Days before his team was set to play Ohio State last season, Michigan State coach John L. Smith formulated a plan. It revolved around keeping the ball away from Ted Ginn Jr.
Smith is no fool. He saw that Ginn had returned punts for touchdowns against Wisconsin and Penn State, and he didn’t want to become the latest victim.
“We went into that game saying: We’re going to rugby-kick it, and maybe he’ll stay away from it,” Smith recalled. “Well, he picked one up as it was bouncing around.”
Picked it up and flew 60 yards the other way. Untouched. Until he crossed the goal line.
And it wasn’t even his first touchdown of the game. Minutes earlier Ginn had scored on a 17-yard reverse. Again untouched.
And late in the fourth quarter, with Michigan State leading 19-17, Ginn caught a slant and sprinted 58 yards for a TD. Untouched again.
“The kids who are blessed with that type of speed, they are hard to find,” Smith said. “We all wish we had one–or two. But we’d settle for one.”
More than a playmaker
Almost all teams have playmakers, guys who haul in a catch in the back of the end zone or break in front of a receiver to make an interception.
But not many have game-breakers, players who can single-handedly change a game and force opposing coaches to consider leaving the profession.
“I’ve always said one of the most dramatic plays in football is the explosion play,” Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. “It’s the equivalent of a big right hook. You can have guys [slugging] it out for 10 rounds and then–bang–it’s over.
“It’s amazing how many times you see a dramatic play, a big play, change the game. It not only adds seven points, it has an emotional effect on both teams. Bo Schembechler, he talked about momentum being the key attribute in football. If you have it, you need to keep it. And if you don’t, you need to get it somehow.”
Ginn had that kind of effect on the Buckeyes last year. He barely played early in the season as Ohio State coaches tried to decide whether the freshman was best suited to play cornerback–he was USA Today’s Defensive Player of the Year at Cleveland’s Glenville High–or wide receiver.
With the Buckeyes 0-3 in the Big Ten, coach Jim Tressel began to increase Ginn’s role. Ohio State went on to win five of its final six games, with Ginn scoring eight touchdowns on 59 touches.
Making an impact
Michigan hopes its game-breaker, Steve Breaston, can have an impact equally as dramatic. Breaston was dogged by foot and finger injuries most of last season, but they didn’t affect him in the Rose Bowl. Anything but.
Breaston set school and Rose Bowl records with 315 all-purpose yards in the Wolverines’ 38-37 loss to Texas. Breaston averaged nearly 37 yards on six kickoff returns, caught three passes for 77 yards, rushed three times for 15 yards and had a 2-yard punt return.
“When he gets the ball in his hands, no matter where he is, no matter how many people are around him, you know it can be a touchdown,” teammate and starting tailback Mike Hart said. “If he catches a 2-yard pass, he can go 98 yards. It’s going be real scary this year seeing him because he’s going to be healthy. You saw what he did last year when he was.”
Asked about Ginn, Hart said Breaston is “more dangerous than Ted Ginn, definitely.”
Breaston, a redshirt junior from outside Pittsburgh, said returning punts–scary for most players–is his favorite thing to do on a football field.
“There’s not a fear factor,” he said. “It’s football, a contact sport, so you’re going to get hit regardless of whether you catch it or not. You have to put trust in the people trying to protect you. No fear. Just go out and do your job.”
Quiet confidence
Ginn figures he might not get the chance to return many punts this season. That’s the price he’ll pay for leading the nation last year with an average of 25.6 yards per return.
“Either we’ll get good field position,” Ginn said in a voice barely above a whisper, “or we might just get a touchdown.”
That’s typical of Ginn’s quiet confidence. He grew up watching and admiring Deion Sanders, but Ginn doesn’t have Sanders’ brashness, at least not outwardly.
“He’s a happy guy,” Tressel said. “And to me that’s the beauty of him. He enjoys football, has fun in practice, fun in the games, fun in the locker room.”
Ginn certainly had fun during the Alamo Bowl, when he took seven snaps under center while quarterback Justin Zwick was treated for a hamstring injury. Ginn used his sprinter’s speed to rush for 40 yards.
“It was a little difficult to block for him,” center Nick Mangold said. “I figured: If I stand right in front of the guy, I might be all right. If I pick a side, I know I’ll be on the wrong side because he can switch so quickly.”
Ginn wanted to throw a pass and Ohio State called one, only to have the wrong personnel on the field. Ginn said he can throw a slant or fade route, adding, “Hey, if I threw [this season], it’d be cool.”
Settling in at one position
Penn State’s top returning playmaker is Michael Robinson, who will play quarterback after bouncing between tailback and receiver during his first three seasons.
Robinson said he can be a game-breaker while playing under center because, “I’m touching it every snap, and hopefully we can spread the field out and open up some running lanes for me.”
But he won’t be the only playmaker on Penn State’s campus. The Nittany Lions signed two of the nation’s fastest players in cornerback Justin King and receiver Derrick Williams. Both have sub-4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash, and both figure to return punts or kicks.
Robinson would love to see both play on offense too.
“In the past whenever I came in the game, it was, `No. 12, No. 12, watch out for him,'” Robinson recalled. “Now they can’t really do that. Having Derrick Williams on one side and maybe Justin King on the other, that really stops the defense from putting all their focus on me.”
Ginn will continue to be the focal point whenever teams play Ohio State–and especially when they prepare to punt.
“You don’t want the kid to handle the ball,” Smith said. “I guess the only way to keep it away from him is to kick the darn thing out of bounds.”
Tressel would have no problem with coaches who do that.
“If you’re talking about Ginn, Breaston and [USC’s Reggie] Bush, I’m not sure I would punt to any of them,” he said. “What do they say? Discretion is the greater part of valor.”
Big Ten difference-makers
Only a handful of the conference’s schools have a true game-breaker, but they all have at least one playmaker:
%%
SCHOOL PLAYER POS COMMENT
Illinois Pierre Thomas RB Speedy tailback led the Big Ten in
all-purpose yards and averaged 5.9 yards
per rush.
Indiana Lance Bennett PR/KR The multitalented 5-6 Bennett has written
songs for Will Smith and returned a kick
98 yards vs. Oregon.
Iowa Ed Hinkel WR Despite having average speed, he ranked
third in the conference with 12.8 yards
per punt return.
Michigan Steve Breaston WR Scored two touchdowns in 35 seconds
against Northwestern and racked up 272
all-purpose yards.
Michigan State Jehuu Caulcrick RB Native of Liberia flew through Wisconsin’s
defense, rushing for 146 yards
on 13 carries.
Minnesota Laurence Maroney RB Three-sport star in high school, Maroney
scored at least one touchdown in
nine games last season.
Northwestern Mark Philmore WR After losing return man Jeff Backes to
injury, Northwestern needs Philmore to
stay healthy.
Ohio State Ted Ginn Jr. WR Buckeyes will be tempted to use Ginn at
cornerback–and even quarterback
–this season.
Penn State Derrick Williams WR Penn State needs nation’s top recruit
to have Ginn-like impact.
Purdue Jerod Void RB Threat to run (625 yards in ’04), catch
(22 receptions), return kicks (had
71-yarder against NU) and block kicks
(two in career).
Wisconsin Brian Calhoun RB Transfer from Colorado ran for 2005 Big
Ten champion 400-meter relay team.
— Teddy Greenstein
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tgreenstein@tribune.com %%
