Game Thread Game Three: #1 Ohio State 37, Cincinnati 7 (9/16/06)

[ScarletBlood31]

That is very encouraging, Roy is an excellent blocker down field. You can't put a price on that.

Especially with all of the outside runs, screen passes, and reverses that we may try to run. A good blocking WR is very valuable.

 

[iambrutus]

I'm hoping for a shutout, rush for 200+ yards, no turnovers, and hold them under 100 yards rushing. We all know the passing game works.

i agree, that would be a nice day!

 

[lvbuckeye]

I'll place a bet at Tahoe next week on the Bucks against Penn St, though, hard dollars.


:gobucks3: :gobucks4:

do us all a favor and DO NOT place a bet on the Buckeyes.
1: because the first rule of sports gambling is 'DON'T BET ON YOUR TEAM.'
2: because it's bad karma.

 

[Best Buckeye]

Our third string tailback (one of the Wells) and our third string O-line will still tear holes in the Cincy D. Do you think that Bollman will tell the QB to take a knee on every play and then kick it away?

Anyway, STILL hope we settle the game early and get out starters out of there to prevent injuries.......and get our newbies some game experience.


:gobucks3: :gobucks4:

WE can assume then that Cinci will roll over and play dead? I dont think so. And neither will the 3rd team "tear holes in their line". A lot of these players wanted to be a Buckeye and they will play hard. Also JT just might run the ball every down in the 2d half if he wants to and I wouldn't put it past him. JT and Dantoniio go back about 20 years and he isnt about to embarass him.
Buckeyes by about 20

 

[Best Buckeye]

Tomorrow I GET TO SEE THE BUCKEYES PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time to
PUMP ME UP!!!!!!!
GO BUCKEYE'S
OH-

 

[Best Buckeye]

"

Fight the Team Across the Field Fight the team across the field
Show them Ohio's here
(We've got the team why don't we)
Set the Earth reverberating
With a mighty cheer
RAH! RAH! RAH!
Hit them hard and see how they fall
Never let that team get the ball
Hail! Hail! The gang's all here
So let's win that old conference now!
(So let's beat that Michigan now!)
(Oh, Ohio! Oh, Ohio! Wahoo! Wahoo for Ohio!)
wooooohooooooooo

 

[BB73]

ozone

Bearcats Coming to Columbus to Compete, Not Just Lay Down
By John Porentas

The Cincinnati Bearcats arrived in Columbus at about 4:30 PM on Friday.
Their first stop was on the banks of the Olentangy where they walked through Ohio Stadium to get the feel of the place before their matchup with the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday. The Bearcats were business-like and focused as they got off the buses to enter the stadium. According to their Head Coach Mark Dantonio, the one thing they were not was overwhelmed.​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mark Dantonio
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Photo by Jim Davidson[/FONT]

"I asked our players to stick up their hands if they've played against Ohio State players in the past years, and 80 or 90 per cent of our players have done that. They either played along side of them or against them, and some of them played here in '04. We're ready to go," Dantonio said.
Dantonio expects his players to not be overwhelmed by the Buckeye mystique, but is respectful of OSU's lofty national ranking.
"We have players from Ohio who have played against these guys, so I don't think they're in awe, but they are the number one team in the nation. They're not number one for no reason. They have reasons they're number one," Dantonio said.
The Bearcats have been tabbed as a prohibitive underdog in the game, but Dantonio took exception to the suggestion that his team might be entering the game with a "What do we have to lose?" attitude.

"Absolutely not," said Dantonio.
"We have a lot to lose. We have credibility on the line. Why come if you don't expect to win?

"I know all of you don't think we're going to win.
"I feel like you guys are fattening me up," Dantonio quipped to reporters.

"We came up here to compete. It's a challenge for us, it's a great opportunity, you don't have an opportunity to play against number one team very often. In my 26 years of coaching this is my third time," Dantonio said.

