All-American candidate Cameron Heyward is a player, and a voice, that Ohio State would miss if he wasn't around.
Ross Homan and the rest of the Buckeyes seldom have to guess who will be the loudest voice when the Buckeyes take the field -- defensive lineman Cameron Heyward easily takes that prize. "Cam does not shut up at practice," senior receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. "There's a few other guys, but you're probably going to hear Cam the most."COLUMBUS, Ohio -- His voice echoed throughout Ohio Stadium. At times during Ohio State's jersey scrimmage during preseason camp, Cameron Heyward's voice was the only thing you heard.
"Cam does not shut up at practice," senior receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. "There's a few other guys, but you're probably going to hear Cam the most."
Linebacker Brian Rolle said Ohio State assistant defensive coordinator Luke Fickell often admonishes his team at practice, saying, "We can't have one guy yelling." The one is always Heyward.
"I talk a lot, I'm talking, but Cam does the job of yelling," Rolle said. "I can talk a lot, but I don't really like yelling, but I hear him yell and I say, 'Oh, I've got to yell then because everybody expects me to yell.' But he's a guy, you don't even have to look, you can just hear he's always yelling.
"It's something he does naturally. Cam does it and he doesn't even have to think about it, and that's something I like about him."
The voice was just a reminder about how much Heyward would have been missed if he'd gone to the NFL, or if he had never arrived at all.
The Georgia native, who said he would have gone to Florida if not Ohio State, was the last commitment to the Class of 2007. He could have turned pro after last season, projected as a first-round pick. Either way, the Buckeyes, who open the season against Marshall on Thursday night, would be unbalanced without him.
It's not his voice, it's his game that matters, but in a program where great players are replaced by other very good players as a matter of routine, defensive linemen like Cameron Heyward don't come around every day.
Senior defensive lineman Cameron Heyward has 12 career sacks for the Buckeyes, and looks to increase that number significantly in 2010."I was probably more pleasantly surprised about good a player he was than how good a kid he was," coach Jim Tressel said, remembering his encounter with Heyward and his mother, Charlotte Heyward-Blackwell, on their recruiting visit. "When his mom spoke, he was at attention, and he wasn't playing games. He had a deep belief in what she was talking about and he believed what she wanted for him.
"But did I know he'd be this good a player? Not really. But it's a great lesson for guys."
Heyward learned some of his lessons about leadership while rooming with linebacker James Laurinaitis during his first preseason camp. Much of the rest of it comes naturally, though Heyward was a little worried about being too nice to get on guys when needed. Heyward claimed he yelled in the past, too, but his teammates agreed he was drowned out by the booming voice of last year's captain from the defensive line, Doug Worthington.
On a team with six captains, everyone fills a different role, but the players admit Ross Homan, Brandon Saine and Dane Sanzenbacher are more quiet, with Heyward, Rolle and Bryant Browning the talkers. But only Heyward is a yeller.
"If you have too many yellers it's like too many cooks in the kitchen," Sanzenbacher said. "But I think we have a balance.
"It's funny how the attitude on defense and offense are different. The defensive guys are more of the yellers. On offense, we tend to be more composed guys, and if there's yelling, it's more out of frustration than motivation."
On defense, Rolle, with a smile, has been talking since his freshman year. Senior safety Jermale Hines, according to his teammates, usually gets in a little trash talk with the offense. But if there's someone out there telling a teammate to go harder, that's the guy who could be a millionaire already.
"I'm just trying to stay on guys," Heyward said. "You can't let them breathe. If we let them breathe, they might get complacent out there, and practice tends to lag. But I'm just trying to stay on top of my guys."
Odds and ends: Ohio State's alternate Nike jerseys for the Michigan game will be unveiled Wednesday. According to a press release on the Miami Hurricanes' Web site, the uniform will feature a camouflage print base layer, an American flag on the sleeve and honor the World War II-bound 1942 Buckeyes. ... Devin Barclay has moved ahead in the kicking battle, and Tressel said on his radio show that Barclay will handle all field goals 54 yards and closer, with freshman Drew Basil taking the very long field goals and the kickoffs.