Postgame Notes From No. 13 Ohio State vs. Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
No. 14/13 Ohio State (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) 34, Minnesota (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten) 21
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 27, 2008
Attendance: 105,175
Ohio State is 802-305-53 in its 119th season of play. The win total ranks fifth all-time in Division I college football. The only other schools to have 800 or more wins are Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska.
Overall, the Buckeyes are 416-127-14 as a Top 25 team.
The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 383-105-20 in Ohio Stadium and have won 22 of their last 23 in the Horseshoe.
Ohio State is 44-3 at Ohio Stadium since the start of the 2002 season. Its only losses were to No. 17 Wisconsin in 2004, No. 2 Texas in 2005 and Illinois in 2007.
Ohio State is now 7-1 in Big Ten openers under Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes have won their last four conference openers by a combined score of 151-40.
The Buckeyes are 69-23-4 all-time in Big Ten openers.
Jim Tressel’s record with the Buckeyes now is 77-17 and his career record is 212-74-2. Tressel’s 212 wins are tied for third-most among active FBS coaches. Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer has 212 entering Saturday, whose Hokies play at 8 p.m. ET tonight at Nebraska.
The Buckeyes boast an all-time record of 146-22-5 in September games and a record of 120-10-4 in September home games.
SERIES NOTES
Saturday was the 48th meeting between Ohio State and Minnesota on the football field.
The Buckeyes have won the last six meetings with the Gophers and 22 of the last 23.
Ohio State leads the all-time series 21-3 in Columbus and 41-7 overall. Minnesota’s last victory in Columbus was Oct. 14, 2000.
Ohio State has allowed only 28 points in the last three meetings with the Gophers.
Chris “Beanie” Wells has 312 yards rushing in three career games against the Gophers.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Terrelle Pryor made his second-consecutive start at quarterback for the Buckeyes. He scored Ohio State’s first touchdown of the game on a 32-yard run at the 12:47 mark of the first quarter Ohio State’s quickest score to open a game this season. Pryor later added a 38-yard run in the second quarter, his longest of the season. His 38-yard run was the team’s second-longest rush of the year.
Pryor had two rushing touchdowns, becoming the first Buckeye quarterback to run for two TDs since Troy Smith vs. Iowa Sept. 24, 2005. In addition to his 32-yard run in the first quarter, he ran for a 1-yard score in the third quarter.
Pryor finished the game with 97 yards rushing (12.1 yards a carry), setting a Buckeye record for rushing yards for a true freshman QB. Art Schlichter set the previous mark vs. SMU in 1978 with 77. He also completed 8-of-13 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Chris “Beanie” Wells saw his first action since the Youngstown State game after sitting out the last three games with a foot injury. On his second carry of the game he ran left for 28 yards and totaled 80 yards on nine carries in the first half.
Wells finished the game with 106 yards on 14 carries. It was the 11th 100-yard game of Wells’ career.
Dan “Boom” Herron carried 10 times for 50 yards. He added a career-long 26-yard run in the third quarter to set up Ohio State’s third TD of the game.
Robiskie has caught a pass in 29-consecutive regular-season games and recorded his 100th career reception with his third catch Saturday. He caught eight passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns an 8-yard pass from Pryor with 33 seconds left in the first half and a 31-yard reception from Todd Boeckman in the fourth. In Robiskie’s last seven games at Ohio Stadium, he has totaled 52 catches for 804 yards. Robiskie’s eight catches and 90 yards were both team season receiving highs.
Todd Boeckman completed 5-of-9 passes in the game for 65 yards, including a touchdown. His 31-yard touchdown pass to Robiskie ties for the fourth-longest passing play of the season, matching the 31-yard play between the two vs. Youngstown State that also went for a touchdown.
Hartline has caught at least one pass in 23-consecutive games. He had one catch for 22 yards.
The Buckeyes had a team season-best 277 yards rushing vs. the Gophers, topping the 251 the squad ran for vs. Youngstown State.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Ohio State has given up only four offensive touchdowns at home this season one to Ohio University, one to Troy and two Saturday.
Donald Washington recorded his first interception of the season and the second of his career in the second quarter, returning it 34 yards to the Ohio State 48-yard line.
Anderson Russell had his first career fumble recovery late in the second quarter, setting up Ohio State’s second touchdown right before the half. He also had two forced fumbles, marking the first time an Ohio State player has forced two fumbles since James Laurinaitis in 2006 at Texas.
Ross Homan recorded his first career fumble recovery in the third quarter. He finished the game with a career-best 10 tackles, breaking the previous best of seven set vs. Minnesota in 2006.
Malcolm Jenkins also forced a fumble in the game, the second of his career and first since 2006.
James Laurinaitis had 12 tackles in the game to lead the Buckeyes, matching the team season-best he had vs. Troy. He leads the squad with 47 tackles on the year.
Thaddeus Gibson recorded a career-high four tackles against the Gophers.
MISCELLANEOUS
A crowd of 105,175 attended Saturday’s game. Crowds of more than 100,000 have seen the last 45 games at Ohio Stadium.
