Toledo provides Ohio State with relief
Saturday’s 38-point victory erased some of the angry backlash that followed the Sept. 12 loss to Southern California.
COLUMBUS (AP) — After a loss to Southern California, Ohio State’s fans took shots at coach Jim Tressel, and he returned the favor.
But a win over a familiar foil — an in-state opponent, in this case Toledo — lightened the mood of the Buckeyes and their followers.
“I’m losing memory of the USC game,” quarterback Terrelle Pryor said in the afterglow of No. 13 Ohio State’s 38-0 slapdown of Toledo on Saturday.
It had been a trying week for the Buckeyes in the wake of that 18-15 setback to USC. Fans swamped call-in shows and sent innumerable posts to Web sites criticizing Tressel’s archconservative approach to the game.
In return, Tressel said such fans were “miserable” and “sad.”
But as the score mounted at Cleveland Browns Stadium, the pressure and tension seemed to diminish.
The game against the Rockets couldn’t have come at a much better time for the beleaguered 13th-ranked Buckeyes.
After a narrow 31-27 win over Navy’s triple-option in the opener and then the discouraging come-from-ahead loss to USC, Ohio State needed something to feel good about.
The win left it looking ahead and looking up for a change.
For six decades, the Buckeyes did not schedule an in-state foe as they rose in national status. Why risk a lofty ranking against a smaller school? If they ever lost, what kind of an impact would that have on recruiting, as Ohio State almost owns the blue-chippers within the state’s borders?
But Jim Jones answered those questions by scheduling Bowling Green in 1992. The move has kept money in the state instead of paying Rice or Northern Illinois to play, has helped raise the profile of some in-state schools and has been a bonanza for the Buckeyes on the field.
Since Ohio teams — principally those from the Mid-American Conference — began dotting the Ohio State schedule, the Buckeyes have won all 20 games. The average score in those meetings is 35-16.
“We really needed this win today, big time,” center Mike Brewster said.
After a subpar effort against USC, the offense riddled defenseless Toledo for 522 yards, 247 by land and 275 by air.
Pryor threw three TD passes (76 and 18 yards to Dane Sanzenbacher, 4 yards to DeVier Posey) and also ran for a score. He had 213 total yards against USC and 372 against Toledo.
The Rockets and quarterback Aaron Opelt came in averaging more than 40 points a game, but were body-slammed by a defense that permitted just 13 rushing yards and spent the afternoon chasing Opelt everywhere he tried to hide.
The results says as much about the Rockets as it does about Ohio State’s rejuvenation. But, at least for a day, all was right with the Buckeyes.
“It is nice coming away with a win like that, especially getting a shutout,” Sanzenbacher said.
Even so, the Buckeyes dropped two spots in the Associated Press rankings to No. 13.
Next up is the Big Ten opener against Illinois. The last time the Illini came to Columbus in 2007, they stunned then-No. 1 Ohio State, 28-21.
But for now the Buckeyes feel as if they have regained their mojo.
“[Beating Toledo] really gave me more confidence than I had,” Pryor said.