Ohio State Continues Homestand vs. SDSU – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2005
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THE SDSU GAME
Ohio State closes out its non-conference schedule Saturday by hosting San Diego State. ABC will televise the game to a regional audience and WBNS Radio will broadcast it around the state on the 73-station Ohio State radio network. Kickoff is set for 3:36 p.m. in sold out Ohio Stadium (102,329).
Coach Jim Tressel’s 1-1 Buckeyes are coming off a hard-fought 25-22 loss to No. 2 Texas last Saturday. A record Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,565 was on hand for the first meeting between the then fourth-ranked Buckeyes and the No. 2 Longhorns. While the loss snapped a 36-game winning streak against non-conference foes in Ohio Stadium, it did nothing to diminish a brilliant performance by All-America linebacker A.J. Hawk, who had 12 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, two sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.
San Diego State is 0-2 on the year. The Aztecs dropped a 41-29 decision at unbeaten Air Force last week. They opened the season with a home loss to UCLA. HAWK NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Linebacker A.J. Hawk is the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the Texas game. Hawk had 12 tackles against the Longhorns, including three tackles-for-loss and two sacks. He also had an interception return of 24 yards and recovered a fumble. The Buckeye senior currently leads the Big Ten in tackles-for-loss (4) and sacks (3).
HUSTON TIES TWO MARKS, SETS ANOTHER
Senior place-kicker Josh Huston tied the school records for most field goals in a game and most field goals in a game at Ohio Stadium Saturday, booting five treys against Texas. Huston converted from 45, 36, 25, 44, and 26 yards out against the Longhorns, staking OSU to a 22-16 lead. He also narrowly missed from 50 yards away. The five field goals in Ohio Stadium equals the record set by Bob Atha against Indiana in 1981 and matched last year by Mike Nugent, the school’s all-time leading scorer. Atha kicked his five in Ohio Stadium. Nugent’s five came at North Carolina State. Huston’s six field goal attempts against Texas is a school record.
HALL OF FAME AND MILITARY PERSONNEL TO BE FETED
The halftime festivities this week include the induction of this year’s men’s and women’s inductees into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame and a special recognition of those military personnel from Ohio State and the Central Ohio region who are serving in, or have served in, Iraq or Afghanistan. More than 100 service men and women are expected to be on hand.
The Hall of Fame recognition begins Friday night with the actual induction of both classes. The men’s ceremony will be held at the Holiday Inn on The Lane and the women’s at the University Plaza Hotel. Both ceremonies begin at 5:30 p.m.
THE OSU VS. SDSU SERIES
Ohio State and San Diego State meet for the third time in the series. The Buckeyes won the previous two meetings, the first a 27-12 decision in 2001 and then a 16-13 victory in 2003. The 2001 game was originially scheduled for Sept. 11 but was postponed following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The game was played Oct. 20 that year. Ohio State is 7-1 all-time vs. teams representing the Mountain West Conference. The lone defeat was to Air Force (23-11) in the 1990 Liberty Bowl. The Buckeyes own a 3-0 record vs. BYU and have single victories against Utah and Wyoming.
AWARDS CANDIDATES
Eight Ohio State players are listed on the various postseason awards watch lists: linebacker A.J. Hawk (Butkus, Lombardi, Lott, Bednarik, Walter Camp), center Nick Mangold (Rimington, Lombardi), split end Santonio Holmes (Biletnikoff, Walter Camp), linebacker Bobby Carpenter (Butkus), safety Nate Salley (Thorpe), cornerback Ashton Youboty (Thorpe), tight end Ryan Hamby (Mackey) and flanker Ted Ginn Jr. (Walter Camp, Biletnikoff).
COACH Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel is now in his fifth season as head coach at Ohio State. His record with the Buckeyes is 41-12 and his career record is 176-69-2 (.717). He is in his 20th year as a head coach.
Tressel took over the Buckeyes in 2001, directing them to a 7-5 record that year. In 2002, he led Ohio State to a 14-0 record and the school’s first consensus national championship since 1968 and was nearly everyone’s choice as National Coach of the Year following the season. In 2003, the Buckeyes won their first five games to extend their winning streak to 19 and finished with an 11-2 record. Last year’s squad, which had to replace 14 NFL drafted players, won five of its last six games en route to an 8-4 finish.
Tressel’s teams have appeared in four Bowl games and are 3-1 in those contests, including back-to-back BCS wins in the Fiesta Bowl. They also are 3-1 against Michigan in one of the most intense and storied rivalries in all of sport.
Eight of Tressel’s players have won first-team All-America honors and three have won major awards, including kicker Mike Nugent, last year’s recipient of the Lou Groza Award as the best place-kicker in college football.
Tressel is a master in close games. Since coming to Ohio State, he is 16-8 in games decided by a touchdown or less and 4-1 in overtime games.
