Football
Buckeye Defense Dominate Spartans; Buckeyes Claim Eighth Win
By John Porentas
The Ohio State offense was on the field when 38 points went on the board in No. 1 Ohio State's (8-0, 4-0) 24-17 win over Michigan State (5-3, 1-3), 24 of them for the Buckeyes.
It was the other 14 points, the ones that counted for Michigan State, that turned a one-sided game into a little bit of a nail biter.
For a half the Buckeyes looked all the part of the number one team in the nation. The OSU defense dominated a Michigan State offense that came into the game the highest scoring offense in the Big Ten, and for a half the OSU offense was also impressive. For the day MSU managed just 185 yards of total offense and only 59 net yards rushing.
The Buckeyes put 24 unanswered points on the board behind efficient passing by Boeckman and a wilting ground game that was carried by Beanie Wells, but two disastrous plays in the third quarter, about a minute apart, turned what was a laugher into a tight game.
With OSU leading 24-0, Boeckman was intercepted by Michigan State's Otis Wiley. Wiley returned the ball 54 yards for MSU's first score of the game.
"I know I made a bad throw there, I made a bad read," said Boeckman.
"There was a little miscommunication between me and Brian. That stuff is going to happen and unfortunately it happened today," Boeckman said.
"I think they were in zero coverage, they were bringing six or seven guys or so. I was trying to get a quick throw to Hartline and they guy stepped in front of it and made a pretty good play," said Boeckman.
The play at first looked like an aberration in a one-sided game, just a little annoyance, but took on a different complexion when less than a minute later Boeckman fumbled when hit in the OSU backfield and Michigan State's SirDarean Adams scooped up the loose ball and carried it 25 yards to the endzone. Poof. One-sided 24-0 game is now a tight 24-14 game. Boeckman's fumble was forced by MSU's Jonal St.Dic who came unblocked up the middle to deck Boeckman and knock the ball free.
"I didn't really see him coming," said Boeckman.
"It's a quick throw, I throw a little screen pass to the tailback out there.
"The linemen maybe should have gotten a little block on him and I don't think they did. You can't have guys coming free like that up the middle when we're running a play like that because I'm supposed to get a quick five in there but I only got back to three steps and before I knew it I was hit," Boeckman said.
As was the case in the interception, the fumble was the result of miscommunication.
"Michigan State brought a lot of pressure today," explained Boeckman.
"They kept bringing guys and (OSU center) Jimmy (Cordle) kept making some calls at the last minute where we had some miscommunication. I was saying the cadence and he was making his calls, so we had a little miscommunication a little bit," Boeckman said.
In less than a minute 24-0 had turned into 24-14. It almost got worse. On OSU's next possession Wells fumbled the football in the OSU backfield and it looked like MSU would recover, but the Spartans couldn't come up with the football and Wells was was able to recover the ball.
"Just get on the ball, get on the football," said Wells describing what was going through his head as the play unfolded. "I lost control of it and I want it back."
It was an ugly, and nearly disastrous series for the Buckeyes, but Wells' recovery put an end to the nightmare.
The Spartan offense managed their lone scoring drive of the day in the late stages of the fourth quarter when they drove to the OSU 26-yard line but had to settle for a field goal to make the score 24-17. The OSU offense was able to move the football on the ground after taking the ensuing kick with Wells doing most the damage. The Spartans never got possession again as Wells and the OSU offense simply kept the football until the clock ran out.
"We had to come off the ball because we knew they were going to bring the house," said OSU offensive lineman Kirk Barton of OSU's last possession.
"They had nothing to lose and they knew we weren't going to pass it, so we had to gash them. We had to move the guys," Barton said.
"I felt so strong at that point. I felt like I could have carried the ball 20 times on that drive," said Wells.
Wells finished finished the game with a career-high 31 carries and a carrier-high 234 yards.
"I don't really think I carried the load," said Wells.
"The offensive line opened the holes, I just ran through them. I give all the credit to the offensive line," Wells said.
The Buckeyes put 10 points on the board in the first quarter, seven when OSU drove 93 yards with the opening kickoff, Boeckman finding tight end Jake Ballard for a 14 yard touchdown pass to put OSU up 7-0. The Buckeyes added a 42 yard Ryan Pretorious field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
Wells scored from five yards out in the third quarter to make the score 17-0, and Boeckman hooked up with Brian Robiskie for a 50 yard scoring bomb to make the score 24-0.
For the game, the Buckeyes outgained the Spartans 422 yards to 185. OSU rushed for 229 total yards and passed for 193 more. MSU rushed for just 59 net yards.
"Our strength as a football team right now has got to be running the football," said MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio.
"We've done that every single game, and because of that we've been able to open up the passing lanes and create big plays. We were unable to do that today. We certainly worked it, but give credit to Ohio State.
"They're the number one team in the nation right now. They stopped the run and made it a one-dimensional game. They pressured the quarterback," Dantonio said.
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