Mike Weber flashed a large smile, fully aware of what he was about to say.
"LenDale White and Reggie Bush," Ohio State's starting running back responded when asked how effective the combination of him and Curtis Samuel could be together out of the backfield.
Wait, what?
Yes, Weber was talking about that combination of White and Bush — arguably the best running back tandem in recent college football history. Quite the statement from someone who just finished his first collegiate game.
Weber wasn't necessarily comparing himself and Samuel to White and Bush — that's not how I read it anyway — but it was more of what he hoped the Buckeyes' combination could one day be. Still, he said it, and it was a little bit surprising.
"I think we can be a really good 1-2 punch,” Weber said.
Weber, a redshirt freshman from Detroit, carried the ball 19 times for 136 yards (7.2 per carry) in his collegiate debut. He ran hard the entire game and nearly broke several long runs, but failed to get into the end zone. Don't worry, he'll get there soon enough.
Samuel had a huge game for the Buckeyes with 261 total yards. He gained 84 of those on the ground on 13 attempts (6.5 yards per carry) and had one rushing touchdown in addition to his two through the air.
“It’s going to be great," Samuel said of the combination between him and Weber. "He can run outside, he can run inside. I can run outside, I can run inside. It just keeps us balanced in the run game and teams just can’t say we’re going to do one thing when either of us is in the game.”
Weber and Samuel looked really impressive against the Falcons. Let's pump the brakes a bit on the comparisons to White and Bush.
MALIK Hooker Talks Crazy Interception
There wasn't a defensive player on Ohio State's roster hyped more throughout last spring and this training camp than redshirt sophomore Malik Hooker. He was constantly praised by his teammates and coaches for his ball-hawking, playmaking ability from the safety position.
Buckeyes fans caught a glimpse of that in the spring game when Hooker had a pair of interceptions including one he returned 82 yards for a touchdown. But his first real game action came Saturday, and Hooker again put his talent on full display.
The New Castle, Pennsylvania native had a pair of impressive interceptions against Bowling Green — including this highlight-reel one-handed pick— and he recorded four tackles on the day.
After the game, Hooker spoke about his knack for finding the football.
"It's more being able to know the defense a lot more and know what the guys in front of me are capable of doing, just reacting off what they do," he said. "The linebackers and defensive line, without them rushing, the quarterback wouldn't have no pressure and it would be a lot harder to cover somebody. With them out there doing their job and me doing my job, it just makes it a lot easier."
Buckeyes safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said he sees plays like the ones Hooker made Saturday all the time in practice.
"He's a special athlete, there's no doubt. He's got talents that not many guys have," Schiano said. "The thing I'm most impressed with is there's a lot of those guys in this game that have that talent but don't work the way he does. If he continues to work the way he is, he can be a really fine player."
Replacing Sprinkle
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said following the game it's likely that redshirt junior defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle is done for the year after suffering a patellar tendon injury that probably needs surgery.
Sprinkle was a starter and figured to play a big role this season for the Buckeyes up front. His teammates spoke following the game about the injury and its potential impact on Ohio State's defensive line.
“Tracy is the heart of the D-line, man, and it was hard dealing with that in the locker room. He’s everything to the D-linemen and I just feel for him right now," junior defensive end Jalyn Holmes said. "He’s everything to us and it’s going to be hard to replace him but he’s going to be with us throughout the whole process. I feel like we’ll be OK, but that’s a soldier that went down today and everybody felt that on the team and now we’ve gotta do our best to replace that.”
Added redshirt sophomore Sam Hubbard: “Everybody’s heart, stomachs dropped. It was such a terrible thing to see. He was the heart and soul of the D-line and now we’ve just got to pick things up and play for him.”
Interior depth has long been a concern for Meyer and Larry Johnson, and now that Ohio State likely won't have Sprinkle back this season that position group will be tested even more.
The Buckeyes will now rely on a quartet of redshirt freshmen at that open defensive tackle spot alongside Mike Hill: Dre'Mont Jones, DaVon Hamilton, Robert Landers and Jashon Cornell, all of whom made their collegiate debuts Saturday.
Ohio State will need a few of those guys to step up consistently in Sprinkle's absence.
“We’ve got a lot of players that we can rotate in," redshirt junior defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. "We’ve got depth at that position, there’s depth all over the field."
