Ohio State Improves to 6-1 in Big Ten with 48-7 Win over Northwestern – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 12, 2005
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Northwestern v. Ohio State Highlights
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior quarterback Troy Smith ran 11 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns, sophomore tailback Antonio Pittman carried the ball 18 times for 132 yards and a score and senior linebacker A.J. Hawk added a defensive touchdown to lead Ohio State to a 48-7 victory over Northwestern Saturday in front of 105,181 fans at Ohio Stadium. The game was the final home game for 16 Buckeye seniors.
Pittman, who topped 100 yards for the sixth time this season, became the 23rd play in Ohio State history to top 1,000 yards in a season. Maurice Clarett was the last player to top 1,000 yards when he finished with 1,230 yards in 2002. With two rushing touchdowns, Smith now has 10 rushing scores this season to become the fourth quarterback in school history to run for at least 10 scores. Smith added 77 yards passing, completing 7-of-12 passes with one interception.
Northwestern took 2 minutes, 26 seconds to march 80 yards in nine plays for its only points in the game. Tyrell Sutton caught a 5-yard pass from Brett Basanez for the score and Joel Howells added the point after. During the drive, facing third-and-18 following an 11-yard sack by junior safety Donte Whitner, Basanez hit Jonathan Fields for 28 yards. Sutton ran for 34 yards two plays later and then carried 5 yards for the early lead.
From there it was all Ohio State.
Junior split end Santonio Holmes took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 35 yards to the NU 45-yard line. It took the Buckeyes 11 plays, all rushes, and 5:32, but Smith took it the final 4 yards for the score to tie the game, 7-all, with 6:53 to play in the first quarter.
After forcing the Wildcats to punt on their next possession, Holmes took it 24 yards to the NU 44. The Buckeyes took the ball at the NU 29 after a Northwestern personal foul. Seven plays later Smith ran for a 2-yard score. The score capped a seven-play, 29-yard drive to give Ohio State a 14-7 lead with 1:02 to play in the opening quarter.
Hawk, a finalist for the Butkus Award and a semifinalist for the Lott Trophy, gave the Buckeyes a two-touchdown lead when he scooped up a blocked punt and went 8 yards for his first score since the second game of his career when he took an interception 34 yards for a score against Kent State. Facing fourth-and-three from the OSU 33-yard line, junior tackle Quinn Pitcock blocked the Slade Larscheid punt. It was the first blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Ohio State since the 2004 Fiesta Bowl victory against Kansas State. A Huston PAT made the score 21-7 with 14:46 to play in the second half.
A true freshman gave the Buckeyes a 28-7 lead just before the end of the first half. Tailback Maurice Wells traveled 13 yards untouched up the middle with 1:37 to play. Huston connected on the PAT. An interception by junior cornerback Ashton Youboty gave the ball back to the Buckeyes on Northwestern’s next possession. He picked off a Basanez pass at the OSU 43-yard and atoned for a pass interference call that kept alive a Northwestern drive on third-and-four from its own 21. Youboty’s fifth career pick also was his first interception of the season to go with eight pass break ups.
In the first half, the Buckeyes outgained Northwestern 216 total yards to 138 total yards, including 166 yards on the ground. Pittman carried the ball 13 times for 81 yards and Smith added 50 yards and two scores on nine carries. Smith completed 5-of-7 passes for 50 yards, while Basanez was 7-of-19 for 74 yards and one score. Each quarterback threw an interception in the opening half. Sutton had 12 carries for 80 yards for the Wildcats.
Ohio State did not move the ball across midfield on the opening possession of the second half. Two plays after the punt, Hawk forced his second fumble of the season, striping the ball from Sutton at the NU 19-yard line, but the Buckeyes could not pick up the first down and Huston came on to make his 17th field goal of the season, a 33-yard effort. That score gave the Buckeyes a 31-7 lead with 11:21 to play in the third quarter.
On the Buckeyes next possession, Pittman finally got the nod on first-and-goal from the 4-yard line and punched it in for the score with 5:52 to play in third quarter to lift Ohio State to a 38-7 margin following Huston’s point after to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive. Pittman carried the ball four times for 53 yards on the drive, including a long of 24 yards. Huston added a 37-yard field goal with 13:20 to play in the game to lift the Buckeyes to a 41-7 lead. The kick gave the Buckeyes their fourth straight game with at least 40 points, going back to a 41-10 victory at Indiana. Ohio State followed with a 45-31 win at Minnesota before beating Illinois 40-2 last week.
Redshirt freshman running back Erik Haw added his first career touchdown on the Buckeyes’ final touchdown of the day with 4:53 to play in the game. He carried 3 yards for the score to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive.
Ohio State piled up 422 yards of offense and rushed for 324 of those yards. Pittman and Smith combined for 207 and then Wells added 70 yards and Haw added 39. Sutton, who had averaged 120.6 per game for Northwestern entering the game, was held to 93 yards. In fact, Ohio State held Northwestern to a season-low 251 yards of total offense Saturday, despite allowing an 80-yard touchdown drive to the Wildcats’ first possession. Saturday marked the first time Northwestern was held to less than 400 yards of total offense this season.
Hawk and senior linebacker Anthony Schlegel each had eight tackles to lead Ohio State. Hawk added a sack and forced a fumble, while Schlegel recorded two tackles-for-loss. Senior linebacker Bobby Carpenter had six tackles and Whitner had five, including an early sack.
Ohio State will close the 2005 season at Michigan next Saturday. The game will begin at 1 p.m. and be televised by ABC Sports to 70 percent of the country while ESPN will televise the game to the other 30 percent of the nation. Check local listings for viewing information in your area.
