Postgame Notes From No. 1/1 Ohio State vs. No. 24 Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 23, 2006
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Attendance: 105,266
With the win Saturday, Ohio State upped its winning streak to11 games, which is second nationally. TCU leads the NCAA with13-consecutive victories. TCU does not play Saturday.
With the win over Penn State Saturday, the Buckeyes hold a56-9-1 record when ranked as the top team nationally.
Overall, the Buckeyes are 287-68-9 when carrying a Top 10ranking and 394-123-14 as a Top 25 team.
Jim Tressel’s record with the Buckeyes now is 54-13 and hiscareer record is 189-70-2. He is 41-4 at Ohio State when theBuckeyes score 24 or more points.
Ohio State trailed Penn State 3-0 at halftime Saturday, markingthe first time the Buckeyes have trailed at half since MichiganState held a 17-14 advantage at Ohio Stadium Oct. 15, 2005.
The last time Ohio State failed to score in a half was vs. Penn State last season, when the Buckeyes were shut out in the second half during a 17-10 loss in State College, Pa.
The Buckeyes took a 7-3 lead in the third quarter. UnderTressel, Ohio State is 42-3 when ahead after three quarters.
Under Tressel, Ohio State is 21-2 in September.
With the win Saturday, Ohio State now is 779-300-53 in 117seasons.
The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in117-consecutive games.
With the victory against Penn State, the Buckeyes have anall-time mark of 369-104-20 in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes have woneight straight and 12 of their last 13 in the Horseshoe.
Series and Big Ten Notes
Saturday marked the 22nd meeting between Ohio State and PennState. With the win, Ohio State tied the all-time series at 11 winsapiece.
The Buckeyes have won eight of the 13 games played in Columbus. The teams have met continuously since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 and Ohio State now has an 9-5 edge in those games.
In Big Ten play, Penn State never has beaten Ohio State at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State allowed six points to Penn State Saturday, tying thelowest point total for PSU in the series between the programs. PennState also scored six points against the Buckeyes Sept. 23, 2000,in a 45-6 OSU win at Ohio Stadium and Oct. 30, 1993, in a 24-6Buckeye win in Columbus.
Ohio State’s all-time Big Ten record stands at 426-162-24 in 93seasons of league competition.
Offensive Notes
With Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith’s first-quarterinterception, the Buckeyes turned the football over for the firsttime since freshman running back Chris Wells’ fumble againstNorthern Illinois in the 2006 season opener.
The Buckeyes scored a touchdown on their lone visit to the redzone Saturday. For the season, Ohio State is 12 of 15 in the redzone.
Ohio State has scored at least 24 points in 11 consecutivegames.
Offensive Player Notes
Troy Smith threw his first interception of the season in thefirst quarter Saturday, ending his streak of 152 passes without aninterception. Smith last threw an interception in the secondquarter against Northwestern last season.
Smith finished the game Saturday with 115 yards passing,snapping a five-game streak of totaling 200 or more yards throughthe air.
Smith’s 17-yard second-quarter scramble was his longest run ofthe season.
Smith connected with sophomore split end Brian Robiskie for a37-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He has a least one TD passin 10 of his last 11 games.
Smith’s career total offense total of 5,030 yards is 10thall-time in Ohio State history. He is 67 yards behind CraigKrenzel, who had 5,097 yards from 2000-03 to rank ninth.
With the win Saturday, Smith moved to 17-2 as startingquarterback.
Ohio State also is 17-2 with T.J. Downing in the Ohio State starting lineup.
Antonio Pittman ended the game with 110 yards rushing on 20carries. It was the 10th 100-yard game of his career. Pittman putthe Buckeyes ahead 6-3 in the third quarter with a 12-yardtouchdown run, which extended his streak with at least onetouchdown run to nine-consecutive games.
Pittman topped the 100-yard mark for the third time in four games this season. He has rushed for 100 yards or more in 9 of the last 13 games.
Robiskie caught the first touchdown pass of his career, a37-yard reception from Smith. Robiskie finished the day with acareer-best three grabs for 51 yards.