Dantonio's first two experiences vs. number one each have a Buckeye connection. In 1998 he was he defensive coordinator on the Michigan State team that defeated then-number-one Ohio State to knock the Buckeyes from the ranks of the undefeated and out of number one. His second time out against number one was as the defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes when they defeated then-number-one Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. In case you weren't keeping track, that makes Dantonio 2-0 against number one and 1-0 vs. number one in Ohio Stadium. Like his team, Dantonio does not seemed cowed by OSU's number one ranking.

"This is an important game for us. We're the only other BCS school in the state of Ohio so we look forward to the challenge. It will be a big challenge for us, but we're looking forward to it," said Dantonio.

Dantonio's players will not be the only ones with a familiarity with their opponent this weekend. The Cincinnati coaching staff as a group as deep roots with both Jim Tressel and Ohio State. Dantonio was on Jim Tressel's staff at both Ohio State and at Youngstown State. His offensive coordinator, Don Treadwell, coached with Tressel at YSU from 1986 through 1991, in 1991 assuming the post of Tressel's offensive coordinator. Running backs coach Tim Hinton was an OSU grad assistant from 1990 through 1992 . Tight ends and tackles coach/recruiting coordinator Mark Staten was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2002 and 2003. Linebackers and special teams coach Mike Tressel is the son of OSU running backs coach Dick Tressel and was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2002 and 2003.

"If there's anybody that knows Ohio State I would imagine that we probably know them as well as anybody with my having been there, we also have two other coaches that were there and two graduate assistants that were there, so we have five people in our program that have been in the program and know a little bit about what's going on there," said Dantonio.
What Dantonio and his staff know is that the Buckeyes are pretty good this year.

"I think without question they have a very explosive offense. We need to be able to control the tempo of the game a little bit with our offense then limit their explosiveness. We've got to hope the ball bounces our way a little bit, get some turnovers. We'll have our opportunities. We've got to take advantage of those opportunities," Dantonio said.

"Their offense is very explosive, their defense is very good as well. They're young and not doing quite as much as maybe they had last year, but they're going to grow. I'm glad we're playing them the third game of the year and not the eighth. They're solid on special teams. They've got a good football team, no doubt. I don't think I have to tell anybody that. We're going to have to play our very best."​

 

[Best Buckeye]

it's 7 am and I'm leaving for the Shoe. I'm so excited

GO BUCKEYES 11

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

TimesRecorder

Cincinnati has high hopes amid low expectations
By JON SPENCER
For The Advocate




COLUMBUS -- Mike Gottfried was the last football coach to leave the University of Cincinnati with a winning record. That was a quarter century ago.
A lot has happened since then. After going 12-10 at UC in 1981-82, Gottfried turned around programs at Kansas and Pittsburgh and became a household voice as an ESPN analyst. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have gone through four more coaches, endured a string of 10 straight losing seasons and won as many as eight games only twice.

