By JON SPENCER
(Mansfield, Ohio) News Journal

Boy, you just can't please some people.

"I was getting kind of frustrated a little bit," Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter said, trying to suppress a grin after Saturday's 30-7 win over hapless Indiana. "We were moving the ball so much, tackles were scarce (for the OSU defense) and it was getting cold on the sideline ... definitely something we're not used to."

Careful Bobby, that duct tape put over your mouth last week can always be reapplied.

It was only six days ago, with OSU in the throes of a three-game losing streak, that Carpenter and the other speak-your-mind underclassmen on this OSU football team were muzzled by the seniors.

In a show of solidarity and leadership, the seniors decided they would be doing all of the talking - answering all the tough questions from trap-setting reporters - for the players.

But that was before senior tailback Lydell Ross fumbled (yet again) his captaincy and earned a suspension after being named in a police report for passing bogus bills at a strip club.

It was also before a couple of true freshmen named Ted Ginn Jr. and Antonio Pittman spoke volumes with their performances against the Hoosiers.

Surprise, the moratorium on talking was lifted as the victory bell clanged in Ohio Stadium.

"We were just playing Ohio State football," said Pittman, who rushed for 144 yards and a 28-yard touchdown on 20 carries as Ross' replacement. "If that was the future, that's what it's going to be.

"We're here," Pittman added, speaking for Ginn and the other members of their freshman class, 12 of whom have now seen action this season. "I wouldn't say we won the game, but we played our part."

Granted, it was Indiana, but Pittman broke tackles, accelerrated through the line and found holes when avenues appeared to be clogged. Such shimmying and shaking hasn't been seen since ... well, you'd have to ask Ross.

"It was hard to hear that a captain had been suspended but you have to keep going on," Ginn said. "That's the key ... just keep going on."

Ginn kept going and going, kept zigging and zagging, until he completed his razzle-dazzle 59-yard jaunt to the end zone with a tipped pass in the first quarter.

Told that coach Jim Tressel called the play "electrifying," Ginn nodded and said, "Sometimes, I do call myself electrifying."

It was the first time this season 4-3 Ohio State has scored on its opening possession and ignited an offense that had produced only four touchdowns in the previous 16 quarters - one on a three-yard "drive" and one against a mop-up defense.

Largely because of Ginn and Pittman, sophomore quarterback Troy Smith's hot-and-cold starting debut played to some rave reviews. Never mind that stone-fingered cornerback Buster Larkins had more to do than Smith with directing that pass into Ginn's hands or that Smith overthrew Santonio Holmes on a certain 30-yard TD and Tony Gonzalez on a would-be 11-yard score.

Smith finished with two touchdown passes, accounted for 219 yards (including 58 rushing) and, most importantly, didn't commit a turnover.

Without the injured Justin Zwick (six interceptions, three fumbles) and Ross (three fumbles), the Buckeyes turned in their first turnover-free game of the season. Zwick and Ross account for four-fifths of OSU's 15 giveaways this season.

Tressel would not name his starting quarterback for Saturday's home game with Penn State and gave no indication when, or if, Ross would return to the team.

"I'm not trying to sway (the QB decision) either way," Smith said. "Let's talk about the game. We did some positive things and we're moving in the right direction."

Going forward apparently means kicking the youth movement up another notch. Redshirts were (wink, wink) stripped from three more freshmen against Indiana: fullback Dionte Johnson, 6-8, 315-pound offensive tackle Steve Rehring and linebacker Chad Hoobler.

The energy supplied by the Ginns and PIttmans proved contagious.

"I thought, personally, there was a lot more emotion on defense," senior cornerback and co-captain Dustin Fox said. "Guys were having fun, flying around, getting after it. We didn't have that much fun the last few weeks.

"When the Buckeyes win, everything's good."

And everybody's talking.