Krenzel sparks Bucks' win

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- He's not flashy, he's not funny and he's not a future first-round draft pick.
After a season-long slump, Ohio State senior quarterback Craig Krenzel has taken a lot of criticism for what he's not.
On Saturday, Krenzel decided to remind everyone what he is.
A winner.
"I can only control the things that I can control," Krenzel said. "I don't worry about the other stuff."
Using his arm, his legs and his brain, Krenzel had perhaps his best game of the season, throwing for 213 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes past Michigan State 33-23 in a Big Ten battle at Ohio Stadium.
"I think there's a sense of urgency in everything we do," said Krenzel, who improved to 22-2 as a starter. "November performance is what everyone remembers. Everything we do kind of steps up a notch."
Balanced offense
Junior tailback Lydell Ross had 125 yards on 24 carries and Krenzel added 33 rushing yards as Ohio State's offense controlled the tempo and kept Michigan State's standout quarterback Jeff Smoker off the field.
"I think it was the most balanced our team has been this season offensively," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "We want to be balanced. We want to run for 200 yards and throw for 250. We want to score 40 points, but we were forced to kick four field goals.
"We scored enough points to win, but it's good to see us getting a little more balance."
Ohio State's defense held the Spartans to just 5 yards rushing -- "We weren't going to beat these guys running the ball," Spartans coach John L. Smith said -- and pressured Smoker into throwing two key interceptions. He finished 35-of-55 for 351 yards and two touchdowns and accounted for 364 of the Spartans' 378 yards.
It wasn't enough.
"We got beat by a real good team today," Smith said. "They're not the defending national champions for nothing."
Bouncing back
Krenzel, meanwhile, rebounded from a poor performance last week against Penn State. He was injured midway through the game and watched as senior Scott McMullen led the Buckeyes from behind to victory, prompting Tressel to say he would play both quarterbacks this week.
Instead, he stuck with Krenzel until Ohio State had the game in hand in the fourth quarter.
"I wasn't motivated by being replaced," Krenzel said. "I was motivated by our offense not doing as well as it should have done all year long."
Added Tressel, "There's no question who our starting quarterback is."
Ben Hartsock had three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown and Santonio Holmes added two catches for 51 yards and a touchdown for Ohio State (9-1, 5-1), which stayed tied with Michigan and Purdue atop the league standings.
Ryan Hamby had a 2-yard touchdown reception and Mike Nugent had four field goals for the Buckeyes.
Agim Shabaj had nine receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans (7-3, 4-2), who were all but eliminated from the league race. Michigan State committed 12 penalties for 89 yards.
"We made a lot of mistakes out there today," Smith said. "I think we're trying as hard as we can try, but sometimes our focus isn't as good as it needs to be.
"We can't make stupid mistakes and expect to win. We had to play a near-perfect game to beat these folks."
scalzo@vindy.com
Michigan St.7376--23
Ohio St.314106--33
First Quarter
MSU--Shabaj 22 pass from Smoker (Rayner kick), 6:21.
OSU--FG Nugent 44, 2:20.
Second Quarter
OSU--Hartsock 17 pass from Krenzel (Nugent kick), 10:53.
OSU--Holmes 37 pass from Krenzel (Nugent kick), 6:28.
MSU--FG Rayner 48, 3:13.
Third Quarter
OSU--Hamby 2 pass from Krenzel (Nugent kick), 11:42.
MSU--Cobb 93 kickoff return (Rayner kick), 11:30.
OSU--FG Nugent 24, 6:14.
Fourth Quarter
OSU--FG Nugent 42, 12:57.
OSU--FG Nugent 18, 5:18.
MSU--Alexander 19 pass from Smoker (pass failed), 3:21.
A--105,194.
MSUOSU
First downs2023
Rushes-yards17-549-182
Passing373213
Comp-Att-Int36-56-212-24-1
Return Yards213127
Punts-Avg.4-37.54-39.5
Fumbles-Lost5-00-0
Penalties-Yards12-892-14
Time of Possession26:0433:56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Michigan St., Teague 5-14, Shabaj 1-5, Hayes 4-(minus 5), Smoker 7-(minus 9). Ohio St., Ross 24-125, Krenzel 14-33, Joe 6-28, Guilford 3-(minus 1), team 2-(minus 3).
PASSING--Michigan St., Smoker 35-55-2-351, Alexander 1-1-0-22. Ohio St., Krenzel 12-23-1-213, McMullen 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Michigan St., Shabaj 9-78, Alexander 4-47, Knott 4-36, Teague 4-33, Trannon 4-19, Hayes 3-31, Brown 2-23, Scott 2-12, Kavanaght 1-47, Smoker 1-22, Randall 1-19, Cobb 1-6. Ohio St., Hartsock 3-54, Holmes 2-51, Jenkins 2-50, Hamby 2-31, Hall 1-18, Gamble 1-7, Joe 1-2.