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OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1'); That track record paints a grim picture for Cincinnati entering Saturday's game against No. 1 Ohio State in the Horseshoe. UC has been cast as a 30-point underdog even though Jim Tressel has won only six games by that margin in his five-plus years as head coach of the Buckeyes.
"It shouldn't be tough to win (at Cincinnati) now," said Gottfried, who is in Iowa City today to call the game between Iowa and Iowa State for ESPN. "When I took the job we played Penn State, Alabama, Florida State, Pittsburgh with Dan Marino and South Carolina with (Heisman Trophy winner) George Rogers -- all on the road. We went to Miami the year before Howard Schnellenberger took the Hurricanes to the national championship and had them beat at the end of the game until our quarterback took it upon himself to run a sneak from the half-yard line and didn't make it.
"There wasn't a lot of room for error back then. It was really difficult because we were independent and nobody wanted to play us, and we had a murderous schedule."
On the surface, things don't look much peachier now. The Bearcats were 4-7 last season as a first-year member of the Big East. Including their 33-15 loss at home last week to Pittsburgh, they've given up an average of 40 points in their last eight defeats.
It obviously hasn't been easy on head coach Mark Dantonio, defensive wizard of the Buckeyes when they won the national championship in 2002 and finished No. 4 in 2003.
But Gottfried sees a brighter future. He even thought about pursuing a comeback at Cincinnati after Rick Minter got ousted in 2003.
"Joining the Big East was the best thing that could have ever happened," Gottfried said. "Now they have a chance at a BCS bowl bid, which should elevate recruiting and increase interest. Ohio State can't take 'em all. If they can recruit, they've got a chance."
To usher in the Big East era, an extensive renovation and upgrade of all of UC's athletics facilities has taken place. The project cost $105 million.
A win Saturday over the in-state Goliath would be priceless, especially in the 'Shoe with Ohio State coming off one of the greatest victories in school history.
"The key to getting over Texas is understanding the big picture," receiver Anthony Gonzalez said, trying to reduce the 24-7 win over the defending national championships from a museum wallhanging to a postage stamp.
"What does it mean? Not much other than we beat another team. We didn't get a ring or win a national championship. There's no reason to be thinking about that game now, as big as it was."
Quarterback Troy Smith has been around for two scares from Cincinnati. He was a redshirt freshman when the Buckeyes escaped Paul Brown Stadium with a 23-19 victory en route to the 2002 national championship. He was also a mere spectator two years ago when the Bearcats debuted under Dantonio and played OSU tough for three quarters before falling 27-6. "Supposedly, we've got our biggest test of our season out of the way, but I don't believe that," Smith said. "We have to be able to stay the course to be a complete team."

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Cincy

Opportunity knocks for Bearcats
Dantonio tries to instill can-do attitude against No. 1 Buckeyes

BY BILL KOCH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

When you're preparing to face the No. 1 team in the country, all the practice time on the field or meetings in the classroom don't mean a thing unless they're accompanied by a core belief that you can actually produce an upset.
It's one of the biggest challenges a head coach faces when his team is a 29-point underdog, as the University of Cincinnati Bearcats (1-1) are for today's 12:10 p.m. game against top-ranked Ohio State (2-0) at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
That's why UC coach Mark Dantonio has left no motivational stone unturned this week.
He has appealed to the Bearcats' pride, reminded them of their familiarity with many of the Buckeyes' players from their high school days and pointed to other upsets that he's been involved in. He's not brash enough to predict a victory, but he likes what he sees when he looks into his players' eyes.
"I see guys that want to go play," Dantonio said. "I really do. Nobody likes to be told that they can't do something. ... They want to know that given the opportunity they can do whatever they want. It's the land of freedom."
The current Bearcats have before them today an opportunity that only one other UC team in history has - the chance to beat the No. 1-ranked team in the country. The only other time that happened was in 1986 when the Bearcats were beaten by Miami (Fla.), 45-13, at Nippert Stadium.
Most observers expect a similar outcome today. Dantonio understands that.
"When you go into it playing the No. 1 team in the nation, that team should be favored by a lot or it shouldn't be the No. 1 team in the nation," Dantonio said.
The UC coach's personality is not suited to the rah-rah approach, but in his own reserved way, he appears to have convinced his players that they can accomplish the seemingly impossible.
"I think he believes it himself," said senior tight end Brent Celek. "You can have some people tell you you've got to believe, but deep down they don't really believe it or believe in you. But I think he truly believes in us."
Two years ago, Dantonio faced then-No. 9 Ohio State in his first game as a head coach. The Bearcats held their own, trailing only 10-6 late in the third quarter, before losing, 27-6.
But that was a senior-dominated team with a proven quarterback. This is a sophomore-junior dominated team that just settled on sophomore Dustin Grutza as its starting quarterback.
Still, Dantonio concedes nothing.
"He's just a positive guy," said junior free safety Haruki Nakamura. "He never doubts. He's always saying we can do things, that it's just a matter of us believing. The biggest thing is we've just got to go out there and play. You can't be afraid. None of us are afraid. Half of the guys on their team we played with in high school, so it's real personal for us."
Dantonio has told his players about 1998 when he was an assistant coach on a Michigan State team that was a 28-point underdog to Ohio State, which was ranked No. 1. The Spartans emerged from Ohio Stadium with a 28-24 upset victory.
He has also peppered the UC locker room with signs that read, "This is a game you'll never forget. How do you want to remember it?"
"To go up there with any thought other than to win shouldn't enter our minds," Dantonio said. "If it does, then we shouldn't be here.
"When I look at our players right now, I see great preparation. I see great excitement. I see resolve. We'll see."

