Ohio State Online

Found at ESPN:

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Still stuck under the NCAA cloud hanging over Ohio State and desperate for a way to end a two-game losing streak, interim coach Luke Fickell drew up a game plan Saturday that conservative Buckeye legend Woody Hayes would have loved.

Keep the ball on the ground and out of freshman quarterback Braxton Miller’s hands, lean hard on tailback Dan Herron — playing his first game since January after serving a pair of NCAA suspensions — and count on the defense to stop No. 16 Illinois.

It worked, all of it, and the Buckeyes (4-3, 1-2) ground out a 17-7 upset over the Illini (6-1, 2-1).

“The game plan was to win — that’s the ultimate, most important thing,” Fickell said. “However way we had to do it, we were ready to do it.”

The defense forced three turnovers — two of which set up the Buckeyes’ touchdowns — while Miller threw just four passes. Herron carried the ball 23 times for 114 yards and the third-quarter score that was the game winner.

“It was hard staying at home and watching the games,” said Herron, who missed the season’s first six games. “Now that I’m back out here, I’m doing everything I can to help this team, be a leader and get some more wins.”

The loss ended Illinois’ perfect start, and, in a game the Illini hoped would help them prove they were for real, raised questions about how good they really are.

“We have got to regroup, and we’re still in a position to control our own destiny,” Illinois coach Ron Zook said. “I think our guys have to understand that and they do.”

A week after Miller lost a fumble that gave Nebraska a way to get back into their game against Ohio State — which the Cornhuskers turned into an epic win — the Buckeyes kept it simple, real simple, and gave themselves a chance to win.

The Buckeyes didn’t throw their first pass until the 7:22 mark of the second quarter. Miller, in fact, didn’t complete a pass until he hit tight end Jake Stoneburner on a 17-yard TD pass with 13:06 left in the game for a 17-0 lead.

“Up 10-0, we were on the sideline saying, ‘Man, we haven’t made a pass yet,’ ” Stoneburner said. “It was kind of funny, but we were all saying, ‘Who cares?’ We’re up, and if we complete one pass, I’ll take the catch.”

No Ohio State team had gone through a game with just one completion since 1976, a 22-21 loss to Missouri with Rod Gerald under center.

That Ohio State team was ranked No. 2, while this one was just trying to get its head above water, end the two-game losing streak and chalk up its first Big Ten win.

Enter Herron, who had to sit out six games as a result of his role in a cash-for-memorablia scandal — the mess that cost ex-coach Jim Tressel his job — and then for taking too much money for a summer job.

Fickell said during the week he wasn’t sure how much the senior tailback would play and he wasn’t listed as the starter.

But Herron was in the backfield from the beginning, and carried the bulk of the load on the opening drive, one that on a day of gusty 20-plus mph winds delivered a 45-yard Drew Basil field goal. It was the only score of the half.

The Ohio State defense, meanwhile, played big, holding an Illini offense that was averaging almost 450 yards and 34.7 points a game to 285 yards and, until the 6:22 mark of the fourth quarter, no points.

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase was 20 of 34 for 169 yards, with two interceptions and a late 3-yard touchdown pass to Evan Wilson that finally put the Illini on the board.

Illinois hasn’t been shutout since losing 30-0 two seasons ago at Ohio State.

“The biggest thing when you look at this is the turnovers,” Zook said. “In the past we’ve held teams to field goals instead of touchdowns and they were able to get two touchdowns off of the turnovers.”

Stoneburner’s touchdown was set up by an A.J. Jenkins fumble at the Illinois 37 while Herron’s 12-yard touchdown run — which gave the Buckeyes a 10-0 lead — followed an interception by Bradley Roby that he returned to the Illinois 12. Scheelhaase threw to Jenkins and the receiver appeared to ruin a shorter route than Scheelhaase anticipated. The ball flew 10 yards past Jenkins and right at Roby.

“It was key,” Roby said of his interception, “because we were coming out of halftime and we needed a big play. I was in a cover three, and I was backing up when I saw (Jenkins) on the curl, and then I saw the ball come right at me.”

In addition to stifling Scheelhaase, the Buckeyes also held Illinois other big weapon in check.

Roby said during the week that Jenkins, who was averaging 135.8 yards a game, was “nothing special, a product of Illinois’ system.” Jenkins, often covered by Roby, had 80 yards Saturday, but his eight catches didn’t amount to much.

