Postgame Notes From No. 12/12 Ohio State vs. Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2005
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Ohio State Notes
With the win Saturday, Ohio State has won 26 of its last 28games at home. The losses came against Wisconsin in 2004 and TexasSept. 10. Ohio State now has an all-time record of 772-300-53 andall-time Big Ten record of 423-162-24.
With the win Saturday, Ohio State’s all-time record moved to 360-102-25 in Ohio Stadium (opened in 1922).
With the win Saturday, Jim Tressel moved to 47-13 at Ohio Stateand won for the 30th time in 34 games at Ohio Stadium. With the winSaturday, Tressel upped his record in Big Ten contests to 28-10.
With the win Saturday, Tressel has a 2-1 career record vs. Illinois
Under Tressel, the Buckeyes now are 34-3 when leading at thehalf and 37-3 when ahead after three quarters. The Buckeyes havescored at least one touchdown in 110-consecutive games.
Series Information
Ohio State and Illinois met for the 92nd time Saturday. Withthe 40-2 win, Ohio State leads the series 59-29-4 and now has a26-17-4 edge in Columbus.
Offensive Notes
Ohio State scored 40 points in the win against IllinoisSaturday, marking the first time a Buckeye squad has tallied 40points or more in three consecutive games since the 1995 season.That year, the Buckeyes had four consecutive 40-plus point games,starting with a 56-35 win vs. Iowa before winning 49-21 atMinnesota, 41-3 vs. Illinois and 42-3 against Indiana. The Buckeyestotaled 526 yards of offense Saturday, falling just 4 yards shy ofthe season-best 530 against Iowa Sept. 24. It was thethird-consecutive game Ohio State has gained at least 449 yards oftotal offense. Ohio State scored on five of six trips into the redzone Saturday and converted 10-of-15 third-down situations. OhioState entered the game Saturday converting 43 percent on thirddown. Ohio State claimed a 6-0 lead on Illinois with 7:38 remainingin the second quarter after a 22-yard field goal by place kickerJosh Huston. The converted field goal came at the end of an 86-yardscoring drive, which marked a season-long. Ted Ginn, Jr. ended an85-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter a 73-yard touchdownreception to mark the longest TD drive of the season for OhioState.
Prior to Saturday, Ohio State’s previous long scoring drive was 81 yards, which occurred twice this season at Penn State and vs. Iowa. The two 81-yard drives ended in touchdowns.
For the game, Ohio State had four scoring drives of 80 yards ormore (86, 80, 85, 80), marking the first time this season theBuckeyes have had four scoring drives of at least 80 yards in agame. Previously, the Buckeyes had two dives of 80 yards againstMichigan State.
Offensive Player Notes
Junior quarterback Troy Smith connected with junior flankerSantonio Holmes for a 41-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.The 41-yard play helped Holmes become the seventh player in OhioState history to eclipse 2,000 yards receiving for a career. Afterhis three catches for 59 yards Saturday, Holmes ranks sixth incareer receptions at OSU with 126 and has 2,050 yards receiving.
The 41-yard play also served as Holmes’ fifth to cover 40-plus yards on the season. Holmes has five catches of 30 or more yards in the last four games and all four have gone for scores.
The 41-yard score is Smith’s sixth pass of 40 yards or more this season.
Holmes caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to extend his streak of two or more reception in 27 consecutive games. He has caught two touchdowns in consecutive games and has three 2-TD games on the season. For his career, Holmes has six 2-TD games.
Smith totaled 298 yards passing Saturday to set a personalbest, moving past his 249-yard total against Michigan State earlierthis season.
The 298 yards came on 13 completions (21 attempts) for an average of 22.9 yards per completion. For the game, Smith averaged 14.2 yards per pass attempt.
Following a second-quarter incompletion, Smith completed his last 10 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns. He was 8-for-8 in the second half Saturday for 193 yards and two scores.
Smith added a career-long 73-yard scoring strike to Ted Ginn, Jr. in the third quarter for his second consecutive game with at least three touchdown passes. Smith has thrown for three scores in three of his last four games, posting 3-TD games against Michigan State, at Minnesota and vs. Illinios Saturday. For his career, Smith has six games passing for multiple touchdowns.
With the win Saturday, Smith moved to 10-2 as a starter.
Sophomore Ted Ginn, Jr. hauled in a career-long 73-yardtouchdown pass from Smith in the third quarter. The play is thelongest from scrimmage by the Buckeyes this season, topping the67-yard scoring run by Antonio Pittman last week at Minnesota. Ginntopped his previous long of 59 yards set last season vs. Indiana.
