Commentary: OSU's Small takes it to right house

COLUMBUS - Single-digit numbers are something football players cherish. There are only nine of them that can be worn, after all.

So, when Ohio State junior wide receiver Ray Small found No. 82 on his jersey this spring instead of the No. 4 he wore last year, he knew right away what was going on.

He was in coach Jim Tressel's doghouse. He was being told he wasn't worthy of a single-digit number. In case the message wasn't clear, his biography in the team's media guide was also sent to the back pages with the walk-ons and freshmen.

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is supposed to have once said he treated all his players alike. He treated them all like dogs, he said.

Tressel is nothing like that, but he joked early last week that he has a big doghouse if players step out of line.

Small might not have run his way all the way back to his old number, but he just might have run himself out of Tressels' canine quarters with a 69-yard fourth-quarter punt return for a touchdown during OSU's 26-14 win over Ohio University on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

He also caught 5 passes, the most by an Ohio State receiver on Saturday.

"If being in the doghouse gets me this, then I love being in the doghouse," Small said, with a smile.

He wouldn't get specific about what got his old number pulled, but said he has paid more attention to "the little things" in games and in practice.

"That was just motivation," Small said about Tressel's jabs.

"He was being hard but in my head I was like, ‘I don't give up.' With where I'm from, Coach Ginn (Cleveland Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr.) says don't give up. He says stick to it even if you're sixth string. And that's what I did.

"Getting in the doghouse really changed it around because I was on my last limb. I was like, ‘I'm on my last limb, I've got to step it up, I've got to make plays if I want to be in that top group,'" he said.

The arrival of freshmen receivers like DeVier Posey also got Small's attention.

"When DeVier came in I was like ‘This dude looks like he's coming in from another college,'" he said.

When Small got to Ohio State, some people labeled him The Next Ted Ginn Jr.

They were both from Cleveland Glenville. They both were receivers. They both were very fast.

Small caught 20 passes and scored two touchdowns last season. But Saturday's punt return was the first time he has taken a kick to the end zone. Ginn scored eight touchdowns on kick returns - six on punts - in his three years at Ohio State.

"It was big, it was a lot of pressure following in his footsteps, but I kind of liked it because it was telling me that I had to step it up regardless," Small said. "I'm coming in and they're thinking I have to replace this man's shoes and it was a great shoe to replace."

His shoes were definitely in a good place on Saturday. If he keeps them out of Tressel's doghouse, he could be a valuable contributor for Ohio State the rests of the season.

NOTES:

BIG DAY FOR HOMAN: Coldwater's Ross Homan had eight tackles on Saturday, one behind OSU leader James Laurinaitis' nine. The sophomore linebacker led in unassisted tackles with five and was on the field for around two-thirds of the defensive plays.

He said the defense, which produced four turnovers, tried to make something happen when the Buckeyes' offense struggled through most of the game.

"You try to get something going ... You react, you're down. The defense just goes out there and does everything we can to get the offense back on the field," Homan said.

Homan's eight tackles were a career high.

WIN NUMBER 800: Ohio State became the fifth major college to win 800 football games by beating Ohio University.

The other schools with 800 wins are: Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska.

Ohio State is 800-302-54 in 119 years of football.

A LONG WAIT: Ohio State's four interceptions were the most by an OSU defense since Oct. 20, 2001 against San Diego State.

HALFTIME HONORS: In addition to 12 new Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame members, including Kalida's Amy Langhals and St. Henry's Bob Hoying, Olympic men's basketball gold medalist Michael Redd was introduced at halftime.