Saturday, October 23, 2004
Losing streak baffles Buckeyes
By JON SPENCER
Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal
COLUMBUS - Ohio State's three-game losing streak has ex-Buckeyes forecasting gloom and doom, as if such tailspins had never before happened to a school with OSU's tradition and resources.
In fact, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce and John Cooper had two seasons each with three-game losing streaks.
Although he had never lost two in a row at OSU until this season, this isn't the first time in his illustrious coaching career that Jim Tressel has known despair.
All you hear about are the four national championships he won at Division I-AA Youngstown State before collecting a fifth with the Buckeyes in 2002.
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ROSS OUT
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Starting tailback Ross suspended for Indiana game
Ohio State tailback Lydell Ross was suspended for Saturday's game against Indiana by coach Jim Tressel for undisclosed reasons.
The suspension was announced Friday in a news release from the university. Sports information director Steve Snapp declined comment and an e-mail message to Ross was not immediately returned.
Ohio State (3-3, 0-3) is trying to avoid its first 0-4 start in the Big Ten since 1922. The Buckeyes have lost three straight.
Ross has started all six games, rushing for 343 yards with three touchdowns and a 3.6-yard average per carry. He led the Buckeyes in rushing last year.
Ross was among six seniors who went to Tressel last week to request that underclassmen not be permitted to speak to reporters this week. Ross and the others met with reporters on Tuesday night.
"The main thing here is to be focused on what we want, which is to be successful the rest of the season," Ross said Tuesday. "You can no longer think about what's happened in the past. You have to think about what you want in the future. And that's success from now on."
With Ross out, the Buckeyes will likely give more carries to freshman Tony Pittman and seniors Branden Joe and Maurice Hall.
--Associated Press
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But at Youngstown State, the Penguins slumped to 4-7 after a playoff season in 1987. They bottomed out at 3-8 one year after winning the 1995 national championship. Youngstown State followed up another national title in 1997 with a 6-5 campaign.
"It's my 19th year of doing this and I've certainly been in this ballpark before," Tressel said. "I don't know if 6-0 is any more difficult than (3-3)."
What's real is that the Buckeyes have taken up residency in the basement of the Big Ten and need a periscope to see blue skies and water from where they sit, statistically, among the 117 Division I-A schools in the NCAA.
Saturday's homecoming game against Indiana is creating less buzz than the parade that precedes it. The homecoming queen may decide she'd rather stay home and wash her hair than attend the battle between two teams looking for their first Big Ten win.
A month ago, the Buckeyes were 3-0, ranked sixth nationally and winners of 28 of their previous 30 games. Now the only poll they appear in is ESPN.com's "Bottom 10," where they join winless Central Florida and eight one-win teams, including perennial doormats Temple, Kent State and Southern Methodist.
Putting OSU in such sad-sack company might seem a bit harsh until you scan the NCAA stats. The Buckeyes are 104th in rushing at 97.7 yards a game, 104th in turnover ratio at minus-7 and 111th in total offense at 285.2 yards a game.
OSU is last in the Big Ten in total offense and turnover margin and 10th in rushing. This probably isn't the balanced attack Tressel was after.
"We practice every day to be a more productive offense because we're aware of the numbers," senior fullback Branden Joe said. "It's hard to forget them."
The numbers Tressel keeps harping on are OSU's giveaways versus takeaways. The Buckeyes had three more turnovers in Saturday's 33-7 loss at Iowa, giving them 15 on the season, nearly doubling their takeaways (eight).
Conversely, Indiana ranks near the top of the Big Ten in turnover margin at plus 5, enabling the 2-4 Hoosiers to hang tough in practically every game. They won at nationally-ranked Oregon (30-24), led Michigan State at halftime before falling (30-20) and took Northwestern to two overtimes before losing in Evanston (31-24).
"Regardless of any offensive or defensive woes," Tressel said, "if we weren't at the bottom of the chart in turnover margin, we would not be winless in the Big Ten."
Ohio State vs. Indiana
