OSU QB's
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:48 pm
http://dispatch.com/dispatch/content/sp ... 6BPGD.html
Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton are no longer in disguise.
This spring, they're not trying to scramble like Michigan State's Drew Stanton, wing it like Illinois' Juice Williams or stand and deliver like Florida's Chris Leak. Schoenhoft and Henton are being themselves: candidates for the starting quarterback job at Ohio State, just like front-runner Todd Boeckman.
So, instead of emulating the opponent as they did all last season, executing scout-team plays for the benefit of the OSU defense, they're getting to use the Buckeyes' playbooks.
"It's fun to run real plays," said Schoenhoft, a sophomore. "It's awesome."
Kind of like when a father turns over the keys for his prize pickup truck to his student-driver son and tells him to take it around the block a few times, just to get a feel for it.
"I just want to learn as much as I can so when fall comes, it will be a little more pressure on me (to perform)," said Henton, a freshman. "I want a better relationship with the offensive guys and hopefully just get better."
All three QBs are getting a chance to shift gears with the first-string offense. Henton said he wasn't surprised by the rotation, because quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels told them that was how it would be before spring drills began.
"He told me I'd have just as good a chance as they had," Henton said. "So I'm trying to get everything down so when it comes down to fall camp, everything will be slowed down."
It's the only fair way to find the successor to Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, coach Jim Tressel said.
"We typically have rotated guys in when we have not had a returning starter so that everybody gets to have every opportunity with the various groups and against the various groups," Tressel said.
The trick, he said, is for all three to concentrate on their own driving and not be looking over their shoulder at the other two standing at the curb. It's a point that Boeckman -- third-string behind backup Justin Zwick last year -- said he has taken to heart.
"I don't worry about the quarterback competition," Boeckman said. "I've just got to go out there -- we've all got to go out there, work hard, and do what we know how to do."
But for Schoenhoft and Henton, there has been a significant change in practice routine.
"I'm learning a lot, and getting reps with the ones and the twos, which I'm not used to, because I'm used to running the scout-team plays," Schoenhoft said. "Pretty much the biggest thing for me is getting game (-like) experience."
The scout team really did not afford that, Henton said. For one thing, the plays for the day were on cards. For another, "when you're on the scout team, the defense knows what's coming," he said.
"When you don't have cards and you're just calling your plays, (the defense) is out there guessing. That makes our job a little bit easier."
And, in other ways, it makes it more difficult.
"There are more reads, there is more on you," Henton said. "There is more thinking involved with it."
There also is more excitement, Schoenhoft said.
"I can't lie and say it's not; it's exciting, knowing that you can be out there and that you can lead the team," Schoenhoft said. "It gives you a little bit of extra juice out there."
Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton are no longer in disguise.
This spring, they're not trying to scramble like Michigan State's Drew Stanton, wing it like Illinois' Juice Williams or stand and deliver like Florida's Chris Leak. Schoenhoft and Henton are being themselves: candidates for the starting quarterback job at Ohio State, just like front-runner Todd Boeckman.
So, instead of emulating the opponent as they did all last season, executing scout-team plays for the benefit of the OSU defense, they're getting to use the Buckeyes' playbooks.
"It's fun to run real plays," said Schoenhoft, a sophomore. "It's awesome."
Kind of like when a father turns over the keys for his prize pickup truck to his student-driver son and tells him to take it around the block a few times, just to get a feel for it.
"I just want to learn as much as I can so when fall comes, it will be a little more pressure on me (to perform)," said Henton, a freshman. "I want a better relationship with the offensive guys and hopefully just get better."
All three QBs are getting a chance to shift gears with the first-string offense. Henton said he wasn't surprised by the rotation, because quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels told them that was how it would be before spring drills began.
"He told me I'd have just as good a chance as they had," Henton said. "So I'm trying to get everything down so when it comes down to fall camp, everything will be slowed down."
It's the only fair way to find the successor to Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, coach Jim Tressel said.
"We typically have rotated guys in when we have not had a returning starter so that everybody gets to have every opportunity with the various groups and against the various groups," Tressel said.
The trick, he said, is for all three to concentrate on their own driving and not be looking over their shoulder at the other two standing at the curb. It's a point that Boeckman -- third-string behind backup Justin Zwick last year -- said he has taken to heart.
"I don't worry about the quarterback competition," Boeckman said. "I've just got to go out there -- we've all got to go out there, work hard, and do what we know how to do."
But for Schoenhoft and Henton, there has been a significant change in practice routine.
"I'm learning a lot, and getting reps with the ones and the twos, which I'm not used to, because I'm used to running the scout-team plays," Schoenhoft said. "Pretty much the biggest thing for me is getting game (-like) experience."
The scout team really did not afford that, Henton said. For one thing, the plays for the day were on cards. For another, "when you're on the scout team, the defense knows what's coming," he said.
"When you don't have cards and you're just calling your plays, (the defense) is out there guessing. That makes our job a little bit easier."
And, in other ways, it makes it more difficult.
"There are more reads, there is more on you," Henton said. "There is more thinking involved with it."
There also is more excitement, Schoenhoft said.
"I can't lie and say it's not; it's exciting, knowing that you can be out there and that you can lead the team," Schoenhoft said. "It gives you a little bit of extra juice out there."
