After barely beating Ohio University, No. 3 Ohio State was not a happy football team. In fact, the sluggish win felt more like a loss.
This was not the tuneup the Buckeyes needed before meeting No. 1 Southern California next week.
“That was pathetic,” receiver Brian Hartline said after Ohio State rallied for a 26-14 win over Ohio, a 331/2-point underdog. “That was just one of those where you want to crawl into a hole.”
Lightly regarded even in its own Mid-American Conference, Ohio put a huge scare into Ohio State before the Buckeyes righted things by scoring the last 20 points. With 14 minutes left in the game, the Bobcats led 14-12.
With running back Beanie Wells out with a foot injury, the Buckeyes struggled to move the ball until Brandon Saine’s short plunge on the third play of the final quarter finally put them on top. Ray Small added a late 69-yard punt return for a score.
Ohio State had not lost to an in-state foe since a 7-6 setback to Oberlin in 1921 — a string of 36 wins. Yet Ohio led 7-6 at the half and 14-6 midway through the third.
Big Ten QB concerns
*Ricky Stanzi emerged as the favorite in Iowa’s quarterback competition by throwing three touchdown passes in his first start, a 42-0 win over Florida International. The sophomore was 8 of 10 for 162 yards in less than a half. Then Lockport product Jake Christensen came on and was 8 of 12 for 99 yards and a TD despite some shaky throws — a problem that’s plagued the junior.
*Unable to run early, No. 11 Wisconsin simply turned to quarterback Allan Evridge’s passing. The Badgers were down 14-0 and finding it tough to run the ball against Marshall. So Evridge took over and completed 17 of 26 for 308 yards and a touchdown in a 51-14 win.
*Coach Rich Rodriguez was hoping Steven Threet or Nick Sheridan would’ve played well enough in Michigan’s 16-6 win over Miami of Ohio to emerge as the undisputed No. 1 quarterback entering the next game at Notre Dame. It didn’t happen.
“It’s like a Clint Eastwood movie, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,'” Rodriguez said.
An encore upset
East Carolina followed up last week’s win over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech with a commanding 24-3 victory over No. 8 West Virginia. Patrick Pinkney completed 22 of 28 passes for 236 yards and a score as the Pirates beat a top 10 team for the first time since 1999, when they upset then-No. 9 Miami.
Piling on, literally
Sam Bradford threw five TD passes and the No. 4 Sooners extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 20 games with a 52-26 defeat of Cincinnati — which lost Dustin Grutza for a month after the quarterback broke his right leg on a fourth-quarter play when three Sooners piled on during a sack.
Tebow takes charge
Tim Tebow was good early and even better late, enough to help No. 5 Florida snap a six-game losing streak against rival Miami. Tebow threw two touchdown passes in the Gators’ 26-3 win at The Swamp. It was Florida’s first victory since 1985 in the on-again, off-again series.
