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Jim Tressel’s honeymoon as Ohio State football head coach did not last long.
After an unexpected weekend off because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Tressel’s 21st-ranked Buckeyes went west to play N. 14 UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
It was, in a word, a mess.
Nowadays, we might call it the downside of Tresselball.
Then it was just an ugly 13-6 loss.
The good: The defense
The Ohio State defense allowed 323 total yards, but the Bruins scored only 13 points.
Linebacker Matt Wilhelm led the team with 10 tackles while Mike Doss had seven, and the Buckeyes held star UCLA running back DeShaun Foster to 66 yards on 29 carries.
The Bruins went 80 yards in 14 plays for a 24-yard touchdown pass from Corey Paus to Ryan Smith in the first quarter then did not do much else.
They managed a field goal on a 39-yard drive in the second quarter and another field goal in the third quarter, but that was it.
Will Smith, Kenny Peterson and Courtland Bullard all had sacks for Ohio State while Darrion Scott had three tackles for loss and Wilhelm had two.
Ohio State forced seven fumbles and recovered four, but it all went for naught.
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The bad: The offense
After scoring 28 points against Akron in the season-opener, the Ohio State offense was shut out in its second appearance with Tressel as the head coach.
The Buckeyes managed 166 total yards, including 45 passing, and gained only eight first downs.
They were 1 for 14 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down while averaging 2.9 yards per play overall.
“I know we feel real bad about letting the defense down,” Tressel said. “They had a good performance today.”
Steve Bellisari completed only 5 of 23 passes for 45 yards. He threw two interceptions, and no receivers caught more passes than fullback Jamar Martin.
Martin caught one, as did Michael Jenkins and Angelo Chattams. Tailback Jonathan Wells led Ohio State with two catches for 16 yards. He also ran for 47 yards on 14 carries while Martin had 32 yards two carries.
“I know we have a long flight back,” Wells said. “That will gives us a lot of time to reevaluate ourselves. I don’t know what positives we’ll get out of this offensively.”
Bellisari’s struggles made some wonder if backup Scott McMullen might have given the Buckeyes a better chance to move the ball and score points, but Tressel said he did not consider making a change.
“Some of the things we asked of Steve, he did,” Tressel said. “There were things he could have done better, but at the same time I could say that about the rest of the offense and the coaches, too.”
The ugly: The kicking game
To say the kicking game let the Buckeyes down would be an understatement.
It actually cost the Buckeyes the game almost single-handedly — just do the math.
True freshman Mike Nugent missed a PAT kick and a 28-yard field goal in the first half.
In the third quarter, special teams coach Ken Conatser gave redshirt freshman Josh Huston a shot, and he missed a 32-yard field goal.
That was seven points missed in a game the Buckeyes lost by six.
Special teams were not a total waste, however. Huston’s two kickoffs went for touchbacks, punter Andy Groom performed well, and Ohio State’s only touchdown came when All-American safety Mike Doss blocked a punt and Ricky Bryant recovered it for a touchdown.
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The loss dropped Ohio State to 1-1 in the Tressel era.
Next up was a trip to Bloomington, Ind., to take on an Indiana Hoosiers squad that was 0-2 on the season despite featuring the dynamic talents of Antwaan Randel-El, a senior who had played quarterback but was moved to receiver/running back prior to the season.
Previous editions of the Tressel Tales:
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