UC at No. 1 OSUKickoff: 12:10 p.m., today

Site: Ohio Stadium (102,329), Columbus

Records: UC 1-1, OSU 2-0

TV: ESPN Regional, Channel 19

Radio: WCKY-AM (1530), WPFB-AM (910), WAOL-FM (99.5), WOXY-FM (97.7)

Series: OSU leads 12-2

Line: OSU by 29

UC Team Stats OSU 333.5Offense avg.41882Avg. by rush126251.5Avg. by pass292303.5Defense avg.334.581.5Avg. by rush161.5222Avg. by pass17323Avg. points for29.516.5Avg. points against9.5

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OHIO STATE DEFENSE
PLAYING THE NUMBERS GAME

With bigger tests ahead, defense looks to step up

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

LT DAVID PATTERSON SCORING AVERAGE 9.5 POINTS PER GAME

RE VERNON GHOLSTON AGAINST THE RUN 161.5 YARDS PER GAME

FS NICK PATTERSON AGAINST THE PASS 173.0 YARDS PER GAME

Sift through the platitudes and clichs, and coaches at times make revealing comments.
Earlier this week, Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio was analyzing the Ohio State defense heading into the game today. He went position by position, exhaustively praising the Buckeyes? talent, speed and physical play.
And there, eventually, was the salient point.
"I?m glad we?re playing them the third game," Dantonio said.
That says two things: The defense likely will be very good eventually, but at this stage of the season, problems still exist.
The top-ranked Buckeyes have surrendered only 19 points in two victories and have come up with three crucial takeaways. But they?ve yet to stop the run, and teams have been curiously shy about throwing downfield against a green secondary.
Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins was asked whether he was surprised Ohio State hasn?t been tested downfield. He smiled.
"It?s only been two games," Jenkins said. "I?m pretty sure we?re going to get tested in upcoming weeks."
That?s important to remember before going too far in analyzing the Buckeyes defense. It has played only two games, not a big enough sample. It remains a work in progress, which is one reason why the head-spinning rotation promises to continue at least through the game against Dantonio?s Bearcats.
Last week at Texas, at least 22 defenders played, most by the end of the first quarter. Some of the rotation was to combat the heat, but some of it was because coaches still are trying to pick the best 11.
Competition remains fierce at linebacker, where Marcus Freeman, John Kerr, Larry Grant, Curtis Terry and Ross Homan are fighting for two spots. Other notable competitions are at free safety (Anderson Russell and Nick Patterson) and boundary cornerback (Antonio Smith and Donald Washington).
"We talk to our team all the time about the fact that a lot of guys are going to play, and people are going to have to show over time that they may become a starter," coach Jim Tressel said.
Maybe the most surprising aspect of the first two weeks has been opponents? emphasis on the short-passing game.
Northern Illinois completed just six passes to receivers, for 37 yards with a long of 14. Quarterback Phil Horvath was pressured often and mostly dumped off to running back Garrett Wolfe (114 receiving yards).
Last week, Texas completed nine passes to receivers for 70 yards, with a long of 18. Quarterback Colt McCoy?s longest completion of 29 yards came when he underthrew running back Selvin Young, who made a nice adjustment to come back to the ball.
Jenkins had stellar coverage, particularly on Limas Sweed (three receptions, 37 yards).
"We didn?t let anyone behind us last game, which is the No. 1 thing," Tressel said. "I think it?s a pretty good coverage unit."
Cincinnati might break the trend. Unlike Northern Illinois and Texas, the Bearcats lack a top-shelf running back, so their only chance might be to take shots downfield.On the other hand, the Buckeyes? soft run defense might tempt Dantonio to pound it. The Buckeyes are 85 th out of 119 Division I-A teams in run defense.
"It?s a major concern," Freeman said. "People look at the score (24-7 at Texas) and say we only gave up seven points, but we say, ?Yeah, but we still gave up 170 yards (rushing).? We just want to get better every week and decrease that number."
Linebacker James Laurinaitis said that has been emphasized this week in practice.
"Run defense is something we pride ourselves on, and we?ve got to get better at that," he said. "Coaches have been cracking down. Maybe we need a sense of urgency, treat every series like we?re in the red zone. We?ve got to do that every series."
Of the defense in general, Dantonio said, "They?re playing very fast and physical, and you don?t see a lot of mental mistakes. They?re just starting to mature and will only continue to get better."
He hopes it doesn?t all come together today.
Dispatch reporter Bob Baptist contributed to this story.
[email protected]

