Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook - Part I
By John Porentas
The Men of Troy: Troy Smith's performance
against Michigan was nothing short of spectacular. Following the game,
Smith himself did not seem quite aware of the magnitude of the moment.
His teammates, however, were.
"I told him in the locker room, 'That was a legendary
performance you just had, Troy. Congratulations,'" said wide
receiver Anthony Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was effusive with his praise of Smith.
"He's such a good competitor and he fights so hard.
He is the type of guy you want to play for. You want to fight for
him because you know he's going to fight for you," Gonzalez said.
Smith rushed for 145 yards on 18 carries Saturday, becoming
the first Ohio State quarterback to rush for 100 yards since Rod Gerald
ran for 100 yards against Iowa on Oct. 15, 1977.
Smith also passed for 241 yards, becoming the first player in Ohio
State history to rush for 100 yards and pass for 200 yards.
Smith's 386 yards of total offense ranks third all-time behind 388
by Joe Germaine at Penn State in 1997 and 412 by Art Schlitcher vs.
Florida State in 1981.
The 145 yards on the ground by Smith fell just 1-yard shy of the
Ohio State record held by Cornelius Greene with 146 yards vs. Wisconsin
in 1974.
The 145 yards also serves as a season high for Ohio State. Freshman Antonio
Pittman had 144 yards against Indiana. Smith scrambled for 46 yards
in the third quarter, marking a career long. Rex Kern owns the Ohio
State record for longest rush by a quarterback at 76 yards against
Illinois in 1970.
With the win Saturday, sophomore quarterback Troy Smith moved to
4-1 as a starting quarterback.
There Was a Hint: OSU's offensive explosion against
Michigan came as a shock to...well...almost everybody. It's no secret
that the Buckeyes have struggled on offense this season, but the Buckeyes
themselves felt that they may have finally turned the corner offensively
in the second half of the loss last week at Purdue.
"After last week's game, it was a tough loss, but I think our
offense was clicking last week," said Anthony Gonzalez.
"I honestly believe that last week we became the team that we
were going to be in the future. Only great things are going to happen
from here on out," Gonzalez said.
"We got some momentum going last week," agreed OSU offensive
coordinator Jim Bollman.
The Buckeyes' 37 points tied the most scored by a U-M opponent this
season. Michigan State scored 37 against the Wolverines earlier this
season in a triple-overtime Michigan win (44-37).
Ted Ginn, Jr. set career highs in receptions with five and yards
with 87. He had four catches for 77 yards at Michigan State.
Ohio State flanker Santonio Holmes had three grabs for 50 yards.
He has caught at least one pass in 17 straight games. Holmes had a
12-yard TD reception in the third quarter, his third in the last two
seasons vs. Michigan. In two games vs. the Wolverines he has 11 catches for
171 yards and three scores.
Tressel Triumphs: With the win, Tressel moved to
3-1 in his career vs. Michigan, becoming the second coach at Ohio
State to start his career 3-1 vs. the Wolverines. Former head coach
Earle Bruce started 3-1 vs. Michigan from 1979-82. Francis Schmidt
started 4-0 vs. the Wolverines from 1934-37.
This year's win snapped Michigan's eight-game winning streak and ended the Wolverines' 13-game Big Ten winning streak
dating back to last year.
"We always hope we'll play our best game against Michigan,"
said Tressel.
Ohio State has won 21 of its last 22 games at home. Tressel is 25-3
at home at Ohio State. Tressel is 5-1 against Top 10 opponents.
Not Awed by Ranking: The Wolverines entered the
game ranked No.7 in the country. The Buckeyes were nowhere on the
radar in the national rankings. That didn't matter one bit to the
Buckeyes, who felt they sent an message early when Smith hit Gonzalez
for the big touchdown to make the score 7-0.
"I hope it sent a message to both Michigan and our team,"
said Gonzalez.
"We were ready to play. There was no doubt in my mind that we
were ready. Send that message to Michigan; 'Look, we're here and we're
not going to roll over for you. I don't care if you think you're going
to the Rose Bowl and you have your roses sitting in our cooler in
our locker room. We're here to play and we're going to fight you."
The 68-yard play is the longest from scrimmage allowed Michigan this
season.
The last time an unranked Ohio State team defeated a
Top 10 opponent was Nov. 10, 1990 at No. 6 Iowa, a 27-26 victory.
The 37-21 win over No. 7 Michigan serves as Ohio State's largest margin
of victory over a Top 10 opponent when the Buckeyes enter unranked.
The win Saturday is the first by an unranked Ohio State
team over a Top 10 Michigan squad since 1981, when the Buckeyes won
14-9 in Ann Arbor.
Out for a Drive: The 99-yard and 97-yard
drives by the Buckeyes Saturday served as the longest drives allowed
by Michigan this season.
"Those were huge. They were both tough situations,"
said Tressel.
The drives didn't just put points on the board.
"We were able to sit there and your
legs feel a lot more fresh the longer you sit in the sidelines,"
said OSU linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
"We were sitting over there, being
relaxed, watching them drive the ball down the field. It's reassuring
because we know they're going to go down there and get some points
for us," Carpenter said.
Defensive back Ashton Youboty said the
scoring explosion left him shaking his head.
"I was on the bench and the next
thing I knew there were points going up on the board left and right,"
Youboty said.
Moment of Frustration: About the closest
thing to a negative for the Buckeyes in the game was their inability
to score with a first down from the two-yard line. In the end, it
didn't matter. It didn't seem to matter much to the people on the
field at the time as well.
"When they didn't score there on
that fourth-and-goal we told them (the OSU offense) we're going to
stop them and get the ball back for them and that's what we did,"
said Buckeye linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
Jim Tressel did not regret the decision to go for the
touchdown rather than kick the sure field goal the first time the
Buckeyes got down close.
"When we didn't make that fourth down touchdown
attempt, I felt very confident that if we didn't make it, we were
going to get it back in good field position, because I sensed our
defense was playing well and we would score the next time," said
Tressel.
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