Game Nine: Ohio State 40, Illinois 2 (final)

[BrutusMaximus]

The O is doing much better. I think the fact that they have a stretch of mediocre defenses to play against is a benefit. Let them all get on the same page, get their feet wet, etc.

The first half was stale, but hearing "how bad will we beat Illinois" all week long is going to make any team come out somewhat flat. They picked it up in the second half, got the ball to Teddy and Santonio, let them make the big plays. Troy threw the ball very well, Pittman ran well.

Loved seeing the backups get in there and put a nice drive together. Haw ran the ball well, and looked strong.

Elite offense? no. Effective offense? Definitely. With the D, you dont need an Elite offense. You need a consistent, effective offense, and that is what I am seeing from the Bucks.

On a side note, had seats in 34B, row 34..........I was quite impressed with em, very nice view. There was some dickhead Illinois fan behind us who made enough comments to get his ass kicked, but the fans didnt react. Another thing I was impressed with.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

B-Max - understand, when I'm arguing "elite" I'm arguing only over the course of the last 3 games, where the numbers put up compare favorably with the top 10 offenses in America. If top 10 out of 119 isn't "elite" I don't know what is.

In fairness, there may well be more than 10 teams that wholly outpreformed OSU over the course of only the last three weeks, but I'm not doing that kind of research.

[BrutusMaximus]

BKB - I actually wasnt commenting on your "elite" comment with what I said.

I do believe that the offense has put up all these yards against mediocre defenses, however I wasnt being negative when I said that. Sometimes that is exactly what an offense needs to bring it all together.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Originally Posted by BrutusMaximus

BKB - I actually wasnt commenting on your "elite" comment with what I said.

I do believe that the offense has put up all these yards against mediocre defenses, however I wasnt being negative when I said that. Sometimes that is exactly what an offense needs to bring it all together.

It's cool, didn't mean to make you think I was callin you out or that I felt you were calling me out or anything. More or less, just wanted to clarify that to anyone who wondered, I certainly wasn't saying over the course of the SEASON that OSU has been "elite" and your post gave a chance to do that.

[AirForceBuck]

Couple points:

1) Im not suprised at all that Nick Mangold is rated the 2nd best center in the nation. He may even be an All-American if our line continues to hold up for the run game down the final stretch. NFL is looking good for him.

2) Smith, Smith, Smith...Wow, he played a good game leading his offense back into rythem the second half. The line was confused (showed by the penalties) and the run up the middle just wasnt cutting it at that point in the game. He came back as they said to prove how much "number 10 suites him". He wears #10, he was 10-10, and he is now 10 TDs to 1 INT the past few games. He looks to be turning it on stronger as the year progresses similiar to last year. Barring injury, next year from start to finish he will be a solid starting QB for us. This also marks 3 or 4 games in a row he has thrown for over 200 yards - wow!

3) Good to see that Dukes isnt hurt and Im pretty excited about some of these backups. After Holmes leaves this year, we have a cupboard full of recievers ready to go out and play. Hall will more than likely move up to the #1 SE and Gonzalez/Ginn will be our top two flankers again. Marcel Frost looked strong on his blocks and caught the football when needed.

4) Should we simply call Ginn - 'Mr. Second Half'? The way he has played the past two years in the second half is amazing.

[Taosman]

I don't understand using up Dukes redshirt. Has he "participated" in any Big Ten games before this? I can't recall that happening. Maybe my understanding of the redshirt rule is wrong.

[AirForceBuck]

Originally Posted by Taosman

I don't understand using up Dukes redshirt. Has he "participated" in any Big Ten games before this? I can't recall that happening. Maybe my understanding of the redshirt rule is wrong.

Im pretty sure he redshirted last year. I remember him getting in "legal" trouble in Florida during our bowl game and him having to stay at home. So I dont think we used his redshirt.

[chille37]

Dukes redshirted last year I believe

bp85 beat me to it

[TheStoicPaisano]

Dukes has already been in like five games, he just hadn't caught a pass in any of them.

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Dukes was RS last year. No question about it.

