Everyone who wanted to know how Ohio State would react in a tight ballgame got their curiosity satisfied Saturday as the Bucks had to recover a late onside kick to stave off Illinois 17-10. The win runs OSU’s national-best win streak to 17, and with West Virginia losing last Thursday night and TBGUN struggling with Ball State, the Buckeyes were actually able to capture all possible first-place votes in the latest AP and ESPN Coach’s polls.
Brian Robiskie’s recovery of the onside kick came after the Illini had cut the score to the final margin of 7 with only 1:40 left in the game and really was the only drama of the afternoon. For the first time all season, the Ohio State defense, which had been such an unknown quantity as 2006 dawned, came to the rescue of a Buckeye offense that could do nothing in the second half. It really wasn’t so much that OSU was in danger of losing the game, it was more frustration with the unproductive offense, which raises a concern of whether or not this is a one-game hiccup.
“THE GAME” is safe for the time being, with #1 vs. #2 intact, but all of us have had our eyes on November 18th for over a month now, which is human nature especially considering the soft schedules OSU and UM have faced down the stretch. But Illinois and Ball State served up a big reminder that if everyone wants the 18th to be all it can be, the Bucks and Wolves better deal with the here and now- one last Big Ten road game each against teams that aren’t just going to roll over and die.
Things were par for the course on Ohio State’s opening drive. After losing a yard on the game’s first play, Antonio Pittman came right back with a 13-yard burst to the OSU 32. A quick out to Ted Ginn, Jr. and a short Pitt run gained another first down, then Brian Hartline converted the day’s initial third-down with an easy 10-yard catch out of the slot. From the Illini 29, Troy Smith gave an option look to the left before pulling up and tossing to a lonesome Brian Robiskie at the Illinois 11. Two plays gained nothing, then on third down Troy Smith, running a quarterback draw to likely set up a field goal, actually danced down to the 2, where it was fourth-and-1. Jim Tressel didn’t hesitate, sending in Chris Wells and the big bodies, and the freshman tailback responded with a 2-yard touchdown. Aaron Pettrey booted the conversion to make it 7-0, the sixth time in ten games the Bucks have scored on their first drive.
E.B. Halsey fumbled the ensuing kickoff before finally corralling it at his own 8, and on Illinois’ first snap Marcus Freeman blitzed and knocked runningback Pierre Thomas off his tracks before Malcolm Jenkins cleaned up back at the Illini 5. Things were looking shaky for Ron Zook’s club, but Thomas took a late option pitch from “Juice” Williams for 43 yards to get Illinois out of the hole. It was close to being a forward pitch, but instead it was the third longest rushing play against the Buckeye defense this year, trailing only a 53-yard scamper by Bowling Green’s Dan Macon and a 51-yard jaunt by Garrett Wolfe of Northern Illinois.
The Orange and Blue couldn’t take advantage of Thomas’ big play and punted, and then the Bucks quickly went three-and-out. Illinois managed one first down on the ensuing series, but then Lawrence Wilson stripped Derrick McPhearson on a third-down reception and Curtis Terry recovered for OSU at the Illini 38. Anthony Gonzalez hauled in a 10-yard catch on 3rd-and-7 to move the sticks- Gonzo’s 42nd reception of 2006 and the 37th that has resulted in a first down- as the first quarter concluded.
Troy Smith hit a 17-yard jump pass to Brian Robiskie to set up a first-and-goal at the Illinois 9, and three plays later Antonio Pittman busted up the middle on the “Power O” for a one-yard score, raising the count to 14-0, Bucks.
“Juice” Williams connected with Columbus, Ohio native Jeff Cumberland for 15 on the next series, one of Williams’ finest throws of the afternoon, but he couldn’t make anything else happen and Jared Bosch punted away to OSU’s 35. A 12-yard dash by Chris Wells and a 13-yard Ted Ginn, Jr. reception moved the ball into Illinois territory, but on first down from the 37 Wells flat dropped the football and Antonio Steele fell on it for the Illini at their 34. It was Wells’ 4th fumble of ’06, but unlike the previous three where the freshman was later inserted back into the lineup, this miscue bought him a seat on the bench for the remainder of the afternoon.
