Buckeyes fall to No. 5 in polls

After barely beating Ohio U., Ohio State will face a tough test against No. 1 USC.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel would never admit that having his team barely eke out a win against a lesser opponent might make his job a little easier this week.

Rest assured he’ll have his embarrassed players’ full attention this week. And they’ll be steaming mad that everyone is against them, that nobody thinks they’re any good and that the world believes No. 1 Southern California will stomp them Saturday night.

The Buckeyes beat Ohio University 26-14 Saturday, but judging from the reaction of more than 105,000 at Ohio Stadium and from the players themselves it was hard to count it as a victory. The previously third-ranked Ohio State dropped to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll released Sunday.

The biggest question now is if the Bobcats were that good or the Buckeyes were that bad. A strong case can be made for either.

“I don’t want to read too much into it because everyone has them [bad games], but I have a tough time believing a lot of those other top teams in the country would’ve played like we played today,” wide receiver Brian Hartline said.

The numbers bear that out. Ohio, a 331‚Ñ2-point underdog, led 14-6 in the third quarter and 14-12 going into the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes, playing without the injured Chris “Beanie” Wells, totaled just 272 yards. No one knows when or even if Wells will be able to play, and Ohio State officials declined to let him speak with reporters after Saturday’s game.

If not for five turnovers by the Bobcats — four interceptions and a pivotal fumbled punt — the Buckeyes might be hearing the words “Appalachian State” a lot this week.

They were more than happy to look ahead to a trip to Los Angeles to play a USC team that destroyed Virginia 52-7 last week and then had the luxury of watching the Buckeyes struggle.

“We still got a ‘W’ at the end of the day, so now all the focus goes on to USC,” cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “I’m pretty sure everybody will be focusing and trying to get better this week.”

Quarterback Todd Boeckman, who passed for just 110 yards and was sacked three times by an Ohio team that was picked to finish sixth in its division of the Mid-American Conference, said the Buckeyes were drawing a line in the sand.

“It’s going to be huge. It’s going to be the Trojans firing at us,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of national attention. It’s a statement game for us.”

The USC game is seen as a chance to get back at all those who put down the Big Ten as slow and untalented and to earn some redemption for a team that has been extremely successful — until it has stepped out of its home stadium and conference.

“We’re very excited to play at USC,” defensive end Lawrence Wilson said. “We’ve talked a lot about this game.”

Now the Buckeyes get a chance to do more than talk, and must prove that Saturday was an anomaly.