He is at his best against the best with a 16-6 record against teams ranked in the Top 25 and a 5-2 mark against teams ranked in the Top 10.
The 52-year-old Tressel is a 1975 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS
With 12 tackles against Texas last week, senior linebacker A.J. Hawk now has 295 career tackles, a total that ranks him 13th on the all-time Ohio State list. Hawk surpassed Jerome Foster this past weekend. Next on the list is Aaron Brown (314 from 1974 to 1977)
In the receiving department, junior Santonio Holmes has 96 career receptions, a total that ties him with Brian Stablein for 12th place on the all-time OSU list. Jeff Graham (1988-90) holds down the No. 11 spot with 99 receptions. Doug Donley (1977-80) and Ken-Yon Rambo (1997-00) are tied for ninth at 106, two behind Billy Anders (1965-67) and Joey Galloway (1991-94).
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
After two games, the Buckeyes are averaging 318.5 yards and 28 points per game on offense and giving up 340 yards and 19.5 points per game on defense.
Sophomore Antonio Pittman is the Buckeyes’ leading rusher with 175 yards on 31 carries, an average of 5.6 yards per carry and 87.5 yards per game.
Quarterback Justin Zwick has completed 26 of his 38 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown. He also has thrown one interception.
Troy Smith, who saw his first game action this past week and completed five of his 11 passes, also has one touchdown pass. So does reserve signal caller Todd Boeckman.
Split end Santonio Holmes is the Buckeyes’ leading receiver with nine catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He is averaging 16.3 yards per catch. Three other receivers each have seven catches.
In the scoring department, sixth-year senior Josh Huston leads all scorers with 26 points. Huston is five-for-five on PATs and has hit seven of his eight field goal attempts.
Linebacker A.J. Hawk has a team-high 22 tackles and also leads the team in tackles-for-loss (4) and sacks (3). Linebacker Bobby Carpenter is second in tackles with 14, one more than Anthony Schlegel.
Other defensive standouts include Donte Whitner with 10 tackles and two sacks, and cornerback Ashton Youboty with 11 tackles and two passes broken up.
RECAPPING THE TEXAS GAME
The first meeting between the two football giants was everything it was supposed to be and then some. With a national television audience looking in and a record Ohio Stadium crowd on hand, the teams battled back-and-forth in an epic struggle that will go down in history as one of the classic games ever played in the Horseshoe.
After falling behind 10-0 at the end of the first period, the Buckeyes led 16-13 at the half and 22-16 after three quarters. But the Longhorns took a 23-22 lead with 2:37 to play and then added a safety with 19 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
Led by All-America linebacker A.J. Hawk, the Buckeye defense forced three turnovers, including a pair of interceptions. Hawk, who seemed to be everywhere, had one of those picks and also recovered a fumble. The Buckeyes’ starting linebacker trio of Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel combined for 31 tackles.
Josh Huston tied the school record with five field goals and narrowly missed on a sixth. The Buckeyes’ only touchdown came on a 36-yard pass from Troy Smith to Santonio Holmes, tying the score at 10-all with 8:11 to play in the first half. In addition to catching four passes for 73 yards, Holmes also returned three kickoffs for 109 yards.
Sophomore Antonio Pittman led the Buckeyes in rushing for the second-consecutive week, finishing with 75 yards on 17 carries and repeatedly picking up additional yards with extra effort.
TRESSEL ON LAST WEEK
“I thought we gave great effort against a very good Texas team. Our defense, in particular, played with great emotion. Offensively, we have to do a better job in the red zone. That was a concern after the Miami game and it is still a concern. When you get turnovers and field position like we got against Texas, you need to score touchdowns, not field goals,” Tressel said.
HAWK PACES DEFENSE
Senior linebacker A.J. Hawk has been in double figures in tackles in each of the Buckeyes’ first two games this year, recording 12 stops against Texas and 10 against Miami, giving him 14 double-digit games during his career. The Buckeye co-captain now has 295 career stops, a total that ranks him 13th on the all-time OSU career chart. Hawk has led the team in tackles each of the past two years, recording 141 last year, the highest total by a Buckeye since Chris Spielman finished with 156 in 1986.
HOLMES STRETCHES STREAK TO 20 GAMES WITH TWO RECEPTIONS
Junior receiver Santonio Holmes has caught two or more passes in 20-consecutive games. The fleet-footed junior had four receptions for 73 yards against Texas, including his second touchdown catch of the year. Holmes has nine catches in the Buckeyes’ first two games and is averaging 16.3 yards per reception and 73.5 yards per game.
FORCING THE ISSUE
The Ohio State defensive staff wants the Buckeyes to be more aggressive this year. Thus far they have done just that, forcing four turnovers (one of which was returned for a touchdown) and recording eight sacks in their first two games. Last year, Ohio State had a total of 24 sacks.
