’08-09 Rewind: Football – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Buckeyes Win Fourth Consecutive Big Ten Title
Ohio State (10-3, 7-1 Big Ten) finished the 2008 campaign ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll and 11th in the USA Today/AFCA poll after a 24-21 loss to Texas in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. In the process, the Buckeyes won their fourth-consecutive Big Ten Conference championship and the fifth under head coach Jim Tressel with a 42-7 win over Michigan. It also marked the fifth-consecutive win for Ohio State over Michigan a program first in 119 seasons of football. It also marked the seventh win over Michigan in Tressel’s eight seasons at the helm.
The Senior Class
The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was the last game as a Buckeye for 28 members of the senior class, which counts a 43-8 record, four Big Ten titles, four wins over Michigan, two trips to the BCS title game and four BCS bowl appearances to its credit over the past four seasons.
The most previous wins by an Ohio State senior class? 43, in 1995-98 and 2002-05.
The 2008 seniors: Nader Abdallah (Metairie, La.); Todd Boeckman (St. Henry, Ohio); Alex Boone (Lakewood, Ohio); D.R. Ebner (Hershey, Pa.); Marcus Freeman (Huber Heights, Ohio); Tyson Gentry (Sandusky, Ohio); Bryan Gray (Antwerp, Ohio); Malcolm Jenkins (Piscataway, N.J.); Ben Kacsandi (Wooster, Ohio); Shaun Lane (Hubbard, Ohio); J.D. Larson (Ventura, Calif.); James Laurinaitis (Hamel, Minn.); Ryan Lukens (Lebanon, Ohio); Kyle Mitchum (Erie, Pa.); Rory Nicol (Beaver, Pa.); Jamario O’Neal (Cleveland, Ohio); Nick Patterson (St. Louis, Mo.); Ben Person (Xenia, Ohio); Ryan Pretorius (Durbin, South Africa); Steve Rehring (West Chester, Ohio); Chris Rietschlin (Crestline, Ohio); Brian Robiskie (Chagrin Falls, Ohio); Kyle Ruhl (Powell, Ohio); Jon Skinner (Mt. Carmel, Pa.); Brandon Smith (Euclid, Ohio); Curtis Terry (Cleveland, Ohio); A.J. Trapasso (Pickerington, Ohio); and Maurice Wells (Jacksonville, Fla.).
800 Wins
Ohio State is the fifth major college football program to reach 800 all-time wins; that event occurred in the 26-14 win over Ohio University, the second game of the 2008 campaign. The Buckeyes have an all-time record of 808-307-53 in their 119 seasons.
The Silver Bullets
The Ohio State defense was again among the nation’s most dominant. The Buckeyes ranked in the Top 25 in six defensive categories: 6th in turnover margin, 6th in scoring defense, 13th in pass efficiency defense, 14th in total defense, 18th in rushing defense, and 25th in pass defense.
In the 43-0 win over Youngstown State, Ohio State’s defense recorded the third shutout of the Jim Tressel era; others were in 2003 vs. Northwestern and 2006 vs. Minnesota. It was the first shutout by the Buckeyes in a season opener since OSU beat Miami (Fla.) 10-0 in 1977. The defense has held the opposition to single-digit scoring 31 times during the Tressel era.
Against Youngstown State, Ohio State’s defense allowed only 74 yards of offense. The Penguins registered -11 rushing yards on 21 attempts, the first time the Buckeye defense held an opponent to negative rushing yards since Cincinnati had -4 yards on 22 attempts Sept. 16, 2006.
Ohio State forced four Youngstown State punts and a YSU fumble on its five defensive possessions of the first half. Three of those five YSU drives resulted in three-and-outs. Overall, Ohio State forced YSU to punt on nine of its 12 possessions.
At Michigan State, the Buckeyes held the nation’s leading rusher, Javon Ringer, to just 67 yards, forcing five turnovers, including two fumbles returned for touchdowns (69 yards by Thaddeus Gibson and 48 yards by Jermale Hines). Michigan State scored only once against the Buckeyes.
Penn State, which came into the game averaging 45.4 points per contest, was held to just a touchdown and two field goals by the OSU stoppers.
In the win over Ohio University, the Buckeye defense allowed just one offensive touchdown. At Southern Cal, the OSU defense gave up only four scores to the nation’s top team, and the Buckeyes held Troy (which entered the game averaging 48 points per outing) to just a touchdown and a field goal.
Ohio State, behind 12 tackles from James Laurinaitis, 10 stops from Ross Homan and seven tackles and a pair of forced fumbles by Anderson Russell, held previously unbeaten Minnesota to just 81 yards rushing. The defensie held Purdue to just a field goal and against Michigan, the Buckeyes forced the Wolverines to go three-and-out 11 times.
Laurinaitis Repeats As Big Ten Defender Of Year
Linebacker James Laurinaitis was selected by the conference coaches and a select media panel as the Big Ten defensive player of the year for 2008, an honor he also claimed in 2007.
The three-time consensus All-American (only the third such player honored in Ohio State history) finished with 375 career tackles to date. That ranks him seventh among Ohio State career leaders, just behind Pepper Johnson, who had 379 tackles from 1982-85.
Laurinaitis averaged 10.8 tackles per game this season in Big Ten play, leading the conference, with a team-high 11 tackles and an interception at Northwestern, a team-best 10 tackles with a TFL and two pass breakups against Purdue, followed by a team-best 11 stops with 1.5 sacks at Michigan State and 12 tackles against both Penn State and Michigan.
The most decorated linebacker in Ohio State, he led the Buckeyes in tackles for the third consecutive season, and showed 130 total tackles for 2008, with four sacks, two interceptions and four pass breakups. For his career, Laurinaitis had 24 TFL, 13 sacks and nine interceptions. In 16 career games against ranked opponents, Laurinaitis had 164 tackles, an average of 10.3 per contest.
His honors were many: as a sophomore, the 2006 Bronko Nagurski Award winner; as a junior, the 2007 Butkus Award winner and a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi, Ronnie Lott, Bednarik and Nagurski awards. As a senior in 2008, Laurinaitis won the Lott Trophy, the inaugural Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for college football, and was a Lombardi, Bednarik and Butkus award finalist.
Jenkins Thorpe Award Winner
Senior corner Malcolm Jenkins is the 2008 winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, presented to the nation’s best collegiate defensive back. The consensus All-American made big play after big play on defense and special teams.
Jenkins, who blocked an Illinois punt for a safety while recording three pass breakups and two tackles, forced a Northwestern fumble and had seven tackles against the Wildcats, and had his 11th career interception to start the second quarter of the 16-3 win over Purdue. Jenkins also blocked a Boilermaker punt in the first quarter that teammate Etienne Sabino returned 20 yards for the game’s only touchdown.
His 10th career interception, in the 20-17 win at Wisconsin, couldn’t have come at a more opportune time; Jenkins intercepted Badger QB Allan Evridge on the Wisconsin 34 with 53 second remaining in the game, the first play after OSU’s go-ahead touchdown. Jenkins also had an interception in the win over Ohio University.
The senior standout came up with nine tackles, and a sack that forced the MSU fumble recovered by Thaddeus Gibson for a score at Michigan State.
Jenkins ranked sixth on the OSU defense in 2008 with 57 total tackles, nine pass breakups and four tackles for loss. He was among 15 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to a top defender by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.
