Right: REJECTED! Ohio State’s freshman center B.J. Mullens swats the shot of Delaware State’s Kris Douse. (AP Photo)

Thanks to those singers Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson performing at Value City Arena, Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes played their season-opener down the street at St. John Arena.

Sure, everyone waxes nostalgic when the basketball team is forced to play games at their old home due to a scheduling conflict at the new one. But in reality, St. John was not that great of an arena, especially if you ever had to sit in the balcony.

I had the privilege to watch some tremendous players perform on the St. John’s hardwood from Allan Hornyak, Luke Witte, Kelvin Ransey and Herb Williams in the 70s, to Clark Kellogg, Tony Campbell, Dennis Hopson, and Jay Burson in the 80s. Plus you can’t forget some of the great teams Randy Ayers’ coached in the early 90s with Jim Jackson, Treg Lee, Lawrence Funderburke, Perry Carter, Chris Jent, Jamaal Brown and Mark Baker.

Of course, there are some aspects of today’s St. John Arena that I don’t remember from those days, like trying to figure out where the basketball court is in the middle of a volleyball one.

One cool thing that I remember vividly as a kid going to St. John’s was during the National Anthem, in which all of the arena lights were turned off while spotlights brigtly displayed the large American flag that hung over center court as the OSU band played.

More than 6,200 fans ventured down memory lane instead of jumping into a frigid Mirror Lake to watch Ohio State defeat Delaware State 70-42, Thursday night.

Three Buckeyes scored in double figures as junior David Lighty and freshman William Buford each added 13 points, while junior Jeremie Simmons chipped in an even 10.

Three sophomores were next on the scoring ledger as guard Jon Diebler had nine points, guard Evan Turner poured in eight, and forward Dallas Lauderdale had seven points to go along with seven blocked shots.

Ohio State shot 52.4 percent (22-of-42) from the field, and went 11-of-21 in each half, but fared better from beyond the arc in the second period. For the game, the Buckeyes were 8-of-19 from three-point range.

Defensively, Ohio State held Delaware State 37.2 percent shooting (16-of-43) from the floor, forced 20 turnovers and cashed them in for 18 points.

Surprisingly, the much smaller Hornets outrebounded the Buckeyes 26-25.

The Buckeyes claimed a 13-3 lead with 14:19 left in the first half after Simmons and Diebler drained three-pointers and the Hornets never threaten as Ohio State held a double-digit advantage the rest of the game.

The Buckeyes led 35-22 at the intermission break and scored 10 of the first 13 points to start the second half and opened up a 45-25 advantage after a trey by Simmons with 18:41 left to play.

Up next, the Buckeyes will host Bowling Green, Monday night. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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The Best Damn Player of the Game!

RB Beanie Wells

Junior running back Beanie Wells has been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s “The Best Damn Player of the Game” after rushing for 143 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown in Ohio State’s 30-20 win over Illinois.

For the season, Wells had played in eight games and is averaging 119.6 yards per contest with seven TDs.

Helmet Stickers!
QB Terrelle Pryor	SS Kurt Coleman

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor was 6-of-10 passing for 49 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 110 yards on 13 carries against the Illini. For the season, Pryor is 90-of-139-passing (64.7%) for 1,125 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, while gaining 560 yards on the ground and six more scores.

Junior strong safety Kurt Coleman lead the team with 11 total tackles and an interception. So far in 2008, Coleman has 57 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a team-leading four INTs.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Beanie Wells rushed for 222 yards in Ohio State’s 14-3 win over Michigan last season.
(AP Photo)

From last year’s Ohio State-Michigan game:

A Michigan fan told me that the raindrops falling down at Michigan Stadium were actually tears from former head coach Bo Schembechler, who had to witness another loss to Ohio State from heaven.

Chris “Beanie” Wells rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten title as Ohio State defeated Michigan 14-3, Saturday afternoon.

The win moved Ohio State up to No. 5 in all of the major polls including the BCS standings, which were released last night.

Also with the win over Michigan, the Buckeyes will, at the very least, play in the Rose Bowl against a yet-to-be determined opponent. Currently, No. 7 Arizona State tops the Pac-10 with a one-game lead over USC and Oregon, though the Sun Devils still have to play Southern Cal and Arizona.

And thanks to losses by Oregon and Oklahoma, the Buckeyes still have a slim chance to make it to the BCS title game.

LSU is first in the latest BCS standings, but the Tigers still have to play Arkansas and the SEC Championship game, which will either be Tennessee or Georgia. If Tennessee beats Kentucky next Saturday, the Volunteers are in the SEC title game, but if they lose, Georgia is in.

Coming in at Nos. 2 and 4 respectively, Kansas and Missouri play against each other at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, this Saturday. Then the winner will likely play Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship game.

