Wednesday, October 14, 2015

2015 Ohio State Depth Chart vs Penn State



DEPTH CHART: BACKUP SAFETY ERICK SMITH ABSENT FROM OHIO STATE'S LINEUP AHEAD OF PENN STATE GAME

By Eric Seger on October 13, 2015 
Erick Smith is absent from Ohio State's lineup ahead of its home game against Penn State.

It's getting to the point in the college football season where you are what you are, no matter what anyone else says.
Six games deep into its 2015 slate, Ohio State remains No. 1 in the country. The Buckeyes host 5-1 Penn State Saturday in the first home night game of the season and are set to sport black uniforms against the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State released its depth chart for the game Tuesday afternoon.
Notes:
  •  The lone change from last week is the absence of sophomore backup safety Erick Smith. Safeties coach Chris Ash said Monday Smith "was banged up" and might miss the game against Penn State. The team has not released any information publicly of a presumed injury.
  •  Vonn Bell's new backup in place of Smith is Louisville transfer Jarrod Barnes, who walked on in June.
  •  Though J.T. Barrett played significant minutes — mainly in the red zone — Saturday against Maryland and scored three touchdowns, Cardale Jones remains the lone starter at quarterback.
  •  The battle at kicker continues, though graduate senior and Duke transfer Jack Willoughby's taken care of kickoff and field goal duties during Ohio State's first six games of 2015.
OFFENSEDEFENSE
LT 68TAYLOR DECKER6-8315SR DE 59TYQUAN LEWIS6-3260SO
  74JAMARCO JONES6-5310SO   10JALYN HOLMES6-5265SO
LG 54BILLY PRICE6-4315SO DT 92ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON6-4290SR
  78DEMETRIUS KNOX6-4305FR   52DONOVAN MUNGER6-4300SO
         OR93TRACY SPRINKLE6-3290SO
C 50JACOBY BOREN6-2285SR DT 90TOMMY SCHUTT6-2295SR
  79BRADY TAYLOR6-5300FR   51JOEL HALE6-4295SR
         OR77MICHAEL HILL 6-2305SO
RG 65PAT ELFLEIN6-3300JR DE 97JOEY BOSA6-6275JR
  75EVAN LISLE6-7305SO   6SAM HUBBARD6-5265FR
RT 57CHASE FARRIS6-5310SR SLB 43DARRON LEE6-2235SO
  59ISAIAH PRINCE6-7305FR   35CHRIS WORLEY6-2225SO
TE 81NICK VANNETT6-6260SR MLB 5RAEKWON McMILLAN6-2240SO
  85MARCUS BAUGH6-5255SO   55CAM WILLIAMS6-1225SR
WR 3MICHAEL THOMAS6-3210JR WLB 37JOSHUA PERRY6-4254SR
  21PARRIS CAMPBELL6-1205FR   33DANTE BOOKER6-2233SO
  89JEFF GREENE6-5220SR        
QB 12CARDALE JONES6-5250JR CB 13ELI APPLE6-1200SO
  16J.T. BARRETT6-2225SO   12DENZEL WARD5-11180FR
RB 15EZEKIEL ELLIOTT6-0225JR        
  25BRI'ONTE DUNN6-0215JR SAF 23TYVIS POWELL6-3210JR
  28WARREN BALL6-1225JR   24MALIK HOOKER6-2205FR
H-B 1BRAXTON MILLER6-2215SR SAF 11VONN BELL5-11205JR
  2DONTRE WILSON5-10195JR   26JARROD BARNES5-11193JR
WR 4CURTIS SAMUEL5-11200SO CB 8GAREON CONLEY6-0195SO
  82JAMES CLARK5-10185SO   2MARSHON LATTIMORE6-0195FR
WR 17JALIN MARSHALL5-11205SO        
  5JOHNNIE DIXON5-11194FR        
  83TERRY MCLAURIN6-1200FR        
SPECIAL TEAMS
K 98JACK WILLOUGHBY6-2210SR H 95CAMERON JOHNSTON6-0195JR
 OR96SEAN NUERNBERGER6-1220SO        
P 95CAMERON JOHNSTON6-0195JR PR 17JALIN MARSHALL5-11205SO
KO 98JACK WILLOUGHBY6-2210SR   2DONTRE WILSON5-10195JR
  96SEAN NUERNBERGER6-1220SO        
LS 41BRYCE HAYNES6-4220SR KR 2DONTRE WILSON5-10195JR
  49LIAM MCCULLOUGH6-2210FR   4CURTIS SAMUEL5-11200SO



OSU Depth Chart for Penn St, 2015


Ohio State vs Penn State Preview
(AP) -- - The two-quarterback system with Cardale Jones driving Ohio State across the field until yielding to J.T. Barrett in the red zone is not quite a permanent solution after one game for the top-ranked Buckeyes.

