Postgame Notes From No. 10/10 Ohio State vs. No. 25 Northwestern – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 12, 2005
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Attendance: 105,181
Ohio State Notes
With the win Saturday, Ohio State has won 27 of its last 29games at home. The losses came against Wisconsin in 2004 and TexasSept. 10.
Ohio State now has an all-time record of 773-300-53 andall-time Big Ten record of 424-162-24.
With the win Saturday, Ohio State’s all-time record moved to 361-102-25 in Ohio Stadium (opened in 1922).
With the win Saturday, Jim Tressel moved to 48-13 at Ohio Stateand won for the 31st time in 35 games at Ohio Stadium. With the winSaturday, Tressel upped his record in Big Ten contests to 29-10.
With the win Saturday, Tressel has a 4-1 career record vs. Northwestern.
Ohio State has a 4-2 record so far this season against Top 25opponents. When ranked in the AP Top 25, Ohio State now is386-123-14.
Under Tressel, the Buckeyes now are 35-3 when leading at thehalf and 38-3 when ahead after three quarters.
The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in111-consecutive games.
Sixteen seniors were recognized in a pregame ceremony Saturday.This 2005 senior class has a combined record of 41-7 the past fourseasons, including a 14-0 season and the National Championship in2002 and a string of 19 consecutive victories from the 2002 seasonthrough the first five games of 2003. They have played in threebowl games to date, including two BCS games. The following seniorsand their families will be introduced Saturday: Bobby Carpenter,John Conroy, Tyler Everett, Marcus Green, Ryan Hamby, Rob Harley,A.J. Hawk, Josh Huston, Mike Kudla, Nick Mangold, Nate Salley,Anthony Schlegel, Brandon Schnittker, Rob Sims, Andree Tyree andSteve Winner.
Series Information
Ohio State and Northwestern met for the 71st time Saturday. TheBuckeyes improved to 56 -14-1 in the series. OSU now has a 31-8edge in games played in Columbus and has won 15 in a row from theWildcats in Ohio Stadium dating back to a 14-10 loss in 1971. TheBuckeyes have taken 25 of the last 26 meetings with the Wildcats.
With the 48-7 win Saturday, Ohio State improved to 29-0 whenscoring 30 points or more against Northwestern.
Offensive Notes
Ohio State rushed for a season-high 317 yards Saturday on 54attempts. Previously this season, Ohio State had 314 yards againstIowa Sept. 24.
Three Buckeyes accounted for at least 70 yards Saturday. Sophomore Antonio Pittman led all rushers with 132 yards on 18 tries, while Junior Troy Smith added 75 yards on 11 attempts and freshman Maurice Wells had a career-best 70 yards on 13 carries.
Ohio State scored a season-best 48 points in the win againstNorthwestern Saturday, marking the first time a Buckeye squad hastallied 40 points or more in four-consecutive games since the 1995season. That year, the Buckeyes had four consecutive 40-plus pointgames, starting with a 56-35 win vs. Iowa before winning 49-21 atMinnesota, 41-3 vs. Illinois and 42-3 against Indiana.
The 48 points counts as the highest output by the Buckeyes since Ohio State defeated San Jose State, 50-7, in Ohio Stadium Oct. 12, 2002.
Ohio State scored a 35-24 win over Michigan State Oct. 15. Since that game, the Buckeyes have tallied their four-straight 40-plus point games. The last time Ohio State scored 35 or more points in five-consecutive games was in 1974 when they defeated Washington State (42-7), Wisconsin (52-7), Indiana (49-9), Northwestern (55-7) and Illinois (49-7).
The Buckeyes rushed for five touchdowns in the win vs.Northwestern Saturday. The last time an Ohio State team rushed forfive TDs in a game was in the 2002 season-opener vs. Texas Tech.Ohio State rushed for six scores in that contest. Maurice Clarettrushed for 3 TDs with Lydell Ross crossing the goal line twice andbackup quarterback Scott McMullen scoring once.
The Buckeyes were 7-for-7 in the Red Zone Saturday, scoringfive touchdown and adding two field goals.
Ohio State also converted seven third-down chances in 11 situations.
The Buckeyes had 422 yards of offense Saturday againstNorthwestern (317 rushing, 105 passing). Ohio State has topped the400-yard mark in total offense in each of its last four games andfive times this season.
Ohio State scored a touchdown on its opening drive, covering 45yards on 11 plays in 5:32. The Buckeyes ran the football on 11plays, ending the drive on a 4-yard TD scramble by quarterback TroySmith. On the drive, Smith carried five times for 24 yards andtailback Antonio Pittman ran six times for 21 yards.
