Football
Second-Half Outburst Leads Buckeyes Past Huskys
By John Porentas
The Buckeyes (3-0) got off the Big Ten Network this week and back on ESPN. That meant that a whole lot of OSU fans who couldn't see the first two games finally got a chance to see them. That opportunity came just in time. The OSU offense used the national television platform to grow up right in front of the eyes of all those viewers and overcame some costly first half errors to come from behind for a decisive 33-14 road win at Washington (2-1).
The OSU offense moved the ball well in the first half, with running back Beanie Wells racking up 75 first-half yards an 14 carries. In all, OSU picked up 177 first-half yards running and passing. What the offense couldn't do was score touchdowns, and also missed two opportunities to kick field goals.
"We kept shooting ourselves in the foot," said OSU offensive coordinator Jim Bollman.
The most damaging mistake the OSU offense made in the first half came late in the second quarter. Facing a fourth and one at the Washington 10, Wells gashed the Husky defense for an apparent first down near the two-yard line, but the play was called back when right guard Ben Person was flagged for illegal procedure. Bollman credited the rabid and loud Washington crowd for helping cause that penalty.
"That was strictly a not-being-to-hear kind of penalty," said Bollman.
Instead of first and goal inside the five, the Buckeyes ended up facing fourth and six and the 15 and elected to call on Ryan Pretorius for a field goal attempt. The snap was low however, disrupting the timing of the play and allowing the Huskys to block the attempt.
"Coach Tressel told me a half time there was penetration so just do what you do," said Pretorius.
Pretorius had also missed a field goal attempt earlier in the game, a 48 yarder. Pretorius said it wasn't so much a bad kick, but a gust of win that did him in on that attempt.
"I wouldn't change a thing," said Pretorius of his missed kick, "if I had ten more balls I'd pick the same one and hit it exactly like I did. I crushed that ball but at the last second the wind picked up and drifted it left which obviously you can't control once the ball has has left your foot."
Pretorius made a 24 yarder in the second quarter to stake the Buckeyes to a 3-0 lead. The Washington offense was having the same type of day as OSU's, falling prey to penalty-killing drives and a turnover on a an interception of Jake Locker by James Laurinaitis. The block of Pretorius field goal attempt gave Locker and the Huskys the football at the OSU 20 with 2:11 left to play in the half, and the redshirt freshman quarterback drove his team to second and two at the OSU 23 with nine seconds left to play. Locker found receiver Anthony Russo for a 23 yard touchdown pass. With the PAT, the Huskys held a 7-3 lead as the half came to an end.
The Huskys appeared to have all the momentum. The half-ending touchdown gave them the lead, and the Husky offense behind the running and passing of Locker had, like the OSU offense, produced yards if not points in the first half.
Washington received the second half kickoff and looked like they would gain control of the game as they drove to a first and ten at the OSU 19. That's when the wheels came off and the game got away from them.
The next three plays saw three consecutive losses for Washington and left them with fourth and 20 at the 29. An attempted field goal was blocked by OSU safety Kurt Coleman. The play led to a complete turnaround in the tone of the game.
"I came through free," said Coleman.
"I jumped in front of the kicker and Larry Grant and I got a piece of the ball. I was lined up second from the outside on the left. I just rushed as hard as I can and the seam was open," Coleman said.
From there on in it was sudden disaster for Washington.
Two plays after Coleman's block, OSU quarterback Todd Boeckman saw press coverage on wide receiver Brian Robiskie. A running play had been called, but Boeckman opted to audible to a pass and hit Robiskie with a 68 yard touchdown pass that put OSU back on top at 10-7.
"I saw a single safety, Rob was pressed, if he's pressed up I have faith that he's going to be able to get open, just throw that ball up there and let him go run up there and get it," said Boeckman.
The big play disaster for the Huskys was followed by a special teams disaster. On the ensuing kickoff returner Curtis Shaw was hit by OSU freshman wide receiver Devon Torrence and fumbled. Freshman defensive back James Scott recovered for OSU at the Washington 25. It took Beanie Wells just two carries, the first one for 11 yards and the next for 14, to put the ball into the endzone. In the span of 86 seconds on the game clock the Buckeyes had scored two touchdowns to take a 17-7 lead and send the Huskys into a tailspin.
"I think it was just a huge momentum change for us and it broke their back a little bit," said Boeckman describing the two-series sequence that led to two OSU touchdowns.
"The second half the thing that was great was Todd hit Robo on that pass, that was a huge deal," said Bollman.
"Then when we turned around right after that and got the fumble recovery on the kickoff return and put that in in a couple of plays. That was a big turning point in the game right there."
The Buckeyes dominated the game from that point on. The OSU defense came up with four turnovers in the game, three of them interceptions and one fumble recovery while the OSU offense did not turn the ball over once.
The Buckeyes added a fourth-quarter field goal by Pretorius, a 23 yarder, and added a touchdown on a 36 yard touchdown pass from Boeckman to Brian Hartline to put OSU up 27-7.
Washington salvaged a bit of pride with a touchdown with under a minute to play, but OSU freshman running back Brandon Saine put an exclamation point on the OSU win when he took a handoff on the last play of the game and went 37 yards for a touchdown.
The Buckeyes ended the day with 481 total yards on offense, 277 of them coming in the second half.
The OSU coaching staff was not only happy with the win, but extremely happy with the way their young team rallied in the second half in a hostile environment after having given up a big play to end the first half.
"I really liked the way the kids approached the halftime," said Tressel.
"There wasn't panic, there wasn't fear, there wasn't anything other than talking about what we had to do to get better. You could see there was a resolve that we wanted to get better, but to me the play that turned the whole thing around, two plays, one the long pass and then the kickoff turnover, and all of a sudden it was a different game, and when you're on top like that you have a chance when you have a defense like ours," said Tressel.
"To come on the road and the environment was one that we're going to see a couple more like it, but I thought coming back in the second half was really critical because a young, immature team, see how they responded, it was great," said defensive coordinator Jim Heacock.
"I think that was really a positive step to come back the second half because at half time, when you get scored on right before half, that's a real momentum buster. That was a little bit scary, so I think it was key."
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