Saturday, October 05, 2002
Buckeyes looking to run roughshod over Northwestern
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
EVANSTON, Ill. — Give No. 5 Ohio State the ball, and the Buckeyes will run, sprint, rumble and ramble up the field all afternoon, chewing up yardage and kicking grass clumps in your face.
And just when you think they're done, they'll trample you one more time for good measure.
For Northwestern, which has one of the worst rush defenses in the country, Saturday's visit by Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) could be sheer misery.
“Obviously, their numbers are not good at all. But we don't get a head start because of what their numbers were,” Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. “We have to make sure we can establish numbers of our own. We're obviously going to work to establish the run.”
Just what the Wildcats wanted to hear. Northwestern (2-3, 0-1) is giving up 309 yards rushing a game. That's worst in the Big Ten and 116th in the country.
OK, so the Wildcats have played two option teams, giving up a combined 854 rushing yards to Air Force and Navy, but Northwestern hasn't been much better against so-called “conventional” offenses.
The Wildcats gave up 276 yards rushing last weekend at Michigan State. Dawan Moss rushed for 191 yards alone.
“One of our players said, 'Coach, we've got to find a way to stop the run,”' Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. “I said, 'How about this, try getting off blocks and making tackles.' It's fundamental. We've got to get off blocks and make tackles.
“I believe we have good enough players to stop the run. We haven't given evidence of that, but I believe it will happen.”
This would be a good week for it. Led by Maurice Clarett, who is generating Heisman Trophy chatter as a freshman, the Buckeyes are averaging 232 yards rushing per game. That's second-best in the Big Ten and tied for ninth in the country.
Clarett has rushed for 575 yards in four games, putting him on track to smash Robert Smith's rookie record of 1,126 yards rushing. It also ranks fifth in the country — though his 6.8 yards-per-carry average is better than all but one of the players ahead of him.
He's already scored 10 touchdowns, including three in the first half last weekend.
“They probably see a freshman, a lot of teams get up to stop a freshman,” Clarett said. “On top of that, we ruined their season last year, and so they'll gear up to ruin our season this year.”
Actually, the Buckeyes have ruined a lot of seasons for Northwestern. Ohio State has won 22 straight, a streak so old none of the current players was even alive for Northwestern's last victory in 1971.
The Wildcats' last victory over the Buckeyes in Evanston? Go all the way back to 1958, when Ara Parseghian was Northwestern's coach.
“The only thing these kids know is we went to Columbus last year and the Buckeyes took it to us,” Walker said. “All I worry about is this year and this week.”
And finding a way to stop Clarett and Ohio State's running game.
“He's a back after my own heart,” said Walker, a former running back. “You better wrap him up, because he breaks tackles. And he's faster than you think. He gets a crease and all of the sudden, that 230-pound back is running by you.
“He might be one of the best backs in the country, if he's not already.”
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Buckeyes looking to run roughshod over Northwestern
