Hundreds of students filed inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Saturday for Ohio State's annual Student Appreciation Day practice.
The Buckeyes' spring game is one week away and on Saturday, in front of students and media alike, they held a scrimmage. It's the first time all spring we've seen any real live action this spring so it certainly provided a bit of clarity for some question marks.
Our observations from the Ohio State offense can be seen here. Below, you'll find some notes from what we saw from the Buckeyes' defense:
- The first-team defensive line looked like we expected it to with Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, Jalyn Holmes and Nick Bosa all rotating at defensive end. Dre'Mont Jones and Robert Landers spent the majority of the time with the first team at defensive tackle while Michael Hill and Jashon Cornell mostly ran with the second team. Jonathon Cooper and Rashod Berry were second-team defensive ends.
- The three starting linebackers remained unchanged as Dante Booker, Chris Worley and Jerome Baker ran with the first team before Baker and Worley sat out some significant time near the end. Keandre Jones and Justin Hilliard ran primarily with the second team and Booker joined them as Ohio State is short on linebackers with Baron Browning and Malik Harrison both hurt. Hilliard was the second-team MIKE linebacker; Tuf Borland appeared to be the third-team guy in the middle.
- Junior college transfer cornerback Kendall Sheffield did not practice Saturday. He was seen in sweats later in the day (it's unclear right now why he didn't practice), but his absence meant Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette ran as the first-team corners. Ward then sat out toward the end of the scrimmage and Shaun Wade replaced him with the first team. Second-team corners that rotated were Rodjay Burns, Jeffrey Okudah and Marcus Williamson.
- Damon Webb was one starting safety and it appeared Jordan Fuller was the other for the majority of the time. Fuller wore an orange non-contact jersey during Saturday's practice. Erick Smith primarily ran with the second team early on and then Jahsen Wint, Wayne Davis and Isaiah Pryor all rotated in.
- Dante Booker and Jeffrey Okudah each recorded interceptions on what was clearly a miscommunication between the quarterback and receiver. Booker picked off Joe Burrow in the end zone with no receiver in sight and Okudah did the same to Dwayne Haskins.
- When Ohio State's first-team defensive line was going with its starters, it looked dominant. Sam Hubbard and Dre'Mont Jones ran a twist at one point and completely went right through the offensive line, almost untouched, to get to J.T. Barrett.
- The Buckeyes worked on third downs for a portion so that meant the defense was in nickel. With no Sheffield, Wade and Ward manned the outside corner spots while Arnette slid inside to cover the slot receiver.
- When Ward played, he looked really sharp. He made a nice play on a screen pass to Eric Glover-Williams and completely blew the play up.
- 2017 five-star defensive end signee Chase Young attended practice. He had a front row seat to watch Ohio State go through the circle drill, as well.
- Also in attendance was future first-round pick Malik Hooker, who took some photos with students afterward.
