Spring, when a young man's fancy turns to football

Some things are constant about the Ohio State spring football game.

1. OSU has a LOT of talent
2. The defense is always ahead of the offense at this point. “See ball, get ball” as Chris Speilman likes to say is easier to get started than blocking schemes.
3. A number of younger players caught the eye of the Buckeye faithful

Overall thoughts

One thing that has been a problem for the last three years is the blocking scheme against the wide outside rush. Both defenses took advantage of setting a defensive end far wide to rush the passer. The tackle to that side doubled down with the guard on the DT, leaving the back and tight end to block a DE. This just doesn't work. It didn't work against Florida. It didn't work against LSU. And it didn't work yesterday. It was further aggravated by a wide end/outside linebacker blitz combination.

OSU has some outstanding athletes at the inside offensive line positions. I was particularly impressed with Kyle Mitchum and Andrew Moses on the Gray offensive line. They both pulled and made solid blocks on sweeps. Far too many players run all that way and whiff on the block. These two were extremely accurate in their blocking after the pull. Hats off to both. In general, the run blocking was solid on both lines.

Pass protection in a spring game is hard because you have a mix of linemen that do not normally work together. That was obvious on both lines. Pass protection was made more difficult when the DL of both teams include potential All American players like OSU has.

Heads off to the Little 10 Network. I love the OSU band as much as anyone. But when you are covering the Spring game of a team that was in the Championship game the last two years, how can you cut critical minutes from the game to show the half time?

Scarlet Offense

I have some concern about Todd Boeckman's mechanics. Both interceptions were in part the result of less than perfect footwork. He is not setting his feet. To his defense, the second INT was thrown under extreme duress. The short passing game that OSU wants to use more is dependent on extremely accurate passing and great timing of the throws. Both of those depend on exacting footwork.

The first interception just had a little too much air under the throw combined with a great drive to the ball by DB Kurt Coleman.

Brian Hartline played well as expected. His catch on the deep middle throw was a thing of beauty. He showed his outstanding body control. Antonio Henton looked good at times in the game. He has a good arm but like all under classmen, has a little trouble reading defenses under pressure. Dan Heron ran well and shows good vision for the hole and the quick feet to get there. He is going to be a good one. Ray Small continues to develop nicely showing good hands and excellent awareness of the sideline on that deep catch. He also finds ways to get open. Rory Nicol is a solid TE and OSU needs to get him the ball more often. He has good hands and the ability to hurt 2 deep coverage down the middle.

Gray Defense

Marcus Freeman—WOW! Even without his running mates from last year, he looked ready for that team up north. Etienne Sabino jumped out at me. He had a great game showing the ability to read the play quickly, take good angles to the runner, and delivers a hit when he gets there. Tom Ingham was unblockable on the D line and was a constant member of the Scarlet backfield. Lawrence Wilson showed he can not only rush the passer but shut down the run. Bryan Grey played well against the pass and the run. Soloman Thomas showed great pass rush ability but needs to be under better control on his rush. Ross Homan did a great job of jumping the route on his interception. Tyler Moeller played well also showing his blitz ability.

In addition to Coleman, the Gray backfield looked good. Brandon Underwood played well and made some big hits. Donald Washington showed his ability to cover and defend a pass. Andre Amos showed his tackling ability and his coverage skills.

Gray Offense

Joe Bauserman looked very good. He has a NFL arm. What I liked the most was the way he looked off the safety on the touchdown pass. That is something that most college QB's struggle with. He showed excellent long accuracy and the ability to move enough in the pocket to avoid the rush.

Taurian Washington was outstanding. He adjusts to ball and has great hands. More important, he got separation against some of the best corner backs in college football.

Other than the two Gray lineman mentioned above, the O line struggled against the pass rush of the Scarlet. In the second quarter, they seemed to come together a little better. They did ok run blocking. Dane Sanzenbacher finds the ball quickly and adjusts to it. He also shows great effort going after the pass and fights for the ball. Brandon Saine looked very good except on the ill-advised kick return from 8 yards deep in the end zone.

Maurice Wells had a good kick return and showed the vision he is noted for. Bryan Schuck had a nice catch and showed a good football IQ.

Scarlet Defense

The one thing that was obvious about the Scarlet D was the gang tackling. Everyone was getting into the action. That is a great sign.

Any discussion of the Scarlet D must start with James Laurinaitis. He played like he always does—all out and all over the field.

I think I saw Chimdi Chekwa selling popcorn at half time. He did everything else so that would not have been a surprise. He blitzed from the corner and hurried the QB, hit the runner like a linebacker, and had a great play on special teams. Well done.

Thaddeus Gibson was outstanding. He is going to be a beast, but he needs to get control as he rushes the passer. A couple of times he had a sack but lacked the control to make the tackle. That was probably a case of a little too much adrenaline. It was great to see him back on the field this year.

Dexter Larimore played well and got a lot of pressure on the QB. Cameron Heyward and Doug Worthington were also contributors to the problems that the Gray line experienced. Nader Abdallah played very well and had a sack.

On the last line of defense, the Scarlet looked good as well. Shaun Lane covered very well and had 2 passes defended. Young Nate Oliver looked solid against the run and with one exception played well against the pass.

by Bill Smith
BigTen-fans.com Guest Writer

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com and has published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm