Stafford Gatling and the defense hadn't forgotten allowing three touchdowns during their first scrimmage.
Five sacks and an interception later, Gatling and the defense erased the bad memories in Ohio's second spring scrimmage.
We were motivated because we feel that last week
we played good but not good enough Gatling said. So
we had to come out here with the emphasis making sure we were going to stop (the offense) ... and then
all of the sudden
all of it came together.
Gatling and Alphonso Lewis set the tone for the defense on the second play of scrimmage by sacking Phil Bates. They came from the outside on opposite ends almost untouched for the 9-yard loss.
Lewis added another sack later in the scrimmage for a total of 1.5 sacks and two tackles for a loss, and defensive linemen Melvin Payne, John Taylor and Dak Notestine all recorded sacks.
The defense also held Bates and Tyler Tettleton under wraps on the ground.
In the first scrimmage, Bates created opportunities with his legs, carrying the ball eight times for 28 yards. This time, it didn't turn out so well.
Bates gained less than 10 yards. Tettleton rushed for negative yards.
We were working a lot during the spring on concepts
making sure the quarterback stays in the pocket
Gatling said. We executed a lot well today
and we've been pressuring them from (the defensive) line - from the ends to the inside.
Omar Leftwich and the secondary benefitted from the pressure of the front seven.
Bates and Tettleton combined for 123 yards on 11-of-18 passing and an interception, after the passing game went 14-of-20 for 168 yards in the previous scrimmage. The secondary also allowed only one touchdown, after yielding three through the air last time out.
The interception was caused by pressure from the front seven and Leftwich capitalized.
Under duress, Tettleton tried to hit his receiver running the seam route, but Leftwich read it. He made a play on the ball, caught it and returned it 40 yards before he was forced out of bounds.
Leftwich snuffed out a screen earlier in the scrimmage, stopping another drive. On third-and-15, Bates threw the screen to running back Vince Davidson.
The cornerback stayed home on the play and managed to tackle Davidson behind the line for a 1-yard loss.
(Leftwich) had a good scrimmage
coach Frank Solich said. He's learning our defense
and I think he'll just get better and better as time goes on. I think he'll be a really good player for us.
The defense wasn't the only problem for the offense; the offense was heavily penalized.
The offensive line committed six penalties - five false starts and one holding - for 35 yards. These penalties killed multiple drives or kept them from gaining momentum.
I think drives got hurt offensively by somewhat poor execution and then a number of flags
