OK, Ohio State disposed of overmatched Kent State to the tune of 48-3 on Saturday in the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes can now fully turn their attention to the Big Ten, and all of their requisite streaks (25 straight regular season wins, 17 straight Big Ten wins, no losses to an Ohio opponent since the Harding administration) remain intact.
OSU’s win was a mere couple of sentences on the back page compared to a third straight weekend’s worth of tremors in the upper echelon of the polls. Les Miles finally rolled a 7 at the craps table known as Commonwealth Stadium as his top-ranked LSU Tigers fell to host Kentucky 43-37 in triple overtime. Then, late that evening, Cal head coach Jeff Tedford became the latest pupil to learn the hard lesson of saving a timeout, as his second-ranked Golden Bears watched the clock run out on a 31-28 loss to Oregon State. Just one year removed from a season-long occupancy at the top of the hill, Ohio State finds itself back in the penthouse.
This is actually the first time since 1975 that the Buckeyes have ascended to the top spot in the polls in the midst of the regular season. Last year, of course, the Bucks nearly went wire-to-wire before the Debacle in the Desert. The 2002 national championship only laid claim to #1 after the overtime thriller over Miami in Tempe. The 1998 unit came out of the gate on top, but choked it up in early November against Michigan State (yeah, yeah, I know- BAD omen!). And Earle Bruce’s first OSU team slid into the pole position after the 1979 regular season was complete, only to drop a bitter one-point decision to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. So you have to travel back to October of 1975, when Woody’s charges used a nationally televised prime-time beating of UCLA to slip ahead of Oklahoma to numero uno, to find the last time a Buckeye team jockeyed its way to the forefront.
Of course, it was a bit more of a consensus back then. 50 of 65 sportswriters voted Jim Tressel’s troops #1 in the latest AP poll. 11 individuals sided with runner-up South Florida, which I can’t completely lambaste at this stage since they’ve knocked off West Virginia and Auburn, while the Bucks are just now getting to the meat grinder portion of their schedule. I can even, to a degree, see the allegiance of the individual who went with Boston College. But from there it’s hard to determine who’s the bigger idiot, the moron who voted for #12 Arizona State, the dolt that favored Oklahoma, or the chemically imbalanced fool who still thinks ol’ LSU should lord over everyone.
Getting back into a noontime groove after two games under the stars, the Buckeyes lit the scoreboard on their opening drive for the fourth straight game. "Great" Dane Sanzenbacher got free for 15 on Todd Boeckman’s opening throw of the game, then Brian Hartline set sail on his finest day in Scarlet and Gray. After converting a first down with a grab on 3rd-and-7, the Canton sophomore took a screen pass, bounced off his blockers and cruised for 26 yards to the Kent State 18. Three plays later, the Golden Flash failed to put a defender over Hartline in the right slot, and safety Brian Lainhart was too late to stop a 14-yard slant strike to Hartline for the Bucks first score.
KSU looked as though they would answer right back. Former Pittsburgh Pirate second baseman Phil Garner ... OK, they’re probably not related ... hauled in a 25-yard fade route on Kent’s first play as Donald Washington fell down in coverage. Cameron Heyward tipped quarterback Julian Edelman’s next throw, intended for Leneric Muldrow, but split end Rashad Tukes was able to grab
the carom and pick up 10. Diminutive Eugene Jarvis, the 5’5" tailback who brought back memories of Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe, popped through for 13 and the Flash had reached OSU’s 25. But a holding call deepened the field position and Robert Rose made it academic by chasing down Edelman for a 5-yard sack on 3rd-and-17. Edelman quick-kicked away and the Bucks started at their own 13.
Brandon Saine circled out of the backfield for a 35-yard hookup from Boeckman to get the pigskin to midfield, but the offense couldn’t muster anything more and A.J. Trapasso did what he does best- pinning KSU at their 9 with a 32-yard boot.
Jarvis hammered for 5, then shook away from Doug Worthington for 14 more to get the Flash out of the hole. Edelman managed to connect with Muldrow for 3 yards on an out route clear across the field, prompting Big Ten Network analyst Glen Mason to warn-
"Edelman better watch that one. Against the speed of this defense throwing that late out in the flat, (if) he does that again it’s going the other way for 7."
Kent State moved out to their 47, but Vernon Gholston absolutely dusted tackle Augustus Parrish and dropped Edelman for a 7-yard loss, effectively halting the march. Jake Kilroy punted to Brian Hartline at the OSU 10, and Hartline made one fake, outraced six Kent defenders around the right corner and motored untouched 90 yards to paydirt with Vernon Gholston basically screening Kilroy out of the play. Hartline’s return established a school record, breaking the previous mark of 87 yards set by Bob Demmel during the Buckeyes’ 83-21 bombing of Iowa in 1950. It was also the first time a Buckeye scored on a pass reception and punt return in the same game since Ted Ginn, Jr. turned the trick at Michigan State during his freshman year of 2004.
On Kent State’s next series, Anderson Russell came up to defend a Eugene Jarvis run. Receiver Derek McBryde was late trying to block Russell and chopped at his leg, dropping Anderson to the turf. He was helped off and spent the rest of the game on the sideline on crutches. Trying to defend against the running of Jehuu Caulcrick and Javon Ringer this weekend without Russell is a tough task.
The Bucks forced a punt and Kilroy shanked a 15-yarder, putting OSU in great shape at midfield. Brian Robiskie finally got in on the act with a 5-yard catch, and Hartline continued his stellar first half by moving the sticks with a 7-yard reverse. Todd Boeckman and Robo got together on a pretty 24-yard post route to get the ball to the KSU 14, and from there it was all Chris Wells. A pair of 7-yard runs did the trick, with the capper coming on a brutal blast where C-Dub bowled right over guard Steve Rehring. Ryan Pretorious knocked through the PAT to put the Bucks out in front 21-0.
