It was Ohio State’s worst start, but best finish. The offense seemed lethargic at times, but still rang up a season-high point total. The defense hasn’t quite figured out how to defend a screen pass, but held Cincinnati to negative yards rushing. It all adds up to a 30-point Buckeye win, and with TBGUN’s pummeling of the Domers, OSU will have a new team behind them in the polls for the fourth time already this season.
UC quarterback Dustin Grutza dialed up wideout Bill Poland for 20 on the game’s first play, but the Buckeye defense forced a punt. The Bearcat “D” appeared to have responded with a 3-and-out, but a pass interference call on
Cincy kept the drive alive. Troy
Smith was sacked, and then
threw an incompletion, but he
moved the sticks on 3rd-and-
long with a 16-yard bullet to
Anthony Gonzalez, who was
coming off a career game at
Texas. The march bogged down,
though, and Aaron Pettrey
hammered a 47-yard field goal to give the Bucks a 3-0 lead.
Cincinnati needed just over two minutes to get on the board. Derrick Stewart scooted for 28 yards on a screen, then on 3rd-and-3 moments later Grutza had no one open and scrambled for 23 to the OSU 22. Rolling to his right on the next snap, Grutza bought enough time for receiver Jared Martin to get loose from James Laurinaitis. Martin, a redshirt freshman, was wide open and hauled in his first career reception for an easy touchdown. Kevin Lovell tacked on the PAT to make it 7-3, and for the first time in the ’06 season the Buckeyes found themselves trailing.
After an OSU punt, Cincinnati converted a first-play first down for the third time in four possessions, as Derrick Stewart picked up 11 on a flare pass. A James Laurinaitis sack of Grutza disrupted the march, and the Bucks took over at their own 32 after Brian Steel’s punt. On second-and-9, Antonio Pittman took an option pitch for 14, breaking three tackles and waking up Ohio Stadium in the process. “Pitt” came right back with a 23-yard scamper and the chains moved to the UC 30. From there the offense sputtered so Aaron Pettrey knocked through a 43-yard field goal, trimming the Bearcat lead to 7-6.
Dominick Goodman brought the ensuing kickoff back 53 yards to the OSU 47 but Cincy was unable to take advantage and kicked away. Tight end Rory Nicol got things going for the Buckeyes with a 15-yard catch, and moments later on 3rd-and-3 Smith found the reliable “Gonzo” for 9 and a first down. Fullback Stan White, Jr. got in
on the act with a 10-yard
catch, then Troy Smith’s hot
hand continued as the slant
to Gonzalez worked for 32 to
the UC 7. Smith carried from
there for an apparent
touchdown, but a holding call
negated the score and
moved the ball back to the
17. After Pittman gained 5,
Troy stood in the pocket until
the last possible second and
then dialed up Ted Ginn who
had come all the way across
field from left to right. Ginn
got the corner and took it
home for his fourth TD of the
year, matching his total from
2005. Aaron Pettrey’s PAT kick put OSU back up 13-7, concluding a drive that saw Smith go 6 for 6 through the air for 78 yards to five different receivers.
Cincinnati punched out one first down on their next possession, and then Dustin Grutza connected with Dominick Goodman for 21 yards, giving the ‘Cats a first down at the Buckeye 42. Grutza got pressure on the next play and shook Quinn Pitcock as he rolled right. Tight end Brent Celek was wide open behind the Ohio State defense but Grutza’s pass didn’t have enough on it, and it was tipped and picked by James Laurinaitis, his second interception in as many weeks. It would turn out to be a critical missed opportunity for Cincinnati as they headed for the locker room down 13-7.
Halftime activities were highlighted by the introduction of the newest members of the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame, including former football greats Eddie George and Ted Provost. Provost was a three-year starter at defensive back, earning first-team All Big-10 honors in 1968 and 1969, and All-American acclaim in ’69 as well. A native of Navarre, Ohio, Provost is still tied for third all-time in OSU annals with 16 career interceptions, including three against Northwestern during his sophomore campaign of 1967, a school record he shares with several others. None of his picks were more vital than the one he returned 35 yards for a touchdown against #1-ranked Purdue in 1968, arguably one of the 10 single most important plays in Buckeye football history. The pick-six broke a scoreless tie and helped the Scarlet and Gray to a 13-0 upset which propelled them to the national championship.
Eddie George persevered after goal line fumbles in a loss to Illinois his freshman year to become Ohio State’s sixth Heisman Trophy winner in 1995. Eddie more than evened the score with the Illini by torching them for a school record 314 yards rushing in ’95, a season he would finish with 1,927 yards on the ground, also an Ohio State record. Eddie left OSU as its second all-time leading rusher, trailing only fellow Heisman recipient Archie Griffin.
