Entering spring practice, the Ohio football team had several starting positions to be battled out. Now that spring ball has come and gone, none of those positions have been locked down, but leading candidates have emerged.
Ryan Hawk has a definite edge over Austen Everson at quarterback, while John Taylor has the edge over several others to take over as the running back in Ohio's new one-back offense.
Hawk had a solid spring and capped it off with a good performance in the Green and White Game, in which he went 19-of-36 for 193 yards and a touchdown. Everson, on the other hand, was 3-of-11, but he did start to put things together late in the game.
Ohio coach Brian Knorr said both have shown themselves to be capable quarterbacks, though Hawk has the lead.
I would say Ryan has an upper hand right now
but by all means Austen has shown us he can come in and do the job well Knorr said.
Last season, Hawk battled Fred Ray for the starting quarterback position, but after both suffered injuries, Everson was forced into the starting role. In his first start, Everson led Ohio to a 28-0 win against Central Florida. However, Everson struggled at times later in the season.
Hawk said his performance this spring has been indicative of the improvements he has made and that he is not worried about trying to beat out Everson.
I'm just battling as hard as I can
Hawk said. I'm letting the spring tell the story on that.
Everson said it's good to simply have the competition and the help that goes along with a position battle.
Me and Ryan
we're great friends
Everson said. It's true
we've been competitive
but it helps to push each other like that. He's been helping me
and we've been helping each other.
The question of who will be lining up behind the quarterback at running back is also closer to being answered following spring practices, as Taylor has emerged from a slew of candidates.
He carried 11 times for 51 yards in the spring game and was instrumental in running out the clock on the final possession of his team's victory.
That's a big time deal
offensive coordinator Phil Earley said. John is right now a go-to guy. You saw the way he ran. He's a guy we know we can hand off to. We know he'll run hard
he'll find a seam
