CHAPTER 1
Hope Springs Eternal
Thursday, March 30
Spring practice opens today. In many ways it is the time of year that Jim Tressel enjoys most, because it is a time for teaching. Whenever the Buckeye football coach is queried as to what profession he would be in if he were not a coach, he always replies, "I would be a teacher; teaching is what I really enjoy."
Tressel is the consummate teacher. His meetings are like classrooms and his practices are like labs in which his players put into practice what he has taught them. When practice is over, it is back to the classroom to review the day's subject matter.
Tressel and his staff need to be on their "A" game this spring. Nine starters from what was arguably the best defense in the nation are gone, including the trio of Hawk, Carpenter, and Schlegel. On offense, left guard Robbie Sims, center Nick Mangold, and split end Santonio Holmes, all of whom had been three-year starters, need to be replaced. Additionally, kicker Josh Huston, who tied a school record with five field goals against Texas and earned All–Big Ten honors, has graduated, leaving a giant question mark in the place-kicking department.
But while the losses are significant, the Buckeyes are not short on talent. Tressel's goal is to develop that talent during the 15 spring practices allotted by the NCAA.
Saturday, April 1
During the traditional "hoot and holler" drill on the first day of pads, true freshman running back Chris "Beanie" Wells flattened a veteran senior defender in a show of raw power. In the drill, an offensive player gets three chances to go 10 yards. Beanie only needed one try. It is evident that the former USA Today All-American is the real deal.
The 6'1", 225-pound Wells was one of three true freshmen to enroll early. The other two are linebacker Ross Homan and defensive back Kurt Coleman.
Saturday, April 8
The Buckeyes held their jersey scrimmage, pitting the offense against the defense. The winning unit will wear the home scarlet-colored jerseys through the remainder of spring ball and into fall practice. The losers will be clad in the white away jerseys until they get a chance to redeem themselves in the fall.
Much of the media discussion leading into the spring was about the inexperience of the defense. In stark contrast to recent years, it appears that early on at least, the offense will have the edge.
On this day, though, the defense was having none of that. Jim Heacock's young, but undeniably talented and surprisingly fast defensive unit forced five turnovers and came away with a 69–68 victory, using a unique scoring system that Jim Tressel's father, the late Lee Tressel, used when he coached at Baldwin-Wallace College.
Several young players stood out on the defensive side of the ball, including, but not limited to, linebacker Ross Homan, safety Anderson Russell, defensive end Lawrence Wilson, and linebacker James Laurinaitis.
"You can tell these young guys want to be good and uphold the tradition of excellent Ohio State defense," said Tressel, who deep down inside probably did not mind the outcome. "This will help their confidence."
The defense won the scarlet jerseys even though tackle Quinn Pitcock, one of just two returning starters on that side of the ball, did not play.
The offense was without two of its top linemen, right tackle Kirk Barton and Doug Datish, who, after starting at guard in 2004 and 2005, is sliding over to center this fall as a replacement for departed All-American Nick Mangold.
But Troy Smith would not use that as an excuse.
"We got our butts whipped and I don't like that feeling, whether it is in a practice or a scrimmage," he said.
The scrimmage came down to a 58-yard field-goal attempt by Ryan Pretorius on the final play of the game. When the defense blocked the kick, it was worth one point and broke a 68–all tie.
Friday, April 14
Football is a violent game. Over the years, players have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. Sometimes the collisions on the field are unnerving.
Ohio State has been fortunate to have never suffered a fatality in either a practice or a game. And up until this spring, the Buckeyes had never had a serious neck or spinal cord injury.
That changed during a scrimmage in Ohio Stadium today.
Walk-on Tyson Gentry, who made the squad as a punter and for the first time this spring was also working at wide receiver, was running a square-in when he was tackled by freshman defensive back Kurt Coleman. The hit was clean and was not one of those bone-jarring tackles that make fans cringe. But when the two players hit the ground, Tyson was completely motionless. Everyone in the stadium — the coaches; the players; the doctors and trainers; and the family members in the stands, including his parents, Bob and Gloria Gentry — knew it was serious.
As the team doctors and the Gentry family hurried to his side, the training staff called 911.
All the while there was an eerie hush in the stadium. Everyone was praying and thinking, "Come on Tyson, just move something." Although Tyson was conscious and talking the entire time, there was no movement.
Once the ambulance left for the Ohio State medical center, Tressel called the team together. After a brief prayer, the coach canceled practice and sent the team home for the Easter holiday.
Tressel immediately headed to the hospital along with several members of the team. Gentry had suffered a fracture of the C4 vertebra. He had surgery tonight to fuse the vertebra.
Thursday, April 20
The Kick Scrimmage. The kicking game has always played an important role in the success of Tressel's teams, both in his 15 years at Youngstown State, where he won four Division I-AA national championships, and at Ohio State, where in just his second year he captured the 2002 national championship.
Tressel, who calls the punt "the most important play in football," has had a remarkable string of kickers since coming to Ohio State.
Mike Nugent was a three-year starter at place-kicker during the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons, and garnered first-team All-America honors in '02 and again in '04. In the latter season he also won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top place-kicker. In 2005, Josh Huston took over Nugent's duties and the Buckeyes never missed a beat.
Huston graduated following the 2005 season. The job is wide open.
Ryan Pretorius, a 27-year-old sophomore from Durban, South Africa, and Aaron Pettrey, a redshirt freshman from Raceland, Kentucky, are competing for the position. Both are untested, although Pretorius appeared in two games in 2005.
Tressel hoped to get an answer in the kick scrimmage, but with Pretorius hitting six of seven tries and Pettrey drilling a 60-yarder to give the Gray team a 28–27 win, the Buckeyes coach heads into the fall still looking for a clear-cut number one.
"Looks like we have a pretty good battle going on," he said. "We will just have to wait until the fall and see what...
