OSU hopes it said goodbye to Penn State loss in off week

COLUMBUS - Ohio State turned back the clock, but only in the daylight savings time sense, when it had a bye week last week.

The No. 12 Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) couldn't undo a 13-6 loss to No. 3 Penn State two weeks ago. Instead, they turned their attention football, non-football duties and to this week's game at Northwestern (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) during their down time.

Historically, Ohio State has not done well the week after a bye in Jim Tressel's nine seasons, with one win and four losses following a mid-season break. The only post-bye victory was in 2002 when there was a week off between the opener against Texas Tech and the second game against Kent State.

When it comes to Ohio State playing Northwestern in football, the expected outcome has usually been something like the last three seasons, when the Buckeyes have beaten the Wildcats by 51 points, 44 points and 41 points.

But, just like any other football coach would, Tressel dismissed that historical reference, along with OSU's history in games the week after byes at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

"I've had bye weeks for 20-some years as a college coach and we've won some games after them and not won some games after them," he said.

"We're looking forward to getting back into the arena," Tressel said. "We had an open date and I thought our guys took good advantage of it to get healthy and get some extra work in, and work on some fundamentals, and hopefully get some academic work done that perhaps they had let fall a little bit behind. I think they're anxious to get back."

Junior safety Kurt Coleman says the bye week was a chance to reflect on what has happened so far this season and what is coming up. It's also a time to step back a little from football.

"I re-evaluated how I've been playing and wanted to make myself better for the final three games of the season. I had to catch up on a lot of things. It was a good time to just relax and get my mind right," he said after Tressel's press conference.

While Ohio State was resting, Northwestern pulled out a last-minute 24-17 win at Minnesota despite playing without starting quarterback C.J. Bacher (hamstring injury) and running back Tyrell Sutton (season-ending wrist surgery).

Backup quarterback Mike Kafka rushed for 217 yards and passed for 143. But the biggest play of the game was safety Brendan Smith's 48-yard interception return for the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds left in the game.

If Bacher is healthy enough to play, he is expected to start. Tressel said he expects to see both Northwestern quarterbacks.

Ohio State has beaten Northwestern 58-7 and 54-10 in Pat Fitzgerald's two seasons as the Wildcats' coach.

"When you go out and get your tail whipped outside of the woodshed, there's not a whole lot positives to draw from," Fitzgerald said about those games on the Big Ten's weekly teleconference. "We have not played very well in the two opportunities that we had since I've been head coach against Ohio State. Frankly, I don't know any better term to say but ‘embarrassing.' "

Other items from Tressel's press conference:

- Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor blamed himself for the Penn State loss in a postgame interview, but Tressel said he didn't think there would be any negative carry-over for the freshman this week.

"Taking things personal is not a bad thing," Tressel said. "I think we were all down after a hard-fought battle and we came up short. That's not the easiest thing in the world when you've invested a lot of time and effort. I'm sure for some of the guys that have been here five years, it was just as deep or deeper."

- Offensive lineman Ben Person could miss Saturday's game because of an unspecified injury.

"We should find out in the next day or so, he might have to have a slight surgery, so I would not expect him to be ready," Tressel said.

Freshman lineman J.B. Shugarts, who at one time was thought to be out for the season, could play as a backup.

- Sophomore running back Brandon Saine, who has been used infrequently this season, is being taught the slot receiver and fullback positions, Tressel said.

"Brandon's been evolving more into playing the fullback position and slot positions and some slot things. We think that he can do some of the things that a fullback needs to do. And so his evolution really is finding ways to get on field. What you hope is that he's the kind of guy that can be on the field 25-plus plays a game because he can do a lot of different things and he is a threat as a pass receiver," he said.

Moving Saine to fullback would appear to be somewhat of an unconventional use of a former state high school sprint champion, whose winning time in the 100-meter dash was better than that of Ted Ginn Jr., when he was a state champion.

- Tressel's comment on the firing of Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer earlier this week boiled down to it being an occupational hazard.

"It's a competitive world. If you're in the SEC or the Big Ten or whatever, everybody's working 24/7, everyone's getting good athletes, good facilities, great followings, and games, just the slightest little thing makes the difference in games. It's just a reminder that what we do, there's only 118 of what we do in the whole country. I think it's just a reminder of every day you get to spend doing this particular task is good fortune," he said.