SCHNITTKER SCORES
Fifth-year senior Brandon Schnittker scored his first career touchdown against Miami. The 6-foot-2-inch, 235-pound tailback tallied on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter, giving the Buckeyes a 27-0 lead. “It was a thrill and real honor,” Schnittker, who was converted from fullback to tailback during fall camp, said.
BUCKEYES ENJOY ACADEMIC SUCCESS
A league best 22 Ohio State football players were named to the Big Ten’s All-Academic team last fall, marking the third year in a row the Buckeyes have led the conference in that area. Additionally, a record 44 Ohio State football players qualified for last spring’s annual OSU Scholar-Athlete Dinner, which requires a grade-point average of 3.00 or better for the past academic year. As a team, the Buckeyes have an overall GPA of 2.82.
THREE BUCKEYES PLACED ON SCHOLARSHIP
Seniors Steve Winner, John Conroy and Rob “Chic” Harley have been put on scholarship by Coach Jim Tressel.
“They have worked hard and deserve it,” said the Ohio State coach. “It is nice to be able to reward players for their work ethic. All three have a passion to be here, so I know this is special for them.”
Winner is from Dublin, Ohio, Conroy from Bay Village, Ohio and Harley from Elmhurst, Ill.
HAWK PRESEASON PICK
Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk was chosen as the Big Ten preseason defensive player of the year in early August by members of the media attending the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago. The 6-1, 240-pound Hawk won consensus All-America honors last year when he led the Buckeyes in total tackles with 141. Hawk is bidding to join Andy Katzenmoyer as the school’s only Butkus Award winners.
CALL HIM THE ULTRA BACK
Sophomore Ted Ginn is listed at flanker for the Buckeyes, but that only tells part of the story. Last year, as a true freshman, Ginn also lined up at tailback and quarterback in addition to returning punts. This year, he also returns kickoffs and could even play defensive back.
“Teddy is a terrific weapon and we want to get the ball in his hands as often as possible,” Tressel said. “The majority of his play will come on offense, but he gets a great break on the ball so there will be times in the red zone where we will utilize him on defense, too. With Maurice Hall (the school’s all-time leader in kick return yardage) gone, we will use him on both punt and kick returns. He and Santonio (Holmes) give us two very dangerous weapons back there.”
Ginn has seven receptions on the year, including a 42-yard touchdown grab against Miami. He has caught at least one pass in nine-consecutive games and has two or more receptions in each of the last seven.
Ginn has 18 receptions in the Buckeyes’ last four games.
POSITION CHANGES TO NOTE
Brandon Smith, a redshirt freshman from Euclid, Ohio, has moved from linebacker to tight end and has switched from No. 54 to No. 87. Smith’s move was necessitated by the loss of Rory Nicol, who is out with a foot injury. The 6-3, 240-pound Smith currently is listed behind starter Ryan Hamby. Additionally, a slimmer and trimmer Brandon Schnittker (250 down to 235) has moved from fullback to tailback, and redshirt-freshman Shaun Lane from cornerback to tailback. Senior Robbie Sims, the Buckeyes starting left tackle the past two years, has moved to left guard.
HUSTON COMPLETES DEGREE
Kicker Josh Huston was one of 23 Ohio State student-athletes to receive an undergraduate degree Aug. 28. With a degree in real estate and urban development already completed, Huston will begin work on another undergrad degree in psychology when fall classes begin in late September.
THE BUCKEYES ALL-TIME
Ohio State enters the game against San Diego State this week with an all-time record of 766-299-53 since first fielding a football team in 1890. That includes a Big Ten record of 418-161-24 since 1913, an Ohio Stadium slate of 356-102-20 since 1922 and a bowl mark of 17-19.
CAPTAINS NAMED
Linebacker A.J. Hawk, center Nick Mangold, safety Nate Salley and offensive guard Robbie Sims are the 2005 captains. The four seniors were elected by a vote of their teammates. Hawk and Mangold are both from Centerville, Ohio (as is Mike Nugent who was one of last year’s co-captains and Kirk Herbstreit, who captained the 1992 team). Salley is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Sims from Macedonia, Ohio.
SEVEN ROOKIES SEE ACTION IN OPENER
Seven true freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Buckeyes against Miami. Offensive tackle Alex Boone, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, linebacker James Laurinaitis, safety Jamario O’Neal, flanker Brian Robiske, tailback Maurice Wells and defensive end Lawrence Wilson all saw action in the season opener.
COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS
There are two new faces on the Ohio State coaching staff this year, both on the defensive side of the ball. Tim Beckman has taken over as the cornerbacks coach and Paul Haynes has assumed the role of safeties coach. Beckman comes to Ohio State from Bowling Green where he spent the past seven seasons. Haynes, who grew up in Columbus and played at DeSales High School, was at Michigan State the past two years.
