Basketball Recap: #2 Ohio State 85, #3 Duke 63

Sullinger and co. looked fired up

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked about an Ohio State player and almost chuckled.

"I wasn't focused on each of their guys," he said. "I was trying not to lose by 30."

It was that kind of night for the Blue Devils (No. 3 AP).

Jared Sullinger scored 21 points and three teammates were close behind as No. 2 Ohio State roared out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back in rolling to an 85-63 victory Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Buckeyes fans chanted "overrated" at the Blue Devils in the final minute.

NBA star LeBron James had a front-row seat for the rout, but he was booed loudly when he walked to his courtside seat with Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade. That was about the only time the fans expressed any dissatisfaction with anything on the court.

"This basketball team is special," Sullinger said.

The Buckeyes (7-0) never trailed, weathering a Duke rally in the first half and then leading by 20 for most of the second half.

"Sometimes you just get your butt kicked," said Krzyzewski, who said his young team appeared tired.

Austin Rivers had 22 points and Mason Plumlee 16 for the Blue Devils (7-1), coming off wins over ranked opponents Michigan and Kansas in their previous two games.

William Buford scored 20, Deshaun Thomas 18 and Aaron Craft 17 for the Buckeyes, who gave the Big Ten a 4-2 edge in the conference matchups. Craft also had eight assists and five rebounds and was a terror on defense.

Recap: Ohio State 34 Michigan 40

The last drive wasn't enough

When people remember the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6, 3-5), what will come to mind? That this was the first team to lose to Michigan in 7 years? Maybe they'll remember it as Braxton Miller's coming out party, where he led the Buckeyes to a 6-6 record, which would have been much worse without him. 

Perhaps the line of thinking will go towards the team that came after Jim Tressel and before Urban Meyer. Whichever way people remember it, this season was rough for OSU fans, and they most likely will try and forget it.

When OSU took the field, there was some serious energy on offense, before Braxton Miller connected with a wide open Philly Brown for the first score of the game. Better yet, it was a long pass that completed an outstanding drive, that was perhaps one of the best drives this season. The common phrase this game was "Where was this play-calling all season?". 

It seemed as if Fickell, coaching in what may be his first and last Michigan game was pulling out all the stops and kidnapping Jim Bollman's playbook for the day, to allow Braxton to actually be set free. The 18th-ranked Wolverines and first-year head coach Brady Hoke notched their first win over the arch-rival Buckeyes since 2003, prevailing 40-34 in what was by far the most entertaining Ohio State-Michigan game since the one-versus-two game in 2006. The offense's on both sides exploded, but the same could be said about the defense's.

Recap: Ohio State 14, Penn State 20

Posey did his best to try and get a win

The last time Penn State won a game without Joe Paterno as coach was December 1965.

That day, the Nittany Lions used a strong defensive effort to beat Maryland, behind the coach who mentored Paterno, Rip Engle.

On Saturday, No. 21 Penn State earned its first victory since Paterno was fired with a similarly stingy defense.

Stephfon Green ran for two touchdowns and the Nittany Lions held Ohio State (6-5, 3-4) scoreless in the second half of the 20-14 victory on Saturday.

"We talked about the last two teams to win here were `78 and `08," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who was promoted after Paterno was fired 10 days ago. "I said to them, `I want to know: How are you going to be remembered?"

They'll be remembered as at least co-champs of the Big Ten's Leaders Division, while Ohio State falls again.

Recap: Ohio State 23, Purdue 26

Hall made some big plays

If you thought that Ohio State (6-4, 3-3) would come out fast and looking ready to go for a November to remember, you weren't the only one. Sadly, it looked as if they didn't make any progress from the close-shave against Indiana. The trip to Ross-Ade stadium again seems to give fits to Ohio State offenses, and the defense looked terrible in a 26-23 overtime loss to Purdue. The Boilermakers (5-5, 3-3) had just been coming off 2 straight losses - both in ugly fashion. First came Michigan who they lost to 36-14, and then traveled to Camp Randall where the Badgers took care of business in fashion 62-17.

Of course, those games meant nothing to Purdue. Look at their home record before this game: 4-1. Their only loss came to Notre Dame. They beat Illinois and a Minnesota team that has shown much improvement from the past couple of years. Add to the fact that the Buckeyes have some weird phobia of playing against the Boilermakers at Purdue, and that's a recipe for confidence and success for Danny Hope's squad, which is now one win away from bowl edibility. As for Ohio State, things have taken a turn for the worse since their monumental upset of then highly-ranked Wisconsin. After that game, Ohio State was just 1 game away from being in control of their own destiny on their way to a B1G CCG. All they had to worry about was winning out, but even with Braxton Miller's heroics again, this time with a 4th down roll-out that ended in a fantastic Jordan Hall catch,  the Buckeye defense couldn't come up with a stop in overtime.

