James Robles / Staff Photographer / dr122106@ohiou.edu

Ohio wide receiver Tyler Huffman runs with the ball during Wednesday’s practice. Huffman and the Ohio offense were stymied by the defense in Friday’s intra-squad scrimmage.

The unseasonable weather gave it the appearance of a late fall scrimmage.

The intensity displayed by the defense did too.

Friday’s scrimmage, under blustery, November-like conditions, was only the first of the spring, and coach Frank Solich saw that his 2007 squad needs more time to work together, especially the offense.

“It’s obvious we need more contact work on both sides of the ball,” Solich said. “I thought the defense certainly looked much more consistent. Offensively, there were a few plays here and there, but certainly, as a unit, we weren’t able to get much done.

“We’re just pretty ragged right now, offensively,” he added. “We need to get a lot better, but more scrimmaging will definitely help.”

At this point in the spring, it is expected that the defense be ahead of the offense, especially with five inexperienced players shooting for the starting quarterback job. It was never more apparent than Friday, as the defense limited the offense to six first downs and no touchdowns in the 70-play scrimmage at Peden Stadium.

“Everybody was just running around having a good time,” defensive tackle Landon Cohen said. “Eleven hats to the football every play. We kind of put on a dominant performance.”

Junior linebacker Errik Ejike intercepted Josh Febus’s 43-yard pass for the only turnover on the day. The defense added four sacks as well.

“We didn’t hold anything back on defense,” Solich said. “They were blitzing an awful lot. When you’re trying to put things together offensively for the first scrimmage, sometimes that gets a little tough to handle. They’ll get better as a group, offensively.”

For the bulk of the time, the Bobcats’ offense shuffled three quarterbacks in and out of the scrimmage. Sophomore Brandon Jones, who took a significant amount of snaps in 2005, sat out after starting the scrimmage.

Solich said he wanted to give Jones, who is nursing a few injuries from last year, some action but not overdo it. A bone bruise in Brad Bower’s leg kept him out of Friday’s scrimmage and will likely keep him out of the rest of the scrimmages.

Junior college transfer quarterback Theo Scott saw his first action as a Bobcat on Friday and had mixed success. After fumbling three of his first nine snaps, Scott made a couple good plays, including a 12-yard scramble, the longest running play on the day.

“I did all right. I didn’t do as good as I expected to,” said Scott, who finished the day 3-of-6 for 45 yards. “I learned the offense pretty quick, but I need that experience. Right now, I’m optimistic, and I’ll just keep working hard every day.”

Other notes

Kicker Michael Braunstein, a four-year transfer from Washington, scored Ohio’s only points on the day, making three of his four field goal attempts. His lone miss came on a 55-yard attempt, which sailed wide right.

Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Peterson had the longest reception of the day when he caught a 28-yard pass from Febus.