OTHER COACHING CHANGES
With the departures of defensive coordinator Mark Snyder for Marshall and Mel Tucker for the Cleveland Browns, veteran OSU assistant Jim Heacock has been elevated to defensive coordinator and Luke Fickell to co-defensive coordinator. Additionally, wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell will now serve as assistant head coach. This marks the second-consecutive year the Buckeyes have started the season with a new defensive coordinator, but Heacock is a former head coach who is in his 10th season at Ohio State and Fickell is in his fourth year on Tressel’s staff.
COACHING RESPONSIBILITIES
Offensive coordinator Jim Bollman and quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels will be in the press box for the Buckeyes during the game as will cornerbacks coach Tim Beckman and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell.
GAME 1–MIAMI (OHIO)
The Buckeyes opened the season with a 34-14 win over the RedHawks before an Ohio Stadium crowd of 104,695. The Buckeyes led 20-0 at the half and 34-0 after three quarters before giving up two late touchdowns. Quarterback Justin Zwick completed 17 of 23 passes for 155 yards and one touchdown and Antonio Pittman rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries to pace a balanced OSU attack. Four different receivers caught five passes from Zwick and backup Todd Boeckman, including Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr., both of whom were on the receiving end of touchdown tosses. The OSU defense, meanwhile, was its same aggressive and productive self, limiting Miami to just 159 yards through the first three periods, recording five sacks and scoring on a 26-yard interception return by Donte Whitner that put the Buckeyes ahead 20-0 with one minute, 21 seconds to play in the half and took most of the starch out of the visitors. Linebacker A.J. Hawk led the defense with 10 tackles. The Buckeyes’ starting linebacker corps of Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel all had sacks. So did Whitner and defensive end Mike Kudla, who forced a fumble that led to OSU’s final touchdown – a 42-yard Boeckman-to-Ginn pass. The Buckeyes ended the afternoon with 382 yards (220 passing, 160 rushing) on offense. Miami finished with 298.
OSU IN PRIME TIME
Over the years, the Buckeyes have played 34 games under the lights. Including bowl games, Ohio State is 25-9 in games played at night. The Buckeyes are 6-1 at home under the lights.
ABOUT THE AZTECS
San Diego State is 0-2 on the year and 0-1 in the Mountain West Conference after dropping games to UCLA (44-21) and last week to Air Force (41-29). The Aztecs are averaging 409.5 yards of total offense and 25.0 points in the first two games of the season, including an average of 160.0 yards rushing and 249.5 yards passing. Lynell Hamilton is averaging 73.5 yards rushing, while quarterback Kevin O’Connell has completed 43-of-65 passes (66.2 percent) for 431 yards and two touchdowns. Jeff Webb is the leading Aztec receiver with 162 yards and one touchdown in the first two games. On defense, San Diego State is allowing 426.0 yards of total offense, including 231.5 yards on the ground and 194.5 yards in the air. Freddy Keiaho leads the Aztecs with 21 tackles, including two tackles-for-losses totaling 4 yards. Reggie Grigsby has 18 tackles, including one tackle-for-loss. Antwan Applewhite has 2.5 of the team’s four sacks.
SAN DIEGO STATE’S LAST GAME
San Diego State took a 10-0 first-quarter lead at Air Force, but gave up 20 points in the second quarter as the Falcons cruised to a 41-29 victory last week. The Aztecs pulled to within five points, 27-22, with 9:59 to play, but Air Force scored twice more. Jacobe Kendrick had 128 yards and four touchdowns, and Shaun Carney had 231 yards passing to lead Air Force. The Aztecs had 227 yards passing and one touchdown from Kevin O’Connell. Jeff Webb had eight catches for 91 yards. Lynel Hamilton ran for 65 yards and one TD.
COACH TOM CRAFT
Tom Craft (San Diego State, 1977) is in his fourth season at his alma mater and is 14-24 in his first Division I head coaching position. Craft began his coaching career in 1977 as an assistant coach at Palomar College before becoming the head coach there in 1983. In 1994, he left the Comets for San Diego State and spent three seasons as the Aztecs’ offensive coordinator. He went back to Palomar in 1997 to serve as the school’s head coach and then after five season was hired by San Diego State as the head coach. In two different stints at Palomar, Craft, a native of Iowa City, Iowa, was 115-56 in 16 seasons and won three national championships. As a quarterback for the Aztecs, Craft led SDSU to a 10-1 record as a starter in 1976. In his two years as a player, Craft’s teams were 18-4.
NEXT WEEK
The Buckeyes conclude their four-game home stand and open the Big Ten season by hosting defending co-champion Iowa. Kickoff is scheduled for shortly after noon on Saturday. ABC Sports will televise the game.
