The No. 15 Ohio State Buckeyes blitzed the unbeaten and No. 2 Michigan Wolverines early Sunday afternoon, racing out to a seemingly insurmountable 21-point lead in the first half.

It was barely enough.

The Wolverines surged late, rallying from a huge deficit to tie the game in the second half, but the Buckeyes made enough plays down the stretch to earn a 56-53 victory.

The game played out a lot like Ohio State’s losses to Duke and Kansas, where the Buckeyes raced out to an early lead before faltering in the second half. This time around, though, the Buckeyes’ defense stepped up to provide Ohio State with its first win over a top-10 team this season.

“I hope we get confidence from this victory moving forward,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “This game signifies the halfway point of the season, but we’ve still got a lot of games left and we have to continue to improve.”

The Buckeyes (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) were fueled by another solid performance from Deshaun Thomas, who scored a game-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds. Both Aaron Craft and Sam Thompson chipped in nine points while big men Amir Williams and Evan Ravenel each scored six. The Buckeyes shot 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arch.

Read more...

The football season never ends in Columbus, so there is quite a bit to report on, despite the fact that the Buckeyes played their last game more than six weeks ago. Your dutiful correspondent took an extended breather after the fall grind, but expects to be back to a regular Leaves column throughout the winter and spring. Today we’ll briefly recap the Big Ten bowl games, and then bring you up to speed on the 2013 football recruiting class and talk about long term scheduling.

Read more...

Just three days removed from their worst loss in years, the Ohio State Buckeyes had a chance to redeem themselves Tuesday night.

On the road in front of a packed crowd inside Mackey Arena, the Buckeyes earned that redemption by beating the Purdue Boilermakers 74-64.

Ohio State (12-3) shot a blistering 56 percent from the field against Purdue (7-8) just three days removed from its 33 percent outing in a 19-point loss to Illinois. Only two of the eight Buckeyes who saw the court shot under 50 percent Tuesday night, and four players shot over 60 percent in Ohio State’s first true road victory of the year.

Deshaun Thomas, who scored a game-high 22 points, talked about Ohio State’s offense after the game, "We came out with toughness and our offensive execution was going well. We knew we needed to do that after the Illinois game and that's what we did. We came out with toughness and executed really well."

Read more...

Ten years since Tempe, 1/3/2003.

I know it’s hard to believe, but Thursday marks ten years since Cie Grant blitzed off the left side, grabbed Ken Dorsey by the jersey, and spun him to the ground, as the Miami quarterback’s desperation pass fell harmlessly to the turf...and the Buckeye celebration began...

….ten years since the hopes of OSU fans were dashed by a 4th down incompletion in the first overtime, only to be rescued a moment later by a belated, but ultimately correct pass interference call....

...a full decade since Maurice Clarett criticized his school’s administration in a pre-game press interview...only to redeem himself with an overtime touchdown and a remarkable heads-up play that turned the game’s momentum 180 degrees...stripping the ball from Miami safety Sean Taylor after Taylor’s end zone interception killed an OSU 1st-and-goal situation early in the 3rd quarter...

...the Mike Doss interception...the gruesome injury to Willis McGahee...the gritty performance of Craig Krenzel...the spectacular end-zone catch by Kellen Winslow Jr...the 4th and 14 completion to Michael Jenkins.....Matt Wilhelm’s crunching hit on Dorsey in overtime...

It's fair to say there has been no moment as sweet for northeast Ohio sports fans since that night. 

Read more...