Football
By the Numbers
By Jeff Amey

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The 2005 Ohio State football regular season ended on Saturday with the Buckeyes taking a trip up north to take on that team we love to hate, the Michigan Wolverines. The game ended with the Buckeyes winning their fourth in the last five games between these teams, 25-21, and second in the last three at Ann Arbor. It was a day that saw Troy Smith elevate himself to near-legendary status in this rivalry with another spectacular performance.

Let's take a look at the stats before we get into the game.

Run/Pass Breakdown

72 Total Plays--420 yards--5.8 ypp

37 pass (51%)--27/37 for 301 yards 1 TD

35 runs (49%) for 119 yards 2 TD--3.4 ypc

10 Total Drives

ave. of 7.2 plays--42.0 yards

ave. start--OSU 24

1st Down--34 plays (47%) for 213 yards

17 pass (50%)--14/17 for 178 yards 1 TD

17 runs (50%) for 35 yards--2.1 ypc

ave. gain of 6.3 yards

2nd Down--26 plays (36%) for 133 yards

11 pass (42%)--7/11 for 55 yards

15 runs (58%) for 78 yards 2 TD--5.2 ypc

ave. of 6.9 yards to go

ave. gain of 5.1 yards

3rd Down--12 plays (17%) for 74 yards

9 pass (75%)--7/9 for 68 yards

3 runs (25%) for 6 yards--2.0 ypc

ave. of 6.3 yards to go

ave. gain of 6.2 yards

conversions--6/12 (50%)

Playaction Passing

9/11 for 117 yards 1 TD

First Downs--24

14 by pass

10 by run

FORMATION BREAKDOWN

Two back formations--0 plays (0%)

Shotgun formations--41 plays (57%)

31 pass (76%)--23/31 for 262 1 TD

10 runs (24%) for 39 yards 1 TD--3.9 ypc

One back/empty formations--31 (43%)

6 pass (19%)--4/6 for 39 yards

25 runs (81%) for 80 yards 1 TD--3.2 ypc

RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--35 attempts

counter/trap--1 (3%) for -2 yards--(-2.0) ypc

draw--2 (6%) for 4 yards--2.0 ypc

sweep--1 (3%) for 2 yards--2.0 ypc

base/iso--1 (3%) for 3 yards--3.0 ypc

end around--0 (0%)

power--11 (31%) for 38 yards 1 TD--3.5 ypc

QB run/scramble--9 (26%) for 33 yards--3.7 ypc

option--4 (11%) for 10 yards 1 TD--2.5 ypc

stretch--6 (17%) for 31 yards--5.2 ypc

Other Stats of Note

* 1 offensive penalty for the game

*Ohio State did not start on the Michigan side of the 50 yard line

*3 for 3 in red zone scoring (2 TD, 1 FG)

*1 sack and 2 turnovers (2 fumbles)

*30 of 72 plays took place on Michigan side of the 50 yard line--(42%)

*14 of 72 plays went for no gain or loss--(19%)

*59 of 72 plays had 3 or more WR's lined up--(82%)

*20 of those 59 plays ended with the ball in a WR's hands--(34%)

*number of OSU drives 9 plays or more--5

The 2005 game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines was a game of peaks and valleys for both teams, but above all, it was yet another great installment in this rivalry. In the end, the Buckeyes overcame more adversity than some teams overcome in three games to come away with the comback victory. Regardless of how you feel about the Wolverines, they deserve a lot of credit for making the most of the opportunities they managed to get in this game, and nearly coming away with a win. For his part, Chad Henne was brilliant at quarterback for Michigan for most of the game.

For Buckeye fans, it might be time to start putting Troy Smith's name up there with the Archie Griffin's, Howard Cassady's, and Eddie George's of Buckeye football lore. For the second straight season, Troy saved his best game of the year for the Wolverines. For all the damage Troy did to the Wolverines with his feet last year, this season he hurt them with his arm and his head. Ohio State called 43 pass plays on the game (5 scrambles, 1 sack, and 37 pass attempts) and I don't think Troy made a bad decision on any of them. He ran when he had to, kept himself alive in the backfield and found secondary receivers when he had to, and checked down to outlets when he had to. When the team needed two scores to win the game with just under 8 minutes to go, Troy took the team on his back and led them to the win.

Troy was the hero, but there are many players in the supporting cast that deserve a lot of credit as well. The offensive line had yet another great day blocking up front, in both the passing game and the running game. Smith was sacked only once, and wasn't significantly pressured the whole game by the Wolverines. The use of 5th year senior Andre Tyree at tight end, in his last regular season game as a Buckeye, and first game seeing significant action, helped open some holes for Antonio Pittman in the running game. There were many times in the game where Tyree helped crush the Michigan line inside, with Pittman bouncing the ball to the outside of his block.

Speaking of the running game, the recent emergence of Pittman impacted this game in a big way on many occasions. Not only did Pittman gain 89 yards on 23 carries, but the Buckeyes were very successful with playaction passing off of both fake handoffs and the option look. The Buckeyes ran playaction 14 times in the game, attempting 11 passes, completing 9 of those for 117 yards and a touchdown, and scrambled out of it 3 times for 14 more yards. Pittman continues to be the main reason behind the surge in production of the Ohio State offense.

