With only seconds left on the clock, the Green and White spring game came down to one final kick.
Although the Green and White Game was nothing more than a scrimmage, Ohio’s players and coaches had something they wanted to prove — especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The green team trailed the white side until the final drive of the game when the defense stopped the offense on the 20-yard line with only seconds left on the clock. With the game tied 20 apiece, redshirt senior kicker Josiah Yazdani came in to try to clinch the game for the offense.
The defensive coaches were not going to make it easy for him though, as cornerbacks coach James Ward called a timeout seconds before the snap. The result: Yazdani missed the kick giving the defense their first lead since early in the first quarter.
But a flag was thrown for coaches being on the field and Yazdani received another attempt, this time from 41 yards out. That attempt hit the right upright and the defense clinched a 25-20 victory.
“I let these guys make the call in spring ball,” coach Frank Solich said. “I make enough calls that get questioned during the regular season. We have a little bit of fun with it—it’s fun for the coaches and it got to be fun for the players too which was really good to see.”
With regulars such as quarterback Derrius Vick, wide receiver Sebastian Smith and cornerback Ian Wells all being held out of the game due to injuries, others received an opportunity to see more of the field in their place.
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Redshirt junior JD Sprague saw all of the first team reps at quarterback. After having a three and out on the offense’s first series, Sprague led the white team on a 60-yard drive down the field for the only touchdown of the game.
Redshirt freshman running back Maleek Irons received his first handoff of the game from Sprague and scored from three yards out.
With the exception of a few big plays, the defense held the offense in check, especially in the run game. Even with three and four wide receiver sets on the field, the defense kept multiple linebackers on the field to stuff the run.
“I thought it was a really good hitting game and our guys were ready to play physical football,” Solich said. “I think they have shown signs that we can be that kind of team which is always where you want to start.”
Redshirt senior linebacker Jovon Johnson made sure the defense set the tone early when he laid out junior wide receiver Jordan Reid during the offense’s second possession. Reid was coming across the middle on a slant route five yards downfield when Johnson met him.
Although that was only one of two tackles Johnson made, the captain wanted to try to fire up the defense early.
“I was just trying to get everyone hyped and get them going,” Johnson said.
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