Defense Saves The Day For Buckeyes
Photo By Terry
Gilliam
by Mike Wachsman
Posted 10-11-09
The federal government isn’t the only entity in the bailout business.
On a day when the Ohio State offense was more offensive than productive,
the defense strutted its stuff, scoring a pair of touchdowns and limiting
visiting Wisconsin to just one trip to the end zone in a 31-13 Buckeyes
victory.
“The defense came to play,” OSU coach Jim Tressel said. “Wisconsin’s run
game is excellent and their quarterback was the top-rated in the Big Ten. We
have good leadership over there, good veterans to run the show. If they
continue to get better they’ll be tough to deal with.”
Safety Kurt Coleman gave the Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,301 a jolt when he
stepped in front of a Scott Tolzien pass and returned it 89 yards for a
score. It was the fifth longest interception return in Ohio State history,
and it was a precursor of things to come.
Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1) tied the game at 7 when Chris Maragos busted up the
middle for a nine-yard scoring run with just under five minutes gone in the
second quarter, and took the lead on a 50-yard field goal by Philip Welch
with just 1:53 remaining until halftime.
For just about the only time all afternoon the OSU offense showed some
urgency, and a n 88-yard drive was capped by a picture perfect 32-yard
scoring strike from Terrelle Pryor to Devier Posey. OSU took a 14-10 lead
into intermission, despite amassing just 124 yards of offense. The Buckeyes
tallied just 184 yards all day, which is the touchdown before halftime was
so vital.
“I don’t think you can point to one particular thing the way everyone tries
to,” Tressel said when asked about the foibles of the offense. It makes it
hard when you’re three and out to figure it out because there’s not much
data there. That’s why the drive at the end of the half when it was a 10-7
game, that was huge. We have to work to get better on offense, we’ll have to
figure it out.
“We seized the momentum with the score at the end of the half.”
Despite running just three plays in the third quarter the Buckeyes (5-1,
3-0) actually increased their lead thanks to a 32-yard interception return
by Jermale Hines and a 96-yard kickoff return by Ray Small.
Pryor had 35 yards and finished five of 13 for 87 yards passing, while
Brandon Saine paced the ground game with 55 yards.
Ross Homan was Ohio State’s leading tackler with 13 stops, while Coleman had
11 and Brian Rolle added 10.
The victory probably won’t gain OSU any fans looking for aesthetic beauty,
but all that matters to Tressel is that the Buckeyes came out ahead. It
matters not how they did it.
“When you get two defensive touchdowns and a kick return touchdown that’s
more than you can really hope for,” he said.