The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas
Paper, Plastic, or Other?: Sacks come in many forms and can be quite useful, especially at the supermarket, but Drew Stanton found out on Saturday that the kind of sacks the Buckeye defense likes the best can leave marks on you. OSU recorded a school-record 12 sacks against Stanton and the Spartans, eight of them in the second half.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bobby Carpenter[/FONT]
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"At the end of the day pass rush is just raw determination and we've got a lot of determined guys in there," said OSU linebacker/defensive end Bobby Carpenter.
"Kuds (defensive end Mike Kudla) is a determined guy, Quinn (defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock), Marcus (defensive tackle Marcus Green), Dave (defensive end /tackle David Patterson), Jay (defensive end Jay Richardson), we're all trying to get there. When you've got guys with a lot of fight and fire they're going to find a way to get to the quarterback and you're going to win," Carpenter said.
Carpenter led the Buckeyes with four sacks against MSU. Right behind him was Patterson with three. Patterson is suddenly a more active player and has really come into his own in the last two games. He credits the OSU coaching staff for making a bit of a change in how they use him for his increased productivity.
"I think what's really helping me is that I'm playing inside more," said Patterson.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]David Patterson[/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "I think I do a little bit better when I play inside. I'm not a real speed guy, but I'm quick and I can use my quickness inside. I'm only about 6-1 or 6-2 and that helps me use my leverage out there.
"Those big tackles, sometimes when I bull rush them sometimes it's hard to see. On the inside it doesn't matter if you see because you just want to get under them and get leverage."
Shouldering the Blame: Michigan State Head Coach John L. Smith was obviously disappointed with the loss on Saturday, but not with the effort of his team. While crediting OSU for the win, Smith put the blame for the loss on the head coach.
"This loss today goes to the coaches. Bottom line it goes on my name. It should say that Ohio State won the game but the loss goes the coaches, and that goes on me. That's the way I feel," said Smith.
Smith was hard on himself and his coaches, but had praise for the Buckeyes.
"They have great, great players. Those defensive kids are something else. Offensively they have some very special skill. They continued to fight and ended up getting the win," said Smith.
"You can't get into a slugging match with those guys. It's hard to do. They deserve a lot of credit. We had trouble blocking them, but we were able to move the ball. Drew did a great job. They played hard and we played hard. It was a great football game and a great match. "
Mutual Admiration: MSU quarterback Drew Stanton and the MSU offense have impressed a lot of people this season. You can now add the Buckeye defense to that number.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Quinn Pitcock [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "Stanton is a great quarterback. He's an athlete. He can run the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball on the run. He's a really great quarterback," said OSU defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock.
"I believe they're definitely about the best (offense he has faced this season, the most effective," said OSU defensive back Nate Salley.
"They don't run a whole lot of different plays but they execute them well. They have a good quarterback and good receivers who catch the ball when they need to. They have a pretty effective offense," Salley said.
"Stanton is an exceptional quarterback," said linebacker Anthony Schlegel.
"We were pressuring him and he kept getting up and finding those guys when we were attacking him and moving just enough in the pocket to dump it off to somebody. He's a great quarterback and they have a great offense. It was a challenge today."
For his part, Stanton left Ohio Stadium impressed with the Buckeyes and the OSU program.
"It's hard to beat Ohio State at home," said Stanton.
"They had the crowd behind them. This is one of the loudest places anybody will every play. If you look at Ohio State, they could very well be undefeated if they didn't have to go into Happy Valley and that atmosphere, and that Texas game kind of slipped away from them as well.
"
I think A. J. Hawk is everything as advertised. The way he plays, some of our wide receivers, he's just as fast as us out there. He hits like a ton of bricks. He's the stable part of that defense. He's the one who made all the plays and he's a leader. You see why they're so successful," Stanton said.
Mentoring: Freshman offensive tackle Alex Boone was pressed into action as a starter against MSU when regular right tackle Kirk Barton suffered a leg injury last week against Penn State. Boone got the job done well enough to help the Buckeyes to the win, but had some shaky moments as well.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alex Boone [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "There were a few times when they did their blitzes that I was a little confused," said Boone.
"I know that was on the edge getting beat real late a couple times in the first half and did get called for one holding penalty, but anytime you can have a guy step in like that for you you're happy to win the game," said OSU offensive coordinator and line coach Jim Bollman.
Boone's problems were more of the mental nature, knowing who to block. Fortunately for Boone and the Buckeye offense, he had a mentor right out there on the field that he could turn to when he felt a little unsure of himself.
"(Right guard)
T. J. (Downing) could be considered my dad today because of what he did," said Boone.
"Without T. J. I wouldn't have been doing what I did. If I had a question I went right to my left and he's be right there. A few times he just came over and helped me out. It was just awesome," Boone said.'
Downing said he was happy to help out.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]T. J. Downing [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "He did a great job of preparing this week, knowing he was going to be taking all the reps.
"I had to assist him every once in a while, but Rob Sims told me that Adrien Clark did the same thing with him when he was a freshman stepping in there. Rob said that I'm an upperclassman and that is my role and I have to take it. When Alex was having some problems on where to go I was there helping him out," said Downing.
"I told him that when he makes the NFL one day he better put aside a little bit for me for helping him along the way," said Downing with a chuckle.
"I'm more than happy to help out anybody out there because I love this university, I love this team, more than anything. To be able to help any way I can, I'll do that. If that means bringing along a freshman quicker, I'm good with that."
