Kicking practice! The two greatest words in the English language, combined to form one of the most exciting and powerful phrases ever uttered by man. Today the Scarlet team had their annual kicking scrimmage against the Gray team, and it did not disappoint, with the Gray squad besting Scarlet 33-30 in Jim Tressel's annual "who the hell cares what the score was" Bowl.
This time stakes were raised a bit higher, as during spring practices there had been a lot of hand wringing over the placekicking position, due to the losses of Pettrey and Thoma, in addition to Devin Barclay looking inconsistent at best. A lot of those fears appear to have been put to bed, at least for now. In the placekicking competition between Barclay and freshman Drew Basil, we are not even remotely close to having a winner, but I'll explain shortly why this is a good thing. On the punting side of things, there is a clear front runner, which is also a good thing. I'll spend the rest of this post breaking down the action at the Shoe today, including a summary of the trick plays that we all love so very much.
Devin Barclay
Devin bounced back from a poor showing in spring ball to have a terrific day that showcased his range, as well as some overall excellent kicking on his part. Devin went 10 for 12 on the day, and was maybe 3 or 4 feet short of making a 58 yarder that would've made Mike Nugent blush. He did miss on a 37 yarder to lose it for the Scarlet team, but overall he showed that he will not be supplanted so easily and that OSU's tradition of bringing in random dudes to kick for them might well continue. Devin would say afterward that "getting stronger in the offseason" was a priority, and that he currently feels like he's in the prime of his career. With his performance on Saturday it's hard to argue against that.
Drew Basil
If Drew wasn't on the team, Barclay would be a lock for the placekicking duties. Instead, we've got a battle brewing as Drew went 11 for 12, with his lone miss coming from 42 out (which hit the post). Last year we saw Barclay and Pettrey split kicking duties by
distance, but that is unlikely to happen this year. Basil has a leg, and nailed a 48 yarder to prove it. He would say after practice that he had "a little bit of nerves" but if that's the case I want John Simon to wake him up every morning by running into his room screaming and brandishing a butcher's knife.
Ben Buchanan
Ben about wrapped up the punter position by having a very good day and shaking off some poor kicks early. Of particular note was a back of the endzone kick that went roughly 50 yards and had no opportunity for a return. Overall Ben averaged roughly 40-45 yards on his kicks, and if he can remain consistent he will be the apple of Tressel's eye.
Returns and Coverage
Both of these things were huge issues last year, as Ohio State ranked poorly in both return yards and yards allowed; Oregon may not have even gotten the 17 points they did in the Rose Bowl had the team not been so generous on special teams defense. The coverage unit seems to have gotten somewhat better, although for every return held for no gain there was one that went for decent yardage. The edges looked particularly vulnerable, and a few guys might be able to exploit that. The return game looked much better.
Several players were rotated between the Scarlet and Gray squads, but one near constant was Taurian Washington, who looked fluid and fast, and he should be a major factor for the rest of the year in this regard.
Trick Plays and other assorted notes
Three trick plays were run that I saw, two involving fairly predictable (and unsuccessful) pass attempts by Dane Sanzenbacher (as the holder), and Ben Buchanan. However, one play made me cackle madly, a fake punt that was a direct snap to Zach Boren, one of the three players protecting Buchanan. Boren immediately ran
Owen Schmitt-style to the left, trucked a defender, and went about 40 yards before he was taken down. Honestly it worked so well that it makes me wonder why the Bucks don't use Zach more in the running game, you know, as a runner, but then I remembered they have 50 RBs already.
Notes:
- Nate Williams was out with some kind of knee injury, and his entire leg was wrapped. He didn't seem too bothered by it, but he also wasn't putting weight on it and was seen using crutches later.
- The way scoring works in the kicking practice is a bit hard to figure out, but basically it's a "make it, take it" kind of set up, and which kicker gets to kick is determined by how well their team does on a punt return/coverage.
- The word to call for when you shouldn't go after the ball is "poison"
- Thank God for clouds.
Anyway: overall, very positive practice, if this carries over into the regular season we should be good to go no matter who wins the PK job.
