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

[808 Buck]

I like victories early in the day. Makes my watching of the other games more enjoyable.

 

[Buckeye1]

Okay, who had UC plus 29.5...? :tongue2:

I picked Cincy, but I will take a 52 yard field goal over any vwhatever!!

 

[ZachDumas]

Quick post game first look thoughts...

Offense...

--Coach D is still a great mind. He had Troy confused early and forced some great adjustments from the O staff.

--HOWEVER, I view the above as a plus for this team and staff....we showed a multi-dimensional attack and the ability to play different styles. That is a preparation nightmare for future opponents.

--The OL was not focused today. False starts, holding calls, and flat out getting beat...that was disappointing.

--Troy was efficient and never showed any frustration or a need to take the game into his own hands. He forced some things early and then settled into the game. Another quality performance.

--The WR corps are DEEP...pick your poison.

--JZ is the best backup in the country and would start at 95% of the D-1 programs. He will be in the NFL...mark it down.

--Beanie will not take over for Pitt...Antonio runs with a purpose and knows where he is going. The challenge was given...and he has accepted.

--A few years back, the cries for offensive adjustments were frequent...those questions should never be heard again.

Defense...

DLine--Unreal performance from Quinn Pitcock. He is an All-American. However, as a unit, they were undisciplined early...once settled, they dominated the LOS.

LBS--Laurinaitis is a stud. Period. Anyone doubting him now is clueless. Kerr and Freeman need to step it up...I was not impressed at all with Kerr and Freeman was around the ball but was not applying the proper force expected from a tOSU LB. I don't see practice every day but I do see who is making plays when they are "in the heat." Grant, terry, and Homan are looking like gamers to me. However, as stated, Im assuming they are making too many big mistakes in practice...

DBs--Jenkins is a non-issue. Close that book and forget about that side of the field. Kid is a player. Smith is steady enough to give the young kids time to improve. Russell will be a stud and I love his effort. I was hard on BMitch early but he has been adequate...not a gamechanger nor will he make the BIG play...but he is where he needs to be.

Special teams...

Improved kicking game...Pettrey is settling in and Pretorious is showing he isn't rolling over just yet.

AJ will win a Ray Guy before he leaves...

Kickoff team was not ready for a non-touchback...don;t get spolied boys.

Just a first look...havent watched it a second time yet.

I agree, but those questions will be heard again. Tress/Boll have gotten better with 5 years DI experience under their belts, but they also have one of the premier athletic groups that college football has seen in a long while.

I am impressed by two significant changes in the offensive strategy thus far:

1. Play-action passing be utilized much more (although ball handling still has a ways to go);

2. Quite a bit of throwing on 1st down, run on 2nd down which is a change from previous years.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

No. 1 Ohio State picks up steam, stomps Cincy

Smith throws two touchdowns for Buckeyes (3-0)



COLUMBUS, Ohio - Troy Smith threw two touchdown passes to lead Ohio State to a 37-7 win over Cincinnati on Saturday.
The No. 1-ranked Buckeyes started slow, trailing for most of the first half, but scored 34 unanswered points to crush their in-state rival and stay unbeaten on the season.

 

[Steve19]

I like 11 yards total rushing by Cincinnatti. I really like that.

 

[osugrad21]

I agree, but those questions will be heard again. .

No doubt they will be heard again, but both have proven enough prowess that they SHOULDN'T be heard again.

 

[osugrad21]