[BB73]

A couple of things I noticed watching the game on tape that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

Ashton Youboty's play on the fake punt. The score was 19-2 at the time, so the game wasn't out of reach, and Zook was looking to create some momentum for his guys. Youboty saw the fake, played his area well enough to draw a flag on the guy attempting to block him, and still slowed the play down enough where the punter didn't pick up the first down at the 30, as Nick Patterson got him out of bounds. That allowed us to decline the penalty and take the ball. Alert play, covering their assignments, by both Youboty and Patterson gave us great field position and momentum.

On the ensuing drive, Pittman made a great run where everybody saw him run over a guy. Great for him! But if you watch that play again, look at #50. He first briefly walls off the DE from getting outside quickly. Then he releases and goes after a linebacker. He contacts #47 (Leman) on the 13 yard line. When Pittman reached the goal line, Datish is still pushing the LB out of bounds, two yards deep in the end zone! He pushed his secondary assignment 15 yards downfield, into the end zone, and clear out of bounds.

I broke down Datish's play for the MSU game, after I was surprised to see him awarded offensive player of the week, and made a thread complimenting his efforts in that game. He followed that up, however, with a rough game against Indiana.

I haven't looked for him on every play to see how he did over the course of the whole game, but it sure looked like he earned a helmet sticker on Pittman's TD.

[scooter1369]

Originally Posted by BB73

A couple of things I noticed watching the game on tape that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

Ashton Youboty's play on the fake punt. The score was 19-2 at the time, so the game wasn't out of reach, and Zook was looking to create some momentum for his guys. Youboty saw the fake, played his area well enough to draw a flag on the guy attempting to block him, and still slowed the play down enough where the punter didn't pick up the first down at the 30, as Nick Patterson got him out of bounds. That allowed us to decline the penalty and take the ball. Alert play, covering their assignments, by both Youboty and Patterson gave us great field position and momentum.

On the ensuing drive, Pittman made a great run where everybody saw him run over a guy. Great for him! But if you watch that play again, look at #50. He first briefly walls off the DE from getting outside quickly. Then he releases and goes after a linebacker. He contacts #47 (Leman) on the 13 yard line. When Pittman reached the goal line, Datish is still pushing the LB out of bounds, two yards deep in the end zone! He pushed his secondary assignment 15 yards downfield, into the end zone, and clear out of bounds.

I broke down Datish's play for the MSU game, after I was surprised to see him awarded offensive player of the week, and made a thread complimenting his efforts in that game. He followed that up, however, with a rough game against Indiana.

I haven't looked for him on every play to see how he did over the course of the whole game, but it sure looked like he earned a helmet sticker on Pittman's TD.

Great job by the guys you mentioned, and certainly well deserved props. Datish has improved dramatically since last year. Youboty is a very smart player and very disciplined. I hope the younger guys are watching him closely.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Hey BB73, quit screwing up the thread with astute observations.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com (free)

11/8/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Photo Gallery - Ohio State vs. Illinois

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Troy Smith

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Gary Housteau

Date: Nov 8, 2005

On a beautiful autumn afternoon in Columbus, Ohio State started slow but finished strong and put the Fighting Illini from Illinois away in a convincing fashion with a 40-2 victory. The day also marked the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Howard "Hopalong" Cassady winning the Heisman Trophy. Troy Smith, Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman led the way for the Buckeyes on offense while A.J. Hawk, Mike Kudla and Donte Whitner put on a show for the defense. Here's how the day looked in pictures.
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<HR><CENTER>Photo Gallery - Ohio State vs. Illinois</CENTER><HR>

Troy Smith <HR>

Ted Ginn <HR>

Antonio Pittman and Erik Haw <HR>

A.J. Hawk <HR>

Mike Kudla <HR>

Donte Whitner <HR>

Rob Sims <HR>

Quinn Pitcock (left) and Joel Penton <HR>

Bobby Carpenter and Malcolm Jenkins <HR>

Lawrence Wilson <HR>

Roy Hall and Santonio Holmes <HR>

Mike D'Andrea <HR>

Jamario O'Neal <HR>

Junior Ben Martin of La Salle High School was at the game. <HR>

The Columbus Bluejackets were doing some cross-marketing outside of St. John Arena. <HR>

