OSU played nearly penalty-free football against the Spartans, and the result was an important victory.
“Being penalty-free was very important in winning the game,” junior tailback Lydell Ross said.
OSU was penalized only twice during the game for a total of 14 yards. In comparison, MSU was penalized 12 times for 89 yards.
“They had tons of them,” senior tight end Ben Hartsock said. “They are a very aggressive team, but sometimes they were overly aggressive. We’ve been preparing for that all week.”
The Spartans’ two biggest penalties came in the second quarter after Buckeye sophomore Tyler Everett’s 66-yard interception return. Facing a third-and-nine situation from the Spartan 27-yard line, MSU jumped offsides and committed a dead-ball personal foul against the Buckeyes after the play. The result was a Buckeye first down that led to the eventual go-ahead touchdown.
There were only two penalties against the Buckeyes, but one came back to haunt them. The infraction occurred midway through the first quarter when MSU faced a third-and-five situation. OSU defender Chris Gamble made contact early on a pass from senior MSU quarterback Jeff Smoker to sophomore wide receiver Aaron Alexander.
The resulting pass interference call gave the Spartans a critical third-down conversion and kept the drive alive, which resulted in a touchdown. Many fans disagreed with the call, and television replays seemed to suggest that the play was clean. But the damage was done, and Michigan State capitalized on the penalty to take an early lead.
The other OSU penalty, a delay of game call in the winding moments of the fourth quarter, had no effect on the final outcome.
The Buckeyes’ 33 points was the second-highest regulation total score of the season.
“We felt like if we could keep our penalties down, we could put more points on the board,” freshman receiver Santonio Holmes said.
Too many penalties have been costly for the Buckeyes earlier in the season. When visiting San Diego State took OSU down to the wire, the Aztecs were helped by 12 Buckeye penalties resulting in 124 yards. The Buckeyes outdid themselves the following week by committing 14 penalties for 129 yards in their triple-overtime victory against North Carolina State.
“That was something we talked about last week that we have to get better at – eliminating our penalties without eliminating the aggressive style of play that we have,” coach Jim Tressel said.
On a day when the much-maligned offense was finally rolling, the Buckeyes did not see long plays called back for holding. The Buckeyes were also not called for a single false start penalty. The result was a potent offensive attack that, at times, resembled the undefeated champions of last season.
“Our guys didn’t pop off or lose their cool,” Hartsock said. “We stayed composed, and we were able to capitalize on that.”