Recap: Ohio State 27, Nebraska 34

Carlos Hyde's 67-yard run.

When Ohio State (3-3, 0-2) built a 27-6 lead over the favored, 14th ranked Cornhuskers, Buckeye fans across the nation watching could believe that they had finally turned it around and were ready to start competing. The Cornhuskers were on their heels for the majority of this game, at least, until true freshman Braxton Miller gained 3 yards on a 2nd down play.

That play is significant because Miller hurt his ankle to the point in which he could not return in this game, but even previous before that, the ghost of Maurice Clarrett seemed to come to the Huskers side, as Lavonte David stripped the ball right out of Braxton Miller's hands on a medium gain run. After that, the Cornhuskers rolled on offense.

Perhaps the reason is when Braxton got hurt, that left the game in Joe Bauserman's hands. Bauserman came in when Ohio State was then clinging to a 27-13 lead, and went 1/10 (10% completion percentage) for 13 yards and 1 pick. Every incompletion sailed high over every intended target, even some wide open ones. On the flip side, Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead just dominated in the second half, as the defense for OSU must have been super tired after not getting any long breaks from touchdowns while Bauserman was in. Martinez went 16/22 passing for 191 yards and Burkhead ran for 119 yards on 26 carries. Carlos Hyde led the Buckeyes in rushing with 104 on only 13 carries. Before Braxton Miller was injured, he was doing very well throwing the ball, and of course running. He went 5/8 (62.5% completion percentage), and rushed for 95 yards on 10 carries.

Recap: Ohio State 37, Colorado 17

Miller had 83 yards rushing

The Miller era has begun in Columbus, Ohio. After being announced that true freshman Braxton Miller would be starting the game against Toledo on Thursday of this past week, you could expect the youngster to have some nerves before and during the first couple of minutes of the game. It showed on the first drive, after Miller fumbled a snap, but was soon taken care of thanks to forcing a quick 3 and out from our defense. That's when Miller seemed like a different person, a calm and collected QB that was able to rush where he wanted when he wanted. Against Colorado (1-3), Miller went 5/13 (38% completion percentage) for 83 yards, but had 2 beautiful touchdown strikes to his main target this season, Devin Smith.

Troy Smith had Ted Ginn and Anthoney Gonzalez as his targets, while Boeckman had Robiskie, and Terrelle Pryor had Posey and Sanzenbacher. It seems like the new connection is Miller to Smith, who paired up 3 times. He finished with 64 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Reid Fragel was Miller's other target, who he only found once, but the majority of the play-calling was in favor of Braxton's legs. Of course, handing the ball of is also important when you have the thunder-lightning combo of Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde. Hall, who amassed 231 all purpose yardage, with 84 of that coming on the ground. He also had two long kickoff returns, 1 which was called back while the other was stopped short inside the 5-yard line. Carlos Hyde only had 6 carries to Hall's 18, but still managed to get 40 yards out of it, and a touchdown that sealed the deal for Ohio State (3-1) later in the game.

When Colorado came into the 'Shoe, they didn't run their offense like they wanted to. Early on pressure from the defense didn't allow much to happen on the offensive side of the ball for the Buffs, including not rushing Rodney Stewart as much as they should have, which is one their strong suits. Eventually on long drives quarterback Tyler Hansen was able to float 2 touchdowns over the top of Buckeye defense, but they didn't use the screen until late in the game (Ironically, when things were moving well for the Buffs) which might prove to be an Achilles heel for this defensive secondary. Michigan State next week will be sure to watch the film and take advantage of situations like this. Colorado truthfully had a chance to make this game competitive, but misfortune fell when they stepped on their own feet by turning the ball over twice, and not doing well on special teams.

Recap: Ohio State 6, Miami 24

Hall tried to give the Buckeyes life

After an ugly win over a Toledo team that Boise State handled easily, Buckeye Nation was concerned over the quarterback controversy, where Joe Bauserman was solid in that he didn't turn the ball over, but couldn't throw an accurate deep ball to save his life. So, when Braxton Miller went in last night, and did well in the running game, he also fumbled and had an interception (It was a tipped ball, to be fair). A lot of frustration came in the game last night, due to the total of 35 yards passing, and just horrid play calling from Bollman. It's interesting that everyone was upset with Tressel's play calling when he was here (myself included), but with the real offensive coordinator calling the plays, we see that Tressel was actually a genius. Perhaps that's a bit exaggerated, but there is no doubt in my mind that Tressel is a better play caller then most think.

Lamar Miller was man among boys out there in Coral Gables, as he rushed for 184 yards on 26 carries. Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde did their part in trying to get the Buckeye offense rolling, combining for 141 yards on 26 carries. Had Hall not gone down on one of his punt returns with serious cramping, and if our passing game had at least 100 yards, this might be a very different game. Jacory Harris threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to Allen Hurns, helping the Hurricanes top the #19 Ohio State Buckeyes, who are in danger of being knocked out of the Top 25 for the first time since November 28th, 2004. 

