If you have fellow Buckeye brethren who planned on hibernating until the Penn State game, you might want to wake them. All of a sudden we’ve got a season on our hands.
Those among the 104,317 at Ohio Stadium last Saturday that I’ve talked to all said they had to rub the sleep out of their eyes on the way out. Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis, who announced last week’s colossal Appalachian State upset of TBGUN, must have felt like a junkie coming down off a high after calling this one on the Big Ten Network. We had the game on the radio at work, and for most of the second half, I actually WORKED (if my boss is
reading this, you’re welcome...)
I know, I know, a win is a win, and we all know Tressel’s teams usually don’t have all the oars in the water in September. But all of a sudden the perception that the Bucks could stay on autopilot until October is a very dangerous line to be treading.
Defensively, there’s very little to complain about, with the notable exception of an aggravating tendency to drop interceptions. Special teams-wise, the kicking game has been perfect so far, but would someone please field a punt? That leaves the offense, which for the second straight week had its moments but did little to inspire confidence with a tough roadie looming in Seattle.
The Buckeyes reached into the trick bag on the opening kickoff, as Anderson Russell handed to Brandon Saine on a reverse, with the freshman scooting out to his own 41. But the offense could do nothing with the good field position and punted. Akron quarterback Chris Jacquemain secured first downs with tosses to Bryan Williams and Jabari Arthur, but Doug Worthington put out the fire by wrapping Jacquemain up to force an incompletion, then batting down a screen pass on the next play. Little did the chain gang know that their services wouldn’t be required while the Akron offense was on the field for most of the rest of the day.
Punter John Stec got off a beaut, making like our staffer Pat sticking an approach shot within inches of the cup. Stec’s boot was downed by Yamari Dixon at the Ohio State 2, and on the next snap the Bucks went with their bread-and-butter play, the "Power O". In this case, that’s "O" for "oops". Guard Steve Rehring didn’t pull around fast enough to get a block on linebacker Brion Stokes, who wrapped Chris Wells up in the endzone. It appeared that C-Dub had stretched the ball out to the 1, and that’s how the officials saw it, but the replay booth took a look and ruled it a safety, giving Akron a 2-0 lead.
Andre Jones brought the free kick back to his 47, but the OSU defense held steady and Stec was back three plays later, launching another excellent punt to the Buckeye 7. Rory Nicol hauled in back-to-back receptions to move the sticks, but the aptly named Reggie Corner, manning the corner position in the Zips’ secondary, dropped Brandon Saine for a loss of one on a screen, forcing a punt.
Former Buckeye Dennis Kennedy took a direct snap from his runningback position on 3rd-and-1, but was stood up for zilch. Feasting on the momentum, Todd Boeckman connected with Brian Hartline for a pair of first downs, then Alex Boone and Jake Ballard got nice blocks to spring Chris Wells for 24 yards to the Zips’ 23. But just like that, the dice went cold. Hartline slipped making a cut, leaving Boeckman’s pass right there for the taking for Reggie Corner, who snagged the errant throw at the Akron 7. As the quarter expired, the ‘Shoe was quiet except for the fortunate few who had 2 and 0 in the office pool.
Chris Jacquemain couldn’t get the Akron offense going, forcing another punt. Once again it was Reggie Corner stepping up, as he batted another Boeckman pass into the hands of safety John Mackey. The Zips were bottled up by the Buckeye defense and gave the ball right back, and this time OSU cashed in. Brian Hartline lit the fuse, carving out 9 on an end-around, then a gift 15 on a facemask call moved the pigskin into Akron territory. Brian Robiskie got in on the act with a 14-yard, third-down catch, and it appeared Hartline had set up a goal-to-go situation with another third-down grab, but an illegal shift penalty brought it back. On came the field goal unit, and Ryan Pretorious was true from 37 yards out, giving Ohio State a 3-2 lead.
Another member of the freshman class, Brian Rolle, showed his stuff on the kickoff, making a solo stop on Brandon Anderson. But an offside call on the Bucks forced a re-kick, so for an encore Rolle single-handedly stopped Bryan Williams. Akron’s backup quarterback Carlton Jackson entered but had no better luck than Jacquemain did as the Zips went three-and-out. OSU’s offense spun their wheels, drawing a holding flag and losing eight more when Boeckman fell down trying to set up in the pocket. A 3rd-and-22 draw by Brandon Saine for five brought boos from the crowd.
