1998 Spring Football Notes – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/2/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 2, 1998
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio — On a partly sunny, 50-something degree day in Columbus, 11th-year Ohio State head coach John Cooper welcomed 92 student-athletes, including 17 starters from last year’s 10-3 Sugar Bowl team, to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center practice fields for the start of spring drills.
%^$”To me, spring practice is a time to work on fundamentals and the basic overall improvement of your football team,” Cooper said prior to the start. “We will spend time on the basics. It is also a time to get your best football players on the field, so we will do some experimenting to make sure we have the right people in the right places. I am really not in favor of wholesale position changes and I don’t see us making any major switches this spring. We will, however, try to get some of our younger players in position to compete for playing time. We want, and need, to create more competition on both the offensive and defensive lines.”
%^$Spring Notes
%^$*The drills will culminate with the annual Scarlet and Gray Game, set for April 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Ohio Stadium.
%^$*The five departed starters are quarterback Stanley Jackson, tailback Pepe Pearson, center Eric Gohlstin, boundry linebacker Kevin Johnson and defensive tackle Winfield Garnett.
%^$*Three prominent returnees will sit out all or part of spring drills: left guard Rob Murphy (MCL reconstruction in January); strong safety Damon Moore (recuperating after a bout with pneumonia); tight end Steve Wisniewski (injured back).
%^$*The pre-spring drills (and subject to change) two-deep chart lists just seven seniors in starting positions: quarterback Joe Germaine, flanker Dee Miller, tight end John Lumpkin, right tackle Brooks Burris, cornerback Antoine Winfield, Moore at strong safety and Jerry Rudzinski at will linebacker. There are 16 seniors on the roster and 12 of them are fifth-year seniors.
%^$*Some red-shirted freshmen to watch according to Cooper: OT Jim Massey, OT Henry Flemming, NG Paris Long, LB Jason Ott, TE Darnell Sanders. There are nine red-shirted scholarship freshmen on the squad.