Third in the BCS standings is West Virginia, who still has to play No. 20 Connecticut and Pittsburgh. The Big East does not have a championship game.

Granted, losing to Illinois hurt Ohio State’s chances, but what I think hurt more is how far they fell, going from first to seventh in the polls. Plus I think the Buckeyes are better than most of the teams that are ahead of them. Can you honestly say that West Virginia, Missouri, or Kansas are better than Ohio State?

The Buckeyes finished their season with a record of 11-1, 7-1 in the Big Ten after dominating the Wolverines.

The Ohio State defense held Michigan to just 91 yards of total offense, including 15 yards rushing and eight first downs for the entire game.

Michigan quarterback Chad Henne was just 11-of-34 passing for 68 yards, while tailback Mike Hart has 44 yards in 18 carries.

Think they are glad they came for their senior season now?

The best running back in the Big Ten, Beanie Wells, gained 222 yards on 39 carries. His longest gain was a 62-yard touchdown run through the left-side of the line in the third quarter than put Ohio state ahead 14-3.

Beanie’s other touchdown run came in the second quarter when the Buckeyes drove 44 yards in eight plays that was capped off on a one-yard run by Wells.

Due to the rain and the slippery field conditions, Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman was just 7-of-13 for 50 yards and an interception. Boeckman attempted just two passes the entire second half.

Earlier last week when I posted an article entitled, “Scouting the Wolverine defense,” this is what I predicted:

“Every time I predict what Ohio State will do offensively, Coach Tressel does the opposite. So with that, I will say that the Buckeyes must establish the run early. Beanie to the left, Beanie to the right, Beanie up the middle until Michigan can prove they can stop it.”

I guess I was finally right, and Michigan couldn’t stop Beanie.

On Sunday, Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Antonio Pittman heads into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against Michigan.
(Jim Davidson/The O-Zone)

From the 2005 Ohio State-Michigan game:

How do you quickly silence 111,591 people at a “Big House” party? Try going on a twelve-play, 88-yard scoring drive that is capped off by a three-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left in the game.

That worked really well for the ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, who came away with a 25-21 win over their hated rival, the 17th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, on Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The scarlet and gray clad Buckeyes made the “Big House” seem more like a big library.

Ohio State’s winning scoring drive began when Michigan head coach Lloyd Cooper, er, I mean Lloyd Carr, decided to pooch punt when faced with a fourth-and-4 on the OSU 34 yard line, instead of letting kicker Garrett Rivas try a field goal into the wind. That punt went out of bounds on the 12 yard line, setting up the Buckeyes’ march to victory.

It would take three minutes and 54 seconds to go the distance for the clinching touchdown as OSU quarterback Troy Smith passed for 77 yards, completing seven out of eight attempts during the drive. The Buckeyes methodically moved down the field on short passes in the middle of a soft Michigan zone, until Ohio State had the ball on the UM 30 yard line and a first down.

Following a timeout, Smith scrambled to his right, stepped back and lofted a pass to a leaping Anthony Gonzalez who hauled it in at the Michigan 4. After Smith could not find anyone open, Gonzalez sped down the far sideline to make himself open.

“Guys came off the edge, and I was just trying to stay alive,” Smith said. “I saw Gonzalez pop open down the sideline, and I just tried to get him the ball as fast as I could.”

Two plays later, tailback Antonio Pittman bolted in from three yards out for the winning score.

All this after Ohio State trailed 21-12 with 7:49 left to play in the game after Michigan’s Rivas connected on a 19-yard field goal.

But the Buckeyes struck quickly to get back into the game by going 67 yards on five plays in a minute and nine seconds as Smith would go 2-for-4 passing, one was a 27-yard pass play to Gonzalez to start the drive, and the other was a 26-yard connection to Santonio Holmes for a touchdown that finished the drive and narrowed the Michigan lead to 21-19 with 6:40 left.

Ohio State would have to overcome a slew of mistakes to reach that point of the game. Two fumbles, one by tailback Maurice Wells at the OSU 36-yard line, setup Michigan’s first touchdown on a two-yard pass play from Chad Henne to Jason Avant that cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 9-7 with 5:18 left in the first half.

The other fumble occurred when Smith was sacked and the ball came loose at the OSU 20. That turnover resulted in a Rivas 27-yard field goal that sliced into OSU’s lead to 12-10 with 10:01 remaining in the third quarter.

A shanked, 18-yard punt by A.J. Trapasso led to another score as Michigan would get great field position once again, needing just four plays to go 37 yards that was capped off on a two-yard touchdown run by Kevin Grady that put Michigan out in front for the first time in the game with 1:20 left in the third following a two-point conversion.

Ohio State’s other mistakes came on a missed extra point following the opening drive of the game as the Buckeyes’ went 80 yards in 13 plays as Smith would go the final four for paydirt on a touchdown run that gave OSU an early 6-0 lead with 8:44 to play in the first quarter.

