Ohio State survives Bobcats' challenge

COLUMBUS - If 99 percent of the crowd of 105,002 at Ohio Stadium who were Ohio State fans didn't know quite what to make of the Buckeyes' 26-14 football win over Ohio University on Saturday, they weren't alone.

The No. 3-ranked Buckeyes (2-0) were all over the place when they assessed the previously unthinkable idea of having to come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the feistier-than-expected Bobcats.

Some saw it as a teaching moment. Some saw it as a valuable experience. A few got to celebrate game-changing plays. And some were just disgusted with how they'd played.

In the end, the Buckeyes played not as well as they had in a 43-0 opening-day win against Youngstown State last Saturday and not nearly as well as they will have to at No. 1 Southern California this Saturday.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "The good news is that we're 2-0 and it's September and hopefully we can get a lot better."

OSU's offense struggled most of the game, which probably should have been expected with its Heisman Trophy candidate, tailback Chris Wells, not in uniform because of a foot injury suffered against Youngstown State.

The Buckeyes had only 272 yards total offense. Redshirt freshman Dan Herron led the ground game with 50 yards on 12 carries and the passing game produced only 110 yards.

Todd Boeckman was 16 of 26 for 110 yards and no touchdowns and freshman Terrelle Pryor was 0 of 2 in two brief appearances.

Ohio State's defense produced four interceptions by Lawrence Wilson, Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis and Anderson Russell and recovered a fumble. But it did not dominate, either.

Ohio University's 264 yards nearly matched OSU. The Buckeyes had only one quarterback sack and the Bobcats averaged more than four yards a carry on running plays.

"That was one of those ones where you want to crawl into a hole and get ready for next week," wide receiver Brian Hartline said.

Boeckman said, "Offensively, we need to get a lot better. We did some things out there today we're not very proud of. We made some mistakes, but you have to give them credit, they did a lot of good things out there on defense."

Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins painted it as a timely test for the Buckeyes.

"To face adversity before you go into a big game is always good because you know what to expect. You don't want your first chance at adversity to be in a huge game where you're not sure how you're going to react to it," he said.

"Actually, surprisingly everybody was really into this game. I think the enthusiasm pre-game was higher than it was last week. I think everybody played hard, we just didn't play well."

Not playing well started early for Ohio State. The Buckeyes went three-and-out on their first two possessions before taking a 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Pretorius late in the first quarter.

Ohio University (0-2) took a 7-3 lead when Donte Harden sprinted 15 yards for a touchdown at the end of an 11-play, 72-yard drive midway through the second quarter.

Another Pretorius field goal made it 7-6 at halftime before OU's defense gave the Bobcats a 14-6 lead six minutes into the second half.

With Ohio State on its own 14-yard line, center Jim Cordle's snap went sailing past Boeckman in a shotgun formation and bounced into the end zone.

Boeckman thought he had recovered the ball, but the officials ruled Ohio University's Curtis Meyer had controlled it for a touchdown.

"(Cordle) kind of snapped it a little high and I wasn't ready for it and it was a combination of both those things. I saw the ball and tried to get on it. I thought I had it, I thought I had it in my stomach but they gave it to them," Boeckman said.

Ohio State answered with its best drive of the day when Herron scored on a 1-yard run at the end of a 13-play, 73-yard march that made it 14-12 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

Defense and special teams put the Buckeyes ahead. When A.J. Trapasso's punt bounced off OU returner Mark Parson, Ohio State's Shaun Lane was able to recover it at the Bobcats' 25-yard line just before it skidded over the sideline.

Five plays later, Brandon Saine's 2-yard touchdown run with 14 minutes left in the game gave Ohio State its first lead since the second quarter at 19-14. Then Ray Small gave the Buckeyes some breathing room with a 69-yard punt return for a score with 5:57 to play.

Ohio University coach Frank Solich said, "As the game went on, we got more confident. When you get things to happen for you and make plays, the belief starts to set in."

But in the end Ohio State got to be the believers, believers that they still are in the national championship race. But also believers that they can't afford any more games like Saturday's.