MEMORANDUM
TO: The vast majority of the college football media
FROM: Joe-S-U of "The Buckeye 50 Yard Line"
I don’t want to hear one word this week questioning Ohio State’s position in the polls
Regards,
Joe-S-U
P.S.- And while I’m at it, I don’t want to hear one more word the rest of the season regarding USC, Florida or Tim Tebow’s Heisman.
P.S. #2- To Les Miles, the LSU football team, and residents of Baton Rouge - You lost a football game. If there are two or more unbeaten teams at the end of the season, you are out of the national title discussion. Period.
P.S. #3- To Matt Ryan, the Boston College Eagles and residents of Chestnut Hill- Congratulations on your comeback win last Thursday night. If you continue to take care of your business, we may see you in New Orleans this January, where you’ll get your opportunity to take the crown. For the time being, enjoy your stay at #2 but keep an eye over your shoulder to Tempe
------------------------------
With no other college football games of major importance being played in primetime on Saturday evening, and with the Red Sox on cruise control to another World Series title, Ohio State and Penn State had a ton of eyeballs watching them play. And the Buckeyes sent an emphatic message to all concerned, rolling the Nittany Lions 37-17 and leaving absolutely no doubt as to who’s the best team in college football. OSU’s 20-point win was its biggest margin of victory ever at Penn State, and it was the Lions’ worst home defeat since being blanked 20-0 by Michigan in 2001.
The Bucks lit the scoreboard on their opening drive for the sixth straight week. From the Penn State 24, Brian Robiskie ran right by corner Justin King, who evidently was expecting safety help that wasn’t there. Todd Boeckman was right on the money with the 27-yard completion and two plays in he had his team in enemy territory. Brian Hartline’s first catch of the night was good for 7, and Chris Wells’ nice second effort on a 5-yard run moved the sticks. The "O" ran aground from that point, so coach Jim Tressel called on Ryan Pretorius from 50 yards away. Pretorius nailed his season-long effort to put the Scarlet and Gray out in front 3-0.
Anthony Morelli got into an early rhythm on PSU’s first drive, collecting an initial first down with a 12-yard strike to Jordan Norwood, who was a major thorn in the Buckeyes’ side in the 2005 game. The OSU defense forced a 3rd-and-2 play, but for some strange reason went with a nickel defense even as Penn State only showed two receivers. Tailback Rodney Kinlaw popped through the line and worked his way for 21 yards to the Buckeye 34. With the second largest ever Beaver Stadium crowd of 110,134 (behind 2002’s meeting with Nebraska) upping the decibel level, Morelli faked to Kinlaw and rolled to his left. No one came up to defend on the quarterback, so Morelli had time to set himself and hook up with tight end Andrew Quarless, who rolled down to the OSU 5. The Ohio State "D", who had yet to give up a first-quarter score of any kind in ’07, held on the first two plays, but on third-and-goal the left side of Penn State’s line completely walled off their white-shirted counterparts. Fullback Dan Lawlor knocked Marcus Freeman off his feet to spring Kinlaw for an easy 2-yard score. Kevin Kelly added the point-after and the Lions led 7-3. It was the first time Ohio State had trailed in a game since Washington’s late first-half TD had given them a 7-3 halftime lead.
The Bucks answered right back, as a pair of Chris Wells totes and a Boeckman sneak advanced the ball to the OSU 32. Cornerback Lydell Sargeant was man-for-man with Ray Small on the next snap, but kept his gaze locked into the backfield. Small ran right by Sargeant and Boeckman hit him in stride for a 60-yard gain to the Lion 8. It was the Buckeyes’ second-longest completion of the year, exceeded only by Brian Robiskie’s 68-yard touchdown catch in the Washington game. After a false start flag on Chris Wells and a 4-yard scramble by Boeckman, Brian Robiskie ran a “fade stop” route, the same play that worked for the winning touchdown against Michigan last year.
Justin King had no chance as Boeckman laid it right in there for the score. The Bucks regained the lead at 10-7, which is probably what some folks felt would be a final score in this one.
Penn State continued to make hay with their ground game as Kinlaw worked a draw play for 15 yards on a 2nd-and-11. Reaching into the trick bag, Morelli faked a dive and a reverse, hoping to get Anderson Russell to come up in run support. Russell didn’t bite and Morelli was on the run, getting to midfield before getting blasted by Marcus Freeman. Morelli coughed up the football but Andrew Quarless was there to fall on it at the Buckeye 38, giving the Lions an overall gain of 28 yards. At this stage, the Nittany Lions had already rushed for 78 yards against an OSU defense that was only giving up 62 a game. But the stop troops responded as Freeman smacked Kinlaw for a 2-yard loss, then Doug Worthington stood Kinlaw up as he tried to get open for a screen. Morelli had no one to throw to and Vernon Gholston ran him down for a loss of 7 to stymie the drive.
