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| Option/Zone Read (Josh Winslow) |
In what was the best practice of the spring thus far, Urban Meyer left the field a very happy man. Let's take a look at some key notes from the practice brought to you by Cleveland.com
"That was AIA. That's our best practice of the spring, one of the best practices I've seen," Meyer said. "The intensity level was an A. Competitiveness was an A. Coaching was an A by our assistant coaches. Execution is obviously not an A, but it doesn't have to be right now.
"If you want to see a ball practice, that was a ball practice."
- Meyer was most excited by the offense, which beat the defense in a practice scrimmage for the first time. This scrimmage focused on third-down execution, with third-and-five situations repeated. Meyer said the offense had a 70 or 80 percent success rate before the defense battled back.
"Snaps are hitting the quarterback right between the numbers. It's not a clown show out there like at a couple points. Guys are competing. That's why I'm going to leave here tonight impressed with the Ohio State Buckeyes," Meyer said.
"It's huge. It's not about execution. I'm not worried about that right now. But I want to see guys go and I want to see an offense resemble an offense and the defense come back with its back against the wall," Meyer said. "It is a big moment for me and for our staff."
- The highlight of practice was a 75-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Miller to running back Carlos Hyde. Miller scrambled to the right, and with the Buckeyes teaching their passcatchers to break off their deep routes short and run their short routes long in scramble situations, Hyde took off, caught the ball behind the defense, and took off.
I asked Meyer about Miller's ability to throw on the move after keeping plays alive, and Meyer said, "Having a quarterback that makes something out of nothing is every coach's dream and we've got one, and we might have two.
That was praise for backup Kenny Guiton as well as Miller.
He also said Hyde had an excellent practice.
"He's drinking the Kool-Aid right now," Meyer said.
Miller's reward for the touchdown pass? He got tackled pretty hard by defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins on the next play. The quarterbacks wear black jerseys that are supposed to limit their ability to get hit, but that didn't seem to apply on every snap Wednesday.
- Defensive lineman John Simon continues to show a new level of quickness firing off the ball. Watch the video and you'll see just one example of how he routinely beats the first-team tackles in head-to-head drills. Jack Mewhort and Reid Fragel will get better each time they face Simon.
Simon is still working at Leo a lot, the pass-rushing end spot which also drops into coverage at times. But that is not his best position and every time he's dropping into coverage instead of attacking the line of scrimmage, that's a big loss for the defense. The Buckeyes need a Leo to emerge, but with Noah Spence coming in the fall, it might be his to earn.
- Sophomore defensive lineman Michael Bennett, also in the video, continues to improve as well. He moved onto the first team early in camp and there seems to be no way that he won't be a starter in the fall.
- OSU redshirt freshman lineman Chris Carter from John F. Kennedy High has moved from offense to defense. Meyer said the plan was to try Carter at both this spring and he made the switch at the halfway point. Wednesday's practice was number nine of 15.
He worked in with the second team defensive line at times, joining Steve Miller, Adam Bellamy, Joel Hale and Chase Farris. The first team defensive line is Simon, Hankins, Bennett and Garrett Goebel.
- Farris made a big interception in the scrimmage at the end of practice and was praised by Meyer for making a play, but Meyer had to be reminded of his last name.
- True freshman center Jacoby Boren is out for the rest of spring after having surgery on a torn labrum he suffered at the end of his senior football season. His older brother, senior fullback Zach, said the original plan was for his brother to wait until after the end of the season in November, but he moved into the No. 2 center role this spring and the coaches wanted him at full strength for September, so the surgery was done now.
Meyer confirmed the surgery and his affinity for the youngest Boren, once again calling him a "tough nut." Boren sliding past Brian Bobek as the No. 2 center, when it seemed like Bobek had a shot to be the starting center before the spring, has to be one of the surprises of practice. Corey Linsley is the starting center.
- Meyer mentioned running back Jordan Hall and tight end Jake Stoneburner as the top playmakers on offense, but the receivers showed some signs Wednesday. Corey "Philly" Brown had a nice catch twisting his body over the middle, and Tyrone Williams used his 6-6 frame on a touchdown catch in the corner of the endzone off a Miller lob. Williams has shown progress all spring after showing little as a redshirt freshman last year.
"Snaps are hitting the quarterback right between the numbers. It's not a clown show out there like at a couple points. Guys are competing. That's why I'm going to leave here tonight impressed with the Ohio State Buckeyes," Meyer said.
"It's huge. It's not about execution. I'm not worried about that right now. But I want to see guys go and I want to see an offense resemble an offense and the defense come back with its back against the wall," Meyer said. "It is a big moment for me and for our staff."
- The highlight of practice was a 75-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Miller to running back Carlos Hyde. Miller scrambled to the right, and with the Buckeyes teaching their passcatchers to break off their deep routes short and run their short routes long in scramble situations, Hyde took off, caught the ball behind the defense, and took off.