The 2006 Buckeyes came out firing in the second half against Cincinnati as Troy Smith found Anthony Gonzalez for 14 and Brian Robiskie for 19 to spark a drive to the Bearcat 36. Once more, though, the attack ran aground and A.J. Trapasso punted into the endzone. UC didn’t fare much better as a 21-yard Earnest Jackson catch was wiped out by an illegal formation flag. OSU got the ball back on the Cincy 40, and again Antonio Pittman got things ignited with four straight carries for 38 yards. After missing Ginn on a fade route to the endzone, Troy Smith went back to his money man, Anthony Gonzalez, who got loose on a slant for 13 to the UC 9. On second-and-goal, Smith got great protection and spotted Ginn coming across the middle. The former Cleveland Glenville teammates hooked up for their 5th touchdown pass of the year, and the Buckeyes opened their lead to 20-7.
Cincinnati got more first-play magic as tight end Brent Celek powered for 30 on the Y-shallow, dragging four OSU tacklers the last 10 yards to midfield. Quinn Pitcock helped uproot the drive two plays later, dropping Grutza for a loss of 9 as he continued to live in the Bearcat backfield. The teams traded punts, and on UC’s next drive Grutza looked to make something happen on the first play again, but his deep pass to Bill Poland was played perfectly by Malcolm Jenkins and the sophomore corner, who had some tough moments in Austin, came up with his first career interception at the Cincy 45.
The teams exchanged punts again as the game moved to the final period. From the OSU 15, an Antonio Pittman run and Stan White, Jr. reception netted a first down. Pittman burst for 11 more to go over 100 yards rushing on the afternoon, then Rory Nicol topped off a big day with a 16-yard snag to put the ball at the UC 48. Pittman got the call, turned the left corner behind great blocks from Nicol and T.J. Downing, and raced down the west sideline for the touchdown that effectively put the game away. Ted Ginn, Jr., who had whiffed on a block at the line of scrimmage, made up for it big time by racing ahead of Pittman and knocking cornerback Mike Mickens on his can inside the ten. 9:57 remained on the clock and OSU now led 27-7.
UC coach Mark Dantonio reached into the bag of tricks on the first play of the ensuing series, calling for a double-pass play. Trouble was that quarterback Dustin Grutza’s throw to Bill Poland wasn’t behind the line of scrimmage. The play wouldn’t have counted, but Poland’s toss was intercepted by safety Anderson Russell and the Bucks took over, albeit 15 yards back upfield after Russell was flagged for spiking the football. It was reminiscent of A.J. Hawk’s first career pick against Kent State in 2002, which he returned 34 yards for a score. Hawk also spiked the ball, drawing laundry as well.
Justin Zwick came on to run the “O”, and on 3rd-and-10
he beat a blitz with a lob to Ray Small for 36 yards to
the UC 36. Brian Hartline then hauled in a Zwick pass
and maneuvered his way to the Bearcat 9, and on the
next snap Mo Wells barreled up the middle for his first
score of the season, fattening the Buckeye advantage
to 34-7.
The defense continued to bring the heat, as freshman Robert Rose headed a group that surrounded Grutza for a loss of 8. Freshman linebacker Ross Homan wrapped Grutza up on the following play, forcing an intentional grounding call. Brian Steel’s punt only traveled to the UC 44, giving the backups one more shot. Todd Boeckman came in at quarterback, and just as Zwick had done against Northern Illinois, Todd fumbled his initial snap. The result was better this time as Boeckman scooped up the ball and pushed forward for four yards. Chris Wells busted through for 7 and a first down, then Boeckman hit Ray Small for 8 and kept on the option for another first down to the Cincy 21. On third down from the 16, Boeckman rolled right and fumbled again. The ball rolled back to the UC 35 before Jake Ballard fell on it for OSU. Ryan Pretorius was sent in to try a 52-yard field goal, and he capped off a perfect day for the kickers by booming the ball right between the pipes. The Bucks had rattled off 34 unanswered points to polish off the 37-7 victory.
Ohio State begins Big Ten play next Saturday as Joe Paterno and Penn State come to Columbus to get their usual butt-kicking in the ‘Shoe, while Cincinnati goes from the frying pan into the fire as they travel to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- The Bucks remain a solid #1 in both polls, while TBGUN vaults to #6 after punking the Domers…Anthony Gonzalez has 17 receptions this season, 16 of which have resulted in first downs…After taking until game 8 last year to score a rushing touchdown, Antonio Pittman has now rushed for at least one score in eight straight games…OSU’s 10-game win streak is second-longest in the nation to TCU’s 13
