Ohio State Nearly Chokes on an In-State Cupcake

Thursday, 15 September 2011 12:01

Ohio State 27, Toledo 22 will do that to people accustomed to wiping their feet on the pre-Big Ten season carpet that (usually) is Mid-America Conference opponents.

Nice for the little state schools, of course. Come play the Bucks at the 'Shoe, collect a nice paycheck that some form of national TV and a massive stadium crowd provides, and hey, if you stay within four touchdowns, yessirree, we're not that far away from ...

Which is where the alarm clock goes off buzzing the dreamer back to reality.

The 2-0 Buckeyes (No. 17 in Associated Press, 16 coaches poll) looked a lot more rank than ranked through most of this past Saturday.

Three more suspended players -- running back Jordan Hall, cornerback Travis Howard and safety Corey Brown -- the continuing reappearances of the ghosts of sins past gave a leagueful of eager opponents chomping at the bit to finally enjoy their own Buckeye moments...The OSU roster was 10 shallower because of either injury or suspension, the larger part due to the off-field mess that was most of 2011.

But this was Toledo, part of a lineup of MAC hors d'oeuvres that prepared Ohio State for another strong Big Ten run, a member in good standing of a league whose representatives had never beaten Ohio State and, in most cases, hadn't come close to giving the Buckeyes a full afternoon's competition.

In fact, the Bucks hadn't lost to an in-state team since 1921.

You could hear the screeches and guffaws coming from across the land when the Rockets (1-1) overcame an early 26-yard Joe Bauserman-to-Jake Stoneburner touchdown pass with Kishon Wilcher's block of a Ben Buchanan punt to set up a 6-yard Austin Dantin-to-Eric Page TD and Page's two-point conversion, then Page's conversion of a swing-pass from rotating quarterback Terrance Owens into a 66-yard TD that helped produce a 15-7 deficit.

"We're going through a lot of adversity right now," said Bucks center Michael Brewster to The Columbus Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter. "Look around, there's nine-10 dudes that should be starting and they're not.

"Their backups are doing a (heck) of a job. You've just got to remember that. It's unbelievable that we've got tons of guys out there who have no starting experience. I mean, this is their second game starting...So I'm really proud of these guys and a win's a win."

Even if it took an obstacle-course uphill climb through occasional choruses of boos, and a spectacular bobbing, weaving touchdown return of a line-drive punt by Chris Fields just before halftime, the Bucks rediscovered running back Carlos Hyde's talents to pull close at 15-14, then Fields' theatrics got Ohio State a 21-15 halftime lead.

But Dantin and Adonis Thomas served yet another helping of uh-ohhhh, after Thomas took a short Dantin pass and converted it into a 44-yard gain that set up Thomas' 4-yard direct-snap run on fourth down to give Toledo its final lead, 22-21.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they regained composure enough to stop Toledo from taking advantage of great field position in plus-territory, bungling a field goal attempt, and Bauserman hit Devin Smith with a key drive-sustaining 36-yarder that put Hyde in position to bolt the final two yards that produced a 27-22 lead.

Toledo's confidence never wavered, though. It took a miracle recovery from total exhaustion by defensive tackle John Simon, who battled cramps and had to be helped off the field in the third quarter, to keep Ohio State's defense solvent in the fourth quarter. His key pressure on backup QB Owens was the decisive play.

The Rockets had driven to the OSU 16, the Bucks' defense had stiffened, but Simon, panting and gasping, ginned it up for one last stand as Owens, rotating for starter Dantin, rolled out, under Simon's continuing pressure. The resulting incompletion caused a major exhale from the usual sellout crowd.

"I just made a move," Simon told The Dispatch's Tim May. "Luckily it worked and I got through. Our secondary did a great job in coverage, so I had a little extra time to get back there. And I know a couple of people got through, so it was a total team effort on that play."

In replacing legendary Jim Tressel, coach Luke Fickell is on-the-job learning all about adversity.

"It kind of happened to (Simon) last week, too," Fickell told May. "John is not an out-of-shape guy by any means, but emotionally, sometimes things happen and he starts to cramp up a little bit. We've got to do a better job -- and he's got to do a better job -- of making shore they get that under control because we need him out there."

Indeed. Simon also produced a mid-fourth quarter sack of Dantin that spiked yet another Toledo drive.

And so the Buckeyes...survive.

The Michigan States, Wisconsins, AT Nebraskas and Michigans seem light years away. But if Ohio State is to make one of its great all-time statements, this Toledo game could certainly qualify as a teaching moment.

About Paul Smith

Paul Smith covers the Big Ten, Notre Dame and the rest of the national college football scene with his View From the Midwest.

About Paul Smith

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