COLUMBUS — The Ohio State football team was back on the field Friday morning for their second practice of fall camp. There are no pads yet and things are very basic at this point, which is perhaps one of the reasons Buckeye quarterbacks Will Howard and Devin Brown did so well on the day.
The quarterback battle is still ongoing as all five scholarship quarterbacks are getting reps somewhat evenly for the first week of action. After these first four practices, however, head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will start to narrow things down.
On Thursday, Day said he would like to know who the starting quarterback is going to be within the first two weeks of camp, but also acknowledged that that’s not always how it happens. Friday’s performances may not have cleared up much, but it was arguably the best day the media has seen of transfer quarterback Will Howard since his arrival in January.
Howard is gaining more and more confidence, as evidenced by the fact that he is taking more shots downfield than he seemed to do in the spring. But he’s not just taking shots downfield, he also hit on the short and intermediate stuff as well. His best throw may have been to the left side of the end zone from the 35-yard line. The ball dropped right over receiver David Adolph’s shoulder and hit him in the hands, but he couldn’t hang on.
Howard also completed a nice wheel route to running back TreVeyon Henderson from the 35-yard line that went out of bounds inside the five. It wasn’t a perfect day for the Kansas State transfer, however, as he waited too long on one throw towards the sideline and freshman safety Jaylen McClain jumped it and got two hands on the ball but couldn’t bring it in. It was a late throw and Howard knew it.
As for Devin Brown, he closed practice with a deep post for a 35-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman receiver Bryson Rodgers. The throw was just out of McClain’s reach.
Brown also connected with Jeremiah Smith on the longest play of the day — roughly 90 yards, give or take a few yards. Brown threw it deep to Smith, who was single covered by freshman cornerback Aaron Scott. Scott ended up with good coverage but Smith went up, snagged the ball, landed, and then ran the final 40 yards into the end zone untouched.
Both quarterbacks looked to have performed well on the day.
Freshman Julian Sayin also was solid and under control. He didn’t seem to take many downfield shots but completed short passes.
The Latest On The Offensive Line
After missing the first practice, redshirt sophomore Carson Hinzman was back at practice. Hinzman started 12 games at center last year for the Buckeyes but is also in the mix at right guard. Today, however, Hinzman spent his time at center.
The offensive line has been split up throughout both practices. The presumed first-team has not worked together much just yet, but they will — once there is one.
Sophomore Luke Montgomery got work at both right guard and center.
The Buckeyes are still searching for a third tackle. That battle right now may be between redshirt sophomore George Fitzpatrick and redshirt junior Zen Michalski.
Laps(es) In Judgment
Players making certain mistakes had to take a lap around the field. Mistakes could be penalties, dropped snaps, interceptions, etc.
At one point, Will Howard did something to earn himself a lap. About halfway through his lap he ran into Julian Sayin, who was working on a lap of his own from the other direction. They gave a low five to each other as they passed. Since they were together on the same field but unavailable, walk-on quarterback Mason Maggs had to run the drills while they were busy.
There were a number of players taking laps throughout the day, but only one of them was willing to provide a learning moment for everyone else while on the jog. Running back TreVeyon Henderson was working on a lap for some kind of insolence, and as he turned the corner around the end zone that the media was standing just outside of, Henderson good-naturedly said to the assembled masses, “This is what happens when you’re undisciplined, guys. Be disciplined.”
Ready, Willing, And Able
It looked again like junior Sonny Styles was with the ones at Will linebacker while junior CJ Hicks was with the twos. That was the situation on Thursday as well. Hicks spent the spring with the ones while Styles was with the twos following his position move from safety.
There are plans in place for both players to play this season, as evidenced by Hicks getting some time as an edge rusher today at the Will. Styles is a known commodity to the coaches and they can trust he will be where he is supposed to be. Following practice, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said the two were “bracketed” on the depth chart and that one isn’t necessarily ahead of the other.
Emptying The Notebook
+ The players repping at punt returner during special teams drills were Brandon Inniss, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Jayden Ballard, Caleb Downs, Lorenzo Styles, and Bryson Rodgers.
+ There was a drill featuring three linebackers. In this setup, Sonny Styles was playing the wide side of the field as a Sam/Walkout ‘backer.
+ Freshman receiver Mylan Graham is starting to look more and more comfortable. He didn’t get many targets today during 7-on-7s and scrimmaging but kept his head down and ran his routes. Except for this play below where he kept his head up.
+ Quinshon Judkins’ cutback continues to be impressive. The EA College Football game has given him a spin move that is a cheat code, but he can also make players miss without actually turning his back to them.
+ There was one pre-snap situation during 7-on-7s where freshman quarterback Julian Sayin had to direct traffic for other freshmen telling them where they needed to be lining up offensively.
+ Junior walk-on Brenten “Inky” Jones has been playing cornerback after spending his career at safety prior.
+ Freshman running back Sam Williams-Dixon would have had a 60-plus-yard touchdown run had the whistle not blown when he got past the last defender on a run to the left side of the field.
+ Redshirt freshman cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt was targeted a lot on the day and he held his own.
Practice Videos
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