NOTEBOOK | Ohio State vs. N.C. State

Ground game grounded: Senior tailback Lydell Ross had 51 yards on 25 carries as the Buckeyes managed just 64 yards on the ground. Freshman tailback Antonio Pittman had two carries for 9 yards, but Tressel wasn't ready to say whether Pittman will see more playing time in the future. "We don't play for two weeks, so I'm not sure I've had the opportunity to decide that," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. "But we need to get better."
Defensive leaders: Junior linebacker A.J. Hawk led Ohio State with nine tackles (eight solo) and an interception. He nearly had another on North Carolina State's final drive, but officials ruled the ball hit the ground first. "Did you see it?" he asked one reporter. "I know I had my hands under it." Donte Whitner and Ashton Youboty also had interceptions, while Tyler Everett and Marcus Green recovered fumbles.
Penalty-prone: North Carolina State tied a school record for most penalties in a game with 14 for 121. The Wolfpack also committed that many in a 1999 game against Clemson. After the game, the officials were roundly booed by the fans and one actually threw an empty Dasani bottle at an official's head. It missed.
Plane delay: Ohio State's plane was delayed two hours on Friday because of a tornado at the Raleigh-Durham airport. "There were a couple of guys who had never been on a plane and now they're hearing about tornadoes on the other end," Tressel said.
Better prepared: North Carolina State's only other game this year was a 42-0 win over Richmond two weeks ago. Tressel thought the Wolfpack may not have been prepared for Ohio State's defense. "They had a young quarterback and they hadn't really been hit," said Tressel. "Two weeks ago, they were in a game that was probably less difficult than a practice. We had already been in two tough games."
Local connection: Former Buckeye standout Bo Rein, an All-Ohioan at Niles McKinley High, spent four years as coach at North Carolina State, compiling a 27-18-1 record between 1976-79. He was a three-year starter at running back and also played baseball on OSU's 1966 national championship team. Rein died in a plane crash in January, 1980 shortly after being hired as coach at LSU.
Rare meeting: The game was just the second meeting between the two teams. Ohio State won the first meeting 44-38 in triple overtime last year in Columbus. Saturday's game was Ohio State's first in North Carolina and OSU's first game at the home stadium of an Atlantic Coast Conference team.
Up next: Ohio State has a bye week on Saturday and will open Big Ten play at Northwestern on Oct. 2. OSU students start classes on Wednesday.
Joe Scalzo