Special jerseys for Penn State no problem for Ohio State football players

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COLUMBUS – While some alumni and fans are agitated about Ohio State’s announcement that the Buckeyes will wear black uniforms for the Penn State game, the reaction among the players seems to be one giant Joey Bosa shrug.

At player interviews on Monday, safety Vonn Bell said, “I don’t really care about it. I just want to win. That’s all I care about. But I guess it’s going to be nice.”

Linebacker Cam Williams said it was a non-issue in the locker room.

“We haven’t talked about it that much. Apparently, they’re real cool jerseys. It should be fun but we haven’t really talked about it,” he said.

Ohio State traditionalists aren’t taking it so calmly. Jeff Snook, author of several books about OSU football, wrote in a column on theozone.net on Monday that, after watching every Buckeyes game except one since 1994, he will not watch the Penn State game because of the black uniforms.

NOTES:

DIFFERENT OFFENSE: Ohio State has scored 22 touchdowns in its first five games this season, compared to 29 in the first five games last season.

Last season at this point in the season, OSU had scored 17 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns and two on defense. This year it has seven passing TDs, 12 rushing TDs and three on defense.

So far, the offense has been more of a pro style/power running offense than a read option offense. A year ago, OSU quarterbacks had 82 rushing attempts in the first five games. This year, they have 46 rushing attempts.

You’d like to have that,” Meyer said about having a running quarterback at his weekly press conference on Monday. “The threat of that cleans up defenses for you. That’s the extra component that you have in an offense.

“We haven’t really done much at all this year. Obviously, Cardale (Jones) is not that type of player. He’s a very good runner, but he’s more of a scrambler than he is quarterback counter, quarterback power, those types of things.”

ECHOES OF EDDIE, ARCHIE: Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell says running back Ezekiel Elliott is “special” and that comparisons to Eddie George and Archie Griffin are legitimate.

“I can’t say I studied or watched Archie. Obviously, I played with Eddie. He’s much different than Eddie. I think he’s a little bit more dynamic than even Eddie was and he’s in a little bit different offense.

“I think he’s special. He’s young. He’s just scratching the surface,” Fickell said.

TIME TO CHILL?: Offensive lineman Billy Price says fans should relax, that OSU’s offensive line will play up to expectations.

“Everybody just needs to relax. We will take care of our business,” Price said.

“We’re still a work in progress. There are still things we need to correct, nothing too major. It’s not like we were last year at this point in time where it was, ‘Who are these guys? Get rid of the left guard. The center is too small.’ ”

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By Jim Naveau

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Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414 or on Twitter at @Lima_Naveau.

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