Football
Look for Many Faces in Buckeye Defensive Lineup Early This Season
By John Porentas

There is a marked difference in the talk about the OSU offense this fall and the talk about the OSU defense.

Over on the offense, it's all about returning veterans, Heisman candidates, and a scoring explosion waiting to happen. On defense, it's nine new starters, untested talent, the possibility of rolling a lot of players through the lineup, and the possibility that the explosion that might take place is the one that will happen when the OSU defense blows up.

The-Ozone outlook on the defense has been a little different since last January when last season ended and we took a look at the prospects for the defense this fall. We felt then that the strength of the defensive front would cover up a lot of the sins of the youth of the back seven, and that the back seven would really not be as inexperienced as some would fear.

We still feel that way after spring and fall camps have unfolded. The front will be strong and there is just enough experience in the back seven to make the defense a cohesive and effective unit. In the back seven, safety Brandon Mitchell, corner Malcolm Jenkins, and linebackers John Kerr and James Laurinaitis have all been on the field in big games when the game was on the line. Linebacker Marcus Freeman has also been out there enough to not be considered a raw rookie.

All that being said, enough young talent has emerged at linebacker and in the defensive backfield to make the coaching staff want to get as many players on the field as possible in the early part of the season if for no other reason than to see how they will react in live game situations.

"I think what it says is you really don't know (what the depth chart will ultimately look like) until you play games, because it's very difficult to know for sure (who will react well in a game), and we're going to play a number of players," said OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel.

"I think that's what you do early in the year for a lot of reasons, one of which I think a lot of guys deserve to play. Typically in the beginning of the year, the games are warmer and our rotation is healthy and so we're going to play a lot of guys in the game. And I think when you look at our depth chart, maybe at the start of the Big Ten schedule, you'll really see what our depth chart is. I don't know that there will be great changes, I'm not saying that, I'm saying I think we'll know," Tressel said.

The theory is that players who practice poorly usually don't play well, but players who practice well sometimes don't play well either, because games simply are real, real different from practice, and making a final decision on a depth chart is real hard until you see the players in an actual game.

John Kerr
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I don't think it's the 105,000 that makes the difference. It's going out against guys that you've never played," said OSU linebacker John Kerr.

"There's a bitterness there, a hatred there, and all of a sudden the adrenaline is pumping and the game starts moving a lot quicker. The chips are on the table and nobody wants to lose. You can't simulate that in practice as much as you want to. Every coach would love to have that intensity, but it just doesn't happen until you're out there on Saturdays," Kerr said.

"You don't know how good you're going to be until you get out there. It will be the first test that we have this Saturday. All these other things, the scrimmages and night practice, have been little quizzes, they don't count really. It counts to get you out on the field, but other than that once you get out there to actually play, that's the test."

Offensive lineman Doug Datish agreed with Kerr.

"Anytime you line up you don't know how people are going to react," Datish said.

Anthony Gonzalez
Photo by Jim Davidson

"We do have a lot of young guys who have never played in the 'Shoe and have never been in the situation and it is different from the jersey scrimmage or the night practice that we had," Datish said.

"Things just happen a little bit faster, a little bit harder, a little bit crisper on Saturdays," agreed wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez.

"(Opposing) Players are a little better than you thought they would be on Saturday. If you have a lot of guys that have been there before and understand the level that they have to get to mentally as well as physically, it certainly helps.

"You have a lot of guys who have been there before and understand the level that they have to get to mentally as well as physically. Now, there are people who for some reason can just show up and play no matter what, who kind of accelerate that learning curve. My hope is that – and I’m confident in this – that our defense has a lot of those guys," Gonzalez said.

The benefits of of playing a lot of players are obvious. Coaches can make evaluations and a lot of different players will get experience. On the flip side, it also means that some of the current starters will have to come off the field, and idea that really isn't too appealing to some of them.

"I think there's something very big with being in the rhythm of the game," said Kerr.

"Personally, it takes me a little bit to warm up. After the first or second series you get stronger and stronger and stronger throughout the game just because you become so much more in tune with it."

The fact remains that OSU will roll players through the lineup in the early season, particularly on defense in the back seven. That is somewhat of a novelty at OSU, and will be done with measured care.

"It hasn't been something that's happened quite a bit in my career here," said defensive backs coach Tim Beckman who coaches OSU's corners.

"You want to get the kids ready for a game situation. If we do do this substitution it won't be a massive substitution. I will be one guy, maybe another guy, but it will never be where you will see two different corners coming into the football game or a whole new secondary running out there."

Beckman has five players at corner who really are still in the running for even a starting position this season. They include current designated starters Antonio Smith and Malcolm Jenkins as well as backups Andre Amos, Kurt Coleman and Donald Washington. Beckman includes Coleman in that number despite the fact that his name does not currently appear on the depth chart.

Kurt Coleman

"He might not be that name in the two-deep, but when I mention five corners Kurt Coleman is one of those corners," said Beckman.

"He's gotten better, he makes plays, he just has to continually take his game one step further kind of like Jenks (Malcolm Jenkins) did last year where maybe at the start we had some questions but by the second, third, fourth game he becomes a starter. Kurt has that opportunity. He's one of those five guys we're looking at to get better every day.

"I think we need to get as many kids playing experience that we can. I would like to see any one of those five kids who have been repping (at corner) with the ones and the twos have an opportunity to get out there on the field."

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