If there is one looming question mark around the Ohio State football team it is: How are the Buckeyes going to replace All-American punter Andy Groom?
But after Friday’s kicking scrimmage in Ohio Stadium, that question may have been answered emphatically by senior B.J. Sander.
In front of more than 1,500 fans and ESPN’s “College Gameday” crew, Sander wowed the crowd by averaging just under 50 yards on his eight kicks.
“I felt good all day long,” Sander said. “I just wanted to show what I had and I’ve felt I’ve hit the ball well all spring.”
The kicking scrimmage had the Buckeyes divided into two teams, and every play was a fourth-down situation.
The biggest play of the day came when the Gray team was forced to punt on its own 22-yard line. The Scarlet’s Tyler Everett busted through and blocked Josh Huston’s punt attempt. The ball was scooped up by Michael Jenkins, who returned it 10 yards for a Scarlet touchdown. Mike Nugent missed the extra point and the Scarlet team took an early 6-0 lead.
To give Nugent and the other kickers some work, a portion of the scrimmage was broken down into field goal situations from the 16-yard line. Nugent missed three of his five attempts from that distance.
“I think just the tempo was a little off,” Nugent said. “I don’t know if it was the holder or me, but sometimes it just didn’t feel right. But that’s what spring practice is for.”
The scrimmage then returned to its punting portion with both teams missing out on opportunities to kick field goals on returns.
The second field goal kicking phase of the scrimmage came when the kickers tried 33-yard attempts. This time, Nugent got on track, nailing all three of his attempts. Several non-roster walk-ons tried from the same distance but made only three of six.
The Scarlet team held a slim 21-18 lead with just minutes remaining in the scrimmage. The Scarlet’s Chris Gamble returned a punt to the Gray 20-yard line, but Nugent hooked his field goal attempt.
The Gray team got the ball back and tried to run fakes to get the ball down the field. Sander completed his first attempted pass, bringing the Gray to the 35-yard line. However, the Gray drive stalled when Sander could not complete his second fake attempt.
Both Sander and Nugent blamed the lackluster performance from the place kickers on problems with the coordination from snapper to holder to kicker. Sander is also replacing Groom as Nugent’s holder on field goals.
“I had trouble handling some of the snaps, I just have to continue to work on it,”Sander said.