The game served as the kick-off for the 2008-09 Scarlet and Gray games, a program for Ohio State student-athletes to support each other at designated games throughout the year. The members of Ohio State’s varsity teams, comprising more than 850 athletes, were recognized on the field during halftime. Four spring 2008 Buckeye conference championship teams women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, men’s tennis and men’s volleyball – were recognized as well.
Ohio State’s honorary captain for the Minnesota game was 1972 Ohio State graduate and former Minnesota head coach Glen Mason. Mason also served as head coach at Kent State (1986-87) and Kansas (1988-96) before leading the Gophers from 1997-2006. He was in the television booth Saturday as game analyst for Big Ten Network. Mason was a letterwinner at middle guard on the Buckeyes’ 1970 Big Ten championship team. In 1978, Mason returned to his alma mater and spent the next eight years under Ohio State head coaches Woody Hayes and Earle Bruce. In each of those seasons, the Buckeyes appeared in eight postseason bowl games Fiesta Bowl (1980, 1983), Liberty Bowl (1981), Holiday Bowl (1982), Gator Bowl (1978), Citrus Bowl (1985) and Rose Bowl (1980, 1984). Mason coached outside linebackers and the offensive line before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 1980, where he served until 1986. During his tenure as offensive coordinator in Columbus, the Buckeyes led the Big Ten in scoring offense four times and total offense twice. Current Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel worked with Mason for three seasons as the Ohio State quarterbacks and receivers coach from 1983-85.
Golden Gopher Postgame Notes
Series Notes
Minnesota slipped to 7-41 in its all-time series with Ohio State with today’s loss. The setback was the sixth in a row vs. the Buckeyes.
The Gophers’ last win over OSU was a 28-17 upset of the then-No. 6 ranked Bucks on Oct. 14, 2000, in Columbus. Minnesota’s all-time record in Columbus dropped to 3-21 with today’s loss.
Team Notes
Minnesota fell to 4-1 (0-1 Big Ten) with today’s loss. It was the first setback of the season for the Gophers, who have now dropped nine straight Big Ten games. Minnesota’s last Big Ten Conference victory was a 34-24 win over Iowa on Nov. 18, 2006 at the Metrodome.
With the loss, Minnesota has now dropped three straight Big Ten openers and five straight Big Ten road debuts. The Gophers last victory in a Big Ten road game was a 31-18 win at Michigan State on Nov. 11, 2006.
Minnesota lost its 10th consecutive matchup with a ranked opponent with today’s setback vs. No. 14 Ohio State. The Gophers are now 4-22 against ranked opponents since the start of the 2000 season, with the last victory over a ranked foe coming in a 42-35 double overtime win over then-No. 11 Purdue at the Metrodome on Sept. 24, 2005.
Ohio State’s touchdown drive on its opening possession was earliest points given up on the season by the Minnesota defense. It took the Buckeyes just 2:13 to navigate 75 yards, with Terrelle Prior scoring on a 33-yard run to make it 7-0 OSU.
Minnesota’s three turnovers today are one more than the Gophers committed in their first four games of the year combined. Ohio State scored 17 of its 34 points off of turnovers.
Minnesota’s defense extended its turnover string to five games today, thanks to Eric Small’s strip and recovery of Bennie Wells during the first quarter. Minnesota cashed in the miscue for three points on a 34-yard Joel Monroe field goals and has now scored 69 points off of turnovers this season.
Individual Notes
Sophomore quarterback Adam Weber completed 23 of 26 passes for 187 yards and extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one passing touchdown to eight with his 22-yard fourth quarter strike to Da’Jon McKnight. Weber has now tossed at least one TD pass in 16 of 17 career games and has 32 for his career, which ranks sixth all time at Minnesota.
Weber crossed the 4,000-yard mark in career passing with 187 yards today. He now ranks seventh all time in Minnesota history with 4,049 passing yards. With his 23 completions, Weber now has 360 for his career, which ranks as the sixth-most in school history.
Weber’s second quarter interception deep in Ohio State territory was just his second of the season. It came on his 121st pass attempt of the year.
Sophomore wide receiver Ralph Spry scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 3-yard pitch from Adam Weber at the 8:24 mark of the fourth quarter. It was the Gophers first touchdown on the day, Spry’s first of the season and the fourth of is career.
True freshman Da’Jon McKnight scored his first career touchdown with 1:13 to go in the game on his first career pass reception, hauling in a 22-yard pass from Adam Weber.
Mike Maciejowski completed his first pass attempt since the 2006 season, connecting with Eric Decker on a 2-point conversion to pull the Gophers within 34-21 late in the fourth quarter.
True freshman running back DeLeon Eskridge hauled in a career-high eight receptions and led the Gophers with 55 yards receiving.
Eric Decker had five catches for 52 yards and has now had at least five receptions in six straight games dating to last season.
Junior defensive tackle Eric Small ripped the ball away from OSU running back Bennie Wells at the 9:39 mark of the first half for the Gophers’ 14th turnover forced by the Minnesota defense on the season. It was the sixth fumble of the year recovered by the Maroon and Gold defense and the first forced fumble and recovery of Small’s career. Small also picked up his first sack of the season, dropping Pryor for a 6-yard loss early in the second half.