Ohio State’s next series carried over into the second quarter. Ray Small and Rory Nicol had first down receptions while Chris Wells carried six times for 32 yards as the Bucks moved from their own 9 to the Lion 32. Boeckman went to his money man, Brian Robiskie for 20 yards and a first down at the PSU 12, and then three plays later on 3rd-and-4 C-Dub took a pitch into the endzone, but a hold on Kirk Barton brought the ball back to the 16. The Jim Tressel of old would have run something between the tackles to set up a field goal try, but the 2007 version has added a heavy dose of unpredictability to his play calling. Coming in motion from right to left, Brian Hartline caught a pass from Boeckman in the left flat. Steve Rehring upended linebacker Navorro Bowman while Alex Boone shoved Lydell Sargeant to the ground. Hartline followed this convoy into the endzone to give Ohio State a 17-7 edge.
The OSU defense forced a punt, but once more they would begin with poor field position at their 11 as Larry Grant was whistled for a late hit on punt coverage. But it didn’t matter to Todd Boeckman as he coolly converted a 3rd-and-12 with a 28-yard hookup with Hartline. The Buckeyes moved into Nittany Lion territory but took a one-two punch as Ben Person was called for holding, followed by a Dan Connor pick of an ill-advised Boeckman throw for Hartline.
Penn State looked to capitalize but on a 3rd-and-6 from Ohio State’s 42, Kurt Coleman made an outstanding open field tackle on Jordan Norwood, holding him to a 4-yard gain. It was a top-shelf play by the sophomore safety, but I wish he would grow out of his tendency to stand over his tackle victims and woof. The Beaver Stadium crowd pleaded for JoePa to go for it in Buckeye territory with the second quarter clock under 3 minutes, but the punt unit was sent in amongst a chorus of boos. The hooting increased considerably as the punt landed inside the 5 and snaked its way through several blue shirts into the endzone for a touchback. The Bucks couldn’t muster any last-minute magic and took their ten-point lead into the locker room.
While acknowledging that the Buckeyes were indeed playing like the #1 team in the land, ABC’s John Saunders lamented the injuries that have occurred to USC as they showed the highlights of the Trojan loss to Oregon. Craig James and Doug Flutie both gave credit where it was due- to the Ducks- but Saunders again boo-hooed over Southern Cal’s loss of part of its O-line and quarterback John David Booty. Gee, John, I thought Pete Carroll was the be-all, end-all of recruiters. I thought USC’s practices were supposed to be tougher than their games. Face it, John, the Trojans are history, and a lot of us are tired of hearing about them, so drop the excuses.
After forcing Penn State to punt on their opening second half possession, the Bucks set sail from their 13. Todd Boeckman converted OSU’s eighth straight third down with a 5-yard pass to Jake Ballard in the teeth of a blitz. From there, the ground game took over as the law firm of Wells and Wells worked the football out to the Nittany Lion 24. Boeckman arched one for Robiskie who appeared to have hauled it in at the 1-yard line. On the first TV replay, it appeared that Robo’s helmet and shoulder had actually landed in the endzone, but the angle from downfield towards the pylon brought up the question of whether or not he had held onto the ball. The officials reviewed the play and ruled it incomplete, but it would be a momentary bump in the road. Rory Nicol bulled his way for 8 yards after a catch, and then on 3rd-and-2 from the 16, Trevor Robinson lined up at fullback in front of Chris Wells with "Tank" Whaley motioning from the wing. Boeckman faked to C-Dub and floated a perfect throw to Jake Ballard for the Springboro native’s second touchdown reception in as many games. Once again, it was a play call that probably wasn’t in the Tressel playbook a few years back, but here in Happy Valley it was good enough for a 24-7 lead.
PSU got the offense jumpstarted with a 9-yard throw to Dan Lawlor and a 21-yard pickup on an end-around by Derrick Williams. Rodney Kinlaw powered for gains of 8 and 18 and Jordan Norwood snagged an 11-yard toss, helping the Lions to a 1st-and-goal at the OSU 8, but yet again the Buckeye defense would stand tall.
Anderson Russell cut Kinlaw down for a two-yard loss, then Anthony Morelli threw incomplete behind Deon Butler. On 3rd-and-goal, James Laurinaitis and Vernon Gholston brought the heat, forcing Morelli to pitch towards Chris Bell in the endzone. Chimdi Chekwa was able to bat the ball down at the last second, and the Lions settled for a Kevin Kelly field goal to trim the OSU lead to 24-10.
Ohio State wrapped their next drive around the end of the third period and beginning of the fourth. A superb slant pass from Todd Boeckman to Brian Hartline gained 17 and a first down, which was followed by a 12-yard gallop from Chris Wells. Rory Nicol’s 6-yard catch on 3rd-and-4 moved the chains, and two more C-Dub carries of 8 and 13 set the Bucks up at the Penn State 14. Just as it looked like the Nittany Lion defense was worn down, they snapped back to life, dropping Chris Wells for a loss of 3 before Navorro Bowman sacked Boeckman for a loss of 6. It was Penn State’s national-best 36th sack of ’07, but it would be their only one of this evening. Ryan Pretorius booted a 37-yard field goal to cap the drive and expand the lead to 27-10.
