 "Photo: Jill Bonnough")
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - This is the way the Buckeye coaches drew it up in the beginning of the season.
A dominating defense that not only shuts down the opposition, but scores points of its own. Sophomore Ted Ginn Jr. taking a punt return into the end zone. A 100-yard rushing day from their workhorse tailback. Junior quarterback Troy Smith dashing for a couple of scores and junior wideout Santonio Holmes coming up with a big play touchdown to top it off.
Add it all together and the result is a game like Saturday's 41-10 drubbing of Indiana, a much-needed road win that keeps No. 14 Ohio State at the top of a muddled Big Ten title race.
It wasn't the prettiest of wins - a number of Buckeye gaffes spared the Hoosiers further pain - but one that was sorely needed by an OSU team that had dropped five of its last six Big Ten outings on the road.
"It's always nice to get a win on the road," a visibly relieved coach Jim Tressel said. "We sure tried to make it interesting, but I thought our kids played hard out there."
With chants of "O-H-I-O" reverberating from OSU's sizable contingent of fans throughout a sold-out Memorial Stadium, the Buckeyes gave their fans plenty to cheer about early. Less than three minutes in, the Hoosiers gift-wrapped the Buckeyes' first score on a muffed punt return that junior safety Antonio Smith recovered at the Indiana 28. Three plays later, Smith found Holmes slanting across the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, and OSU looked poised to cruise past a Hoosiers team it hadn't lost to since 1988.
Not quite. A Smith interception at the goal line, a 98-yard Ginn touchdown return erased by sophomore linebacker Trevor Robinson's personal foul more than 20 yards behind the play and a third quarter fumble by Ginn that senior linebacker John Pannozzo stripped and returned 57 yards for the score allowed the overmatched Hoosiers to hang around until midway through the third quarter.
"It was kind of a 'You got to be kidding me' type of game," Tressel said. "But once you get done saying, 'You got to be kidding me,' you've got to get back to work."
With the score 17-10, senior guard Rob Sims echoed those thoughts.
"We just got fed up," Sims said. "Turnovers all year have been what's killing this team and keeping us from being a great team. Something needed to be done and we came back out there and put it on them."
That they did. Following the fumble, the line took over, clearing the way for a five-play, 79-yard drive that came completely on the ground. Sophomore Antonio Pittman and freshman Maurice Wells broke off long runs and Smith finished it off with a 23-yard touchdown run, his second of the day, to make it 24-10.
Later in the quarter, OSU iced the game when Indiana sophomore quarterback Blake Powers lofted an errant pass down the left sideline that was intercepted and returned 57 yards to the end zone by junior safety Brandon Mitchell.
"That was probably the back-breaker," Tressel said. "31-10 when you haven't been moving it, that probably took a little steam out of them."
Tressel was right about the Hoosiers' offense. OSU held a confident Indiana offense that came in averaging 410 yards and 29 points per game to a mind-boggling 137 yards of total offense and just three offensive points.
"We knew what they were going to do," senior linebacker Anthony Schlegel said. "Guys were flying to the ball today and we got it done."
Consistently getting pressure on Powers and doubling his favorite target, 6-foot-7 freshman receiver James Hardy, the IU offense was stifled. Powers, second in the nation with 20 touchdown passes coming in, finished the day 13-of-29 passing for 72 yards. Hardy, the Big Ten's leading receiver, managed only 27 yards on two catches.
"They always seemed to have a good idea of what we were doing," Powers said. "They weren't any faster than anybody else, but they play harder than anybody we've played."
Just for good measure, Ginn added a late fourth quarter 62-yard touchdown return, his second touchdown in as many weeks and quick redemption for his earlier fumble.
"He was Mr. Electrifying again," Sims said.
Meanwhile, the late onslaught left Indiana's first-year coach, Terry Hoeppner, to wonder what went wrong.
"It's been a long time since I've been on the receiving end of a game like that," he said.
Buckeye Notebook
BLOOMINGTON, Ind - The visiting crowd - they know their place, with their opposing colors standing out in that little corner of the stadium's upper reaches.
Tell that to Buckeye fans who every couple of years turn Bloomington into a small Ohio town. It was no different Saturday, where the 52,866 fans at Indiana's Memorial Stadium appeared to be equally divided between OSU's scarlet and Indiana's crimson and chants of "O-H-I-O" filled the stadium.
"Yeah, we hear it," junior quarterback Troy Smith said. "They had the chants going again this year. It's always great to see the support."
Indiana's first-year coach Terry Hoeppner, who has worked to bring back a previously apathetic fan base, was not as pleased. Earlier in the week, Hoeppner had said that OSU's fans would be "shocked by the enthusiasm and the vociferousness of the Hoosiers" fans. But following his team's 41-10 loss, Hoeppner appeared to back down.
"We have a long way to go," a frustrated Hoeppner said. "I'm not pointing any fingers, but we didn't make plays and we didn't create an atmosphere that we needed to create. There were still way too many scarlet and gray and too much "O-H-I-O," and I heard it."
After the Buckeyes welcome Indiana to Columbus next season, the teams will take a two-year break before their 2009 meeting in Bloomington. By then, Hoeppner said OSU fans will have trouble recognizing Memorial Stadium.
"The Buckeyes don't come back here for a while. When they do, it needs to be a completely different atmosphere," Hoeppner said. "I've got until '09 to get that fixed with the team and with the program, and that's what we'll get done.
"I can't wait for '09. You won't believe how quickly it'll get here, and I'll sit in front of you and say, 'Remember back in '05 and I told you we were going to get it fixed? We got it fixed.'"
Trouble for the stripes
The Big Ten officiating crew had its share of problems Saturday. Inadvertent whistles, "do-overs," wrongly overturned calls, bad spots and poor judgment had both sides questioning them.
None was more baffling than the crew's ruling on the second half's opening kickoff. A short kick was bobbled and dropped by senior linebacker Mike D'Andrea, with the ball rolling into Indiana's hands. However, an inadvertent whistle during the play forced Indiana to kick off again.
"It was the second inadvertent whistle of the game," Hoeppner said. "One of the officials blew the whistle, so the play is over at that point. I think its called a 'do-over.' I don't know. We had the ball and we didn't get it."
Replays also showed that the Hoosiers were short-changed on a first quarter reception by Jakheen Gilmore. The play was ruled complete, reviewed and overturned. Replays showed Gilmore catching the ball off his shoe.
Even coach Jim Tressel aired his grievances following the game. On sophomore wideout Ted Ginn Jr.'s third quarter fumble that was returned by the Hoosiers for a touchdown, Ginn's forward progress appeared to be stopped long before the ball came loose.
"I thought his progress was stopped on that, but I guess not," Tressel said.
Quick slants
Junior quarterback Justin Zwick appeared in a game for the first time since the Sept. 24 game against Iowa. He was in for one drive, completing his only pass for 12 yards. He was also sacked for a 10-yard loss. ... Sophomore tailback Antonio Pittman had 133 yards to notch his fourth 100-yard rushing day of the season. Pittman has 696 yards on the ground this season, but has still yet to find the end zone. ... Junior defensive tackle Joel Penton made his first collegiate start Saturday, and freshman offensive tackle Alex Boone started for the second consecutive week. ... Smith's two rushing touchdowns marked his fifth consecutive game with a touchdown on the ground. He has run for eight scores on the year.
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