Buckeyes Host Youngstown State in 2007 Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Tressel to face team he directed to four national championships; Buckeyes open season ranked No. 10 with 11 starters back from 12-1 squad
Transcript From Coach Tressel Weekly Press Conference
Player Quotes
FIRST AND 10
– Ohio State is 0-0 and 0-0 in the Big Ten.
– Youngstown State is 0-0 and 0-0 in the Gateway Football Conference.
– This is the first meeting between the schools.
– Coach Jim Tressel is 62-14 in six years at Ohio State; 197-71-2 in 21 years overall.
– Coach Jon Heacock is 43-27 in six years as a head coach, all at YSU.
– The game kicks off the 118th season of football for Ohio State.
– Tressel was 135-57-2 as Youngstown State coach between 1986-2000.
– Ohio State is the two-time defending Big Ten champion.
– Youngstown State is the two-time defending Gateway champion.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Ohio State opens the 2007 season against Youngstown State at Ohio Stadium (102,329) in a noon game Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007. The Buckeyes, with 11 returning starters from their 2006 team that played for the national championship, have won 28-consecutive home openers. Youngstown State is the two-time defending Gateway Conference champion and has 12 starters back from its 11-3 squad.
OHIO STATE RECORDS AT A GLANCE
– Seasons: 118th
– All-time Record: 787-301-53
– Big Ten: 436-187-28
– Ohio Stadium: 373-104-20
– Bowl Games: 18-20
– Games in September: 137-21-5
– September home games: 114-10-4
– Against Ohio opponents: 171-48-15
TRESSEL FACING FORMER TEAM
Prior to becoming Ohio State head coach, Jim Tressel spent 15 seasons as the head man at Youngstown State, where he also served for a period of time as athletics director.
In his years at YSU, the Penguins won four national championships and qualified for the Division I-AA (now the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs 10 times. Overall, Tressel compiled a record of 135-57-2 at Youngstown State and was a four-time pick as the I-AA National Coach of the Year.
The last Ohio State head coach to face a team he formerly led was John Cooper, whose 1996 Ohio State team reached the 1997 Rose Bowl and defeated an Arizona State squad (20-17) led by Jake “The Snake” Plummer and the late Pat Tillman. Cooper coached the Sun Devils from 1985-87, winning the 1986 Rose Bowl (22-15) vs. Michigan.
THE CAPTAINS
Senior offensive tackle Kirk Barton, senior fullback Dionte Johnson and junior linebacker James Laurinaitis were elected 2007 captains by their teammates. Because of close voting on the defense, a second defensive captain will be named for each game.
MORE ON THE CAPTAINS
After being elected an Ohio State captain, senior Dionte Johnson and his father, Thomas “Pepper” Johnson, became the third father-son combination to be elected Buckeye captains. The elder Johnson was an OSU captain in 1984 and 1985. The two previous father-son captain duos were the Herbstreits, James (1960) and Kirk (1992), and the Davidsons, Jim (1964) and Jeff (1989).
James Laurinaitis is the first junior to be elected a captain since 2000 when Steve Bellisari and Joe Cooper both were chosen captains. Bellisari and Cooper were re-elected as seniors in 2001.
HONORARY CAPTAIN
Ohio State’s honorary captain for the Youngstown State game is Greg Bellisari, a four-year Buckeye letterman who captained the 1996 Rose Bowl Championship team. The linebacker is a two-time Academic All-American.
THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting between the Buckeyes and the Penguins on the football field. Youngstown State is the first OSU opponent to be part of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division 1-AA.
The two schools will meet again next year in the season opener Aug. 30, 2008, at Ohio Stadium.
BUCKEYES AGAINST THE BUCKEYE STATE
Ohio State is 171-48-15 in its history against opponents from the state of Ohio. That list includes Akron, Bowling Green, Case, Cincinnati, Denison, Heidelberg, Kent State, Kenyon, Marietta, Miami, Mount Union, Muskingum, Oberlin, Ohio Medical, Ohio, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Toledo, Western Reserve, Wilmington, Wittenberg and Wooster.
The last time the Buckeyes matched up against three in-state rivals was in 1926, when they defeated Wittenberg (40-0), Ohio Wesleyan (47-0) and Wilmington (13-7). Ohio State faces Youngstown State, Akron and Kent State in 2007. The Buckeyes have played at least one team from Ohio each season since 1997.
Ohio State has not lost to an Ohio opponent since 1921, falling to Oberlin 7-6. The Buckeyes tied Wooster 7-all in 1924 in Columbus.
OPENING DAY NUMBERS
The Buckeyes have an all-time opening day record of 101-12-4 and have won their last 28 home openers. OSU’s last opening day loss at home was to Penn State in 1978. The Buckeyes’ last opening day loss away from Columbus was to Miami (Fla.) in the 1999 Kickoff Classic.
All-time, the Buckeyes are 105-8-4 in home openers since 1890.
THE HEACOCK CONNECTION
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock is the older brother of Youngstown State head coach Jon Heacock.
Jim is in his 12th season at Ohio State, while Jon is in his 14th year overall at YSU and seventh season as head coach, after taking over for Jim Tressel in 2001.
Both Jim and Jon are Muskingum College graduates; their brother Jeff was the head coach at Muskingum for 26 seasons (1981-2006). Muskingum is a Division III athletics program located in New Concord, Ohio.
THE BUCKEYES AT A GLANCE
Ohio State has 11 starters back from its 2006 team that went 12-1, won its second-consecutive Big Ten championship and played in the BCS national championship game. It marked the Buckeyes’ third Big Ten crown under head coach Jim Tressel, the fourth appearance in a BCS bowl and the second appearance in the national championship game.
