Article published November 04, 2008
Buckeyes, Wildcats unlikely Big Ten equals
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS - It might be the latest sign of the impending apocalypse: It is November, and Ohio State and Northwestern have the same record.
The 7-2 Buckeyes come back from their bye week and play the 7-2 Wildcats in Evanston on Saturday in the first of three straight Big Ten games that will close the 2008 regular season. It is not often that these two teams are both riding up front in business class this deep into the season.
In 2000, Northwestern went
8-4 overall, the same as the Buckeyes, but since then the Wildcats have had just one winning season (2005, 7-5), so November along the western shore of Lake Michigan is normally a time of discontent, not bowl planning.
Northwestern has won eight Big Ten championships overall but just three since 1936. The Buckeyes have 32 conference crowns, with 28 of those coming since 1936, and Ohio State has won 58 of the 73 games the two teams have played.
When Northwestern beat the Buckeyes 33-27 in overtime in 2004, it was the Wildcats' first home victory in the series since Nikita Krushchev became premier of the old Soviet Union (1958).
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald believes his team got to this point - even with Ohio State on the record and still in contention for a Big Ten title - with the right kind of people. That long has been the mantra of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel - to win by surrounding yourself with quality people."I believe that we are a disciplined football team," Fitzgerald said of his Wildcats, who beat Minnesota 24-17 last Saturday.
"I believe that it goes back to the young men that we recruited. We recruit high character people who understand to win a football game you have to fight, scratch, and claw for 60 minutes, and good things are going to happen for you."
With that background, it will be a jazzed and energized Northwestern that hosts Ohio State at an already sold-out Ryan Field. The Buckeyes come in with potentially chronic offensive concerns, since Ohio State is second to last in the conference in total offense and has produced a Big Ten low of 20 touchdowns in nine games. Tressel said the off-week has given the Buckeyes time for an extensive examination of this offensive crisis.
"I think anytime you get a little bit of data, you've got a little better of a handle on things," Tressel said.
"I don't know that you ever get a total handle because then there's a new set of challenges, but at least you have a little bit of time to study yourself. In an open week, you really get a chance to study what you do and what you don't do well and what you think you can do."
Tressel, who orchestrates the play-calling for the Ohio State offense, also said he's taken a look at that aspect of the program, but he stopped short of saying he's considered relinquishing that duty based on the recent lack of productivity.
"When you're the head coach, you're always involved in play calling," Tressel said. "But as much as you'd like to think that I make every decision ... I have input on every decision. Our coaches are very involved in the things they think their guys can do. I don't know if my thinking will ever change about that, but you never know."
While well aware that there are oodles of numbers to illustrate his team's offensive struggles, Tressel said the only statistics he is really concerned about are the wins and losses, and the turnover margin, where the Buckeyes are at plus-10, second-best in the Big Ten.
"Now, that is not to say that we don't have to get better on offense, because we have to get better on offense," Tressel said.
"We need to block people better, we need to make better play selections, we need to throw it better, we need to read defenses better, we need to run routes better, and we need to be better. We need to get better on offense, there's no question about it."
Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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