Boone did what he had to do, but Downing sees much, much better days ahead for the Cleveland area native.
"You give him an off-season under Al Johnson and the kid is going to be an unstoppable force in the Big Ten," Downing said.
For his part, Boone was not awed by being on the field, but seemed almost star-struck at being out there with some of his fellow line mates.
"It's crazy. Sometimes at practice I look down the line and I see these guys that I just watched two or three years ago. I say to myself '
This is amazing,'" said Boone.
"It's exciting to be out there with those guys, it's exciting to see who I'm out there with."
Evolving Personality: The plan on offense when 2005 began was to become a spread team to take advantage of the large number of skilled wide receivers on the OSU roster. The offense, however, has sputtered this season. Ironically, the two best days on offense have been on days when the Buckeyes got away from the spread a little and used more two-back formations and tight end formations. That's what they did against Iowa, and they did a fair amount of that this week against MSU. OSU offensive coordinator Jim Bollman hinted the Buckeyes could be headed toward more "regular" offense this season.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jim Bollman [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "We went back to a little more regular thing with two backs in the backfield," said Bollman.
OSU's big plays against MSU came out of those formations.
"Those were plays that coming into game we hoped we could get out of some regular things," Bollman said.
The Buckeyes also seem to becoming more comfortable with Antonio Pittman as their main man in the running game, particularly out of their regular formations.
"I think that that will be part of the deal. He's become a little more reliable . It's a shame he put the ball on the ground. We were coming out of the blocks on that first drive. I thought he ran pretty good today for the most part," said Bollman.
Though they have yet to actually say it, you get the feeling that the Buckeye offensive line would like to see more regular formations as opposed to the spread and the ball in Pittman's hands more.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Antonio Pittman [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "We like keeping the ball on the ground because we're very confident as offensive linemen that we can push the line of scrimmage backward and that we can put a hat on everybody and create those lanes for him to run in. We just feel like having Antonio back there we're going to get the job done because he's a helluva running back," said starting right guard T. J. Downing.
"I love that. I just love blocking for him. He just hits those holes and doesn't complain," added Robbie Sims.
"Tony Pittman is running the ball well right now. Frankly I'd like to see him get the ball 25 or 30 times a game. He's a workhorse and he wants that," added linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
Pittman says he can feel the Buckeye offense begriming to depend on him more on Saturday, and he likes the feeling.
"It felt good that they finally put it all on me," said Pittman.
"I'm ready for it. It's what I've been asking for the whole season and it finally came to me. I had to make something happen with it."
Gutting it Out: Ashton Youboty's return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown was undoubtedly the turning point of the game. Ironically, Youboty almost left the field before that play due to an injury, but decided to gut it out.
"Ashton was hurting," said Bobby Carpenter.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ashton Youboty [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "His hip flexor was hurting. He ran that in on pure adrenaline.
He came in (at half) and he had tears in his eyes in the training room. I felt for him. That's the kind of guys we have that are willing to give it up for the team," Carpenter said.
"Ashton was hurt the play before that, and he picked it up and he ran and he scored," added Antonio Pittman.
"He got helped into the locker room (at the end of the half). The dude couldn't even walk really. That was big for him to keep fighting really."
For his part, Youboty shrugged off what everyone else thought was a pretty heroic play.
"I saw there was 25 seconds on the clock so I just stayed in. I got a shot to the hip," said Youboty describing his injury situation prior to his big play.
Youboty was escorted down the sideline by Donte Whitner, but there wasn't a Spartan anywhere near them for Whitner to block. According to quarterback Troy Smith, that's because another Buckeye had taken out the last vestige of hope the Spartans had of stopping the run.
"
I want to give all kinds of respect and credit to A. J., because if you watch that play that ball might not get picked up if A. J. doesn't push the kicker over," said Smith.
"
He made a great play. He could have gotten the ball also, but he was an unselfish player, pushed that guy over and Ashton was able to pick it up and score a touchdown. That block was huge. That was huge. That turned the game around, the whole way around. It got our fans back into it and we were able to come back and do some things."
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bobby Carpenter[/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "At the end of the day pass rush is just raw determination and we've got a lot of determined guys in there," said OSU linebacker/defensive end Bobby Carpenter.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]David Patterson[/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "I think I do a little bit better when I play inside. I'm not a real speed guy, but I'm quick and I can use my quickness inside. I'm only about 6-1 or 6-2 and that helps me use my leverage out there.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Quinn Pitcock [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "Stanton is a great quarterback. He's an athlete. He can run the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball on the run. He's a really great quarterback," said OSU defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alex Boone [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "There were a few times when they did their blitzes that I was a little confused," said Boone.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]T. J. Downing [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "He did a great job of preparing this week, knowing he was going to be taking all the reps.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jim Bollman [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "We went back to a little more regular thing with two backs in the backfield," said Bollman.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Antonio Pittman [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "We like keeping the ball on the ground because we're very confident as offensive linemen that we can push the line of scrimmage backward and that we can put a hat on everybody and create those lanes for him to run in. We just feel like having Antonio back there we're going to get the job done because he's a helluva running back," said starting right guard T. J. Downing.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ashton Youboty [/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "His hip flexor was hurting. He ran that in on pure adrenaline. He came in (at half) and he had tears in his eyes in the training room. I felt for him. That's the kind of guys we have that are willing to give it up for the team," Carpenter said.