Dispatch

COMMENTARY
Is this offense passing fancy for Tressel?

Saturday, September 16, 2006

ROB OLLER

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Troy needs to run more.
He has legs, so use them. Sure, he?s a good passer, but it would help to put a few more designed quarterback runs into the game plan. C?mon, Tress, why not take advantage of the situation?
Sigh. No question surprises Jim Tressel anymore. Just last season, every scarlet and gray armchair quarterback wondered why Troy Smith was running so much. Now, they want him to run more.
The Ohio State coach is making it clear, however, that he will do what he sees fit, even if his actions don?t fit with what has become the Tressel method of operation: run first, throw second, punt, repeat.
So no outsider?s question surprises Tress, but his latest answer surprises a lot of us. His response to queries whether he would finally fully open the offense is that he has run Smith less while vexing opponents with a more vertical passing game.
Surprise, surprise, the guy does evolve better than a triceratops. The Buckeyes ran 55 plays against Texas last Saturday, of which 29 were called pass plays.
"Woody would be disappointed," Tressel said Thursday, nervously looking skyward as if worried about a laser-aimed lightning bolt.
Does a pass more-run less ratio disappoint Tress, too? Not at all.
"I?ve always been a guy who is more than happy to throw, as long as you?re throwing well and not throwing it to them," he said.
Still, a believe-it-when-I-see-it skepticism owned the day when Ohio State opened the season against Northern Illinois on Sept. 2, despite the Buckeyes boasting as many offensive options as at any time during Tressel?s six-year tenure.
Smith is more athletically gifted than Craig Krenzel, Ted Ginn Jr. is faster than Michael Jenkins and Anthony Gonzalez runs routes as well or better than Santonio Holmes, an impressive scouting report considering Jenkins and Holmes play in the NFL and Krenzel started a few games there.
The numbers through two games, however, suggest the conservative Tressel is leaning toward a more moderate approach to offense. He?s not yet a liberal, but much more of this and don?t be surprised if he trades his sweater vest for a turtleneck.
The Buckeyes? passing game is averaging 11 yards per attempt and 15.8 yards per completion, compared with 6.5 and 10.2 through two games last season (the final season stats were 9.0 and 13.8). Part of the difference is Smith, whose presence in the pocket allows him to wait a split-second longer for receivers to break free downfield. He also is more accurate, completing 68.6 percent of his passes compared with 62.9 last season. Part is the offensive line, which is giving Smith excellent protection so that he doesn?t need to scramble as much, and part of it is play calling, which Tressel handles.
In 2005, Smith carried 27 times for 114 yards in his first two games. He has eight rushes for minus-14 yards entering the home game today against Cincinnati.
"The option and called quarterback runs have had a place in our game plans the first two games. We just haven?t seen the times to use them based on what our opponent was doing," Tressel said. "But everybody in the country knows that will be a part of who we are."
Expect Ohio State to feature its running game more against Cincinnati.
"For us to become an even better team we?re going to have to be a better running team," Tressel said.
But sea change is in the air. Where once the running game ran roughshod over the passing game, Tressel now sounds like a man willing to throw Woodyball to the wind.
"We haven?t met our goal (of 200 yards rushing) either week," he said. "But that doesn?t mean we?re just going to line up and no matter what defense you?re in we?re going to run the football." Who would have thought that the coach who can be stubborn as a mule is beginning to look as liberal as a donkey? Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch. [email protected]

Dispatch

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Dispatch

CINCINNATI
Cornerbacks welcome task of covering Ginn

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

AL BEHRMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Northland graduate John Bowie, right, was unable to stop a 55-yard touchdown pass to Pittsburgh?s Derek Kinder last week.


