Ohio State offense diversifies with little success in win

COLUMBUS -- When Ohio State tight end Ben Hartsock climbed off what he described as a head-spinning "merry-go-round" Saturday, he was not out of breath.

For once.

"It was the most convincing win yet," Hartsock said, surveying the 20-0 skunking of Northwestern, OSU's first shutout since 1998. "It's nice not to have to worry about the very last play of the last second of the world to win a game, but we still want to put up far more points than we did today."

That's the thing. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes (5-0) showed all sorts of new wrinkles on offense against the woeful Wildcats, but still failed to iron out their most pressing problem -- punching the ball into the end zone.

The carrousel Hartsock referred to had to do with the dizzying assortment of players and alignments Ohio State threw into a crazy mix for this Big Ten opener.

In extending its winning streak to 19 games and posting its 24th straight victory in this series, the Buckeyes showed off a seldom-seen fullhouse backfield and triple-tight end formation. They used fullback Branden Joe at tailback and redshirt freshman quarterback Troy Smith as a wide receiver and kick returner.

The 104,680 in Ohio Stadium were treated to an all-but-forgotten screen pass to the tailback, saw the once-ignored tight ends make seven more receptions and watched on one play as Smith took the snap on a quarterback sweep with starting signal-caller Scott McMullen split out wide.

For a Jim Tressel-coached Ohio State team it definitely qualified as a circus atmosphere. The only thing missing was the fireworks -- against a Northwestern team that got pounded 44-14 at home by Miami of Ohio.

"It's baby steps for the offense," said Hartsock, who tied Michael Jenkins with a team-high five receptions, including a diving catch that set up a first-quarter field goal. "The defense had a big day, obviously, putting a shutout on the board, so that was big for them.

"But there was just some discontinuity (on offense). We were working some different guys in. The coaches are trying to get their feet wet and get them some exposure, but it's almost gotten to the point where they've got to be fired up to help the team right now."

Perhaps the most stunning twist of all was the appearance of redshirt freshman Justin Zwick at quarterback on OSU's third series. The Buckeyes started at their own 41, already in front 10-0.

When Zwick failed to move the team, OSU went back to Scott McMullen, who was making his second straight start for the injured Craig Krenzel (sprained elbow). But momentum was lost for the rest of the half.

"We had it in our mind before the game that if there was an opportune time with good field position we would like Justin to get some snaps," Tressel said. "We wanted him to have to throw the ball and make some decisions and make some checks ... and I thought that was very valuable for him."

When Zwick returned in the fourth quarter, he fell victim to freshman tight end Louis Irizarry's lazy-looking one-handed stab at what should have been a 47-yard touchdown pass.

McMullen was also denied a long TD pass in the first quarter when Jenkins apparently misjudged the throw and made a one-handed attempt at the ball. But McMullen overcame that misconnection and a second-quarter interception to go 16 of 25 for 166 yards.

His 16-yard gain on a quarterback draw was OSU's longest run from scrimmage and set up his one-yard scoring pass to tight end Ryan Hamby, stretching the Buckeyes' lead to 17-0 in the third quarter.

"Scott has been great for us," Hartsock said. "He's come in and delivered the ball very effectively. He's thrown some deep balls and hit the running backs and tight ends in the flat. That helps loosen things up and makes us more versatile so teams can't stack their defenses against us."

Lydell Ross, who left the game with a sprained knee, opened the scoring on a 12-yard run, and Mike Nugent added two field goals from 32 and 42 yards. It wasn't much, but plenty good enough for an OSU defense that held heralded tailback Jason Wright to 55 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Northwestern (2-3) was never a factor after it failed to score on an 18-play drive in the second quarter. A holding call negated an eight-yard TD run by quarterback Brett Basanez and then Slade Larscheid suffered the first of his two missed field goals.

"I didn't like any of our matchups against their defense," said NU coach Randy Walker, after the Wildcats' spread attack mustered 64 yards passing and 185 yards total offense. "That's a tough defense to make a living running the ball against. When you're playing against a great defense, you better be able to do more than one thing."

Originally published Sunday, September 28, 2003