Pettrey is looking to regain his 2007 form.On Friday, the Buckeyes held their Tressel-invented kick scrimmage at Ohio Stadium, an annual event showcasing the importance of special teams. Both sides exchange punts until one is in field goal range and each half contains scripted punts and FG attempts.
The Scarlet won 30-27 on Aaron Pettrey's 34 yarder, his 10th on the day in 11 attempts, a kick that was set up by Devier Posey's 25 yard punt return.
Pettrey's only miss was from 53 yards, although he connected on a 57 yard bomb later in the scrimmage. He did have 2 kicks blocked, but the protection was jumbled, so you can't be too concerned.
While it seems to be Pettrey's job to lose, with no platooning, the Vest's 2 back-ups held their own for the Gray team and will be capable replacements if Pettrey should get injured. Redshirt freshman Ben Buchanan is competing for all 3 kicking spots and drilled 4 of 5 attempts, with the miss getting blocked, while averaging about 40 yards per punt. Devin Barclay, the former MLS player and 26 year old walk-on, was 5 of 6 with his miss also getting blocked.
Jon Thoma is the veteran punter, who also has done an admirable job of holding for FG attempts the last two seasons. He is going to be in a battle with Buchanan for the right to becoming Tressel's favorite player, after averaging over 41 yards on his punts.
I'm interested to see if any of these speedy returners make an impact April 25th, gaining an edge in the starting nod heading into fall. The kick-off return stats have been putrid the last 2 seasons, but Lamaar Thomas showed some Flashes late last year, while Posey, Devon Torrence and 4.4 freshman James Jackson will compete to fill the other spot.
The other big news to come out of camp this weekend was the status of LiC's bum throwing arm. Ken Gordon had reported at Thursday open practice TP looked to be wincing after a few throws. He was taken out mid way through Friday's practice and we won't know any type of report until they return to practice tomorrow. If he's unable to play, the spring game tickets just went down to $4 in value
Jared first brought it to our attention in the 11W Spring Game Social comments, but Donte Whitner was tasered by an off duty cop outside the House of Blues in Cleveland over the weekend, after police had to break up a "near riot" after Ted Ginn Jr's birthday bash. No charges have been filed yet, but after this and his 2006 brush with the law, the NFL maybe keeping a closer tab on Donte.
