Football: No. 3 Ohio State wins 800th Game

Columbus, Ohio – No. 3 Ohio State came from behind in the second half to earn its 800th gridiron victory, a 26-14 win over Ohio in the latest “battle of Ohio.” The Buckeyes have now won 34-consecutive games against other Ohio schools dating back to the 1921 season.

“I wasn’t exactly sure what the prior 799 wins looked like, but I was proud to get the 800th win for Ohio State,” Jim Tressel, Ohio State head coach, said. “It is quite a privilege to be on the field when that occurred.

“This game, in a nutshell, looked like what people predicted it might look like between your opener and your national stage game. So that was a little disappointing. We did make progress, though. It was nice to see a home run on a punt return. The good news is we are 2-0 and it is September, but we have a lot of work to do.”

The game was truly a battle. A battle! Ohio, a tough team led by a tough coach – former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich – led 7-6 at halftime and 14-12 entering the fourth quarter. Only 18 total yards and two first downs separated the final team stats. Two fourth quarter touchdowns by Ohio State, including a 69-yard punt return by Ray Small, sealed the win. Ohio State is 2-0 heading into its clash with USC next week. Ohio is 0-2.

Dan Herron and Maurice Wells combined for 98 rushing yards to lead an attack that was without running back Chris “Beanie” Wells. Quarterback Todd Boeckman was 16-for-26 for 110 yards with no interceptions. Small led the receivers with five catches. James Laurinaitis and Ross Homan led in tackles with nine and eight, respectively.

A key stat for the game was turnovers. Ohio State intercepted four passes – the first four-interception game since 2001 – and recovered one fumble and only lost one fumble on the day.
 
That lost fumble, early in the second half, was costly. After an Ohio punt was downed at the 6 yard line for Ohio State’s first offensive possession of the half, the snap from center to quarterback Todd Boeckman, in the shotgun formation, was high and wide. Boeckman couldn’t secure the ball as he was being gang tackled in the end zone and Ohio’s Curtis Meyer emerged with the ball, a touchdown and a 14-6 Ohio lead.

Boom Boom Time
Ohio State marched down the field for its first touchdown of the game after Meyer’s score. The 13-play, 70-yard drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by “Boom” Herron. He followed the blocking of the left side and clean-up blocks from tight/end fullback Brandon Smith and fullback Curtis Terry. Herron gained 28 yards on the drive. Ryan Pretorius’ extra point attempt was wide and the score was 14-12.

Followed by Zoom Time
A fumbled punt late in the third quarter was recovered by Ohio State’s Shaun Lane at the Ohio 25, giving the Buckeyes a golden opportunity to take the lead. Six plays later Brandon “Zoom” Saine followed the same path that Herron did – behind the left side wall and with supporting blocks from Smith and Terry – to score from the 2 and give Ohio State its first lead of the game at 19-14.

Small iced it with his punt return inside of six minutes left to play, a score that increased the lead to 26-14.

Defensively, end Lawrence Wilson and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins each had first-half interceptions. Wilson intercepted Theo Scott on Ohio’s second possession to set up a 24-yard Pretorius field goal, giving the Buckeyes a 3-0 first quarter lead.

Jenkins intercepted Boo Jackson, who replaced an injured Theo Scott, early in the second quarter and James Laurinaitis and Anderson Russell each had fourth-quarter interceptions to stop Ohio drives.

OU leads early
Early on Ohio took a 7-3 lead on an 11-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 15-yard scoring burst around left end by tailback Dante Harden. Three converted third-down plays led to the score:

- Jackson escaped from the grasp of Wilson to complete a 30-yard pass play to Taylor Price, giving Ohio a first down at the Ohio State 45.
- Jackson rushed for 10 yards three plays later on third down to set up another first down.
- Jackson then hit Riley Dunlap on a 13-yard pass play, setting the Bobcats up on the 15. Two plays later Harden scored. 

Ohio State came back with a seven-play drive that was capped by another Pretorius field – his sixth-consecutive made attempt this year – from 40 yards to make the score 7-6. Pretorius’ first miss of the season – a 53-yarder – came inside of one minute to play in the half.

A Few Notes:

Fifth Team to Journey to 800
Ohio State is the fifth Division I team to win 800 football games. The others are Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska.

Ohio State Milestone Wins
No. 100 - 14-6 at Vanderbilt, Nov. 14, 1908
No. 200 - 41-0 vs. Wittenberg, Oct. 6, 1928
No. 300 - 20-7 at No. 5 Minnesota, Oct. 25, 1945
No. 400 - 50-20 at Michigan, Nov. 25, 1961
No. 500 - 32-7 vs. North Carolina, Sept. 27, 1975
No. 600 - 64-6 vs. Utah, Sept. 27, 1986
No. 700 - 41-6 vs. Illinois, Nov. 15, 1997

All-Time vs. Ohio Schools
Ohio State is 176-48-15 all-time against other schools from the state of Ohio. The team has won 33-consecutive such games, dating to a 7-6 loss to Oberlin in 1921. Since resuming games against in-state foes in 1997 after a 62-year break, Ohio State has won 16-consecutive games.

Toledo Next Year
Next year, the Buckeyes’ slate of games against Ohio schools continues with a Sept. 19 game against Toledo in Ohio Stadium.