Recap: Ohio State 27, Toledo 22

Fields returned a 69 yard punt for a TD

It all came down to the last half minute for the Toledo Rockets. They trailed 27-22 with about 45 seconds left in the game when quarterback Terrance Owens started to roll out and look for his go-to receiver, Eric Page. Page, of course, the unsung hero of the day for the Toledo Rockets had been making plays all over the field against the Silver Bullet's, and OSU's defense had yet to really contain him.

As John Simon gave chase and put some real pressure on Owens, the ball fell to the turf on 4th down, and #13 Ohio State lived to see another game in the world of the undefeated. How long that will last, will be up to on how much we can improve from now until the Miami game on the 24th. The fact that OSU had to rely on the Rocket's mistakes to win the game says enough in itself. 14 penalties, a missed field goal, and a punt return for a touchdown all killed Toledo's momentum when they would start to build it up.

Despite all these struggles, Toledo still led for most of this game, including late in the third quarter. They had led 15-7 after the first quarter and were leading 22-21 very late in the third. Ohio State still managed to take the lead, and started to look like they could finally put the nail in the coffin and head into Week 3 with a little momentum, when the unthinkable happened: Rod Smith fumbled with less than 2 minutes in the game. Luckily John Simon was there, and more plays from OSU's defense and special teams saved the day as the offense had trouble scoring and even driving down the field.

Chris Fields had a really nice day returning the ball and got his first punt return for a touchdown, that went for 69 yards. Carlos Hyde had 2 scores for the Buckeyes, who are still recovering and trying to figure out how long Travis Howard, Jordan Hall and Corey Brown will be out due to suspensions. Joe Bauserman was the starter and went 16/30 (53% completion percentage) for 189 yards and 1 touchdown. Braxton Miller did not see any playing time at all yesterday, and that left Buckeye Nation a little deceived by the coaching staff.

Recap: Ohio State 42, Akron 0

Stoneburner is a main target in '11

You may have forgotten by now, but Travis Howard and Jordan Hall, 2 of OSU's starters at corner and running back were out yesterday due to the 1 game suspension that was announced earlier last week. Luke Fickell's Buckeyes did a great job in making the fans forget all about that with a 42-0 shutout over the Akron Zips. Fickell is the 14th coach in Ohio State history to post a shutout in his coaching debut. The last person to do it was none other than Woody Hayes.

Coming into the game, the quarterback situation was a main talking point among OSU fans, as to who would be the starter. Once the depth chart came out showing Bauserman as 1A and Miller at 1B, we knew right away that the QB battle would continue into the first couple of games. Joe Bauserman, the redshirt senior, went 12/16, for 163 yards and 3 TDs, along with 1 rushing touchdowns. All 3 passing touchdowns came into the hands of Jake Stoneburner, who saw limited action along with other OSU TE's under Tressel. Heralded freshman Braxton Miller played the entire 2nd half of the game, sans the first drive. During that time, Miller went 8/12, for 130 yards and a touchdown score that was thrown to fellow freshman Devin Smith.

On the rushing side of the ball, Ohio State switched back and forth between freshman Rod Smith and sophomore Carlos Hyde, until finally sticking with Hyde until about mid way through the 3rd quarter. Hyde ran for 93 yards on 19 attempts with a long of 24. Smith lost a fumble, but also had 74 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown score that came late in the 4th quarter.

Among the receivers, the ball was spread around through 11 different players, including the tight ends and fullback Zach Boren. Ohio State is looking for two starting receivers, and they are making use of the young players to see what kind of depth they have at that position.

Akron's offense was limited to only 90 yards of total offense, as the defense was outstanding all day long for the Buckeyes. The amount of depth we have at every position is pretty good, and this unit will really be a key factor in games like Wisconsin, Nebraska, MSU, etc. Andrew Sweat led the defense, but the defensive line was key in making not only pressuring the QB, but also forcing him to make bad throws, and batting down other passing attempts.

For Seniors, Buckeyes, Sugar Bowl Ends Sweet

Cameron Heyward fell to his knees. The senior from Georgia left everything on the field two nights ago, in one of his most impressive performances this season. All year long Heyward would get double and triple teamed. Tonight, the same thing happened, but Heyward didn't care, he was going to break through. He did, and with 1 gimpy leg.

The final player in the TatFive group, Solomon Thomas, wasn't a huge blow to the team at the time. Sure he had got some playing time during the season, but most fans were worried with the normal household names. By the end of the night, he had made his mark on the 2010-2011 Sugar Bowl. After a blocked punt that gave all the momentum in the world to Arkansas, the pressure came up the middle from Ross Homan, and Mallett was forced to throw before he wanted to. That's when Thomas,  made the play of his career to seal up the Sugar Bowl win.