Offensive Player Notes
Troy Smith’s first-quarter rushing touchdown was his first TDon the ground in three games. He last scored a rushing touchdown atIndiana. Smith added his second scoring run later in the firstquarter to record his fourth game this season with two rushing TDsand has 10 this season.
With his two rushing touchdowns Saturday, Smith moved into fourth place all alone for most rushing TDs in a season at Ohio State. Art Schlichter was the last Buckeye signal-caller to score 10 TDs in a season with 13 in 1978.
Ohio State Single Season
QB Rushing TDs
| Total | Name | Year |
| 14 | Les Horvath | 1944 |
| 13 | Art Schlichter | 1978 |
| 12 | Cornelius Greene | 1973 |
| 10 | Troy Smith | 2005 |
| 9 | Art Schlichter | 1979 |
| Cornelius Greene | 1974 | |
| Rex Kern | 1969 | |
| 8 | Cornelius Greene | 1975 |
| Donald Lamka | 1971 | |
| Rex Kern | 1968 |
Smith threw an incompletion on his second pass of the gameSaturday, snapping a streak of 11-consecutive completions. Thestreak dated back to the second quarter last week against Illinois.Smith threw his first interception in three games Saturday. Hethrew his last pick at Indiana Oct. 22.
Smith also had his string of four-consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass snapped Saturday.
In the second quarter, Pittman became the 23rd back in OhioState history to top 1,000 yards rushing in a season on a 14-yardscamper over left tackle. Pittman topped the 100-yard mark for thegame in the third quarter, his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
Pittman finished the game Saturday with 132 yards on 18 totes and now has 1,120 on the season to rank 20th all-time for a single season. Robert Smith’s total of 1,126 in 1990 ranks 19th.
Junior Santonio Holmes had three catches for 49 yards Saturday,upping his career receptions total to 129. Holmes remained sixth onthe all-time OSU receiving list and also stayed in seventh place inall-time receiving yardage at 2,089. He has caught two or morepasses in 27-consecutive games.
Wells gave the Buckeyes a 27-7 lead on a 13-yard touchdown, thefirst score of his career, in the second quarter. Freshman Erik Hawalso registered his first career touchdown Saturday on a 2-yarddive in the fourth quarter. Haw had career highs of 39 yards oneight carries Saturday.
Freshman Albert Dukes hauled in his first career catch in thethird quarter for a 12-yard gain.
Defensive Notes
Ohio State held Northwestern to a season-low 251 yards of totaloffense Saturday, despite allowing an 80-yard touchdown drive tothe Wildcats’ first possession. Saturday marked the first timeNorthwestern was held to less than 400 yards of total offense thisseason.
The Buckeyes held NU to a season-low 153 yards passing and 98 yards rushing, which counts as the second-lowest rushing output by Northwestern this season. Michigan held NU to 89 yards rushing Oct. 29.
In seven home games this season, the Buckeyes held their opponents to averages of 63 yards rushing and 234 yards in total offense.
The 98 yards allowed rushing to Northwestern marked the sixthgame this season Ohio State has held its opponent to less than 100yards on the ground.
The Wildcats averaged just 2.8 yards per play Saturday.
Defensive Player Notes
Senior linebacker A.J. Hawk totaled eight tackles Saturday toeclipse the 100-tackle mark for the third-consecutive season. Heleads the Buckeyes 102 stops on the season and now has 375 careerstops to rank sixth in Ohio State annals. He trails only MarcusMarek (572 tackles), Tom Cousineau (569), Chris Spielman (546),Steve Tovar (408) and Pepper Johnson (379) in the OSU records book.
Hawk had one of Ohio State’s two sacks Saturday and now has 7.5 sacks and 12.0 tackles-for-loss this season. He tied Anthony Schlegel for the team lead Saturday with is eight participations and has led the team in tackles in nine of 10 games (all but Minnesota) this season.
Hawk also forced a Wildcat fumble in the third quarter, his second forced fumble of the season.
Junior defensive back Ashton Youboty recorded his firstinterception of the season in the second quarter and the fifth ofhis career. In the third quarter, Youboty recovered a Northwesternfumble, his first recovery of his career.
Senior safety Brandon Mitchell started his second game of the2005 season Saturday and the sixth of his career.
Special Teams
Ohio State blocked its first punt in 21 games Saturday.Defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock blocked the Northwestern punt andlinebacker A.J. Hawk scooped up the loose ball and returned it 8yards for a touchdown. The last time Ohio State blocked a punt wasJan. 2, 2004 vs. Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, when HarlenJacobs blocked a Kansas State punt and John Hollins recovered thefootball in the endzone.
The punt block counts as the first in Pitcock’s career and the touchdown was Hawk’s second as a Buckeye. Hawk’s first TD came on a 34-yard interception return Sept. 7, 2002 vs. Kent State in Ohio Stadium.