Picks & Odds

PSU
7%
78
OH ST
93%
1029
  • OH ST
  • -17
  • O/U:
  • 48.5
  • PSU
  • +535
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Coach Urban Meyer, however, said it's close.
"I think so, but I'm not writing it in Sharpie yet," he said Monday. "We'll see how it goes."
So far it has gone well for Ohio State, which could again put the approach to good use as it looks to remain unbeaten Saturday at home against Penn State.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) efficiently scored touchdowns on all six trips inside the red zone in a 49-28 win against Maryland last Saturday. In its previous five games, Ohio State had six TDs and six field goals in 16 red-zone situations.
"I thought it worked outstanding," quarterbacks coach/co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck said. "I was proud of both guys. Obviously, it's not easy but they're both great friends and great competitors."
Meyer reiterated that Jones is still the starter because Barrett has not beaten him for the job. However, Barrett's running ability and read option capabilities are better.
"Cardale can certainly run," Meyer said. "But when you have that threat (with Barrett), you saw it Saturday, you have to defend that now."
Meyer has gone through this before. In 2006, he would insert Tim Tebow near the goal line in relief of Chris Leak and went on to win a national championship for Florida with a 41-14 rout of Ohio State in the BCS title game.

"When you establish a presence to have a dual-threat guy back there, sometimes it changes the coverages," Beck said, "which now allows more single one-on-one type things as opposed to trying to fight in tight zone windows."Barrett took over for Jones and led the Buckeyes to five touchdowns against Maryland, rushing for scores from 3, 1 and 18 yards. Meanwhile, the possibility that Barrett will pull up and throw also creates problems for the secondary and frees the receivers.
The other red-zone score was a 19-yard pass from Jones to Braxton Miller. It came on the first play after Miller made a diving catch for 33 yards on a pass by Jones, who finished 21 for 28 with 291 yards and two touchdowns.
The Nittany Lions (5-1, 2-0) may determine how often Barrett is used this weekend. Penn State is ranked 10th in the nation in total defense (275.7 yards per game) and tied for 11th in scoring defense (14.3).
"This is a whole other challenge," Meyer said. "It's every week. Their defense is probably going to have something to say about that.
"It's a very good defense we're facing."
Nittany Lions senior safety Jordan Lucas understands that he and most of his teammates won't get another opportunity like this. He was still in high school the last time Penn State played a No. 1 opponent.
Penn State lost to Alabama then and hasn't fared well against the country's best since, going 3-12 against ranked teams since that 2010 loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," Lucas said. "Ohio State is the top team in college football right now. I'm sure they feel like they have a target on their back and teams want to take them down and that's a great challenge."
The Nittany Lions' defense leads the country with 25 sacks and is in the top 10 in tackles for loss (53) and turnover margin (plus-8), affording the offense space to grow.
"I think we're resilient," coach James Franklin said. "I think we have found ways to be successful each week, different ways of doing it. We're getting better."
The Buckeyes are planning to "black out" Ohio Stadium - an opposite take on Penn State's White Out - and will debut new, all-black uniforms.
With five straight home games, and the season opener played in Philadelphia where Penn State fans made up a majority of the crowd, tackle Andrew Nelson is looking forward to being the bad guys for once.
"I think that's something that we're definitely all embracing," Nelson said. "Obviously we know that we're hated by the Ohio State community but we have a great opportunity this weekend to go in there and play with the best of our ability."
Nelson, who was on the 2013 team that was thrashed 63-14 in Columbus, knows what mistake-filled football feels like. He knows what it took to close the gap last year when Penn State bounced back from a 17-point halftime deficit to force double overtime before the Buckeyes won at Beaver Stadium.
"We can move the ball on them offensively and we can definitely stick with this team," Nelson said. "We don't fear anybody."

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