EAST LANSING, Mich. After a long, incomplete pass early in yesterday s game against Michigan State, Ted Ginn Jr. ran out of bounds and straight into the net the Spartans punters use to warm up along the sideline. They should have kept Ginn in there, or used the net to try to keep track of the swift Ohio State receiver.
Ginn burned Michigan State a short time later with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown, part of the assault in top-ranked Ohio State s 38-7 victory over the Spartans.
The first player downfield for Michigan State on the punt play missed him, and Ginn simply accelerated past the rest of them.
Most teams elect to kick the ball short, out of bounds, or angle it away from Ginn. Michigan State played with fire, and got scorched.
The Spartans should have known better Ginn has five TDs against them in his career.
We haven t had too many teams kick right at him, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. But when you give Teddy some space, he s as good as it gets. We ve always said that if we can just get Teddy one block, then
The punt return for a touchdown was the sixth of Ginn s career, establishing a Big Ten record, just two off the NCAA career mark.
Iowa s Tim Dwight (1994-97) had held the Big Ten record.
I think that s great, Ginn said. Records are made to be broken. Someone else will come along and break it, and that s great. You re only here for a short time in your life, so you should just go out and have fun with it.
Ginn has 22 touchdowns in his Ohio State career, and 15 of them have come from 50 yards or farther.
GOING GONZO: When Ohio State scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez to take a 24-0 halftime lead over Michigan State, none of the coaches were taking any bows.
The play was called by Gonzalez during a timeout.
We had another one in mind, but he called that play, and it worked, Tressel said.
Gonzo is such a heady player out there, and his awareness of all that is going on is something. I was never up for a Rhodes Scholarship, so I listened to him.
Smith said with the way Gonzalez studies film and digests the game plan, there was no reason to question the call.
That s why we call him The Wizard if you give him a chance, he s going to do things and see things that will just mesmerize you, Smith said.
He s a great player who is going to continue to grow as a player, and as a man.
FIELDS REPORT: Toledo St. John s grad Brandon Fields had another outstanding day punting for Michigan State, knocking eight kicks for an average of 40.4 yards on a blustery, windy day.
Fields had a long punt of 51 yards, and put four kicks inside the 20.
Fields, seventh in the nation with a 46.1 average, has a career average of 45.7, which ranks him first on the Big Ten career list.
He was a consensus All-American in 2004, and is a leading candidate for the Ray Guy Award that goes to the nation s top punter.
MORE GONZO: Ohio State junior wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez had seven receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown yesterday.
Gonzalez has five touchdown catches this season, and 31 of his 34 receptions this year have gone for first downs or touchdowns.
First Published October 15, 2006, 12:52 p.m.
