Bad-bye: Buckeyes botch open dates under Tressel

November 5, 2008 at 12:10a.m.

They are 1-4 following bye weeks, with the lone win coming against Kent State.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Take a bye, then kiss the next game bye-bye.

That’s been a common refrain for the Ohio State Buckeyes in recent years. In games that follow a week off, they are 1-4 since Jim Tressel took over as head coach in 2001.

“We haven’t done wonderful with byes since we’ve been here,” Tressel said Tuesday as he reflected on not having a game last week and what’s in store this Saturday at Northwestern.

The 12th-ranked Buckeyes have had an extra week to stew over a 13-6 loss to No. 3 Penn State on Oct. 25. They took a few days off last week, rested up and recuperated, and now have returned to a typical week of practice. It’s the same procedure they have always followed under Tressel — and which has been far less than successful.

In Tressel’s first season in Columbus, they won their opener and were ranked No. 21 before taking a one-week hiatus. They came back to lose 13-6 at UCLA.

In 2003, they were 5-0 and ranked No. 4 until resting for a week; they returned to lose at Wisconsin, 17-10.

Northwestern provided the heartbreaker in 2004. The Buckeyes opened with three wins and were No. 7 heading into an Oct. 2 game at Evanston, Ill., but the Wildcats hung a 33-27 overtime loss on them.

In 2005, Ohio State (3-1) was ranked sixth — a late 25-22 loss to No. 2 Texas marring the slate — before a week of rest. The Buckeyes returned to fall 17-10 at Penn State.

The only time they have won after a week off was in 2002 — a 51-17 win over Kent State. That was also the only time they’ve followed a bye week with a home game. The Buckeyes have not had the luxury of taking a week off in the past two seasons.

Wide receiver Brian Robiskie feels the team needed time to heal, both physically from the bumps and bruises of a hard-hitting season, and also to mend its psyche after the loss to Penn State.

“I felt it came at a good time,” he said. “At this point in the season, guys are obviously hurt, guys are obviously banged up. So any bye week you have is going to be beneficial. To have it this late in the season definitely helped.”

The Buckeyes practiced last Tuesday through Friday. That also gave them an opportunity to look at their mistakes and to make corrections.

“We went back to the basics,” safety Kurt Coleman said. “That was probably the best thing because there were some things that we weren’t doing well.”

Coleman said he used the time to catch up on schoolwork, in addition to getting himself prepared for the Buckeyes final games at Northwestern and Illinois and at home against Michigan.

“It was a good time to just relax and get my mind right,” he said.

With almost zero chance of a third straight trip to the Bowl Championship Series national title game, Ohio State still has some major things on its list of things left to do. The Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) are in a virtual tie with Michigan State (8-2, 5-1) behind Penn State (9-0, 5-0) in the Big Ten race. A slip by the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes still could grab a piece of a fourth straight conference title.

They also can play themselves into a BCS bowl berth, again, if they win those last three games.

Tressel said he was unsure how his players would come away from the bye week. He pointed out to them that the season was sifting away.

“Coach [Earle] Bruce used to say November is what it’s all about, who you are as a football team is really decided by what you do in November,” Tressel said. “So I’d like to think that we can come into November a little bit more rested and ready to go.”

His Ohio State teams have gone 20-4 in November. The Buckeyes recognize that the success of their season will be predicated on the next three weeks.

“Coach Tressel just wanted to kind of stress to us the importance of the month of November,” Robiskie said. “With what we’ve got in front of us, you can sense that a lot of guys are still excited, a lot of guys are ready to go.”