Ted Ginn Jr. had two receptions vs. the Nittany Lions Saturday.He has at least one reception in 23-consecutive games and hasrecorded two or more catches in 21-consecutive outings. The gameSaturday marked the first this season Ginn failed to catch atouchdown pass.
Anthony Gonzalez finished Saturday with two catches for 22yards with a long of 12 yards. This season, 17 of his 18 catchesthis season have been for 10 or more yards.
Defensive Notes
Ohio State intercepted Penn State three times Saturday. TheBuckeyes also picked off Cincinnati three times last week (Sept.16). The last time Ohio State had back-to-back games with three ormore interceptions was the 2001 season, when the Buckeyes pickedoff PSU three times Oct. 27 in State College and intercepted SanDiego State four times Oct. 20 in Ohio Stadium.
Malcolm Jenkins (61 yards) and Antonio Smith (55 yards)returned interceptions for touchdowns Saturday. The last time OhioState returned two interceptions for touchdowns was Sept. 7, 2002,in a 51-17 victory over Kent State at Ohio Stadium.
The first-quarter interception by James Laurinaitis was thesixth pass picked off by the Buckeye defense this season. Thatnumber equals Ohio State’s total of six interceptions from the 2005season. Ohio State added two more interceptions Saturday to up the2006 season total to eight.
The Buckeyes have intercepted at least one pass in all four games this season.
Ohio State held Penn State out of the endzone Saturday, markingthe first time since Ohio State defeated Illinois 40-2 Nov. 5,2005, in Ohio Stadium a Buckeye opponent has not scored atouchdown.
The Buckeyes held the Nittany Lions without a touchdown in thesecond half Saturday. Ohio State opponents have yet to score asecond-half touchdown this season.
The Penn State offense was 3-of-14 on third down conversionsSaturday. This season, Ohio State opponents are 10-48 on thirddown.
Through four games this season, Ohio State has allowed just 8.0points per game.
Defensive Player Notes
Laurinaitis recorded the third interception of his career andthe 2006 season Saturday in the first quarter. He has aninterception in each of his last three games.
Laurinaitis led the team in tackles for the third-consecutive game Saturday. He finished with 10 stops Saturday.
Senior defensive tackle David Patterson had a career-best eighttackles Saturday. His previous high was six stops against MichiganState last season.
Sophomore defensive tackle Vernon Gholston had a career-bestseven tackles Saturday. Gholston has at least one sack in three offour games this season.
Jenkins picked off a Penn State pass in the fourth quarter. Hehas an interception in each of his last two games. He returned theinterception 61 yards for his first-career touchdown.
Antonio Smith’s fourth-quarter interception Saturday was thefirst of his career. He returned the interception 55 yards for hisfirst career touchdown.
Freshman Robert Rose had his first career sack in the fourthquarter Saturday.
Senior defensive lineman Joel Penton recorded his first careersack Saturday.
Miscellaneous
The crowd of 105,266 that attended the Penn State at Ohio Stategame Saturday marks the fifth-largest crowd in Ohio Stadiumhistory.
Former Buckeye Jeff Logan, a fullback from 1974-77, served asthe honorary captain Saturday.
Penn State Postgame Notes
CB Justin King recorded his first career interception in thefirst quarter. The play marked the first interception against OhioState quarterback Troy Smith this year and in 152 pass attempts.
DE Josh Gaines made his first career start.
LB Dan Connor posted his team-leading fourth sack of theseason. He also made his second career interception in the thirdquarter off a tipped pass by Ed Johnson.
P Jeremy Kapinos’ first two punts of the game (52 & 58yards) were his longest of the season and gave Ohio Statepossession on their own 19 and five yard lines, respectively.Kapinos’ third kick, a 40-yarder, pinned OSU on its 7-yard line.
TB Tony Hunt’s 34-yard run in the fourth quarter was hislongest of the season and put him over 100 yards rushing for thesecond straight game. He has two 100-yard games on the season andnine for his career. The run also move Hunt into 12th on PennState’s all-time rushing chart.
LB Sean Lee posted a career-high 11 tackles
LB Paul Posluszny made 4 tackles, to move into third place onthe Penn State career list with 291, passing Dennis Onkotz.
