Postgame Notes From No. 1/1 Ohio State vs. Bowling Green Postgame Notes From No. 1/1 Ohio State vs. Bowling Green
Oct. 7, 2006
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Attendance: 105,057
Ohio State Postgame Notes
Ohio State extended the nation's longest winning streak to 13 games.
Ohio State now is 57-8-1 when ranked as the nation's No. 1 team. Overall, the Buckeyes are 289-68-9 when carrying a Top 10 ranking and 396-123-14 as a Top 25 team.
Jim Tressel's record with the Buckeyes now is 56-13 and his career record is 191-70-2. He is 43-4 at Ohio State when the Buckeyes score 24 or more points.
Under Tressel, the Buckeyes now are 41-3 when leading at the half (21-0 Saturday) and 44-3 (21-7) when ahead after three quarters.
Ohio State now is 781-300-53 in 116 seasons.
The Buckeyes have an all-time record of 370-104-20 in Ohio Stadium and have won nine straight, and 13 of their last 14, starts in the Horseshoe.
The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in 119-consecutive games.
With win Saturday vs. Bowling Green, the 2006 Ohio State team is the 23rd Buckeye squad to start a season 6-0. The last OSU team to start 6-0 was the 2002 National Championship unit that finished 14-0.
Series Notes
All-time, the Buckeyes now are 4-0 against the Falcons, adding the outcome Saturday to a 17-6 win in '92, a 44-13 triumph in '97 and a 24-17 victory in '03.
Bowling Green is the second Mid-American Conference team the Buckeyes have played this year. OSU opened the season with a 35-12 win over visiting Northern Illinois. The Buckeyes own an all-time record of 22-1against MAC teams.
Offensive Notes
Ohio State has scored on its opening drive in four of the six games this season. OSU quarterback Troy Smith connected with tight end Rory Nicol for a 3-yard touchdown on the Buckeyes' first drive of the game Saturday. Ohio State scored a touchdown on its opening drive in the season opener against Northern Illinois on a Smith pass to Ted Ginn Jr. The Buckeyes also converted a field goal (Aaron Pettrey) on their opening drive vs. Cincinnati. Smith found Anthony Gonzalez for a 12-yard scoring strike on the Buckeyes' first drive at Iowa Sept. 30.
With a fourth-quarter scoring advantage of 14-0 Saturday, Ohio State now has outscored its opponents 76-16 in the final period.
Ohio State went 4-for-5 in the red zone Saturday, scoring four touchdowns. For the season, Ohio State is 21 of 26 in the red zone.
Ohio State has scored at least 24 points in 13-consecutive games and topped the 35 points in four contests this season.
Offensive Player Notes
Senior quarterback Troy Smith completed 17-of-20 pass attempts Saturday for an 85 percent completion percentage. That mark ranks third all-time at Ohio State for completion percentage in a game. William Mrukowski completed 10-of-11 tries (.909) against UCLA in a 1961 meeting to top the list. Stanley Jackson's 13-for-15 (.867) game vs. Indiana in 1997 rates second all-time.
Senior quarterback Troy Smith tossed three touchdown passes Saturday. He has a least one TD pass in 12 of his last 13 games and now has 10 career games with multiple touchdown passes. In his last two games, Smith has tossed seven touchdowns, including the four against Iowa last week. Smith has at least two TD passes in five of six games this season. He also had three TD throws earlier this season against Northern Illinois.
With his three TD throws Saturday, Smith now has 39 career touchdown passes and surpassed former Buckeye Jim Karsatos (36 TDs from 1983-86) for fifth place and Greg Frey (37 TDs from 1987-90) for fourth all-time.
With one more TD completion, Smith would become just the fourth Buckeye all-time to reach 40 career touchdown passes. Art Schlichter (50 from 1978-81), Joe Germaine (56 from 1996-98) and Bobby Hoying (57 from 1992-95) all had 50 or more TD passes in their OSU career.
Smith passed Karsatos for eighth all-time in Ohio State career total offense. Smith now has 5,481 yards in total offense for his career. Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin is seventh on the list with 5,589 yards of total offense.
Smith connected with Ted Ginn Jr. for a 57-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter Saturday. The play is the second-longest pass completion of the season for the Buckeyes. Smith found Ginn for a 58-yard score in the season opener vs. Northern Illinois.
Ginn and Smith now have connected for eight pass plays of more than 50 yards.
To start the game Saturday, Smith completed his first eight attempts. Counting his final completion in his last attempt at Iowa last week, Smith connected on nine-consecutive pass attempts. Craig Krenzel completed his first 11 attempts vs. Kent State in 2002.
Smith scrambled for a 34-yard gain and a first down on a third-and-26 play in the first quarter. The run is the longest for Smith this season and his longest rush since a 46-yard gain vs. Michigan Nov. 20, 2004.
He finished the day with a season-best 54 yards on seven carries.
With the win Saturday, Smith moved to 19-2 as starting quarterback. That mark includes a 9-1 record against ranked opponents.
Antonio Pittman scored his sixth touchdown of the season in the first quarter. He has scored at least one touchdown in each of Ohio State's six games this season and has had a TD run in 11-consecutive games. Pittman had just one touchdown in his first 17 collegiate games.
Pittman finished Saturday with two touchdown runs. He now has seven rushing touchdowns in 2006, which equals his TD total from the 2005 season. T. Smith was the last Buckeye to rush for a pair of touchdowns in a game. Smith ran for two scores against Northwestern Nov. 12, 2005 in Ohio Stadium.
