Buckeyes still undecided on format of "spring showcase"
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is already making plenty of adjustments to the way it is structuring spring practice following the 16-game run to a national championship win.
Spring practice isn’t going anywhere, but the Buckeyes are shortening spring ball down to just under a month; they’ve typically had a five-week spring practice period including a week off in the middle for spring break.
But a casualty of the new college football calendar and the endless pursuit of finding the right way to manage the offseason: the spring game. Ohio State isn’t hosting one. Instead, the program is calling April 12 a ‘spring showcase,’ which will still take place inside the Horseshoe.
On Friday during his first media session since the national title win, Ohio State coach Ryan Day wasn’t ready to reveal what the ‘showcase’ will look like. But he still wants it to have some structure.
“We’re still looking at the format of the spring game/showcase, but we’re going to try to play as much football as we can that day,” Day said. “But we’re also going to be smart, because we know, with 16 games, what can happen is you can play a 16 game season. If you really just jump right in and have a normal spring practice, then you come back and play another 16-game season, that’s a lot of football in one year, and we have to be smart on that. So that’s kind of our approach to it.”
Ohio State must be careful with tinkering too much this offseason. The Buckeyes will reveal their national championship banner on Aug. 30 in the home opener against a Texas team that is coming off back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances — including the loss in the semis to Ohio State this past January — and could be the top team in the country in the preseason polls.
Day wants to make sure the Buckeyes take valuable reps inside the Horseshoe on April 12 with the hope that those reps will pay off as quickly as Aug. 30 against the Longhorns.
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“The first time we play a game this year with this team is going to be against Texas at home,” Day said. “So to get some of these young players in the stadium with a good crowd will still be important.”
Key words: young players.
If you’re coming to Ohio Stadium for the spring showcase expecting to see Jeremiah Smith post nine catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns or watch Caleb Downs return a punt for a score, lower the expectations.
Because those veteran Buckeyes played a lot of football from August through January, and this spring won’t feature them as much. The spring game, especially.
With that being said, Day knows the Buckeyes will need to get plenty accomplished come the final day of spring ball. It’s just a balance he and the program are trying to strike throughout this offseason after winning the first-ever 12-team CFP.
“It isn’t just going to be a bunch of seven-on-seven and guys running around doing one-on-ones and individual drills,” Day said. “We’re going to try to do the best we can to simulate game opportunities for our players. But there will also be some players that will hold out in that game.”