Senior Josh Huston booted his first two kickoffs Saturdaythrough the end zone for touchbacks to move his streak to 18kickoffs for touchbacks. His string ended on his third kick off ofthe first quarter. Huston had three additional kickoffs fortouchbacks in the game and now has sent 22 of his last 24 fortouchbacks. For the season, Huston has 45 touchbacks in 64kickoffs.
Huston also converted two field goal attempts Saturday and has 18 for the season (21 attempts). The 18 FG makes ties for fourth all-time for a single season at Ohio State. Pat O’Morrow (1988) and Vlade Janakeivski (1979) also converted 18 field goals in a season.
Other Notes
Ohio State and Northwestern played in front of a sell-out crowdof 105,181 Saturday. The Buckeyes have played in front of26-consecutive sell-out crowds at Ohio Stadium. During the last twoseasons, Ohio State has played in front of sellout crowds in 20 ofthe last 21 games overall and has played before at least 100,000fans in eight of 10 games this season.
Former Ohio State All-American Will Smith (2000-03) served asthe honorary captain Saturday.
Northwestern Post-Game Notes
With the loss, Northwestern fell to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in theBig Ten. NU became the last Big Ten team this season to lose aconference road game. The Wildcats close out the regular seasonnext Saturday at Illinois in Champaign (11 a.m. CT, ESPN Plus).
For the first time in school history, Northwestern has recordedfour or more Big Ten wins in three straight seasons. Since the 2003season, the Wildcats are now a combined 13-10 vs. Big Ten foes.
Northwestern scored a touchdown on the game’s opening drive–a5-yard RB Tyrell Sutton reception from QB Brett Basanez. That wasjust the second time this year the Wildcats scored a TD on theirfirst drive of a game. The other TD came against Penn State.
Basanez, a Unitas Award finalist and a Davey O’Briensemifinalist, made his 44th career start today, the last 38 insuccession.
Basanez’s streak of 200-yard passing games ended at 10, aNorthwestern record.
Basanez’s scoring pass to Sutton in the first quarter was his40th career TD toss. That leaves him four shy of Northwestern’scareer passing TD record.
An update on Basanez’s career numbers and where he stands onthe Big Ten and NCAA’s all-time lists:
| 850 pass completions (first on NU list; second on Big Ten list–176 behind Drew Brees, Purdue) |
| 1,483 pass attempts (first on NU list; second on Big Ten list–195 behind Drew Brees, Purdue) |
| 9,924 passing yards (first on NU list; fourth on Big Ten list–22 behind Mark Hermann, Purdue) |
| 10,803 total offense yards (first on NU list; third on Big Ten list–561 behind Antwaan Randle El, Indiana) |
| 1,849 offensive plays (first on NU list; third on Big Ten list–68 behind Antwaan Randle El, Indiana) |
| 20. Peyton Manning (1994-97, Tennessee) – 11,020 | 33. Eli Manning (2000-03, Mississippi) – 10,119 |
| 21. Eric Zeier (1991-94, Georgia) – 10,841 | 34. Glenn Foley (1990-93, Boston College) – 10,042 |
| 22. Joshua Cribbs (2001-04, Kent State) – 10,839 | 35. Cade McNown (1995-98, UCLA) – 10,008 |
| 23. Alex Van Pelt (1989-92, Pittsburgh) – 10,814 | 36. Brett Basanez (2002-present, NU) – 9,924 |
| 24. Brett Basanez (2002-present, NU) – 10,803 | 37. Cody Pickett (2000-03, Washington) – 9,916 |
Northwestern, which came in with the nation’s seventh-besttotal offense average, fell short of the 400-yard mark in totaloffense, the first time the Wildcats failed to reach the 400-yardmark in their last 11 games.
Senior WR Mark Philmore has caught a pass in all 38 careergames played. He moved into sole possession of fifth place onNorthwestern’s career receptions list and now has 151 catches.Philmore also has 1,661 career receiving yards, which ranks ninthon NU’s all-time list.
Senior LB Tim McGarigle upped his NU-career-leading tackletotal to 518 with his seven (4 solos) tackles today. McGariglebegan the day as the Big Ten leader in tackles.
RB Tyrell Sutton rushed for 93 yards today and added a 5-yardTD reception, the 18th TD of the season and his career. He enteredtoday’s game as the nation’s sixth-leading scorer.
CB Marquice Cole picked off his Big Ten-leading fifthinterception of the year in the second quarter.
WR Shaun Herbert caught two passes to move into a fifth-placetie on Northwestern’s single-season reception list with 68 catches.He also increased his career totals to 110 receptions and 1,330yards. Herbert began the day as the country’s eighth-leadingreceiver with 7.3 catches per game.
