If Saturday's Green & White game was any indication of what's to come later this fall, those expecting a different style of team from last season will be disappointed.
As it was all last season and has been throughout the spring, Ohio's defense showed that it will be the team's major strength in 2007. White, led by the first-team defense, triumphed over Green, 17-3, in the end-of-spring intra-squad scrimmage at Peden Stadium, which lacked offensive fireworks and any type of drama.
Like last spring, the game pitted the first-team offense (Green) versus the first-team defense (White), something that coach Frank Solich knew wouldn't produce the most compelling action for the fans in attendance.
I've never been involved in a spring game where you're going ones versus ones
twos versus twos and threes versus threes that's been an explosive game Solich said. Usually it's a lot like this was without a lot of big plays.
Junior college transfer, quarterback Theo Scott provided the lone big play of the game when he scrambled for 44 yards down the west sideline on the first series for White. The big play wouldn't lead to a touchdown, however, as the second-team defense on Green tightened up to force a 34-yard field goal.
The 10-play, 72-yard drive that took up 6:13 in the first quarter was the longest of the day. From that point on, offenses on both sides found it difficult to establish sequences of plays that produced positive yardage. Matt Schulte, who played for both Green and White Saturday, punted 11 times in the 48-minute scrimmage.
No one's ever seen the defense fly like this before
said linebacker Taj Henley, who finished with a game-high 11 tackles. We just wanted to show everyone that we come to play every down
and we're a much faster and smarter defense and that we're hungry.
Whetting the defense's appetite even more was the sight of an opposing quarterback not in a red jersey. For the first time this spring, all Bobcat quarterbacks were able to take a hit as they shed the non-contact jerseys, making the scrimmage more like an actual game.
I loved it
safety Todd Koenig said. It was good to get out and finally hit somebody. We got a little frustrated and started fighting with them in the end
but it's all in good fun and competition.
As tempers flared in the second half, the White offense showed a little flare as well, scoring the only two touchdowns of the spring. The White offense took advantage of short fields provided by forced turnovers, needing to move only a combined 29 yards for the two touchdowns.
We're going to do whatever it takes to build on where we left off last year
Henley said. We've been playing well on defense all spring and we didn't want this spring game
the last test
to go bad.
