Instant AnalysisOhio State 45 ... Minnesota 31, Oct. 29By Matthew Zemek
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At halftime of Saturday's game in the Metrodome, the Ohio State Buckeyes--tied at 17 with Minnesota--had to decide what kind of team they wanted to be... not just for the second half of play, but for the rest of a 2005 season that has seen wild fluctuations in performance and execution.
With the Buckeyes' vaunted defense struggling against Brian Cupito and a revived Golden Gopher offense, Jim Tressel--not to mention everyone in Columbus--had to wonder whether this up-and-down Autumn would feature more inconsistency or the emergence of an unmistakable winning identity. ---college fotball ---
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The team that alternately strutted, staggered, slipped up, and swaggered against most of its big-name opponents (Texas, Penn State, Michigan State) was similarly schizophrenic in the first half against the Gophers. The Troy Smith who had been sluggish for most of '05 was replaced by a razor-sharp gunslinger who continuously hit big plays. But that benefit was cancelled out by another bit of body-snatching, in which OSU's normally stout defense became a porous pack of pansies against the potency of Laurence Maroney and the effectiveness of Cupito, returned from an injury that sidelined him against Wisconsin.---college fotball ---
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This great-offense, poor-defense combination represented a 180-degree reversal of Ohio State's normal team personality; on the other hand, though, the first half--in all its inconsistency--typified the struggles the Bucks have had as a team that could go toe-to-toe with mighty Texas yet look astonishingly average on other occasions. Entering the second half against the Gophers, Tressel and his team faced a huge occasion on their journey toward the Big Ten title.It was precisely then that the Bucks decided that they really wanted to win their conference. Smith, Antonio Pittman, and all three perimeter playmakers--Anthony Gonzalez, Ted Ginn and Santonio Holmes--continued to make plays, but OSU's defense also decided to put its foot down.
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As a result, Ohio State put itself in position to remain--along with Penn State--the last team standing in a crowded and competitive Big Ten race.Pittman's 67-yard touchdown bolt set the tone coming out of the locker room, and Ginn's punt returning proved to be a decisive force in the contest, but if there was one key momentum-changing play that loomed large on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis, it was a display of defense that truly held up its end.Defensive end Mike Kudla, demonstrating the team speed of OSU's defense, made an all-world play to chase down the formidably fast Maroney on a 4th and 2 from the Buckeye 32.
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Just one play after Gary Russell failed to hit an open receiver on a halfback option pass for Minnesota, Kudla's stop--achieved by tremendous lateral movement--represented the last great chance the Gophers had to tie the game in the second half.---college fotball ---
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Once Kudla made his statement, the home team never recovered against the resurgent Buckeyes, who asserted their dominance with a level of urgency that had to please Jim Tressel and the rest of a program that now stands to have the Big Ten within its grasp by the time it travels to a well-known place called Ann Arbor in late November.Ohio State's had some nervous moments in 2005. But in the second half against Minnesota, the Buckeyes decided they had enough drama. The resolve shown on both sides of the ball by OSU gave a team not only a new life, but a new personality it hopes to retain for the rest of the Big Ten season.---college fotball ------college fotball ---