Ohio State is No. 1,
The Rest is Controversy

By Paul Smith
paul.smith@collegeblitz.com

Chesterton, Ind. -- Ohio State looked impressive indeed in adding yet another pelt for the ever-expanding 2006 belt with their 38-7 rout of Michigan State this past Saturday.

But meanwhile, the ink hadn't dried mid Sunday afternoon, and already the Bowl Championship Series had created a hornet's nest of controversy.

We're talking, of course, not about No. 1 Buckeyes' universal top rating. Not much argument there, not with the thrashing of freefalling Michigan State in East Lansing, or factoring in the convincing road rout of then top-ranked Texas in Austin or the solid home win over Penn State.

But, before we get into the whos and hows of O.S.U.'s seventh straight win (3-0 Big Ten) here camethe B.C.S. ratings folks with an early-season second-place annointing Sunday ... not of a Michigan team that is having a dream season thus far, but of the University of Southern California.

Even Buckeyes faithful joined the collective Great Lakes harrumph from Orrville to Owatonna.

Of course, both are unbeaten, but Michigan includes a pretty decent resume of victories -- a toughest-of-the-tough road win at Penn State Saturday night, playing without megaweapon Mario Manningham, plus victories over No. 21 Wisconsin and 10th ranked Notre Dame. S.C.? Cumputers, our dupa.

The Pac Ten, always a good conference, nonetheless simply doesn't include the roster of crunch-ballers found in the Big Ten. If S.C. somehow survives to make the trip to Tempe for the national championship game, the Big Ten will be want to make that explicitly clear.

We digress. In Ohio State's expected thumping of Michigan State, the Buckeyes showed the usual Spartan Stadium sellout of nearly 74,000, which included large flecks of Scarlet and Gray stray ticket scarfers, why they're the nation's dominant team.

On the first series, cheered voluminouslyby their vocal backers in the crowd, the Spartans forced a Chris Wells fumble at the Ohio State 30.

Three plays and one long James Laurinitis sack of Michigan State passer Drew Stanton later, the Spartans were forced to punt. One seven minute drive after that, the Bucks jumped in front 7-0 when Antonio Pittman capped an 80-yard drive, scoring from two-yards out.

"We've been saying this is our year, a time for us," said Laurinaitis, who was a key part of a defense that had lost nine starters to graduation but nonetheless held the 31-points-a-game Spartans to 198 total yards, just 63 rushing. "When something bad happens on the first drive, you're thinking, 'Shoot, let's go out and stop them here.' That gave us a huge confidence boost."

The closest the Spartans (3-4 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) came to scoring before the game's final minute was a desperate squirm by quarterback Drew Stanton to sustain a decent third quarter drive, only to be stopped two yards short of a first down at the O.S.U. 36.

The Bucks rode that to a dominating performance, removing any serious sense of competition in the second quarter. After an early Aaron Pettrey field goal, the Bucks three-and-outed the Spartans again and a buzz of excitement hit the Ohio State sideline as Ted Ginn, Jr. headed out to receive the Spartans' punt.

According to Cleveland Plain Dealer O.S.U. beat man Doug Lesmerises, freshman receiver Ray Small had predicted his first T.D. catch a few days before the Iowa game and sure enough, the willowy wideout had slithered behind the unsuspecting Iowa safeties to catch Troy Smith's perfectly thrown laser in the end zone in a 38-17 road rout of the Hawkeyes.

According to several Ohio State players, Ted Ginn, Jr., who like Small played at Cleveland's Glenville High School, said he sensed his first T.D. punt return coming.

Now given Ginn's mention in the Heisman Trophy race and his huge offensive production, this is hardly a Kreskin-like prophecy. But Ginn's highlight-reel 60-yard return of Brandon Woods' booming punt injected a strong sense of confidence in the Bucks.

"I told (fellow wide receiver and part-time punt returner Anthony Gonzalez) one of us was going to take it to the house because of the short field," Ginn told The Associated Press' Tim Martin. "He happened to punt it right to me and there I went."

Even though he's played with Ginn for three years, Gonzalez, who played across town from Ginn at Cleveland's perennial prep power, never ceases to be amazed at his mate's magic.

"I guess people from Glenville can see the future," fellow wide receiver Gonzalez told Lesmerises with a chuckle. "Ted was adamant (about the T.D. return)...

"I don't know how he knew, he just knew. He knew we were going to score on that play. It was crazy."

Anytime Ginn touches the football, it usually is. "I looked up and saw all those green shirts and I was like, 'I can't go that way.' I cut it back and found a lane and took it," Ginn told Lesmerises.

One possession later, Gonzalez caught a 12-yarder from Troy Smith for a 24-0 lead 12 seconds before halftime.

Ballgame.

It's been a pretty loony season on North High Street. The statewide media hordes grow more and more national week-by-week, wanting to know what magic potion Glenville Tarblooders bring to the Buckeyes.

Smith, who teamed with Ginn, Jr., to put Glenville on the Ohio prep map for good, you may know. Smith finished with 15 completions in 22 tries for 234 yards and touchdowns to Gonzalez and Brian Robiskie and is considered one of the current Heisman leaders.

The Buckeyes' running game doesn't exactly remind one of a thundering herd of U.S.C. Trojans or even the steady ball-control efficiency of Michigan's or Texas' dominant running games. But it blends just enough of Antonion Pittman's and Chris Wells' skills to keep enemy linemen from lining up Smith in their cross-hairs.

The unexpected element this year is the Bucks' defense. Lose one of the great linebacking corps -- Anthony Schlegel, A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter -- three 250-pound monster musclemen with near-cornerback speed and down lineman power, a bunch of athletic d-backs and powerful down linemen and nine out of 10 programs would shrug their collective shoulders, toss some promising freshmen into the mix and rediscover the power of prayer.

Not Ohio State. The defense simply puts the power squeeze on opposing offenses, chasing quarterbacks, gluing itself to opposing wideouts and jamming running games.

The victims were people like Penn State's Anthony Morelli, Texas' precocious Colt McCoy, who nowadays is lighting up the Big 12, and Iowa's versatile Drew Tate. Stanton, a talented passer, is just the latest example.

Pressure? None, Ginn emphasized. Absolutely none. Not even when news had crept onto campus that Michigan State had pulled two upsets of No. 1 ranked Ohio State teams in 1974 (coached by Woody Hayes) and 1998 (John Cooper).

"All that talk about the '98 team and the '74 team and all that stuff, and we just came out and took it to 'em early," Ginn said. "We had a great time."

Not so quietly, the Buckeyes are building a 21st century legacy for the ages. With Michigan's impressive road win at Penn State paving the way, the strong likelihood is the Bucks will face the No. 3 Wolverines, who at some point are very likely to fight off the sunshine bloc and jump ahead of No. 2 U.S.C. (particularly if Notre Dame knocks off the Trojans in late November) in one of the great regular-season matchups in college football history.

Notes -- Ginn's six career T.D. punt returns bring him within two of Texas Tech's Wes Walker and Oklahoma's Antonio Perkins, who set the record of 8 in the early 2000s...Buckeyes host Indiana Saturday...The Hoosiers are a feel-good story as coach Terry Hoeppner is rebounding from a second brain surgery and guiding I.U. to a 4-3 record ... The Hoosiers faithful, never overly numerous, but gaining some extra numbers now, allows itself to think bowl game, which, if there is a football god in a friendly mood, would be a nice bit of justice.