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Football
Hall’s Misfortune Opens Door for Norwell
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS — Locked up in a man-to-man battle with fellow freshman David Durham, offensive tackle Andrew Norwell lost his helmet but not his intensity.

Andrew Norwell
Photo by Jim Davidson

With his head protection lying on the Turf, Norwell’s long hair dangled in his face as he continued to battle with Durham long after the whistle. It got so physical during one of the fall practices that the two freshmen almost came to blows right there on the field.

But that’s Andrew Norwell in a nutshell, and it’s that kind of fervor that earned him a fist-pump and a pat on the butt from upperclassmen Michael Brewster and Mike Adams as he came off the practice field.

“He’s very aggressive, really tries to get after defenders and if he gets you going backward he’s going to keep driving,” senior guard Bryant Browning said of the young lineman.

“He’s working hard at learning his playbook and really soaking everything up and playing hard.”

A rookie out of Cincinnati Anderson High School, Norwell is trying his best to learn as much as he can as fast as he can in hopes of contributing for the No. 2-ranked Buckeyes in 2010. Despite Norwell’s ranking as one of the top offensive tackle prospects in the country, it looked like a long-shot when camp opened back on Aug. 5.

Change of Plans

Just last week, the 6-foot-5, 308-pounder showed up on our list of freshmen on the redshirt bubble this fall, but a lot has changed since then. It was only three days after that piece ran on The Ozone that Ohio State announced sophomore Marcus Hall would take a redshirt in 2010 to focus on academics.

“He’s able to practice, but I think any time you lose anybody, it hurts,” OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel said Saturday.

“Any time you have somebody in your two-deep that you won’t have—it’s like losing (linebacker) Andrew Sweat last year—it hurts you.”

Although Hall was not expected to start for the Buckeyes this fall, he was a key member of the two-deep on the offensive line and a guy who played in nine games as a freshman last season. He was the primary backup to junior J.B. Shugarts at right tackle—where he started one game a year ago when Shugarts was injured—and had just recently joined the competition at left tackle for the starting job with Adams and Andrew Miller.

“Marcus is a great player, but we also have a ton of young guys who came in here with him and other guys around,” said Browning, who was a high school teammate of Hall’s at Cleveland Glenville.

“The coaches have done a good job of rotating in players and getting players reps here and there. We should be ready to go.”

After missing most of his senior season with a broken bone in his ankle, Norwell came to camp rearing and ready to go this fall. With his broad shoulders, long arms and excellent height, Norwell certainly looked the part of a bookend left tackle, but he quickly found himself running with the third-team offensive line at right tackle, where he was splitting reps with senior Josh Kerr.

It didn’t take long, however, for the former four-star prospect to catch the eye of his new coaches, and when Hall was demoted to third-team left tackle last week, it opened the door for Norwell to jump up and show what he can do on the second unit.

“It’s going to be interesting to watch Andrew Norwell. I’ve been very impressed with him,” Tressel said.

“He was working a good bit with the second group and for a young lineman, he’s been very, very impressive.”

The Buckeyes are not strangers to impressive looking freshmen at the tackle position. Two years ago they landed two of the top players in the country in Adams and Shugarts. Both players looked the part as soon as they arrived on campus, and both were quick to crack the two-deep for the Buckeyes, but neither played much as a freshman in 2008. One big difference with Norwell is his ability to pass protect at a young age.  

“One of the big things for an offensive tackle is pass protection and I think he has done a good job trying to learn those calls,” said Andy Miller, who would become Ohio State’s most valuable backup if he loses the left tackle job to Adams.

“He is a physical kid and he is really eager to learn. Just like any other freshmen, our offense is quite complex, but he has done a good job learning from the beginning.”

If Norwell cannot establish himself as a regular in the two deep this fall, it would leave OSU in a jam heading into the 2010 season. With Hall not available, the Buckeyes could use Miller on the right side if something happened to Shugarts. Otherwise they might have to really shake things up if Norwell isn’t ready.

“Now, will he be able to be that fourth guy? We’ll see. Or do you have to go with Bryant Browning when you need a fourth guy,” Tressel asked rhetorically.

“Those are some of the questions we can’t answer right now.”

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