The uppercut came two plays later. Following a deep incomplete pass towards Deon Butler, Anthony Morelli faked to Rodney Kinlaw and dropped to throw. Anderson Russell was bearing down fast and Morelli lofted one into the right flat, either trying to throw it away or thinking Kinlaw would be there. The only person there was Malcolm Jenkins, who plucked the football at the 24 and coasted to the house, repeating his pick-six of Morelli from a year ago in Ohio Stadium. The lead ballooned to 34-10, and for the ninth time in ten games, the OSU/PSU matchup had produced a defensive touchdown.
With the mostly white-clad crowd heading to the exits in droves, Morelli was yanked and Daryll Clark came on to call signals for Joe Paterno. Clark navigated a pair of first downs, but on a short toss to Jordan Norwood, Kurt Coleman knocked the ball free as he and Norwood fell out of bounds. The ball rolled on the turf for several seconds before Donald Washington gathered it in, stumbling down at the Penn State 31. Rory Nicol capped off a tremendous night for the tight end corps with another third down conversion catch while Mo Wells and Brandon Saine teamed to milk the clock as they maneuvered the ball to Penn State’s 18, where Pretorius knocked through a 35-yard field goal to fatten the Buckeye lead to 37-10.
The Nittany Lions had one thunderbolt left. A.J. Wallace fielded the ensuing kickoff at his 3, broke through the first wave of tacklers and cut to his sideline. Andre Amos made a last ditch effort to chop him down, but missed as Wallace completed a 97-yard return, the second kickoff TD the Bucks have allowed this season. Larry Grant recovered the onside kick attempt and Ohio State killed the clock for a 37-17 final.
The Buckeyes return to Ohio Stadium this Saturday for a high noon get-together with Wisconsin. The Big Ten Network will televise all the action of a contest that looked a whole lot bigger in the summer. Penn State remains in (Un)Happy Valley to host Purdue. As Gregg mentioned on the home page, November 10th’s Illinois game at the ‘Shoe will be a 3:30 affair on ABC.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- In addition to being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, quarterback Todd Boeckman is a finalist for the Davey O’ Brien award. Boeckman set a career high with 253 passing yards at Penn State and has thrown at least two touchdown passes in every game this season ... Chris Wells is 4 yards shy of giving Ohio State its 25th 1000-yard rushing season, all of which have occurred just since 1969 ...Wisconsin is the only Big Ten team with a winning record against Jim Tressel, having bested the Buckeyes in 3 of their 4 meetings. The Badgers were also the only conference team to post a winning mark against Earle Bruce ... A win over Wisconsin this Saturday would give Ohio State the Big Ten record for most consecutive league wins with 20 in a row ...
Wisconsin’s history against #1-ranked teams (3 wins, 15 losses)-
YEAR #1 OPPONENT W/L SCORE
1936 at Northwestern L 18-26
1940 vs. Minnesota L 13-22
1941 at Minnesota L 6-41
1942 vs. Ohio State W 17-7 (infamous “bad water” game)
1943 vs. Notre Dame L 0-50
1944 at Notre Dame L 13-28
1962 vs. Northwestern W 37-6
1963 USC (Rose Bowl) L 37-42 (rally from 42-14 deficit falls short)
1964 at Ohio State L 3-28
1969 at Ohio State L 7-62
1973 vs. Ohio State L 0-24
1974 vs. Ohio State L 7-52
1975 at Ohio State L 0-56
1977 at Michigan L 0-56
1981 vs. Michigan W 21-14 (1st win over UM since 1962)
1985 vs. Iowa 
L 13-23
L 13-231988 at Miami, FL L 3-23
1997 vs. Michigan L 16-26
Wisconsin has been ranked #1 only one time in its history. On October 4, 1952, the #8 Badgers upset #2 Illinois 20-6. Even though only one other team ranked ahead of Wisconsin lost that day (#5 Texas), the voters lifted the Badgers to the top spot. It lasted all of one week, as second-year coach Woody Hayes led his Buckeye team to a 23-14 upset on October 11th in Columbus. Wisconsin has managed to reach #2 on three separate occasions since then. On October 23, 1954, Hopalong Cassady’s 88-yard interception return for a score ignited an Ohio State rally to a 31-14 win, which served as a springboard to OSU’s national title that year. The Badgers were ranked second when they faced #1 USC in the 1963 Rose Bowl, and despite the miraculous comeback they fell five points short. Wisconsin’s last stay at #2 was also ended by Ohio State, as Matt Snell’s fourth quarter touchdown gave the Bucks a 13-10 win on October 26, 1963.
Click B50 Logo to return to Home Page
October 27th, 2007
Beaver Stadium
State College, PA
Attendance 115,134
10/30/07
(1) Ohio State 37 (25) Penn State 17
VS
By Joe-S-U
