2004 Ohio State Football Spring Game

Scarlet 13 Gray 0

The Scarlet squad shutout the Gray squad on Saturday before 45, 074 fans on a picture-perfect, postcard afternoon in Ohio Stadium.

Fans gathering to see how the quarterback battle (redshirt sophomores, Justin Zwick vs. Troy Smith) was going to play itself out at the end of spring practice (the spring game is considered the last practice of the spring) didn’t get to see the all-out aerial circus that was last year’s spring contest.

Injuries to several players before the game, dominant defenses, poor special teams play and the QB rules Tressel and his staff made specifically for this contest, kept the scoring low.

The decision to put the black jerseys on the quarterbacks was a controversial one as it hindered the athletic ability of the QB’s in the game, mainly Troy Smith, the signal-caller who scrambles the most. He had 105 yards rushing in OSU’s Jersey Scrimmage the previous Saturday. He went 7-15-0 for just 53 yards and was sacked seven times starting for the Gray team in this scrimmage. The quarterbacks were not allowed to cross the line of scrimmage and run. If so, the play would be ruled a sack. When a defensive player hit the QB--in the grasp, or a two-handed touch, was called a sack.

The front-runner for the job of starting quarterback in the fall, Justin Zwick, had an efficient day as the starter for the Scarlet squad. He was 16-26-0 passing for 165 yards. Third-string QB, Todd Boeckman, played a significant amount in this game for both teams. His numbers were: 6-11-1 INT for 33 yards.

Special Teams play was both horrendous and great, depending on which way you want to look at it. There were two blocked punts, one blocked field goal and two other missed field goals. The three missed field goals were all from Scarlet PK Josh Huston (from 24-blocked, 23 and 52 yards). He made two field goals on the afternoon. Other than his job as the backup placekicker, he is considered the leader in the competition for the vacant punting position.

The Scarlet defense held the Gray to 49 yards of total offense and seven first downs. The Scarlet totaled 260 yards, 105 of it on 21 carries by early enrollee, true freshman, Tony Pittman out of Akron Buchtel.

MLB Anthony Schlegel, a transfer from the Air Force Academy, had a solid game in his fight for the middle linebacker position with nine tackles. Mike D’Andrea (injured for the whole spring, while rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder) and Indiana transfer  (Cleveland St. Ignatius grad) John Kerr are expected to give him a serious challenge in what possibly is the nation’s best group of linebackers (middle and outside).

It was a lackluster game for the most part with several mistakes, but when you combine the whole team together, there is just too much talent not to look for big things in the fall.

BOX SCORE AND STATS:

GRAY             0  0  0  0 – 0

SCARLET       7  3  0  3 –13

SCARLET-Ross 1 run (Huston kick), 1:53

SCARLET-FG  Huston 20, 3:55

SCARLET-FG Huston 43, 9:47

TEAM STATS:

                                                      GRAY     SCARLET

FIRST DOWNS                                     7                  18

RUSHES-YARDS                       18-(-33)            33-91         

PASSING YARDS                               82               169                  

COMP-ATT-INT                          12-24-1       17-28-0          

RETURN YARDS                              133                48

PUNTS-AVG.                                 6-22.7          3-28.7

FUMBLES-LOST                                2-1               1-0

PENALTIES-YARDS                        6-40             5-33

TIME OF POSSESSION                  18:39           29:21

Boeckman 2-(-8), Zwick 4-(-23).

PASSING-GRAY, T. Smith 7-15-0-53, Boeckman 5-9-1-29. SCARLET, Zwick 16-26-0-165, Boeckman 1-2-0-4.

RECEIVING-GRAY, Childress 3-31, Irizarry 3-21, Schnittker 3-16, Parker 1-14, Jordan 1-1, Hall 1-(-1). SCARLET, Hollins 5-64, Gonzalez 5-63, White 2-14, Holmes 2-14, Hamby 2-12, Pittman 1-2.