Michigan would drive down the OSU 28-yard line on their first possession, only to be stopped by the Buckeye’ defense on a fourth-and-1 when Henne’s pass was incomplete.

The Buckeyes took a 9-0 lead after their next possession on a 47-yard field goal by Huston.

Out of Michigan’s four scoring drives, only one went for more than 40 yards, with three of those starting in OSU territory.

Of Ohio State’s five scoring drives, four of those went for 67 yards or more, with the only other one going 42 yards and it resulted in a field goal.

Statistically, Ohio State dominated in every aspect of the game, except for turnovers. Ohio State had 25 first downs to Michigan’s 17. Ohio State had 418 yards of total offense with 300 passing and 118 rushing, while Michigan was able to manage just 255 yards of total offense, and 223 of those yards coming from the passing game.

The biggest stat of the game was the fact that Ohio State held Michigan to just 32 yards rushing, with Mike Hart getting 15 yards on nine carries, and Kevin Grady netting nine yards on six attempts.

Smith finished the game going 27-of-37 passing for 300 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards and another score.

“There will be a lot of No. 10 jerseys and a lot of kids on Thanksgiving weekend trying to make those moves in a pile of leaves,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

“Troy is probably the best we’ve seen,” Wolverines defensive tackle Pat Massey said. “Troy was a difference maker out there.”

Pittman had 85 yards on 23 carries and the game-winning touchdown.

Ted Ginn Jr. had nine receptions for 89 yards, but muffed two punts that luckily were recovered both times by Holmes, who is also a deep-back in the punt return formation. Holmes finished with six catches for 72 yards an a TD.

“I just think we wanted it more than those guys,” said Holmes.

And how nice is it to see Coach Tressel and the boys sing “Carmen Ohio” at Michigan Stadium?

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Beanie Wells bullies his way past Dere Hicks in Ohio State’s 30-20 win over Illinois. (AP Photo)

I am having a hard time figuring out this game. On one hand, Terrelle Pryor and Beanie Wells combined to rush for 243 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns, but on the other hand, the Ohio State’s defense surrendered 455 yards of total offense to Illinois, which is a season-high.

Sure, after Malcolm Jenkins blocked Anthony Santella’s punt and the ball sailed through the end zone for a safety giving Ohio State a 9-7 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter, the Buckeyes never trailed.

Following a very short free kick, Ohio State needed just five plays to go 43 yards to take a 16-7 advantage after Beanie plowed in from the three yard line just 45 seconds into the second quarter. The Buckeyes held a two-score lead the rest of the way.

And Christmas did come early for Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored 14 first-half points off turnovers, which included OSU’s first touchdown after Illinois’ quarterback Juice Williams fumbled at the Illini 19 yard line and was recovered by Nader Abdallah. Five plays later Pryor hit paydirt on a QB keeper from the one yard line.

With the Buckeyes leading 16-7 in the second quarter, Kurt Coleman intercepted a Williams’ pass at the Illinois’ six yard line. That resulted in a six play, 76-yard scoring drive that was capped off on a 20-yard pass play from Pryor to Dane Sanzenbacher that put Ohio State ahead 23-7 with 6:30 left until halftime.

Illinois managed just two Matt Eller field goals the rest of the half and trailed Ohio State 23-13 at intermission.

The Buckeyes returned one of the gifts on their first possession of the second half when Beanie fumbled at the Illini 18 yard line, but neither team did much with the pigskin in the third quarter.

Ohio State put the game out of reach when Boom Herron scored on a 12-yard run 11:55 left to play in the game.

During that possession, the Buckeyes faced a third-and-4 at the Illini 49 and Pryor’s pass to Sanzenbacher fell incomplete, but Illini safety Donsay Hardeman was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet personal foul penalty that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, Herron’s touchdown made it 30-13.

But still, Illinois outgained Ohio State 455-354, and had 25 first downs to the Buckeyes’ 16.

Numbers in Ohio State’s favor include 305 rushing yards to Illinois’ 214, and time of possession went the Buckeyes way. Overall, OSU had a 33:50-26:10 advantage, which includes having the ball for 19:47 in the second half.

With Ohio State running the ball so well, Pryor threw just 10 passes and completed six of them for 49 yards.

Beanie finished with 143 yards rushing on 24 carries and Terrelle added 110 in 13 attempts. It was the first time since Antonio Pittman had 171 and Troy Smith had 127 vs. Iowa on Sept. 24, 2005, that two backs had more than 100 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Coleman recorded a career-high 11 tackles while James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman both had eight.

Granted, Illinois had the top passing offense in the Big Ten going into the game, but Ohio State’s defense is going to have to tighten a few things up next week.

Speaking of next, Ohio State hosts Michigan at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., and it will be televised on ABC.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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