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WR Anthony Gonzalez (2005 All B1G, US Congressman)

Dispatch

OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
Gonzalez: Offense needs fast start

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Tim May and Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Receiver Anthony Gonzalez said the main thing for Ohio State tonight against Iowa will be getting off to a good start on offense.
The topranked Buckeyes would like to do something like they did in taking a 14-7 lead at Texas on the way to a 24-7 win. They want nothing to do with a start like last week when they trailed Penn State 3-0 at halftime only to rally for a 28-6 win.
"We were fortunate because I think we were playing against a younger offense" than what they?ll try to match strokes with today, Gonzalez said. "We just can?t do that against Iowa."
Gonzalez probably is a major component in the plans. Last season, he caught a then career-high six passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-6 rout of the Hawkeyes. Most of the catches came when he lined up in the slot, working underneath zone coverage, or when he was matched up with a safety or linebacker.
This season, when the Buckeyes use three receivers or more, he still often lines up in the slot, which helped him to a career-high eight catches and a touchdown against Texas.
"Once you see you have that to your advantage, that kind of player on the inside, you have try to get him the best looks you can," quarterback Troy Smith said.
Asked about how teams defend Gonzalez, coach Jim Tressel avoided specifics but said, "If you can get matchups, that?s the name of the game. (Opponents) know their defense and they know the adjustment to make off it. Sometimes it?s just a matter of who has the chalk last."
Gonzalez leads the Buckeyes with 19 catches for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Since the 2005 game, he set new career highs with eight catches and 142 yards against Texas.
Hold his calls

With the kickoff just after 8 p.m., it will be the second night game on the road for the Buckeyes this month. They didn?t do so badly killing time before the last one in Austin, Texas.
Asked how he got through a long day sitting around the hotel before night games, running back Antonio Pittman said, "I watch the games. I?m against answering phones on game day; I just watch football games and eat."
Asked why he doesn?t answer his phone, he said, "I just don?t like talking."
Wrapping up

Receiver Ted Ginn Jr. has caught a pass in 23 straight games, dating to his freshman year Oct. 16, 2004, at Iowa. He also has a string of 21 straight games catching at least two passes and in 19 of those has caught at least three. ? Pittman has scored at least one touchdown in each of the past nine games, going to his first collegiate touchdown in the eighth game last season at Minnesota. ? Smith has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the past six games ? The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in interceptions (8) and have at least one in all four games, including three picks in each of the past two games.

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Dispatch

Gonzalez can?t say enough about blocking
He credits fellow receivers for springing him on 30-yard TD

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




IOWA CITY, Iowa ? Anthony Gonzalez said he could not wait to watch a replay of his 30-yard touchdown catch-and-run against Iowa. But not for the reason you might think.
He wasn?t interested to see how ? he didn?t even know why ? he suddenly stopped in the middle of the field, doubled back to his right, sacrificed 7 or 8 yards so he could turn the corner on a defender and then tightroped the sideline to the end zone.
He wanted to see those blocks from his fellow receivers. The ones that flashed before his eyes in real-time speed last night during the Buckeyes? 38-17 win in Kinnick Stadium.
"You?re going to give me a weird look when I say this, but that was a total team-effort play," Gonzalez said. "Brian Hartline comes out and gets a huge block at the end. Ted (Ginn Jr.) said he knocked down two guys. I just can?t wait to watch that on film just to see all the blocks that took place. That?s how you play as a team right there."
Hartline, who cracked back on two defenders to give Gonzalez the room to go the last 10 yards, said blocking was emphasized by assistant coach Darrell Hazell in the receivers? pregame meeting.
"(He said) when we leave this stadium today, let?s have them talking about what a great job we did blocking for the running backs," Hartline said. "Everyone knows how much of a threat we are in the passing game, but let?s make a statement in the running game."
Hartline admitted he had a moment of trepidation as he saw the two defenders bearing down on him.
"I said, ?Man, these guys are big,? " Hartline said. "But you?ve got to do what you?ve got to do. I hit the one, and the one hit the other, and it got Gonzo on the corner."
Gonzalez said he was trying to elude two safeties he saw coming at him when he set sail for the right sideline.
"I was just trying to bounce it outside of them," he said. "Then I saw some other people. That?s when I saw Hartline knock down a few people and Ted knocking down people. That was fun. Honestly, I can?t wait to watch it just to watch the blocks."
Gonzalez caught five passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns. He has 11 catches for 167 yards and four touchdowns the past two years against Iowa.
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Tom Archdeacon: Gonzalez says Iowa's easy on the eyes
By Tom Archdeacon

Staff Writer

Sunday, October 01, 2006

IOWA CITY, Iowa ? Superman had laser vision.

Anthony Gonzalez, well, he's colorblind, and Saturday night at Iowa's Kinnick Stadium, that made the Ohio State junior receiver just as powerful as the Man of Steel.

So much for that Kinnick curse.

Since the days of former coach Hayden Fry, the visiting team's dressing room here has been painted pink. It's supposed to be a calming color, disarming, make the rivals feel like little schoolgirls in Little Bo Peep bedrooms.

And when they'd finished the $90 million update of this old stadium before the season, pink had been taken to the extreme. Even the toilets and urinals had the color scheme.

Gonzalez wasn't fazed.

He's colorblind. He said the whole room looked white to him.

Maybe that's why Kinnick's frenzied crowd ? all dressed in gold, primed from a day's tailgating festivities and literally within spitting distance of the field ? never got to him either.

