Though tight end Jake Stoneburner is getting healthier during the bye week, Reid Fragel has proven the Buckeyes need him at tight end, too.
View full sizeWhile Ohio State tight end Reid Fragel has made some important catches for the Buckeyes, his biggest plays have come while blocking."Jake said [Wednesday] that he finally felt like he was really pushing off like he had prior to being injured," OSU coach Jim Tressel said. "So hopefully that's a great example of maybe what a bye week can do to take him from 90 percent to 100 percent."
So far at 90 percent, Stoneburner has only been 50 percent of Ohio State's new tight end equation. The redshirt sophomore was injured against Eastern Michigan in week four, sat out against Illinois and Indiana and was eased back against Wisconsin. In the Buckeyes' past two blowout wins against Purdue and Minnesota, the tight end rotation hasn't been exact, but the idea has been fairly simple.
When the Buckeyes want to throw, the tight end is 6-5, 245-pound Stoneburner, a high school receiver turned tight end. When the Buckeyes want to run, the tight end is 6-8, 260-pound true sophomore Reid Fragel, whom some outsiders thought eventually might grow into a tackle, though the Buckeyes never envisioned that.
It's obvious that the offensive staff does see him as a force in the run game though, and if the run game has picked up after the first month of the season as Fragel has played more, maybe that's a bit more than a coincidence.
"He's got more size, longer arms," Tressel said this week of Fragel. "Jake may have a little more quickness, and Jake has great hip strength. And when his feet and his quickness allow him to get in body position, he's got a pretty good strike. When you're on one leg, you're not going to have any hip strength. So they're a little bit different."
The Buckeyes have been taking advantage of that. Looking at the first four drives against Purdue and the first two drives against Minnesota, basically the first quarter in each of the past two games, the difference is stark.
Five times the Buckeyes had no tight ends, and for 11 plays both were in the game. But on 25 plays, Fragel was the only tight end. The Buckeyes ran 21 times. On the four pass plays, Fragel was out in the pattern as a receiver just once.
On eight plays, Stoneburner was the only tight end. The Buckeyes ran twice and threw six times, and Stoneburner was out in the pattern five of those six times, catching two passes.
The one time Fragel did go out, he caught a 14-yard pass against the Golden Gophers when the Buckeyes were deep in their own territory. Tressel called it one of the most important plays of the game.
"He's done a great job stepping in, especially being young," OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor said of Fragel recently.
But Fragel's bigger plays have come blocking. When Dan Herron ran the ball five straight times on the opening touchdown drive against Purdue, Fragel was dominant, burying a Boilermaker on his face on one play, then sealing the left edge on Herron's touchdown run off left tackle.
"One thing on the positive side [about Stoneburner's injury], it's given Reid an opportunity to maybe grow more than he could have had Jake been in there to take as many reps as he was in the preseason," Tressel said. "So Reid is coming along. . . . I think he could be a special tight end."
If Stoneburner is 100 percent healthy against Penn State next Saturday, don't expect Fragel to go away.
Game times announced: The kickoffs for Ohio State's final two games were announced by the Big Ten on Friday. The Nov. 20 game at Iowa will start at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by ABC (WEWS Channel 5) or ESPN. The Nov. 27 game against Michigan in Ohio Stadium will begin at noon and be televised by ABC or ESPN.
It had been previously announced that the Buckeyes' home game with Penn State in a week will start at 3:30 p.m. on Channel 5.
Another recruit: Rivals.com and Scout.com reported that Maryland linebacker Conner Crowell gave an oral commitment to Ohio State on Friday, making him the 18th player in the 2011 recruiting class and the first linebacker. At 6-1 and 215 pounds, Crowell is ranked as a three-star player by Rivals and Scout. His final choices came down to Ohio State and Penn State.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479