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PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE

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Linebackers

By pepperpikebuckeye -20 October 2012
5 Comments
- Football

Why did the coaching staff think the situation at LB was so dire that they had to switch Boren, a great fullback, but a guy who hadn't played linebacker since high school, over to defense? Couldn't Curtis Grant, Josh Perry, Jamal Marcus, etc. have done a good enough job considering they are faster and know the position much better, and wouldn't cause OSU to lose an offensive weapon? Thoughts?

UncleBuck on 20 Oct 2012 - 1:57am #

Boren is a great football player and a team leader, but I wouldn't call him an offensive weapon. They probably felt they need leadership back there with Sabino gone. Klein can't be considered a leader and everyone else is an underclassmen. Grant has been given opportunities this year. He did not make the most of them, so they had to try something different. It couldn't get too much worse, so it makes sense to put a hard-nosed, high energy guy in to try to create a spark.

penult on 20 Oct 2012 - 2:04am #

In Meyer's press conference he stated that 2 of the freshmen linebackers (Perry and Williams) were injured and unable to practice Tuesday and 2 (Marcus and Perkins) don't have the system down yet.

NW Buckeye on 20 Oct 2012 - 2:08am #

As has been discussed before here, when they made the move, only 3 linebackers on the roster were actually healthy enough to practice. Also, I agree with Uncle Buck above, they needed a leader to step in as Sabino was the natural leader of the LB corp, and the LB corp is the group that leads the D, much like the Q leads the O.

buckskin on 20 Oct 2012 - 3:09am #

Meyer is more concerned about the interior linebacker play. Sabino is still out, Grant can't seem to pick up the D, and Klein is too one-dimensional. (As mentioned above), Boren is a natural leader with a high football IQ and until Sabino returns, he might be our best option. He obviously impressed Meyer enough to make the switch "temporarily permanent".

Perry, Marcus, and Perkins came in as OLBs. Does anybody have any word on the development of Camren Williams? Has he been on special teams and if so, what number is he so I can look out for him on Saturday? I was hoping we would see more of him.

Royball on 20 Oct 2012 - 3:17am #

@Buckskin Williams is #5. Played the first snap after Shazier got hurt hurt against Nebraska, which was the play Burkhead ripped off for 72 yards. Didn't see the field on D after that.

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