Game Thread Game Five: #1 Ohio State 38, #13 Iowa 17 (9/30/06)

[osugrad21]

Link

Hawkeyes gear up for top-ranked Buckeyes
In one of the most anticipated games in the history of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes will try to knock off Ohio State in a battle of unbeatens
Luke Meredith, The Associated Press
IOWA CITY, IOWA - Iowa has welcomed the nation's top-ranked team into Kinnick Stadium before. But the hype surrounding those games was never this big.The undivided attention of a national TV audience -- and possibly the best chance the Hawkeyes have ever had to knock off No. 1 -- has created an unusual frenzy in Iowa.
Top-ranked Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) visits the No. 13 Hawkeyes (4-0, 1-0) tonight in one of the most anticipated events in the 78-year history of Kinnick Stadium. The game has been sold out since well before the season started, and tickets on eBay were going for as much as $500 a pop as of Wednesday morning.
"It's a huge game for us, this state, for everything involved with this program," senior quarterback Drew Tate said. "It's a huge game for them. They're No. 1 and they're trying to stay No. 1."
The buzz in Iowa over a potential matchup against the nation's top-ranked team has been brewing for months. The Buckeyes' impressive win over Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, along with the return of quarterback Troy Smith and flanker Ted Ginn Jr., helped cement Ohio State's position as the preseason No. 1.
The Buckeyes haven't disappointed so far, posting victories over Texas and Penn State and holding opponents to an average of eight points per game.
The Hawkeyes also have kept up their end. Iowa is off to a 4-0 start, just its second under eighth-year coach Kirk Ferentz. After a string of lackluster Septembers, the Hawkeyes are positioned for a run at a BCS berth, and maybe more, if they can upset the Buckeyes.
"How many times do you get to play in a game like this?" Ferentz said. "Players only get one chance to play in a game like this, just like coaches do."
History has not been kind to Iowa in games against top-ranked teams. The Hawkeyes are 0-7-1 all-time in such matchups, including 0-3 at Kinnick. But no Iowa team that has hosted a No. 1 went on to post winning records or reach a bowl.
Three weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Hawkeyes lost to top-ranked Minnesota, 34-13, en route to a 3-5 season. In 1964, Iowa fell to the Buckeyes 21-19 in what was the third loss of a six-game skid.
Miami came to Kinnick early in the 1992 season for the first true night game in the stadium's history. Coming off a 10-1-1 season, the Hawkeyes lost 24-7 and wound up 5-7.
Ferentz has had one crack at No. 1, at Nebraska in 2000. But the team he brought to Lincoln had lost 11 straight, and the Cornhuskers made it 12 in a 42-13 blowout win.
In 1985, Iowa was No. 1 for the Ohio State game -- and it didn't matter. Two weeks after the Hawkeyes beat No. 2 Michigan 12-10 in what many consider the biggest game ever at Kinnick, the Buckeyes ruined Iowa's perfect season with a rain-soaked 22-13 win.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Iowa says it?s ready for rowdy tailgaters
Night game might spur more antics than usual

Saturday, September 30, 2006
Todd Jones
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



