(11)Ohio State 38 Toledo 0
I will be interested in seeing how the Buckeye fans and Columbus media treat Tressel and the team after the 38-0 throttling of the Rockets this weekend. After all, didn't they give us what we asked for after the USC loss .... a strong defensive attack from start to finish, an offense that did not shut down after getting a lead, and an overall approach with an inferior opponent where we did not slow down or fear piling on points. No matter how Buckeye Nation reacts, we have clear seen how the game was viewed nationally as the Bucks basically dropped in the polls.
Forget those people that tell you that polls are not important this time of the year. I can assure you there is no team that is not in the Top 20 right now that will play for the National Championship. And if it is respect we want for the Buckeyes and the Big Ten, it starts with how we are viewed by the coaches and National media. For the Coaches poll, which is one-third of the BCS formula, we virtually did not move even though two teams above us lost. One of those teams, USC ended just ahead of us (only 5 votes ahead of us) and I don't really have a problem with that. After all, they did come to Columbus and escaped with a win. But somehow Oklahoma jumped over us after their 45-0 win over Tulsa. This does not seem right to me, but they have Miami and Texas on their schedule in the next few weeks so they will either earn that jump or fall out of the national picture.
Where I have my real problem is with the AP poll. Even after a 38-0 win, shutting out a team that was averaging 42 points a game, holding the nation's 'total offense' leader to a 181 total yards, they lost ground moving from 11th to 13th. What happened that they would actually lose 30 votes in the eyes of the media. These our the people that are supposed to be watching objectively the games all across the country. These is the collective group that felt they were so superior to the system that they pulled themselves out of the BCS formula. I would hope that a solid win over Illinois would right this wrong but the simple truth is there are only so many weeks left in the season. Even though you may think there is no playoff, the season really is a playoff in itself and the Buckeyes have a lot of ground to make-up to get back in the national picture. The SEC has 4 teams in the top 7 right now which basically means that the SEC champion is going to be one of the two teams in the National title game. And don't laugh at me now but Boise State has already moved up to #8 and most of the teams ahead of them play each other so it is not impossible to think they may climb all the way to #2 by the end of the year.
Enough about the polls though, lets take a quick look back at the Toledo win and enjoy that success before starting the Big Ten slate.
For the second straight week the crowd was part of the story. Not so much that it was needed to help the team necessarily but the fact that this was a Toledo home game, and they controlled the tickets, the Buckeye fans still managed to dominate the venue. Remember, this was the game where OSU was given 20,000 tickets and Toledo got 53,000. For OSU fans to buy tickets, they were told initially they had to join the Rocket Boosters (no pun here) so a single ticket now costs you over $200. At the same time, the Toledo students and fans could get tickets for $45. When they were not able to sell out the tickets, they forced the OCU fans to drive to Toledo and pick up their tickets in person at the UT ticket office. In spite of all of that, they game did not sell out and OSU probably had 60,000 of the 71,000 plus in attendance. Once again, nice job Buckeye fans.
It was clear from the opening drive that the Buckeye defense came to play. They opened the game with a three and out on the first two drives and put so much pressure on Toledo quarterback Aaron Opelt in the first quarter and throughout the game, that I think he completed more passes to players on the sidelines than he did to receivers on the field. In contrast, OSU only had three plays on their opening drive as well but the third one was a 76-yard pass to Dane Sanzenbacher for a 7-0 lead. If only Pryor would have passed to his wide open receiver last week, the USC outcome would have been different, but let's get passed that.
After the second three and out, OSU once again scored, capped off by an 18-yard pass to Sanzenbacher, but this time it was a methodical, well executed 11 play drive. It was an example of the dominance OSU had over the Rockets. For Toledo, three of their four first quarter drives went for a total of 44, 39 and 11 seconds. Their only saving grace in the opening period is when they were able to manage an interception to slow down the Buckeyes and keep the score 14-0 after the first period.
In the second quarter, the domination continued, the only difference was that Toledo's defense was starting to slow down the Buckeye offense. In four 2nd quarter possessions, the Buckeyes started with a touchdown but failed to punch it in running up the middle. They needed to run to the outside (and what is wrong with doing this more often inside the 5 yard line Tressel?) for Boom Herron to score making it 21-0. Then, the Buckeyes were forced into their first punt to end a drive, then they missed a short field goal after 'again' failing to run the ball up the middle, and finally ended their scoring with a 47 yard field goal to end the half with a 24-0 lead.
Speaking of punting, Buckeye fans were treated to red-shirt freshman Ben Buchanan who managed a 42.8 yard average on 4 punts for the game, including a long of 51 yards. After the game while being interviewed, Buchanan mentioned that he got the call Friday from Tressel that he may need to make the trip to Cleveland when regular punter Jon Thoma came down ill. It looks like OSU is blessed with two quality punters at this time which may really be key until the offense gets clicking on all cylinders.
The halftime show was a treat as the Buckeye ban made the trip up for the game. They included their standard tribute section to the opponent by playing the UT fight song. While doing so, them formed the shape of a Rocket and the block letters UT. To really cap off that routine, they moved the rocket by marching across the field with smoke from fire extinguishers coming out the back of the rocket. Yes, they out-performed the UT band at their own game and probably gave them an idea to help their band shows in the future. They ended with the double Script Ohio which is always a crowd pleaser and had the fans on their feet cheering.
Like the Navy game the first week, the halftime show was more exciting than the second half. It was fun to watch the defense continue to dominate, holding the Rockets to just 9 First downs for the game and only 3-15 on third-down conversions. In addition to the shutout, they held the Toledo offense to only 13 rushing and 210 total yards. The Rockets did mount one serious scoring threat but the Buckeyes were able to force a fumble at the goal line to end the only scoring opportunity for Toledo. A lot of new faces were in the game on defense but the level of play remained the same.
The offense appeared to stay in the locker room after halftime as they really didn't do much. They gained 195 yards and two more touchdowns but was very pedestrian with their approach. The one shining feature was the rushing of freshman Jordan Hall, who managed to gain 44 yards an just 7 carries, including a nice 17 yard scamper to set up the Buckeye's final touchdown. After outgaining starter Dan Herron, we will have to wait and see if Tressel makes any changes in the running back rotation for the Big Ten season.
Next up for the Buckeyes will be the Fighting Illini as they return to Ohio Stadium for the first time since their shocking upset 28-21 during the 2007 season. Things were getting a bit chippy toward the end of last year's game in Champaign so Illinois may come in with a bit of an attitude. Hopefully, our defense has learned how to handle Juice Williams, who is still leading their offensive attack. The Orange and Blue were off this past week so they have had two weeks to prepare for the Buckeyes. Coach Ron Zook may be in a bit of hot water himself after the poor showing the opening week against the Missouri Tigers so he may really need another victory in Columbus.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- Toledo has only been shut out twice since 1998, and two of those three games were the two games they played Ohio State .... Pryor led the team in rushing with 110 yards on 12 carries, his former High School teammate Jordan Hall was third with 44 yards on 7 carries ... Toledo did not have the ball in OSU territory until the 4:26 mark in the 3rd quarter, and that was off the Pryor interception ... The Buckeyes are 4-1 playing on the Cleveland Browns home field ..... This was two years in a row that USC lost their next game after defeating the Buckeyes, both times to an unranked Pac-10 opponent.
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September 19, 2009
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Cleveland, OH
Attendance 71,727
9/5/09
VS
By Gregg Watson
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