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Needing ‘Special’ Work

August 21, 2008

Well if we now know one thing this Buckeye team needs to work on before the season opener on August 30, it is Special Teams. After the team held it’s annual Kicking Scrimmage yesterday, observers and coaches were not too pleased with the kicking units, as the kickers combined stats of 10-19 on field goals, with 3 of those misses being blocks, could not make any Buckeye fan very happy. Normally a Jim Tressel specialty (no pun intended), the kicking game and return unit did not perform to the traditional OSU standard in 2007, after Special Teams legend Ted Ginn Jr. left for the NFL. This season the kicking game looks to produce another solid output, while the kick return team tries to rebound from a year in which they saw themselves ranked 117th out of 119 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Here are some notes we gathered from Wednesday’s kicking scrimmage, in which the Gray team defeated the Scarlet team by a score or 22-15:

  • Ryan Pretorius (5-8, long of 49) has a solid hold on the starting job and his leg looked strong
  • Aaron Pettrey (4-7, long of 44, 2 blocked kicks) who was thought to compete with Pretorius for the starting gig, did not look good, and may be limited to solely kick-off duty, where he starred last season. Don’t be surprised if the junior does not see the field this season though.
  • Freshman Army All-American, Ben Buchanan (1-4, long of 34, 1 blocked kick), looked average in his first appearance in competition for the Bucks. Buchanan will likely red-shirt this year, but is looked at as the next great Buckeye kicker of the future. Buchanan may also handle punting duties for the Bucks in his career.
  • Both punters, AJ Trapasso and Jon Thoma, looked very good, but Thoma was actually more impressive, booting four punts of 50+ yards.
  • Blocked kicks on the day went to Devon Torrence and Donald Washington. Torrence also had a 30-yard kick return.
  • Freshman fullback, Jermil Martin, had a 35 yard interception return for a touchdown on a poor pass from AJ Trapasso on a fake punt. The score ended up being the deciding one for the Gray squad.
  • As losers of the game, the Scarlet team had to walk back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, at the end of the day.
  • Tressel stated that Brandon Saine and Dan “Boom” Herron will be his first-team kick returners, while Ray Small, Lamaar “Flash” Thomas, and Mo Wells will back them up.
  • The first team punt-return unit is expected to be Brian Hartline and Small, with Brian Robiskie, DeVier Posey, and Devon Torrence as the reserves.

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Tags: OSU, ray small, woody hayes

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