Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Penn State's loss to the Wolverines gave the Bucks hope for a league title.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A football season is parsed out in segments: pre-conference and conference, home and away, big games and not-so-big games.
Sometimes, a season is even divided by a team's changing fortunes.
Just seven days ago, all was doom and gloom around the Ohio State campus. The Buckeyes had just lost to Penn State, their national title hopes vaporized and their Big Ten aspirations on life support.
But Penn State's last-second loss at Michigan, coupled with Ohio State's quirky and almost inexplicable 35-24 win over Michigan State, has opened up new vistas for the rejuvenated Buckeyes.
"It just opened the door wide open for the Big Ten," offensive tackle Doug Datish said Tuesday. "That's one thing that's great about the Big Ten this year, for us at least -- now it's anybody's game. It doesn't matter who it is. We're all vying for that title now."
Ohio State is one of five teams with one conference loss, with four other two-loss teams not mathematically eliminated.
So when the 14th-ranked Buckeyes play at Indiana (4-2, 1-2) Saturday, they don't have to root for or against anybody else. It's simple: win out and at least a share of the Big Ten title awaits at the end of November.
No looking ahead
Yet coach Jim Tressel said he doesn't want his players even contemplating where they stand or what's at stake. He cites a Bible verse from Revelations to reinforce his argument.
"I hope our thoughts are on what's going on right this second," he said. "We always say, 'You're as good as your works deserve.' At the end of the year, whatever we deserve to be, we will be. It has nothing to do with the way the ball bounced or the referees. It will be about what we did."
Ohio State (4-2, 2-1) has a lot of improvement to make on the road before it can even consider carting off a trophy. The Buckeyes have won only one of their last six Big Ten road games.
Asked what the Buckeyes have to do away from home that they have not been doing, linebacker Anthony Schlegel laughed and said, "Win. We've got to win. I look back on it and I can't really tell you if there's something we're not doing."
Tressel has a favorite maxim that he has repeated to his players hundreds of times: You win on the road with relentless defense, opportunistic offense and big plays from the special teams.
The defense has done its part all year but the offense has been erratic and there have been few timely plays on kicks. As a result, the Buckeyes lost 17-10 at Penn State two weeks ago in their only road trip this season.
Road trips tough
"When you're at home, you feel just that -- that you're at home," Datish, the former Howland High standout, said. "When you're away, you feel like an invader. It's kind of you and your 120 guys going against that home crowd and trying to turn it against them. It's a little bit different [from playing at home]. Instead of looking for noise, you're looking for silence."
The game at Indiana is the first of two in a row on the road, followed by a tough trip at Minnesota. After home games against Illinois and Northwestern, the Buckeyes close the regular season at The Big House against Michigan.
Datish is coming off one of his best games as a starter. The offensive line didn't give up a sack while the defense recorded 12 in the win against Michigan State, which held a lopsided statistical advantage in almost every offensive category. The Spartans had a 4-0 turnover differential, quarterback Drew Stanton played like a Big Ten MVP and about all the Buckeyes did on offense was score on long plays after bad tackling.