Maybe he looked at them and saw scarlet and gray. Maybe it's just that he's like the rest of the Buckeyes. The bigger, more electric, more hostile the stage, the more they make it their own.

They did that in Texas earlier this season and they did it this night. Both of those had huge national buildups and prime-time broadcasts, and more than just football games, they were turned into events.

The Buckeyes ? with their No. 1 ranking, their tradition, their Heisman Trophy front-runner at quarterback, their big-play receivers and that young, take-away defense ? are becoming a must-see draw.

Not quite along the lines of the old Mike Tyson or the current Shaq, but the Buckeyes are cementing their standing as the dominant force in college football this season.

The 5-0 Buckeyes ? who should have smooth sailing until their Nov. 18 matchup with Michigan ? are loaded with offensive weapons and complemented by a defense that already has 13 take-aways, one more than all of last season.

"We had a great defense a year ago, and this year, we may not be as good in the yardage category, but we're a lot better at taking the ball away from the other team," OSU coach Jim Tressel said.

And the team is more explosive offensively.

Gonzalez had the play of the game midway through the third quarter when he took a Troy Smith pass, zigzagged across the entire field and got a Brian Hartline block that bulldozed two Hawkeyes to finalize the 30-yard score.

Gonzalez credited Smith as the key to the Bucks' offensive success. The senior quarterback threw four touchdown passes and once again outplayed a much-hyped rival quarterback.

This time it was Iowa's veteran Drew Tate, who was intercepted three times. At Texas it was the young Colt McCoy who melted on the national stage. At the Fiesta Bowl, Smith eclipsed Notre Dame's Brady Quinn.

"Ohio State is just one (heck) of a team," said Iowa guard Mike Elgin. "They outplayed us in every phase tonight. Hands down, they're as good as they come. Nothing bothered them tonight."

Not even that "all white" dressing room Gonzalez saw.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/osu/2006/10/01/ddn100106arch.html
 
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Hey! what can we say about Gonzo? He just puts out all out effort all the time. When he made that first right turn on his run I first thought OH NO! that turned very quickly into "no wait thats Ginn", GGGGGooooooooo Gonzoooooo, as soon as he cut back along the side line i knew he was in. (oops he needed a block haha) But you know what I mean.
Gonzo for the Heisman???????
:oh:
 
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txbuckeye1983;622689; said:
"Tony" Gonzalez was the focus of the Mayne Event on NFL Countdown today. Really funny piece.
Just saw that. Good stuff.

Kenny Mayne did a segment on the three Tony Gonzalezezes: the Chief's TE, the OSU WR, and the Boston College WR. Hilarious stuff, especially the part about how all three are skilled basketball players too.

Cut to: shot of KC Chief's TE dunking; cut to: shot of BC WR playing the PF position and rejecting a short jump shot; cut to: Gonzo dunking on a girl in his apartment on a Nerf Hoop.
 
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ESPN

Gonzalez, Wolfe, Rutgers stay in the spotlight

By: ESPN.com



SHOOTING STAR
By Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Ohio State junior Ted Ginn Jr. began the season as a Heisman candidate. He has done nothing to suggest that he is not the receiver and kick returner that everyone expected to wear No. 7 for the Scarlet and Gray. But there's one issue with his Heisman candidacy. He may not be the best receiver on his team. Redshirt junior Anthony Gonzalez is narrowly ahead of Ginn in catches (24-23) and yards per catch (15.5-14.7). The 6-foot, 195-pound Gonzalez has blossomed from role player to star this season. He caught only 28 passes last season, when he made eight starts.
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Byron Hetzler/US PRESSWIRE
Anthony Gonzalez and Troy Smith hooked up for two touchdowns against Iowa.



Gonzalez's emergence puts even more pressure on defenses concerned with Ginn and his speed. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said last week that he would not stray from his philosophy of using linebackers extensively in pass coverage. That came back to bite the Hawkeyes in their 38-17 loss to the Buckeyes, especially in the case of Gonzalez, who lines up frequently in the slot.
The most shining example came on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Gonzalez in the third quarter that put Ohio State ahead, 28-10. From the right slot, Gonzalez slanted into the middle of the field and caught the pass. As he approached the left hash, Gonzalez said, "I saw the two safeties coming at me. I just tried to bounce it outside."
Gonzalez circled back to his right, well back of the 20-yard-line, found a seam, got a crushing block from receiver Brian Hartline near the right sideline, and sped into the end zone. Four different Hawkeyes got a hand of Gonzalez, but none of them came close to bringing him down.
"You're going to give me a weird look when I say this," Gonzalez said. "That was a total team effort. Hartline comes out and gets a huge block at the end. Ted said he knocked down two guys. I can't wait to watch it on film to see all the blocks that took place. That's how you play as a team."
Gonzalez praised Iowa's defense, while at the same time acknowledging that Ohio State could exploit it because they knew what was coming (It helps that the Buckeyes are faster and quicker than the Hawkeyes). But he said his eyes don't light up at the sign of a linebacker covering him.
"I try to play as emotionless -- not emotionless, but I try not to get all caught up in [that]," Gonzalez said. "It's more or less, 'This is the play call, this is what they're in, my job on this play is to do x, y or z,' and just do it, no matter what the situation."
Gonzalez has an analytical mind, as you would expect of someone who aspires to be a Rhodes Scholar. Perhaps he understands that without Ginn on the outside, he would get more attention from the opposing defense. The surprise is that Gonzalez may begin attracting that sort of defensive attention in his own right.
 
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