The nationally televised game tonight between the Buckeyes and the Hawkeyes crystallizes a growing problem on college campuses: Football fans have more time than usual to drink alcohol and potentially get in trouble.
"Saturday will be a very long day, but we feel good about our plan," said Paula Jantz, an associate director of athletics at Iowa.
The game would be challenging enough for Iowa?s support staff if it began in the afternoon, because the home fans are jumping about the first appearance of a No. 1-ranked opponent in Iowa City since 1992. out crowd of 70,000, the host school must deal with thousands of others who congregate in the congested area around Kinnick Stadium. More than 30,000 fans without tickets showed up for Iowa?s recent game against Iowa State.
Then add the usual throng of Ohio State fans who travel to away games and a hyperbolic atmosphere generated by the hosts of ESPN College Game-Day, which will broadcast from Iowa City for the first time in 10 years.
Most of all, factor in the start time of 7:13 p.m. (8:13 in Columbus), and Iowa City will be a cauldron of emotion.
"The environment will be rather supercharged," said Rick Klatt, Iowa?s associate athletic director for external affairs.
Iowa last hosted a prime-time game 14 years ago, when the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes beat the Hawkeyes 24-7. No major incidents occurred inside or outside Kinnick Stadium that night, but Iowa knows the possibility of trouble increases because there is more time to tailgate.
"The concern we have is the time allowed for people to drink in the (parking) lots and cause problems," said Lt. Dave Visin, associate director for the university?s department of public safety.
Late starts are a continuing hot topic for many schools, spurred by the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit held in 2003 by representatives of the Collegiate Commissioners Association and the NCAA. The summit was organized in part because of the riots in Columbus after OSU?s victory over Michigan in 2002.
OSU and Columbus have since taken steps, including an advertising campaign this year costing the university as much as $30,000, to try to rein in hooliganism without infringing too much on tailgating.
Texas, Georgia, Penn State, North Carolina State, Missouri, New Mexico, Duke, Kansas, Oregon, North Texas, Central Florida and Southern University are among schools that changed or implemented regulations for tailgating.
"Across the board, there?s a concern about civility, whether it?s on a campus or in the community in general," Penn State athletic director Tim Curley said. "The athletic community has done a good job trying to really focus on (tailgating) and make sure it?s a healthy atmosphere."
Tailgating at college games grew out of traditional homecoming celebrations in the 1920s, and it became a popular game-day activity after World War II.
"In the past generation, it?s become more and more a part of the game," University of Cincinnati archivist Kevin Grace said.
In general, tailgating includes the consumption of alcohol, which longtime observers of collegiate athletics say is on the rise.
"The increase in alcohol has really changed the environment (at sporting events) over the last 10 to 15 years," said Tom Stafford, vice chancellor for student affairs at North Carolina State, who is in his 35 th year at the school.
Stafford said problems are enhanced at night games, which are becoming more common as television pays more to conferences and schools for the rights to prime-time events.
"The later the game, the more time people have to drink," Stafford said. "The environment at nighttime gives the game a different ambiance. People think they can get crazier and do things they wouldn?t do during the day because it?s dark."
Ohio State officials declined a request from ABC-TV in the summer to play the Sept. 23 home game against Penn State at night. Instead, that game began at 3:30 p.m. OSU spokesman Steve Snapp said tailgating didn?t factor into the university?s decision.
"It was the first weekend the students were back," Snapp said. "We already had two night games on the road (this season). Our fans come from around the state, and with a night game, they wouldn?t be getting out of here until 11 o?clock. We?d prefer not to have them have to do that whenever we can."
Snapp said OSU will play night home games in the future, as it has in past years.
Other schools have taken substantial measures to keep a lid on trouble. North Carolina State doesn?t allow tailgating until four hours before game time, and this year, the school banned beer kegs at tailgates. Kansas, Pittsburgh and Missouri banned kegs, too.
"It?s helping to keep down underage drinking and the overall intoxication potential," said Capt. Brian Weimer, of the University of Missouri-Columbia police department.
Notre Dame allows tailgating before and after games but adopted a policy in 2002 that prohibits it during games to curtail excessive drinking. The same policy is being used this year for the first time at Duke, New Mexico and Penn State.
"What we were seeing was a number of people not going into the game, but hanging out in the parking-lot areas," Penn State?s Curley said.
The University of Georgia announced a "Gameday Gameplan" this year calling for rule changes for parking and tailgating, including the creation of two "family-friendly" alcoholfree zones.
The changes came after Georgia president Michael Adams referred to the behavior of some fans as "despicable" after the Bulldogs? 31-30 loss to Auburn last year in a night home game. Campus buildings were damaged, trash bins set afire and lawns destroyed.
Five years ago, in an effort to curtail drinking, the University of Florida quit allowing fans to leave the stadium and re-enter with a ticket, a policy Iowa and Ohio State also use. All Southeastern Conference members have since adopted the rule.
Iowa officials simply want fans to be safe and have a good time.
"We are in the entertainment business. We want them to enjoy themselves, but in the right way," Iowa?s Klatt said. "The overwhelming majority of fans enjoy themselves. The few bad apples make headlines."
Iowa officials discussed changing the time that fans can arrive but decided it would cause traffic jams. So, as usual, recreational vehicles could begin parking last night, and parking lots to all fans open at 7 a.m. today.
The university did change one tailgating rule for today: Fans must depart the grounds immediately after the game.
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

