SEATTLE — Trailing Washington 7-3 through two quarters was bad enough for Ohio State. Even worse, the Buckeyes’ touted defense had yielded the go-ahead touchdown in the final three seconds before halftime.
Lesser teams might have faltered, but not Ohio State, one of the nation’s premier programs. The Buckeyes played for a national championship a year ago, so a four-point halftime deficit, while unusual, was hardly a calamity.
“I really liked the way the kids approached the halftime,” said OSU head coach Jim Tressel. “There wasn’t panic. There wasn’t fear. There wasn’t anything other than talking about what we had to do to get better.”
Looking into his players’ eyes as they prepared to return for the second half, Tressel said, “you could see there was a resolve to get better.”
Get better the Buckeyes did, and in a hurry.
In a stretch of 88 seconds early in the third quarter, Ohio State blocked a Washington field goal attempt, completed a 68-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Todd Boeckman to wide receiver Brian Robiskie, forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and tacked on another touchdown with a 14-yard scoring burst by running back Chris Wells.
Just like that, the Buckeyes had a 17-7 cushion, and it would grow to a convincing 33-14 margin at the end.
“That first half, some things didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Tressel, who picked up his 200th career coaching win. “There was a lot of momentum going (Washington’s) way at the end of the first half. A lesser group perhaps could have folded.
“But to me, the two plays that really turned the whole thing around were the long pass (to Robiskie) and the kickoff turnover. All of a sudden it was a different game. And when you’re now on top like that, you have a chance when you have a defense like ours. … Our defense played tremendous.”
As did the offense, particularly in the second half. Ohio State had 177 yards in the first half and 304 in the second. Boeckman was 7-for-15 for 64 passing yards before halftime, and 7-for-10 for 154 yards and two touchdowns after halftime.
“I didn’t come out as strong as I would have liked in the first half,” he said. “The balls were coming off bad and that’s my fault. I think the crowd kind of got to me in the first half. But in the second half I just kind of settled down a little bit.”
Liking Locker: Like Syracuse and Boise State before, the Buckeyes came away impressed with Washington freshman quarterback Jake Locker. Among them, OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis, who was a plain nuisance on Saturday, collecting eight tackles against Washington, including a sack, and two interceptions.
“He’s a tremendous athlete,” Laurinaitis said of Locker. “Very fast. Exceedingly fast. You see him on film and you see he’s fast, but you see him in person and you have to really adjust your angle on him. He is going to be a great quarterback in the future.”
“Oh, man, he’s excellent,” Tressel agreed. “He’s a good player, a good thrower. He’s tough and strong. The sky’s the limit for Jake. He faced a pretty fair defense (Saturday), so I’m sure he’s going to learn a lot from this experience.”
Bouncing back: Saturday’s loss could be demoralizing to the Huskies, but UW defensive coordinator Kent Baer is doubtful.
“I saw a determined look in our locker room after the game,” he said. “I’ve seen different looks before, and I think they’ll be ready to play next week. I know from talking to them they’re determined to start the Pac-10 schedule.”
No QB controversy: In case anyone was wondering, Willingham made it clear right off the bat in his post-game press conference that the decision to play Carl Bonnell on Washington’s last possession was not indicative of any possible changes.
“Jake Locker is still our quarterback, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Willingham said.
Lack of pressure: After being one of Washington’s strengths in wins of Syracuse and Boise State, the Huskies’ defensive line struggled to put pressure on Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman. Boeckman was not sacked and was rarely hurried. Washington had nine sacks in its first two games.
“That offensive line played well today, I give them credit, but we did not get any pressure on the quarterback and that’s not acceptable,” said defensive tackle Jordan Reffett. “If we’re going to leave Vonzell [McDowell Jr.] out there on an island or Roy [Lewis], that’s as much on us as it is them.”
Big crowd: Saturday’s attendance of 74,927 was the third largest in Husky Stadium history. About 2,500 of those were members of various high school bands participating in Washington’s annual Band Day. Games in 1995 against Army (76,125) and in 1997 against Arizona State (74,986) are the only ones to draw more fans.
Too many drops: For the third time in as many games, dropped passes were a problem for Washington receivers. Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano didn’t have an explanation for the problem.
“We’ve just got to catch the ball better,” he said. “We’ve got to get that cleaned up. We dropped too many balls.”
Rare TD: Washington’s touchdown at the end of the first half was the first allowed by the Buckeyes this season.
Another block: For the second straight week, Ryan Perkins had a field goal attempt blocked. Last week, he admitted, was mostly his fault as he hit a low kick. This week’s kick, according to Willingham, was high enough and was due to a lack of production.
Another block, the sequel: Jordan Reffett blocked a field goal for the second straight game. Last week’s block was the first for the Huskies since 2001.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