With the offense hiccupping, the defense came to the rescue with another three-and-out, although Anderson Russell dropped a sure pick for the second straight game. Brian Hartline tried to navigate through the Akron coverage team on the ensuing punt but was stripped of the ball and the Zips would have one final chance in the first half. Cameron Heyward made sure the Zip offense stayed under wraps, sacking Jacquemain for a loss of seven. The Bucks would go off at the half with the narrow 3-2 lead.
Ohio State’s defense immediately set the tone as the third quarter began as James Laurinaitis and Vernon Gholston got to Jacquemain for back-to-back sacks on Akron’s opening drive. Getting fine field position at their own 48 following John Stec’s punt, Boeckman and Co. drove to the Zip 16, where a third-down pass for Robiskie in the endzone was broken up nicely by Reggie Corner. Ryan Pretorious was called on for a 33-yard field goal and answered, putting the Scarlet and Gray out front at 6-2.
The consistent defensive pressure continued to get to Chris Jacquemain, who fired an ill-advised pass into the right flat that should’ve been intercepted by Thaddeus Gibson, who had nothing but shiny green field turf in front of him. The offense responded to the missed opportunity when they took over at their 38. Making a nice play fake, Todd Boeckman rolled to his right and floated a rainbow to Robo for 39 yards.
Three runs by Chris Wells, blending between-the-tackles strength and speed to the corner, put the ball on the doorstep at the Akron 2, but once again the red-zone demons reared their head as Rory Nicol was flagged for a false start. Facing yet another third-down inside the opponent 10, Boeckman got over the hump, beating a blitz by John Mackey and dumping the ball to Brandon Saine in the right flat. The pride of Piqua easily galloped into the endzone to give his team a bit of breathing room. Pretorious’ PAT extended OSU’s advantage to 13-2 and that’s how things stood after three.
Having scored on their last two drives, the Buckeye offense looked for the knockout blow on their next series, but freshman Devon Torrence fumbled away a catch and Akron had a golden opportunity at the OSU 49. But it just wasn’t going to happen on this day as the Zips continued their chorus line offense of "1, 2, 3, kick". Ohio State started from their 17, and for the first time this season, the real Chris Wells turned up in the huddle. C-Dub hammered for 6, used a Dane Sanzenbacher block to circle the right side for 25, then topped things off by thundering up the middle for 40 big yards, stiff-arming safety Davanzo Tate to the ground in the process. With the crowd electrified for probably the first time all day, the air seemed to come right out of the balloon as two Mo Wells carries got all of one yard. But Todd Boeckman again found a little third-down magic, easily hooking up with Brian Robiskie for a 13-yard touchdown. Ryan Pretorious capped off his perfect day with the point-after kick to make it 20-2, Bucks.
For the 13th straight drive, the Buckeye defense forced a three-and-out, bringing on a weary John Stec to boot an Akron record 14th punt of the afternoon. Rob Schoenhoft came on to mop up, but ended up spilling the mop water as he coughed up the ball on a Doug Williams hit. Akron finally managed to get a first down- someone wake the chain gang- but Jamario O’Neal quashed this final Zip drive by stealing the rock away from Dennis Kennedy on a screen pass reception.
Ohio State takes to the road for the first time in 2007 this Saturday, heading to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies in a 3:30 Eastern tilt on ESPN. Akron is off to Bloomington to do battle with unbeaten Indiana.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- Washington hasn’t started the season 3-0 since 2001. Is the glass half-full or half empty? Chris Wells had his first 100-yard rushing game, ringing up 143 yards on 20 carries Saturday, but 89 of those yards came on three totes. C-Dub’s previous career-high was 90 yards against Minnesota last October 28th. Ohio State’s defense hasn’t forced a turnover since Ross Homan made a third-quarter interception at Northwestern last November 11th. With Virginia Tech and Georgia losing, the Bucks move up to #10 in this week’s polls, which reminds me- Can someone please put Louisville out of my misery?..To paraphrase Bob Uecker’s character Harry Doyle from "Major League", if you haven’t noticed, and judging by the ratings a lot of you haven’t, the Big Ten Network doesn’t exactly have a boatload of sponsors on their telecasts. Most commercial breaks are made up of promos and public service announcements, including a montage of the marching band leading into a plea for those without the network to call their cable company. This spot ran almost every break last week, and this week it featured Jim Tressel asking fans to call. You’ve got other things to worry about, Coach...
(12)Ohio State 20 Akron 2
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VS
September 8th, 2007
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, OH
Attendance 104,317
View Akron Game Day Photos
