By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS - There was Ryan Hamby catching a rainbow over his shoulder for 29 yards. Then there was Ben Hartsock making fancy footwork up the sideline on a 20-yard catch.

Ohio State isn't a place for plodding tight ends who only block.

"You have to be able to do a lot," Hartsock said.

Saturday against Michigan State, Hartsock caught three passes for 54 yards and a touchdown, and Hamby - a sophomore from Moeller - added a 2-yard TD reception to the aforementioned 29-yard strike.

On the year, Hartsock has 30 catches for 268 yards and two TDs. Hamby has caught 14 passes for 145 yards and three TDs.

"The coaches have kind of opened it up a little more," Hamby said. "You want to let them know you can catch the ball in tough situations. I'd like to say they're gaining confidence in me."

BCS HOPES: OSU's players, lining up for a fourth-quarter field goal, turned around to see what had sparked a huge cheer. It was the scoreboard posting Tennessee's upset of Miami - which means OSU, No. 5 in the BCS rankings, should hurdle No. 4 Miami.

Offensive lineman Shane Olivea said the Buckeyes were out to impress the pollsters Saturday.

"We said, 'We're going to go out and make them see how good we can be,' " he said.

TIME SET: Kickoff for the OSU-Purdue game Saturday will be 3:30 p.m.

BUCKS BITS: MSU's kickoff-return touchdown, a 93-yarder by DeAndra Cobb, was the first such score allowed by OSU since 1984. That previous one was also a 93-yarder by MSU, courtesy of Larry Jackson. . . . The crowd of 105,194 was the second-largest in Ohio Stadium history. The record is 105,539, set last year.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com