John Bowie and Mike Mickens were track stars in high school. Mickens won a state title in the 330-meter hurdles for Huber Heights Wayne. Bowie ran a 10.5-second 100 meters for Northland.
A series of injuries at the University of Cincinnati kept Bowie, a cornerback, from pursuing the sprints in college until last spring, when he won the Big East 100 meters.
Long story short, Bowie and Mickens, also a cornerback, are fast. Yet to be determined is if they?re fast enough to cover Ted Ginn Jr.
"We both want him," Bowie said.
They?ll get their wish today when the Bearcats play Ohio State in Ohio Stadium.
"We have to stop the big play," Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio said. "Somehow."
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns at Texas last week. Big pass plays fried the Bearcats in a 33-15 loss to Pittsburgh.
Bowie and free safety Haruki Nakamura missed tackles on an 80-yard touchdown reception by Pittsburgh?s Derek Kinder on the first play of the second half. Less than seven minutes later, Kinder shoved Bowie out of the way ? though Bowie was flagged for pass interference ? to make a catch that he turned into a 55-yard touchdown.
Pittsburgh gained 267 yards passing on only 11 completions.
"We need to play the ball (better) on the deep part of the field, and judge it," Dantonio said. "We?ve been good at that, but (Pittsburgh) made a couple of great catches (and was) able to make gains there."
It was a point of emphasis in practice this week.
"We need to go up and get the ball rather than let the ball come to us. That?s what Coach has been talking about, making plays on the ball," Bowie said. "Once you let it come down and give the receiver a chance to make a play on the ball, it?s 50-50. If you go up and get it, you?ve got a better chance of either breaking it up or intercepting it."
Bowie does not have a pass breakup or interception in the first two games but does lead the Bearcats in tackles. Bowie and DeAngelo Smith, a sophomore cornerback from Independence, have two of the team?s three fumble recoveries. Smith also has an interception. Mickens has broken up four passes.
"We have to stop the big play, force them into turnovers, and there?s no question we have to win the turnover margin," Dantonio said. "Those are things that are key."
If that happens, the Bearcats could find themselves in the same position they were the past three times they played Ohio State. They lost by four points in 1999 and 2002 and trailed by only four points late in the third quarter two years ago before the Buckeyes pulled away for a 27-6 win.
"That?s where you want to be. You want to be in that position where you have a chance," Dantonio said. "But you have to be able to stop Ted Ginn and you?ve got to be able to stop (Anthony) Gonzalez. You?ve got to be able to stop the run, too. That presents a lot of problems."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

Cincinnati at Ohio State
Saturday, September 16, 2006

Ohio State wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez tries to get away fromNorthern Illinois linebacker Cory Hanson after catching a pass during the season opener. Gonzalez set a career high with eight receptions during the Buckeyes? 24-7 win over Texas last Saturday. OSU hosts Cincinnati today.​

