When I first heard that Ohio State was going to wear a “throwback” uniform for an upcoming game, I was excited. New can be good. Of course, I was disappointed when I learned that these new uniforms will be unveiled on the road at Michigan instead of at home against Iowa. Now that I have seen these for the first time, I am even more disappointed.
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No. 15/13 Iowa Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten)

vs.

No. 10/8 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten)

Saturday, November 14

3:30 p.m. EDT

Ohio Stadium – Columbus, Ohio

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Right: Ohio State’s Jon Diebler lines up a triple vs. James Madison, Thursday night. (AP Photo)

Three Buckeyes scored in double figures led by Evan Turner’s 24 points as 16th-ranked Ohio State defeated James Madison, 72-44, in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, Thursday night, one day after head coach Thad Matta hauled in the top recruiting class for 2010.

For the second-straight game, Turner pulled down a team-high 17 boards as the Buckeyes held a 43-34 rebounding edge. No other Ohio State player, though, had more than four caroms.

The Buckeyes jumped out to an early 10-2 lead after a jumper by William Buford, but James Madison wouldn’t go away that easily. The Dukes fought back by going on a 14-6 run that was capped off on a three-pointer by Matt Parker that tied the game at 16-all with 8:38 left in the first half.

But there wasn’t much left in the tank for James Madison from that point as it was all Ohio State the rest of the way.

The Buckeyes went on to a 34-25 lead at intermission when Turner drained a triple with five seconds left until the break.

Jon Diebler’s trey with 18:35 remaining to play pushed Ohio State lead to 37-26 and the Buckeyes would have a double-digit advantage the rest of the game. OSU’s biggest lead was 68-36 after Walter Offutt scored on a fastbreak dunk with 4:28 to go.
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Thursday, November 12
7:00 p.m. ET
Value City Arena (capacity 19,049) – Columbus, OH
James Madison Dukes (0-0, 0-0 Colonial Atheltic)	No. 17/16 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten)

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Right: Junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi is helped off the field after sustaining an ankle injury in Iowa’s game vs. Northwestern.
(AP Photo)

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is in his 11th season at the helm of the Hawkeyes and after going 9-4 during the 2008 season, his squad is currently sits at 9-1 this year so it appears he’s no longer on the hot seat.

During a span of three seasons from 2002-04, Iowa won 31 out of 38 games, claimed two Big Ten titles, and played in three January bowls which included an Orange Bowl appearance.

But in the next three seasons that followed from 2005-07, Iowa went just 19-18 overall and 11-13 in the Big Ten. Not exactly sterling numbers by a head coach getting paid over $3 million dollars per year.

Ferentz was able to turn things around last season and had Hawkeye fans talking about the possibility of playing in the BCS national championship game this year. Unfortunately, Iowa’s luck ran out when they lost to Northwestern, 17-10, last Saturday.

The Hawkeyes to date:

The Hawkeyes have benefited from some very lucky scenarios to remain unbeaten for as long as they did:

Last Saturday, Iowa’s luck ran out.

Leading 10-0 over Northwestern in the second quarter, Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi rolled right on a naked bootleg and got drilled in the end zone by Corey Wootton, then Stanzi fumbled and it was recovered by the Wildcats’ Marshall Thomas for a touchdown with 11:46 to go in the second quarter.

The Hawkeyes could not get anything going offensively after that as redshirt freshman James Vandenberg replaced Stanzi, who was just 9-of-27 passing for 82 yards and one interception. Before his injury Stanzi wasn’t much better, going 4-of-9 passing for 134 yards with one interception to go along with the sack and the lost fumble.

Key personnel:

Last season, Ferentz had running back Shonn Greene, who set Iowa records for rushing yards (1,850) and rushing touchdowns (20) in a season, which earned him the Doak Walker Award as the top running back in the nation. Greene also was named a consensus first-team, All-American and he was the only running back in the nation to rush for over 100 yards in every game, last season.

Coach Ferentz was hoping that sophomore Jewel Hampton (5-9, 210) would fill the shoes of the departed Greene after Hampton rushed for 463 yards on 91 attempts and seven touchdowns, last year. But Hampton was out before the 2009 season ever began when he hurt his knee in preseason workouts back in July.

