Postgame Notes From No. 1/1 Ohio State vs. Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 28, 2006
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Attendance: 105,443
Ohio State extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16games. The current streak, which began last year against MichiganState, ranks third all-time at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have scoredat least 24 points in each contest during the streak.
Ohio State’s longest win streaks
No.: Year(s)
22: 1967-69
19: 2002-03
16: 2005-06+
14: 1899-00
Ohio State now is 60-8-1+ when ranked as the nation’s No. 1team. Overall, the Buckeyes are 292-68-9 when carrying a Top 10ranking and 399-123-14 as a Top 25 team.
Jim Tressel’s record with the Buckeyes now is 59-13 and hiscareer record is 194-70-2. He is 46-4 at Ohio State when theBuckeyes score 24 or more points.
Under Tressel, the Buckeyes now are 44-3 when leading at thehalf (17-0 Saturday vs. Minnesota) and 47-3 (30-0) when ahead afterthree quarters.
Ohio State now is 784-300-53 in 116 seasons.
The Buckeyes have an all-time record of 372-104-20 in OhioStadium and have won 11 straight, and 15 of their last 16, startsin the Horseshoe.
The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in122-consecutive games.
Ten Ohio State teams have started a season 9-0. The last OSUteam to start 9-0 was the 2002 National Championship unit thatfinished 14-0.
Series Notes
Ohio State leads the series with Minnesota 38-7 and has won 19of the 22 games played in Columbus. The Buckeyes have won three ina row from the Gophers since a 29-17 loss in Columbus in 2000.
Jim Tressel is 3-0 against Minnesota in Ohio Stadium with wins in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
Ohio State owns an all-time Big Ten record of 432-187-28 in 94seasons of league competition. The Buckeyes are 34-10 in conferenceplay under Tressel.
Offensive Notes
With its 8-play, 57-yard opening TD drive Saturday, Ohio Statescored on its opening drive for the fifth time this season.
The 44 points Saturday matched a season high. The Buckeyes alsohad 44 points last week in a 44-3 victory vs. Indiana.
Ohio State tallied 484 yards of total offense vs. Minnesota.The output is the sixth time this season Ohio State has topped 400yards in offense. The Buckeyes had a season-high 540 yards ofoffense last week against Indiana.
The Buckeyes ran for 266 yards vs. the Golden Gophers, justmissing the season-best 270 yards last week vs. Indiana on 39attempts. OSU had 46 attempts Saturday vs. Minnesota.
Ohio State went 5-for-6 in the red zone Saturday, scoring fivetouchdowns. For the season, Ohio State is 34-of-41 in the red zone.
Ohio State has scored at least 24 points in 16-consecutivegames and topped the 36-point mark in seven contests this season.
Ohio State offense was 1-for-1 on fourth down conversionsSaturday and is 4-for-6 on the season.
Offensive Player Notes
Senior quarterback Troy Smith has thrown at least one TD passin 15 of his last 16 games after hitting Brian Robiskie with an18-yard strike in the second quarter
For his career, Smith has 46 TD throws and is among a list of only four Buckeyes to account for 40 or more TDs through the air: Art Schlichter (50 from 1978-81), Joe Germaine (56 from 1996-98) and Bobby Hoying (57 from 1992-95) all had 50 or more TD passes in their OSU careers.
Smith now has 22 TD throws for the season. He is the third OhioState quarterback to top 20 TD passes in a season. Bobby Hoying(1992-95) holds the Ohio State record with 29 in 1995 and JoeGermaine is second on the list with 25 in 1998.
Smith has not thrown an interception in his last 120 passattempts.
Smith ran for a 21-yard touchdown in the third quarter, markinghis first rushing touchdown since the 2005 game at Michigan (Nov.19).
Smith now has 6,209 yards in total offense for his career torank fourth all-time. He had 226 yards against Minnesota to surpassMike Tomczak (1981-83) at 6,015, Joe Germaine (1996-98) at 6,094and Greg Frey (1987-90) at 6,098. Steve Bellisari (1998-01) isthird in total offense with 6,496 yards.
With the win Saturday, Smith moved to 22-2 as startingquarterback. That mark includes a 9-1 record against rankedopponents.
Receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (3 rec. for 22 yards) has caught at leastone pass in 29-consecutive games (beginning with Iowa in 2004) andhas multiple catches in 27-consecutive games. He has 13 careertouchdown receptions and is tied with former Buckeye DimitriousStanley for ninth all-time at OSU.
Ginn is eighth all-time on the OSU receiving list with 120 receptions. The No. 7 spot belongs to tight end John Frank (1980-83) with 121 receptions.
Senior quarterback Justin Zwick scored his first career rushingtouchdown Saturday, a one-yard run with 2:56 remaining in the gameto give the Buckeyes their final touchdown.
Anthony Gonzalez caught three balls Saturday for 30 yards. Henow has 41 catches on the year with 36 of those receptionsresulting in first downs.
Antonio Pittman has topped the 100-yard mark six times thisseason and 14 times in his career.
Pittman was responsible for 37 of Ohio State’s 57-yard TD drive to start the game Saturday. Pittman carried the ball fives times, the last going for a 10-yard TD.
Pittman has scored a touchdown in 13 of his last 14 games.
Pittman recorded his longest career reception with a 30-yard catch and run in the first quarter. He had a career-high 2 receptions for 47 yards Saturday.
Stan White tied his career high with two receptions Saturday.
Brian Robiskie caught his fourth touchdown reception of theseason Saturday on an 18-yard pass from Troy Smith.
Defensive Notes
The Ohio State defense has held eight of nine opponents to justone or less touchdowns this season.
Ohio State has allowed just two rushing touchdowns in 2006.
The Buckeyes have intercepted at least one opponent pass in allnine games this season. The Buckeyes now have 18 interceptions onthe season.
The Buckeyes have forced 20 turnovers (18 interceptions and twofumble recoveries) this season. Ohio State has turned those 20turnovers into 87 points this season.
Ohio State has held opponents to just 36-of-118 on third-downconversions.
Defensive Player Notes
Antonio Smith grabbed his second career interception in thethird quarter Saturday.
Sophomore linebacker James Laurinaitis recorded his fourth sackof the season.
Sophomore linebacker Curtis Terry made his first career startSaturday vs. Minnesota.
Sophomore safety Jamario O’Neal picked off his first careerinterception Saturday.
Sophomore Malcolm Jenkins picked off his fourth interception ofthe season in the second quarter. All four interceptions have comeat Ohio Stadium vs. Penn State, Bowling Green, Indiana andMinnesota.
Miscellaneous
The announced attendance Saturday was 105,443.
Former Buckeye Marcus Marek (1979-82) honorary captainSaturday.