Ginn finished the game with 138 yards on four catches. The 138-yard output serves as a career-best, topping an 87-yard, five-catch performance last season against Michigan.
Overall, Ginn gained 224 all-purpose yards Saturday. He had three touches that covered more than 50 yards with a kickoff return of 65 yards to go along with his 73- and 52-yard catches. For the season, Ginn has seven plays of 40 yards or more.
Pittman fell just 4 yards shy of his fourth-consecutive100-yard game Saturday. He finished the game with 96 yards on 22carries and has 978 on the season, leaving him just 22 yards shortof becoming Ohio State’s 23rd 1,000-yard runner in a season.
Pittman scored two touchdowns Saturday for the second-consecutive game. Pittman scored his first two touchdowns of the season last Saturday at Minnesota.
Pittman added a career-best 41 yards receiving on a pair of reception, including a 21-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter that equaled a career and season long. He added another 20-yard reception on a third-quarter screen pass.
Sophomore tight end Marcel Frost had a 17-yard reception in thefirst quarter. The play served as the longest gain of his career.
Defensive Notes
The Ohio State defense shutout Illinois Saturday, limiting theIllini to just 160 yards of total offense (68 rushing, 92 passing).The game served as the fifth time this season the Buckeye defensehas held its opponent to 200 yards or total offense or less.
The 68 yards allowed rushing also marked the fifth game this season Ohio State has held its opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground. Including Saturday, Ohio State has held three opponents to less than 100 yards passing.
The Illini averaged just 2.8 yards per play Saturday.
Ohio State totaled five sacks for 31 yards in losses Saturdayagainst the Illini to boost the season total to a Big Ten best 36.The Buckeye defense has not allowed a score at Ohio Stadium in fivequarters, dating back to the third quarter against Michigan State.
Defensive Player Notes
Senior linebacker A.J. Hawk totaled 10 tackles (six solo)Saturday for his fifth game this season with double-figures intackles. He now has 17 games with double-digits in tackles.
Hawk also had two sacks Saturday for his second multi-sack game of the season. He had a pair of sack vs. Texas. For his career, Hawk has three 2-sack games.
Senior defensive end Mike Kudla established a career-best withnine tackles Saturday. His previous high was six, set against PennState and at Purdue in 2004. Senior safety Brandon Mitchell startedhis first game of the 2005 season Saturday and the sixth of hiscareer.
Fellow senior defensive back Tyler Everett saw his first action since the Michigan State game Oct. 15.
Junior Quinn Pitcock recorded his first sack of the season inthe second quarter.
Special Teams
Senior Josh Huston converted two field goal attempts Saturdayto move into the Top 10 all-time at Ohio State with 16 career FGmakes, which ties for seventh at Ohio State.
For the second consecutive game, Huston booted each of his kickoff opportunities (8) into and through the end zone for touchbacks. In his last two games, Huston has recorded touchbacks in his last 16 kickoffs.
Ginn opened the second half with a 65 kick off return. For theseason, Ginn has four returns (punts and kickoffs) of 60 yards ormore. Overall, the 65-yard return was Ginn’s seventh play coveringmore than 40 yards.
Other Notes
Ohio State and Illinois played in front of a sell-out crowd of104,799 Saturday. The Buckeyes have played in front of25-consecutive sell-out crowds at Ohio Stadium. During the last twoseasons, Ohio State has played in front of sellout crowds in 19 oflast 20 games overall and has played before at least 100,000 fansin six of eight games this season. The 1955 Ohio State team heldits 50th reunion this weekend and will be recognized at halftime ofSaturday’s game. As part of that ceremony, Howard “Hopalong”Cassady honored for the 50th anniversary of his Heisman Trophy yearin 1955. The 1955 team captured the Big Ten title with a 6-0 markand finished the season at 7-2.
Illinois Notes
Kevin Mitchell’s 75-yard 2-point conversion is the first for anIllinois team since last season vs. Michigan State. Tim Brasic’sthird down 25-yard pass to Kyle Hudson converted yet another firstdown, Brasic has gone to Hudson nine times on third down thisseason and all nine have resulted in first downs. In all, Hudsonhas 19 first down catches in 28 receptions. Steve Weatherford’s 10punts Saturday set a career high for a single game. He punted ninetimes against Penn State earlier this season.
