Passing game gets in gear for OSU in 50-7 win

COLUMBUS -- With a sensational tailback behind him, practically demanding the football, Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel knew there was no way -- statistically -- he and his receiving corps could keep up with the aerial circus San Jose State brought into Ohio Stadium.

Yet there was Krenzel at the wheel of the getaway car Saturday.

Answering criticism about his inability to throw deep, Krenzel fired two long touchdown passes and an even longer strike that led to a field goal as the fifth-ranked Buckeyes blew past the Spartans 50-7 before a record Homecoming crowd of 104,892.

While San Jose State had little to show for Scott Rislov's school-record 36 completions, Krenzel made the most of his modest 14 passing attempts, completing 11 for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Two dropped passes and a throw-away spoiled an otherwise perfect day for the cool-headed junior.

"We see this from him all the time in practice," said split end Michael Jenkins after catching 7 passes for 136 yards and 1 TD. "It's a matter of evolving and getting the chemistry down with the receivers.

"Once you start completing the deep passes, that gets the defense thinking and opens things up for our running game."

Freshman Maurice Clarett handled (pardon the pun) that part of the attack, rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. More importantly, he didn't fumble against the nation's top team in takeaways after fumbling three times in last week's 27-16 victory at Northwestern.

Clarett even contributed to the air assault, soaring over a defender and across the goal line while turning a dump-off from Krenzel into an acrobatic 7-yard score.

That touchdown was sandwiched between a 40-yard field goal by Mike Nugent and a 40-yard TD catch by Jenkins as the Buckeyes (7-0) scored 17 points in the first 6:24 of the third quarter to put the game out of reach 41-7.

A 47-yard bomb from Krenzel to Chris Gamble set up the Nugent field goal and back-to-back fumbles by Spartan wideouts led to Krenzel's two touchdown passes in the period. The latter was a perfectly threaded bullet to Jenkins between two defenders.

Jenkins didn't have to come back for the long ball, as had often been the case this season. Chris Vance didn't, either, on his finger-tip grab for a 37-yard score in the second quarter.

"It's been frustrating to us, to have so many big-play guys and not be throwing the ball downfield with success," Krenzel said. "I knew we were only a split-second away in our timing from getting things turned around."

The Krenzel-to-Vance hookup was big, coming moments after the Spartans (4-3) had closed to within 10-7 on a 9-yard pass from Rislov to Charles Pauley.

But San Jose State wasn't ready to fold -- yet. The Spartans quickly moved downfield on eight completions by Rislov and were poised to strike from the OSU 10. But linebacker Cie Grant came swooping in on first down to sack Rislov, jarring the ball loose. Freshman end Mike Kudla, spelling the injured Will Smith (knee sprain), picked up the fumble and returned it 17 yards to the OSU 41.

That paved the way for Clarett's 5-yard run for a 24-7 lead, which the Buckeyes preserved at halftime after Spartan wideout Tuati Wooden fumbled at the OSU 24 as time ran out.

Known for their takeaways (15 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries before Saturday), the Spartans played giveaway against the Buckeyes, fumbling on their last two possessions of the second quarter and first two series of the second half. Those mistakes led to three TDs by Ohio State, which didn't commit its only turnover -- a fumble by Drew Carter -- until the outcome was decided.

Throwing mostly swing passes and screens, Rislov was 31 of 37 for 257 yards by halftime. But he threw for just eight yards in the third quarter before getting yanked. His replacement, Marcus Arroyo, didn't complete a pass as the Spartans finished with only 15 yards total offense in the second half -- and got out-gained 212 to 0 on the ground overall.

"In the first half, we did everything that we wanted to do; we just didn't get the ball in the end zone the way we thought we would," SJS coach Fitz Hill said. "We thought we could play with them on the perimeter, but we gave up too many turnovers."

Originally published Sunday, October 13, 2002