When quarterback Boo Jackson awoke on Saturday, he saw the sun shining and smiled. But it wouldn't be the last time he had a reason to smile on that day.
Jackson had another impressive outing in Ohio's Green and White game Saturday. He completed 16-of-20 passes for 190 yards as the White defeated the Green, 20-14. The junior consistently hit his receivers in stride for large gains, while showing off his arm strength and avoiding turnovers during the first half for the White and the second half for the Green.
Leaps and bounds
Jackson said when asked how much he had improved since the beginning of spring. The first week I was here I was bobbling snaps looking like a freshman coming out of high school
but then as the weeks progressed I caught on real quick.
I just felt good and I ended good
so today was a good day.
After stalling on White's first drive of the day, the junior-college transfer from Gardena, Calif., settled down and made some big plays. He had nine plays of more than 10 yards, including a string of three straight plays for 20, 29 and 13 early in the second half. His biggest play of the day was a 29-yard pass to wide receiver Riley Dunlop, a Liberty Township native.
Boo had a big game
coach Frank Solich said. He's done an excellent job of picking up the system
and the system is not an easy system especially from a quarterbacks standpoint. There's a lot to learn.
While Jackson had one of his best performances of the spring, quarterback Theo Scott had one of his worst.
The Long Beach, Calif., native struggled early as Donovan Fletcher, of Youngstown, Ohio, intercepted him on the Green's first two drives of the game. The two interceptions were Scott's first of the spring in live scrimmages. After those drives, Scott settled down to finish the day with 7-of-12 passing for 102 yards and the two interceptions.
I think Theo was probably pressing a little bit
Solich said. He's had a very
very good spring and I think he wanted to show that today. I think he was pressing early and then came around and played well.
The offense continued its spring domination of the defense, which was missing several key contributors. Safeties Michael Mitchell and Steven Jackson, along with linebackers Noah Keller, Jordan Meyers and defensive ends Kris Luchsinger and Conor Reilly sat out the annual game.
The Bobcats' offense amassed 463 yards of offense through the air, including a nice performance by No. 3 quarterback Brandon Jones. Jones was 7-of-11 passing for 82 yards and a touchdown and interception.
The defense, however, did slow down the Green and White running backs.
Junior running back Chris Garrett, of Bristow, Va., led the way with 14 rushes for 79 yards and a touchdown, including a 33-yard run when the Green team was pinned on their own five-yard line. Junior L.J. Flintall, from Burlington, N.C., ran six times for 19 yards and redshirt freshman Donte Harden, an Erie, Pa., native, had five rushes for six yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Vince Davidson, from Dayton, N.J., who left the game with a left foot injury, finished with just two carries for five yards.
The defense also forced five turnovers, including fumbles by Garrett and Davidson.
The past couple of scrimmages they got to us
Fletcher said. The defense just had to work on limiting mistakes.With spring now officially over, Solich said the team has a lot to work on in the off-season to prepare for the upcoming season.
We need to be in just great shape
Solich said. If we really want to be a football team that wants to challenge for things