Ted Ginn Jr. set his season-high with eight first-half receptions for 53 yards. Ginn finished the game with a career-best 10 catches for 122 yards. He had seven receptions at Iowa last week for a two-game total of 17 rec. for 191 yards. Ginn previously set his career best of nine grabs against Michigan last season.
Ginn's 57-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter was his 12th career TD. He has scored a touchdown in four of six games this year.
For his career, Ginn now has 18 plays of 50 or more yards in his career. Ginn has nine punt or kick off returns for more than 50 yards, eight receptions of 50-plus and 1 rush, a 68-yard TD run against Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.
Ginn has at least one reception in 25-consecutive games and has recorded two or more catches in 23-consecutive contests.
Anthony Gonzalez has 24 catches for either first downs or touchdowns. He has 27 catches this season, one shy of his 28 for the 2005 season.
Tight end Rory Nicol caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the Buckeyes' opening drive Saturday. The catch served as his second career TD. Nicol caught a touchdown pass from Smith at Iowa Oct. 16, 2004.
Freshman Ray Small pulled in his first-career touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. The play covered 11 yards.
Senior split end Roy Hall had four catches for 50 yards Saturday. Hall's career-best is five catches against Miami in 2005 and Wisconsin in 2004.
Defensive Notes
The Buckeyes have intercepted at least one opponent pass in all six games this season.
The Buckeyes now have 12 interceptions on the season.
The Buckeyes have forced 14 turnovers (12 interceptions and two fumble recoveries) this season. Ohio State has turned those 14 turnovers into 59 points this season.
The Buckeyes have allowed just one rushing TD this season.
Bowling Green was 5-for-14 on third-down conversions Saturday. For the season, Ohio State has held opponents to just 19-of-74 on third-down conversions.
Defensive Player Notes
Sophomore defensive end Vernon Gholston picked off his first career pass Saturday in the second quarter. Gholston is the first Buckeye defensive lineman to intercept a pass since senior defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock had an interception vs. Purdue Nov. 13, 2004.
Gholston notched a sack in the second quarter. He has 4.5 for the season. He had two tackles-for-loss Saturday. He leads the team with nine TFL this season.
Pitcock recorded his team-best fifth sack of the season in the second quarter.
Sophomore linebacker James Laurinaitis tied with sophomore defensive back Malcolm Jenkins for the team lead with nine tackles Saturday. Laurinaitis has led the Buckeyes in tackles in four of six games this season.
Jenkins' total served as a career-high. His previous best was seven tackles at Minnesota last season.
Sophomore safety Jamario O'Neal and junior linebacker Larry Grant each started their first games Saturday
Special Teams
Freshman Kurt Coleman blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt by Bowling Green Saturday. The last time Ohio State blocked a field goal attempt was Oct. 15, 2005 vs. Michigan State at Ohio Stadium. Former Buckeye Ashton Youboty was credited with the block vs. MSU.
A.J. Trapasso had one of his punts, covering 54 yards, downed inside the 20-yard line Saturday. His season-long is a 59-yarder. .
Miscellaneous
The announced attendance Saturday was 105,057. The Buckeyes have played in front of sellout crowds in all six games this season.
Former Buckeye offensive lineman and current Seattle Seahawk Rob Sims (2002-05) served as honorary captain Saturday.
Bowling Green Notes
Saturday's game marked the first time in school history that BGSU has faced the top-ranked team in the country. The Falcons played at #2 Oklahoma in 2004, at #4/5 Ohio State in 2003, at #4 Michigan in 2000 and at #9 OSU in 1997.
Ohio State now leads the all-time series with the Falcons by a 4-0 count. The Buckeyes posted victories by scores of 17-6 in 1992, 44-13 ain 1997 and 24-17 in 2003, all in Columbus.
Redshirt freshman RB Chris Bullock made his first career start.
Bullock becomes the 18th different Falcon to earn a starting assignment for the first time in 2006.
The final statistics were rather balanced, as the Falcons had 339 yards of total offense to the Buckeyes' 387. Ohio State held a narrow advantage in first downs, 18-15, and BGSU had 160 rushing yards to OSU's 139.
BGSU outscored Ohio State, 7-0, in the third quarter. The Falcons opened the second half with a 15-play, 85-yard drive that took 8:39.
The Falcons picked up five first downs on the drive, which culminated with a 12-yard pass from Anthony Turner to Corey Partridge, who made a one-handed grab in the end zone.
Partridge, who did not have a reception in the first half, had three grabs for 39 yards on the drive. On the play before the TD, he had a diving catch for eight yards on a fourth-and-6 play.
For Partridge, the TD catch was his first of the season and the second of his career. Turner has thrown for five TDs this fall and seven in his career. Both Partridge and Turner are in their second playing season for the Brown and Orange.
The 8:39 drive was the Falcons' longest possession of the season.
Following that touchdown drive, with 6:21 left in the third quarter, the Falcons had outgained the Buckeyes for the game. The 85-yard drive gave BGSU a total of 244 yards on 46 plays to that point, while the Buckeyes had 33 plays for 195 total yards through the game's first 38- plus minutes.
Senior Brad Williams had his third sack of the season and seventh of his career in the second quarter, for a five-yard loss.
Senior Devon Parks had his third sack of the season, and the 16th of his career, in the third quarter.
Dan Macon had 63 yards on three rushes, all coming on BGSU's final drive. That total included a 54-yard run up the middle, the longest of his career. The tote more than doubled Macon's previous long run of 25 yards.