COMMENTARY
Iowa latest interloper in Big Ten

Saturday, September 30, 2006

BOB HUNTER

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Remember the Big Two and the Little Eight?
The Big Ten got saddled with that tag in the late ?60s and the ?70s when Ohio State and Michigan were on a different planet than the other conference members. For 13 years (1968-80), only once did another school crack the duo?s dominance of league titles. Michigan State tied Michigan in 1978.
The nickname began to lose some oomph in the 1980s ? Iowa shared a title with Ohio State in ?81, Illinois won in ?83, Iowa won in ?85 and Michigan State won in ?87 ?but the perception of the Big Ten didn?t really start to slip until Penn State entered in 1993. Everybody assumed it would be the Big Three and Little Eight then, and Penn State?s title in 1994 seemed to confirm that.
It never happened, of course. The Nittany Lions didn?t win another Big Ten title until last season, and in the meantime, Northwestern and Wisconsin made forays to the top.
Iowa has shared two titles in the past four years, the same number as Ohio State and Michigan, so maybe this is the new Big Three. It is an interesting aside to tonight?s Ohio State-Iowa game in Iowa City, one that merits even more attention because both teams are 4-0.
The No. 1 Buckeyes are favored to win, as they should be. But a 33-7 drubbing the Hawkeyes handed them there two years ago suggests that there are no givens, particularly given Iowa?s recent run of success in the Big Ten. If the Hawkeyes should win tonight, they would be on track for a third conference title in five years, a feat that hasn?t been accomplished by a school other than Ohio State or Michigan since Iowa did it in 1956, ?58 and ?60. To find another such case of non-Big Two dominance, you have to go back to 1934-41 when Minnesota won four Big Ten titles in five years (1937-41) and six of eight.
This shows what the Hawks are shooting for ? and how difficult it is. Since Minnesota?s run in the ?30s ? Michigan won the two titles before the run and Ohio State won once during it and again immediately after it ? the Big Two has always responded to these temporary interruptions by regaining control of the conference.
There have been occasional runs in which several teams have won titles, but there has never been a school that has been able to get on a roll and stay there long enough to challenge the Big Two?s dominance. Northwestern was the last to try, winning or sharing three titles in six years ? ?95, ?96 and 2000 ? but the Wildcats tied for last the next two seasons and haven?t finished higher than fourth since.
The Wildcats? fall demonstrates one reason there hasn?t been a Big Three. Gary Barnett, the architect of Northwestern?s success, left for Colorado in 1998 and the late Randy Walker had trouble duplicating Barnett?s success.
Iowa tried to take care of that problem by giving Kirk Ferentz a contract extension this summer that made him the Big Ten?s highest paid coach at $2.7 million a year.
With a happy Ferentz, a two-year, $88 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium and a game against the No. 1 team in the country on national TV, it?s not hard to see why Iowa fans would be excited about tonight.
"I don?t think they?ve started 5-0 since 1995," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said this week. "And being 4-0, beating their in-state rivals (Iowa State), which is a big victory, and winning a tough overtime game at Syracuse without their quarterback is a big one. And of course starting out 1-0 in the Big Ten when you started out on the road. ? I?d say their momentum is as good as it could possibly be."
And he wasn?t even talking about the momentum of the program as a whole. Viewed in those terms, history suggests that the game against Ohio State is even bigger for Iowa than it first appears.
It could open a Big Ten door for the Hawkeyes that has been boarded shut for years.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

