NCAA Football News | April 26 2010

'55 second' pass to Taurian Washington gives Gray win over Scarlet

By Rusty MIller
April 26, 2010


Columbus, OH — On a day when Terrelle Pryor saw little playing time, little-known Kenny Guiton made the most of his.

The third-team quarterback tossed a 45-yard scoring pass to Taurian Washington with 55 seconds left on Saturday to give the Gray a 17-14 victory over the Scarlet in Ohio State’s annual intrasquad scrimmage.

“I feel comfortable,” said Guiton, a redshirt freshman from Houston. “I had three of the starting linemen, so there was nothing for me to be antsy about. So I just took my time and played ball.”

The Buckeyes wrapped up their 15 spring practices before a crowd of 65,223 at overcast Ohio Stadium.

Guiton completed 11-of-21 passes for 167 yards and two scores, both to Washington, who had three catches for 83 yards.

The performance of Guiton was a surprise to many. He was the last player offered in his recruiting class and had to wait until things fell apart with two other prized recruits before he got the call with a scholarship.

“Kenny Guiton has proven it every day up through the spring,” Washington said. “For being the last guy picked, he’s done extremely well during the spring. He’s a great kid and in the future he’s going to do great things.”

Pryor completed 8-of-12 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown before retiring early. He did not speak with reporters afterward.

Coach Jim Tressel said he was pleased with the progress his team made in the spring.

“We know we’ve got a lot to do between now and August, and it’s up to the players to kind of initiate that,” he said. “I know they’ll do that. Our staff will do a great job of planning a good preseason in August and be ready to see if we can meet the challenge of 2010.”

The teams swapped scores midway through the first quarter. First, Washington snagged a 28-yard scoring pass from Guiton, then Pryor hit Dane Sanzenbacher on a 12-yard completion for the Scarlet.

It stayed that way until Drew Basil kicked a 47-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Bo Delande’s 4-yard touchdown run with 4:48 gave the Scarlet a 14-10 lead.

After Delande’s run, the Scarlet shocked the Gray with an onside kick that was recovered by the Scarlet’s Spencer Smith. Joe Bauserman, considered Pryor’s backup until now, hit James Jackson on a 43- yard pass. After a penalty, the Scarlet had a first-and-5 situation at the Gray 13 with just over 3 minutes left.

But Bauserman’s throw into the end zone was intercepted by Nate Oliver, who returned the ball to the 11. Guiton took it from there.

He completed passes of 8, 15, 16 and 11 yards to get the ball into Scarlet territory before lofting a pass along the left sideline near the goal line that Washington pulled in between defenders Dominic Clarke and Nate Ebner.

Taylor Rice then intercepted a long Bauserman pass in the final minute.

There was one scary moment, however. Rather than just take a knee and run out the clock, the Gray coaches had Guiton passing from deep in his own territory. A teammate landed on his knee and he was temporarily laid out on the turf before walking off the field.

He said he was fine and was hoping his play might have put him in the race to be No. 2 on the depth chart.

“I don’t think I put a stamp on anything but I know I have to keep working,” he said. “I’m going to leave it in the coaches’ hands.”

The Buckeyes will return nine starters on offense when they open their season on Sept. 2 against Marshall at home.

The teams wore uniforms with pink numbers. Along with the coaches’ pink hats, they were auctioned off later to benefit the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research. The wife of former Ohio State and NFL linebacker Chris Spielman died in November.

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