The stop troops stepped up again as Lawrence Wilson had a TFL on Mendenhall, and then Curtis Terry, who has become more and more of an integral cog, smacked Williams on a blitz, forcing an apparent fumble that was recovered by Marcus Freeman. However, the replay official took a look and ruled it an incomplete pass, which made it fourth down anyway. Bosch punted out of bounds to the Ohio State 27, and the offense set sail again. Troy Smith’s 5-yard scramble earned a first down, then Pittman gained four on a 3rd-and-1. From the Illinois 48, Smith took off again, juking Brit Miller and shaking off Derek Walker on a 16-yard jaunt to the Illini 32. After an incompletion, Troy was wrapped up in the backfield but tried to fire for Roy Hall in the right flat. The ball didn’t make it back to the line of scrimmage and the Buckeyes were hit with intentional grounding, moving the football back to the Illinois 40. Ginn picked up 7, and with a strong wind at his back, Aaron Pettrey came on and nailed a 50-yard field goal to make it 17-0, which is where things stood at the half. With a 13-3 lead in first downs, a 195-72 advantage in total yards and a 19:14-10:16 edge in time of possession, Ohio State was showing no outwardly signs that this would end up a 7-point contest.
After an Illinois 3-and-out to start quarter number 3, Troy Smith scrambled for a first down and Antonio Pittman got exactly 14 on a 3rd-and-14 screen pass to advance the pigskin into Illini territory, but the march fizzled. A.J. Trapasso got off a beauty of a punt as the ball rolled out of bounds at the Illinois 3. The Orange and Blue could do nothing, and neither could the Buckeyes on their next series as defensive tackle Chris Norwell sacked Smith to punctuate the defensive stand. Tim Brasic entered to play quarterback for Ron Zook, and the Bucks just missed out on a golden opportunity as Jay Richardson batted Brasic’s first pass in the air. Vernon Gholston had a bead on it inside the Illini 5 but Pierre Thomas was able to knock it down. Brasic could only engineer one first down before Kyle Yelton was forced to punt.
The rather uneventful third period came to a close as Troy Smith was knocked to the turf again, this time by Will Davis who blew by Tim Schafer for the sack. Trapasso pounded a 60-yard bomb to the Illinois 26, but after a first down catch by Jeff Cumberland, the Illini couldn’t do anything else and punted back to Ohio State, who promptly offered up one of their worst-looking drives of the entire season. Troy Smith double-clutched on a first-down screen to Pittman, and Will Davis dragged Pitt down for a three-yard loss. Davis came right back on the next play, buzzing by Tim Schafer to wrap up Smith, who barely threw the ball away. Smith had Gonzo open on third down but they couldn’t hook up on a deep throw down the middle. Trapasso’s punt only went 31 yards and the Illini set up shop for the first time all day in OSU territory at the 47.
Derrick McPhearson had an 8-yard snag for a first down, then Rashard Mendenhall took an option pitch for 13 more to the Buckeye 26. Ron Zook reached into the ol’ bag of tricks and ordered up a flea flicker with receiver DaJuan Warren throwing deep for Cumberland. The big tight end had the OSU secondary dusted and all Malcolm Jenkins could do was knock Cumberland down and draw an interference flag. The penalty gave Illinois a first down at the OSU 11, but the Buckeye defense got tough and Jason Reda came on to boot a 27-yard field goal to get the Illini on the board at 17-3.
The Bucks got a couple bits of good fortune on their next series. After Kirk Barton was called for a dead ball, unnecessary roughness penalty, Vontae Davis was called for interference on Ted Ginn, Jr. to get OSU off the hook. Then with a 3rd-and-1 at the Buckeye 38, Antonio Pittman fumbled but guard Steve Rehring, who was already on the ground, recovered the ball at the Ohio State 40 to get a first down. Three plays later, though, the luck ran out as Rory Nicol tipped a Smith pass up in the air, where it was intercepted by safety Kevin Mitchell. But the Illini couldn’t stand their own good fortune as James Laurinaitis immediately picked off a Tim Brasic pass, keeping OSU’s mark of not allowing any points off of their 2006 turnovers intact.
