Oct. 6, 2013
Veteran scribe Skip Myslenski, in his long-ago days as one of the nation's top sportswriters, covered many of the most memorable boxing fights in that sport's history. So he was not unprepared to report on the sweet science going on in the battle that took place Saturday at Ryan Field.
The analogy filled the air late Saturday night. "That was a heavyweight fight out there," said 'Cats coach Pat Fitzgerald, one of those who used it.
"Anytime you go through a 12-round, 15-round fight with someone and you come out the other end it just builds toughness and we're a tough team," said Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, another who employed it. "We toughed out a win."
"You win some. You lose some," said `Cat quarterback Kain Colter, a third who found it appropriate. "Every guy that stepped out on the field put everything he had on the field. Left nothing out there. So we're going to walk out of here feeling good. Of course you're going to look back and wish you had different plays (back), but that's football. All you control is your effort, your attitude. We put a lot of effort in and had a good attitude, and it was close. It was a heavyweight fight out there. You win some, you lose some."
The 'Cats lost their Saturday night fight at Ryan Field to the fourth-ranked Buckeyes. But, Fitzgerald also said, "There's a team getting on a bus for Columbus that knows it got into a fight. That's what I take from this."
Here is one more thing that can be taken from their game. The 'Cats came so close to upending a Top 5 opponent for the first time since 1959 even though they did not play that ever-elusive complete game.
"As everyone in this room saw and everyone who watched that game saw, we had the opportunity to capitalize on plays that would have swung the game in a different way," their linebacker Damien Proby accurately avowed. "If we play a complete game, I don't care who we go out there against. We're going to go out there and get that win. We didn't get to that point, playing all three phases, playing our type of football in all three phases of the game."
Ohio State opened the game smartly, marching quickly from their own 25 to the `Cats 10. But here their defense stiffened and forced it to settle for a 27-yard field goal. That defense, on the night, would get gashed for 168 rushing yards by Buckeyes' running back Carlos Hyde and surrender a total of 451 yards. Yet the resiliency it manifested here on this opening drive was an apt symbol for its total body of work on this night.
Consider. Ohio State's first touchdown came after it blocked and recovered a Brandon Williams punt out of his own end zone. "We knew they were going to come and get us when we were backed up," explained defensive end Tyler Scott, one of the trio of blockers just in front of Williams. "It was a look we hadn't seen. We should have brought one of our outside guys in and we didn't. Two guys came down the pipe, I took the most-dangerous, and the guy came off the edge and made a big play."
Its second, and the first by its offense, did not come until just under four minutes remained in the third quarter, and it was set up by a short Williams` punt and a kick-catching interference penalty that set the Buckeyes up on the 'Cats 36. Its third, early in the fourth quarter, followed a pick of Trevor Siemian that set them up on the 'Cats 16, and its fifth and last came on the game's final play when the `Cats tried a bit of trickeration and fumbled the ball away in the end zone.
That defense, then, gave up just one substantial, touchdown-scoring drive, which is why Proby could later safely say, "We did our best. We're happy with our performance. We definitely need to improve on it. But we're not going to be down on ourselves and beat ourselves over our head about this one."
The 'Cats, on their second possession, began to mix-and-match at quarterback, Siemian running three plays, Colter running one, Semian running the final one, a nine-yard touchdown pass to Colter. This was another symbolic series and manifested their offensive approach in this game, the first in which Colter played a position other than quarterback.
There was logic in this. The Buckeyes are notoriously-difficult to run against, which they proved again by limiting the 'Cats to just 94 net rushing yards on 43 carries (2.2 ypc) even though Venric Mark made his long-anticipated return against them. He performed with palpable emotion, sparks veritably flying off of him, and his work did help set up his team's next touchdown, which came early in the second quarter.
But now came a series of possessions that could have, as Proby said, swung this one another way. On the first, which came in the middle of the second quarter, the `Cats had a second-and-five at the Buckeye seven, but settled for a field goal. On the second, which came at the end of that quarter, the 'Cats had a first-and-10 at the Buckeye 13, but settled for another field goal. On the third, which came on their first possession of the second half, they had a first-and-goal at the Buckeye 10, but settled for one more field goal. "We're going to coach our guys to execute better," Fitzgerald later said. "To make the plays when they present themselves, to score touchdowns, not field goals, in the red zone."
Still, as the fourth quarter opened, the `Cats were up three, but two-and-a-half minutes into it, Siemian was picked on an out pattern to Rashad Lawrence. "Against that play, we had off-man coverage on the previous plays," the wideout later explained. "We went for it again, they pressed me up. I've just got to do a better job of getting off the jam and giving Trevor more room."
The Buckeyes soon scored to take their first lead of the night since they were up 3-0, yet this fight was still on and back came the `Cats. Lawrence would have a breakout performance this night, ending it with eight catches for 149 yards, and here he caught one for six from Siemian and then another for 67 that carried the ball down to the Ohio State seven. A holding penalty and a sack would eventually push the 'Cats back to the 12, but here Siemian broke the pocket, rolled right and found Cameron Dickerson in the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown that put them up three with 9:10 remaining.
This is when the Buckeyes mounted their only substantial touchdown-scoring drive of the night, going 81 yards in eight plays to again take the lead, and now Colter came out to guide the 'Cats, who were starting at their own 41 with 5:22 remaining. A pass to Christian Jones picked up nine, and then Treyvon Green burst over left guard for seven more and a first down at the Buckeyes` 43. Now Colter rushed for five and Mark rushed for one and Mark rushed for three, and with just under three minutes left the `Cats faced fourth-and-a-short one at the Buckeyes` 34.
Here Colter set up in the shotgun, and stepped forward as if he were going to audible, and stuck his hands under center Brandon Vitabile, who snapped the ball. Colter fumbled it, recovered it, surged forward and the whistle blew. There was a measurement. It showed the `Cats were just short. Fitzgerald challenged the spot. The call on the field stood and over the ball went to the Buckeyes. "I thought they spotted it where Kain initially fumbled," explained Fitzgerald, whose unsuccessful challenge cost his team a time out. "If we get a different spot, we've got a first down within the 50. I thought it was worth the risk."
"Obviously, the center-quarterback exchange wasn't perfect," said Colter himself. "I tried to pick it up and get as many yards as I could. I thought I got at least a yard."
The 'Cats would get the ball back, this time on their own 16 with only 21 seconds remaining and no time outs. But that just resulted in Ohio State's last touchdown. Still, later, they were undaunted, even with this loss on their resume and a trip to Wisconsin just ahead.
"Me personally, and I guess the whole team, we love playing on the road," Colter said of that prospect. "We love having the mentality (of) us-against-the-world. So we're excited and, I don't know. We got to get on a roll here going into BIg Ten play. So, looking forward to it."
"We're excited for the opportunity to go and actually take someone's house. Simple as that," concluded Proby. "We're excited for the opportunity to go out there and hit someone in the mouth every single play on their home field. That's all there is to playing away."
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