U.S. Army All-American Bowl Recap

Drew Thurman (4:02 pm)

Final Score: East 30 West 17

Jamie Wood: Wood was around he ball all day, and made a couple nice tackles in pursuit along the sideline. Jamie Wood has always impressed me with his nose for the football, and he backed that up in this game.

Justin Turner: Turner, who committed to Michigan, had a solid game in my opinion. He made some athletic plays early the game, but I was not blown away with his tackling ability. He did come up with a nice interception late in game, and he will be a good one.

Justin Green: I was actually really excited to see Green in this game, but I was pretty disappointed. He really did not demonstrate the speed we have come to hear about, and struggled a couple of times in man coverage against larger wideouts. The other interesting thing was that Green did not appear with the other four Ohio State commits that appeared in the game (video bit that NBC showed). I am not sure if something else was going on that he could not appear, but I know that will fuel some rumors that he is still looking around.

Craig Drummond: Some of you might not remember Drummond, but the Illinois commit looked great on the defensive line. He made some big plays in the first half, and I have a feeling that we will hear his name quite a bit over the few years.

Corey Brown: Brown might have silenced the debate on whether he will play defense or offense with his play in this game. He had been a practice standout at wide receiver this last week, and made what was probably the catch of the game. Boyd threw a bomb to the endzone, and Brown got way off the ground to snatch the ball away from to of the West defenders. I think this young man his a very bright future at wideout with the Buckeyes.

Marcus Hall: Hall passed the "looks test" in this game, and appeared to be one of the biggest offensive linemen out there. Though he is large, he displayed quick feet in this game, which had been a criticism of him at times this season. I thought he looked good playing right tackle, and the Buckeyes need to snatch him up. Hall is the real deal!

Dorian Bell: Bell made a couple of nice plays in the game. He did let a interception slip though his hands, but he was shielded from the pass by another defender. His best play probably came at the end of the first half when he stopped a hook-and-ladder play from having real success. I was very impressed with his recognition of the passing game and his tackling. The only negative is that it looks like he needs to add some size, and at times looked more like a safety than a linebacker.

Johnny Simon: Simon did not get his named called for anything by the announcers, but was in the backfield on a few occasions in the game. The reviews were very positive about him in the practices, and I saw him pursuing the quarterback a couple of times.   

Tajh Boyd: Tajh was maybe the most impressive player on the whole field, and was the Co-MVP in the game. The coaches from both sides kept putting in pro-style quarterback that had limited success, and Boyd came in a provided a huge spark for the East team. He struggled a little throwing in the pocket early on, but settled down and made some huge throws (7-9, 188 yards, 3 total TD). He made throwing the long ball look easy, and his bomb to Corey Brown made be drool. I am hoping that is something that we see in the future, because the Buckeyes need to scoop up Boyd!

Kevin Newsome: Many thought Newsome was slightly better than Boyd, but Boyd had the edge in this game. With that said, Newsome did have a very solid game. Newsome showcased the best running ability of any of the quarterbacks, and made a few really nice throws. At times he really reminds me of a larger Troy Smith, and it is very clear that Penn State has a good one on their hands.