Saturday was also a very good day for the Ohio State receivers. Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes, and Anthony Gonzalez all made significant contributions to the passing game, and in all, six different recievers got their hands on Troy Smith passes. Ted Ginn struggled on special teams, and dropped a pass that might have turned into a big play, but also caught a career high 9 passes. Santonio Holmes had a pretty slow start to the day, but exploded for four catches and a 26 yard touchdown on Ohio State's last two drives. When it comes to big plays in this game, none were bigger than the catch Anthony Gonzalez made on the last drive. It started with a great play by Troy Smith, stepping up in the pocket, seeing a man step up to stop him, dancing away while keeping his eyes upfield, and making a near perfect throw on the run to Gonzalez, who had turned upfield after completing an out route. It was a case of a play breaking down, but all the players on the field doing what they're supposed to do in that situation to turn what could've been a disaster into a big play.

If you take a close look at the playcalling in this game, you'll see that the Buckeyes really didn't do anything all that special on offense. There weren't many new wrinkles, aside from putting Tyree in at tight end. The Buckeyes just executed the offense at such a high level of efficiency, they were nearly unstoppable when they weren't stopping themselves. The Buckeyes opened the game with a 13 play, 80 yard (90 yards of offense minus10 yards for a penalty) drive for a touchdown, followed by a 10 play, 42 yard drive for a field goal and a 9-0 lead. It started to look as if the Buckeyes were going to run away with it.

On the next drive, however, Maurice Wells fumbled on his only carry of the day, allowing Michigan to work with a short field (a theme to be repeated later) and get back into the game with a touchdown. The Buckeyes followed that with another 11 play, 72 yard drive that ended at the Michigan 8 with another field goal and a 12-7 lead heading into halftime. Up to that point in the game, the Buckeyes had dominated the action and looked as if it was just a matter of time before they pulled away from the Wolverines.

In the third quarter, the Buckeyes nearly gave the game away by digging themselves into a hole they almost couldn't climb out of. After stopping Michigan, the Buckeyes gave the ball away with a second fumble deep in their own territory, which was converted into a field goal by the Wolverines to cut the lead to 12-10, followed by two drives that didn't go anywhere. In between those two drives, the Buckeyes lost field position due to a second muffed punt by Ted Ginn, and a very short punt (18 yards) by A.J. Trepasso to give Michigan a short field again. Michigan converted that into a touchdown and 18-12 lead, and it looked like the Buckeyes were going to give the game away.

The Buckeyes responded with a 9 play, 45 yard drive that ended in Josh Huston's second miss of a kick in the game (he missed an earlier extra point). Michigan promptly moved down the field, helped by a defensive holding call on a key third down and a long pass inside the Ohio State 10 yard line. A defensive stand held the Wolverines to a field goal and a 21-12 lead, which sets up the dramatic comeback by the Buckeyes to win the game.

Over the last two drives of the game (a 5 play, 67 yard TD drive, and a 12 play, 88 yard TD drive), Troy Smith went from a guy who's Ohio State career might have been remembered for only one game and a mistake with with a booster to an Ohio State legend. He went 9 for 12 for 130 yards and a touchdown in those two drives and ran for another 20 yards, as well as keeping several of those pass plays alive with his feet before finding a receiver to throw to. The Buckeye nation went from sullen and resigned, to hopeful the offense would get another shot, to elated all in the span of 7:12 on the game clock.

Consider all of the mistakes the Buckeyes committed over the course of this game and it is truly incredible that they managed to pull this game out. They lost the turnover battle (2-0), muffed two punts which cost them a lot of field position, missed an extra point and a field goal, badly shanked a punt that led to a Michigan touchdown, and committed several defensive penalties that resulted in Michigan drives being continued (defensive pass interference on third and goal of Michigan's first TD drive, and defensive holding on their last FG drive were the big two that hurt). Only a truly good team could have overcome that kind of adversity and won the game, especially away from home.

Lost in all of the offensive heroics is the play of the Ohio State defense. The Buckeye defense did a good job all day long, despite a great passing game from Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. The Michigan running game never really got going and Mike Hart was taken out of the game, both figuratively and literally. The Wolverines only managed to gain 32 yards on the ground. All of this despite the Buckeyes losing Bobby Carpenter on Michigan's first snap of the game. James Laurinaitis came in and did a commendable job replacing Carpenter, but the Buckeyes missed Bobby when it came to getting a pass rush on Henne.

Watching how the team responded to Carpenter's injury, and how they responded to being down in this game and fighting back for the win, I was struck by the difference in this team and the teams under John Cooper in the dreaded 2-10-1 era. This team believes in itself, in each other, and has become a very tight knit bunch over the course of this season. It was a joy to watch the emotion bubble over in so many different ways over the course of the game. Carpenter's injury was heart-breaking, but the way the team rallied around him, and the way he came out to support the team after his injury was heart-warming. This is not a team of individuals, but a unit with one heartbeat.

The Buckeyes finish the 2005 regular season as co-champions of the Big Ten with a 9-2 record. I think everyone, including those Ohio State players would like a chance to go back and get another shot at Texas and Penn State this season, as there doesn't seem to be any other team playing as well as the Buckeyes are right now. The Buckeyes don't know where they'll be headed for the holiday season, or if it will even be a BCS game, but they should be favored against whatever team they are matched up against. No matter how it ends up, it was a great season despite the two losses, and things are looking good for another run in 2006.

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