The Buckeyes, who were ranked No. 1 for the entire regular season and twice defeated the No. 2-ranked team last season, own a 14-game winning streak against Big Ten teams but saw their 19-game win streak snapped against Florida last January in Glendale, Ariz.
REGULAR-SEASON WINS
Ohio State has won 18-consecutive regular-season games, dating back to a 17-10 loss at Penn State Oct. 8, 2005. Overall, the Buckeye record is 21-consecutive regular-season wins from 1967-69.
Between 1967 and 1969, the Buckeyes reeled off 22-consecutive victories, including 17 Big Ten wins, for the longest streak in OSU annals. In 2002 and 2003, Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes rolled to 19-consecutive victories, including a perfect 14-0 record and the national championship in 2002.
BUCKEYES IN THE STARTING LINEUP
When the Ohio State-Youngstown State game kicks off, the Buckeyes will have a total of 16 players with at least one game of starting experience. Tops among those are: Kirk Barton (13); Vernon Gholston (13); Malcolm Jenkins (13); James Laurinaitis (13); Marcus Freeman (11); Alex Boone (10); Rory Nicol (10) and Steve Rehring (10).
BUCKS BATTING .771 IN OHIO STADIUM
The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 373-104-20 (.771) in Ohio Stadium since that facility opened in 1922.
Ohio State has won 12 consecutive and 16 of the last 17 games played in the Horseshoe. Ohio State’s all-time record in Columbus is 516-151-35 in 702 games.
A NEW TURF IN TOWN
This summer the old grass field in place at Ohio Stadium since 1990 was removed for a new synthetic surface called FieldTurf. The old field was rolled up and donated to the Columbus Parks and Recreation Service.
The Buckeyes played on AstroTurf in Ohio Stadium from 1970-89.
COACHING STAFF ASSIGNMENTS
The following is a breakdown of the Ohio State coaching staff assignments for the 2007 season.
On the Field:
Paul Haynes (safeties)
Darrell Hazell (WR, assistant head coach)
Jim Heacock (defensive coord., def. front)
John Peterson (TE, recruiting coordinator)
Dick Tressel (running backs)
In the Press Box:
Jim Bollman (offensive coord., off. line)
Joe Daniels (quarterbacks, passing game)
Luke Fickell (co-def. coordinator, LB)
Taver Johnson (cornerbacks)
2007 PRESEASON HONORS
Defending league champion Ohio State was picked to finish third behind Michigan and Wisconsin in the preseason Big Ten poll.
Individual preseason honors for the Buckeyes include:
– Kirk Barton: Outland watch list
– Alex Boone: Outland watch list
– Jim Cordle: Rimington watch list
– Marcus Freeman: Bednarik watch list
– Vernon Gholston: Bednarik, Hendricks watch lists
– Malcolm Jenkins: Thorpe watch list
– James Laurinaitis: Big Ten preseason defensive player of year; Playboy All-America; Bednarik, Nagurski, Walter Camp watch lists
– Chris Wells: Maxwell, Doak Walker watch lists
SUCCESS AGAINST THE BEST
Since 2005, Ohio State has won 19 of its last 20 games. During that tear, the Buckeyes recorded wins over six of college football’s most successful programs: Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Penn State, Illinois and Iowa.
Michigan tops the all-time victories list (860-282-36), Notre Dame is second (821-269-42) and Texas ranks fourth (810-311-33). The Buckeyes are fifth all-time with 787 wins and Penn State is sixth (781). Iowa (552) and Illinois (549) rank in the Top 50 on the all-time wins list.
HONOR ROLL
A league-best 23 Ohio State football players were named to the Big Ten’s 2006 all-academic team, marking the fifth year in a row the Buckeyes led the conference. Additionally, a record 54 Ohio State football players qualified for the annual OSU Scholar-Athlete Dinner in May, which requires a grade-point average of 3.00 or better for the past academic year. That number was an increase from the previous best of 46 established in 2006.
WHERE THEY GO NEXT
Ohio State hosts Akron Sept. 8 in a noon game at Ohio Stadium that will be televised by the Big Ten Network. Youngstown State hosts South Dakota State that day at Stambaugh Stadium.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State is aiming for a third-consecutive Gateway Football Conference title in 2007 behind seventh-year head coach Jon Heacock. Last season the Penguins made their 11th appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and first since doing so in 1999 under then-head coach Jim Tressel, who left YSU after the 2000 season for Ohio State.
Five all-conference performers are back for Youngstown State, including linebacker James Terry, defensive tackle Mychal Savage, guard Brad Samsa and tight end Derrick Bush. Quarterback Tom Zetts is in his third season as a starter and owns 44 career touchdown passes.
NOT SINCE 1922-24
Ohio State ranks second among all NCAA Div. I programs with 82 consecutive seasons since last posting back-to-back losing records. The Buckeyes have not been under .500 for two or more consecutive seasons since 1922-24, which trails only Tennessee, which has not had back-to-back losing seasons since 1909-11, a span of 95 consecutive seasons.
| School | Years | Last |
| Tennessee | 95 | 1909-11 |
| Ohio State | 82 | 1922-24 |
| Southern Miss | 72 | 1933-34 |
| Arizona State | 59 | 1946-47 |
| Alabama* | 49 | 1854-57 |
| Nebraska | 45 | 1956-61 |
| Southern Cal | 45 | 1960-61 |
| Michigan | 43 | 1962-63 |
| Georgia | 43 | 1961-63 |
