Saturday Practice Update – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 21, 2001
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%^$%^$The Ohio State defense outlasted the offense, 53-52, Saturday in a full contact scrimmage at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center.%^$
%^$”We still have to look at the films, but I saw a lot of positives out there,” OSU head coach Jim Tressel said following the two hour workout. “It came right down to the wire with the defense stopping the offense on the final play of the day. You can’t ask for much more than that.”%^$
%^$Trailing by a point, the offense took over at the five-yard line with one final chance to get into the end zone. But tailback Sammy Maldonado was cut down short of the goal line by a hoard of white-shirted tacklers to preserve the win for the defense. “We didn’t run the ball as consistently as I would have liked,” said Tressel. “That is an area that we still need to work on.”%^$
%^$There were some pluses in the passing game, however.%^$
%^$”We pass blocked pretty well today and that has been an area of concern for us,” Tressel said. “And I thought for the most part our quarterbacks made some good plays.%^$
%^$”With the exception of Steve (Bellisari), we have young quarterbacks and we definitely have young receivers. So we wanted to throw the ball a lot and see what those guys can do.”%^$
%^$Converted cornerback Bam Childress, moved to wide receiver earlier this week, helped his cause with an acrobatic touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone.%^$
%^$”Bam has some ability, some natural moves,” said Tressel. “He still has a lot to learn, but he can be a play maker.”%^$
%^$The Buckeyes practice Monday at 3:15 p.m.
