Second-string sloths suitable for Smith, grass to get green, leafy lowdown

The Lantern - Sports

Notebook

David Briggs

Issue date: 11/3/06 Section: Sports

To some, a moat teeming with deadly sea snakes wouldn't offer enough protection for Troy Smith's right arm.

So it's been a pretty conspicuous move when the team's backup offensive line comes into shield the Heisman front-runner.

It happens every Saturday. Five new faces rotate in for a first-half series, a practice originally intended to give the starters a break from the oppressive Texas heat during Ohio State's Sept. 9 trip to Austin...

Pitcock, Boone out?

OSU's starting lines both look to be down a man tomorrow.

Defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock and starting offensive tackle Alex Boone will likely be sidelined, Tressel indicated this week...

Third field's a charm?

The surface Ohio Stadium began the season with had stood more than three years of wear. On Monday, the field was torn up and replaced for the second time in five weeks.

What gives? Was the $100,000 OSU ponied up for new sod after the Sept. 24 Penn State game a waste?..

Leafin' it

Ever wonder what it takes to score the Buckeye leaves that adorn OSU's helmets?..

Quotable

"I think I could be good at it, just because I like studying film and I like learning the defenses. But I see how long these coaches are over here. I know they make good money and everything, but they're here too long for me. When I get older, I want to be able to work my 9 to 5 job and go back to my kids. Those guys are over here from 7 a.m. to 11 at night and I can't see myself doing that" - Mitchell on being told one of his coaches thought he would someday join the profession.

Extra points

OSU's Nov. 11 game at Northwestern will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and be televised nationally by ABC ... Tressel spoke with a comical air of gravitas not often associated with a wooden turtle when addressing the Illibuck trophy on the line this week. "Here we are in November playing a Big Ten opponent on the road and one more little item on the plate, if you will, is the Illibuck trophy," Tressel said. "And that's the ultimate thing you want done this week is to earn the right to keep it." Added long snapper Drew Norman: "We want to come back successful, especially when that trophy is on the line." Presumably, it is the honor of playing in this wooden turtle rivalry game that Tressel uses as his sales pitch to recruits.