Before Ohio’s Green and White spring game Saturday, redshirt freshman Grant Venham had not punted in an organized contest since his senior year of high school, where he played for Vincent Warren.
And though the lights weren’t on at Peden Stadium, the crowd was sparse and the quarterbacks wore pinnies, Venham was more than happy to get back into the swing of things.
He went through his personal routine as usual, but one thing was missing — his team.
When it was time for Ohio’s offense to leave the field in lieu of the punting squad, the field stayed empty except for three players — a long snapper, punter and return man.
“I wanted all eyes on them,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “I wanted them to feel a little pressure because we have a new snapper, no matter who it is, and we’ve got a new punter, no matter who it is. So I wanted to try to establish — instead of having 22 guys out there, there was three — that everybody would look at them.”
For those who came out to watch a 15-7 White squad win, checking out the punting squad was a welcome reprieve from a turnover-riddled performance.
Redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton, who led the Green unit of regular first-team offensive players, had a less-than-impressive performance, as he was picked off four times in the scrimmage. His younger counterpart, redshirt freshman Derrius Vick, had a pair of picks as well.
“The whole spring we showed strides and got better, and hopefully today was not a step back,” Tettleton said.
The game was also a step forward for the secondary. Solich placed some blame on the quarterbacks for their offensive woes but credited his cornerbacks and safeties for making things happen defensively.
“The quarterbacks are going to have to make better decisions, but I think we’re going to have maybe the best secondary we’ve had since I’ve been here,”
Solich said. “We can really run in the secondary. They’re ball-hawking type of guys, and they seem to have good hands.”
Redshirt freshman cornerback Devin Bass was one of the Bobcats that made his presence known Saturday. Bass, who is not expected to be a starter, intercepted a pair of Tettleton’s passes.
Solich said that he might give Bass an opportunity to make an impression in the special teams department as a punt and kick returner as well.
“I really liked Devin off of high school film, and he’s got great quickness (and) great feet,” he said.
Other defensive players stepped up, too. Under spring game rules, a sack involves merely chasing down but not tackling the quarterback. The defensive line was able to tally six on the day.
Redshirt junior Nic Barber and sophomore Tony Davis led the way with a pair of picks apiece.
Redshirt junior running backs Beau Blankenship and Ryan Boykin led the charge offensively. Blankenship was the most impressive, busting out a 76-yard performance on only five carries.
Boykin had 29 yards, while freshman Daz’mond Patterson had 17 on six carries.
The scrimmage rounded out the Bobcats’ spring schedule. Though the beginning of the spring season did not go as smoothly as he would have hoped, Solich said all’s well that ends well.
“I thought as a team we did pretty well in terms of progression,” he said. “I was ready to pull my hair out the first two weeks, but the third week I thought things started to come together a little bit better.”
But any spring successes are easily trumped by what lies ahead for the Bobcats, who already have their hopes set on their season opener at Penn State.
Venham admitted to having his blood pumping when he was the center of attention Saturday, but the spotlight was far duller than what he has to look forward to.
“It was a matter of wanting them to be under as much pressure as possible,” Solich said. “I don’t know what it is at Penn State, 115,000 (fans) or whatever it is, but they’re going to have to have a little pressure before they go in.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