I asked Meyer about Miller's ability to throw on the move after keeping plays alive, and Meyer said, "Having a quarterback that makes something out of nothing is every coach's dream and we've got one, and we might have two.
That was praise for backup Kenny Guiton as well as Miller.
He also said Hyde had an excellent practice.
"He's drinking the Kool-Aid right now," Meyer said.
Miller's reward for the touchdown pass? He got tackled pretty hard by defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins on the next play. The quarterbacks wear black jerseys that are supposed to limit their ability to get hit, but that didn't seem to apply on every snap Wednesday.
- Defensive lineman John Simon continues to show a new level of quickness firing off the ball. Watch the video and you'll see just one example of how he routinely beats the first-team tackles in head-to-head drills. Jack Mewhort and Reid Fragel will get better each time they face Simon.
Simon is still working at Leo a lot, the pass-rushing end spot which also drops into coverage at times. But that is not his best position and every time he's dropping into coverage instead of attacking the line of scrimmage, that's a big loss for the defense. The Buckeyes need a Leo to emerge, but with Noah Spence coming in the fall, it might be his to earn.
- Sophomore defensive lineman Michael Bennett, also in the video, continues to improve as well. He moved onto the first team early in camp and there seems to be no way that he won't be a starter in the fall.
- OSU redshirt freshman lineman Chris Carter from John F. Kennedy High has moved from offense to defense. Meyer said the plan was to try Carter at both this spring and he made the switch at the halfway point. Wednesday's practice was number nine of 15.
He worked in with the second team defensive line at times, joining Steve Miller, Adam Bellamy, Joel Hale and Chase Farris. The first team defensive line is Simon, Hankins, Bennett and Garrett Goebel.
- Farris made a big interception in the scrimmage at the end of practice and was praised by Meyer for making a play, but Meyer had to be reminded of his last name.
- True freshman center Jacoby Boren is out for the rest of spring after having surgery on a torn labrum he suffered at the end of his senior football season. His older brother, senior fullback Zach, said the original plan was for his brother to wait until after the end of the season in November, but he moved into the No. 2 center role this spring and the coaches wanted him at full strength for September, so the surgery was done now.
Meyer confirmed the surgery and his affinity for the youngest Boren, once again calling him a "tough nut." Boren sliding past Brian Bobek as the No. 2 center, when it seemed like Bobek had a shot to be the starting center before the spring, has to be one of the surprises of practice. Corey Linsley is the starting center.
- Meyer mentioned running back Jordan Hall and tight end Jake Stoneburner as the top playmakers on offense, but the receivers showed some signs Wednesday. Corey "Philly" Brown had a nice catch twisting his body over the middle, and Tyrone Williams used his 6-6 frame on a touchdown catch in the corner of the endzone off a Miller lob. Williams has shown progress all spring after showing little as a redshirt freshman last year.
- Injuries (or people who didn't participate much) - Zach Domicone, Jamie Wood, Storm Klein, Se'Von Pittman, Verlon Reed, Jacoby Boren, Nate Williams and Evan Spencer (arm in sling)
Join us after the jump for even more in-depth coverage of the practice.
- Judging by the number of times Simon gets pulled out of a last part of a scrimmage or drill, his effort and play seem quite unstoppable and unblockable.
“A warhorse; he is Ohio State football,” Meyer said about John Simon on the Big Ten teleconference Wednesday. “He is ‘Tebowish’ in terms of his commitment.”
“A warhorse; he is Ohio State football,” Meyer said about John Simon on the Big Ten teleconference Wednesday. “He is ‘Tebowish’ in terms of his commitment.”
- Sophomore WR Evan Spencer had his left arm in a sling and did not practice.
- Tyrone Williams continues to have a strong spring. Had a couple real nice TD catches from Miller, going high above the DB to haul them in. Williams did have a couple drops today, but overall looks really good.
- Michael Thomas caught a long pass from Miller on a skinny post route during live action. Thomas has good speed. Thomas is an incoming freshman that has really impressed the coaches thus far. Expect him to see the field quite a bit this fall.
- Overall it was a sharp day for Braxton Miller. Mostly, the Buckeye offense was working on quick passes, to the backs in the flat, WR screens, slants, etc.
- It appears the coaches are very high on Bri'onte Dunn. I truly don't believe he's going to redshirt, barring injury.
- We are going to see a lot of 4 and 5-wide sets with Urban's Spread attack. The "base" will be 3-wide with one TE (Stoneburner) and a RB. However, it's really more like 4-wide even in that formation because they're going to use Stoneburner basically as a WR, ala Aaron Hernandez.
Finally, we have found out the Spring Game format:
- There will be four 10-minute quarters with a 15-minute halftime
- The play clock will stop during the first and second quarters with a continuously running clock in the second half;
- No kickoffs (all drives at start of halves or after scores will start at the 35);
- All punts will be fair caught
- Field goals and extra points will be live with first team FG unit with each team’s kicker.
That's all we've got today. Stay tuned for the latest news on the Buckeyes spring practice.
