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Football
Meyer Recognizes Fall Standouts
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It has only been eight or nine practices, but Urban Meyer has seen a real change in his football team this fall, especially on offense.

Urban Meyer
Photo by Jim Davidson

“I think I can tell one of the challenges I had for Braxton Miller and Kenny Guiton was to throw the ball a little bit, and they have,” Meyer said Sunday during Ohio State’s media day in Columbus.

“Not near where we need to be throwing the ball, but much different than what you saw in the spring – much different. I saw a team that went out and worked.”

The Buckeyes have only had the pads on for a few days—including Friday’s two-a-day and Saturday morning’s scrimmage—but a handful of players have already caught the eye of their head football coach.

“I think Carlos Hyde is a guy,” Meyer said quickly.

“I saw he had a Wednesday practice in the spring where he was a legitimate tailback. It was a legitimate tailback practice at Ohio State University. Unfortunately he didn’t have a Monday, Friday, and Saturday to follow up the Wednesday practice. We’re eight or nine (practices) into it, and he’s really solid.”

Carlos Hyde
Photo by Jim Davidson

With Jordan Hall on the shelf—he is expected to miss at least the season-opener against Miami (Ohio)—Hyde has established himself as the No. 1 tailback in Meyer’s offense. Behind him, there are a couple guys fighting for carries while Hall remains in a walking boot.

“I’m really pleased with them right now,” Meyer said of the tailbacks.

“Obviously No. 7 (Hall) not being there has hurt us a little bit, but we asked them to pick it up. When someone goes down, someone’s got to go harder. So far, Bri’onte Dunn and Rod (Smith) are in a battle for that backup spot. I’m not going to say who’s ahead right now. They both had a good scrimmage yesterday.”

The same could be said for defensive end Noah Spence. The freshman from Harrisburg, Pa. performed so well in the scrimmage, he had the “freshman stripe” removed from his helmet on the field afterward.

“To see a guy get called out at the end of the scrimmage when all the pressure is on, and be able to have his stripe taken off on that day, you get chills as an older guy,” said senior John Simon, who is rooming with Noah Spence during camp.

“Those are the guys who are going to be taking over the program.”

A number of players had good things to say about Spence this fall, but it was another young defensive lineman who really caught Meyer’s attention through the first week of practice.

Joel Hale
Photo by Jim Davidson

“On defense, the guy who’s caught me is a guy named Hale,” Meyer said Sunday.

“Joel Hale has done a very good job. I can’t say he’s an All-Big Ten player yet, but from where he was in the spring to now, he came out and worked.”

A sophomore out of Greenwood, Ind., Hale is the backup to senior Garrett Goebel at the nose tackle position. He gives the Buckeyes depth at a critical position, but he wasn’t the only guy on defense who flashed in front of Meyer’s eyes during camp.

“One guy who’s really taken notice, he’s not a black stripe guy yet, but David Perkins from South Bend,” Meyer said of the freshman linebacker.

“He had a heck of a scrimmage yesterday. He’s a fly and hit guy, which we want. He’ll play this year. How much? He’s still working on that.”

Nick Vannett
Photo by Jim Davidson

The same goes for tight end Nick Vannett, who could benefit from the fact Jake Stoneburner is seeing more and more time at wide receiver this fall.

“He is one of the most improved players,” Meyer said of the redshirt freshman from Westerville Central.

“He’s going to be right in the middle of this thing. I didn’t see that at all in the spring. If you notice, I didn’t even bring his name up because he wasn’t a real functional guy for us. That guy got real busy about studying the playbook and learning the game.”

Meyer has also seen a drastic improvement in two of his starters along the offensive line.

“Andrew Norwell is in the most improved category with Carlos Hyde,” Meyer said.

“He and Marcus hall have made the most strides. That’s coming mostly from our line coach (Ed Warinner), but I see it as well.”

A redshirt junior from Cleveland Glenville, Hall really seems to have turned the corner after a couple lackluster years at Ohio State. The same could be true for one of his former teammates as well.

“Another guy is Christian Bryant,” Meyer said of the junior from Glenville.

“I know he played here, but I didn’t see as much as I see now in the spring. He got real busy, as well.”

The Buckeyes will be back on the practice field Monday, as Meyer looks for more standouts during fall camp.

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