The teams traded punts, and Kent State revved up what looked like a promising drive as they moved to the OSU 35. But on 2nd-and-3, Julian Edelman made Glen Mason look like a prophet up in the broadcast booth. Edelman tried to throw a long pass out in the flat to Phil Garner, but Donald Washington timed it up, jumped the route and picked it off at his 30. After momentarily stumbling, Washington regained his balance and cruised down the east sideline 70 yards for another Buckeye touchdown. It marked the third time in the Jim Tressel era that Ohio State had a punt return and interception runback for scores in the same game. Ted Ginn, Jr. brought a Penn State punt back for six in 2004 shortly before Tyler Everett took a pick to the house, and the next season it was Ginn again on a punt return at Indiana, the same day that Brandon Mitchell snagged a Hoosier pass for a pick-six.
On Kent’s ensuing possession, they stayed exclusively with Eugene Jarvis on the ground, but on second down from the Flash 32, Doug Worthington stripped the ball away from Jarvis and Shaun Lane, who forced a fumble at Purdue last week, came up with the recovery. With just over a minute to go in the half, the Bucks beat the clock with a quick 3-play march, highlighted by an 18-yard catch-and-run by Jake Ballard and topped off with a 15-yard screen pass to Mo Wells for the touchdown. Ohio State’s second-most prolific scoring half of the season produced a 35-0 halftime lead.
"The Best Damn Band In The Land" headed south for their halftime show, honoring the best of southern rock. Those of you wondering who the young lady was with a lighter in the air during TBDBITL’s rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Freebird" can rest easy- that was my co-worker and "Buckeye Sister" Lori Adair, whose love of the Scarlet and Gray is exceeded only by her loyalty to Skynyrd. This may be the one time Ms. Adair paid her sixty bucks just to hear the halftime show.
Ohio State’s initial third-down possession began once more at the midfield stripe, and it was time to officially roll out the "Welcome (Back)" mat for freshman tailback Brandon Saine. The reigning "Mr. Football" in the state of Ohio carried for 7 to launch the drive, then helped overcome a 15-yard crackback penalty by scooting with a swing pass for 28. Saine got the call again on a 3rd-and-8 screen pass and sped for 10, then mixed two runs and another catch to advance the ball to the KSU 2. I’ve always been a believer that if someone gets you to the doorstep of the goal line, you should at least give them a chance to finalize, but I guess I can’t blame backup QB Rob Schoenhoft for wanting to get in the scoring column. With the entire Flash "D" looking for Saine, Rob kept on a option and tumbled into the endzone, making the score 42-0, Buckeyes, following the point-after.
On the Buckeyes next series, backup tailback Marcus Williams dashed for 11 and a first down, but a sack of Schoenhoft put OSU in a 2nd-and-19 hole. Devon Torrence got 18 of it back on a pass reception, but Williams couldn’t get the last yard, bringing up 4th-and-1. Coach Tressel sent in Ryan Pretorious and he responded with a season-long 49-yard field goal to widen the Ohio State advantage to 45-0, which is where things stood after three.
Brandon Saine continued to pound away at the Kent State defense as the Buckeyes milked the fourth quarter clock. The Piqua frosh had probably his best run of the season on a 29-yard scamper early in the final period, taking a handoff through the left side, deftly dodging a couple of tackles and making a sharp cutback before being overhauled. Marcus Williams came on and helped the "O" move to the KSU 15, where the drive fizzled. Ryan Pretorious tacked on three more points to fatten the lead to 48-0.
The only remaining mystery was whether the defense would chalk up that ever elusive shutout, and things looked good until punter Jon Thoma shanked a 13-yard boot, giving the Golden Flash excellent field position at the Buckeye 31. Christen Haywood, a product of Hilliard Davidson High School, carried 4 times on a short march to the OSU 17, where Nate Reed drilled a 34-yard field goal to ruin the shutout.
It will be Homecoming this Saturday at Ohio State, and as the old saying goes, recess is over. It’s time for the Bucks to get into the strength of their schedule and make those stupid computers happy in the BCS formula. Michigan State will invade the Horseshoe for a 3:30 matchup on ABC, while Kent State returns home for a key MAC East tilt with Bowling Green.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- To all of our readers, please accept my apologies for the late presentation of the Kent State game summary, but the Cleveland Indians have had me severely distracted this week ... There was quite a pregame hubbub over KSU coach Doug Martin’s comments that he’d be liberally substituting to keep the Flash fresh for their conference play. While he held true to his word, getting early and extensive work for his backups, I’m not quite sure
what he’s saving up for. Kent is dead last in the MAC East at 1-2, they’ve already lost to Miami, OH and Akron, and still have to play a surprising 3-1 Buffalo team. KSU stands at 3-4 overall and will have to hustle just to be bowl eligible ... One cause for alarm- the Flash rolled up 166 yards on the ground against the Buckeyes, about 120 more than the "D" has given up on average in their previous 6 games. When you still have to face Jehuu Caulcrick, Javon Ringer, P.J. Hill, Rashard Mendenhall and Michael Hart, it trumpets the fact that the run defense better shore it up ... This is the fourth time in the Jim Tressel era that OSU has played a non-conference game in the middle of the Big Ten season. After beating Bowling Green last year and San Jose State in 2002, those respective Buckeye teams proceeded to go 6-0 in league play the rest of the way, winning Big Ten titles. The 2001 meeting with San Diego State was moved due to the events of 9/11, and after knocking off the Aztecs, the Bucks went 3-2 down the stretch
(3) Ohio State 48 Kent State 3
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VS
October 13th, 2007
Ohio Stadium
Columbus OH
Attendance 105,051
10/15/07
