Jon Thoma is not exactly a household name to Ohio State fans even though he’s a redshirt junior in the Buckeyes two-deep and is having a very impressive fall camp.
Such is the life of a backup punter.
However, Thoma, an athletic 6-1, 201-pounder out of Alliance, Ohio, still had his day in the sun yesterday afternoon in Ohio Stadium.
With the roster split in half for the team’s kick scrimmage, Thoma worked for the Gray squad and blasted several booming punts including four that measured more than 50 yards.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he told Bucknuts.com afterward. “Usually we’re overlooked, but today the players are all coming to us saying `We need you, we need you.’ It feels good because we always need them, so there’s a two-way street there. I just think this is a chance to have a good time and have the spotlight on us.”
That the Gray won 22-15 wasn’t nearly as important as the fact that head coach Jim Tressel and his staff got to measure their specialists in a competitive setting, allowing them further assessment of the situations at placekicker, punter, long snapper, holder, return teams and cover teams.
Thoma isn’t about to wrest the starting job from A.J. Trapasso, who has been one of the Big Ten’s best booters the last three years, but the scrimmage definitely helped his standing. He performed with a dinged up knee in the spring game and averaged about 35 yards a kick.
The injury, ironically, came exactly a year ago.
“It was actually in the (2007) kick scrimmage,” he said. “I came up to tackle Dane Sanzenbacher and my knee landed a little weird. They actually diagnosed it as a meniscus problem but I came back the next day and it wasn’t too bad. I ended up playing in the spring game and it was just a little sprained.
“It was definitely bothering me but we really didn’t have a third punter, so they wanted me, if I could, to play and just kind of tough it out. But I wasn’t 100 percent at that point.”
To Thoma’s credit, he used his underwhelming afternoon in the Horseshoe at the end of spring to fuel him for the fall, even though Trapasso is the clear-cut starter at the position. He responded by showing up to fall camp in the best shape of his life and nearly matching Trapasso kick for kick in practice. Yesterday, the reserve outshone the first-stringer.
“I’ve really taken care of myself,” Thoma said. “I’ve had a few scares – I guess I’m getting old – with my hamstring and my knee, so I’ve really focused on taking care of myself. This is the best I’ve felt this far into camp. So I’ve really felt good and hopefully I can keep punting well all season.”
Thoma is both pleased with his renewed showing and happy for his buddy Trapasso, who appears in line for an All-Big Ten season.
“It is tough being on the sidelines but the guy beats me every day,” he said. “The guy is a great punter and he gives me something I can aim for. He makes me better and hopefully I make him better as I’m improving.
“I’m just working hard. If we need me this year then I’ll be ready, but next year I’ll be ready also.”
Thoma’s outing is just what Trapasso expected – and hoped to see.
“He’s a solid kicker, a solid punter,” Trapasso said. “He’s capable of that all the time. And I’m proud of him. It’s about time. He was due for a day like this and he did a great job.
“He’s keeping me honest. We’ve got some room to improve. But we’ve put a lot of emphasis on (punting) and in the long run I think we’ll be fine.”
Trapasso has been one of the league’s best at placing the ball – last year he downed 21 kicks inside opponents’ 20-yard line – and he has the leg to kick the ball over the heads of return men. He did some kicking off last season as Aaron Pettrey nursed an injury and even took a shot at a field-goal attempt in yesterday’s scrimmage.
Thoma hasn’t been asked to be quite as versatile but as the odds-on favorite to take over for Trapasso next season it’s encouraging to know he can blast the ball long distances as well. Yesterday he did it repeatedly while under duress.
“It’s hard to simulate games but today the whole team is on your shoulders so you kind of get that pressure – and it’s really good to feel again since I haven’t really punted in a game in four years,” he said. “It’s good to just have that every year, twice a year, so if I ever have to get in a game I’ll be ready.”
Thoma doesn’t spend all his time on the sidelines during game day, by the way. Last year he emerged as top placekicker Ryan Pretorius’ holder. He will continue with that role this fall. In fact, Pretorius looked comfortable yesterday – he nailed 5 of 8 field-goal attempts – and appears to have a firm lead over Pettrey for PK duties at the moment.
“He’s doing well,” Thoma said. “He’s Ryan. He’s always out there having a good time and just putting the ball through the uprights. I’m just out there to calm him down if he’s nervous at all and just put the ball down for him.”
When asked if Pretorius has total trust in him, Thoma added, “He always tells me he does, so hopefully he’s telling the truth.”
Holding seemed like a high-stress job at times but Thoma is now used to the duty.
“Definitely at first it was but now it’s almost second-nature,” he said. “You think of all the tough sports where they have to do just one thing. For me, I enjoy doing it. And it gets me out on the field.”
If Thoma does get a few kicks from a deep snap this season he now has reason to be more assured of what he can do. Not only is his right leg at peak performance he also is adept at kicking the ball to where it can be covered.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt when there are several topflight athletes running downfield seeking out the return man.
“The coaches always want to get the best players on the field for punt because Coach Tressel always says the punt is the most important play in football, so they’ll put the starting linebackers and stars out there like (James) Laurinaitis on the punt team,” Thoma said. “We know one play on punt cane swing the whole game’s momentum.
“It gives us a little sense of security. They’re great, so it’s definitely good to have them there. It helps us perform at our best.”