Iowa’s leading rusher is redshirt freshman running back Adam Robinson (5-9, 205), but he’s also out for the rest of the regular season after suffering a high left ankle sprain against Michigan State back on Oct. 24.

Starting at running back will be freshman Brandon Wegher (5-11, 206) , who has 502 yards on 131 attempts and six touchdowns. Wegher doesn’t have a lot of power, and clearly he doesn’t have much in the spped department. Wegher is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry and his longest run from scrimmage is 27 yards.

Stanzi (6-4, 218), a junior, is a graduate of Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio, and before his season-ending injury he threw for 2,186 yards while completing 56.0 percent (154-of-275) of his attempts with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Fellow native Ohioan, junior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (6-1, 200), a graduate of Youngstown’s Cardinal Mooney High School, is Iowa’s top pass-catcher with 31 receptions for 533 yards and two TDs.

The defense is led by senior middle linebacker Pat Angerer (6-1, 235), who tops the roster with 106 total tackles. Junior defensive end Adrian Clayborn (6-3, 282) leads the team with 7.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss while sophomore strong safety Tyler Sash (6-1, 210) has a team-high six interceptions.

Outlook:

Unless Chuck Long and Ronnie Harmon have any eligibility left, I’m not even sure Iowa will even score a point let alone pull off an upset. Offensively, the Hawkeyes looked lost after Stanzi left with his injury.

A 9-1 record and a No. 15 ranking is nothing more than a mirage. Ohio State should win by three touchdowns.

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Right: Ohio State’s Evan Turner posted a triple-double vs. Alcorn State, Monday night. (AP Photo)

Ohio State’s Evan Turner did something that hasn’t been done by a Buckeye since 1986 and it was only the second time in OSU’s history that’s it been accomplished, and that’s recording a triple-double.

Turner’s 14 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists propelled Ohio State to a 100-60 win over Alcorn State before 11,015 witnesses at Value City Arena for the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, Monday night.

The last and only time before a Buckeye has posted a triple-double was when Dennis Hopson scored 27 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in a 96-75 win over Ohio on Dec. 6, 1986, at St. John Arena.

Ohio State scored the game’s first eight points and were never threatened. The Buckeyes largest lead in the first half was 56-28, which was the score at intermission after William Buford drained a trey with four seconds left until the break.

The Buckeyes biggest lead of the game was at 98-47 when Walter Offutt drained a three-ball with 4:40 left to play in the game.

Ohio State guard Jon Diebler led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field including 6-of-9 from three-point range while Buford added 19 points. All told, five Buckeyes scored in double figures as Jeremie Simmons chipped in 12 and Offutt added 11 points.

Overall, Ohio State shot 53.4 percent (39-of-73) from the floor and were 14-of-33 (42.4%) from beyond the arc, while holding Alcorn State to 34.4 percent (21-of-61) from the field and 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three-point land.

The Buckeyes also held a 47-35 rebounding edge and forced 13 turnovers while committing just six.

Up next, Ohio State will host James Madison in the next round of the 2K Sports Classic at Value City Arena, Thursday night. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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Alcorn State Braves (0-0, 0-0 SWAC)

vs.

No. 17/16 Ohio State Buckeyes (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)

Monday, November 9

7:00 p.m. ET

Value City Arena (capacity 19,049) – Columbus, OH

When writing game previews, I generally find all of the information I need on an opponent’s own web site. Generally, each school not only has their current year’s media guide available for download, but game notes in PDF form ready to be printed up as well.

Alcorn State, meanwhile, has nothing informative on their athletics web site which makes my job even tougher. But here’s what I do know:

The Braves have already played two exhibition games before their season-opener against the Buckeyes. Alcorn State went 1-1 in their preseason slate, losing big to NAIA Division I member Tougaloo College, 109-86, before eking out a 63-61 win over NCAA Division III participant Mississippi College.

Last season, Alcorn State went just 6-25 and head coach Larry Smith lost his top three scorers from a year ago that combined to average 40.3 points per game. That’s a huge hole to fill in an already struggling squad.

The Braves did face another Big Ten team last year, losing to Michigan State 118-60 in East Lansing. During the 2008-09 campaign, Alcorn State allowed their opponents to score 83.5 points per game on them, worst in the SWAC.