TV ESPN Regional (WUAB Channel 43). Wayne Larrivee will call the play-by-play with Kelly Stouffer providing analysis.
RADIO Ohio State Radio Network (WHBC-AM 1480, WKNR-AM 850, WAKR-AM 1590) with Paul Keels, Jim Lachey and Marty Bannister.
ODDS Ohio State is 30-point favorite. OSU is 2-0 against the spread. The Buckeyes won three games by more than 30 points last year (Indiana, Illinois and Northwestern).
THE SERIES Ohio State holds a 12-2 advantage and has not lost to Cincinnati since being shut out 24-0 in 1897 in Cincinnati. The Bearcats? other win was 1896. OSU won, 23-19, in 2002 at Paul Brown Stadium.
THEY?RE FROM CINCINNATI Massillon Washington High grad and actor David Canary is a UC alum. Former Vice President Charlie G. Dawes (Calvin Coolidge), who helped manage William McKinley?s presidential campaign in Illinois, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1886. Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax was a walk-on basketball player who later earned a work-study scholarship.
GETTING TO KNOW MARK DANTONIO The veteran coach took the long road to major college coaching. After graduating from South Carolina in 1979, Dantonio was named an assistant that year at Anderson Westside High in South Carolina. The Zanesville High graduate was a graduate assistant at Ohio University in 1980, then Purdue in 1981. In 1982, he was defensive coordinator at Butler Community College before he joined Earle Bruce?s staff in 1983-84 as a grad assistant. Jim Dennison hired him at Akron for a season, then Jim Tressel brought him to his staff at Youngstown State from 1986-90. Dantonio left YSU for a four-year stint at Kansas as defensive backs coach, then spent six years as a defensive assistant and associate head coach at Michigan State. Tressel hired him at Ohio State as defensive coordinator in 2001. Dantonio is 12-13 in three years at Cincinnati.
WHEN OSU HAS THE BALL OSU can do just about what it wants physically. The Buckeyes hold a 60-pound average advantage on the OL vs. Cincinnati?s DL. Bearcat DT Tony Carvitti weighs just 235 and he will have a tough time in run defense against OSU C Doug Datish, RG T.J. Downing and LG Tim Schaffer. However, Carvitti is a decent pass rusher. In addition to be undersized up front, Cincinnati has one senior and six freshmen. DT Terrill Byrd is the best DT. OSU QB Troy Smith will see plenty of familiar faces on the UC defense. DEs Angelo Craig and Curtis Young went to Glenville High School, Smith?s alma mater. Look for the Buckeyes to get Smith his numbers (close to 300 yards passing) and WR Ted Ginn Jr. his. If Ginn gets matched up with Mike Mickens, it could be a long afternoon for the Bearcats. Mickens tends to get beat deep, but he leads the team in passes defensed. The LBs are solid, but it isn?t often they see the speed and power of RBs Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells. Tressel would like to get his starters work, then give way to backups. It may the best chance Justin Zwick has to show off for NFL scouts. UC?s defense is Dantonio?s forte, and Pitt struggled at times last week but won in Cincinnati. The Panthers had big plays, something Dantonio knows he can?t afford this afternoon. The UC coverage team is suspect.
WHEN CINCINNATI HAS THE BALL The Bearcats don?t know what they do well offensively because the QB position has been unsettled. They will start Dustin Grutza, who has 13 consecutive starts. He played well against Pitt, but tends to look for WR Dominick Goodman to bail him out. Goodman (6-foot-1, 200) leads the team with 12 catches. The Bearcats are a balanced offense, but have thrown the ball more. RB Bradley Glatthaar leads the team with a 4.9 average, but he has gained just 83 yards in two games. Jacob Ramsey, a true freshman from Brother Rice High School, could be interesting to watch. The OL can be good, but look for OSU DE Vernon Gholston to have a big day rushing the passer. Cincinnati has allowed four sacks, including three last week against Pitt. NOTABLE Three Stark County players are on the Cincinnati roster. Massillon RT J.P. Simon is a 6-6, 310-pounder listed as the second team tackle. McKinley?s Brad Jones and Marlington?s Taylor Porter look like they need another year of seasoning before being regular contributors. ... The Bearcats are 146-158-30 against Ohio teams. ... This is Hall of Fame weekend. Seven men and four women were inducted Friday and will be honored at halftime. Ted Provost, Eddie George, both All Americans, are the only football players. ... Former QB Craig Krenzel will serve as honorary captain. He was 24-3 as a starter. ... OSU is tied for the second longest win streak in the nation at nine. TCU has the longest, but faces a test against Texas Tech today. ... Smith has thrown 29 career TD passes and just seven interceptions. He is OSU?s all-time completions leader with 61 percent. ... Tressel is 19-2 in September at OSU. His lone losses were at UCLA in his first year and Texas last year. ... The Buckeyes are 42-11-1 against Big East teams. ... OSU opens Big Ten play next week in Columbus against Penn State. It?s a rematch of the Big Ten co-champions. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Long odds won't faze Bearcats at Ohio State
By C. Trent Rosecrans
Post staff reporter