THE BULL AND THE BALLERINA

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

QUINN PITCOCK

DAVID PATTERSON

Given Iowa?s perennially strong offensive line, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock says, "Every time you play (the Hawkeyes), you know it?s going to be a bloodbath down the middle."
It?s a good thing for No. 1 Ohio State, then, that as they take on No. 13 Iowa tonight, they have two of the nation?s top carnage-causers.
OSU coach Jim Tressel has said all year that he considers defensive tackles Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson "as good as it gets. ? I don?t know if anybody in America has a pair like that."
Normally, interior linemen toil in obscurity, but Pitcock and Patterson this season have jumped off the game films. They have combined for 27 tackles, including 7.5 for losses. Pitcock leads the team with four sacks, three of them Sept. 16 against Cincinnati.
As the lone returning starters for what was supposedly a rebuilding defense, they have played a huge role in Ohio State ranking seventh in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 8.0 points per game.
The Buckeyes are one of six teams in Division I-A (out of 119) who haven?t allowed a rushing TD, and they are working on a streak of more than seven quarters (111 minutes, 36 seconds, to be exact) without giving up a TD.
It all starts up front, with the two pillars in the middle.
"If you can dominate the line of scrimmage, you?ve got a chance in most games," Heacock said. "It has allowed us to maybe not blitz as much. We allow our front four to be the pressure and hopefully keep seven guys back in coverage and not have to send that sixth or seventh player to get pressure on the quarterback.
"If you?ve got a couple guys up front that can do that, it really helps."
The line play is one reason the Buckeyes already have eight interceptions, including three by middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. As Heacock said, they can drop their linebackers into coverage, knowing the front is stout.
"They keep linemen off us," Laurinaitis said. "We?re able to run sideline to sideline because they?re taking up two guys. You appreciate it a lot."
Last year, the game plan against Iowa was to pressure quarterback Drew Tate, who had burned the Buckeyes for 355 total yards and four touchdowns in a 2004 Hawkeyes blowout.
Ohio State did just that, mainly by getting a push up the middle and then not allowing Tate to roll outside the pocket. Tate was sacked five times and limited to 112 total yards in a 31-6 Buckeyes victory.
As well as the defense has played, it still has not faced a veteran quarterback.
Asked whether his defense has answered all the questions, Tressel said, "They?ve answered them through four games. Drew Tate?s a senior. We know that the challenge for our defense is probably unlike any challenge they?ve had this year."
The Buckeyes? tackle duo wasn?t intact last year. Patterson played mostly at end and Marcus Green started inside opposite Pitcock, who suffered a shoulder injury during the season but played through it.
He had surgery in January and said he feels much better this season.
"It?s a lot more fun to go out and play hard and not worry about your shoulder giving out," said Pitcock, who had 28 tackles and one sack last year. "I feel a lot stronger."
An NFL scout watching practice Tuesday told Tressel he has Pitcock rated as a high pick because of his movement, effort and leverage.
"Quinn is an amazing player; he?s a beast," Patterson said.
Pitcock is the bull, but Patterson is the ballerina ? at least as much as a 285-pound man can be. Tressel praised Patterson?s quickness, calling him "slippery."
Center Doug Datish knows firsthand how hard it is to block quality defensive tackles.
"If I?m uncovered (nobody across from him), if we have a guy we think is pretty good, I?ll go over there and try to help out," Datish said. "If they?ve got two guys, I guess you have to sacrifice one, or you have to just gap-block the whole thing and put a tailback or a tight end on a defensive end. It?s a problem."
It?s a problem Iowa might have tonight.
[email protected]

 

[Best Buckeye]

OK its 8:20 am Im at work. 11 hrs and 40 min till game time.
the jeopardy theme is playing in my head. I wonder who had the brainstorm to let the TV people pick game times. Having to wait till 8pm sucks. This means I have to watch two other games of which i dont really care about first.
Maybe Minn will beat meechigan again. nahhhhhhhh.
Last nite I watch rutgers get lucky against USF. once again a RS freshman qb plays well except for the 3 or 4 turnovers hahaha. Otherwise USF would have beaten Rutgers (not a top 25 team)
GO BUCKS ! BEAT IOWA !

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I'm sure all of you remember the

:osu:verrated

sign that some, now embarassed into silence, fool had at the Gameday telecast in Austin.