Link



NCAA Game Summary - Cincinnati at Ohio State


(Saturday, September 16th) Final Score: (1) Ohio State 37, Cincinnati 7
Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Troy Smith threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ted Ginn Jr., as top-ranked Ohio State shook off a sluggish start and rolled to a 37-7 victory over Cincinnati at Ohio Stadium.
Smith completed 21-of-30 passes for 203 yards and Antonio Pittman ran for 155 yards with a touchdown for the Buckeyes (3-0), who trailed 7-3 after the first quarter but scored 34 unanswered points to blow it open. Ginn caught five passes for 33 yards in the victory.
Ohio State survived the trap game, as the Buckeyes were coming off a 24-7 win at Texas last week and may have been looking ahead to next Saturday's Big Ten opener against Penn State.
Cincinnati (1-2) has dropped two straight, also losing last week against Pittsburgh after a season-opening win against Eastern Kentucky. Next for the Bearcats will be another undefeated ranked opponent with a visit to Virginia Tech next Saturday.
Dustin Grutza threw for 202 yards with two interceptions and a touchdown for the Bearcats, who fell to 2-13 all-time against Ohio State, including 0-8 in Columbus.
The Buckeyes led just 13-7 at the break, but Smith capped an eight-play, 60- yard march with a nine-yard scoring strike to Ginn midway through the third quarter.
Ohio State scored again just over five minutes into the fourth when Pittman broke free down the left sideline for a 48-yard touchdown run.
Cincinnati could not dent the Ohio State defense in the second half and an interception by Anderson Russell after the Pittman score set up another Buckeye touchdown march.
Justin Zwick took over for Smith and engineered a five-play, 72-yard drive for a score. He completed passes of 36 and 27 yards on consecutive plays before Maurice Wells scored on a nine-yard run to make it 34-7 with 7:45 remaining.
Backup kicker Ryan Pretorius drilled a 52-yard field goal with 1:14 left to account for the final margin.
The Buckeyes outgained the Bearcats 444-212.
Ohio State's first possession ended with a 47-yard field goal by Aaron Pettrey for a 3-0 lead.
Cincinnati then responded with an 80-yard drive for a touchdown. Grutza hit Derrick Stewart with a 28-yard pass on the first play and added a 23-yard run before tossing a 22-yard scoring strike to Jared Martin with 6:36 left in the first quarter.
The Bearcats could not take advantage of field position at their own 44 on the next series and the Buckeyes added a 43-yard field goal from Pettrey early in the second quarter to pull within 7-6.
A 53-yard kickoff return by Dominick Goodman then gave Cincinnati the ball at the Ohio State 47, but the Bearcats again were forced into a quick three and out.
The Buckeyes took over at their own 20 and needed nine plays to score the go- ahead touchdown. Smith converted an early third down with a nine-yard pass and keyed the series with a 33-yard connection to Anthony Gonzalez to set up 1st- and-goal at the six.
Smith followed with a touchdown scamper on the next play, but it was called back for holding and he got his team into the end zone soon after with a 12- yard scoring pass to Ginn with three minutes left in the half.
Cincinnati tried to answer before the break and marched to the Ohio State 42 in the final minute. Grutza then tried to loft a pass over the Buckeye defense to a wide open teammate, but James Laurinaitis made a leap to tip the ball and caught the deflection for an interception near the 20-yard line.
Game Notes
Grutza was sacked seven times. He completed 18-of-22 passes...Cincinnati lost for the first time in eight games when holding a first-quarter lead under head coach Mark Dantonio, who served as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State for three seasons...Cincinnati lost its only other meeting with a top-ranked team, falling to Miami-Florida in 1986.[FONT=arial, sans serif] [/FONT]

 

[BB73]

Congratulations to the first South African to score for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.​

Feel free to send a memo to Sean McDonough, who called a 26-year-old kicker in the BC-BYU game the 'oldest kicker in the country'. Pretorius is 27.

 

[osugrad21]

Yahoo

Top-ranked OSU thumps Cincinnati 37-7

By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer 10 minutes ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State took awhile to get untracked before Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. hooked up on two touchdown passes and the top-ranked Buckeyes rolled to a 37-7 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday.
Much like its win at Texas last week, Ohio State was overpowering when it had to be and always seemed to come up with a big play at the right time.
The defense held the Bearcats (1-2) to minus-4 yards on 22 attempts. The Buckeyes (3-0) had eight sacks for minus 59 yards.
Still, they didn't have a firm grip on the game until tailback Antonio Pittman raced 48 yards around left end for a score with 10 minutes remaining to push the lead to 27-7. Pittman finished with 155 yards on 16 carries.
Smith, who tossed passes to Ginn when both were at Cleveland's Glenville High, completed 21-of-30 passes for 203 yards before taking most of the fourth quarter off.
Ginn was limited to five catches for 33 yards, including touchdowns of 12 and 9 yards.
Linebacker James Laurinaitis, who had an interception and forced a fumble against Texas, ended a drive by the Bearcats by picking off a pass late in the half. Malcolm Jenkins and Anderson Russell also had interceptions for the Buckeyes, who open Big Ten play next week at home against Penn State.
Leading just 13-7 at the half, Ohio State got some breathing room on its second possession of the third quarter. Pittman had runs of 13, 6, 8 and 11 yards and Smith hit Anthony Gonzalez for 13 yards to give the Buckeyes a first down at the 9. Smith then found Ginn, who was crossing over the middle, ducking inside a potential tackler for the touchdown.
After Pittman's touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State cruised 72 yards in just 1:43 ? with mostly subs on the field ? to score on Maurice Wells' 9-yard run.
The opening half was not easy for the Buckeyes, who have a 12-2 record against the Bearcats and have not lost in the series since 1897.
Ohio State drove 28 yards after forcing UC to punt on its first possession, taking a 3-0 lead on Aaron Pettrey's 47-yard field goal.
But the Bearcats didn't back down.
Grutza tossed a 28-yard pass to Derrick Stewart on first down and later scrambled for 23 yards. Jared Martin then caught his first career pass for a 22-yard touchdown from Grutza. Kevin Lovell's kick gave the Bearcats a 7-3 lead.
Grutza finished 18-of-22 for 202 yards with two interceptions.
All Ohio State was able to muster in its next three possessions was another Pettrey field goal but the Buckeyes finally got untracked in the final minutes of the half.
Smith connected on all six of his passes for 79 yards in an impressive drive that put them on top to stay. The key plays were Smith's 33-yard gainer to Gonzalez, who was pulled down when Dominic Ross grabbed his jersey and held on tight, and the 12-yard TD pass to Ginn that capped the 80-yard march.
Amid all the big plays, Ohio State's offense was hurt by penalties. They were flagged eight times for 75 yards.

