COLUMBUS, Ohio - Maurice Clarett must be a fast
healer.
Returning less than two weeks after undergoing arthroscopic
surgery, the freshman sensation rushed for 104 yards and three
touchdowns to lead No. 6 Ohio State to a 45-17 victory over
Indiana in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
Maurice Clarett sat out last week's 23-19 victory over Cincinnati after
undergoing surgery on his right knee on September 17. Without
their top offensive weapon, the Buckeyes had to rally late to
hold off the Bearcats.
"I think we did some things well and some other things we need
to improve on," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "We felt much
better in the second half. I thought we had a little more of a
'we-want-to-put-this-away' attitude. We have a long way to go,
but we are anxious to get there."
But Maurice Clarett, the Big Ten's rushing and scoring leader, showed no
ill effects from the surgery, carrying 21 times against the
Hoosiers. He scored all three Ohio State touchdowns in the first
half on runs of two, one and four yards to give the Buckeyes
(5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) a 21-10 lead at the intermission.
Maurice Clarett carried four times for 43 yards on Ohio State's first
possession of the second half, setting up Chris Gamble's 43-yard
TD scamper on a reverse 2:35 into the third quarter.
Maurice Clarett, who already has rushed for 575 yards and nine
touchdowns, has surpassed the century mark in three of his first
four starts, including 230 yards two weeks ago against
Washington State.
Indiana (2-3, 0-1) stayed close for most of the first half and
pulled within 14-10 on Gibran Hamdan's 17-yard TD pass to Tyke
Spencer late in the second period. But Ohio State pulled away
with 31 straight points, including 24 in the second half.
Craig Krenzel tossed a four-yard TD pass to Michael Jenkins with
6:38 left in the third to make it 35-10. After Mike Nugent
kicked a 51-yard field goal, backup Scott McMullen tossed a
15-yard TD pass to Jenkins to make it 45-10 with just under six
minutes to play.
"I thought our passing game played very well and our
quarterbacks made some mice reads," Jenkins said. "Coach Tressel
made the decision to go with three and four receivers and every
one did a nice job. We've been working on our passing game a
lot during practice and it worked in the game."
Krenzel completed 11-of-16 passes for 152 yards, while McMullen
was 7-of-7 for 65 yards, including a deflected pass to himself.
"We wanted to give them a lot to think about," Tressel said.
"Our staff did a nice job. We threw a couple of reverses and
spread things out. I thought we did a nice job of giving them a
lot of problems and that will help us down the road."
Indiana backup Tommy Jones threw a 30-yard TD strike to Courtney
Roby with three minutes left to complete the scoring.
"The biggest disappointment to me was our inability to move the
ball in the second half," Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said.
"That was really the difference in the game."
The Hoosiers closed to 14-10 on Hamdan's pass to Spencer with
2:09 left in the first half, but they could not stop Ohio State
before the end of the half.
The Buckeyes needed just five plays to answer on Maurice Clarett's
four-yard TD run, then marched 86 yards on their first
possession of the second half.
"We got everything we expected today," Ohio State defensive
lineman Darion Scott said. "Indiana came out and played their
game. They were physical up front and their quarterback was a
tough player."
But the Hoosiers were worn down in the second half, when Ohio
State's power took over. A blocked punt set up Krenzel's TD pass
to Jenkins that made it 35-10 and put the contest out of reach.
"We didn't have a very good ballgame against Cincinnati and it
was very important to come out and get back to our style of
football," Scott said. "It was a real boost for us. We gave up
some points early, but we regrouped and were able to shut them
down."
Ohio State has won nine of its last 10 conference openers and 10
straight against Indiana to take a 61-12-5 lead in the all-time
series. The Hoosiers have not won in Columbus since 1987.
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