Since he clearly has no more use for it, I wonder if he sold it on E-bay to some, soon to be chastened, Hawkeye fan.

Just wonderin'

This gives me an idea for some signs that we could trot out for the dUMb game (you KNOW they'll be here).

:osu:VERPOWERING
:osu:MNIPOTENT
:osu:UTSTANDING

NUMBER :osu:NE
...........TEARS
................UP
.....M*CH*G*N
​

H:osu:LY BUCKEYE!!!
.............TRESS...
.CHAMPIONSHIP...
.............AGAIN!!!
​

TEMPE, GLENDALE,
WHATEVER
WE :osu:WN IT!​

You get the idea...

 

[Best Buckeye]

I'm sure all of you remember the

:osu:verrated

sign that some, now embarassed into silence, fool had at the Gameday telecast in Austin.

Since he clearly has no more use for it, I wonder if he sold it on E-bay to some, soon to be chastened, Hawkeye fan.

Just wonderin'

I heard that It was sold to a Notre Damer

 

[HUBRIDER]

The IF factor

I love Iowa and they are my favorite B-10 team outside of the tOSU. Great fans, great coach and everything you can ask for in a conference foe. I truly hope they can maintain their status as a contender every year. They work for it, support it and they are a credit to our conference.
Now for todays game. Reading through the various threads and even listening to the talking heads one word keeps coming up. IF -If -IF
For Iowa to prevail they have to win the IF factor. If the weather..if this...if that...if tOSU...if Iowa. If you look at all being said it is apparant that IF tOSU play poorly and IF Iowa plays flawlessly and IF the breaks go to Iowa it will be an IFF'n close game.
If I was down to my last C-note I don't believe I could wager it all trusting that all the IFs to line up. Give up the points and take the bucks.

 

[Best Buckeye]

I love Iowa and they are my favorite B-10 team outside of the tOSU. Great fans, great coach and everything you can ask for in a conference foe. I truly hope they can maintain their status as a contender every year. They work for it, support it and they are a credit to our conference.
Now for todays game. Reading through the various threads and even listening to the talking heads one word keeps coming up. IF -If -IF
For Iowa to prevail they have to win the IF factor. If the weather..if this...if that...if tOSU...if Iowa. If you look at all being said it is apparant that IF tOSU play poorly and IF Iowa plays flawlessly and IF the breaks go to Iowa it will be an IFF'n close game.
If I was down to my last C-note I don't believe I could wager it all trusting that all the IFs to line up. Give up the points and take the bucks.

I understand that Iowa is starting a freshman at center, Pit will eat him alive.
and both corners are redshirt freshmen against Ginn, Gonzo, Robo, and Hall anyone wanta bet?

 

[gregorylee]

If I read one more article about a pink locker room...

Jeebus, is the media really that freaking unimaginative?

Can they think of nothing to write about other than a pink locker room?

 

[notfadeaway]

Fuck the pink....and Fowler just said imagine the biggest game of your favorite team at night...the biggest in 20 years for Iowa...How sad that we are their biggest...that says a lot about the status of the buckeye program compared to Iowas...boy am I glad to be a buckeye and glad that I can think of 10-15 games bigger than this...oh and this is the first gameday at Iowa in ten years....our 3/4 weeks yawn yawn :osu:

 

[BB73]

They just showed the pink locker rooms on Gameday, and Kirk says:

"Are they going to show the pink toilets? Those are a mess."

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

This game reminds me so much of Penn State it isn't even funny. Hopefully this game means something to us, unlike Penn State last year.

 

[osugrad21]

This game reminds me so much of Penn State it isn't even funny. Hopefully this game means something to us, unlike Penn State last year.

...but days like today are what make college football so great. You go "all in" every week. Iowa will tell us if we are contenders or pretenders.

I'm not nervous..I'm anxious. The wait is the worst part...especially with every ESPN talking head building up the possible upset for even more viewers tonight.

Build it up. Bring it. Just hurry up and get here...

 

[Best Buckeye]

sigh , still 9 hrs and 18 min to go.

Do you suppose that the They actually believe that crap or it's just in the script to up the game so they can make more money?
I vote for the money