Trojans Fall 28-10 to Ohio State

Saturday, September 20

Columbus, Ohio

11:00 am

Troy University

Ohio State

9/20/2008 5:00:00 AM | Football

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? The Troy Trojans held No. 13 Ohio State in check most of the game, but allowed the Buckeyes to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 28-10 victory Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium. OSU (3-1) led by just four points, 14-10, at the end of the third quarter, but tallied two touchdown passes in the final 15 minutes.

The announced crowd of 102,989 was the largest-ever to see Troy football game. The Trojans (2-1) held a six-yard advantage in total offense, 315-309, but could not overcome two turnovers and a couple of untimely penalties.

“We lost a ball game today, and we maybe had a chance to win,” Trojans coach Larry Blakeney said. “We just made too many errors and they made the big plays. In all three phases of the game, we weren't error-free. We needed some first downs in the second half and to get the ball down the field more, but they did a great job on special teams keeping us pinned deep.”

Ohio State wasted no time in showing its offensive game plan. The Buckeyes opened with freshman Terrelle Pryor at quarterback and ran the ball on their first eight plays, moving from their own 40 to the Troy 13. Pryor then went to the play-action pass, finding a wide-open tight end Rory Nicol for a touchdown with 10:14 left in the opening quarter.

“It looked to me like Pryor had confidence back there and he brought a different perspective to the game,” Blakeney said. “When guys were open, he got it to them. We had a chance late, but we didn't make enough plays and they did.”

After the teams exchanged punts on the next four possessions, the Trojans closed the first quarter on the move, facing a second and goal from the OSU 14 after Jamie Hampton was sacked by OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis on the final play of the quarter.

“Coming in I had a concern about our pass protection, and there were some match ups up front that weren't great,” Blakeney said. “We needed to throw the ball down field more, but we didn't have enough time back there. They were able to get some good rushes on us with just their front four.”

The Trojans made up the yardage from the sack, but wound up settling for a 22-yard Sam Glusman field goal with 13:35 remaining in the half.

“We tried to use a short game to open because we knew they had a good defense,” Hampton said. “We just tried to keep it simple in the beginning. Today turned into mainly a short game because their defense was so good.”

Troy made the first major mistake of the game on its next possession when Hampton was intercepted by Kurt Coleman at the Trojans' 37. The pass was intended for Gerald Tate on a crossing pattern, but was bobbled just enough for Coleman to steal it away.

After backing the Buckeyes up on a 15-yard penalty, Pryor struck again, avoiding a strong rush to find receiver Brian Hartline open at the Troy five. Hartline fought off Troy's Tavares Williams and lunged into the end zone with 9:08 to play. The PAT gave Ohio State a 14-3 lead.

Troy showed that it was not going to go without a fight late in the half, using just five plays to cover 80 yards, with the final 45 coming on a Hampton pass and run to Jerrel Jernigan with 1:49 left in the half, cutting the Buckeyes' lead to 14-10.

Ohio State threatened late in the half, but Kenny Mainor sacked Pryor to knock the Buckeyes out of field goal range. Ohio State tried a “Hail Mary” pass on the final play of the half, but Williams came down with it in the end zone for Troy for his second career interception.

The Trojans took the second half kickoff and drove deep into Ohio State territory before Hampton was picked off by Coleman for the second time in the game, giving the Buckeyes possession at their own seven.

The two teams traded possessions through the rest of the quarter, with neither threatening to score. The quarter ended on 60-yard punt by Ohio State, which gave the Trojans the ball at their own two to start the fourth quarter.

After Troy failed to make any headway and was forced to punt, the Buckeyes got the ball at the Trojans 37-yard line. When a draw play lost one yard, OSU went back to the air, and Pryor connected with Brian Robiskie on a 38-yard touchdown pass, giving the Buckeyes a 21-10 lead with 13:28 to play.

Ohio State put the game totally out of reach after a stalled Troy drive on four plays capped off with a 16-yard pass from Pryor to Hartline for the 28-10 final.

“They were very persistent,” junior linebacker Bear Woods said. “They do what they do. They have power. There was no surprise with the offense. They just keep pounding and pounding. But overall, we planned for it and were ready.”

The Trojans will be back on the road next week when they travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State. Kickoff for that game is set for 6:05 p.m. CT and there will be no television for the game.

Troy vs. Ohio State Game Notes

● Today's game captains were Kennard Burton, Steve McLendon, Danny Franks, Tavares Williams.
● The Trojans lost the coin toss for the third straight game.
● The Trojans ran a receiver hand off the Jerrell Jernigan with an unbalanced line to the left. There were three offensive lineman to the left of the center.
● Will Goggans' first punt of the day was a career long 51-yarder.
● The 45-yard TD pass in the second quarter was a career long for Jamie Hampton.
● The reception for Jernigan was his longest since North Texas last season when he caught a 46 yarder.
● The second quarter interception by Tavares Williams was the second of his career....the last was against Georgia Tech in 2006.
● Xavier Moreland made his 2008 season debut during the contest with Ohio State. He had one carry for five yards in the game.
● The 102,989 was the largest crowd to ever watch the Trojans play football.
● Kenny Mainor left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and didn't return.