COMMENTARY
Laurinaitis makes name for himself with plays
Sunday, September 10, 2006
BOB HUNTER
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AUSTIN, Texas ? When James Laurinaitis wakes up this morning, he might find himself in a different world than the one he knew before.
Before last night, he was largely known as the true freshman who was thrust into the Ohio State-Michigan game when Bobby Carpenter suffered a broken ankle on the first play. With Carpenter still out, Laurinaitis subsequently started against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, but for most football fans he was still pretty much a vaguely familiar name on a mostly anonymous defense.
Not anymore. In one night ? on one play, really ? Laurinaitis became a familiar name to most of the college football world. A nationally televised game almost certain to be one of the most-watched games all season became something of a James Laurinaitis commercial.
It?s amazing how fast it happened. Texas chewed up the Ohio State defense on a 79-yard drive and was about to score first when the sophomore linebacker knocked the ball out of flanker Billy Pittman?s hands at the 1-yard line. OSU teammate Donald Washington scooped it up and ran 49 yards to midfield, a momentum shift that helped the Buckeyes to a 50-yard scoring drive of their own.
Just like that, what seemed certain to be a 7-0 Longhorns lead was 7-0 Buckeyes, a 14-point swing. Ohio State eventually won 24-7.
"I was just trying to pursue to the ball a little bit," Laurinaitis said. "I knew he was going to try to cut it up, and I knew on a play like that you don?t let them get any momentum going toward the end zone. So I just laid my body and threw my arms through and luckily the ball popped out and Donald made a good play scooping it up."
Luck or skill, the Texas offense never seemed quite the same after that. The Longhorns managed their lone scoring drive late in the first half, but on the third play of the second half Laurinaitis was back in front of the cameras.
Texas had gained a first down on two rushing plays by Jamaal Charles, and when quarterback Colt McCoy dropped back on first-and-10 from his own 31, he fired a pass that seemed aimed right at the Buckeyes middle linebacker.
Laurinaitis grabbed it and rambled 25 yards to the 21, and four plays later Aaron Pettrey kicked a 31-yard field to make it 17-7.
"That?s basically some luck in there," Laurinaitis said. "Our D-line had some good pressure on that play. ? Maybe he felt pressure just to throw the ball up. It hit me right in the chest, really."
Still, there is no denying that the sophomore made the two biggest plays in a nationally televised game that was the earliest matchup between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in college football history.
That Laurinaitis had potential was never in question, but his transformation from good young player to potential star was as sudden as it was dramatic.
"We felt that James could be a big part of our defense," coach Jim Tressel said.
But this big?
The context of it made it seem entirely plausible. Laurinaitis? rise pretty much paralleled that of the entire defense. With nine new starters, the unit appeared to be the team?s biggest worry heading to Austin. As it turned out, the defense held Texas, a team that had a 12-game streak of scoring at least 40 points, to seven.
"I was really happy with some guys stepping up," senior defensive tackle David Patterson said. "You know this is the biggest game some of these guys have ever played in, and they really stepped up to the challenge."
Need a name?
By now, most OSU fans can probably even spell Laurinaitis.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for the Dispatch.
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