By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS - Speed kills, but so do drops. And so it took until Drew Carter starting hanging onto the ball before Ohio State felt comfortable throwing to its fastest player.

"It's been a long time waiting," the fifth-year senior said. "It feels good. It feels like you've made it."

Carter led OSU Saturday with six catches for 95 yards - nearly half of OSU's offensive output - after catching three passes for 90 yards last week at Wisconsin. Ridding himself of the drops that cursed him in the past, he has become a strong second option to star wideout Michael Jenkins.

Carter is second on the team with 22 catches for 335 yards, and his average of 15.2 yards per catch is the Buckeyes' best.

NO HARD FEELINGS: OSU athletic director Andy Geiger said the lawsuits filed on behalf of Maurice Clarett against the university wouldn't affect his plans to apply for Clarett's reinstatement later in the school year.

"It's just a process that they're going through," Geiger said of Clarett's attorneys. "Most of the work that they've done relates to the car break-in report. It has very little to do with why he was suspended."

Geiger said he couldn't comment on whether Clarett had been attending classes, other than to say, "To my knowledge, he's enrolled."

DEFLECTING CRITICISM: Asked about criticism that Robert Reynolds' choking suspension should have been longer than one game, Geiger said OSU decided on that only after consulting with the Big Ten commissioner, Wisconsin's AD and UW's coach.

HOKIES ADDED: Geiger confirmed a report that OSU had added a future home-and-home series with Virginia Tech. He wasn't sure of the seasons.