UC head coach Mark Dantonio has been part of a team that pulled off a big upset at Ohio Stadium, and he hopes to do it again today.
Mark Dantonio has seen these odds before.
The University of Cincinnati is a 30-point underdog in today's game at Ohio State. Eight years ago, Dantonio was the secondary coach for Michigan State. The Spartans were 28-point underdogs to the No. 1 Buckeyes.
Michigan State left Ohio Stadium with a 28-24 victory over the Buckeyes, who wouldn't lose another game that season.
"If you can start fast and you stay steady and stay close, you start believing you can do it," Dantonio said.
That's what happened in 1998, and Dantonio thinks it can happen again - even if he realizes nobody outside the Bearcat locker room agrees.
"To go up there with any other thought but to win shouldn't enter our minds," Dantonio said. "If it does, then we shouldn't go up there."
The Buckeyes are coming off a big win at then-No. 2 Texas last week, and Dantonio points to letdown games across the country. Last week Florida State had to rally to beat Troy, a week after the Seminoles topped in-state rival Miami. Tennessee struggled with Air Force after its big win over Cal, a team that had been ranked in the Top 10.
"You never know what's going to happen, that's why you play the game," Dantonio said. "It's a game of execution; we need to execute. They need to have some miscues, obviously."
Dantonio has mentioned the 1998 Michigan State-Ohio State game to his team, but Thursday he said he hadn't told his team the full story. The complete story was scheduled to be told sometime before today's 12:05 kickoff.
"Nobody gives you a chance; that makes it personal," Dantonio said. "We have to play one play at a time, play as hard as we can."
Dantonio's first game at UC was at Ohio Stadium against his former boss, Jim Tressel. The Bearcats played the game conservatively, but were trailing by only four points, 10-6, with only a few minutes left in the third quarter.
In 2002, when Dantonio was serving as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator, the Buckeyes survived a spirited Bearcat squad 23-19 at Paul Brown Stadium.
Although the Bearcats haven't won a game between the two schools since 1897, they have made it close.
"They're playing hard, and they're playing all the way to the end whether they're ahead or behind," Tressel said. "What I see from an impression standpoint is that we're going to have a Cincinnati team coming in here that is going to play lights out, they're going to hit us in the mouth and they're going to play as hard as you can possibly play. And that's what we need."
Even with more than 100,000 fans in the stands, the environment shouldn't be completely foreign to the Bearcats. UC played at Ohio State two years ago and at Penn State's Beaver Stadium last season.
"I think it's more fun, more challenging. You really get into the game and really focus," said quarterback Dustin Grutza, who had his best game of the season last year against Penn State. "We've got to get out there and focus on what we do in practice. We get to play the No. 1 team in the country. You don't always get to do that. It's a big game for us. It'd be great to go up there and win."
With a roster made up predominately of Ohioans, this game is of the utmost importance to the Bearcats.
"This is an important game for that reason alone," Dantonio said. "We have a lot of guys who played against the players on Ohio State's team and been successful. We have some guys who have played with players from that team, so they understand how good they are and because of that they aren't in awe of the situation. That's a positive thing because our players are going to see those players for the rest of their life."
Each UC player has a sign in his locker in the Lindner Center that says, "This is the game you will remember for the rest of your life. How do you want to remember it?"
That question will be answered today.

 

[BuckeyeRyn]

So many articles not enough cheer!!!! It's game day people...


O-H!!!!

 

[SanAntonioBuck]

Let's go BUCKS!!!!!