Ohio State’s defense – specifically, the defensive line – was the clear winner of the Buckeyes’ second scrimmage of the spring.
While the score of Ohio State’s first scrimmage one week earlier came down to the offense scoring a game-winning touchdown on the final drive, the defense won by a double-digit margin on Saturday, when the Buckeyes welcomed Ohio State students to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for Student Appreciation Day. The front four had a lot to do with that, as Ohio State’s defensive linemen repeatedly put pressure on the Buckeye quarterbacks and came up with sacks and tackles for loss.
“Overall, I thought the defense brought it today. I thought they played really well. Pretty much dominated today's winner/loser,” Ryan Day said after practice concluded. “I thought it was a really good job by the defense today, and particularly the defensive line.”
Standouts along the defensive line in Saturday’s practice included JT Tuimoloau, who recorded three sacks; fellow defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who had a strip sack and was frequently in the backfield; and defensive tackles Mike Hall Jr., Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, whose quickness inside stood out throughout the practice as all of them blew up multiple plays behind the line of scrimmage.
Of course, a dominant day for the defensive line means it was not a great day for the offensive line. Day wasn’t going to panic over the unit’s performance in one practice, as each practice is just one step in the developmental process between the spring and the start of the season in September, but acknowledged that the offensive line was on the wrong end of the scoreboard Saturday.
“It's all part of the process,” Day said. “But at the end of the day, it's a winner-loser day. You either win or you lose. And that's how you evaluate it on a daily basis. Now we all know that there's a process to getting to August and then from August getting to the season. But we evaluate it on a week-to-week basis, who gets better, who gets worse.”
Ohio State was without one of its top two right tackles, Zen Michalski, which meant Tegra Tshabola took all of the first-team reps at right tackle while Miles Walker repped as the second-team right tackle. Day said after practice that Michalski’s absence was not due to any long-term injury.
“Hope to get him out here again before the end of spring,” Day said.
Tate continues to shine
Carnell Tate performed well enough in Ohio State’s first scrimmage of the spring that he became the first freshman – and to this point, still the only freshman – to lose his black stripe this year. He was even better in Saturday’s second scrimmage of the spring.
Tate made several impressive grabs during the practice session, including one that stood out as the catch of the day when he adjusted to a Kyle McCord deep ball up the right sideline and acrobatically got both feet down in bounds. Ohio State’s defensive backs had trouble covering Tate throughout the day, like on the catch below where Tate – who took first-team reps at wide receiver on Saturday – beat Jordan Hancock to the sideline on an out route.
Tate nearly made another spectacular catch later in the scrimmage, but Davison Igbinosun – who also lost his black stripe after his fifth practice as a Buckeye following last week’s scrimmage – made a nice pass breakup on what was another impressive day for the former Ole Miss cornerback.
Day said there has been “a lot to be impressed with about Carnell” through his first eight practices as a Buckeye.
“Everyone has such great things to say about Carnell off the field. It translates on the field as well,” Day said. “For a young player, he's got a pretty mature route tree. Does a nice job at the line of scrimmage, catches the ball strong, makes plays. All really encouraging signs.”
No clear starting quarterback yet
As has been the case all spring, McCord and Devin Brown continued to take equal reps on Saturday, alternating series with the first- and second-team offenses. As was the case in the first scrimmage, both of them had their moments but neither of them stood out consistently enough to make a clear case for being Ohio State’s new starting quarterback.
McCord threw the only touchdown pass during team drills – not including the red zone passing period, in which the offense scored five touchdowns on 12 tries after scoring just one on 12 tries the week before – when he completed a downfield throw to Noah Rogers in the left side in the end zone. But he also threw the day’s only interception during 7-on-7 drills when he forced a throw into double coverage that was picked off by Igbinosun.
The offensive line’s struggles certainly played a part in an unspectacular day for the quarterbacks on Saturday, and Day said he would have to watch the film to evaluate whether the quarterbacks took too many sacks, which are harder to avoid in a practice setting where a touch by a defender constitutes a sack against the quarterback. The overall results of the scrimmage, however, were enough for Day to say the quarterbacks needed to be better than they were on Student Appreciation Day.
“What you don't want to do is throw into a crowd if there’s nobody open. We are down some receivers. But then there's times where guys are open and they have to let it go. And so if we're holding on to it too long, that’s a mistake,” Day said. “So it wasn't ideal. Any time the offense doesn’t win, it’s the quarterback’s responsibility to lead the team down the field. But we’ll have to look at the film and see how it was.”
Day said he still hopes to be able to name a starting quarterback by the end of spring, but he wouldn’t be ready to do so right now.
“I'd like to see one of the two really step out. I don’t think we’ve seen that yet,” Day said. “It would be nice to see kind of one of them separate from the other. But that takes a few practices in a row.”
Additional Observations
- Ja’Had Carter left practice early after suffering an apparent knee injury during 7-on-7 drills. Day said after practice that initial indicators were that Carter’s knee was stable, but that he would undergo an evaluation to make sure. “Hopefully we’ll get him back here soon.”
- With Carter sidelined, Cameron Martinez and Ryan Turner took most of the reps at nickel safety during Saturday’s scrimmage.
- All of Ohio State’s top four cornerbacks rotated with the first-team defense as Denzel Burke, Hancock, Igbinosun and Jyaire Brown all saw regular reps with the starters.
- Enokk Vimahi rotated in with Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones for first-team reps at both left guard and right guard. Carson Hinzman took the first reps at center but Victor Cutler also rotated in for some snaps with the first-team offense.
- With Emeka Egbuka and Xavier Johnson not scrimmaging, Marvin Harrison Jr. spent much of Saturday’s practice lining up in the slot. Day said he thinks Harrison playing some snaps in the slot is both “a good thing to help him and his progression and his development” and “something for the defense to consider.”
- Joe Royer and Kyion Grayes both made acrobatic grabs on high throws in the back of the end zone during the red-zone passing period. Bryson Rodgers, Gee Scott Jr. and Jelani Thurman also scored touchdowns during that drill.
- Chip Trayanum ran for a long touchdown during team drills while Dallan Hayden also had several first-down runs on which he showed his acceleration out of the backfield and ability to make defenders miss.
- A multitude of former Ohio State players were in attendance for Saturday’s scrimmage including Mike Doss, Zach Harrison, Cameron Brown, Jalyn Holmes and Marcus Crowley, among others.
- Top recruits in attendance for Saturday’s practice included quarterback Air Noland, running backs James Peoples and Byron Louis, wide receivers Mylan Graham and Malachi Toney, tight end Walter Matthews, defensive end Marquise Lightfoot, cornerbacks Zabien Brown and Charles Lester III and the Buckeyes’ two most recent commits, offensive linemen Deontae and Devontae Armstrong.
- Oregon State transfer quarterback Tristan Gebbia and walk-on offensive lineman Quinton Burke had their black stripes removed after practice.