Postgame Notes From No. 9/9 Ohio State vs. No. 17/17 Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Attendance: 111,591
Ohio State Notes
Jim Tressel became the first coach since Francis Schmidt to win four of his first five games against Michigan. Schmidt won from 1934-37 before losing in 1938. In five years against Michigan, Tressel’s teams have claimed victories in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
The win gave the Buckeyes a share of the Big Ten title this season with Penn State. It was the 30th Big Ten championship for the Buckeyes and the first since the 2002 season when Ohio State shared the title with Iowa. The Nittany Lions won the league’s berth in the BCS by virtue of a 17-10 victory over the Buckeyes on Oct. 8. Each team was 7-1 in Big Ten play.
Ohio State now has an all-time record of 774-300-53 and all-time Big Ten record of 425-162-24.
With the loss Saturday, Tressel improved to 49-13 at Ohio State. Tressel’s record in the Big Ten improved to 30-10.
Ohio State has a 5-2 record this season against Top 25 opponents. When ranked in the AP Top 25, Ohio State now is 387-123-14.
Since 2001, Tressel’s first season, Ohio State is 15-3 in the month of November. The only losses were to Illinois in 2001, Michigan in 2003 and Purdue in 2004. The Buckeyes were 4-0 in 2002 and 3-0 this year.
Under Tressel, the Buckeyes now are 36-3 when leading at the half.
The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in 112-consecutive games.
Series Information
With the win Saturday, Ohio State improved to 39-57-6 all-time vs. Michigan and 18-30-4 in Ann Arbor. The Buckeyes have won four of the last five meetings with the Wolverines. The two teams have played annually since 1918 and have concluded their Big Ten seasons against one another every year since 1935. With the win, the Buckeyes are 27-25-2 since 1952. Tressel has led the Buckeyes to two wins in three trips to Ann Arbor, also winning in 2001, his first season.
Offensive Notes Troy Smith ran it into the end zone with 8:44 to play in the first quarter to give Ohio State a 6-0 lead. It was his 11th rushing touchdown of the season, the fourth highest total by an Ohio State quarterback. 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 11, Troy Smith, 2005 9, Art Schlichter, 1979 Cornelius Greene, 1974 Rex Kern, 1969 8, Cornelius Greene, 1975 Donald Lamka, 1971 Rex Kern, 1968
Saturday against Michigan, Smith completed 27-of-37 passes for 300 yards and one touchdown. The 300 yards passing topped the 298 yards two weeks ago in the victory vs. Illinois. Smith piled on 386 yards of total offense in the 37-21 victory in Columbus in 2004. He had 241 yards passing in that game with two touchdowns. Smith has thrown for at least 226 in five of his last six games and has thrown 11 touchdown passes in that span.
In the first quarter, Roy Hall made his first reception in four games. He caught a Troy Smith pass for 11 yards. His last catch came against Indiana when he caught one pass for 12 yards.
Santonio Holmes caught a 26-yard touchdown pass to pull the Buckeyes within a 21-19 score with 6:40 to play in the game. The TD grab gave him a touchdown in his seventh game this season. He has 10 TDs on the year. Holmes caught six passes for 72 yards and the score. He now has 135 career receptions and moved past Dee Miller (1995-98) into fifth place all-time. He now has 2,171 career yards, which remains the sixth-best total in school history.
Antonio Pittman scored a touchdown with 24 seconds remaining to put the Buckeyes on top. It was his sixth rushing touchdown of the season. Pittman carried 23 times for 85 yards and the score. He now has 1,195 yards for the season on 222 carries. Saturday vs. Michigan, he added four receptions for 31 yards.
The Buckeyes’ 88-yard scoring drive to win the game was its longest scoring drive of the season, topping an 86-yard drive that resulted in a field goal vs. Illinois. On the drive, Smith ran for six yards and Pittman added five, including the 3-yard scoring run. Smith completed passes of 9, 11 and 6 to Ted Ginn Jr., passes of 8, 10 and 7 to Holmes and found Anthony Gonzalez for a 26-yard pick up on first-and-10 from the UM 30 to set up the score three plays later.
Ginn led the Buckeyes with a career-best nine receptions for 89 yards. It was his 18th straight game with a reception. Gonzalez added four catches for 75 yards. Ginn, Holmes and Gonzalez combined for 19 catches for 236 yards.
In addition to rolling up 300 yards passing, the Buckeyes added 118 yards on the ground for 418 yards of total offense.
Defensive Notes
Ohio State limited Michigan to only 223 total yards, including 32 yards rushing. The Buckeyes’ stingy D limited Mike Hart to 15 yards on nine carries and Kevin Grady to 11 yards on six carries.
A.J. Hawk totaled seven tackles Saturday to take his season tackles total to 109. He has topped 100 tackles for the third straight season. He now has 382 career stops to rank sixth in Ohio State annals. He trails only Marcus Marek (572 tackles), Tom Cousineau (569), Chris Spielman (546), Steve Tovar (408) and Pepper Johnson (379) in the OSU records book. One of Hawk’s seven tackles was for a loss of four yards.
Anthony Schlegel led the Buckeyes with 10 tackles. It was his second game this season with 10 tackles or more. He had also 10 stops against Michigan State. Schlegel is second on the team with 75 yards.
David Patterson’s sack of Chad Henne in the third quarter was his fourth of the season and first since he had three against Michigan State, a game the Buckeyes recorded 12 sacks. His sack against the Wolverines was the only one by a Buckeye.
Special Teams
Josh Huston tied a career long with a 47-yard field goal in the second quarter to lift Ohio State to a 9-0 lead with 12:49 to play. He is 4-of-6 from 40-49 yards this year. He added a 25-yarder just before halftime to give Ohio State a 12-7 lead with 23 seconds to play. He is 20-of-24 after missing from 46 in the fourth quarter. His 20 field goals this season are the third most in a season by a Buckeye. Mike Nugent (2001-04) made 25 field goals in 2002 and had 24 in 2004.
Huston did not convert the PAT after the Buckeyes’ first touchdown of the game. It was his first miss of the season in 40 point after attempts. He connected following the Holmes TD in the fourth quarter and has made 41 of 42 PATs this season.
Other Notes
Sixteen seniors played their final regular season game Saturday. This 2005 senior class has a combined record of 41-7 the past four seasons, including a 14-0 season and the National Championship in 2002 and a string of 19 consecutive victories from the 2002 season through the first five games of 2003. They have played in three bowl games to date, including two BCS games. The seniors are: 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 and Steve Winner.
The Ohio State football team wore a special decal on its helmet against Michigan in honor of former Buckeye wrestler, Marine Corps Major Ray Mendoza, who was killed in action in Iraq earlier this week. Mendoza, who graduated from Ohio State in 1995, is believed to be the first Ohio State student-athlete to be killed in Iraq. He was a company commander with the 1st Marine Division and was in his third tour of duty in Iraq. The helmet decal is the size of the Buckeye Leaf decal that the Buckeyes wear on their helmets. It has a clear background with the initials R.M. on it. Mendoza, a native of Blairstown, N.J., was a two-year letterman for the Buckeyes and was runner-up in the heavyweight division at the Big Ten championships in 1993. Major Mendoza is survived by his wife, Karen and their two children, a daughter Kiana (12) and a son Aleksandr (8). Mrs. Mendoza is from Upper Arlington, but she and the children live in San Diego.