 

[nwbuckeye]

Ginn better halt his DSanders "afraid of contact" deal if he wants to play in the league. That won't fly at the next level.

Feel free to correct me here but I tend to agree with this. I only have TV coverage to watch each play but have seen this from TG on a number of occasions. Last year watching others scramble for the ball he just fumbled, not blocking downfield through the whistle, and finally too much dancing around on punts. Pick a lane and go, nobody is gonna catch him if the makes the right decision. He is obviously one of the handfull of best players in the country at the moment, but this seems to be his one achille's heel.

 

[sandgk]

I like 11 yards total rushing by Cincinnatti. I really like that.

Likewise, Cincy came in with a poor rep for rushing the football - but keeping them that low is a huge boost for the run D statistics. Keep it up next week against State Penn!

The pass stats on D were also very encouraging, more so with the take-aways than the yards, 3 INTs
and even the yards given up were low at a net of 176

Now, all we need is to cut out the mistakes, the penalties and this team can roll, and roll and roll.

 

[osugrad21]

not blocking downfield through the whistle

He made a great downfield block on Pitt's run today...

 

[nwbuckeye]

He made a great downfield block on Pitt's run today...

That he did and has done in the past. But I also saw him watching the end of one of Pitts runs from a few feet away when he could of been hitting somebody; the whistle hadnt blown yet and maybe Pitt breaks it for more yards if everybody holds their blocks until the play is over. shrug. Having never played at that level I cant be too critical, but it seems he is too tentative back there at times. Just my two cents :)

 

[osugrad21]

I agree with your two cents...no doubt. Sometimes WRs release blocks instead of getting a holding flag though...stalk blocking is an art. Holmes was excellent.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

--JZ is the best backup in the country and would start at 95% of the D-1 programs. He will be in the NFL...mark it down.

I saw a lot of Zwick bashing in this thread - the kid is a back-up to arguably the greatest QB in the history of Ohio State football, so give him a break. If Troy goes down with an injury, JZ will at least keep the Bucks in the game/season. It's quite a luxury to have a back-up QB of that quality.

--Beanie will not take over for Pitt...Antonio runs with a purpose and knows where he is going. The challenge was given...and he has accepted.

I have to agree here. I thought that CWells would be starting by the end of the year, but Pittman has improved his game, even since the beginning of the season. Pitt always runs hard, but today he showed excellent vision and decent mobility. His only problem is that he is a bit slow, and sometimes gets caught in the hole, when a player with a bit more burst (like CWells) would be through it.

LBS--Laurinaitis is a stud. Period. Anyone doubting him now is clueless.

Comparing Laurinaitis to Buckeye All-American MLB's as sophomores, I'd say that he is behind Spielman and Katzenmoyer, but ahead of Wilhelm and Tovar - he's in good company. Little Animal will be an All-American someday.

Kerr and Freeman need to step it up...I was not impressed at all with Kerr and Freeman was around the ball but was not applying the proper force expected from a tOSU LB. I don't see practice every day but I do see who is making plays when they are "in the heat." Grant, terry, and Homan are looking like gamers to me. However, as stated, Im assuming they are making too many big mistakes in practice...

I didn't expect much from Kerr, other than effort, which he has provided. Freeman has been the biggest disappointment so far - he's tentative and just not making plays. Look for Terry and Homan to be inserting into the starting line-up in the near future.

DBs--Jenkins is a non-issue.

Future All-American. Ohio State is "Cornerback U", but not only do our corners cover, they hit hard.

AJ will win a Ray Guy before he leaves...

Once again proving the importance of the punt....