Bring on the Longhorns! Buckeyes trounce RedHawks

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- Now that the Ohio State University football team has achieved supremacy in the state of Ohio for another year, the Buckeyes' focus has shifted to national superiority.
Ohio State's 34-14 victory Saturday over Mid-American Conference contender Miami has the Buckeyes pumped for an early September showdown with a national powerhouse.
"Probably in the middle of the fourth [quarter] today -- I'm not going to lie," said Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel when asked when he started thinking about next Saturday's prime-time game against No. 2 Texas. "We can't wait and I'm sure they're the same."
Not only will the eyes of Texas be upon Ohio Stadium but an entire nation of college football fans will be watching as the Longhorns visit Ohio Stadium to face the No. 6 Buckeyes.
"I love night games because there is so much energy in the 'Shoe,' " senior safety Nate Salley said. "I have been looking forward to this since my freshman year because Texas had the number-one recruiting class and we were second, so this will decide which one was better."
OSU offense jells
Except for an interception in the end zone, the Buckeyes ' offense was mostly unstoppable, tuning up for the Longhorns by scoring five times on their first six possessions.
Ohio State's first punt wasn't until the first minute of the fourth quarter when the score was 34-0.
The Buckeyes' opening drive showcased a long afternoon for the Redhawks when Zwick engineered a 12-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass to split end Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone.
"Every play, it just seemed like we were gaining something," Zwick said of the opening drive. "It was awesome to go down on the first drive and score points. It set the tone."
Josh Huston's 20- and 27-yard field goals extended the lead to 13 points.
Defense has big play
Late in the half came the Ohio State defensive play that ended the RedHawks' hopes of a major upset.
One play after Donte Whitner was penalized for roughing RedHawks punter Jacob Richardson, the Buckeyes' strong safety intercepted a Josh Betts pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.
"That play was huge," said Tressel because it gave the Buckeyes a chance to "break the spirit. When the score was [20-0], there's a little different emotion."
In the meantime, the Buckeyes' defense dominated, not allowing the RedHawks to cross midfield until the final minute of the first half.
Four first half sacks (linebacker Bobby Carpenter, Whitner, linebacker Anthony Schlegel, linebacker A.J. Hawk) compounded the Redhawks' frustrations.
"Our goal every game is to get after the quarterback," Carpenter said. "We got a lot of pressure on Betts and because of that he started throwing some balls up."
Betts, who completed 24 of 44 passes for 250 yards, said the Buckeyes "did a great job of mixing their personnel and blitzes. We did our best, which is a credit to them."
Boeckman gets in at QB
Brandon Schnittker's 1-yard touchdown run about eight minutes into the third quarter allowed Tressel to replace Zwick with freshman Todd Boeckman.
Boeckman's second pass as a Buckeye was a 42-yard scoring strike to flanker Ted Ginn Jr.
Sophomore tailback Antonio Pittman led the Buckeyes' rushing attack with 103 yards on 14 carries. Ginn had 13 on three carries and caught five passes for 75 yards.
"We did a good job of containing him," Miami coach Shane Montgomery said. "I'm disappointed with the outcome ... [but] I'm not disappointed in the effort of our team. We played an excellent team, No. 6 in the nation."
Ohio State runners gained 160 yards on 36 tries. The Buckeyes limited Miami rushers to 48 yards on 30 tries.
"We had a lot of different guys touch the ball on offense and that's awesome because [opponents] don't know who they want to take away from us," Zwick said.
Miami (Ohio)00014--14
Ohio St.1010140--34
First Quarter
OSU--Holmes 20 pass from Zwick (Huston kick), 9:24.
OSU--FG Huston 20, 1:09.
Second Quarter
OSU--FG Huston 27, 2:39.
OSU--Whitner 26 interception return (Huston kick), 1:21.
Third Quarter
OSU--Schnittker 1 run (Huston kick), 7:09.
OSU--Ginn 42 pass from Boeckman (Huston kick), 2:08.
Fourth Quarter
Mia--Calhoun 3 run (Soderquist kick), 2:29.
Mia--Robinson 35 pass from Betts (Soderquist kick), 1:11.
A--104,695.
MiaOSU
First downs2124
Rushes-yards30-4836-160
Passing250222
Comp-Att-Int24-44-122-30-1
Return Yards54106
Punts-Avg.7-38.02-40.5
Fumbles-Lost1-12-1
Penalties-Yards4-262-26
Time of Possession29:5830:02
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Miami (Ohio), Murphy 15-48, Robinson 1-14, Calhoun 6-14, Betts 8-(minus 28). Ohio St., Pittman 14-100, Zwick 5-25, Ginn 3-11, Wells 7-10, Gonzalez 1-8, Schnittker 4-7, Lane 1-2, team 1-(minus 3).
PASSING--Miami (Ohio), Betts 24-44-1-250. Ohio St., Zwick 17-23-1-155, Boeckman 5-7-0-67.
RECEIVING--Miami (Ohio), Nance 9-106, Robinson 8-96, O'Bryan 2-17, Busin 1-12, McVay 1-6, Calhoun 1-6, Williams 1-5, Vogel 1-2. Ohio St., Ginn 5-75, Holmes 5-74, Gonzalez 5-39, Hall 5-23, Hamby 1-6, Pittman 1-5.
williams@vindy.com