Buckeyes smother 'Cats

Ohio State's offense struggled at times in the 21-point victory.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- On the first play of Saturday's game, Ohio State sophomore Justin Zwick lost his mouthpiece. His other mouthpieces never fit right. As a result, his cadence never sounded right.
"My linemen were making fun of me all day," he said, laughing. "I sounded weird all day."
It was that kind of day.
Zwick played well at times, not-so-well at others, and struggled with a lot of little things. But he -- and the rest of the Buckeyes -- played well enough to win.
And that's all that mattered.
"It's good to get that first win out of the way," Zwick said.
Ohio State's defense smothered Cincinnati, holding the Bearcats to 238 yards and two field goals as the Buckeyes pulled away for a 27-6 victory in the season opener at Ohio Stadium.
Ups and downs
Zwick, who started and split time with sophomore Troy Smith, finished 14-of-26 for 213 yards and a touchdown, but he also fumbled four times and threw two interceptions. Smith, who played most of the fourth quarter, was 2-of-3 for 29 yards and a touchdown.
"I thought that the quarterbacks did some good things," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "They made some good plays. They made some errors, especially from a turnover standpoint, which we won't be able to survive in the future.
"If I had to bet, I'd say we probably wouldn't grade it what I'd call a winning performance, but I thought it was solid."
Solid, but unspectacular. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, the running game came around after a shaky start, rolling up 220 yards. Senior tailback Lydell Ross had 17 carries for 142 yards, including a 68-yarder that set up Ohio State's first score.
"They threw a lot of stuff at us," said Ross, who had a fumble of his own wiped out by penalty. "We made some mistakes and we saw some stuff that wasn't familiar, but we came out ready in the second half."
Former Penguin
It was the first game for Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio, who was OSU's defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Dantonio also coached under Tressel for five years at Youngstown State.
The Bearcats won the turnover battle 3-0, but hurt themselves with seven penalties for 48 yards, including two in the red zone that helped set up Ross' 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
"We had a couple of penalties and it hurt us," Dantonio said. "But, we were close. I think our guys fought hard. I wish we could have kept it close."
Ohio State wideout Santonio Holmes -- one of just two returning offensive starters -- had four catches for 91 yards, including a 23-yard TD reception from Smith late in the fourth quarter. Tight end Ryan Hamby added four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, and Bam Childress had four for 67 as Ohio State won its 26th straight opener.
"We played OK, but I don't want to be satisfied with this," said Childress, who had a 47-yard touchdown pass called back in the first half by penalty. "We have a lot of areas where we can improve."
Costly turnovers
Cincinnati scored both its field goals off of Zwick turnovers in Ohio State territory. Aside from that, the Bearcats had little answer for the Buckeyes' defense.
Senior starting quarterback Gino Guidugli was 17-of-36 for 162 yards. He wasn't sacked, but he did have pressure in his face much of the game. "We tried our best to disrupt their secondary, but they did some things with their coverage that we didn't expect to see," Guidugli said. "It was a learning experience."
And not just for Cincy. If Ohio State is going to contend for a Big Ten title, it will have to play much better.
"We've got to grow from here," Tressel said. "But all in all, we thought it was a good work."
Cincinnati0330--6
Ohio St.010710--27
Second Quarter
Cin--FG Lovell 27, 14:54.
OSU--FG Nugent 27, 10:15.
OSU--Hamby 17 pass from Zwick (Nugent kick), 1:11.
Third Quarter
Cin--FG Lovell 25, 6:16.
OSU--L.Ross 1 run (Nugent kick), 2:27.
Fourth Quarter
OSU--Holmes 23 pass from T.Smith (Nugent kick), 5:54.
OSU--FG Nugent 23, 1:51.
A--104,604
CinOSU
First downs1121
Rushes-yards26-7643-220
Passing162242
Comp-Att-Int17-37-016-29-2
Return Yards6184
Punts-Avg.8-46.51-57.0
Fumbles-Lost0-04-1
Penalties-Yards7-482-20
Time of Possession26:3933:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Cincinnati, R.Hall 14-40, D.Jones 5-15, Enzor 1-13, Guidugli 2-4, Benton 3-3, Daniels 1-1. Ohio St., L.Ross 17-141, Pittman 7-66, M.Hall 7-14, T.Smith 5-7, Parker 1-3, Team 2-(minus 3), Zwick 4-(minus 8).
PASSING--Cincinnati, Guidugli 17-36-0-162, Daniels 0-1-0-0. Ohio St., Zwick 14-26-2-213, T.Smith 2-3-0-29.
RECEIVING--Cincinnati, Thomas 4-55, R.Hall 4-8, D.Ross 3-49, Murray 3-27, Daniels 1-11, D.Jones 1-10, Dawley 1-2. Ohio St., Holmes 4-91, Hamby 4-75, Childress 4-67, Ginn 2-(minus 1), Hall 1-12, L.Ross 1-(minus 2).
scalzo@vindy.com