The Buckeye offense continued to sputter, so A.J. Trapasso, who didn’t punt at all against Minnesota, kicked into the endzone to give Illinois possession at their 20. After two incompletions, “Juice” Williams, who had returned to the lineup, threw across his body to Cumberland for a big 23-yard gain. Kyle Hudson and Mendenhall worked the “hook-and-trailer” for 12 more to the Buckeye 45 before Williams found Chris James for 10 to the OSU 35. Williams tried to go to James again on the next snap but James Laurinaitis clocked the quarterback under the chin, breaking his jaw and sending him out. Tim Brasic re-entered and drilled 3 completions in a row to move the Illini to the Buckeye 3. Rashard Mendenhall scored the first touchdown against OSU in 11 quarters on the next play with a 3-yard scamper on an option pitch, and now with 1:40 left in the game the Ohio State lead had been trimmed to 17-10.
Everyone expected, and got, an onside kick. Brandon Mitchell whiffed on the ball as it bounced over his head, and there were a few nervous seconds as the pigskin hit in front of a group of 4 Buckeyes, but Brian Robiskie was able to secure the kick at the Illini 47.
The Bucks kept it landlocked as Illinois burned off their last two timeouts, then after milking as much of the clock as possible, A.J. Trapasso made it academic with a 55-yard punt that was downed at the Illini 2. A last-gasp, multi-lateral play ended when McPhearson stepped out of bounds, and the Bucks had maintained their perfect record despite an anemic 29-yard output in the second half.
Ohio State’s final regular season road game comes up this weekend as they travel to Evanston to face Northwestern in a 3:30 Eastern matchup on ABC. The Wildcats got their first Big Ten win under new coach Pat Fitzgerald last week by dumping Iowa 21-7. Illinois will wrap up their home slate next Saturday as they welcome in Purdue.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- The 2006 Buckeyes are the eighth team in school history to start a season 10-0, joining the national title squads of 1954, 1968 and 2002, as well as the 1975, 1979, 1995 and 1996 units…By maintaining the #1 spot in the AP rankings for the 11th consecutive poll, the Bucks set another school record, breaking the mark of 10 straight weeks at the top logged by the 1969 squad…Troy Smith needs 142 yards of total offense against Northwestern to pass Steve Bellisari and move into third place on OSU’s career total offense list…An interesting and timely tidbit from last Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch- The last ten AP national champions all had at least one win that was decided by seven points or less. Ohio State has actually been involved in two of those; in 1997, the Bucks dropped a 20-14 decision to eventual champ Michigan, then just last year they lost the 25-22 heartbreaker to Texas…Just in time to save Pat (and all of us) from pulling our hair out, word is Alex Boone should be back in the lineup this week…During ESPN 2’s broadcast last Saturday, there were several ads for the upcoming Matthew McConaughey film “We Are Marshall”, which opens December 22nd. The movie tells the story of the Marshall football program in the aftermath of the tragic November 14, 1970 plane crash that killed most of their team and coaching staff as they returned from a game against East Carolina. Make sure to check this one out during the holidays; just knowing the back story, it’s an inspiring tale of rebirth…
TBGUN UPDATE- Buckeye Nation’s minds aren’t the only ones running into the future. The Wolverines outlasted 33-point underdog Ball State 34-26 in Ann Arbor to remain unbeaten, but they needed a fourth-down incompletion (on a play that would’ve been interference anyplace else but Ann Arbor) and a later interception- both in their endzone- to escape with the win. Receiver Mario Manningham got in for about a dozen plays but made no catches, and Lloyd Carr has said he will start this week at Indiana. I’ll debate it a little more before we make our weekly picks, but something tells me if UM plays like this in Bloomington on Saturday, the Hoosiers just may hand them their heads.
Ohio State 17 Illinois 10
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VS
November 4th, 2006
Memorial Stadium - Champaign, Ill
Attendance 53,351
