COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -You can’t spell upset without UT. Just ask Michigan.
In the wake of that 13-10 shocker at the Big House last season, No. 11 Ohio State knows a lot of things point to Toledo getting ready to ambush the Buckeyes this time:
– The beat-up Buckeyes (1-1) are coming off an emotionally and physically draining 18-15 loss to No. 3 Southern California.
– The Big Ten opener against Illinois is a week away.
– The Buckeyes are playing what passes for their first road game of the season, traveling two hours by bus up I-71 to Cleveland to chase down the Rockets’ high-flying, fast-scoring offense.
The Buckeyes say there is danger in not being aware and awake.
particular game, you got trapped into the wrong thinking. I absolutely believe there are trap moments and trap series and trap games.”
Toledo coach Tim Beckman, a former assistant under Tressel, believes every game is a trap game.
“It has become a very, very level playing field where anybody has an opportunity to win,” he said. “You better have (your) guys ready to play.”
His Rockets boast one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Quarterback Aaron Opelt threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two more scores in a 54-38 win over Colorado last Friday – and that wasn’t even his best game. In a season-opening 52-31 loss at Purdue, he completed 41 of 67 passes for 423 yards and three scores.
“It’s fun. It’s a great offense. The quickness of it, the fast tempo, getting the ball to the playmakers,” he said.
Ohio State has never lost to a member of the Mid-American Conference and hasn’t dropped a game to an in-state opponent since a 7-6 defeat to Oberlin in 1921. Then again, the Buckeyes have never left home to play a MAC team. This game is at Cleveland Browns Stadium and Toledo is the host team – though Ohio State’s omnipresent fans no doubt will flood the place with scarlet and gray.
Defensive lineman Doug Worthington can’t fathom what it would be like within the state’s borders if and when a smaller school in Ohio defeats the mighty Buckeyes.
that I don’t imagine, but it’s something that very much could happen,” he said. “(We) just know that they’re no joke, they’re going to come up and have a chip on their shoulder.”
Both teams think the other is susceptible. The Rockets are scoring 43 points a game, but they’re giving up 45, while Ohio State’s offense – directed by a strangely subdued and hesitant Terrelle Pryor – has not been in sync.
“They have some glitches in their game that hopefully we can take advantage of,” Toledo safety Barry Church said. “Their quarterback kind of stares down his receivers. He doesn’t make the best throws at times.”
It’s not all Pryor’s fault. The running game has looked mediocre, averaging 120 yards a game, and may be hampered even more by an injury to veteran tackle Jim Cordle, who is out for up to four weeks with an ankle injury.
Despite a strong showing for most of the game against USC, the Buckeyes’ defense hasn’t looked fearsome.
“We have to keep getting better and learn from the mistakes we’ve made,” Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said. “It’s a long season, and if we don’t improve we could have five losses.”
Five losses might be a bit alarmist in a diluted Big Ten, but it still points to a valid concern: The Buckeyes can’t just steamroll Toledo as they’ve done with so many MAC teams in the past.
The Rockets realize what an upset would mean.
inking we have nothing to lose. People say it’s just Toledo, we’re from the MAC, we’re supposed to lose. The pressure’s on them, really,” said the Rockets’ DaJuane Collins, who rushed for 162 yards against Colorado. “We can go out and just have fun. … If we win, we shock the world.”
The game will be a homecoming for dozens of players on both sides who hail from Cleveland.
It’ll also be somewhat emotional for Dane Sanzenbacher, the Ohio State receiver who grew up in Toledo and had little choice but to follow the Rockets.
“I grew up watching and going to the (Toledo) games,” he said. “It was just something you did. It’s Toledo – you’ve got the Mud Hens, you’ve got Tony Packo’s (an iconic hot-dog restaurant) and the Rockets. That’s pretty much what you’ve got.”
Oh, there’s more going on in Toledo. Just ask Michigan.
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