Coach Frank Solich was ready to release the team from Tuesday's practice, set to send the team off to stretch and end the morning.
He then stopped and yelled out for the defensive line to come in front of the team. In camp, different units have come in front of their sometimes jeering teammates. The position group's task is to sing the Ohio fight song, "Stand Up and Cheer."
How'd the defensive line do? It depends who you ask.
“Nobody messed up, the whole team was playing with us," Amos Ogun-Semore said. "They said Kaieem (Caesar) messed up, he said every word. (They said) Marcus (Coleman) messed up, he said every word. We got it.”
Ogun-Semore, who goes by his nickname, Amos, said he only had to look at the lyrics once to memorize the song. That's the part that has come natural to the 6-foot-5 freshman defensive end from Dacula, Georgia.
But Ogun-Semore, along with 23 other true freshman and some transfers, will be in Athens for their first football season with Ohio.
With that has brought some growing pains for the newcomers at Peden Stadium.
"I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty terrible at run reads and I just ran up the field on pass rush," Ogun-Semore admitted. "But coach G (defensive line coach Pete Germano), made it easy for me. I’ve worked on the entire camp, I’ve got it down now.”
Some of those learning curves can come from position changes, like that from K.J. Minter and Steven Hayes.
Minter, from Gainesville, Florida, is making the transition from high school quarterback to receiver. Hayes, a sophomore transfer from Hutchinson Community College, is kicking inside from offensive tackle to center.
“(It's) just about the conditioning, really," Minter said. "I played seven-on-seven as a receiver with some teams in Florida. It’s just about conditioning, getting in and out of my routes, looking in the ball and catching more balls.”
Minter said it's been easier to read the defense and its coverage due to his time in high school as a quarterback. But it's been a bit more difficult for Hayes, who now has to set the protection each and every play at center.
“It’s a lot more comforting than being out there all by yourself, two big guys beside you," Hayes said of his new position. "They do a good job helping you out, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at right now if they weren’t working with me, helping with the play calls as well.”
Aside from the differences in some techniques, all mentioned the speed of the game as something that's been difficult to pick up. They've all had their mentors to follow, too.
For Drew Keszei (pronounced Kay-Zai), he's looking up to current starting quarterback Quinton Maxwell, backup Nathan Rourke and seasoned third-teamer Joey Duckworth. Maxwell and Duckworth have been in the system for three and two years, respectively.
“I love having them be my partners," Keszei said. "No matter what’s happening, they’re helpful. In the beginning of camp when I didn’t really know exactly what I was doing, they were behind me, just in my ear telling me. Now after the play, it’s either ‘good job’ or ‘try to do this’ which has been very helpful.”
The one thing they couldn't help with, however, were the dreaded quarterback rolls. If a quarterback throws an interception in practice, he grabs two footballs and rolls 50 yards per interception. Last week, Keszei had to roll.
“Yeah ... throw a pick, you gotta roll," he said. "You just throw one pick, you’ve gotta roll 50 yards with two balls in your hand. You wouldn’t think it’s a bad punishment, but I get motion sick. I almost puke every time.”
That's on the field. But thankfully for them, it's been an easier transition for everyone off the field.
The team arrived in Athens in July with fall camp starting a week earlier this year, due to the NCAA eliminating two-a-days. So the team has had time to focus on strictly football, before classes begin.
"When I was in Hutchinson I was kind of in the middle of nowhere, and there weren’t very many people and you were confined to the dorms," Hayes said. "There’s a whole bunch of things around here, the campus is huge, it’s beautiful, it’s one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever seen."
Keszei, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is more of an outdoorsman than some of his teammates. He hasn't gotten time to experience Athens yet, but he's only been on campus for three weeks.
“I feel like I’m a different kind of quarterback, I do a lot of outdoors stuff, I’m friends with a lot of the defensive guys," Keszei said. "They’re cool. There’s no troubles, they’re all cool."
No troubles at all. Until they stand in front of the team and have to start singing.
