only touched the ball a handful of times during the jersey scrimmage, but Jim Tressel made it clear Saturday that he expects freshman wideout Corey “Philly” Brown to get some touches for the Buckeyes this fall. Tressel expects him to return punts in 2010 and senior cornerback Devon Torrence called him one of the five fastest players on the team. They went to him a few times Saturday, including on a reverse, and it’s clear that he brings an element of shiftiness to the receiving corps that Posey, Sanzenbacher and Washington do not.

5. Jaamal Berry has moves. Speaking of shiftiness, no one on the team has more than redshirt freshman Jaamal Berry. He got the most touches (17) in Saturday’s scrimmage, so it only makes sense that he would the leading rusher in the game, but it was the way he ran the ball that deserves attention. While Saine and Herron are very straight ahead runners, Berry loves to weave through traffic. On the first drive of the game with the threes, Berry snuck through the first level of the defense on a draw play and nearly went the distance before being brought down by the safety. He is not going to give the Buckeyes an every-down back who can run in short-yardage this season, but they have plenty of guys who can do that. 

6. Taurian Washington is still high-risk, high-reward. There is no understanding the mystery that is Taurian Washington. The senior out of Michigan has incredible talent, and might be Ohio State’s best deep threat in 2010, but he just can’t put it all together. Pryor went to him twice early during the scrimmage and both times Washington put it on the Turf. One of the passes was thrown behind him, but it still hit him in the hands. Then, just when it looked like T-Wash might have the jersey scrimmage from hell, he comes away with a 25-yard touchdown strike that ultimately gave the offense the victory. Let’s not forget, he also scored the game-winning touchdown in the spring game back in April.

7. Nathan Williams could play in season-opener. There were two players on crutches Saturday at Ohio Stadium, but injured defensive end Nathan Williams wasn’t one of them. While wideout Grant Schwartz and defensive back Chad Hagan hobbled around on crutches, Williams was seen walking along the south stands with his brace in his hands. If it was in his hands, then it obviously wasn’t on his injured left knee, and although he eventually did put it on, he clearly wasn’t favoring the knee as much as might be expected. After the scrimmage, Tressel said not to bet against Williams playing in the season-opener against Marshall a week from Thursday.

8. Jordan Whiting is stepping up. With Storm Klein and Dorian Bell both sidelined Saturday, the Buckeyes needed someone to step up and make plays at the linebacker position. Redshirt freshman Jordan Whiting answered the call. The 6-foot-1, 238-pound linebacker out of Louisville, Ky. was all over the field Saturday as he finished (unofficially) with a game-high 12.5 tackles. And these were not JOP’s, these were legitimate tackles. He was especially tough when filling the hole and meeting the running back at the line of scrimmage, and that was fully on display when he stuffed Bo Delande on the one-yard line during the defense’s goal line stand.

9. Young linemen are making plays. Ohio State is known for having good defensive lines and it looks like the future is in good hands. While Heyward was by far the most dominant defensive player on the field, there were a number of young linemen making big plays for defensive coordinator Jim Heacock. Junior Solomon Thomas isn’t a young guy anymore, he moved into the starting lineup to replace Williams, but it’s the guy he’s sharing time with that made the biggest splash Saturday. An unheralded redshirt freshman, Adam Bellamy has been working with the first-team defense in running situations, but it was his pass rushing skills that took center-stage in the scrimmage. The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder out of Aurora was in the backfield seemingly all afternoon as he finished with a game-high 2 sacks.

He wasn’t the only one. Defensive end Melvin Fellows looked good rushing the passer, as did freshman Darryl Baldwin. The two youngsters who shone the brightest, however, may have been defensive tackles Garrett Goebel and Johnathan Hankins. Both guys look like they are going to contribute this season, which would be huge for Ohio State’s depth on the defensive line.

10. Taylor Graham can play. Another young kid who looked good Saturday was quarterback Taylor Graham. We haven’t seen a whole lot of Graham this fall because he is the No. 4 guy behind Pryor, Bauserman and Guiton, but he flashed at the right time Saturday. It’s obvious he has a tremendous arm, but his accuracy has looked shaky in practice. Not so during the scrimmage. The son of former Buckeye quarterback Kent Graham completed six of his eight passes for 55 yards. He threw a nice screen pass to Jordan Hall that netted 25 yards and then hooked up with Ricky Crawford and Zach Boren on passes of 26 and 14 yards respectively.

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