Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said all week he wanted to see how his team, flooded with young talent, would perform in front of a large crowd. And for the most part, Meyer was pleased with what he saw.
The Gray team won Ohio State’s annual spring game Saturday at Ohio Stadium, 28-17 over the Scarlet team. The game was played in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a spring game as 100,189 people packed in Ohio Stadium on a beautiful afternoon in Columbus.
Here are some news and notes from things we saw from the Gray team. You can find Scarlet team observations here.
Burrow Shines in Debut
The last time Joe Burrow played a game in front of a crowd at Ohio Stadium was in December of 2014. He was a senior in high school playing in the state championship game against Toledo Central Catholic and he threw for 446 yards and six touchdowns. And even though Burrow’s team lost that night, 56-52, Buckeye fans got a chance to witness their future quarterback.
Burrow took the Ohio Stadium field for the first time as an Ohio State player Saturday commanding the Gray team offense. And again, he didn’t disappoint. The redshirt freshman signal-caller finished the day 14-of-23 passing for 196 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Burrow also carried the ball 11 times for 31 yards.
Playing behind a makeshift second-string offensive line, Burrow was hit hard several times in the first quarter of the game; even afterward, Burrow admitted he was nervous in the early going before settling down in the second quarter. But Burrow connected with Torrance Gibson for a pair of first-half touchdown passes — the first of which was a beautifully thrown ball for an 18-yard score where Gibson went up and snatched the ball away from Joshua Norwood.
Burrow showed some more touch throughout the day as well, lofting a couple of nicely thrown deep balls to various receivers. He threw a picture-perfect strike to Terry McLaurin in the second half for a 52-yard catch-and-score touchdown.
“Joe Burrow has been coming on,” Meyer said after the game. “He was a guy that last year I had my concerns, just arm strength to release, twitch, ability to run the ball. But he’s gotten better and better. He’s a grinder.”
Gibson Flashes Signs of Unlimited Potential
Speaking of Gibson, Ohio State fans finally got to see one of the more highly-touted recruits of the Meyer era for the first time in uniform Saturday. Gibson, who made the move from high school quarterback to college wide receiver, reeled in six passes for 50 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
His first touchdown, an 18-yard pass from Burrow, Gibson showed his unique athleticism as he went up and snatched the ball from Norwood one-on-one in the corner of the end zone. Gibson stands 6-foot-4 and is a really good athlete, so it seems like a tantalizing option for Ohio State’s offense if the puts everything together. Gibson’s second touchdown of the day came on a 2-yard shovel pass from Burrow.
“[Gibson has] got a long way to go,” Meyer said. “He’s a freak, but he’s gotta go get the ball. He’s 6-4 or whatever he is, 35-inch vertical jump and we’re going to teach him how to use that thing.”
Malik Hooker Has Huge Day on Defense
There’s a lot of concern surrounding Ohio State’s secondary — which lost three starters in Tyvis Powell, Vonn Bell and Eli Apple — but the performance of one player Saturday probably eased the minds of quite a few fans.
Redshirt sophomore safety Malik Hooker was everywhere for the Gray team, recording a game-high 10 tackles. Hooker also had a pair of interceptions — one off J.T. Barrett and the other off Stephen Collier — and returned his first one 82 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
Hooker, Cam Burrows, Damon Webb and Erick Smith are all competing for the two open safety positions, but if Saturday showed us anything it’s that Hooker is the top one of the four on this team right now.
Hamilton, Jones Have Solid Showings at Defensive Tackle
Meyer also hasn't been shy in the past of questioning his team's depth at defensive tackle, but the Gray team made some noise up the middle Saturday.
In particular, it was redshirt freshman Davon Hamilton who flashed most. Hamilton — who was going against backups for the majority of the time, that's important to keep in mind — had three sacks in the game as he was constantly in the face of either Barrett or Collier.
In addition to Hamilton, another redshirt freshman, Dre'Mont Jones, also had a nice game with a sack. Jones and Jashon Cornell are two players Meyer and Larry Johnson decided to move inside from defensive end and both played really well Saturday.