The OSU cheerleaders and the OSU band got the afternoon off to a great start inside Ohio Stadium. <HR>

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Alex Boone was getting ready to make another start. <HR>

Tim Brasic was destined from the outset for a long and difficult day against the Buckeye defense. He went 18 of 24 through the air or 92 yards and was sacked 5 times. <HR>

Hawk (background) was credited with this early sack that pinned Illinois back to the 1 yard line. <HR>

Hawk led the Buckeye defense with 10 tackles. <HR>

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Troy Smith was 13 of 21 on the day for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns. <HR>

Ted Ginn took the center's snap from Shot-Ginn formation for the first time since the Alamo Bowl and ran for 8 yards on this play. <HR>

Pierre Thomas gained 5 yards on this play but only rushed for 28 total yards on 9 carries in all. <HR>

Hawk was credited with another sack of Brasic on this play. <HR>

Kirk Barton was back at right tackle at different times during the game. <HR>

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Smith ran 7 times in the game for 55 yards. <HR>

Smith distributed the ball to five different receivers in his 13 completions. <HR>

He found Anthony Gonzalez on this play for 15 yards down to the 5 yard line to help set up a 29-yard Josh Huston field goal for a 3-0 first quarter lead. <HR>

Bobby Carpenter was credited with just 1 tackle in the game. <HR>

Quinn Pitcock turned in a 5 tackle performance which included 1 sack. <HR>

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Donte Whitner had 8 tackles, 2 for a loss, and a pass break up. <HR>

The Buckeye offense pounded the Illinois defense for 526 yards of total offense of which 202 came on the ground and 324 via the airways. <HR>

Antonio Pittman just missed the 100-yard mark by rushing for 96 yards on 22 carries with 2 TDs. <HR>

Pittman was stopped by Brit Miller, #44, on this play. Miller led everyone in the game with 11 tackles. <HR>

Pittman's helmet was knocked off on the play. <HR>

Smith takes off on this play and gains 17 yards... <HR>

...down to the 14 where a defensive holding penalty advanced it to the 7 yard line. <HR>

Pittman got one yard on one of the ensuing three plays. <HR>

But the offense couldn't punch it in again and had to settle for a second Huston field goal... <HR>

...this one from 22 yards away. <HR>

Rashard Mendenhall had 4 carries for 12 yards. <HR>

Kudla was in hot pursuit of Brasic all game. <HR>

Santonio Holmes races down the 1eft sideline after a catch for 41 yards and a touchdown to give OSU a 13-0 lead just before halftime. <HR>

The Buckeye defense held the Illini to 64 yards of total offense in the first half. <HR>

At halftime, Howard "Hopalong" Cassady was honored on the 50th anniversary of him winning the Heisman Trophy. <HR>

Athletic Director Gene Smith presented a trophy to Cassady to mark the event. <HR>

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Two of the all-time Buckeye greats. <HR>

Ginn starts the second half off with a bang... <HR>

...returning the kickoff back 65 yards. <HR>

Pittman takes this screen pass down to the 4 yard line where, three plays later, Smith hits Holmes with a TD pass from three yards out. The mishandled snap resulted in Illinois returning the conversion all the way for 2 points giving OSU a 19-2 lead. <HR>

On the next drive, Ginn gains 6 yards on this catch. <HR>

And then Pittman covers the final 16 yards of the drive after leveling a would-be Illinois tackler to get into the endzone to give OSU a 26-2 lead. <HR>

Ginn gets 7 more yards on this pass play. <HR>

Three plays later, Smith would connect with Ginn for 73 yards and a touchdown to make it 33-2. <HR>

Pittman scored later from 8 yards out on the ground to put the Buckeyes on top by the final 40-2 margin. <HR>

Justin Zwick came into the game and completed 3 of 4 passes for 26 yards. <HR>

Erik Haw had 4 carries for 14 yards. <HR>

Heather Mitts <HR>

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Antonio Pittman <HR>

Anthony Gonzalez <HR>

A.J. Hawk <HR>

Marcus Green <HR>

Donte Whitner <HR>

Quinn Pitcock <HR>

Mike Kudla <HR>
Bobby Carpenter <HR>
Bonus picture - Ted Ginn

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