Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook - Installment II
By John Porentas
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Pitt is It: Running back Antonio Pittman has come on this season to be very reliable at tailback. Pittman gained 89 yards on 23 carries against Michigan including the game cinching touchdown with under half a minute to play in the game.
What makes Pittman's play against Michigan all the more remarkable is that Pittman spent his time on the sidelines on an exercise bike during the Michigan game fighting the cramps that bothered him the week before against Northwestern.
"I was cramping up a little bit, but you had to battle through it," said Pittman.
A pack of wild mules could not have kept Pittman out of the game, particularly in the fourth quarter.
"I couldn't come out of the game, couldn't let the seniors down once again," said Pittman. "I just had to play through it."
Pittman has acquired more than a few fans this season. One of them is OSU offensive lineman Kirk Barton.
"If Pittman's not all Big Ten, I don't know who is," Barton said.
Sorry Coach, We'll Do It Our Way: OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel said he was hoping to line the Buckeyes up for an easy field goal on OSU's last offensive play of the game, but Antonio Pittman made a field goal unnecessary when he scored a touchdown on the play from three yards out. It turns out that Tressel was about the only Buckeye who thought the Buckeye might have to kick a field goal.
"Right before that play we called a time out. We walked out there and said 'This is it. Everything that we have for the rest of our lives, for these memories,'" said senior tight end Andre Tyree.
"We wanted to be able to say that we won our last game at Michigan this way. Everybody just turned to everybody and said we were going give each other our all. It was real emotional there for a second," Tyree said.
Offensive lineman Kirk Barton said there was no way the Buckeyes on the field were thinking field goal.
"We said it was B. S. It was bull," said Barton with fire.
"It comes down to one play from the four. Lets just put it in, take it out of the hands of our kicker. We love Josh, but if we score a touchdown it's harder for them to come back and beat us," Barton said.
The Buckeyes did just that.
Eddie!: Former OSU running back and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George was on hand for the Michigan game and addressed the team prior to the game. Eddie definitely made an impression.
"It meant a lot to me just to have him come in and speak to us. I've met him two times, but to come in for the Michigan game, that's big to hear from somebody who lived it. It was ten years ago when he played. I remember sitting home and watching him run. It was huge for him to speak to us. He got us fired up," said current OSU running back Antonio Pittman.
George delivered a simple message: The Game is important.
"The speech that Eddie gave in the locker room, if your blood wasn't boiling after that, it's never going to be boiling," said safety Donte Whitner.
"He told us that ten years ago he came here and he lost. It was his senior year, he was a captain and the lost.
" He said he played in the Super Bowl, playoff games, AFC championships, and he said none of those games amounted to the Ohio State vs. Michigan game because it's personal. He almost had tears in his eyes. He said it was personal.
"He challenged all of us to go out there locked and loaded and give it our all, full speed to the ball every play, guys who have a chance to touch the ball, get into the endzone. The speech that he gave us was very emotional and it got guys going."
Last Game, New Faces: Two players, one just beginning his Buckeye career and one coming to the end of his Buckeye career, saw their first extensive action of their careers against the Wolverines on Saturday.
Photo by Jim DavidsonFifth year senior Andre Tyree played extensively at tight end for the Buckeyes and played extremely well. Tyree spent most of his OSU career as an offensive lineman, but the Buckeyes needed a mauler at that position against the Wolverines, and Tyree got the call.
"It means a lot to me, because it means the coaches have faith in me," said Tyree, whose OSU career has been marred by a succession of injuries.
"It's our biggest game of our season, and they put me in there to grind it out. We were down on the goal line and they called my number to win the game, so it meant a lot to me that they had enough faith in me to put me in there."
Tyree has been practicing at tight end for about three weeks, but played that position in high school.
Meanwhile, true freshman James Laurinaitis saw his first extensive action as a Buckeye when he was pressed into service when Bobby Carpenter was injured on the first play of the game.
"Basically I ran out there and I was just thinking 'Just relax and play.' I was kind of surprised at myself because I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be," said Laurinaitis
Laurinaitis credited the OSU coaching staff for his confidence when he entered the game.
"That's because of how the coaches prepare us for the game. Coach Fickell does a great job of preparing the linebackers and I went in there and A.J. Hawk said 'We have faith in you. We've seen you at practice, just play your game. When you have a guy like A.J. Hawk saying that to you, it gives you confidence right away," he said.
Hawk said that Laurinaitis filled in admirably for Carpenter.
"Those are huge shoes to fill I think, but James came in and played well," Hawk said.
"If you think about it, your first real-time game action is against Michigan at Michigan. That's tough to do and James stepped in and played well. You have to give him a lot of credit.
What did Laurinaitis think of his first experience in the Michigan game?
"It was everything I thought it would be," he said.
Tough Day for Teddy: OSU sophomore wide receiver and return man Ted Ginn has had better days as a Buckeye. Ginn dropped a pass from Troy Smith early in the game that looked like a big gainer, then muffed two punts. According to OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel, the miscues were probably not a result of lack of concentration by Ginn.
"I think there was a lot of sun when we were looking in that direction. That's tough. A swirling wind and the sun, I just think that he couldn't catch it clean. That was tough conditions," said Tressel.
The sun, combined with some tricky wind conditions, made life as a returner tough at times.
"The sun was in my eyes," said Ginn. "I just made the key mistake."
To his credit, Ginn did not get down on himself and made several key catches in OSU's fourth quarter rally. The catches were satisfying for Ginn.
"You just have to fight through that and bounce back. I think I bounced back on that last drive," he said.
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