In the Braves’ last exhibition game against Mississippi College, JaMarkus Holt, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound center led Alcorn State with 17 points and 18 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Two others scored in double figures with Keith Searcy adding 11 and Ian Francis chipping in 10 points for ASU.

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Ohio State’s Brandon Saine dives into the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the fourth quarter that gave the Buckeyes’ a 24-7 lead. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

As Ohio State was getting ready to take on Penn State in State College, the Buckeyes received some help nearly 800 miles to the west as Northwestern upset then-No. 5 Iowa, 17-10, in Iowa City to setup a showdown between two, one-loss teams in the Big Ten who are in contention for a conference title and a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl after the Buckeyes knocked off the Nittany Lions, 24-7.

Wildcats’ backup quarterback Dan Persa, splitting time with starting QB Mike Kafka who was nursing a hamstring injury, threw a touchdown pass while racking up 67 yards rushing in 17 attempts. Kafka, meanwhile, was 10-of-18 passing for 72 yards.

Iowa was leading 10-0 in the second quarter when quarterback Ricky Stanzi was hit in the end zone and coughed up the football. Not only did Northwestern’s Marshall Thomas recovered the fumble for a touchdown, Stanzi left the game with an ankle injury and it appears he will not play next Saturday vs. Ohio State.

Later in the second period, Persa connected with Drake Dunsmore down the middle for a 4-yard touchdown pass that put the Wildcats ahead 14-10. Northwestern never trailed and their victory over Iowa snapped the nation’s second-longest winning streak of 13 games held by the Hawkeyes.

Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg replaced Stanzi and was just 9-of-27 passing for 82 yards and one interception. Before his injury Stanzi wasn’t much better, going 4-of-9 passing for 134 yards with one interception to go along with the sack and the lost fumble.

Just as Northwestern put the finishing touches on their upset win, Ohio State took the field to dominate Penn State in every phase of the game.

The Buckeyes racked up 353 yards of total offense while holding the Nittany Lions to a mere 201 yards and only nine first downs.

Ohio State got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 41-yard punt return by Ray Small that put the Buckeyes in a first-and-goal situation at the PSU 9 yard line. It took just two plays for OSU to reach paydirt as quarterback Terrelle Pryor scored on a 7-yard run with a 11:47 left in the opening period that put the Bucks’ ahead 7-0.

Later in the first quarter, Penn State mounted an 11-play, 71-yard scoring drive capped off on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Darryl Clark with 12:28 remaining in the second quarter.

Ohio State, though, responded on their next possession as Devin Barclay connected on a 37-yard field goal to go ahead 10-7 and were never threatened the rest of the game.

The Buckeyes were able to march down the field, but were hindered by two penalties that push OSU back. After Pryor threw a 22-yard strike to Dane Sanzenbacher on a third-and-3 that moved the ball down to the Penn State 23, a false start and a holding penalty lost 15 yards for Ohio State. Three plays netted 13 yards and the Buckeyes moved five more yards closer when the Nittany Lions were flagged for offsides before Barclay split the uprights with 5:54 remaining until intermission.

The Buckeyes needed just one play on their third possession of the second half to put another seven points on the scoreboard as Pryor found a wide-open DeVier Posey down the far-sideline who got behind the cornerback and the safety was late getting over in blown coverage. With 1:47 left in the third quarter, OSU went ahead 17-7.

Ohio State got the ball in good field position to start the fourth quarter after a 45-yard punt return by Small and starting at the PSU 47 yard line, the Buckeyes took five minutes and 29 seconds off the clock on a 10-play drive that was capped off on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Pryor to running back Brandon Saine with 9:37 left to play in the game and Nittany Lion fans started heading for the exits as the Buckeyes took a 24-7 lead.

Pryor was 8-of-17 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 50 yards on five attempts.

Saine was the Buckeyes’ leading rusher with 68 yards on 20 carries while Dan Herron added 58 yards on 16 tries.

The Buckeyes are now ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press top 25 college football poll and eighth in the USA Today coaches’ poll. Iowa dropped to No. 15 in the AP and 13th in the coaches. Next Saturday’s game is set for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and it will be televised on ABC.

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