Illinois senior tailback Jason Ford left the game in the third quarter with an injured left shoulder after a big hit on a first-down carry. He finished with 30 yards on six carries.

Scheelhaase was Illinois’ leading rusher with 16 carries for 49 yards.

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Found at ESPN:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Even though he’s just a freshman and in his first autumn on a college campus, Braxton Miller played like a grizzled upperclassman.

Miller tossed two touchdown passes to Devin Smith as Ohio State rebounded from a lopsided loss for a 37-17 victory over error-prone Colorado on Saturday, extending the Buffaloes’ school-record road losing skid to 19 in a row.

“I slept pretty good,” Miller said. “I really didn’t have any jitters at all.”

Declared the Buckeyes’ starter on Thursday after Joe Bauserman’s lackluster play failed to energize the offense, Miller’s numbers weren’t sparkling. But his direction of the offense was.

“Braxton did a good job,” said Jordan Hall, who rushed for 84 yards and a TD and also had a 90-yard kickoff return to set up another score for the Buckeyes (3-1). “He was calm. He’s going to be special.”

The Buckeyes made the switch after one of the worst passing days in school history in a 24-6 loss at Miami last week. Bauserman was 2 of 14 for 13 yards and Miller hit on only 2 of 4 — in the final few seconds of a lost cause — for 22 yards with an interception.

Against Colorado, Miller completed only 5 of 13 passes for 83 yards. But he threw scoring strikes covering 32 and 17 yards to Smith and also ran for 83 yards on 17 carries.

“He gave us a lift,” said Ohio State interim coach Luke Fickell. “He gave us some things we needed.”

Drew Basil added 13 points, including hitting all three of his field goal attempts, and Carlos Hyde also ran for a score.

Ahead 20-7 at the half, the Buckeyes only had to drive 50 yards before Miller hit Smith with his second scoring pass. After Colorado countered with a field goal, Hall brought the kickoff back 90 yards before he was brought down from behind at the 5. Hyde then scored on a sweep on the next play to make it 34-10.

Colorado (1-3) has not won a road game since Oct. 27, 2007, at Texas Tech.

“We have a long way to go as a program,” first-year coach Jon Embree said. “We have a long way to go from the standpoint of getting to where we are competing and not hoping to upset an Ohio State.”

Averaging 26 points and almost 394 yards per game, the mistake-prone Buffaloes did amass 314 yards but still were never in the game.

Tyler Hansen, who threw for 474 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime loss at California, had TD passes of 11 yards to Toney Clemons and 14 yards to Tyler McCulloch. Hansen completed 22 of 39 passes for 238 yards with no interceptions.

The Buffaloes, with just one turnover in their first three games, lost two fumbles in the first half while falling behind by two touchdowns. They also had nine penalties and several other mistakes.

After their first possession, Darragh O’Neill shanked a punt that covered just 20 yards and put the Buckeyes in control at the Buffaloes 43. Seven plays later, Hall vaulted up the middle for the touchdown.

Tailback Rodney Stewart and Hansen miscommunicated on a handoff with no defender around after the ensuing kickoff, the ball coming free with Ohio State’s Adam Bellamy falling on it at the Colorado 22. Basil then converted a 28-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.

The Buckeyes, who did not complete a pass to a wide receiver in the Miami loss, broke through early in the second quarter when Miller lobbed a 32-yard scoring pass to Smith, who was running a post pattern and had three steps on the defensive back.

More than creating big gainers, Embree was impressed with how Miller avoided big losses.

“He did a good job of getting it back to the line of scrimmage or getting 2 or 3 yards out of something when we should have had him for negative yardage,” he said.

Late in the half, with Colorado still within range down by just 10 points, Stewart was interfered with by a teammate on a punt return and fumbled, with Zach Domicone recovering for the Buckeyes at the Colorado 11. Two plays later, Basil converted a field goal to make it 20-7.

The Buckeyes were out of the Miami game early. Seven days later, they played with some fire.

“We had to play with some emotion,” said Fickell, whose team had been ranked for the previous 103 weeks before this one. “We wanted to get back home and get that feel of emotion, get those guys on the sideline, get the students into it. That’s what we saw out there today, from the beginning of the game really all the way to the end.”

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